Little Stalky Ventures Out

Yesterday I decided to venture out into Melbourne...on my own.  Solo Stalky.  Sans Mystical Roo.  On my bill.  Mystical Roo was working for most of the day so I thought I should take a look around.  Suss things out.  Get my Stalky strut on and blend in with the city folk.  Just like in Sydney.  Though with less McDonalds action.  Firstly I had me some breakfast.  It always feels strange having breakfast on my own.  I feel like people are staring at me and wondering why I have no friends.  I'm sure this is not the case as many people dine alone but I don't think I look like the business type.  Therefore I must have no friends.  Bah!  I thought about bringing my book with me but I have issues eating and reading at the same time.  I miss my mouth.  That would be an embarrassing public display.  Instead I found myself a spot by the window where I could do a bit of people watching and made sure to have my phone nearby so if needed I could have something to focus on.  Yes, I know I over think the situation but that's what I do.  I had a very nice breakfast of eggs Benedict with asparagus and three cups of tea.  A good start to the day.  Then I ventured out into the big city, conscious of the fact that, without Mystical Roo, I would have to take responsibility for not getting lost.  Easier said than done as I have a notoriously bad sense of direction.  Initially I headed in the direction of a blue sign that I thought said tourist information.  It actually said something harbour.  Not actually something harbour because that wouldn't make sense.  I just forget which harbour.  Anyway, this is besides the point.  I realised I didn't want to go in this direction and had to do that random thing of stopping and turning around without looking like too much of numpty.  Make it look like you've forgotten something and no one will question you.  Stop, pause, make thoughtful face, then light bulb above the head face, spin around and get marching.  Purposeful.  Not stupid at all.  I was ridiculously careful to walk mostly in a straight line and tried to avoid side streets for fear of getting lost.  There are a lot of shops in Melbourne.  I came across the expensive street and was tempted to go into Chanel but was scared of being frowned upon for having not enough money to actually buy anything by Chanel.  I continued.  There are a crazy amount of souvenir shops, all selling the same things.  There are also many coffee shops, doughnut shops and a huge number of Seven Elevens.  Not a Woolworths in sight.  I wonder where the people of Melbourne do their grocery shopping.  Do they have a trolley dude.  Probably not.  And that's a shame because everyone should have a trolley dude.  We stumbled across a huge sweet shop on our first night but wouldn't you know it, unsupervised, unrestricted, I couldn't find it again.  Typical!  After getting bored of wandering around shops - I'm not much of a shopper and even less of a window shopper - I decided I might do some writing.  Organised person that I am I had brought my laptop (with a non working battery) but forgot my notepad.  So I found myself a shop and made the exciting purchase of notepad, pen and grape flavoured lolly pop.  Living on the edge people!  My life is an exciting one.  I thought I'd head back to Federation Square - full of weird shaped buildings - and find me a spot to do some writing.  I ambled over - I do a lot of ambling - and was approached by a girl about my age who asked if I was looking for work.  I advised that no, I was just visiting and she smiled and walked off.  I then decided this was a random question and cursed myself for not finding out more.  For all I know she was a model scout or something.  Sarcastic ha!  I invested a dollar in a fluorescent Slurpee and then got distracted by a jazz band who had set up in the square.  The notepad was forgotten as I claimed a spot on the wall amongst various other folk and set about enjoying some music.  But it was bloody cold.  And although I had a coat and scarf I did not have any gloves.  With poor circulation it wasn't long before things started going numb.  It was only when I tried to phone Mystical Roo that I realised my index fingers weren't working properly.  And were a very pale colour.  Dag nabbit.  I figured that I probably needed to warm up again and that it was time for lunch.  As I bought a sandwich in the Seven Eleven my fingers still hadn't regained feeling and I had serious issues handling change.  I held up the queue and everything.  I warmed up back in the hotel room and promptly fell asleep with my sandwich.  So I'm not sure how productive my day was, especially seeing as the notepad is still in its plastic bag, but I enjoyed it.  Sometimes it's nice to have a break from having to do anything in particular.  A day of just ambling can be refreshing.  Today though I have two objectives.  To do some writing.  And to try my first Krispy Kreme doughnut.