Great Coffee and a Seminar at the University of Melbourne

This morning, I decided to take things easy and work on some data analysis and start the process of packing for the trip home. I also had a nice conversation with mom via Skype for a while. After the Skype conversation, I went to check out a coffee shop that I had heard about the previous night while overhearing another dinner conversation. The coffee shop 'Seven Seeds' may be one of the most awesome coffee shops I have ever been to. You would never know that it existed unless someone told you about it as the facade is very plain. The coffee shop is actually located very close to the University, but you have to walk down a few streets to get there.

When I got the coffee shop, the first thing I noticed was that the atmosphere was great and the place was full of people. Located in a stretch of road that has a very noticeable 'urban' feel to it, the coffee shop had a very underground/urban feel to it. The place just seemed like the type of location where you would want to go to just chill for a while.

In addition to grinding their own beans (as most coffee shops do), this place also roasts their own beans. Large windows allowed customers to look in on the bean roasting process as a few workers were busy roasting another batch of coffee beans. The coffee itself was great (and reasonably priced)! It is probably good that I didn't find this early or else I probably would have spent way too much time and money going there.

After having coffee, I ate lunch in the park outside the Graduate House. The weather was great and it was nice to just be outside for a bit. A lot of university students were walking around and that always makes people watching even more interesting!

Afterward, I went back to my room and finished preparing for my seminar before getting dressed up and heading across the street to the university. I gave a departmental seminar to the department of chemical engineering and I think it went quite well! I felt like the audience enjoyed the talk and I received a few good questions. One girl, in particular, looked like she might have been enjoying it a little too much - haha. I have never seen someone watch a presentation with that much enthusiasm before. In any case, it was a good experience.

After the presentation, I went to dinner with Sandra, Judy, Colin, and Adrian. We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant on Lygon Street - making this my last dinner of the trip on Lygon Street. Unfortunately, I had been to better restaurants along that stretch of road, so that was a bit disappointing. But, the company was good and we had fun chatting away over dinner.

After dinner, I needed to pack up my life here in Australia for tomorrow's big move from the Graduate House to the first of 2 remaining hotels in Melbourne. I'm glad to see that I haven't accumulated too much stuff as I was just able to throw stuff in my suitcases (more or less randomly) and still have no problem closing them! My goal is to actually pack more carefully at some point this weekend. I have a few more bottles of wine to give away as gifts here, so that will change the packing scheme a bit. I also have a few more items that I want to buy here.

Anyhow, I think it's about time to call it a night! I have (for the most part) enjoyed staying in the Graduate House, but I probably won't miss the meals or the lack of air-conditioning (though the weather has cooled down quite a bit over the last few weeks). In any case, I still have a few more days to enjoy Melbourne and I am looking forward to those!