Melbourne'11 part III,

Located direct south of Yarra River, Southbank is one of the inner suburbs of Melbourne, and you can catch the beautiful skyline and Princes bridge very well from Federation wharf on the opposite side of the Yarra River. It also holds one of the primary Business centers in Melbourne, with skyscrapers and office buildings and entertainment establishments such as the Crown Casino. In the midst of all these hustle and bustle, Australia's tallest tower (Eureka tower) stands. However, just like how Singapore has a green belt even in the Central Business District, Southbank has preserved many significant heritage buildings and Arts precinct on the eastern end and along St. Kilda Road. These include Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery of Victoria.

By a stroke of luck, we found out about the Sunday Art and Craft market which occurs on the promenade at the Arts Centre. Home to many freelance buskers and pavement chalk artists, which are such a joy to watch, they bring together over 80 of Victoria's finest artisans. This happens every Sunday, from 10am to 4pm. The Arts Centre Melbourne Lawn will be filled with market stalls, selling handmade goods from art pieces to homemade enticing delicacies and even freshly baked goods!

Dined at Phone De Bortoli Winery and Restaurant before travelling down to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary - a cosy place with all the llamas (seriously the cutest ever), kangaroos, wombats and other wildlife

(Stop looking at my frozen smile and laughable winter hair hahaha)

I simply adore the glorious countryside and the sunshine that envelops it, albeit the inaccessibility it really was very rejuvenating for soul - as you stand there in wide-eyed awe of His creations. The skies were relatively clear that day, and it's really fortunate to be able to see the horizon 360 degrees round :)

On a side note, I've done up the posts on my Phuket trip but I wanna go through with the Melbourne posts first. Office life has been pretty kind, although some days are really tiring the experience will be worth the effort, ciao!

Pictures taken by my trusty Canon IXUS 1000HS

Melbourne Part I

Melbourne Part II

Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary
Badger Creek Road
Healesville Victoria 3777


Sunday Arts and Craft Market
Along St Kilda Road and Arts Centre Melbourne lawn

Melbourne'11 part I,

Good Sunday to all, I'm finally getting down to archiving my six day Melbourne family trip in Winter June 2011 and posting them in (hopefully) bite-sized parts teehee. Touched down on the first day all groggy, but had to wait for the room which could only be ready at 2pm so we decided to take a stroll down to the famous Queen Victoria market for lunch (which we returned back on our last day to get more goodies). We stayed at Ibis hotel on Little Burke street, which was pretty cosy and public transport was readily available in the vicinity ♥ I took some film pictures (the first time playing around with my SLR) here in a previous post.

What I absolutely adore when I head overseas is that you can actually see the sky horizons, painting such a picturesque landscape 360 degrees round which is such a delight to both the eyes and the soul. It's such a refreshing change from the cluttered high-rise buildings and skyscrapers in Singapore (even though I can't deny that the night skyline in the Central Business District is tremendously gorgeous)

Leaving our luggage behind with the Concierge, we cut through the Central park area which turned out pretty cold despite the merciless sun. Ironically, I think I got a sunburn on the way there, and a cold on the way back. The temperatures aren't so bad in the day, unless of course a cold draft comes along because the wind is very icy.

Greeted by glorious fruit, handicraft and busking street opera singers (What a dream) belting out classics like Phantom of the Opera pieces was reinvigorating, especially since we were tired out from the flight there. With the large variety of delicacies and handicraft, Queen Victoria market reminded me of London's Borough market, except that the latter has more upmarket gourmet cuisine. If you want to know, the Market stalls are open everyday, other than Mondays and Wednesdays :) (During the summer months, a night market filled with live entertainment, bars and dining and such can be found on Wednesday evenings) We made a lunch pit stop for cheesy tortellini and smoked chicken sandwiches. Of all choices, my sister had to settle for prata...Asian cuisine is slightly more expensive there so I suggest you settle for local food if you ever visit.

Made a mistake to wear my sandals out because my toes were freezing by the time we got back to the hotel! Not many pictures taken on the first day since we were all exhausted from traveling, we slept very soundly until 10pm in which we aptly woke up for an instant noodles supper and went back to slumber. What's noteworthy was that we were abruptly woken up by the sharp shrill of the hotel fire alarm (Holy macaroni, it was a real emergency) Imagine being in a state of panic whilst being half conscious, and whisked away into the bitter cold in your pyjamas - our Aussie hotel neighbours were very considerate and kindly offered to check things out at the reception. Even calling the emergency hotline warranted no response, gosh! So we scuttled out across the hallway to my parents, escaped through the stairs emergency route half-dressed and were greeted by firefighters outside the hotel. They never really told us what happened, but assured us that the situation is under control (I think it was a leak somewhere) and we headed back up to our cosy slumber.

Till the next post with more pictures of us haha, ciao!

Melbourne Part II

Melbourne Part III

Melbourne Part IV

Melbourne Part V

Melbourne on film,

Nostalgia is the best seasoning, they say. Taking a chance with the secondhand SLR, it is with sheer delight that these two roll of films were developed ☀ Snippets of my recent Melbourne trip through the lens of the Canon EOS for your viewing pleasure. Missing the refreshing, albeit sometimes stinging cold, ocean breeze and sunshine. Enjoy the berserk hair or palish states (if any), typical Tropical beings don't belong to Winter.

I would say that the pictures turned out pretty well, not too grainy or overexposed. Of course accounting in the fact that I took a chance with its virgin shoot during the trip itself, and being such an amateur at film! Everything seemed like an excellent photograph opportunity, with the picturesque scenery to the blooming daisies and cute beyond words caucasian kids ascending roadside trees.

Captured most of the scenery in digital form though, since there was too much backlight from the glaring sun. A paranoma stitch of the gorge would have been amazing but my camera wasn't up to the challenge. (Broke down while playing fetch with the Border collie along Anglesea beach) The twelve apostles were gorgeous, except that there are only 6 left standing because of weathering and erosion. Nonetheless, they stood majestic against the glaring skylight.

The last picture is really just for comic reliefs; think coastal sea breezes and beckoning an overly-friendly Border collie. Love candid frames, even though it doesn't really depict the full picture (pardon the pun haha) These are really just minute glimpses of the trip, digital pictures soon hopefully!