Chronicles of Down Under: Day Out in Melbourne

So the Chongs drives all the way down to Melbourne - which is like a drive from Seremban to KL, within speed limit. The plan was to stay with EChong 1 nite slightly outside Melbourne and Dav the other 2 nites in the heart of Melbourne. And after all that, I think I should have stayed an entire week in Melbourne city itself. I really think I should have. Melbourne city was so beautiful to behold. There were so many sides to it and just held me in awestruck wonder. Too bad rite? Yet it's the one I spent the least amount of time in. Woe to me.

Yeh... not "ya"... it's yeh...

So trip in Melbourne was exciting and full all the time. And I was coerced into saying this on my blog: Dav was sweet to give me almost all his time - sacrificing sleep, his homework and his diet - to make my time most fulfilling, giving me the most express tour of the city. And seeing every nook and cranny, back alley and glamour lane. Thanks Dav! *hugs*

It is spring in Melbourne. And even though I was told that if I had only come two weeks later I'd really see the flowers bloom, and even though it's still draught in Victoria (the state where Melbourne is), the flowers were in bloom. An the variety was so so bountiful.

Dandenong Range National Park, somewhere further up Waverly near Dandenong mountains, where the trees are skinny and tall. So high in the sky and lining the entire park. And the cuckatoos and parakeets and other kinds of birds just flock where the tourists are hoping to get some feed of your hand. They crowd the entire front and people and children alike scream in glee at chasing these birds. I love it when they fly in flocks from one corner to the other. But alas my response too slow to record them.

Dav's abode where I stayed 2 nights. His room is the walkway to another room - his housemate whom I made acquaintance with. Are all artistic people messy? *snickers* He stayed between two streets above Tourism Malaysia that I was forced to remember in case of anything. And all the reminders of Malaysia might keep Dav always thinking of home. Pictures hung on the wall all the way to the 3rd floor where he lives. Oh yea, Dav got a hair cut.

I met up with some people in Melbourne. Besides Dav and Peter, we had a board game cum supper with their cell members, at their friend's board game cafe. Dav and Peter are cell mates! Who knew! I also dropped by to say hi to my cousin, Wei Yee, who lived a few roads away. Ah, the picture above also shows a statuette - real people who pretends to be statue all day long. Although this one moved quite a bit, mechanically.

Melbourne Uni where Dav studied, and where my dad studied 30years ago. When Dav was at the workshop making his timber table, I walked the surrounding with Peter, taking over a hundred pictures. Most of which I wanted to show my dad. But because I was intrigue by the entire place. It wasn't just a place of study or a place where students stroll... but it was so much more. I will post the pics up on Flickr later on. There were even areas of the uni I was not allowed to photograph (i.e. Anatomy and Pathology museum). Yea, Peter sneaked me into a lot of places on campus. Shh....
Ahh... the food. I told Dav I would love to eat and eat. Don't bother about shopping, just take me to the food... and he did. Pastas, steaks, kangaroo meat, souvlaki something, authentic burnwood pizza, some chocolate desert thingy, gelato. Oh at his friend's board game cafe we had sweet dessert which include some sort of durian pudding and pandan soufflé and even a drink called Godzilla (made of milo). Yea, she's Singaporean or something. People really like cafes here. They're in every corner. We had a enormous proportion of meat (pork ribs, chicken fillet and tandoori, lamb shank, beef steak, etc.) at Crown's one night, but because it was a casino I was not allowed to photograph it.

The city was enchanting. It is interesting to note that a huge number of Melbourne folks dressed in black. Like a lot. Life surrounded around trams and bicycles while numorous other town folks depend on their own two feet to get around. I never walked so much in my life in a day. That was why my foot had swollen partially by the time I left Melbourne and almost ocmpletely by the time I landed in Brisbane. There is a map in the above picture which shows just how far we walked. Dav's right pinky finger is on Melb Uni, right thumb on where he lives and left pointer finger on Crown's where we had dinner one night. The picture on the 3rd column 2nd row shows 4 people in costume (ceasar, santa claus, superman, and some ancient mediterranean guy) walking down the road. I snuck a picture. We later saw them again with a group of people all in costume running amock the place at past midnight. Interesting eh?

I was awestruck by the sights of the city. The building structures and just the feel of the city. I could stand and just look if Dav wasn't hurrying me along everywhere. I really just have so many more pictures to show. I really loved the city. In the picture above, I was pointing at the tallest building on the southern hemisphere. While on the diagonal corner of the picture is china town. I was also informed that Ghost Rider was shot in Melbourne itself. Dav showed me some spots and the most famous scene of the Rider over the bridge and then jumping into the river while the police chased him? The bridge is in the above picture? Recognise it?

Oh I was at the musuem too. It was so interesting like you'll never believe it. I'm not kidding it was beautiful, and informative, and interactive, and colourful, and all that. Kids won't be bored in there with THAT many things to see and do. I was completely impressed. You'll see what I mean when I put up the rest of the pictures.

I'm unable to upload all my pictures yet because Esther here has an upload limit and I'll exceed it three times over if I attempt to upload them. So we just all have to wait. There are some really nice pictures and videos that I took. But oh well. I'll just be writing titles and description in flickr when I finally upload them.

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