Amok is the name of the modern Cambodian restaurant I went to on the weekend for a catch up with my PR friends from University and we are celebrating a milestone anniversary this year in terms of years since we graduated with plans afoot to catch up later in the year down at the beach.
The restaurant isn’t in the north-east but if you are venturing out south of the Yarra – it’s highly recommended and the chef is ex-Coda and Tonka. Dishes are designed for sharing and we had a number of different salads with squid and salmon, slow roasted pork ribs, wagyu beef and popcorn fish along with lamb cutlet starters and shared desserts. With drinks, we all ended up chipping in $50 each which included a tip.
It’s the second weekend in a row I’ve taken the Eastern freeway and while I will say now they are first world problems – the roads are a nightmare at the moment. Last weekend, when heading to the city for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, I found myself in the middle lane of the freeway (which usually becomes a right turning lane into Hoddle Street) where it splits between Alexandra Parade and Punt Road. To my horror, the lane proceeded to disappear with barriers suddenly appearing right in front of me while I was driving at least 80 km per hour. I had to veer into the left lane and it was only pure luck that no-one was driving alongside me in my blind spot.
Last night was even worse in that while I remembered to get over to the extreme left this time – again there were barriers in lanes coming off the freeway where you could only turn left onto Hoddle Street and only two lanes to actually drive down – one of which was the bus lane. Returning from Windsor to Rosanna I got stuck in the detour on Burke Road as they are currently asphalting the Heidelberg Road roundabout. Aargh!
And don’t even mention the new P-turn to go right on to Hoddle Street! I have an English friend who has only just come to terms with hook turns in Melbourne and I must admit even as an experienced driver, P-turns are a whole new level of surprise.
I did have a look at the new Rosanna Level Crossing today while getting petrol and I am really hoping it’s ready at the end of the month – it looms pretty large if you’re turning left on to Turnham Avenue from Lower Plenty Road so I’m looking forward to the finished product (as most locals are) given it’s all pretty unsightly at the moment. The price of progress…
Miss Rosanna 