Melbourne Freezes While Caloundra Boils.

I read Kate's Facebook entry this morning and saw the headline "Relaxing by the pool and enjoying the heat". Obviously she is in Caloundra and we are down in Melbourne enjoying about 16 degrees right now! I am sure glad we brought some warm clothes with us.

However one thing we don't get at home on the Sunshine Coast is great and cheap eateries. Last night we visited the Hoa Tran restaurant in Springvale with friends Pat and Graeme. It was the first time for a long time that they had been to Springvale, a suburb noted for its Vietnamese population and drug usage. In all the times we have visited Springvale going back on 20 years now, the latter has hardly ever been an issue for us. As per usual, the restaurant was a hive of activity. As I have said before, this restaurant is best described as an eating house where people can come in, grab a quick and inexpensive bite to eat and then be on their way. As we were there, I saw three different people occupy a seat near us as the evening progressed.

We all enjoyed the food immensely an ate until we could eat no longer! It is Bring Your Own too so we took our own drinks (beer and wine) with us. We had lemongrass spicy chicken, beef on crispy noodles, roast duck, rice paper rolls, crispy skin chicken and salt and pepper calamari. Graeme's stomach doesn't enjoy chillies any more so he had the less spicy dishes. Our bill worked out at well under $20 per person and we could eat no more. It was then back to their home for another chat and a few drinks.

It was a great night out!