Melbourne is the capital city for the State of Victoria, Australia. Since Victoria is also referred to as the Garden State, Melbourne in particular has some very beautiful parks and private gardens that are open to the public. It is the home of the Melbourne Cup, a Thoroughbred horse race, the Australian Open, a tennis grandslam event and the Australian Formula 1, boy I would love to see the last two live and in person but I would have to brave the harsh australian summer to do that…
My brief Melbourne sojourn could be best described as a series of accepted invitations for lunch or dinner at their homes or at a resto given by my relatives, we even had to decline the other invites ‘coz my sked can no longer accommodate them. So, losing 2 or 3 kilos in that kind of a scenario is quite surprising don’t you think? But that’s exactly what happened to me, I guess im the type that loose weight when i am on a very tight schedule. Don’t get me wrong the food is absolutely yummy… that eat-all-you-can buffet at the Crown(?)(thanks ekang and sonny), the korean food in Clayton(?)(thank you che), the dinner hosted by the Armstrong Family at the Hard Rock(thank you bobby and carla, yves, leesa, remy and otto, and of course rob and ollie), that resto where annie took us near her home, the fish and chips in Rye(thanks rob and ollie), those chocolate-dipped strawberries and tea in Docklands(thanks again che), the Yum Cha in Glen Waverly(i miss those humongous chicken feet, thanks again rob and ollie), those huge pasta and pizza plates in Dandenong(?)(thanks millette and conrad), the vietnamese food in Springvale, Nando’s chicken, the portuguese(?) hamburger and the lovely noodle soup in the city(thanks to my only sis). There’s also dinner at nina and michael’s, at tol’s and carol’s, at rico and cy’s, at nandy and erlie’s , and, at ronnie and pin’s. this is a shout-out to all my relatives in the Land Downunder who drove me around town, entertained me, fed me and kept me company during that 2 week stay, I hope you’re all having a G’Day Mates!
As in my every visit anywhere in the world, there is always time alloted for shopping. We did a mall “tour” of the shops in Myer, Chadstone, Southland and of course, the DFO(Direct Factory Outlet, where we shopped-like-mad!).
My cousin Nina took me and my sister on a long drive on 2 consecutives days. First day…destination…Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. it is an Open air museum in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, that depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. The site comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed volunteers, who are able to answer questions and will pose for photos. The recreation is completed with antiques, artwork, books and papers, machinery, livestock and animals, carriages and devices all appropriate to the era…
…after Sovereign Hill, next destination was…The Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Tough luck for me, when I arrived in Melbourne there was water restrictions so the garden was bereft of the beautiful blooms that my mother and my brother saw on their last visit. Nevertheless, the trees were, lets see, how do I describe it…very old, some were huge, some very rare, and a lot of them looks…creepy.
One tree in particular was positively scarry, it’s just perfect for a horror movie set! i swear, it felt like it was going to swallow me alive when I had my picture taken near it…peace Mr Tree…
Next stop for that day…The Shrine of Remembrance. It is Victoria’s memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
We ended the day in St Patrick’s Cathedral. Remember, my sister said that this is even more beautiful than St. Mary’s in Sydney, aaaahhhh, wellll, ok, yeah it is beautiful!
On the second day, Nina drove us to an even longer drive, took us an entire day to be exact. We went to Port Campbell to see the 12 Apostles. After a couple of hours of driving we had to make a brief stopover for lunch in Lorne, a seaside town and a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route.
Then came our final destination…The 12 Apostles…it is a collection of limestone stacks rising out of the sea along the southern coast of Victoria, Australia. They are located along the Great Ocean Road between the towns of Princetown and Port Campbell. The rate of erosion at the base of the limestone pillars is approximately 2cm per year.
My cousin Ekang and her husband Sonny drove us one day to…Puffing Billy Railway. it is one of the most popular steam heritage railways in the world and runs through the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, Australia. We got off this train in picturesque Emerald Lake in Belgrave.
On my final weekend, another cousin, Ollie and her husband Robert took us to their weekend home in Rye, another seaside town. And on our way back to the city, we rode the ferry and even made a brief stopover at Geelong, a port city.
Before I left Australia, the girls had a night out in town, the highlight of which was to watch the Melbourne production of Miss Saigon at Her Majesty’s Theater. It was truly an outstanding performance led of course by the mostly, Filipino casts…applause, applause… what can i say, love your own. In this case though, they deserve all the applause and accolades.
Flying back to Manila is a prospect that I did not relish. Not because I don’t want to go back to the Philippines, its because I have do endure the 10hr flight alone. On top of that, i have to transfer to another airport in Sydney for my flight home. Oh and did I mention that I have to wait another 4hrs for my connecting flight, ugh, and that’s not it, am I lucky or what, I was singled out at the line for customs and was searched and dusted I presume for prohibited drugs residue(did they think I was a drug courier or something or what?!). Thank god I did not have to take my clothes off or anything like that, that female officer was courteous enough to ask for my permission but with a veiled threat as to the consequences if I refuse. As if I have any choice, in fact, I welcomed it…go ahead, any activity to kill time(remember I have to wait for 4hrs for my flight) is entertainment for me, so, do your thing…bring it on lady! Well, the story did not end there, while I was waiting for my flight, I was again singled out by another lady…what was so unusual or whatever about me on that day, I have no idea…anyway, it turned out that the lady works for the Tourism Board or something of Sydney and they just want to do a little survey and ask a “few” question from tourists. Again I figured, sure another activity to kill time is most welcome. For my graciousness in answering this lady’s questions, I was rewarded with an Australian key chain souvenir…thank’s lady, I would have done it without the bribe you know. My “luck” did not end there, during my flight i was seated next to a white guy who kept asking the Qantas flight attendant to serve him bourbon, I think he was served 3 times and was still asking for more…naaaaah, no drinking problem there, I was expecting him to become unruly at some point ‘coz the flight attendant was ignoring his request for another drink…haha…the day that started at 5am that morning with 10degree celsius temperature in Melbourne ended at 8pm that night with a 35degree celsius temperature in Manila.
