Melbourne-bound! (10D9N) 🇦🇺

We spent the most time (and money) in the last leg of our trip in Australia before flying off to New Zealand!

Just a summary of our journey thus far:

Brisbane (17 Sept – 22 Sept ’14)
Gold Coast (22 Sept – 28 Sept)
Newcastle (28 Sept – 2 Oct)
Sydney (2 Oct – 9 Oct)

Now, Melbourne from 10 October to 19 October!

9 Oct, Friday – Caught the night NSW Trainlink train at 8.30pm; we were getting off at the very last stop and I was glad we didn’t have to wake up during odd hours to get off the train like we did when we were at Newcastle.

Cosying up on the train.

A good 12 hours later and we’ve reached Melbourne Central Railway Station!

Highlights in Melbourne:

*I’ll update in separate posts so not to clutter this one up!

South Melbourne Market (10 Oct, Saturday)

Settled into our Airbnb accommodation in North Melbourne and headed out in search for more farmer’s markets! It was nearing noon and we didn’t have much time to hit some of the weekly markets so we settled on South Melbourne Market cause it closes at 4pm.

We jumped straight into the efficient-non-existent queue for Paella cause we were both STARVING and needed to fuel up. The lunch crowd had seats for cafes filled up so we had takeaway and sat in silence at a public seating area while we ate.

Crazy overpriced dim sum!

Directory of the whole market.

XM and her love for oysters.

Rounded up the day after a couple of hours of walking around and made a quick stop at our favorite Woolsworth to stock up on our supplies.

Headed back to the apartment and XM took a nap due to the lack of sleep we had from the train. I wanted to nap as well but didn’t want to waste the day! Was bummed enough that we wasted an afternoon when we were at Newcastle. That’s the downside of taking overnight transport – you’ll feel crummy during the day.

So the thing with me was that my family and relatives arrived at Melbourne on the same day! They were staying a couple of days before flying over to Tasmania for a week. Obviously we had to meet. I mean, how often do you get to be at the same place overseas with your family but on a different trip?! & also family = free meals and perks. ☺

Walked a good ~2km to their apartment in the evening and just caught up with them. In all honesty, I’m not that close to the family and relatives so it was nice to be in their presence and have some adult conversations.

Indulging in my favorite mint bits!

Queen Victoria Market (11 Oct, Sunday)

Made plans to meet with the family at QVM – they had a Malaysian Street Festival going on. I found it ironic and funny that we were going there to eat cause my relatives are from Malaysia and they flew all the way to Australia just to eat their own local dishes.

Just like how I can never understand Asians flying to Western countries to eat ASIAN FOOD and vice versa.

With the family, minus the brother.

“How dare you take my photo!”

Some prawn/ crab dumplings! 10 pieces for I think $12 – $15 maybe? (Stealing my dad’s photos)

Always say ‘yes’ to churros!

YAY!

Honestly felt quite sick after having 3.5 sticks each. Dough and oil overload.

Parted ways with the family to explore on our own – bought affordable fresh fish to have for our meals. Headed back to the apartment to cook our lunch, rested a bit and headed out.

Docklands Sunday Market… or not.

Took the bus over to explore Docklands and conveniently ended up at Harbour Town Melborne first.

I’ve been to Melbourne before but never knew they have a Harbour Town as well! Thought it was only Gold Coast. But I know understand why it’s not as popular as GC’s – it’s smaller and not all lots are occupied.

Shopping is bad.

Kind of deserted.

A wild Costco appears!!! We used to frequent it in the US and it brings back so much memories! Sadly we couldn’t go in cause we weren’t members. ):

We were so caught up in going to the same shops we frequent – Cotton On, TEMT, Factorie – that we missed the Docklands Market cause we had to head meet the family for ~~free~~ dinner!

Dinner: City Grill Room + Gukbab

The father did some research for a nice place for steaks so we ended up at a nice steakhouse. XM and I were a li’l underdressed for a classy restaurant – clad in shorts and slippers.

Some grilled vegetables skewer + a steak with a blue cheese sauce.

SO. We ordered only a few dishes to share – wasn’t a proper dish each cause the older ones don’t have such a big appetite. Obviously I’m not full from just a few bites of steak, veggies, mashed potatoes, and salmon.

The older ones didn’t mind going to the Korean place next door for a hot soup! It was pretty chilly that night.