Sunday, August 9, 2009

One Day Trip to Melbourne

Have you ever done anything as absurd as to fly thousands of km to visit one of the world's best city just for a day?



I landed in Melbourne airport on the 31st of March at 12am,

melbourne airport


With no transport nor friends to come and pick me up, so I unpacked and sat on the floor to access the slow but free wifi in the arrival hall.

bags in airport


waiting at the airport


With nothing but newly bought tim tam balls to fill my tummy. I have not eaten dinner since departure.

tim tam balls


I managed to go online and locate Stuart, a traveler whom I have met more than once or twice, first got acquainted with him in Cambodia, then in Gold Coast, then in Sydney, a true globe trekker unlike myself, he has then recently landed in Melbourne (I heard) securing a job as a fish monger.

stuart in front of a coffee shop
That's him.


So at around 3am (I was intending to spend the night at the airport surfing the net), I packed my things and boarded the bus to the city, having nothing but an address and an all too brief direction to his house from the station.


149 Peel St
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Australia


Right. Where the heck was peel street?

It was pitch dark when I hailed a cab to get me to the said address. Now the good thing about every cab in Melbourne was that they're all equipped with GPS, so as long as you have the full address, you're safe to assure to arrive at your destination. Just be sure your wallet is loaded.

street up stuart's place


I came up to a street where the Indian? Bangladesh? (it was all too dark to identify, no racism here) dropped me off in front of a corner town house with 149 golden number plated to the front door.

town house along peel street


peel street town house in melbourne


According to Stuart, who was at that time working overnight shift (like everyday), he left a key in the mail box for me to collect and help myself in. With a note: fiddle around with the knob, it needs a bit of kink to get it open but you'll figure it out on your own.

mail box in town house


And he was right. I was standing in cold dark morning spring outside tweaking and turning and twisting the key around the door knob for a full 20 minutes before the stubborn door decided to budge and let me enter.

"Go up a flight of stairs and you'll come to my room. Help yourself inside. The room is yours." said Stuart on Facebook.

And up I lulled my luggage slowly and painfully before I came to a notice at the door.

stuart note


AWE~~~~!! What nice friend I have. *meltz*

Instantly I felt more comforted and not so lonely anymore, I pushed inside and was welcome with the cutest setting of a room, or a bed-room.

stuart's room


It was really more bed than room.

Exhausted, I slumped on to the bed and saw the look of myself in the mirror. Thought it funny, I whipped out my camera and snapped my first photo in Melbourne.

tired me
A tired Nicolekiss


Then feeling thrilled, relieved and everything in between, I got a bit funky and started doing all sorts of weird poses with my camera.

resting pose


looking back pose


flying kick pose
Woi! Flying Kick! This is what you do when a guy try to hit on you on bed.


double lift
And err... this is what you do when someone try to force enter you? wtf


tilted look
"How do I look when I tilt my head like this?"


Then finally, feeling the warmth, I took off my jacket and continued on.

squatting pose


half stand look back pose


It was about 4:30am and almost a million photos later before I cut it quit and changed into my PJ, washed up and slept.

It was SUCH a nice sleep that I didn't wake up till near noon, when I heard someone scuffling outside the room, probably around the house.

Stuart has returned.

I was to leave at around 6pm for the airport again (I know, so soon!). So Stuart brought me about town for a look see before my departure.

street performance


He brought me to a small busy alley in Melbourne bursting with coffee shops and one booth cafe for lunch.

small alley in melbourne


Does anyone know what this street/alley is called?

windows


We settled for a nice looking coffee shop and ordered some bread and salads.

stuart ordering food


salami wrap


smiling me


It was nice to finally have something decent to eat after 24 hours of constant moving about.

pouting me
I realised whenever I do this kink pout, my right eye (left on the pic) tend to be smaller than the other.


During my day in Melbourne, I also paid a visit to Haigh's, one of my favourite chocolate shops in Australia.

cheeky grin and green ducky


me and haigh's in melbourne


It was Easter season so chocolate eggs were everywhere!

haigh's easter eggs


me and small easter egg


God I missed Easter. The festival back in England was a big thing. And I've always loved going for Easter shopping!

big easter egg
Big Chocolate Easter Egg!!


big egg
"Mommy, can I have this?! purlease??"


happy person with ducky and fishy
Chocolate fish and easter duck!


chocolate fish and duck


So damn cute I was so tempted to buy them back.

me and green ducky


haigh's easter ducks


me and stuart and green ducky


"Happy Easter Everyone! from Stuart and Me"

I know, this greeting is like, 4 months too late! lol


Finally, before I leave Melbourne behind for good, there's one final thing I have to do.

Have a drink at Kokoblack!

stuart drinking ice chocolate


They only served like the BEST ICE CHOCOLATE in Australia!

me in koko black
Me and Stuart sharing a drink. Still pretty full from lunch.

chocolates in koko black


Also we met up Tee Hiong, Malaysian student in Melbourne, whom I met last year during my Melbourne leg on my Australian trip.

teehiong


And so it marked the end of my one very short day visit in Melbourne.

My plane to Adelaide was about to board, time to head back and get back on the bus.

Till then,

posing with easter egg in haigh's


"Happy Belated Easter, Everyone! :p"


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