Melbourne: 9 days of holiday

Overdue post:

Day one. Arrived in Melbourne airport an hour delayed. Also the Wedding Day but we had enough time to claim our baggage and hail a cab (I made the mistake of trying to get in the driver's side) and get freshened up. Lots of smiling and posing and photomagraphing. Lunch at a swish resto nearby. Spent most of the day confused and disoriented with the new environment, meeting so many new people straight away and having another sister married off. Lots to process but was too fatigued to do anything but nod and keep my eyes open. Good food, lots of wine, lots of champagne. Went back to the apartment to take a nice long nap.

After dinner, I went for a walk on the beach with Thegan and a still very drunk Donny.

Day two. Parents flew out early morning (they arrived a week ahead of us). Drove on over to Waterfront City to see the Da Vinci exhibition. Brilliant man, brilliant exhibition. Ate fast food, average price is 7 dollars (36 pesos to 1 Australian dollar at the moment, I think). Discovered that food portions are huuuuge and that they call ketchup 'tomahto sauce' down under. Drove up to Donny's mum's house just outside the city and their friends were there for a rugby final but the Melbourne Storm lost...to Brisbane something I think, can't remember what their team is called. During the match, the male half of Thegan (you should know by now that I refer to my younger sister and brother-in-law in the collective) and I found ourselves deep in conversation with this guy who inundated our heads with Australian wildlife info. Both humbling and dismaying to realize I knew jack shit about it.

Day three. Long drive to the Great Ocean Road with stops along the way and back home. Spectacular view. Thegan slept through most of the ride. Froze our asses off, as I have mentioned in a previous post. Marvelled at the very efficient road system. Incredible day. It should look spectacular, only my cam phone is atrocious.

Day four. Big tourist day for Thegan and I. Also known as the hottest day ever, all 30 degrees of it. But I put on the warmest clothes on earth because the day before traumatized me. It was boiling hot. At least it was windy sometimes. Went to the Shrine of Remembrance. Got on the tourist shuttle bus (free), fun until loads of annoying tourists got on. It got amusing when some kids started bickering. Tried to set myself apart from all the others, but it's pointless when you're on a tourist bus. Went around once then got off at Melbourne Museum (entrance 6 bucks only). I would totally go back to that place, definitely worth another look. Then got on the City Circle Tram, slowest tram on earth but it was free and looks really cool when other people get on it. Found an incredible curry place on Flinders Street or Lane (street signs are very similar to each other) and had a 9 dollar lamb biryani that could serve a small battalion.

Day five. Started the day on my own, which means a late start really. But I was on holiday after all, so back off hihi. Successfully deciphered the public transport system. Went to NGV (free, except for special exhibitions), very nice place. Went to the park to get some reading done, but it was freezer cold, spoiling my attempts at a Melburnian thing. Hmph. The wind was howling too so I decided to do more walking around instead, to keep my blood from coagulating. Tried going to Fed Square but it drizzled and I got even colder so I went back to the apartment, sat dangerously close to the radiator (smelled singed hair at one point) and, as soon as I was warm and toasty, promptly fell asleep. Met my sister at the public library (apart from getting off one stop early, I got there on my own again!) and borrowed books.

Day six.

...

Hm.

For the life of me, I cannot remember what transpired on this day.

Day seven. Drawing a complete blank on what happened during the day but in the evening we went on a major bar/club crawl. New places are fun. Alcohol is not as expensive as I expected (a regular sized beer and a glass of champagne can be had for 5 dollars, mixed drinks as much as 12) and several cool places that did not charge entrance as I had thought (one place we went to charged 10 dollars for guys but free entry to girls, possibly because the place was in dire need of women, dj was terrible though, maybe that's why). Verdict: Excellent nightlife!

Day eight. Old Melbourne Gaol. Grateful to discover online that the night tour was fully booked. It was a warm and lovely day. We were all very spooked by the coldness of the place, but especially so by the numerous death masks littered around the place. This photo is too nice to have been taken by either me or my phone.

Day nine. Up at 5 am for a 7:25 flight. PAL was unreliable as usual, the plane didn't take off till nearly 10. Stuck in Sydney airport for a couple of hours as well. Both times for 'maintenance and servicing'. Dunno what that means, but taking off and landing filled me with a lot of fear. Didn't start taxiing till well past 12:30 and everyone was starving. Uneventful flight, the cabin crew people were very efficient. Arrived in Manila at least 3 hours later than scheduled. Exhausted to the bone.

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Things and places of note but I can't remember on which day they were seen/observed:

- Victoria Market (lots to see, lots to buy)
- ACMI (Australian Center for the Moving Image)
- People are called Steve-O or Kev-O. Well only those that are called either Steve or Kevin. You know what I mean. They do that to objects too, like barbie for barbecue or footy (maybe footie) for football.

- Fed Square (banged on drums with an amazing group of African musicians + white girl and random people from the crowd, ended up with very purple fingers)

- Lots of funny and very painful to watch TV commercials.

- Redundant doors (doors leading to doors leading to the actual room you mean to be in)


- Several bathrooms come equipped with boxes for used syringes (I guess if you can't beat 'em, at least make sure they clean up after themselves)

I'm sure there's more I wanted to write, but I can't be bothered to remember now.

- Oh yeah, and the water does drain the other way. I want to know why.