Melbourne 2006
I have just returned from a long weekend in Melb (24 - 27 Aug) to visit some friends (ex-PwC) who are seconded there for the Australian CA programe (2+ yrs) - Michelle, Yishan, Darrell. It was my first time to Melbourne (what! you must be thinking) despite having stayed in Australia for over 13 yrs :P so it was quite exciting for me in that I finally got to see one of Aust's most cosmopolitan cities (might as well since I was in the area and the plane tickets were relatively cheap). The picture above shows Mich and Yishan as we are walking down Lygon St (something like the Italian side of Melb city) after they picked me up from the airport and we were looking for someplace for dinner.
Despite being in the Italian quarter of Melb, we settled for normal aussie food...a large burger with chips :P (above) at this place called Nocturnal ...something like an NYDC. Pretty standard stuff. Mich and Darrell (right) had some light stuff. Oh yeah did I mention that Melbourne is also the coffee capital of Australia..so many various cafes (and I am not talking Coffee Bean or Starbucks), but more like the quaint and small cafes with of course various quality of coffee. Too bad I am not a coffee drinker :P haha..wasted.
The next morning, Lynn (Mich and Yishan's room-mate...very nice) and myself set out for bfast. Both Yishan and Mich had to work..obviously, so Lynn was nice enough to accompany for my first walk around Melb CBD. We also wanted to check out this place recommended by Mich that apparantly sold $6.50 big breakfast...cheap by Australian standards :). The picture above shows me outside Mich and Yish's apartment..can you believe its right nxt door to the PwC building..talk about convenient (not to mention its a very fortuitous.."88") and its also a very nice place..with indoor heated swimming pool (small), free BBQ facilities, gym, and tennis courts. So much better than my Sydney place...haha..envious..could really enjoy it more if I was staying there :P. Plus the rent is cheaper than Sydney. Oh..and another thing, notice that I am carrying an umbrella? Yes, in Melbourne you also got variant weather...that means it can be rainy and cold one minute, and hot and sunny the next. Believe me, I have experienced it firsthand on the first day here. So an umbrella is an essential piece of equipment to tackle the four seasons in 1 day :P
So here is us (Lynn and me) at the bfast..I think its called Cafe Kodak??? its along the Yarra River foreshore. Quite a nice place and can see yourself really chilling out here with a good book and a cup of latte (and cake?)...haha :). Anyway the pictures below shows what we both had..all for $6.50!!! the first one is my big bfast, while Lynn had the vegetarian bfast.
2 eggs, 2 large toast, baked beans, gourmet sausage, bacon, mushrooms, and tomato
Scrambled eggs, 2 toast, mushrooms, spinach, baked beans, tomato.
Needless to say, I felt really super full after that meal, and so we walked around the Yarra river and Melb CBD. Lynn had to get back to the apartment to wait for the building supervisor to come and inspect so didn't really spend much time out. I would be going out later to explore Melb. Here are some pics of the Melbourne CBD skyline and another familar landmark ;)
Me with my trusty umbrealla again (how uncool :P) haha
A Familiar building?
After a short break back at Mich's apartment, I went out to meet Mich and Yishan for lunch. From some research and friend's advice, I wanted to go to this Jap resturant called Yu-U, and the this is it! Apparantly it has some of the best Jap food in Melb. As you can see from the picture its really like a 'hole in the wall' I mean, even the door had graffiti on it and there is this A4 printed paper telling customers that this was Yu-U...looks dodgey.
Wrong. This is what the inside looks like...pretty cool and stylish looking. Unfortunately, despite it being 'hidden' away...there are lots of people who go there and bookings are essential for lunch :P. So we didn't get to eat there (disappointed) and this place will have to wait till the next time I am back in Melb :).
After eating lunch at another Chinese place, I set off on my 
own to explore the wide streets of Melbourne. In my opinion it is so much more pleasant than Sydney, wider spaces, not as cramped and feels like there is less people :) (not to mention that it is the footy capital of Australia, and my team..the West Coast Eagles would be playing there constantly). Down side is the weather tho :P well cannot win them all...haha. The picture above shows me in Federation Square...err...I am not too sure of the significance of the place, but does seem to be a large open space in the middle of Melbourne with some shops around it :P The picture on the right shows Flinders St Station, something like the central railway station for the Melbourne CBD area. Quite historic looking eh...as opposed to those modern MRT stations we are use to in Singapore. Here are some more pictures of Melbourne CBD...nothing too fantastic, however you can almost never get lost in Melbourne as it is designed in a perfect grid like pattern, quite unlike the winding streets of Sydney.
The centre of the shopping in Melbourne...Bourke St Mall - notice the lines going down the centre of the mall, that is for the trams (there are no buses in Melbourne CBD...only trams). See the wide open spaces? Shops are pretty standard...those that you would expect from a normal Australian city.
Chinatown...pretty much 1 very long street with all the normal chinese type shops (resturants, souvenirs, chinese stuff :P). Walked around a bit, not in the mood to shop :( especially since there is no one with you and got no specific thing in mind to buy...more just for the sake of walking around Melb and having a look.
That night, I introduced the Singapore people to Aussie Rules Football (AFL, or "footy" as it is called). This game is unique to Australia and has the status of something like soccer to Singaporeans. This is a national sport and is big and crazy in Melbourne. Here is me standing outside Telstra Dome for the match of Western Bulldogs v St Kilda Saints. As you can see, its pretty packed :)
Haha...you would never guess what happened while Darrell and myself were waiting for the girls to arrive...I was randomly picked to give a short 'interview' to a...local Perth radio station (Groove 101.3 FM). Imagine that, someone from Perth, would be heard on Perth radio, in people's cars, houses, etc while visiting Melbourne! The picture above shows the 'interview' and me expressing my views on the game that was going to be played...haha. Thanks to Yishan for taking the picture...its a bit of an ego boost for me :P *celebrity* haha..
Above shows whats happened inside, as you can see its pretty packed..there was a crowd of about 40,000 + people inside and the roof was closed. My first live Melbourne football game (too bad my team wasn't playing...its all for the experience :P). Of course another 'tradition' at the footy is to have a beer there...which as you can see is what we all followed, coz some traditions are just not meant to be broken :P. Oh and you can only buy beer at the venue, due to safety reasons..you are not allowed to bring bottles and cans in (potential missiles). Cheers!
Some of the 'documents' for the night...top: the entrance ticket to the game ($18.50), bottom left: the train ticket ($3.20), bottom right: my betting ticket ($5 on 3:1 odds for the winning margin to be less than 15.5 points...the other team won by 50 points! :(...hey I had to bet coz otherwise won't have any interest in the game, my team wasn't playing..so not as passionate, needed the money factor..haha). Overall a good experience! :)
At San Remo, we had a late brunch at this organic cafe...which only served organic food (ie. not genetically modified in anyway). Tasted different. Not much of an opinion on it...probably too use to the GM stuff already..haha.
After breakfast, we headed across the bridge to Phillip Island, where our first stop was this Churchill Island Heritage Farm. There there was a market going on with various stalls...like a very very small Pasamalam. Here at this stall, it is claimed to have the 'Best Popcorn in the World!'...so those lovers of popcorn...please take note..haha. This place was something like an olden day farm, with a large homestead in the middle. Ok if you like the old style type of buildings...
Feeding the horses...
Mich and Yishan having their turn to feed the horses...a first time experience for them (being from Singapore). Think they enjoyed it :)
After the farm, we went to this beach (now for me...afterawhile 1 Aussie beach looks the same as any other Aussie beach...blue waters, white sands). I cannot remember the name of this beach, but it was nice. Even brought our KK (Krispy Kreme) all the way from Sydney to eat here.
The four of us with our KK, by the beach, in the bright Aussie sunshine...simple pleasures.
Lunchtime @ another one of those "world famous" fish & chips place...haha :)
After a quick lunch, we went to the Koala Wildlife Santuary, where we saw a total of....4 Koalas! Now Koalas are the 1 of the laziest mammals on earth...sleeping around 20 hrs a day, the rest of the time is spent eating. So it was no surprise that they were all sleeping and dormant when we went there. Not much of a Santuary..coz you would expect to see hundreds and hundreds of those grey creatures. Here is the best picture of 1 of them, for those who maybe have never seen 1 before...(its sleeping ;P).
Next stop..was Pyramid Rock. Kudos to Mich for thinking up a different pose with the sign :)
Pyramid Rock
We then proceeded to the objective of our trip..to see the penguines! Now this is the only picture I could take, as cameras are not allowed at all (they scare the penguines :P). But this picture of Yishan was taken at the beach, when I was blissfully unaware of that restriction :). What can I say about the penguine watching? They were small, cute and very timid (they were afraid of the many seagulls that were flying around, the lights, the sound, the people watching them emerge from the surf). So needless to say we spent about an hour in the freezing cold (its very very cold...make sure you bring lots of warm clothes if you are going here), and only saw a few batches of penguines...maybe they were still in the water waiting. But after awhile, we couldn't take the cold anymore and headed back..convinced that we'd seen all that we came to see :). Satisfied, we headed back to Sydney.
After dinner, an important place worth mentioning is Koko Black...those chocolate lovers take note! A must try is the hot chocolate...can you just imagine drinking melted chocolate? So rich and thick...makes the normal Cadbury stuff taste like...hmmm..water with a bit of cocoa powder in it :) haha... This place is a definitel must try place. Recommended.
posted by Darren at
5:05 AM
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