Mission #4: Final Report

Phew! Sometimes you don’t expect the unexpected and then so many things happen in one month. Here’s a recap:

A Month Ago…
I was working at my first full-time job at a small firm in St Kilda. Now I am working at a company with its own building in the city (such a change!).

I thought three blog posts would do this month for my mission of meeting other bloggers, as I wanted November to focus more on my job transition and preparing for my holidays.

Instead I ended up with six posts due to unexpected invitations to events. I don’t know what caused this sudden burst – one week I was happy to have a free Wednesday to relax, but at 9pm the night before an email caused my plans to suddenly change! This has caused me to order in business cards and make a Twitter – it’s all happening.

Invites
Invites are a debatable topic for bloggers – you are thankful for the invitation but you owe it to your audience to be honest. I’ve always thought this is problematic because some restaurants usually just want the publicity, but I wish some would also reach out for feedback (as the Pho24 event did, stating it was an open forum.)

One restaurant never replied to me as I did not write a raving review, another threatened legal action. Albeit, that one wasn’t an invite, but it got me pretty worked up about my freedom of speech.

It has been one. Big. Crazy. Month.

Meeting Melbourne Foodies
But with that off my chest let’s look at the positives of this month – I have met so many damn awesome bloggers! You might think there are too many foodies or self-proclaimed foodies in Melbourne but there’s much more to it than that. They all have their own style, their own goal, their own way of wanting to share their experiences.

Some cook, some don’t. Some rate places, some just write about them. Some just Instagram.

There are so many places to eat in Melbourne but we are also lucky to have so many of these “foodies” to help find a new favourite destination, a hidden gem or a venue for your next party. Sometimes I need to return to a picture that I’ve “liked” on Instagram to see where it was tagged at so I can add it to my list of places to go!

I apologise for the rambling but I think this month has just helped open my eyes to this world of blogging, one year and a bit after starting my own blogging adventures.

Where was my favourite experience?
Of course, I can’t choose a favourite blogger from this mission as they all have their different quirks – but I can choose a favourite place! Or let’s say experience, because in this case it was the Summer Tastes with Manu Feildel event at Highpoint Shopping Centre.

I was able to meet this celebrity chef and sample his cooking and it did not disappoint! The food was layered with flavours and his French accent was a nice bonus. I’ve also never been to an event like this, and being able to go up to the stage and take close-up photos during the demonstration was a whole new experience.

Here’s my other posts from this month if you missed them, including some awesome foodies I met:

• Simply Spanish with @spooksnbubbles
• Industry Beans with @melbourne_food_blogger
• T by Luxbite with @curiousxcharlie, @theragingpiglet, @emeow33 and many more
• Summer Tastes with Manu Feildel with @mummyfashionblogger and more
• Pho24 event with @ieatmelbourne, @chasingaplate and more
• Grand Trailer Park Taverna with @allergicinmelb

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s series but I also hope you keep an eye out for my next one. I don’t want to hype it up too much but I hope to involve my readers and followers a bit more and you might just see a bit more of a personal side from me!

Meanwhile here’s a recap of my other articles. Don’t forget to vote for them so I can go in the running for a brunch voucher 😉 Just sign in and press the heart on Livlicious!

Roberts Burns Hotel: a lovely find as an alternative to the Latin Fiesta as it was raining. Excellent sausage platter and paella!

Mr Miyagi: I tried them as part of the Night Noodle Market and heard a lot about them. They were one of the busiest stalls. Their salmon tacos were pricey but so worth it!

The Brulee Cart: Also from the Noodle Market, I was a bit reluctant when they were so small for $9. However, it was pretty delicious! I had the dulce de loco, with salted caramel, pear, popcorn and more!