Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Melbourne Day 1

After much delay, I finally manage to sit down and write the first post of my Melbourne trip back in July. Aunty Judy, don't flood the whole U.K. after this ah! :P

2nd July 2007
It had been a long time since I last travelled in a long journey bus. After having an 8 hours ride, we (Danny and I) finally reached Melbourne from Adelaide at 6a.m. sharp.

I picked up my mobile and started to call my friend, Siong Bing. Before I could do so, my mobile rang and it was him.

"Hey, I saw you! Stay where you are," he said.

I saw him coming out from his car wearing a short pants. It was so cold and he could stand the coldness. I was freezing at that time, holding on two luggages and a backpack and went straight to his car.

He fetched us back to his house after that. On the way to his house, I could see myself the Melbourne city which was full of high rise buildings. And at about 6:30a.m., the freeway was already lining up with cars.

"What a busy city", I thought.

Once we reached his house, he asked us to take a rest (sleep). Although I manage to take a nap once in a while in the bus, I was real tired. Danny felt the same. After setting up the living room with two mattresses, comforters and pillows, we slept. The living room became our "bedroom" for the next few days. Thanks to Siong Bing and his brother, David, for taking these two refugees.

Sleeping for about 4 hours, we were woke up by Siong Bing.

"Eh, time to explore Melbourne!" he reminded us.

He drove us to the nearest shopping centre, Chadstone Shopping Centre, to take a look. Yea, just take a look since guys seldom shop.

Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Oh, fresh Mrs. Fields.

The "open" roof is fabulous!

Coconut trees in the middle?

Lovely flowers.

Siong Bing claimed that's the biggest shopping centre in Melbourne. In my opinion, every shopping centre in Australia looks the same. In addition to that, all are occupied by the very same chain stores. So, nothing to shout about.

It only took us less than 30 minutes to walk around the whole shopping centre. Fast eh? :P

It's about 1p.m. already. Siong Bing suggested us to have lunch, next. Now, frankly, guys are more interested in food!

Toorak Road, South Yarra.

Darling Street? ;)

He took us to Toorak Road, South Yarra which he explained, this place is a rich-men-road. Want shopping for expensive and branded stuff, this is the place to come.

Pacific House Seafood B.B.Q. Restaurant.

He proposed to eat chinese B.B.Q. that day at Pacific House Seafood B.B.Q Restaurant. It is located along Toorak Road.

Packed.

The design of this restaurant is a bit classy but all the "colourful menu" on the wall spoil everything. Maybe this is the modern Cha Chan Teng (Coffee House).

Roasted duck.

We ordered roasted duck which was seriously good! The meat was tender and tasted better when it was dipped in the plum sauce provided.

Roasted Pork.

Served next to the roasted duck was this roasted pork. Like the duck, this roasted pork was served in highest quality. The meat was very juicy and I simply love it!

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken.

Siong Bing highly recommended this Salted Egg Yolk Chicken. The chicken was deep fried with salted egg yolk batter and curry leaves. This dish is definitely a must when you come to this restaurant.

Complimentary soup.

The dishes were accompanied by a bowl of complimentary soup each. They use pork bone to boil the soup. It was sweet and tasty. Yummy!

Both Danny and I agreed that this restaurant served far better B.B.Q. than B.B.Q. City Restaurant in Adelaide. I'm willing to pay more for the quality of the food.

All and all, it costed us about Aud$50 for everything. It is definitely worth every single cent. Out of 5 stars, it deserves a 4! :)

After lunch, time to go to some of the tourist spot.

Shrine of Remembrance.

We went to Shrine of Remembrance in St. Kilda Road. It is one of the largest war memorials in Australia. This was built as a memorial for those who served and died in World War I.

To remember those who sacrificed...

Private John Simpson and donkey.

40 metre wall of 4000 service medals.

Father and Son statue.

"Greater Love Hath No Man".

No matter it is inside or outside the shrine, there are all sort of stuff to remember those who were sacrificed during the war. The most interesting being the Stone of Remembrance. The marble stone, which was craved with "Greater Love Hath No Man", would require the visitors to bow their heads to read the inscription. No one would be able to touch the stone as it was well below the pavement.

Not only that, at 11a.m. on the 11th of November, a ray of light will fall on the word "LOVE" on the Stone of Remembrance. Only on that particular day as it marks the end of hostilities in World War I. Interesting eh?

Look at how huge is Melbourne city.

On top of the shrine, we could have a view of the Melbourne city. The city is three or four times bigger than Perth city!

Prince of White Horse in the red.

After spending quite some time in this war memorial, we agreed to move on.

Albert Park.

We went to round Albert Park thinking the car that we were sitting in is Ferrari or Mclaren. haha! Oh by the way, if anyone doesn't know what's Albert Park famous for, it's no other than the Formula One.

Pit stop?

It's quite cool eh? A real track is opened for public. Nothing much to see here as there's no race on that day. So, move, move, move!

Smith Street, Collingwood.

Several factory outlets.

Since I wanted to try my luck to get some cheap stuff from some of the factory outlets, Siong Bing brought us to Smith Street, Collingwood. In this street, there are quite some factory outlets. Nike, Adidas and Calvin Klein, to name a few. Shopping for cheap, branded stuff, come here!

However, I was disappointed to find anything that suits me. I just didn't have the luck to shop. :P

Our next destination, a church nearby. I couldn't remember what church is this actually. Aunty Judy, maybe you can help me with this.

Lovely church.

Garden outside the church.

The architecture is just awesome.

"The angel showed me a river whose waters give life, it flows as clear as crystal from the throne of God and of the Lamb."

Interior.

Classic.

This is a huge church with awesome architecture. Siong Bing told me this is one of the most beautiful church in Melbourne. I fully agree with him.

I snapped a lot of photos of the church. Most of them appear to be blur. How I wish I have a better camera with anti-shake technology.

Anyway, we left the church and rushed to the Eureka Tower.

Eureka Skydeck.

Eureka Tower is Melbourne's tallest building and is the world's tallest residential building. It 300 metres from ground with 92 storeys high.

88 levels in less than 40 seconds.

We paid Aud$11 each to travel to the 88th level of the tower. This is what they named, "Eureka Skydeck 88".

Snack on the 88th level?

Yarra River.

How huge is Melbourne?

City view.

All the high rise buildings.

On that particular floor, we walked around the tower. Taking photos of Melbourne in all direction. That's also the time when my camera's battery started to go low, forcing me to take photos using the "zoomviewer". It was extremely tough to take a good photo there. Nevertheless, I enjoy the sceneries there. :)

In addition to that, we paid another Aud$10 for the observation deck; The Edge. It is a glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building - with you in it - suspended almost 300 metres above the ground! Shiok, I tell you! :P

Inside the glass cube, a photo was taken. We had no choice but to purchase that photo as no camera is allowed in there. We paid Aud$15 for one photo! I'm sorry I don't have the photo to show here as I haven't scanned it yet. Next time, ok?

Now, do the maths on how much we spent there.

We left Eureka Tower after spending about 2 hours there.

Since we were in the city, Siong Bing decided to bring us to Crown Casino for a while. Not for gambling, but to just walk around.

Night view of Yarra River and high rise buildings just beside Crown Casino.

Warner Bros.

Bugs Bunny.

Warner Bros Shop.

Crown Casino is rather huge with not only the casino itself. It has coffee shops, retail shops and many more. The one that attracted me most is the Warner Bros. Too bad, according to Siong Bing, there were more cartoon characters (like the Bugs Bunny) if not because of the renovation.

Fireballs.

We were lucky that day to see fireballs (gas brigades) released from the top of the towers outside Crown Casino. The brigades operate on different times depending on the season. I only managed to capture two photos of the brigades as my camera's battery finally drained out.

Dinner time, dinner time!

What do you want?

Again, it was Siong Bing to bring us for dinner. We went to a Malaysian cuisines restaurant (I forgot its name, sorry!) somewhere near Lygon Street.

Nasi Lemak Kerabu.

Nasi Ayam Goreng (?).

Fried Kueh Tiaw with Egg Sauce (Wat Dan Hor).

I ordered Nasi Lemak Kerabu while Danny and Siong Bing had Fried Kueh Tiaw with Egg Sauce and Nasi Ayam Goreng respectively. Nothing to shout about for all the food actually. It's so normal that I don't have anything to write about. Oh, maybe one thing about the sambal of my Nasi Lemak Kerabu. It was so hot that I had to gulp down two or three glasses of water!

Dessert? We wanted to try the famous gelati at Lygon St. but unfortunately, the good ones were closed on that day. Don't worry, stay tuned for the gelati on the next few posts. ;)

We went home straight after dinner. We were too tired that we slept after taking a shower. It was a long day that day. More to come...

Melbourne Day 2, soon!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boo hoo hooo...hoohooo.sob, sob...hick....BOO HOOO, BOOO HOOOO...

I WANT TO GO HOME!!

Kok, why your friend take you to such an expensive place to eat Chinese? The best place for Chinese is Box Hill. Cheap and very nice or Springvale for charsiew fan.

Chadstone is where we had our business. .....BOO HOO HOOO...BOO HOO......tissue, tissuee....boo hoo hooo!!

Anonymous said...

Kok, I don't know if that is St Paul's cathedral in Melb city but if you say near Collingwood, I am not sure. :)

My Rantings said...

Aiyo, you post about Melbourne, now I want to go there liao. The last time I was there (how many donkey years ago ah?), I didn't get much chance to sightsee lah.. what to do, student mah. :(

Anonymous said...

Agree with you that the food does look yummy. Poor Judy...

Sue Sue said...

Eh y ah you go for all chinese food one?
Our Judy, from Melbourne one ah?

Shionge said...

Thanks for the tour and a wonderful walk down memory lane to Melbourne..I was there in 1989 and was wondering if the weather is still erratic?

Nice shot and nice food, lots of changes I bet.

Kok said...

Aunty Judy: Wah! You cried until like that ah? Hmm... I'll consider whether to write my second post or not. hehe

Don't know leh. He said it's nice wor. So, go loh. Anyway, also worth the money lah. hehe.

Wah, what business you're into at Chadstone ah? The shopping centre is really HUGE leh. haha!

Hmm.. I don't think it's St Paul leh. I googled St Paul but it doesn't look like the one I visited. I've visited another church. Maybe that's St Paul.

dancing queen: Wait till Aunty Judy there, then only you visit. Like that, she can become your tour guide mah. kekeke.

mum in miri: The food looks yummy hoh. I'm still salivating whenever I look at the photo. hehe.

Aunty Judy almost flood the whole UK loh. hehe

sue: Try one by one mah. Still got some more days leh. hehe. Yea, Aunty Judy from Melbourne although she's a Malaysian (is she still?). haha!

shionge: Wow! That was a long time ago. Maybe you can visit Melbourne again when you have the chance. And yes, the weather is erratic. It's very cold when I went there.

I bet there's lots of changes since you last went there. Quite fun though in Melbourne. ;)

eastcoastlife said...

Wah eh! UK flood caused by Aunty Suan Suan!? Cry until liddat, sea level went up liao! Going to flood Europe! muahahahaha......

I was in Melbourne in year 2002 with my hubby. We stayed 3 days in Gembrook, in the country. Then in the city for 5 days before going to Gold Coast. :)

When we were in the city, we went to Chinatown every night for dinner. sigh.... my hubby is a poon tang (rice bin), must have rice for at least one meal daily! Go to Australia eat Chinese food! Alamak! *slap forehead*

Your friend so good hor, bring you around. If I go Perth, you will bring me around anot? hehehe....

lynn-w said...

wow...i'm speechless...

first the food is amazing!
then the places u visited are so BEAUTIFUL!!! i really dont know what else i can say...
i wish i could go too! ehehe..

so nice!!!

Anonymous said...

ur blog tak halal! got pork...close up some more. hehehe

Sweetpea said...

i could have sworn i saw someone clicking away at chaddy! :P next time you come again let me know lar. at least can have coffee ker. am only minutes away from chaddy centre leh.

anyway, the place there must be the feng shui. forever full of cars and people, like me.

did u try the vietnamese pho? i hope u did!

wmw said...

Wah, one day...so many things happened ah???? hahaha, long post! That's why my Spain till now, not finished posting, up to Part 7! Hahaha

david santos said...

I passed to congratulate it with its work and to desire a good August to it in vacation.

Anonymous said...

hmm... is melb mainly about great food and luxurious life? haha...

if i have the chance to go, i'd love to experience all these on my own.. haha

Kok said...

eastcoastlife: haha! I think I should stop blogging on Melbourne trip to save the people in UK. :P

Aiyo, you see me in Adelaide and Melbourne also eat Chinese food leh. Maybe for me, Western food is always pasta, steak and etc. Not much variety.

Ya, have to thanks to him to become our tour guide and also offer us a place to stay. You come to Perth ah? Sure I'll bring you around lah. But provided I got a car here. If not, difficult to bring anyone around leh. :)

lynnwei: Russia also not too bad eh? Come to Australia and have a holiday lah. ;)

miche: Haha! My blog long time ago already tak halal loh. Hmm... How to make it halal ah?

sweetpea: First of all, thanks for visiting my blog!:)

You sure or not oh? Is that me? haha! Aiyo, you didn't tell me earlier. My friend's house also like 10 mins drive from Chadstone lah. If I knew earlier, I'll call you out leh. hehe. Yaya, they even expand the parking lots now eh?

Oh, I did try. Wait for my next few posts. hehe.

wmw: My trip don't know part what already loh. I think, part 6? hehe. More to come!

david: Welcome to my humble blog!:)

piglet: It's about more money you need to go there. haha!

Yaya, come to Australia with Lynn Wei and gangs. I'm pretty sure you all will like Australia. :)

Anonymous said...

WAHHHHHHH... the church pics got my jaw dropping. SO LOVELY!!!! I WANA GO!!!!! *jealous gao gao*

A really long post!!! the food me got me drooling too! Good that u enjoyed urself! :D

Shionge said...

Yes sadly I have not visit the Penguin island...maybe some day lor....thanks for your effort in posting all the photos...see I travelled free here heheheh..

wonda said...

You so free now? You people living in Aust. are so lucky. Over here in Chinatown, every shop sells the same thing for centuries. Still the old menu like mabodofu, chin chao ro.... . Also only a few varieties of Dim Sum. Can't even find Wat Dan Hor on the menu. *sigh*

Kok said...

jane: The church is very big lah. Come to Australia lah one day. Got lots of nice places to visit. :)

Yaloh! One post took me few hours to write. hehe.

jackson: Nolah, where got lucky like that? You're more lucky to have more food in M'sia lah. haha! Eh, the roast pork there don't play play lah. Hongkie opens one. And the roast pork is awesome!!!:P

shionge: My friend told me there's nothing to see in Penguin Island. All the penguins are so small. Not nice, so we didn't go. hehe.

More photos coming! haha! Yea, travel for free. Then next time know where to visit also. hehe.

Aunty Alice: Not really free lah. 3 more months then I'll say bye bye to uni loh. hehe.

Aiks? Now I know what business I should get in liao. Go and learn cooking, then go Japan and open a Chinese restaurant. How about that ah? You come I give free!! :P

Anonymous said...

Dis wan is very long post, good oso la since I jet lag kenot slp 0_~ But looking at all the food now hungry liao.

Kok said...

firehorse,
You back already!?!? Welcome back!!! :) Aiks? Hungry? Don't worry. Your hawkers in your hawker stalls will throw a welcome back party for you. All you can eat for you!!

Anonymous said...

what great pics''love them...never been now at least can see thru yr eyes :)

i always see yr comments every where now i am so glad to see yrs on my site :)

Kok said...

bengbeng,
Now you can save heaps just looking at my photos eh? hehe.

I'll leave my footprints again at your blog. That's for sure. :)

Rasa Malaysia said...

Wow, Kok looks like you had fun. Melbourne looks like a US city...well, I haven't been to OZ.

Kok said...

rasa malaysia,
I miss all the fun time! hehe.

You've never come to OZ before? Come come! You'll definitely like it. :)

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