Bitten by the Melbourne bug!

This is a long overdue post, but better late than never!

For the longest time ever, i've been saying the same thing, "I'm going to visit Australia soon!" I think that turned into mere words instead of an actual plan.

Plus, most of my friends were there studying while I was stuck in Malaysia. So...what's could be better than going there for a holiday?

Although i'm several late in fulfilling this (many friends have graduated & left Aus), but I'm super duper blessed and thankful for this trip! :) 

The flight there was bad. A combination of uncomfortable seats, air-conditioner on full blast and turbulence made me really unhappy. It even got off to a horrible start. However, i'm willing to do it all over again just to visit any country. :)

I also realised how unprepared I am when it comes to travelling anywhere with the four seasons. I didn't have the right jacket, clothing or shoes. Luckily I got everything from my aunt. Or else I would have frozen. I'm practically covered up in most of my photos with jackets too small or too big. Eeek.

The view from my aunt's place that greeted me every morning!

On my first day there, I was experiencing Melb life through Kevin & Justin's eyes. We visited Mart Cafe (I still find it super cool that they turned a tram stop into a restaurant), Albert Park and Fitzroy Street.

JUST LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF SALMON. SO DELICIOUS *stares longingly at the food*

Justin, Kevin & CK! :)

I loved the graffiti around.

At night we had dinner at Sofia. I've been hearing about this restaurant from friends there so I had high expectations. The food was alright but the portion is HUGE. The four of us there were stuffed halfway through the meal. 

Garlic Bread - Aussie style

The next day was spent visiting Victoria Market and just walking about the city, even visiting the Melbourne museum. I'm grateful that Shereena took time to bring me, my brother and cousin about! So much love for you! :D

The famous jelly doughnuts.

Famous churros! 

One of the many street performers :)

Kawan baik saya since Form 1 :)

Menya's oxtail tongue rice. ONE OF THE BEST DISH EVEEEER.

Spent the night having Korean BBQ and catching up with the church friends :) 

It's been too long!

Another day was spent in Docklands. Just walking around, taking pictures, eating and SHOPPING. Shereena managed to coax me into buying a lot of things. If DFO's existed in Malaysia, i'd be broke by now. Even after converting, everything was so cheap!

I tried burgers from Grill'd, a healthy burger joint in Melb.

Happy with my purchase!

Then after going to Gold Coast for four days (I will blog about it in another post), I spent the rest of my holiday visiting friends, exploring most of the sights in my "Melbourne Attractions" and my own personal list, eating good food and just having a great time.

Spent some time with these girls catching up over brunch at Oscar Coopers and visiting Chadstone! 

I also managed to meet up with Jia Shen. And it's good to know that he hasn't changed one bit. :P

We also spent one whole day on the Phillip Island tour. We went to a wildlife farm, an actual farm, a chocolate factory, and the highlight of the trip, PENGUINS! 

I was stuck with a bunch of Asian tourist. And it got a little bit frustrating when they started to do the complete opposite of what the tour guide told them to do. It's not only annoying, it's pretty rude too. At one point, some of them refused to feed the wallabies at the sanctuary because they were scared so they decided to try something new. While I was feeding the wallabies, they stood nearby, completely blocking me from the picture and snapped a picture with a baby wallaby that was eating out of my hand. 

I'm just thankful i'm not part of some family's holiday picture. Hehe. 

I fed a wallaby! :D

At the edge of Phillip Island :)

I also had the chance to stop by ACMI, Australian Centre for the Moving Image to see...

Sadly, we couldn't take any pictures of the costumes because it was private property. :(

But we got to see several iconic costumes such as Batman, Harry Potter, Audrey Hepburn's costume from Breakfast at Tiffanys and the one and only Marilyn Monroe's costume.

Spot us!

A tourist shot outside Flinders Station. ;P

Ended that day with mass, dinner at Macaroni's and gelato in the cold weather. That's when my brother and I experienced riding the metro home with a bunch of drunk guys. One kept harassing a couple behind us while another one was doing some acrobat stunts near my brother.

Thankfully we got off unharmed. But it was an interesting experience nonetheless.

We also visited Mount Dandenong during our last weekend there. Tried the famous Pie In the Sky that everyone was raving about, especially my cousin.

Shepherd's Pie! 

After typing all these, i'm missing Australia terribly. I even miss the weather (a small tiny bit). I miss the feeling of exploring a new country, the food there, the incredibly nice people you meet, the friends there and the fact that i'm on a holiday. :(

Gold Coast post coming up next!