Nik


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Saturday, March 31, 2012 @ 1:06 PM PERMALINK

As mentioned, I was only in Canberra for a couple of days before I flew off to Melbourne.


One of the perks of getting an evening flight is the view.

Ive actually never travelled on a domestic flight before and everything is so quick. You don't even really need a passport just an official form of ID.

This was also my first time in a frequent fliers lounge and I only got to enter cause my godfather was flying with me to Melbourne for a conference. I apologise that there no embarassing noob photos of the Qantas Club for you to laugh at me about cause I was too shy. (But, woohoo, free food and drink)

The flight to Melbourne was about an hour and once we touched down we got a cab to the hotel to change before grabbing dinner (I wasn't aware that we were going to fly with my Godfather's business partner and colleague so I went to the airport in flip-flops and had on a top with an obvious hole in it ; talk about good first impressions right? )

We had dinner at Mamasita. The minute you walk up the small flight of steps into the restaurant you are hit with great smells and the sound of lively chatter. Like all good things, Mamasita recommends that meals be ordered for table sharing.

This is what we had:

• Elotes Callejeros. This is a Mamasita speciality and its chargrilled corn with cheese, mayo and lime. I LOVELOVELOVE corn on the cob and so this was exceptionally delicious for me.
• De Carnitas tostaditas. These are small fried tortillas with pork shoulder, jalapeno and chicharron on top of them. Very yummy although it was a pretty small serving of 4 small pieces per order
• Tacos. My taco came with turkey, black mole and vegetables. It was a very refreshing take on the usual tacos we get and the mix of ingredients used made for a very refreshing meal.

All the food at Mamasita was amazing and if you looking for a place to treat yourself to a nice dinner with friends, this is definately the place to go.


I took almost no pictures of Melbourne Central, so I shall fill the lack of pictures with a picture of an old building between the trees.

Oh actually, I found some photos in my phone.





I absolutely love the fact that so many of the buildings have been restored and kept close to their original form.

The next day, Bong came to get me and my bags before he rushed off to school and Jasmine took over introducing me to Melbourne Central. We walked around running errands (for her) and getting the lay of the land (for me). Jasmine was rife with useful information of which places to eat, get good coffee, where come back to and (for Bong's benefit) where to buy cheap groceries and household needs.

We also met up with Nat and Jastyn who very kindly offered to bring us out for dinner. After dinner we went back to theirs, watched Paul Blart, Mall Cop and hung out.

On our way back home we saw a guy feeding brush-tailed possums in the park. I am convinced that they are the cutest things but Jasmine says thats only cause I've never heard them fight with each other.

How is this NOT cute? (source of photo via click-through)



The next day, I decided to hit Habourtown. Habourtown houses a ton of outlet stores for mid priced brands. I'm easy to please and was just super happy that there were Valleygirl & Temt outlets.



You'd be surprised how much time you can spend here even if you aren't super interested in shopping and just like looking at shops (like me). There is also a black light mini golf course on the 2nd level.

Habourtown is easy enough to get to as it is the last stop on the free City Tram. Well, unless you have no sense of direction (like me), end up getting one of those trams that doesn't run its commentary (like that one I was on) and don't think to ask the driver before getting off (again, like me)

I got off about 3 stops too early and ended up walking back and forth in the hot sun trying to figure out where my maps app was trying to tell me to go.

After lunch at Burger Monster (pretty decent burgers if I do say so myself) I headed to Flinders to have a look around. Flinders Lane is home to a ton of cool shops and cafes. It is also home to my favourite shopping arcade, Cathedral arcade.




Absolutely amazing burger from Burger Monster. The patty was grilled to perfection with the edges crunchy but the middle still moist and juicy. This was just their normal cheeseburger and just typing about it makes me wish I could go out and grab one right now.


Flinders Station, across the street you can duck into Flinder's Lane where speciality shops of all sorts await you. There are speciality jam and spice shops, a ton of stores selling only vintage clothes, bookstores, paper stores, music shops...


A really charming bookstore that only sells children's books, it was so hard to leave empty handed because all the artwork was so well done.


This paper shop does personalized stationary for every purpose. No matter if it is for your own desk or for wedding invitations. It also carries wax seals, leather covered notebooks, ink wells, well folded invitations.. everything you've dreamed of having on your desk could be easily customized and ordered from here


I don't really remember anymore but I think this is either Centre Lane or Degraves.



Wall of Polyester Records. Polyester Records is a great shop to kill time in. It has a great book section as well as a huge range of local and international CDs and records.

Cathedral Arcade links Flinder's St to Swanston Street and I really love it cause just look at the design of it. Not only has the facade been preserved since the 1925s, it even hosts one of those lifts where someone stationed in the lift punches in the buttons for you. I wish I took a picture but I was just too amazed.




The arcade is also home to Retro Star Vintage shop, which has rack upon racks of well curated vintage gear. No matter if you are looking for old school band tour tshirts or bags from the 1930s, you can probably find it here.

The prices here are way below what you could get in Singapore but slightly more expensive than you would get at places like Camberwell Market. However, at Retro Star, you have the luxury of a huge range to choose from, fitting rooms and most of the items are also tagged to tell you which era they are from.




I didn't get the name of this bookstore that is also located in the arcade. With reading chairs and rugs everywhere, it is just inviting you to take a seat and talk about your favorite books.




After all that walking (& getting lost) I headed back for a rest and to drag Bong to Abbotsford Convent for a their weekly summer Supper Market.

Abbotsford is just a bus ride from Melbourne Central and after a short walk from the bus stop, this is the sight you are greeted with. How amazing is this?

The Supper Market is basically stalls set out on the convent grounds where you can buy food and sit down anywhere and eat. I expected there to be more stalls but just being on the beautiful grounds made up for it.



We got some ice lollies and were trying to decide what to eat when we came across Lentil as Anything. Lentil as Anything is basically a restaurant that runs on a 'pay as much as you like' model.


You drop your donation into a box at the entrance of the restaurant and proceed to the buffet line where you take what you want to eat. Waiters even come around to offer you drinks.



And the food is REALLY good. This was what I took, the pasta and dhal were really awesome and I was so tempted to go back for seconds even though I was really stuffed

On the way back we stopped for a quick look around Brunswick and Smith Street but the night was surprisingly quiet (maybe cause everyone was at Soundwave or something) so we headed back early.

Update more later! <3 all

Labels: melbourne, travel

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