Author Archives: Jamie

Here comes the much delayed post about my trip to Melbourne. I can’t exactly say what took me so long, but all i know for sure is that i’ve put in quite a lot of effort in editing these pictures.

As Boromir would say, “One does not simply edit pictures”.

Also it took really long to come up with this post cause i have loads of pictures from all over the place, so i had a tough time deciding how am i gonna go about this. Well, i’ve decided to split everything up so there’ll be more posts about my trip ;)

So anyway, back to talking bout Melbourne. In August 2011, i went to Melbourne for the first time.

I’m really glad that i went for this trip. At first, i was sure about not wanting to go because the trip would be really expensive, considering the fact that the trip will be almost two weeks long.

But after some persuasion and consideration, i decided to go after all. And it turned out to be one of the best decisions that i’ve ever made.

BabyGiap and Fei Sing

Of course there were a lot of things to sort out before i left Malaysia. School stuff, mostly. I had to explain to my lecturers and group mates bout why i’ll be missing during presentation week. They all didn’t understand why i chose to travel in the middle of the semester, but thank goodness they approved of my absence nonetheless.

Anyway, it was my first long flight to somewhere out of the country. BabyGiap and Fei Sing were my guardians-slash-escorts to Melbourne as rest were already in Australia for a gig in Sydney a couple of days earlier.

When i finally arrived at the airport in Melbourne and took my first step into the outdoors, i felt like i needed time to take in everything.

The rush of cold wind against my bare face as i stepped out and fresh crisp air that accompanied it, the sky with the prettiest gradient of blue coupled with some white fluffy clouds here and there, and the simple yet stunning scenery during our cab ride to the hotel.

It was all foreign, yet exciting. It felt surreal.

My first few hours in Melbourne was spent with Jason and Cai Jin since i had a couple of hours to myself until Hoongmao and the rest arrives from Sydney. So by being the new kid in town, Cai Jin and Jason were both obligated to take me out. You know, as a welcome gesture.

Good thing i bought a prepaid the first thing i arrived :)

Another good thing is that we’re all living in the city and we’re just minutes walk away from each other. But even so, i didn’t really get to see them as often as i’d want to cause they both had classes during the weekdays.

But nonetheless, it was nice to see familiar faces after landing at a completely foreign place.

First meal at Melbourne – ox tongue rice from Menya

Cai Jin brought me to her place after lunch. The view from her place is amazing, don’t you agree?

This is the service apartment we lived at for our entire stay at Melbourne. It’s located at Franklin Street, which makes it the best place to stay given the price for accommodation.

Our humble unit

Well it may not be as glamourous as some people would like it to be, but really it’s not bad at all. I got used to it just fine cause the place was clean.

Besides, the four of us lived pretty much in harmony considering the fact that the we only had one bathroom. Amazing, innit?

Evening view from our balcony

There wasn’t really a need for public transportation since we were located at Franklin Street. Places like Melbourne Central and Victoria Market were just a walking distance away so it was really convenient.

Plus, why would you wanna take public transport when the weather is perfect for walking?

Coop’s Shot Tower in Melbourne Central; est. 1888

There’s also a place in Melbourne Central called Cho Gao that we went to for drinks pretty often. I’m sure Malaysians studying over at Melbourne would know this place.

We’d always sit outside at the balcony. The weather makes beer drinking so much more enjoyable cause with a weather like that, the beer is always cold.

So we walked most of the time. We took transportation only when we’re going to some place outside the city center.

It pretty easy to navigate around the city too. I could even walk to Melbourne Central alone the day after i first arrived in Melbourne just to get my uggs before heading up to Mt. Buller.

Speaking of uggs, they’re actually pretty useful. I thought i’d only wear them up in the mountain cause of the snow, but i ended up wearing them when we were back in the city too cause it gets really cold at night.

But really, the best way to explore new places is by walking.

Taken during my morning walk to Melbourne Central

At an ally nearby

Nasty taggin’

Spotted an Invader

We started our first night in Melbourne with a blast at a Pure Hard Dance (PHD) party at Inflation. It was my first time going to an underground club so it was quite an eye opener. And i got to see real Melbourne shufflers :D