The recent trip to Melbourne with my girlfriend was TERRIFIC! I had a chance to meet up with my sibling, who got there a month ago for his Masters studies and got to know his housemates who were madly adorable!
Sweet husband and wife!
Coming out from a little town into a big city , I was totally in awe with everything. SERIOUSLY EVERYTHING! Everything seemed to multiply by 100 or more- the number of people, the buildings, cars, traffic lights, restaurants etc. Suddenly I felt like I have lost touch with this other side of the world. Eh hem... exactly like the feeling of the
kampung girl.
Senget Traffic light!
So, on our first day, we just hang around in town. After settling with some visa and mobile issues, we visited the Melbourne Museum.
Next on our list was the Great Ocean Road tour! I was rather excited to see beautiful sandy beaches again, understandably there's none at where I was. The drive along the road was scenic (tip given by a friend: sit on the left side of the bus). The sky and sea were remarkably blue. That really brought back fond memories with my university friends in Adelaide. I miss Glenelg beach and the company.
Spotted a few random koalas in some residential area!! Here's one
The highlight of the trip was when we reach the end of the destination -
The Twelve Apostles . Simply AMAZING!. I wasn't aware of its existence until my girlfriend told me about this trip! Totally took my breath away when I saw it with my own eyes. Definitely a must to see! Oh, there are only 8 left now. One of them tumbled a few years ago. The salt and pepper shape was my favourite one of all! They looked like twins (middle of the picture)
On the very next morning, we were all geared up for some shopping! Victoria market was our first stop before hopping onto a train to Boxing Hill with bro's housemates to get Chinese groceries. You have no idea how elated I was when I went to huge Asian grocery area. I bought almost $100 worth of groceries and happily stuffed them in my luggage XD
Our last day at Melbourne was spent hanging out with friends. We met up with my high school friend and another friend. This high school friend of mine is as humble and friendly as he always is. I'm just so glad to meet up with him after all these years. And so, we hopped from one restaurant to another and to another. We had tea (chocolate rather!) at San Churro. My girlfriend who is a BIG chocolate fan enjoyed herself VERY MUCH! Even the bitter ones.
Oh, and that reminds me of a recent incident where my housemate offered me her favourite chocolate. When I took a bite, to my horror it was SO BITTER! Aarrgghh... Quickly, I helped myself with a large glass of water and swallowed it down with two gulps. She looked at me with disbelief and told me that I would never have her chocolate again. Waste my money, don't know how to appreciate good stuff, she said. We burst out laughing in the end.
After chocolate, we went to another dessert place- Brunetti. More sweet stuff, pretty cakes =)
And then, DINNER time!! He brought us to this special Asian fusion place. Loved the awesome layout. The food was surprisingly good too!!!
What better way to call it a day other than sweet supper (I sure hope our pancreas were secreting enough insulin throughout the day!) ? We went to the famous Max Brenner and we all sat on the little 'padang' opposite enjoying the cool breeze while sipping on our hot chocolate beverage. Slurps! YUM.
So, that's 4 days in Melbourne for me! Obviously we did more stuff. I want to go back there again because there are so many places that I've yet to explore. I would definitely like to see the Twelve Apostles again. Anyone wants to join me on the next trip? I better start saving again! XD
