Monday, April 16, 2012

Melbourne 2011


I was looking through my photo albums, and stumbled upon one labeled "Melbourne 2011" and realized I haven't blogged about my Melbourne trip! *gasp*

So, this is going to be a really late post, but like I always say... better late than never! 

I actually wrote an essay on Melbourne for class, it's here if you'd like to read it.

Melbourne is a city of the highest culture. I went there for about a month last summer to visit my boyfriend.


The journey to Melbourne was a long 8-hour ride, and it ended with me being interrogated at the Melbourne airport along with a bunch of random travelers because Australia's new list of drug-dealer suspects were narrowed to students, senior citizens and even families. 

The officer kindly guided me aside and made me unzip my bags so she could probe every corner of my suitcases and leaf through every article of clothing I owned. 10 minutes later, she took a high-tech scanning device and examined my bags. She went through my purse and examined each card in there. She even took my phone and read some stuff on it for a while - I didn't know if she was reading my texts or notes. All this while, she asked me little questions, trying to dig out any information that might further confirm me as a suspect. 

After the 20-minute interrogation, I was free to go. She explained that the airport had tightened its security recently, and all officers were told to conduct random checks on random travelers. I guess I was rather unfortunate that morning.

I hadn't seen my boyfriend in 7 months. My heart was racing as I pushed the baggage cart through the sliding doors and into the waiting area, where a multitude of people stood behind steel bars, waiting. I scanned the faces and my heart sank when his wasn't among them. He was probably waiting somewhere else.

I took a couple of steps forward and suddenly, he appeared. I heard him before I saw him. The rhythmic padding of footsteps headed my way, and then his voice, "Baby!"

I turned and a wide smile stretched across my face when I saw him jogging over to me. He wore a thick black jacket, zipped halfway to reveal the striped collared shirt he was wearing beneath. We hugged, and my mind instantly told me to embrace the moment, because four weeks from now, I'd be on my way back to Malaysia and I didn't know when we would meet again. This was the start of my holiday, and I was determined to make the most out of it.

"Welcome to Melbourne, baby," Ming whispered.

***



The city, as I remembered it from my past two trips, hadn't changed much. Buildings rose along the roads and people paced the sidewalks with their hands tucked deep into the pockets of their coats. It was winter. Fortunately for Melbourne, snow was never present in the city. I couldn't imagine those fashionable women tottering around in their high-heeled boots, grimacing each time their boots sank into the snow-paved sidewalks.


One of Ming's friends, a very cheerful girl named Happie, lived in an apartment in the city. Renting an apartment in that area was extremely expensive, but she split the rent with three other housemates, so that reduced the burden by like, 20%. It was still really costly. I stepped outside onto the balcony and gazed out at the city, which stretched like a canvas into the horizon. 

I was just admiring the view and the rush of cold winter air, when she appeared beside me and asked, "Ready to go for lunch?"

I just had a late breakfast about an hour ago, but I couldn't resist walking around the city in search of food.

"Sure!" I happily said.
***

Food. Melbourne is a land of food.

I gained over 5 pounds during my stay. It was hard not to gain any pounds from all the eating I was doing. Being in Arkansas for nearly a year had deprived my food selection, and I craved legit Asian food all the time. 

That afternoon, Ming, Happie, Brian (Ming's best friend and Happie's boyfriend) and I had lunch at an elegant Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. We had a couple of dishes to go with our white rice. One of them was my favorite, the Xiao Long Paus (aka Shanghai mini pork bun).


Xiao Long Paus are very interesting. They're pretty much like dumplings. The thin flour exterior envelops minced pork and some soup, so you have to be careful lifting it up. The content outweighs the thin sheath of flour. The proper way (if you're using chopsticks) would be to clasp the pointed top of the dumpling, raise it a couple of inches, then sit it on a spoon so the bottom doesn't split open. It happened a couple of times that afternoon, creating a puddle of mess because some of us weren't expecting our dumplings to burst open so quickly.


We also had a spicy dish; fried chicken tossed in chili. I couldn't handle the spiciness, so I stopped after my second chicken. But the rest of them went at it like it was the best thing they'd ever tasted.


This was dish of shrimps coated in salted egg yolk. It was delicious! The saltiness of it complemented the sweetness of the shrimps.

Brian and Happie

Throughout my stay, I ate to my heart's content. I'm just showing you less than a quarter of what I ate.


Sushi was a common food. There were at least 50 Japanese restaurants in the city. It was hard to not find a Japanese restaurant that didn't serve sushi.


And then there was crispy Korean tofu at Goong, a Korean restaurant tucked into one of the back alleys in the city. That restaurant served at least a hundred customers every night.


Villa Romano, located on Lygon Street (food heaven), serves some of the best pasta. I had the famous seafood olio spaghetti, which had tomatoes, mussels, crabs, jumbo shrimps and oysters served on a bed of  spaghetti and garnished with basil leaves. Fantastica! 

Moving on to desserts...


Macarons! I love, love, super duper love macarons! I discovered that Starbucks serves amazing green tea, chocolate and strawberry-flavored macaroons for about AUD2 a piece. I may be wrong about the price. It's been such a long time. But apart from Starbucks, Lindt's cafe has awesome macarons too. They lean a little more to the pricey side. 

Lindt's macarons sitting nicely in a little white box, just waiting to be devoured.
Flavors: pistachio, rose, champagne and dark chocolate



One day as I was walking through Queen Victoria square, I noticed the colorful array of desserts displayed at a window. The macarons came in an assortment of colors and flavors. Some even sounded a little queer: black sesame, passionfruit. And their cupcakes were beautifully designed to steal your attention. I would have loved to try a cupcake, but on a second thought, I decided to have hot chocolate since it was a cold afternoon.



So I went to Koko Black, a quaint chocolate shop serving almost everything chocolate. This Belgian hot chocolate was a delight. I couldn't get over the pretty artwork on the surface. It was carefully crafted with cream and cocoa. It seemed such a waste to drink it and spoil the artist's efforts, so I took a picture to preserve the prettiness. 


Ming's younger sister took me for frozen yogurt at Cacao's. It was technically freezing that night, but how could I ever resist dessert? So we sat on a metal bench with our yogurts, trying not to shiver away beneath the layers of clothing. It was very good yogurt though! 

***

I quickly learned that Melbourne's weather was bipolar. One minute, the sun would beam its golden rays through branches and you'd get a lovely morning. The next minute, the white clouds would darken to a somber gray and if you waited long enough, cracks of lightning would appear.

But I was grateful for the beautiful mornings, filled with fresh air and bright blue sky. 


On pretty days when I wasn't in the city, I liked to take strolls in the park. 





Ming's adorable maltese-poodle, Snoopie, loved park-time too. And I didn't mind taking him. He was a doll.


***



My best friend, Vivian, came over for a couple of days before flying off to Sydney. On her first day in Melbourne, we went to the city with Jocelyn and Kanchiny, and met up with Kanchiny's sweet friend, Shu Ying (I hope I spelled her name right). 

We checked out the shops on Bourke Street (shopping central), and much to our surprise, Zara had just opened not too long ago.




Street performers did their best to gather a crowd, but not many succeeded. People seemed more interested in the huge sales than in some guitar player strumming a couple of unknown tunes. 

It was almost 3pm when we went for lunch. We settled for Italian food at a cafe near Collins Street and decided to sit outside since it was a pretty afternoon.

Shu Ying and Kanchiny


Jocelyn and myself.

If there's one cheese I can't tolerate, it's parmesan. The smell of it turns me off, and the taste makes me want to gag. I'm sorry, no offense to parmesan-lovers, but parmesan and me just can't be together. Jocelyn, on the other hand, is a parmesan fetish. That bottle of parmesan powder was full when we sat down. At the end of the meal, she finished half of it. HALF. That girl loves parmesan like a love song, baby!

After a hearty meal of pasta, we walked around to stretch our muscles and came across a cozy cupcake shop. We were full, but there was room for dessert. :) 

 


I can't recall the flavors, but I think the pink one was cherry, and the one beside it was raspberry vanilla... and uhhh... yeah, that's all I remember. 

After dessert, we walked around the city for a couple more hours, with Kanchiny and Shu Ying as our "tour guides." They've lived in Melbourne for quite some time to know the area pretty well.

A little mall on Collins Street




I really liked the buildings in the city. Each one seemed different from the other. Vintage buildings were everywhere, taking me back to a much older era. I liked the clash of contemporary and classical; the embroidered patterns on the walls of the buildings, each pattern telling a story if you looked carefully enough; the loyalty that Melbourne had for its past. 


Walking further ahead, we saw Flinder's Station. This Victorian-style building housed dozens of trains that ran into suburbs all over Melbourne. 


Federation Square is where the artsy-fartsy stuff usually occurs. We tried to be artsy too. I made Jocelyn stand at an angle so it would seem like she was touching the tip of a flag.






Lying on the grass and staring at the sky with my best friend.

Next, we visited an art gallery. A rather bizarre art gallery.


Initially I thought this was a collection of random photographs. But when I looked closer, I saw they all had one thing in common: weirdness.

There was a picture of human baby bodies, but their heads were replaced with ugly zombie faces. And then there was a girl with a large bloody tattoo on her chest. It looked horrible. I don't know if it was digitally enhanced to achieve that ghastly effect, but I hope it was.

Later that evening, Kanchiny and Shu Ying brought us to an alley, where the walls were colored with bright aerosol. This was the home of the spray-paint artists.


PS: It took us at least 5 minutes to get up there. Haha.

 It wasn't until later that we spotted one of the artists, who was busy spraying colors on the cobbled pathway and totally ignoring our touristy stares. The most amusing thing about him was his youth - he was about 12, at most.

Art takes so many forms - and this alley is proof that art exists beyond canvases. Artists don't look for canvases to paint on; they make their own canvas.

***

The next day, Vivian and I went on a roadtrip to Phillip Island with Ming, Happie and Brian. We left early in the morning because it was a 2-hour drive. Phillip Island, located far into the outskirts of the city, is a touristy place. It's famous for the Chocolate Factory and penguins.

The drive to Phillip Island was scenic. I stared out the windows at the rolling hills, vast green meadows and horses grazing on fresh grass. I couldn't get over how pretty everything looked under the glowing sunlight. 

Before arriving on the island, we stopped for breakfast on a farm. A farm! I was so excited to be having breakfast on a farm. 


This is what a happy farm breakfast looks like.

After breakfast, we stepped outside into the freezing weather. The wind was shooting invisible icy daggers at us. 

Trying to stay warm

A little pen stood several feet from the restaurant, so we went over to look at the cute lambs resting inside.




They were adorable. Smelly, but adorable. For a moment, I was gushing over their cuteness with Happie and Vivian, and then all of a sudden, I thought about that horrific movie I watched several years back: Black Sheep. In case you haven't seen it, it's a brutal movie about lambs and sheep that turn demonic and start eating humans. And they don't die easily - they're like zombie sheeps. In the movie, the sheep had blood dripping from their mouths, blood-red eyes and a bloodcurdling bleat.

So when one of the lambs came over and started grazing on my bag, I leaped away and dashed out of the pen, the horrible image of that movie still fresh in my mind. As you can tell, I have quite a vivid imagination. Horror movies don't rest well with me.

We continued our journey to Phillip Island and stopped by the Chocolate Factory for an hour. Upon entering, we saw a candy shop on our left and an entrance to the factory tour on our right.


We signed up for the tour and were introduced to the history of chocolates. The tour was boring. But what caught my eye was one of the back walls.


I moved closer, and gasped when I saw what the picture was made up of: 


Truffles! Thousands of them, all neatly arranged according to color. 

That picture said a thousand truffles. ;)

After the tour, we left and drove further into the island. We stopped by a beach to take pictures. The weather was gorgeous, but really windy. My simple leather jacket was unable to keep me warm. 


Beneath the blue horizon, the water glittered and licked the shores. Birds soared freely overhead, singing melodies we couldn't comprehend. For a moment, I slipped off my shoes and stood at the edge of the shore, allowing my toes to curl as the cold water kissed the soles of my feet.


It was so windy, my hair was constantly slapping my face.


My ears burned from the cold. I could barely feel my fingers, which were frozen from the absence of gloves.



Have you listened to the hymn of the sea? It carries a melody of its own, pure and amicable. Serenity rides on the waves, crashing rhythmically onto the brown rocks. The breeze hums in a distance, whispering secrets to the most attentive ears. And the birds chatter with each other, exchanging bird gossip. Okay I just  totally ruined the hymn. Forgive me, for I'm not feeling poetic today.

Our main reason for visiting the island was to see the penguins. I wasn't aware that Australia had penguins; I always assumed penguins lived in the North Pole. So when my boyfriend explained how the penguins appeared on Phillip Island, I was intrigued. Apparently, the penguins would ride on the waves that led them to the shores. Not every part of the island had penguins, though, so we had to go to a particular area, where at least a thousand other people were gathered to watch the penguins.

It was late in the evening when we arrived at the place. The sky had darkened to a deep indigo. We sat out in the open on giant steps, looking out into the sea. From where I sat, I could see the lip of the shore but it was hard to notice the penguins because it was so dark. The penguins usually arrived on big tides. It was interesting seeing tides build up. It started with a ripple, then gradually rose into a tall, condescending wave.

Finally, after a full hour of waiting, we saw what we'd come to see. The waves transported the penguins onto the shore, but within a couple of seconds, they re-claimed the penguins back into the dark waters. This went on several times throughout the hour, until we decided we'd seen enough and left.

***

Over the next few days, I had tons of fun with my bestie. We went to Fitzroy Gardens and danced in the dome.


We also learned to leap for joy. 

***

Melbourne would not have been complete without my boyfriend.


The distance has taught me so many things. The most important lesson I learned was perseverance. Holding on to a long distance relationship was hard, and it still is. But I couldn't have done it without him. 


***

Before I knew it, I'd come to the end of my stay. That morning when Ming was driving me to the airport, I saw the sun rising to illuminate the city.


Saying goodbye at the airport was tough. Even though this was a scene we were both familiar with, it still raised lumps in our throats, still made our eyes water, still left words hanging from our lips.

I got onto the plane and peered out at Melbourne for the last time. We rose into the air, and I glimpsed the last of the city. As we soared through the sky, I knew that my Melbourne adventure had come to an end. But it will always continue to live in my memory, like a beautiful song on replay.

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