People said that the weather in Melbourne is unpredictable, you can
experience four seasons in one day. but what made me feel like coming here
the most was the poll about this wonderful place.

I arrived home and put everything in the place first before going to buy food
to store while living in Melbourne. The suburb that I live was in Newport,
It takes like 20 mins by the train to the city centre.

I lived in the suburb which is called "Newport" It takes 20 mins by the train
but it's not always exactly 20 mins because I will have to walk from my home
to the station and the waiting time, So it would be like an hour.

If I had more money I would love to live myself in the city but due to
my limited budget, that's why I prefer to stay with a friend.

Newport is close to Williamstown and it's a quiet suburb with a few small shops
and restaurants. You rarely see asian people in this area and It was totally differentthan CBD that I arrived on my first day. Everything seems to be running slow but what makes this place more interesting is the public park
and the popular place where people come fishing.

The first thing I looked for on my first week was the gym.
I couldn't live myself without doing any excercise because I like to keep myself fit
all the time. I went places to find a gym membership that isn't so expensive
but coudln't find it.So I decided to go to many gym just to get a free 3-day pass
for the whole week instead of paying the expensive membership hahaha

I had been staying in the same area for awhile and got so bored with
the quiet life, I started to think of exploring places in the town by myself
to see the interesting places that I did not visit on my first day.

What people need to have in order to travel places is a public transportatin card
, called myki. Myki is used in Victoria only and can't be used in other states.
Myki can be used on trains, trams and buses in metropolitan Melbourne.
And don't forget to touch on and touch off at the myki readers to avoid having problemwith the officer who will randomly come to check in the train,
or if you want to pay $75 fine, that's ok.

I'm a person who has no luck breaking rules or If I do, I will always encounter issues all the time.
That's why I always follow what people told me to do or not to do.

Once you have a card, you will need to download the PTV application which will
help you a lot to find the arrival time of all transportation.

Train and tram services run between 5am and midnight and on Friday and
Saturday night , It will be 24 hours but don't expect that they will run like
every 20 mins.

In the downtown CBD (Central Business District) is always busy with people,
If you don't know where to start, just go to the Melbourne Visitor Centre where
you can get all the information of what you are interested in. Staffs will give
you the direction of places and a free map. This place is located just in front of
flinder street. Whatever you wanna know just ask them.

St Paul's Cathedral is the first thing that you will see when arrive
at Flinder Street Station. This is built in 1852 and It has been an integral part of
Christian Melbourne since the city's foundation.

Another interesting place is The State Library of Victoria which is situated
in the heart of CBD, Due to this place is surrounded by a few Universities
For example like RMIT University, that's why there were plenty of students
using facilities when I visited.

Melbourne Central is the famous shopping in the heart of the city.
There is an underground station that is name after the Melbourne Central
Shopping Central and there is a beautiful tower in the middle of this.
This place is also the central meeting point for people
from all over Melbourne. There are not a lot of interesting things to buy here
as you know that all department store are the same and it's quite boring to me.
I prefer just to walk in the department store instead of buying things.

Enough with the shopping malls! I had a feeling that there must be a rooftop bar
or something similar to my country.So I immediately searched out the nearest
place where I can enjoy drinking something and seeing the beautiful landscape
from the top, I found one place at The Cinema Rooftop bar which is
just 5 mins walk from the centre. It was a bit difficult to find as its entry
is a doorway and often can walk straight past. There will be movie showing at night too but I did not have a chance to see them. There is an old and
elevator in the building but most people prefer to walk up as it's faster than
taking an elavator.I feel like this bar is not designed to socialize or to meet
new people because of the seperate tables, So it was hard for me to make
new friends.

I know that the city life can be a bit boring sometimes, though this
place has plenty of restaurants to enjoy, things to do and places to see
but still feeling like all those things are not in my interest.
So I took my night time to walk around and end this beautiful night in CBD.

The Yarra River in CBD

I had been exploring the town and sticking around on Flinders Street
for many days. The Yarra River is just behind Flinders Street and It's easy
to get to Southbank by the pedestrain brigde. I had a feeling like I came
back to Berlin again as there are lots of bars and restaurants between
the Yarra River and Fliders Street Station, You can find boat cruises
for sightseeing and it is not expensive to make a short trip here.

Footscray

If you have never been to Vietnam, Come to Footscray and take a picture.
I'm sure people will think that you have been to one of the cities
in Vietnam. Footscray is a hub for Vietnamese in Melbourne,
There are bakery and coffee shops where you can see vietnamese people
gathering together and playing chess.
What will make you feel more like you are in Vietnam is the people
who try to sell vegetables on the street in the early morning.
Like an outdoor market in many other asian cities.

Now let's take a look at other suburbs, Even I have been here
for awhile but I still don't know how to take a tram.
It was so confusing when I had to meet up with people or go places
by tram. So I gave up trying to use that transportation
but going places by foot instead.

I decided to walk to St. Kilda Beach from CBD just to see around.
I walked up CBD to Fitzroy and Collingwood then walked down to Hoddle Bridge
In South Yarra and Prahran. These areas will be crowded with white people and
there are so many restaurants and bars. It took me like 3 hours by foot
to St. Kilda Beach.

St. Kilda Beach

This beach is popular amongst visitors as it's busy and crowded,
there are lots of shops surrouding. It takes like an hour to be here
by train, and I always come to this beach especially when it's sunny.

If you plan to bring some alcohol to drink on the beach, you must
be very careful because it's illegal to openly drink alcohol in
public places. you may be fined or arrested by the police.
but there are some people who do that by putting them in the bag or
hide it somewhere. I once used to do that, I know that
they will be no one reporting me but I was so scared.

Alcohol in Australia is not as cheap as in some countries in Europe.
If you like drinking wine, the cheapest way to drink is buy boxed wine.
You can drink that for the whole day or keep it for another time.

St Kilda Beach

Queen Victoria Market

Another interesting spot that you must visit in CBD is the old market
that has been here since the city was founded.
The Queen Victoria market is the only market left from the 19th century.
It's an open air market that has almost everything and not pricy.

However, things are not that cheap here but it's the famous landmark
that you should come to visit. I came here twice and bought one cheap
jacket from here. I feel like this is where people who live in CBD
come to buy things instead of going to the shopping malls.

Hanging Rock

This place is not that far from the city and It's a popular place for picnics.
If I remember, you will need to pay for the entrance fee 10 AUD
There was a movie about this place called "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
I don't know what is this movie about but i gueess it's some kind of horror movie.
I was really lucky to see the kangaroo here and this one was not aggressive.
So I took a lot of photos with him like he is a superstar lol

People told me many kangaroos end up their life on the roads every day.
They like to jump into the path of a car on a road and they cause most of
damage to vehicles. There is no way to stop this but you could prevent this
by driving not too fast.

The top of the mountain

There's a scary story about this place but that was just a rumor. in fact, there
is nothing to be scared.

If you want to something more beautiful, I suggest you to buy a package
for a guided tour to The Great Ocean Road. I did not go there but
I would suggest you to be there.

Below is the sample of the Great Ocean Road.

Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach is an amazing place and it's famous for the colourful
bathing boxes.When I think of Melbourne, This place will always come up
in my mind first, as a lot of travel magazines like to present this place
as one of the tourist icons of Melbourne to promote the tourism here.

This place is located in the east side, you can take a train to
Brighton Beach station and walk down to see this beach boxes.

This beach boxes owned by locals , It can a store, shop or whatever
the owners will do.

Brighton beach can get a little crowded in the late afternoon,
I like this place more than st. Kilda beach because It's more fun
and people will always do some beach activities whenever I come here.

I always go places alone since I don't have many friends here,
and on my last day in Brighton beach, I made a new friend from Taiwan.
She is a flight attendant and It was her first day on this beach.

New friend from Taiwan

Me and the beach hut

Another beach to visit is altona beach or williamstown beach.
The different between these 2 places is the amount of people.

There are two famous Supermarkets in here.
Woolworth and Coles are supermarket store chain in Australia.
Both of these can be a bit competitive, prices here are not much different.
What I would suggest you to buy when there is a discount on something,
remember if it's very cheap,don't buy it because it tastes bad.

There is a spot to see street art and graffiti,
It's in Hosier and Rutledge Lane. A lot of people coming here
to take pictures and enjoy the street arts.

But maybe the big part of the feeling that why I don't like living here
It's maybe because I felt in love with someone but did not get that
love back. lol

Anyway, It was just my journey , you can always
come here to visit or try to live if you love.

See you again for my next trip to Sydney, I will finish it as soon as I can.

Enjoy my trip then !

Wander with me at
Opera house in Sydney

Santorini, a paradise on earth...

From a little roman town
to a modern city "Barcelona"