The alarm went off at 7:45am but I was too tired to get up so snoozed for another 10 minutes. Washed up, packed up, dressed in a short sleeve t-shirt and a flannel shirt and I was out about 8+am to Queen Victoria Market (QVM) only to find out that it was closed on Wednesday. Felt disappointed and returned to the hotel to rest till 10am. Went to do the check-out and was told that I had to pay A$15 for the Internet usage. Oh well… I had assumed wrongly and had myself to blame for being too lazy to check the details of the free internet usage. Deposited my luggage with the hotel and took a tram to the Federation Square. Started the walking trails on “Arcades & Lanes” and “The Cosmopolitan” around 10:30am and managed to find most of the sights such as the Block Arcade where I saw the famous Hopetoun Tea Rooms and art sculptures such as the Public Purse. Saw a lot of street performers too.
Came lunchtime and I popped into the foodcourt over at the Emporium to have pork katsu don. It was an enjoyable meal because the portion was just nice for me. Used the free wifi at David Jones to check emails as well as to whatsapp little big sis. Continued with the walking trails and managed to find the rest of the sights though I still missed a few. Saw the Chocolate Box over at the ANZ building and bought some chocolates that were on my shopping list. However, I was not able to find the Ganache Chocolate Lounge. Tried to find my way back to the Royal Arcade and got a bit lost. It was getting hot so I took off the flannel shirt, tied up my hair and tried to find the Royal Arcade again. In the midst of my search, I went into H&M to try and see if I could get a sleeveless top because the weather forecast indicated that it is going to be a hot, hot day tomorrow. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any suitable ones with my size. Found Royal Arcade and decided to have tea at Caffe e Torta where I ordered a cup of mocha and a strawberry tartlet. Yummy.
Took my time to enjoy the food before going over to Myer where I managed to find a sleeveless black blouse at the basement. Took a tram back to the hotel and it was 5:30pm. Collected my luggage and waited at the lobby for CT to pick me up. She came at 6pm with her husband, SY, and they brought me to the Suzuki Market in QVM for dinner. We walked around the market to have a look at the things that the stalls were selling and chatted along the way. Then we popped over to the food section to see what to get for dinner. In the end, I bought the patatas bravas while CT and her husband shared a portion of food as dinner. As it was still early, they then brought me to Brunetti over at Lygon Street for dessert. I ordered tiramisu and CT ordered some others to share with her husband. I had intended to pay separately but CT beat me to it and paid for all.
We chatted over desserts on the issues pertaining to Singapore and also the plans for the coming weekend. After we were done eating, SY drove us back to his place. No wonder CT told me in the email that they would pick me up every evening from wherever I may be to go back to their place. Their house was really far from the Melbourne City and subway station was not anywhere near. On top of that, it gets really dark around their area because there are not enough street lights.
Reached their place and it was a big house with their own garage and yard. CT showed me to my room which was like a mini studio apartment equipped with own kitchen and living room, in another part of the house. Settled down a little and went back to the main living room where CT made tea and passed me a SIM card to test out on my second phone so that we can keep in contact over the next few days. Also to be able to contact each other so that she can pick me up each evening. Checked with her what time they usually leave for work and was told that they will leave around 7am to have breakfast with me first, and then send CT to work before dropping me at wherever I want. It was getting late, so we all retired into our respective rooms to rest for the night and I did a bit of unpacking before sleeping at 1+am.
Thought: Melbourne City is very confusing with the many small lanes and in those small lanes are lots of cafes and many people visit those cafes. Though the small lanes can get rather crowded, the street arts on the walls are very impressive. Despite being a modern city, there are a lot of old buildings with very nice structures around where they are converted into shopping centres or offices. This gives a very interesting contrast of old and new in one place. Also there are a lot of interesting sculptures around the area. I don’t usually go for afternoon tea so today’s tea at the Caffe e Torta in Royal Arcade was really a treat to myself. It was really nice and relaxing to just sit down and watch the world goes by.
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