Someone along the way told us that Australia feels a lot like United States of America and now that we're here in Melbourne, I couldn't agree more.
From the trendy people to chic restaurants and bars that get packed at night, Melbourne is a great reminder of New York City. As someone once said, "you never fully appreciate something unless it's taken away from you," and that's how we feel about New York. It is incredible talking to people here how many of them want to either visit New York badly or want to live in New York badly. Until Melbourne, I didn't feel like I miss New York so much, but being here in Melbourne certainly reminds me of back home.
We stayed with our family friend Jimit's apartment. A beautiful apartment in the swanky neighbourhood of St. Kilda. The neighbourhood is full of cute cafes, bars and restaurants. Choosing one is a bit difficult, but they all look great. For the 3 days we were here, we mostly doddled around and simply chillaxed.
Our first night in Melbourne we had delicious Thai food at a cheap take away restaurant. The following night we hungout with our new friend Jacinta whom we meet in Fiji. Alex, her boyfriend, got a job in Singapore so he wasn't around, but Jacinta was a good sport in giving us a tour of Carlton neighborhood. Locals always know where to eat and yet again, Jacinta proved that. She took us to a bar, Bimbos, which served $4 delicious pizza. I couldn't believe how good the pizza was for the price they were. The place was packed with foodies. We had to bum a part of the table from a large group of people and I had to sit on a raggedy chair, but it was all good. Later we had dessert at Vegie bar which served delicious food and desserts. I had my first encounter with Sticky Date Pudding and I gotta say it was pretty darn good. Gin had a gluten free chocolate cake and she was utterly pleased with it. We called it a night after that since Jacinta had to go to school the next day. She's almost done with her law degree.
On our last night in Melbourne, Jimit decided to cook for us and he cooked a sumptuous dinner. It was one of the best butter chickens we've had in Australasia (Australia/New Zealand). We realized that this city is totally about food, drinks and having a good time and that's exactly what we did.
We've decided to take a $400 hit and fly to Cairns because Gin and I are tired of wearing our winter jackets. The weather in Melbourne is getting better, it's about 60/65 degrees during day time with a significant drop in temperature at night. So we've decided to fly into Cairns right now while it's still pleasant there, about 80/85 degress. So instead of going from Melbourne and driving up the gold coast, we're going to fly to Cairns and drive down through gold coast and Sydney and come back to Melbourne. We love Melbourne, so we've decided to spend a little more time here in about 4 weeks time. So goodbye Melbourne (for the time being) and hello Cairns. Can't wait to go diving and live aboard at the Great Barrier Reef.
From the trendy people to chic restaurants and bars that get packed at night, Melbourne is a great reminder of New York City. As someone once said, "you never fully appreciate something unless it's taken away from you," and that's how we feel about New York. It is incredible talking to people here how many of them want to either visit New York badly or want to live in New York badly. Until Melbourne, I didn't feel like I miss New York so much, but being here in Melbourne certainly reminds me of back home.
Our first night in Melbourne we had delicious Thai food at a cheap take away restaurant. The following night we hungout with our new friend Jacinta whom we meet in Fiji. Alex, her boyfriend, got a job in Singapore so he wasn't around, but Jacinta was a good sport in giving us a tour of Carlton neighborhood. Locals always know where to eat and yet again, Jacinta proved that. She took us to a bar, Bimbos, which served $4 delicious pizza. I couldn't believe how good the pizza was for the price they were. The place was packed with foodies. We had to bum a part of the table from a large group of people and I had to sit on a raggedy chair, but it was all good. Later we had dessert at Vegie bar which served delicious food and desserts. I had my first encounter with Sticky Date Pudding and I gotta say it was pretty darn good. Gin had a gluten free chocolate cake and she was utterly pleased with it. We called it a night after that since Jacinta had to go to school the next day. She's almost done with her law degree.
On our last night in Melbourne, Jimit decided to cook for us and he cooked a sumptuous dinner. It was one of the best butter chickens we've had in Australasia (Australia/New Zealand). We realized that this city is totally about food, drinks and having a good time and that's exactly what we did.
We've decided to take a $400 hit and fly to Cairns because Gin and I are tired of wearing our winter jackets. The weather in Melbourne is getting better, it's about 60/65 degrees during day time with a significant drop in temperature at night. So we've decided to fly into Cairns right now while it's still pleasant there, about 80/85 degress. So instead of going from Melbourne and driving up the gold coast, we're going to fly to Cairns and drive down through gold coast and Sydney and come back to Melbourne. We love Melbourne, so we've decided to spend a little more time here in about 4 weeks time. So goodbye Melbourne (for the time being) and hello Cairns. Can't wait to go diving and live aboard at the Great Barrier Reef.
Our rental car company, Jucy, had an awesome 2-for-1 deal with Cruize Milford. Luckily, the first boat leaving at 9:30am had only 9 passangers in total on a boat with a capacity of about 100 people. This was the reason why Gin and I wanted to take the earliest cruise. By noon the place gets overrun by tourist and it spoils the beauty of the Sound.
