Image above: A local pushes his barrow up Hosier Lane – famous for its ever-changing street art. [Friday 18 September]
Day 15 and the halfway point of my trip. It’s 03:00 and the celebrations for my friend’s wedding have just ended so time to write about my time in Melbourne.
With some great friends in Melbourne, it’s been a long time coming for me to finally get here and hang out with them. First up was Lynn and her family whom I stayed with. We go back ten years to my time in NTU in Singapore and this was the first time that I got to meet her husband, Peter, and their six week old baby, Qian.
As she always is Lynn was an impeccable hostess and she had a ton of recommendations of places to visit and, being a total foodie, where to eat including two fantastic gourmet chocolate shops! And it was great to meet Peter though I wasn’t able to share embarrassing stories about Lynn with him (just yet!) and had fun playing with Qian-Yi who was adorable but just didn’t want to be photographed!
Image above: Myself with Lynn, Qian-Yi, and Peter at St. Kilda. [Friday 18 September]
Next up was meeting up with Jason whom I travelled for two weeks journeying from New Delhi in India to Kathmandu in Nepal back in January. It really does seem a lifetime ago but still a fantastic trip and lots of memories. So to celebrate we had an Indian lunch where Jason went for his standard butter chicken and accompanying my meal … my usual bottle of Fanta!
Image above: Jason eyeing up his butter chicken dish as we have an Indian lunch to commemorate our India / Nepal trip earlier this year. [Thursday 17 September]
And last, but definitely not the least, Avilyn who I’ve known for about 11-12 years now since I met her on a Kit Chan IRC channel (remember those?) and she was kind enough to translate Singlish into the Queen’s English. We’ve not met for 10 years and so it was happy reunion seeing her again and giving her a proper and long overdue hug.
As just as we used to do in back in Singapore we stayed up all night chatting away about anything and everything under the moon. It’s really wonderful and rare to have a friendship stand the test of time like that. And hopefully it won’t be another ten years until we meet up next time!
Image above: Having chocolate churros with Avi and her friends. (L-R) Betty, Avi, Mervin, and Eve. [Wednesday 16 September]
As for Melbourne itself, I really liked the city over time as I got to know it better … the relaxed yet stylish vibe that was infused in their lifestyle, the endless search for that perfect cup of coffee, the array of tiny one-off shops just waiting to be discovered, as well as the quality of the food both in restaurants and in the markets. Another place to add to list of locales that I’d love to live and work in. Just have to figure out how to escape London now!
Coming up next, my time in Perth and more about a good friend’s wedding set amongst the rolling vineyards of Swan Valley.
Latest travel statistics: 5 places visited, 15 time zones crossed, 31.5 hours spent in 8 planes, and 5 movies watched.
Sounds like you had a great time! When I was there my friend was introducing me as such: “Hey guys, this is my friend April who’s going to move here soon!” Haha, and she keeps telling me about exciting job opportunities and available flats to rent. I really loved being in Melbourne. Happy travels!
@April: Thanks! Sad to be leaving there but happy to get to travel to
more places. Post on Perth coming up soon!