USA vs Canada Ice Hockey… in Melbourne?!

Last night, the boys and I went to see our first ice-hockey match. Now as a bit of a background, my oldest son has always wanted to play ice-hockey, but as it's very limited in Melbourne to play it, he took up field hockey about 5 years ago. When we planned to move to the States a few years back, he was excited that he could at last play with a regular team, however, that didn't happen (as we never made it there). He now plays goalie for his hockey club, and we have been ice-skating a few times, but that's as far as we have come. In Melbourne, it's a very expensive sport, possibly $1000 to set yourself up, $1000+ a year in game and rink fees, plus finding the time to travel to the city once or twice a week, as there is only one suburban rink, and it's not very good. So you can imagine how excited he was when we saw on the TV a few months ago that there was a USA vs Canada game playing in our home town. We just had to buy tickets (and it was part of his birthday present).

We decided as we walked up the stairs to the stadium, that I would be on the USA side, the boys on the Canadian side…. but of course, they had to eat the American food of corn dogs and hot dogs!

They converted Rod Laver Arena (famous for being centre court for the Australian Tennis Open) into an ice-rink and the magic began. This was the 4th game of a 5 game series, as they had already played two games in Perth, one in Brisbane and they were off to Sydney for the last game tonight.

The night started with a fireworks display and some ice-dancers, all the hockey players came out for a warm up, we sang (or attempted to) sing the national anthems for each team and the game began.

Within a minute of the game starting, an on-rink fight started, with everything from throwing the gloves and stick to losing the helmet. I gathered this would be a regular occurrence as part of the 'entertainment of the game', but besides one more smaller scuffle, it didn't seem to be so. Canada scored quickly, not one, but 2 goals. I was thinking this was supposed to be like field hockey - a low scoring game, but it didn't seem that way.

By the top of the first period the score was level 2-2.

I was sitting next to a native Canadian with his Australian mates, and literally surrounded by other Canadian supporters, so each time I waved my USA flag, I was getting a light hearted boo from the native Canadian.

With 20 minutes between each game play, there was time for the 'kiss cam' and 'dance cam' to roam around the audience. They had Olympian ice-dancers, unknown singers and 2 marriage proposals throughout the night. The Mexican wave and beach balls made appearances and there was plenty of music to keep us entertained… The main commentator for the evening was losing his voice badly throughout the night. Each time he interviewed a player, he could barely get out the words, and it gave the native Canadian and I something to talk about. (PS, he was really cute, surprisingly only 3 years older than me - I thought he was younger, but married with 2 kids… why are the nice ones always married?) 

By the top of the second period, the score was level 4-4. It was going to be a close game.

My youngest actually LOVED the night. He is usually a pain to get him to go anywhere, especially stadium events, as his ears can't tolerate loud noises (due to ear infections at a young age) and he can't cope with crowds, so we've been avoiding stadiums, theatres, concerts, etc. So hopefully we can be a bit more adventurous and see a few more live events.

At the third period, USA ran away from Canada, and the crowd was getting a little quiet (as it would have been an 80% Canadian crowd, 20% USA crowd). 

By the end of the game, it was USA 7 - Canada 4. 

But in the end, it didn't matter, we all had an awesome time. It was a full house in a country that doesn't  consider ice-hockey a local sport, which is amazing. And of course, I had to buy the boys Canada jerseys to take home. It's all part of the fun.

End of School Holiday Fun!

This weekend we were supposed to go to Sydney, but due to unforeseen circumstances and a not very well child, it has had to be postponed for the moment... Yesterday, the boys let me have some hours to myself, which was nice, but today was a today for us to have some family fun!

We decided to venture up to the city by train and see what mischief we could get up to.

We got off the train at Melbourne Central. Somehow he was excited that we were in the 'subway' which I know we have been plenty of times before, but it could have been the first time we actually got off at a station within the 'subway' (which in Melbourne, we call the City Loop!) This was what was above the 'subway'...

A heritage listed 'shot tower' encased in a glass cone (and a shopping centre!)

We decided to go bowling, at supposedly the 'best ten-pin bowling alley in Melbourne' according to some Top 10 Best and Worst Bowling Alley's website I found. It was Strike Bowling in the QV Building. We were lucky to be the first one there for the day, so we had the place to ourselves, for about.... ummm.... 15 minutes.

We played 2 games... my 11 year old won the first game (because the guards were down for me, whereas the boys relied on the guards to let them bounce all over the place and get some fluke shots!) And my 9 year old won the second game due to his unorthodox tactics.

We had some amazing fries with ketchup and aioli (must admit, were probably the best fries I've ever had!). They then played some foosball, and some air-hockey. 

We then came out of the dungeon of the neon-lit bowling alley back up to street level and walked through the city, watching the street performers, the horses and carriages and the colourful people that make up our great city. We ventured down to Southgate and found Chill On - the Ice Lounge. We were told we couldn't take photos inside, but I sneaked in a couple!!

The boys played some air-hockey on an ice table, as well as noughts and crosses on a second ice table. We drank our cocktails/mocktails in ice glasses and admired all the amazing ice sculptures within the -10 degree cold room.

We then chilled out (or should I say defrosted) at the Transport Bar at Federation Square for a late lunch before taking the train back home.

Another fun day... tomorrow will be the last day we get to enjoy the holidays together before they are back at school (due to it being a public holiday). Who knows what we will be up to!

Bike Ride in the City

After our long (for us anyway!) bike ride last week, I struggled to get the boys off the couch and enjoy the outside again, especially since it's been so hot. But today was some light relief from the heat with the wind keeping the temperatures down. I convinced the boys to go on a 15 minute ride, just to get the bikes out, but also mentioned that we might catch a train to make the journey easier.

So after all the whining, we trekked off on our bikes to the train station to catch a train to the city. As you can see.... they knew it wasn't possible to be a 15 minute ride if we were to catch a train. Evidence No 1: Let's show mum we are already bored and pretend to sleep on the train!

We got to the city and it was alive with the bustle of people. We decided to ride along the Yarra River enjoying the greenery of the banks and the calmness of the water. Many families, lovers and bike riders were out doing the same thing... enjoying our beautiful city on a lovely summer's day. We rode from Flinders Street station to Morrell Bridge in South Yarra, crossed the Yarra and returned back via Southbank Promenade to the station (shhh... don't tell the boys we could have gone via the bridge to South Yarra station to make the trip quicker!) 

Views from Morrell Bridge

We stopped on Southbank Promenade for a small snack, admiring the sculptures, the street performers and the tourists. There was an aboriginal man playing the didgeridoo, in all his tribal paints, and about 50 metres up from him, was a little boy who looked like he was about 4 years old and had just purchased a didgeridoo from a souvenir shop. He decided to play his didgeridoo, put his hat out for some money and see what would happen. There wasn't a crowd around him as such, but people were quietly looking from a distance at the distinct difference in buskers (I'm sure the little boy didn't have a busking permit) and seeing how the little boy's takings were affecting the authentic aboriginal busker. Quite amusing! (sorry there are no pics of the buskers!)

Southbank Promenade outside Freshwater Place

After all the initial whinging that we were longer than '15 minutes,' somehow I had smiles on their faces at Flinders Street station on the way home. AND, I even had the comment from the 9 year old, that he's getting used to riding his bike now. Hmmm... where could we go next? Maybe up into Belgrave to chase Puffing Billy, the steam train? Who knows... 

A Blast from the Past

Today was an exciting day for me... exciting but relaxed. Today I met up with my first ever boyfriend in the flesh for the first time in thirteen and a half years.

We were each others' "firsts" in our high school years. We were only together for three months, but they were the most wonderful three months of my teenage years. He was almost two years older than me, and we 'broke up' because I was starting a new school that added 2 hours of travel each day to my day, and he lived ten kilometres from my home in the opposite direction from school, and he just felt that if we couldn't see each other, then what is the point of continuing, but at the same time, he declared his love to me saying that one day, we may be again.

So as any love-struck teenage girl would do, I held onto that thought that one day it may happen again. And there were chances. I would generally call him up every six or so months to see how he was going, but he had another girlfriend, who he ended up marrying. When I was in my final year of school, he unexpectedly called me up, and we decided to catch up over lunch. I hoped that this was our chance to renew things, but his mind was very scattered and he couldn't look at me, so lunch was disappointing and he didn't return my calls after it. So I continued life, hoping in the back of my mind, that one day, it still may happen.

At what would have been ten years after we were together, I wrote him a tear-jerking letter asking him why he came back into my life for a fleeting moment only to leave just as quickly. It was possibly ten pages of thoughts, feelings, hopes (because I'm an avid letter writer!) and dreams of our time together and how he dearly had a place close to my heart. I wrote the letter and sealed it, but never sent it.... not until about three months later, having no idea what I actually wrote.

Two weeks after I posted the letter to his Dad's house (as that was the only address I had), I received a phone call at work. It was him. He sounded different... almost gay. I was excited because I had a chance to get to know him again, but concerned at the same time about his sexual orientation. We decided to meet up ten days later at a cafe halfway between our offices.

We met up at Giorgios in Armadale, he in his physiotherapist whites, me in my casual office attire and we sat down for a coffee. We talked about the unresolved issues we had between us, but he wasn't as open as I had hoped. He kept saying 'he'd forgotten.' But then he talked about all his beer drinking partying that he did ten years prior, and that he was still doing it... But he was also newly-married to the girlfriend he had after me. I was devastated, but realised that we were in two different places and wanting two different things, so it was OK for me to move on now.

So I did, and we never spoke again... not until I found him on the internet about eighteen months ago living in London. He had divorced his teenage sweetheart (I was his childhood sweetheart!), but now had a serious girlfriend with whom he was happy. He revealed to me in our first series of emails that he often thought about me, and wonders what would have happened if we continued. He told me he kept my letters in a box in his cupboard until one day someone robbed his house and took them, unknowing that it was nothing important to anyone else except him. He remembered my birthday without being prompted. His kindness was shining and he was showing that I actually did have a special place in his heart.

So today, we met up at Brown Cow in Hampton Street, I had a wine, he had a beer. We sat chatting for almost two hours about how his trip back home has been like, his travels, my travels, kids, family, life in general. It didn't seem like we were stuck for anything to say, and it was nice. The sun was out, we had a few smiles and a few laughs. He is still quite cute for someone who's almost forty, and taller than I remembered, and quite lean. He wore a shirt that revealed some of his salt-n-peppering chest hair, and his stubble showed flecks of grey, but his curly, slightly receding hairline didn't (and it didn't looked dyed either). His eyes were still as mesmerising, and he still had the sweetest smile, and I can see that we have a lot of things in common now - travel, living our own lives not that what our family expects, etc. but we are in different hemispheres all the same. I'm glad we still have our friendship and that will always continue.

So we left each other with a hug and a peck on the cheek, like friends do. He paid for the drinks, which was sweet and gentlemanly of him, and he sent me a text about an hour ago saying that it was great to catch up, apologised that it wasn't longer, and he hopes to see me in London one day soon.

So that's my love story that's blossomed back into my life in the form of friendship, someone who will always have a close place in my heart, someone I've never had any animosity with and someone I will have a connection with possibly for the rest of my life.