Happy trip

it's weird now to blog about Australia when we were back since 11th of April. but still the wonderful times we had there it should be documented. at least in a concise manner.

1st - 5th April : Melbourne
first day was sucky due to my stupidity of not sleeping on the SIA craft and spent the night watching movies. angry with myself for having a full dinner before stepping up and failed to finish 50% of the supper which i like it very much from the sight.
first impression of melbourne is that it is just another foreign caucasianic city. the first sight of southerncross station reminds me slightly of europe. cool dry air. black station and blur tourist.
made our way to Adam's cyber cafe (Hann's WOW friend) and it turns out to be a decent one. however no sofas no beds, something that i desperately wanted that time.
touring melbourne city lacking sleep and without much guidance wasnt' that fun. turns out we were walking in circles and the city wasn't that big afterall. reaching late noon we ran out of things to do and neither of us wants to move anymore. and here in the pic - we sat down on public foldable beach couches and chill out with some uncle, who seemed to know a lot about anwar, malaysia and it's oil.
the only good thing is the chinese restaurant we had dinner. it was pretty good for australian standards. and after that it's bad times again when we had to carry our bags and walked about 2km to enter to the students' hostel from the entrance of Monash. totally silly. this only happens overseas. they have no shuttle buses. at least their weather is cool.one of the wheel of my trolley took off and i just had an excuse to get a new trolley from Kathmandu the next day.

day 2: Chadstone
after a good night sleep cramping with 2 guys in a room, i was much happier the next day. though still not happy enough to make me take the trip out of the "suburb" to get to the city. Hann and I decided to had a chill out day at the shopping mall - Chadstone. Took a bus down and just spent the whole day looking at clothes, shoes and books. bought a pair of Aldo 70% off, a 17.50AUD black cotton dress and the Kathmandu bag. not bad indeed.

day 3: Market & almost-museum
the next day i have recharged enough and heading to town is no problem. we were so slow, we took our time and lazed around, prepared a long breakfast and don't know what else we did that we only reached there at 10plus. which is considered late for proper tourist. headed to Vic's Mart (coded from jia hwa) and we were lucky indeed. it is long opening hours today! Seems like it will be closed on Mon and Wed. and here we are on Fri! the indoor market is quite interesting. selling all kinds of cheese, spices, meat and foreign looking food. i didn't fancy them much as most of them had a funny smell to it. i was only interested in the pastries and we bought a piece of carrot cake and orange cake each. big slice for a cheap price, though it was oily as at the end of the paper wrapper went totally transparent when we came back.
One should visit Vic's Mart for one sole reason - their fruits. it's fresh, it's cheap. a bundle of grapes for 1 buck and a pack of strawberries (fresh and juicy) for 2 bucks (if u get 2, it's just 3AUD). and reaching 11am, mangoes going for 3AUD a DOZEN. yes a DOZEN.
nothing much fancy me there. one lucky thing. we picked up a 5AUD note. and had our tshirts priced at 2.50 each instead of 5.
museum was in mind but due to the rain. it was way too late to make the museum tour. so we sat outside the museum and told ourselves that yes we visited Melb museum.and when the rain stopped, an impromptu idea to book a day tour to the famour GOR trip for the next day.

day 4: the Great Ocean Road (GOR)
we woke up at 515. ready by 535. walked out into the cold woods within Monash campus by 545. to board the first bus leaving at 6am for main terminal. it was cool seriously. we were so cold, i have never imagined myself walking so fast at such hour of the day. no one is on the road. no one was in the campus. everything is dead. only the two of us, hearts were pumping hard so we won't miss the first bus that brings us out to town, so we don't miss our van that brings us to GOR.
I would recommend GOR to anyone going to Melb. just that if u're not very confident of maps and driving. it's best to follow a day-tour. small van of 20 people. it's quite decent. minimal waiting or weird company. we even get a bonus- handsome tour guide cum driver. who tried his best to explain the background of the sights of GOR.
i loved the first stop the most. the place where surfers meet for tournament apparently. it's a quiet site and u have to drive in through slopes and psuedo valleys to see it. the feeling that i get there. SERENE.
GOR towns are pleasant, small and modest. though they had in mind to create a miami. but they very different and i guess only those who yearn for some quietness and peace would enjoy that. personally I prefer Bondi.
Overall GOR is just a stretch of seaside which is very magnificent and beautiful. A self-drove tour is possible in the future.

day 5: Lygon, Crown & Dating
this day we moved out of Monash and it was me who pushed for the idea. first reason was for us to arrive on time to Avalon (a stupid airport situated far from Melb, if i have the money no Avalon for me), second to see the night life in melb city (not much), thirdly not to take the bus/train for 45min to reach my house. so we had a last min booking at YHA Metro and we got a BIG room for that night. so BIG that tze and hwa can sleep in.
ok, our plan to go the zoo was strongly objected by ME again. instead it was for the museum. but unfortunately, after searching high and low for YHA Metro, we were so spoilt that we played cards in the room for some time and it got even later. The girl who saved our Melb tour - Jia Hwa (JH) brought us to Lygon - little Italy in Melb, and I had great fun trying out all sort of food. It was very fun! Not so much of the place, but the company and the activity, that eventually the musuem was forgotten. at the end, we even visited Crown - the wellknown Casino in Melbourne. and this was my first time in a Casino. Funniest thing, Hann got checked his identity twice that day. Definitely an eye-opener. but we were lousy customers. spent only 1 AUD on a "tiger machine" and not a single cent on all the gambling tables. though i was tempted. but putting 10bucks in and having the possibility that it will be taken away in split seconds it's just not worth it.instead, we kids spent 15 bucks altogether at the arcade downstairs. and Hann almost hit the jackpot for Deal or No deal. remember, always pick the black woman.

day 6: to Sydney
.... to be continued