Dome: Mandurah

So for some stupid and unknown reason, we chugged all the way to Mandurah on a Saturday with crap weather. Not the best timing but what the heck, what's the chances of going to Mandurah purely based on impulse?

Though I have been down (up? Not sure =p) to Mindarie Keys a few times on impulse and GOD DAMNIT, it's beautiful there. I remember sitting on a cliff with the ocean crashing down below and nothing but the sea stretching out forever in front of you.
And it feels like...I can just stay there forever.

So anyway, on the outskirts of the heart of Mandurah where most of the restaurants are, is a little lone Dome situated adjacent to the ocean. And this is where we camped for the next 5 hours or so...trying to study. The place has a very open design, where the lack of windows becomes one huge open-spaced window overlooking the beach horizon.

We settled down to a spot to take in the lovely black storm clouds, random downpours of rain and the angry, angry ocean. See, the view really IS lovely, when you are smart enough to check the weather before you go and burn half your petrol tank getting there!

Going on roadtrips usually means I'm starving by the end of the car ride. And going on roadtrips in the morning ALWAYS means I've woken up 15 minutes before the scheduled time, skip breakfast and complain about my hunger the whole way there while my stomach talks non stop. God I love journeys. But it's probably best not to sit in the same car as me if we ever go on one =)

We needed food. We ordered food:

Caramel Nut Crunch - $5.95

This came out first and gosh, it was mouthwatering eye candy in anticipation of the rest of our meal. I was pretty jealous I didn't get one for myself and started to feel deep regret for declining the offer of one. It's usually a personal policy of mine to say YES to offers LOL =p

I love looking at their drinks page of the menu. It's sorta like a sensual feast, reading and imagining what all their drink selections taste like and wanting to just GET THEM ALLLLL. Alas that would be idiotic and hence only this one was ordered.

Milk blended with a shot of coffee and topped with cream and big chunks of chocolate filled with peanuts and caramel wafers. Damn, that's like music to the ears. I didn't drink this but something that sounds so good must have tasted just as good.

Vegetarian Wrap -$10.45

I was tempted to get this but the other beat me to it :( And I have a strange dislike of ordering the same food as someone else at a meal. It's not really a case of that annoying girl syndrome of "Omg, she's wearing the same dress as me" but more because I'm greedy and want the chance to be able to sample different dishes in one meal.

I always, always, always end up scabbing from other people's plates. I can't resist. Never much (well, sometimes much, if I fall in love with it) but I do. Conversations always go like this:
"Geez, finish my whole plate why don't you?!"
And I'd pause for a second..."Yeah okay :D"
If you ever eat with me, I'm sorry, and be prepared to lose half your meal yeah?

This seemingly healthy vegetable wrap consisted of grilled eggplant, zucchini and red capsicum with fetta cheese, fresh spinach leaves and basil pesto in a lightly toasted flat bread wrap, substituted here with turkish bread and served with a side of tomato chutney. Grilled vegetables always taste a bizzilion times better than fresh vegetables. Like how raw food tastes better when it's cooked, yeah? =p

Vegetarian Break-Feast - $14.95

For some reason the carnivore in me died off and this choice became pretty appealing. I think it was all the colours that did it for me, which explains why I was so in love with fairy bread when I was younger. And maybe I was being considerate and wanted to uphold my sharing theory from above so that he could have my breakfast also. I am such an awesome, thoughtful friend.

Somewhat average scrambled eggs (choices of fried/poached/scrambled), mushrooms, spinach, grilled tomato, hash brown which I so generously gave away because I shouldn't eat it anyway LOL, baked beans and pretty burnt-on-the-other-side-so-you-can't-see-it toast. And 2 slabs of melted liquid butter. It did alright. Filled me on the spot but not for too long :(

Classic Scones - $8.95

Probably about 2 hours later, I needed food. Not necessarily hungry, but just felt like eating so to speak. This was meant to be a "reward" for getting some work done, much like a carrot on a string type thing. But since I was still sitting in front of a blank word document, I wasn't allowed.
Call it discipline if you must, I call it GAYYYYYYYYY!!!!! What am I, 5?

So probably an hour after this, we begrudgingly spewed up a paragraph or so onto our respective word documents and thus could share some scones. Hard life.

At that price, it got us 2 fluffy scones accompanied with whipped cream and a pretty sweet berry jam. And 2 slabs of non-melted not-so-liquid butter this time. Surprisingly, I didn't eat much, after all that lust. Like they say, the chase is always better than the conquest ;)
To me, scones are nothing special. Cause they aren't!
Before I ate: "It just looks like bread"
After I ate: "It just tastes like bread"
Verdict: Scones are just like bread.

And I got on with my work.

Hot Chocolate

This definitely used to be my drink of choice, probably because of that thick, fluffy layer of milk foam on top adorned with chocolate powder sprinkles. And I still fight people for that layer from people's cups when it comes to the table, so I guess it is STILL my drink of choice. And I guess I steal drinks as well as steal food. Need. To. Change. Badly.

So whenever someone orders a hot chocolate, they automatically give it to me first. I always get called a kid for getting excited over the foam. It's so good! Then the rest of the drink is usually just complementing the foam for me. If a cup of hot chocolate could be just a cup of hot foam, I'd be over the moon.

This was made with skim milk I think, so the resulting drink is probably not as smooth/creamy as it could be, but that's my fault that I shouldn't drink/eat fatty stuff. Good pick-me-up on a cold, rainy, gloomy day like that day. I got halfway only as I still can't understand my sometimes-fine-sometimes-not tolerance for milk. Like a friend said,
"I am sometimes lactose intolerant." LOL yeah, when I feel like it.

...

I've eaten at Dome a few times, at different locations, and I gotta say different locations have their own strengths and weaknesses. Hot chocolate at Leederville Dome for example, pretty good from what I remember of it. Drink prices are pretty standard, but some food prices are a bit overpriced for what they are. Good menu choices as well as a seasonal changing menu makes for interesting choices but sometimes, I think I enjoy reading the extensive menu and imagining the tastes over eating the food itself. Sometimes. When it falls short of expectations.

So of course, obviously, DUH, you wouldn't make the trip down to Mandurah just for Dome, when there is probably a Dome down the road from where you are. Which makes me feel all the more stupid for wasting time and (not my) petrol but it was a good getaway from the usual city scene :) Mandurah is quite a picturesque and eventful place and is quite a touristy spot if you visit leisurely, and not for a one page report summary with size 11 Arial font with 2.5cm margins and 1.5 spacing on your mind.

Zzz.

I think the advantage and special thing about this particular Dome is its location, opening up to a seaside view from its front verandah. It would make for brilliant sunsets on a better day when the sky is feeling a bit happier. Pity.

There's customers all the time, seeing as they open throughout the whole day and don't shut doors between lunch and dinner times. Laid back, relaxed cafeteria atmosphere means you can laze around to your content and procrastinate as long as you need without a time limit. Always useful when you need to study. That probablyyy explains my grades. And how good they are. LOL...

Sigh. My fluency in sarcasm screws me over most of the time.