G'Day Mate!

originally posted on Tue, 7 Sept 2004

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just back from a trip to melbourne with my parents. departed saturday night, 28 august 2004, 2115 hours. arrived 0645, by the time we went out of the airport building, it was well past 7.30. took cab to the hotel, not exactly in city centre but a 15-minute tramride away. it works out cheaper if you travel in groups of 3 or more cos if you take the skybus, it goes to city centre and you have to take tram to the hotel - and i wasn't sure then which tram to take, what number/route and destination, which stop to alight from, how far the stop is from the hotel etc. plus with our luggage, i didn't want to take any chances. although i did print some aerial map of the hotel location, it turned out to be a very general indicator, roads that seem adjacent to the hotel on the map are actually a few blocks away!

our hotel, bayview on the park, is an affiliate of berjaya vacation club, of which i'm a member. i paid RM110/night [about AUD40.7, which i thought was very cheap for a 4-star melbourne hotel]. it faces albert park, which has this massive lake [i suspect man-made] and has a golf course too. i read somewhere that the australian F1 is held @ albert park too although i couldn't see the circuit even when i was in the park. oh yes, it was still chilly, still in winter but quite mild for winter. they declare sept 1 as the day spring started although of course theoretically, spring only starts from sept 21 [equinox].

obviously we couldn't check in when we arrived at the hotel [it was around 8 sth on sunday morning, pretty uncivilised hour to be walking around in such weather!]. the receptionist said normal check-in time is 3 pm and the earliest they could try is 11 am. my parents had already 'collapsed' at the nearest sofa in the lobby. fought off sleep but still dozed off. woke at about 10 and was about to suggest venturing to the city when we were told we could check in then. alhamdulillah! i had a pleasant surprise when i opened the door, it was a very large room with 2 double beds and a single bed [extra bed]. so much for bringing a sleeping bag! see, i thought we'd get a cramped room and as berjaya told me that extra bed costs AUD45/night, i decided to bring the sleeping bag as no way was i going to part with AUD180 for 4 nights. checked again with housekeeping and was assured i wouldn't be charged for the single bed and early check-in. alhamdulillah!!

took tram to queen victoria market. bought some souvenirs then went back. maghrib was at almost 6 then. the next day, went to nunawading [on the train map, it's at zone 2/3] to brandsmart factory outlet. there's another factory outlet but to get to this other outlet, you'll need to take the train and then bus which comes every half an hour or so, or you could walk from the train station to the outlet - for about 30-40 mins. brandsmart is pretty small by outlet standards. went back at 2 sth. rained practically the whole day. went out in the evening alone to chapel street/prahran area.

tuesday, went to richmond, about 10 minutes away fr city centre by tram. it's like a long strip of roads with small outlet shops along the road [nine west, esprit and australian brands]. after lunch, took tram back to city centre & then back to hotel 4 sth. went out alone to albert park, walked along the lake. freezing cold! mad melburnians jogging along the lake. well, in such weather, they had to be mad! wednesday, left hotel late cos i had bad menstrual pain. spent the whole day at the city centre.

thursday morning, woke up early [8 am! early la tu]. went alone to queen victoria market. bought last-minute stuff. back to hotel 11 am. cab came 1230. arrived at airport just before 1. thankfully not many people checking in yet. departed melbourne 1500 hours, arrived KUL 2045 [1/2 hour earlier than scheduled]. home at last 2230. unpacked. back to office on friday, sept 3.

other stuff: if you go to victoria, you should try rent a car [esp if you're in groups of 3 or more] or take the sightseeing bus along the great ocean road. i did that before in 2000 [with my friends] so tak menyesal that we didn't go this time around [don't think my parents are up to the long busride anyway]. go along great ocean road, up to warrnambool [sp?] go to the grampians, ballarat etc. in 2000, we rented another car and went to sydney [12 hours away], stopping at canberra on the way. canberra is a bit like putrajaya, nothing much to see. sydney, well, sydney is great! i love sydney!!! can never tire of that city. but my friends who were attending a course in melbourne - before i joined them - preferred melbourne. perth is a quiet city, too quiet for me. brisbane is ok but since i went there with my parents, didn't even go to the gold coast [well, we did go to the pacific fair factory outlet, does that count?]. anyway, lin said it pales in comparison to florida theme parks. can't comment on adelaide, darwin etc cos never been there. fashion-wise, not that great - how many australian designers do you know anyway? plus being in the southern hemisphere where the seasons are opposite that of the northern hemisphere countries probably make it harder for their designs to be accepted. they probably need to launch their designs a year ahead or sth.

ok, this has been a pretty long posting. take care everyone and have a productive week ahead.