Familiarity

Since there’s internet here, and since I’ll be off to Launceston early tomorrow morning, here’s a post for y’all!

Familiarity was what greeted me upon arrival in Melbourne. Just walking the streets looking for a place to eat, enjoying the hot and dry yet windy weather.

Yesterday evening, my Dad and I went off in search of this steak house his friend recommended.

Vlado’s Charcoal Grill
61 Bridge Road
Richmond VIC 3121 
(03) 9428 5833

Apparently, they’ve only got a single set menu which consisted of whatever you see above. By the time we reached the Entree, our stomachs were already full enough to get us through the night. But no, that was just the beginning.

This shot of the Porterhouse Steak does not do justice to its actual size. With no fancy presentation whatsoever, it just screamed “EAT ME!!'”. That is, until you’ve stuffed yourself with so much red meat that you wouldn’t wanna look at it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it was grilled to perfection, nothing like what I’ve had before, but it was just too much.

Dessert was just plain awesome. The paper thin (exaggerate abit) pancake was filled generously with fresh strawberries, from one end to the other. THIS I managed to finish off real quickly. Dessert over meat any day. xD

After sleeping in today, we went over to Lygon for lunch. Yet again, although it was just a couple of months ago that I was there, it just felt good to be back, knowing that I’ll be here again in a few months’ time.

What was different this time was we ate at a restaurant that we’ve never been to - Cafe Cavallino, which proved to be a right choice. Their Fettuccine Marinara was seriously loaded with fresh seafood.

The corner of Swanston and Grattan.

Brought my Dad to Seven Seeds for a cuppa after lunch - one of my must-visit-spots before heading to Tasmania. Come to think of it, this is actually the only must-visit-spot that I have at the moment.

Seven Seeds Specialty Coffee
106 Berkeley Street
Carlton VIC 3053
(03) 9347 8664

Been looking forward to a good cuppa cappuccino for a long long time. Guessing that cafe-hunting in Launceston is gonna be fun, though I can’t honestly say that I’ve got a good palette for good coffee.

Dropped by the city later in the evening for dinner.

The so-called Mamak in QV which was opening soon in December is now open from 11am till late. Makes me wonder how late does it really open until. If anyone happens to be going there or have already been there, do let me know!

And so, the sun started to set at 8.30pm local time. About to end this post, wondering when’ll be the next time I’ll have access to this wonderful invention called the internet. Seems that there’s limited mobile coverage in Tasmania - only Telstra’s readily available. Plus, their internet plans are ridiculously pricey. So I guess we’ll just see what happens next!

Another 10 Months

Heading back to Australia tonight. But this year I won’t be in Melbourne anymore. This means having to relocate and readapt to a similar but new environment, which means finding a new place to stay, getting used to the streets, and meeting new people  - all of which I’m sure will prove to be fun and interesting soon enough.

The past two months have really just zoomed past just like that. I’m sure we all know how fast time flies whenever you’re having fun. It’s always like that, isn’t it?

I can’t honestly say that I’m looking forward to leaving Melbourne, but I am glad that the time is here when I finally get to set foot on Tasmanian soil for the first time and actually know what it feels like to be in the Island State of the Land Down Under. I’ve got at least three years to get used to the place and learn to love it, shouldn’t be too difficult. xD

Before I end this post, here’s a couple of songs that I’ve came across lately that are, in my opinion, pretty good.

Matt Nathanson - Come on Get Higher
Parachute - She is Love
Mika - Blue Eyes

So, till I’ve settled down (or rather, till I actually find a place to stay) and gotten my internet set-up, this is me signing off, wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous Chinese New Year. May the Year of the Tiger be a great one for everyone!

Hoot Hoot!!

Relatively short post to finish off on my trip to Singapore a couple of weekends ago. After doing some last minute shopping on Orchard Road, Heng Cheng and I checked out of the Bayview Hotel.

Took a cab over to Clarke Quay (pronounced klahrk-keee) where we dragged our luggage about looking for a place to have lunch. Okay I was the one dragging a hand-carry bag, laptop bag, and camera around under the hot sun.

Guess what? We decided to eat at the first ever Hooters in Asia! Reckon it was a pretty good idea as we were already at its doorstep and when were we gonna have another chance to visit a Hooters outside the USA?

I had their seafood lunch set or something which was a little pricey but pretty decent at the same time.

Oh right, we had some foreign Hooter girls serving us. Couldn’t quite make out where they were from. Thailand, perhaps. Anyways, sometime during lunch I had to use the bathroom. And after getting back to our table, I decided that I just had to snap a couple of photos after finishing my lunch.

Reason #1: They had these awesome door signs instead of the usual toilet symbols.

Reason #2: These were all around the upper walls of the men’s washroom. All around as in wherever you turn - 360 degrees - the pictures were there. Need I say more? Kinda makes you wonder what they have in the women’s washroom, doesn’t it? “Food for thought.” - Puan Tang’s favourite line, I think. Or some other English teacher back in high school.

You’ve no idea how weird and wrong it felt to walk up to the toilet door and snap a photo, and then continue to go in and snap even more.

Anyhow, after lunch the two of us made our way to the Harbourfont Centre where we walked about for a bit before hopping onto the Aeroline coach to head back to Malaysia.

And there we have it, the 4 days 3 nights trip to Singapore. And although I won’t be able to catch up on all of em before heading back to Melbourne this weekend, stay tuned for the many posts to come!

Holland V Rocks

It was our third day in Singapore. Think we decided to pay Holland Village a visit in the morning. So off we went in a cab and got off somewhere there. Walked about to find nothing other than rows of shops and eateries. So what did we do? Took another cab back to the city. Best la.

Walked about ION on Orchard once more, before hitting several other malls around there as we were waiting to meet up with Heng Cheng’s friend from Melbourne, Jeanette.

Had lunch together at The Hand Burger at 313 @ Somerset. This is a shot of Heng Cheng’s burger - The Works Burger, which as you can see, had everything. I had the original which was rather plain looking but tasted awesome.

Then, Jeanette brought us to the Far East Mall where we window shopped and shopped. Well, I managed to get a couple of T-shirts whereas Heng Cheng just followed. Oh well.

We ‘completed’ our Singapore experience by travelling on their public bus to the Doby Ghaut station.

Where Jeanette then brought us to this place for a cuppa soya bean drink to quench our thirst after walking about the entire afternoon. However, we didn’t go to the shop which is supposedly better cause of the ridiculously long line. Apparently, Jeanette used to go there like three times a week, just to have a drink.

On the way back, we got the help of a kind man to snap a photo of the three of us outside some pet shop in some mall. Hence the totally random background. We were literally standing and taking a photo in the middle of no where. Then we said our goodbyes.

After meeting Jasmine at City Hall, we headed towards the Marina Square mall where we met up with our other Trinity friends for dinner at M.O.F. (Ministry of Food).

This is Kalista with her surprise birthday cake. She turned 18 a couple of days after that dinner.

Judith, Jasmine, Mei Yin, Kalista and her friend Aloysious (don’t remember how to spell), Eugene, Heng Cheng, myself, Zack, David, Phaik Yie, and Grace.

Most of us headed over to the arcade(?) to play some pool whereas some left after dinner, and others soon after that. Anyways, it was great to meet up with everyone again. All the best to the guys with their two year National Service. xD

Oh this was lame. We rushed towards the MRT that was about to depart towards Jurong East. After Heng Cheng got in, I sorta strolled towards the door, only to have it slam in my face, literally. So there I was, having to wait for the next train back. Oh well, all part of the experience eh?

Just Testing