I spent my vacation with my cousins based there so unlike my usual trips, this is more relaxing, spontaneous and laid back. It's not the kind of vacation where you will need another vacation when you get home. Haha...
My first trip to Melbourne was like 12 years ago and my memories of Melbourne are a blur already. I was also still using a film camera then so I didn't have the luxury to take as many photos as I wanted. Haha...
Anyway, December to February is summer in Australia. And though the sun is blazing hot, you won't really feel the heat even if you're directly under the sun since it's breezy. In short, I only realized I was sunburnt a couple of days after when the skin on my nose started peeling off! During summer, the sun also goes down around 9pm so days are really long.
Anyway, here are some highlights of my trip:
We had a picnic at a water reservoir in a place called Dondenong.
What's great about picnic places in Australia (which are everywhere) is they have stoves where you can barbecue. My cousins and I were kidding that if we had the same facilities in the Philippines, either the stoves will get stolen or someone will build a house over the stove. Haha...
My nephews tried flying a kite too but it was tough since the wind drastically changed direction. But everyone had fun running around the wide open space. The age of my nephews and nieces there ranged from 2 months old to twenty years old and it was fun to see the older ones goofing around with the younger ones.
We also went to a fruit farm to pick raspberries and cherries.
Here's how raspberries look like on the bush.
And here are the raspberries I picked which went straight to my mouth! Haha...
Here's how cherries look like on trees.
I think these heart-shaped cherries are called Bing cherries. They're very sweet. I ate a lot too while picking. Haha...
There's another variety of cherries within the farm but the area was restricted. The cherries look really yummy though.
While in one of my cousin's places, we explored the neighborhood and found this bushwalking trail.
But my nephew and niece ended up "bush-sleeping" as their dad puts it. Haha...
We visited the city too. We took the train since parking is expensive in the city. When I computed how much a full day parking at the city costs, it's like Php2,400. Whoa....
Here are some of the sights I saw along the way:
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| AAMI Park: venue of the Australian Open |
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| Flinder's street station |
The following are interesting structures I took photos of while exploring the city but I've no idea what they are. :)
We also went to Victoria Market. There's a food truck selling American Doughnuts (the line could be long though). A cousin made us try these popular freshly-baked doughnuts. Yum.
While waiting for the doughnuts, I spotted a fresh fruit stand. Check out how much the mangoes are. They're like Php1,000 per tray. Yikes!
We went around Victoria Market to check out souvenirs. I don't really buy souvenirs anymore (not even fridge magnets) eversince I decided to streamline my stuff. The only thing I couldn't resist buying were these beautiful and unique tea candle lamps. And ironically, they are not even made in Australia. I asked the stall owner and she said that they are made in Germany. So I ended up getting German souvenirs in Australia. Haha...
Check out these interesting stuffed, er, flat toys. I wonder if kids like them without the stuffing. At least they are not bulky when traveling.
We had lunch at a food court (don't know though what's the name! haha...) but there was a big mural of Australian celebrities. Here's one section of the mural. Can you identify some of them? The only stars I could identify are Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda and Mel Gibson.
On our way to DFO South Wharf (DFO stands for Direct Factory Outlet), we passed by the Melbourne Central Complex which houses the historic Shot Tower (a lead factory). Instead of demolishing the 9-storey high tower, they just covered it with a beautiful conical glass roof inside the mall.
We also passed by Myer's. Myer's is like Australia's version of Rustan's. During the Christmas season, it is a major attraction for its Myer Animated Christmas windows where the mall puts to life a storybook.
2013 featured "Gingerbread's Friends". I couldn't take a nice photo of the display due to the glass reflection but here's a close-up shot of the gingerbread man. The moving figures are really nice and I read somewhere that it takes the artists about 8 months to prepare the annual animated Christmas windows. Wow.
In the same area, there are various street performers like these musicians. Beautiful music. I clearly remember during my first trip to Melbourne, I enjoyed watching street musicians, dancers and mimes around the city. I remember my cousin mentioned to me then that these artists have to undergo certifications for performing arts before they could perform on the streets. So these are professional performers and are really good. Some of them even sell their own CDs.
When it comes to shopping, Australians are pretty loyal to their brands so in the factory outlets like DFO, don't expect to see a lot of American brands which we're more familiar with. They do have nice brands too like Country Road. I didn't shop a lot though because I was thinking of my baggage allowance. Haha...
Even for coffee, Australians are very loyal to local brands. They say that all of the Starbucks outlets in Melbourne have closed except for one outlet located in the city because locals patronize their own coffee for its rich flavor. I'm not a coffee drinker so I am not really in the position to validate this but my cousins who are serious coffee drinkers compare drinking Starbucks to drinking skim milk after you taste Australian coffee. My cousins' favorite local coffee brand is Jasper coffee. I saw a branch of Jasper Coffee when we visited Chadstone.
Incidentally, Chadstone is the biggest shopping center in Australia. It has approximately 500+ stores and close to 10,000 parking slots. Whoa... Here are some photos I took inside Chadstone.
While in Chadstone, we also had lunch in a Malaysian restaurant called Papparich. Yummy food.
For new year, here's the pretty black & white table setting which one of my cousins and niece prepared. We didn't talk about any theme, but most of us were wearing either stripes or blue. No polka dots for us on New Year's eve. Haha...
For fireworks display, there are 2 scheduled shows in the city - 930pm and 12 midnight. For the 930pm show, we tried to catch it near one of the stations but we were in the wrong location and only saw a couple of bursts. For the 12midnight fireworks display, we just watched from my cousin's balcony and on tv. I noticed there weren't fireworks from individual houses unlike here. Maybe because the city's fireworks display is one of the world's most grand and beautiful and everyone just looks forward to watching it in the skyline or on tv.
We were also able to drop by St. Kilda beach. The water was so cold though - not suitable for swimming even if it's summer. Haha...
At St. Kilda, my niece and nephews enjoyed chasing after these seagulls.
We spotted 2 monks meditating peacefully on the beach.
Near St Kilda, there's a port where you can board the Spirit of Tasmania - the cruise that sails to Tasmania. During my first trip to Melbourne, one of my cousins and I went on a side trip to Tasmania (though we took the plane then). Tasmania is one of the most memorable places I've been to which includes visiting a Cadbury chocolate factory, finding my way through a giant maze and joining a ghost walking tour. :)
In addition to picnic places, there are also a lot of parks and playgrounds around Australia. Walking distance from another cousin's house is (are) not just one but two playgrounds.
Some last few things I learned while in Australia:
Vegemite is a popular local spread for sandwiches, toast and crackers. It's made from brewer's yeast. The taste of the paste is very strong and even with just a thin coating, it's very tasty on the bread already. Liking it is acquired taste and when I tried it, I think it tastes like soy sauce paste. But I did finish my vegemite pack on toasted bagels. :)
One dinner, a cousin cooked my all-time favorite sinigang. Yay! He used beef shanks instead of pork and broccoli leaves instead of kangkong (water spinach). I kidded him how sosyal! Then he explained to me that apparently beef is cheaper than pork and a bundle of kangkong costs AUD9 (about Php360) versus a bundle of broccoli leaves which only costs AUD1 (about Php40). Wow. I should start selling kangkong in Australia. Haha...
Cul de sacs are called Courts. So if you live in a cul de sac, instead of referring it to ABC Street, it is called ABC Court.
They don't refer to neighborhoods as subdivisions or villages but call them estates.
Their term for lanai is al fresco.
When the traffic light turns yellow, you don't have to worry if you'll be charged for beating the red light because there are markers on the road. If you're past that marker, it's ok for you to proceed even if the light is yellow already. I wish we could implement those markers here too.
Anyway, for the reception, I'm not sure if what we had was a typical Aussie reception menu (or if my cousin just overfed us) but there was salad, pasta, main course (veal), entree (lamb), supper (fruits and cheese) and dessert. The pasta, veal and lamb were all main courses to me! But I am not complaining, I finished them all. Haha...
As for the bouquet and garter throwing, unlike in our culture where you'll have a hard time calling all the single ladies (and I am no exception! Haha...) and men, over there, everyone is game and even eager to catch the bouquet and garter.
That's about it - a fun-filled week with my cousins, nephews and nieces one summer in Melbourne. :)
