About Melbourne (Part 1)

I've finally decided to sit myself down and blog about my recent Melbourne trip. (Figured I'd better do it now before I totally forget what we did and where we went... Especially with me getting older, my memory isn't what it use to be. Haha...)

DAY 1 - THURSDAY, 23 MARCH, 2006

The Stiletto and I got to the airport at 3pm. 4 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. Yes. 4 hours. Heh... I was of the theory that the sooner we got to the airport, the sooner our vacation started. And I wanted to be able to take a very leisurely browse through DFS. I ended up shopping even before I left Singapore. Bought 2 very cute tops from Giordano Ladies. Woot!

Oh. And I hereby swear that this is the 1st and LAST time I am flying British Airways. The seats were highly uncomfortable, the food was unpalatable to say the least and the crew didn't bother very much with any passenger that wasn't Caucasian. World's favorite airline my big, fat, hairy toe! Bleah...

Our flight took off 20 minutes late. Surprisingly though, we made good time, touching down in Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport a mere 7 hours later at 5.20am...


DAY 2 - FRIDAY, 24 MARCH, 2006

Since taxis in Melbourne are horrendously expensive, The Stiletto and I had decided against taking a cab from the airport. Instead, we opted for the Skybus Super Shuttle, which proved to be extremely efficient in transferring us and several other passengers to our respective accommodations in the city... All for A$24 per pax return. A taxi would have cost us twice as much at least!

Seeing that we made such good time, The Stiletto and I found ourselves at our service apartment much earlier than expected. (I was a little spaced out by this point, not having slept much on the plane but I remember the sun hadn't yet risen, so it must've been around 6.45am?) Since check-in wasn't until 10am, we dumped our bags with the desk and made our way to Queen Victoria Market for breakfast... Or brekkie, as the Aussies call it. :)


The best way to start a day, in my opinion... 6 piping hot, freshly-made, sugar-coated jelly donuts, a scrambled egg and bacon bagel, and deliciously foamy lattes. I don't know why but for some reason, the coffee in Melbourne tastes a million times better than anything you can find here. Damn but I miss it already... Starbucks, schmarbucks...

After we stuffed our faces, The Stiletto and I wandered around the city for a bit. Unfortunately, by 9am, all the coffee in the world couldn't keep our energy levels up and we were practically staggering with fatigue. Praying that our apartment would be ready early, we trudged back, only to be told that we had to wait another half hour. I remember us giving vaguely dopey smiles, plopping our exhausted butts down on the reception's sofa and promptly falling asleep, not stirring till the nice folks there woke us up and handed us our keys...

A 4-hour nap later, we were raring to go. Well... Sort of lah. Actually, more than anything, I think it was a constant, gnawing hunger that made us drag ourselves out of bed.


I decided to introduce The Stiletto to my favorite sushi stall at Target Centre along Bourke Street... It didn't take him long to become a huge fan of their avocado handroll (He ended up having it 3 more times during our trip!). To me, the teriyaki chicken continues to kick ass! Yummm...


It was a beautiful autumn afternoon and Bourke Street was bustling with shoppers...



For the time being, however, we were quite content lounging around at Gloria Jeans Coffee, nibbling our handrolls, sipping our lattes and posing for silly photos... (Btw, it was in the pic above that I realised my hair's too bloody long. I look like a freaking farmer's wife!)

Friday = Extended shopping hours in the city. However, with our late start, we only managed to cover Target, Myers and last but not least, Melbourne Central, where the biggest highlight seemed to be this very cool LCD screen...


We were looking for the Sportsgirl store and ended up getting kinda lost amidst the hundreds of shops at the new Melbourne Central. After trying in vain to get my bearings, I spotted this huge touchscreen TV... Which very funkily gave us directions, maps and arrows and all, on the shortest way to get to our desired destination. How cool is that? Heh...

The Stiletto decided to cook me dinner so we then raided Safeway for steaks, pork chops, fresh mushrooms and frozen fries... A$50 worth of groceries. For a single meal!

After yet another pig out, we decided to get an early night and start bright and fresh the next day... Bridge Road baby! Woohoo!!!


DAY 3 - SATURDAY, 25 MARCH, 2006


Us, opposite Flinders Street Station, waiting for the number 48 or 75 tram to take us to Bridge Road, home to fashion factory outlets and good food... That's St Pauls Cathedral in the background...


Here's a clearer shot... Click here for a virtual tour of the cathedral...

A short tram ride later, we found ourselves outside a small hotel / pub...


Where we had a truly excellent lunch. Bangers and mash for me... Roast chicken and parmesan ravioli for The Stiletto... Yes, yes, I know the sausages look extremely phallic... But they were extremely yummy! :P


We then attempted to walk off that huge meal by plowing through the myraid of shops along the stretch... Review. Portmans. Dotti. Witchery. Bendon. Nine West. Surprisingly, neither The Stiletto nor I managed to get the retail therapy we wanted... Until we hit the Esprit factory outlet. Well... Let's just say that my credit card's still in therapy... :(

5.30pm and it was time to head back to the city... I hate how shops close so damn early in Melbourne. I mean, you get into this whole shopping groove but before you know it, they're nudging you out of the store. Grrr...


Since it was a little early to head home, we lazed around 1 of my old haunts, L'incontro, nursing another couple of lattes.


I snapped this as we walked back to the apartment... Not sure why it turned out this way... I look kinda freaky / ghostly, huh? Eeep... (And my hair looks awfully flat! Ick!)


Bong 360. Hahaha! (Sorry... Private joke. :P)


We kept getting asked if we were on our honeymoon. Errr... Now I wonder why people were getting that impression? :P Heh heh... Please lah, honeymoon in Melbourne? Do I look like such a cheapskate? Hahaha...


New top I just bought. A little more conservative and sweetie-pie than I what normally wear, but it's so pretty, don't you think? ;)


Later that same night, just before we made our way to Crown for dinner at Greco. I don't think The Stiletto has fully recovered from his experience with their strawberry cheesecake yet... Heh...

That pretty much sums up our 1st 3 days... More to come in subsequent posts... I can't be bothered to resize and upload all the photos at 1 shot... :P