Flo around the world 08

[tokyonite]

Eating out.
Here are some culinary impressions I just had to capture. The food in Melbourne was delicious ... and the pictures show how much my stomach appreciated it! Itadakimasu
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Food in melb is delicious?..i doubt that...

[Kyo]

Flo: I'd bet your Thai was at Ying Thai 2, Carlton. (I can tell by the dancing kid's foot in the background)

Delicious Thai food served there but I prefer the Tom Yum elsewhere a bit more (of course, can't beat the original stuff in Thailand, so you should try to go there next time on your next RTW)!


Pic added as I realised there was only the feet in the photo:

[flo]

Good times

KeithMEL in an unusual pose: this time he was the waiter. Splendid job there!


(Picture taken by Mr. K.)
but since this was just a splendid night – it suits the topic
outfit by upcoming Melbourne-based fashion crack, singaporu_kooku.


Actually taking a shot of a reflecting black (!) surface inside the Eureka tower.


Outside the Eureka tower


Just another ... room with a view?


Says it all.

[flo]

Lesson 5: Deserts
Every time I see a tort or cake it literally screams "you're at home" at me. I just love the deserts and cakes and I have to admit that the sweet stuff in Melbourne is by far better looking than the stuff we have over at my place. I decided not to eat the classic cakes but rather go for the cheesecakes. I just love them and those I had in Melbourne were even better than those I had in Canada. Great stuff!

Coffee is my life.
I only had about two/three cups in Melbourne... but they were pretty good


Cheesecake somewhere near the Crown casino. Delicious!


Again near Crown ... but this was some caramel cake.


And at last the coconut cake singaporu_kooku had.

There is a nice coffee place near the RMIT called Max Brenner. This coffee place is so nice and I like the fact that you can sit outside even when it's freezing cold outside. Those heaters Melbournian coffee places have are simply great -- I wonder how long they can afford to pay the gas bills for them.

Bring on the Brenner. Earl Grey - one of my favorites!


The heaters over there. I was fascinated by that idea.


Presentation: excellent.

[flo]

Lesson 3: Japanese
Somewhere in the city, there was this lovely Japanese place that sold their food at quite competitive prices. Thinking back, this was my first time trying eel (yumm) ... but I had the cup of ramen.

Bring on the eel!


Another fish. lol.


My cuppa!

Lesson 4: Laksa
Finally, some Laksa. Failing to eat some in Singapore, I had some at Laksa King in Melbourne. Great stuff but on that day I could not finish mine

Chicken Curry Laksa.


Chicken Laksa.


Some Laksa I cannot remember :/

[flo]

Lesson 2: Yum Cha
Melbourne. China-town. Shark-fin house. Yum Cha literally describes the whole procedure of sitting together, drinking tea and eating snacks while the small snacks are called Dim Sum. You probably all know but it's nice for those who don't Can you identify the dishes?

what would yum cha without me beloved egg-tarts be?

[flo]

Eating out.
Here are some culinary impressions I just had to capture. The food in Melbourne was delicious ... and the pictures show how much my stomach appreciated it! Itadakimasu

Lesson 1: Thai
Ying Thai 2 (thanks Kyo for filling in the blanks!) - spicy food ahead!

Me and blast-off

[flo]

Melbourne at night.
Melbourne is a great city and there are loads of things to discover. One thing that's a true blast is the view of Melbourne at night. So if you've got a dSLR and preferably a tripod, take those things along! Please excuse my non-existent photography skills, I am still learning

[flo]

Melbourne
This was supposedly the highlight of my trip given the number of people I would meet there. My host singaporu_kooku was most welcoming, truly deserving the title "Flo approved 5* Host in Melbourne". Not only did he bother to pick me up from the airport, he was also as kind to letting me stay at his place and helped me with the little problems one encounters on such a big trip.

Upon arriving, I still haven't had a lot of time to sleep, putting me in the strange position to act really tipsy and drunk-alike when actually being sober. singaporu_kooku and I were able to track down the other MEL-based party of KeithMEL, taipeiflyer and Mr. K.. We went for a cup of coffee at a place that had really great coffee (and I should know, usually having way more caffeine than normal people in my blood-circle) at some place KeithMEL should have noted the name. The place somehow reminded me of the time I had in Ottawa and Toronto last year; Melbourne seemed like a fusion (this word, 'fusion', seems to be everywhere in Australia!) between these two cities when it comes to the buildings and like Singapore or Hong Kong when it comes to the people there (which is a funny thing hehe).

We visited the Melbourne Gaol before splitting up again to have a break. I had a fine one-hour-nap before we met up again at the Taxi Dining Room which is located near the famous Flinders Street train station. We had a great time there, having way overpriced menus with way overpriced drinks (note: don't read any negative connotation into this sentence ). Just kidding but honestly speaking: this is not the way I usually eat so this was clearly something new for me. It was interesting to see so many different styles to eat: European-traditional food in Austria consisting of soup, mains and desert for 10 Euros, Hawker-Center and street food in Singapore for way less and starters, mains and desert in a hip Melbourne restaurant for way more. Always nice to see different things but the first impressions of dinner made me think that Melbourne is actually an expensive place to eat out as I usually spend less on food. But I also have to say that the dinner there was really, really good and that I should not have left Melbourne without trying it! Yumm....

Well, the time after the first day is like one big pile of impressions to me so I won't bother splitting them all up. It's probably better this way as it is more authentic ... so I had a really great time in Melbourne, having great nights in with singaporu_kooku, great nights out with KeithMEL, blast-off and his friends and some other guys (you don't know so I won't bother you with the details here hehe).

So the main impression about Melbourne was that I really slept a lot. I was just so jetlagged that I did not really manage to find my way to normal sleeping hours here. But the sleep here in Melbourne was just so refreshing... I remember that when I was young, I once slept 48 hrs in a row here in Melbourne after an exhausting flight from Singapore.

Another thing I loved in Melbourne was the food. Also the Taxi Dining Room of course but that was the kind of food I never had again in Melbourne. From Japanese to Thai, Chinese, Malay, Greek and even plain fries, I had everything and this really made my trip to Melbourne special. The deserts here were just gorgeous but see for yourself, I think 1/3rd of the Melbourne pictures I took are food pictures

Before I forget ... at the Taxi Dining Room, something great happened. As you might know, I am not really into drinking alcohol. Sometimes I do, but I generally don't because I don't like the taste of most alcoholic drinks ... taipeiflyer had a glass of scotch at the Taxi DR and let me try it: I instantly liked the taste. Don't worry, I am not going to become an alcoholic but the taste was something new to me and something I really enjoyed!

But then there was also this one night when I went over to KeithMEL's place to meet up with him, taipeiflyer and Mr. K. to go enjoy the nightlife of Melbourne. I was really looking forward to this night and it was really good. Unfortunately taipeiflyer could not join the pack ... but the fellowship of three (how epic!) managed to get into the Love Machine Melbourne to get a portion of serious Melbourne nightlife.

Another SQTalker, blast-off, made a big impression on me. We met randomly after he returned from Singapore and meeting his friends was a really great thing. We had a superb night-photography sessions at the Docklands and the results are - indeed - something I want to share with everybody here.

I also met the sponsor of my Business Class upgrade, Steven who joined me and some friends over dinner. It was a superb meetup and I hope we'll see each other again!

All in all, Melbourne has been a blast and I am happy I came here instead of Sydney or another place... looking back, Melbourne was a really weird, yet exciting city:

- on the streets, there were actually more Asian than Caucasian people
- the food wasn't very Western at all but rather a fusion of Asian cuisines.
- Australia is all 'fusion'.
- the highest tower of the city actually consists of apartments O.O
- no Sheilas, Kylies etc. at all.
- this place has even more coffee-places than Vienna!
- I even got to eat my beloved egg-tarts in Melbourne.
- The heaters outside the coffe-places are interesting. Really cool but so wasteful.
- Public transportation is even more chaotic than in Vienna.
- Although I felt like I had so much food there, I did not even nearly exhaust my budget of AU$ there.
- It was frickin cold.

But apart from that Melbourne still felt like my far-away home again and I am eagerly looking forward to returning as soon as possible. I met great people in Melbourne, ate out a lot, visited many places and had one of the best stays of my life here. The guys and girl who took care of me in Melbourne were as great as one could imagine.

[flo]

Bargain! Excellent location too if i am remembering correctly where on Queen's St the property is.

It's right on the corner of Queens/Customs. I am really in love with the location because I can reach everything I need within a 5 minutes walk

[KeithMEL]

Hello folks xD I am in Auckland right now. I am staying at the Mercure Auckland, which was the best hotel pick ever. For only 50 Euros a night, I am right at Queen's street and have a beautiful room in the 11th floor with a view of the SkyTower haha.

Bargain! Excellent location too if i am remembering correctly where on Queen's St the property is.

[flo]

Hello folks xD I am in Auckland right now. I am staying at the Mercure Auckland, which was the best hotel pick ever. For only 50 Euros a night, I am right at Queen's street and have a beautiful room in the 11th floor with a view of the SkyTower haha.

So, as the in-hotel internet rate seems to be really bad - they charge per megabyte used - I will update this thread (incl. photos) when I come to LA if the internet is better there.

phaleesy - the Prince is a great book xD if you read it, knowing what happened in the renaissance, you will find it highly entertaining in a sarcastic way. And it's only a few pages thick... so a good read for a longer flight! xD

[phaleesy]

Wasn't she attracted to the dark and mysterious European reading a 16th century political treatise?

One of those *cheem* books sitting (unread?) on my brother's bookshelves. Were they there to impress the girls?

I have not managed to get my paws on his collection of cheem books in recent years, partly because of geographical reasons and also because I've outgrown reading intellectual stuff.

[cawhite]

Flo, it sounds like you're having a wonderful trip so far! I'm sorry I'll miss you while you're in the US (and again in VIE in September).

Don't you already have a girlfriend?

Love one, please all

I wonder if she'd appreciate seeing that...

[token01]

haahah i think i second getonline's comment.

Aint no what goes on tour stays on tour going on 'ere