Melbourne At A Glance : Day 3 & 4

Day 3 - September 13, 2013 - Melbourne

We arrived around midnight in Melbourne via Tiger Airways which was the most torturous 2 hours flight ever because the seat compartment gave us with no leg room at all! Booked the cheapest flight available online for only AUD140.90 return and hence, that explains the odd flying hours.

Luckily we've discussed earlier on our Melbourne plans because we were unable to contact our host, Aunty JC all day. Having no choice but to follow the original plan, we took the SkyBus down to the Southern Cross Station. We got the tickets from the counter on the spot for AUD 17 each, praying for the best.

Once we reached the Southern Cross Station, my dad received a call from an unknown number and we literally heard people singing "Hallelujah" when it's Aunty JC on the other line. She too was panicking and kept asking around if they've seen 3 Malaysians walking around haha We later found out that she mistakenly gave us her old mobile number and the wrong area code for her house number! *double face palm*

We were exhausted to the max, probably from all the drama, so we didn't do much on the first day in Melbourne. Woke up pretty late and lazed around in the Aunty JC's place, just chatting and catching up with her. She later dropped us off at the Westfield Southland Shopping Centre to do some shopping before calling it a day.

Dinner @ Intermezzo

Address : 2nd Floor, Westfield Southland Shopping Centre

We walked into the most packed restaurant and true enough, the food was great! We ordered the Salmon Pizza and Cabonara Spaghetti.  Sorry, no picture of the Spaghetti because we were too hungry that we gobbled it all down within minutes! :p

Day 4  - September 14, 2013 - Melbourne

Flinder's Street Station

After a good rest, we were all pumped up for an adventure around the city. Uncle Steven dropped us off at the Highett train station and we took the train all the way down to Flinder's Street Station. The station itself is magnificent and beautiful! Feels like we went back into time. See it to believe it! Just across from it is the famous St Paul's Cathedral and Federation Square.

 

"Let's meet under the clocks" is a famous saying for those who wants to meet here. A famous meeting point for the Melbourne peeps, I heard!

St Paul's Cathedral 

I always have a thing for Cathedrals as they are just so beautiful and I can't explain it, but each time you step into a Cathedral, there is just this sense of peace.This Cathedral has a gothic feel to it and the architecture is just stunning both inside and out!

Federation Square

There was a protest against McD when we were there and at first I thought it was organized by those hard-core vegetarians. After looking it up online, found out that they are asking McD abandon its plans to build a 24-hour restaurant and drive-thru in Tecoma, a small town east of Melbourne. Apparently, the proposed site is too close to a kindergarten and school, and kids as young as 5 would walk past “a giant advertisement for junk food” on a daily basis. Hmm...what an interesting protest, so interesting that I'm surprised that we didn't take pictures of THE Federation Square at all on our camera! -___- Luckily, I found our one and only picture of it from my phone! haha

Chinatown

There is a free city tram bringing you around the city but from the map, since everything look to be within walking distance, we decided to go by foot. We took a stroll along Chinatown and immediately felt at home because there's just so many Chinese there! On second thought, there are a lot of Chinese in Melbourne compared to the Gold Coast! Even the guy in one of the souveneir stalls comes from Malaysia! Small world indeed!

Wesley Uniting Church 

Came across this church when we lost our way trying to locate Melbourne Central but the gate was locked so we could only take pictures of the church building.

Melbourne Central

The Melbourne Central is famous for its Coops Shot Tower which was located right in the heart of the mall. It proudly stands at its original place, protected by the Glass Cone, designed in the 80s by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. Imagine seeing something so historic in the midst of everything so modern!

Decided not to shop around too long so after lunch at the food court, we made our way to the Queensland State Library which was another sight to behold. You have to see it to believe it!

Queensland State Library 

Oh no! What happened to the library?

Just joking! The library is still standing all mighty and strong. I fell in love with the library the minute I step into it, being the typical bookworm myself. Their library is huge and the architecture is just super awesome! Don't be surprise though as the library is packed with people unlike ours, which is deserted most of the time.

Can you spot Captain America behind me? haha

There are several art galleries in the library

They even have a chess room!

Harbour Town  @ Docklands

The cute City Circle Tram!

We then planned to hop on the city tram to the famous Queen Victoria Market but unfortunately it was already closed by the time we finish exploring the Queensland State Library. Make sure you all check the timing and plan out your day properly so you won't repeat the same mistake I did. Regretted not doing enough research for Melbourne :( I was focusing way too much time and energy on Gold Coast and Brisbane! Ended up we hop on the tram to Docklands to visit the Harbour Town Outlet to do some last minute shopping before it closes at 5pm!

Dinner @ KFC

Having KFC in Australia, like seriously? haha Don't laugh but we were really tired and hungry from all the walking around. KFC was the nearest food joint after we took the tram back to Flinder's Station and hence, in we go without second thought. Surprised to also learn that we have to pay extra for the sauce...Why, seriously why! We have it free flow over here in Malaysia!

We thought our chicken were badly burnt until we turn to see it's the same with the other tables as well! Other than their burnt chickens, they also have crazy supplies of fries unlike over here! 

After dinner, we took the train back to the Sandringham Station where Uncle Steven picked us up back home. What a fulfilling Day 4 indeed!

Look no further! Day 5 & 6 coming right up! Stay tuned! ;P