2 Year Anniversary + My Birthday
Friday 11 April 2025 | My Birthday
Fun fact, I was actually born on a Friday. Like with most things in my life, my Birthday night was planned well in advance. As I keep telling Kelly, I’m a simple man. After work, I caught the train back to my mum’s and Kelly picked me up from the station. I had ordered pizzas before hand from a place called TJ’s Pizza in Telopea. It had quite a few good reviews. I’ve had a few poor experiences from pizza shops in the local area, Dundas and Carlingford. So I read the reviews carefully and was willing to give it a try. The prices for the pizzas are definitely pricey. The price for 3 pizzas was quite a bit and I was taken a back at how much 3 pizzas cost me compared to even somewhere in Dee Why. This was also pick up too, it wasn’t delivered. The timing worked out well as on the way there I had received a message saying the pizzas were ready. When I went inside and told them my name, they said it was coming, I still waited a few minutes though, so that made me think it actually wasn’t fully ready yet. The pizzas were also regular size and not large, so once again, the price for 3 regular pizzas astounded me.
We got to my mum’s place and wasted no time and went straight to eating. I got the peri peri chicken. Kelly got the vegetarian and my mum got the garlic prawn pizzas. The pizzas were good. My mum had a piece of the vegetarian and I had a piece of the garlic prawns. There were still some leftovers which I took back to Kelly’s. But of course after dinner, it was the highlight of the night with the ice cream cake. A true and tried tradition of mine every birthday. So that’s as complicated I want my birthday to be. Pizza and an ice cream cake.
Saturday 12 April 2025 | Kelly’s Surprise Lunch + Activity
I had booked and planned our Anniversary dinner for tonight. Kelly had booked and planned lunch plus a surprise activity. I wasn’t too sure what the activity could be as she said it was close by. Kelly still went to Pilates this morning and I went for a run along Narrabeen lagoon.
She then instructed me to drive to Manly. We parked up the big hill. The weather forecast was saying it was meant to rain today. But it was sunny and hot. It still did feel like Summer walking in the sun. We then got to the ‘Belgrave Cartel’ for our lunch. It is a quaint old looking place. By daytime it’s a cafe. Night time it’s a restaurant. Looking through the menu they didn’t seem to have a wide range compared to other cafe’s. But their jaffles did sound tasty. I was a bit worried it wouldn’t be substantial enough to last me to dinner time. I get the ‘Benno’ jaffle while Kelly got the zucchini fritters. The food was good. Nothing too special though. We had a bit of time before the activity so we walked around the corso for a bit. I was looking for something small to eat just so I wouldn’t get too hungry before dinner. We went past a few cafe’s and a bakery but I didn’t find anything I quite liked.
As we walked, Kelly suggested to sit by the water next to the wharf. On our way there, a Churros shop caught my eye. I ended up buying the ‘long’ one. We walked along the water next to the wharf, found a place to sit and I ate my churro. It was nice, but then again, I think it would be hard to get it wrong. After a bit of time, it was time to head to the surprise activity. We started walking back towards the corso. Then we ended up next door to where I got my churros and it was an Escape Room! We both found it hilarious how we were next door at the churros place and didn’t even notice that the escape room was right next door.
We headed downstairs and there was a family there waiting for their turn. We registered and signed in. The staff member was briefing the family on the instructions. Then he blindfolded them and led them into the room. Then it was our turn. He asked if we were first timers and we told him yes. He said the one we were doing (Kelly’s choice) was good for beginners as it’s not too hard but it makes you think. Kelly had chosen a room called ‘Entombed’. It was an Ancient Egypt theme which was fitting as Kelly has a deep interest in it. The staff member gave us the same brief. He blindfolded us and led us into a room. When were in the room we stood there and he said there will be a voice coming over the speaker and once that has finished we could take the blindfolds off.
I don’t want to give too much away. There were some parts we found a little difficult, some were easy. The staff members did come in and give us a few clues to keep us on track. We only had 1 hour and we did go over the hour. But it was great that they accommodated us and let us finish it even though the hour was up. We did enjoy it and I think if we ever did it again we’d have a better understanding of what to look for and how to think.
Anniversary Dinner | Luna Lu
For dinner, we headed to the Rocks in the city. I joked to Kelly saying that we should probably explore more areas as we’ve been to the Rocks quite a few times for different occasions. I used the Wilson Parking on Harrington Street. Although the location was convenient it wasn’t the best carpark. It was narrow. Even the actual car spaces weren’t roomy enough. I parked but the front of the car was sticking out. There was another Prado there and it was sticking out too. Considering the Prado has a shorter length then a ute, it wasn’t designed very well or only designed for small cars. There were no real signs for lifts as well, then when we found the lift it said that it was out of order, we found another lift and the sign said ‘No Access to Retail Shops’. We took it up to the ground floor and exited the building.
We walked past the main part of the rocks. It was a short walk but I guided Kelly towards the water where we took a short stroll and had nice view of the harbor and the Opera House. It’s always awkward asking someone to take our photos, but it has to be done! I managed to ask a mum with her two kids with her to take a photo of us and she politely obliged.
We continued on to Luna Lu. I had booked inside as I thought it might be a bit cool if we sat outside at night next to the water. We got led inside to a nice 2 seater table next to the window. We still didn’t have too much of a view though but it was nice and intimate. After perusing through the drinks and food menu, we made our choices. We both opted for mocktails for drinks. Kelly ordered the mock chicken, I ordered the seafood fried rice but I also got seafood dumplings as entree. The food was good. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but it was different but in a good way. I did try some of the mock chicken. It was ok, felt very filling though. We were both full from the main so we waited a bit before we ordered dessert. When I was researching places to have our dinner, I was looking through the menu at Luna Lu and one of the desserts caught my eye. When we were browsing the menu before dinner I did show Kelly the dessert I was thinking about and she liked the sound of it too. It was called the Luna Lu’s Opera House a signature dish. It was nice, a bit sweet of course and filling. Overall it was good, the food was different but nice and filling.
