• Days in Melbourne – 97 (99 on the road)
• Pictures Taken – 9773 (average of 101 a day)
• Pictures Uploaded – 686
• Parmas Consumed – 3
• Australian phrases ingrained in my vocabulary – mate, heaps, adjective-as, flat white, how-ya-goin-all-right?

There were simply too many memorable Melbourne moments, including all the coffee, food, the endless number of activities, public transport, wineries, and Footy! Here is my attempt to give them justice.

The Best Parts of Melbourne

Coffee

Favorite: Flat White, One Sugar
Melbourne has had a large influx of Italian immigrants, and the Italians brought their best espresso machines with them when they arrived. There is an espresso machine in every shopfront imaginable (including bars, Japanese restaurants, and Subway fast food), and it seems as if every barista has gotten the training on how to properly prepare a latte, flat white, long black or espresso shot. The portions are not as large as Starbucks, but you could drink this deliciously smooth god-in-a-cup and have the boost you need for the day. As an additional perk, some coffee shops will put sugar in the coffee for you too!

Food

Favorites: Sakura Kaiten, Cellar Bar, Rockpool, Japanese Pancake Dessert House
Melbourne is a foodie city. While Indian food is lacking, there is no shortage of Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean or Western food. For each genre there is a spectrum of hole in the wall, moderately priced and fancy dining experiences!

• Want to be cheap and adventurous? Duck into an alley way to find great roll-your-own-sushi rolls at Kenzan, ramen at Ramen Ya, or laksa at Laksa Me (creative names aren’t a prerequisite to good food). For those who can’t eat like a rockstar every night, the Cellar Bar shares the kitchen and staff of a highly coveted chef, and Grill’d offers an obesely-sized Mighty Melbourne burger with thick-cut rosemary chips to match.
• Middle of the road? Perhaps a sushi train at Sakura Kaiten, where the best items on the menu, Fresh Fried Oysters with Cream Cheese or the Takoyaki, tease you as they float by on the track. If you’re out late for any number of reasons, the 24-hour Greek resto Stalactites with mass-produced-yet-perfect-lamb always beckons.
• If you have the money to splurge, make sure Rockpool is on your list, and don’t neglect to order the Duck Confit, or head to Claypots with four others and reserve a Chili Crab.

Lots of things to do!

Favorites: Yarra Valley, Great Ocean Road
Theres heaps of fun activities inside the city and if you need a break, just hop outside for the day.

• The Yarra Valley and its world-class wineries are only an hour drive from the city (you really need a designated driver).
• The National Gallery of Victoria has a great mix of contemporary and historical exhibits for free entry.
• For sports, there is Footy and Rugby during the winter, Cricket during the summer, and the rates for entry are a bargain compared to Hockey games at less than $30 for great seats. Don’t forget to get a Four’n'Twenty meat pie!
• On a hot day, venture to any beach and sunbake, admire the surfers, or get out there and surf, bodyboard or kite-surf.
• Get out to the Dadenongs if you want a taste of nature, mountains and epicly-sized trees (think “A Land Before Time”), and make sure you have time for afternoon tea and fantastic dessert.
• Drive along the Great Ocean Road (or take a tour) to enjoy kilometres of the Southern Ocean, and stop by a fish’n'chips shop in Apollo Bay.
• Head farther south and you’ll see the one thing you’ve never expected in Australia: Little Penguins. The price tag is steep but the cuteness is worth the price of admission. Just don’t run them over, okay?

Public transport

Favorites: 96 to St. Kilda Beach.
Melburnians have it pretty good, despite the fact that the trains and trams have a reputation of being below performance ratings (80% on time). The trains do run throughout the city, although not to any major shopping centres or hubs, only suburbs. The trams and street cars are also unique (jump on and jump off at the roads), although the whole ticketing and metcard system leaves something to be desired. If you’re in the city, the best way to get out safely is to take the 96 to St. Kilda Beach – you can’t get lost, because the tram line ends where the beach begins. Just remember to validate your metcard or face the wrath of the ticketing crazies.

Wineries

Favorites: Domaine Chandon and Greenpointe Brasserie
I enjoy wineries, but its not solely because there is wine. In addition to sampling a wide range of wine, a perfect winery includes education and delicious food bundled with scenery and good friends. I was lucky enough to have this experience twice! The Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley was my favourite place to go when at the Yarra Valley, as there was a free tour that guided you through the process from the grapes being shipped into the bladders to be pressed, all the way into the Riddling Hall where the bottles were rotated on a frequent basis to settle the yeast-induced bubbles. Then the attached dining hall, Greenpointe Brasserie, has a seasonal menu that always goes well with the Range Wine tasting, consisting of four types of sparkling wines. If the mussels with Chardonnay appear on the menu, you are obligated to order them. Combined with the free wine tastings and the mountains in the backdrop, this is heaven. See more in my Yarra Valley post!

Footy

Favorites: Essendon, and not cheering for Collingwood
Australian Rules Football (AFL) is better known as Footy, and is played during the Autumn and Winter seasons. The game is a bit tough to explain, and its a mix of American Football, Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, and Rugby. Its definitely easier to understand when you watch a match in person or on television – general admission to standard games is only $30! Hopefully you’ll get the gist with these quick notes:

• The objective of the game is to get the most points. There are two teams of 16 each playing on a massive oval field.
• The object of desire is a football. You move the ball around the field by running and dribbling, punching or kicking the ball.
• It is full contact, yet the players do not wear any padding. It is illegal to tackle above the shoulders, yet using opponents to elevate (i.e. jump off a player’s shoulders) and catch a ball is perfectly fine.
• A player gets a mark when someone kicks the ball and the player catches it. A mark means that the player can’t be tackled, temporarily. If the player punches the ball or runs with it, he can be promptly tackled.
• There are four goal posts, and scoring is rewarded by kicking a ball through the poles. If the ball goes through the outside poles, you get one point and the game plays on from that same side. If the ball goes through the middle two posts, you get six points and the ball goes back to the middle.

I’ve only scratched the surface with the above, and I know I’m missing out on a lot more. I sincerely miss Australia. I will return, and when I do, you can bet I will do all of the above again.

I need to give thanks for some of the best mates I’ve met while overseas. Starting with the Americans I was on secondment with, Lindsay and Ruby, my constant company, reality checkers and the largest contributors to my wild experience. Julia and Paul for being incredibly talented and great friends both in and out of the office. Kathleen for being a perfect buddy and having excellent taste for seafood. Maria for being an “unofficial buddy” to everyone, taking us out to the beaches, comedians and spas. Tara for being my very first Australian friend and bringing me to the shoppo. John and Winnie for taking us out to Yarra and trusting me with his Mazda. To Julian for Rugby, ridiculous pranks and sincere efforts to increase my alcohol tolerance. Holly for hiring me, and taking us to Phillip Island and the Dandenongs. Ka-Meng for being a camera nerd and approachable senior manager. Kirk for being Scottish. And especially Ron for being a fantastic host for food, badminton and a good mate. Ta.

The barista quickly slurs: “Howyagoinalright?”

My face quickly twitches into a “Huh?”, as I draw a blank face. Panic! Did a lapse of time just occur? Did I completely zone out for a second? I missed a key word that would make that sentence comprehendible and complete! Was the question “How are you going somewhere”? Well, I’m not really going anywhere…

Nothing seems to make sense.

After this second of awkwardness passes (and I truly feel bad for the bloke on the other side), it registers that the “How ya going?” is the typical greeting in Australia.

Me: “Oh, uhh, great, thanks. I would like to order a flat white – one sugar, please.” as I hand him some oversized cent coins.

Barista: “Ta.”

“Ta”? What? Did he just cut off himself mid-sentence? I mean, I just paid money and he is giving me back change. Does it mean please take your change? Wait here?

Nope, “Ta” means “Thanks.” Truncation, indeed.

As you can tell with the example above, Melburnians like to take the easy way out when it comes to verbal communication. Your first few weeks will be invested in understanding the rationing of syllables and sentences. Then, when you think you’ve got Australian figured out, you’ll be thrown more random phrases, including:

• Don’t glass your mates – A type of violent behaviour
• Pot of beer – A smaller size of beer, perfect for me
• Smoko – Is derived from, but is not literally smoking… sometimes
• Not a drama – No worries
• Heaps – Lots
• Adjective-as – Best explained with an example: “This is funny as.” is “This is as funny as the most funny event ever.”
• Reckon – I think
• Not a drama – No worries
• Maccas – McDonalds
• Wagging – Skipping, but for fun
• Whats to go – Is used to ask if there is anything to stop something from… going
• Tea – Dinner
• Dinner – Dinner
• Supper – Late night snack

Also, did you know any word can be shortened with an “-o”? Jono. Bottleo. Arvo. Teao. Okay, I’m sure some Australian will correct me, but the first three are absolutely legitimateo.

By the way, the lazy kangaroo in the picture symbolizes grammatical laziness of Australians. Perhaps a doped-up Koala may be a better representation?

To Melburnians, Sydney and their citizens Sydneysiders are the Americans of Australia. Naturally, this amuses me, as we Canadians refer to the USA as Canada’s underwear.

Michelle and I arrived a Saturday morning to rainy Sydney, where we were immediately wooed by an expensive $15 AUD train ticket from the airport to the city. By comparison, Hong Kong’s Airport express line is the same price, but includes fewer stops, goes a much longer distance, and features an airline check-in so you don’t have to lug your giant bags around. However, the Sydney Airport Link train was a modern double-decker train, which entertained us for the 20-minute train ride to the city, and only blocks away from the Radisson Plaza hotel.

After arriving to the hotel, we eventually ventured to Bondi Beach, where we signed up for some surfing lessons ($89/pp, low season)! While it was raining, the water was surprisingly warm for an autumn day. For newbies like us, the lessons were also the best way to go to pick up on the how-to. We had only four people during our group lesson, including Michelle and myself.

The lesson began with how to get a good wave and maintain your center on a surfboard. Once you catch the wave by inefficiently paddling like a madman, you must place your hands flat on the surfboard to help evenly distribute your weight. This is more difficult than it sounds, as it is human instinct to clench the surfboard side to maintain balance, but which contributes to the capsizing surfboard. But once you grasp the concept, its a lovely coast to the shoreline.

Once you’ve enjoyed bodyboarding a few times, the next challenge is to stand up on the surfboard. You have to push up with your hands flat on the board (again, gripping the side will result in a tipping over), and bring your lead foot onto the front of the board while keeping the board balanced, left-right and front-back! This is a lot harder than it sounds – if you are not centered on the board when you begin to stand up, you are quickly dunked. By the end of the two-hour lesson, both Michelle and I were standing on the board (don’t ask how long I stood though), and I also fractured my pinky! I hear both that it is and is not a common injury associated with surfing, so just allow me to say that I’m an awesome surfboarder with a surfing injury.

The next day, Michelle and I headed to Sydney Opera House to embark on an Essentials tour ($28/pp, early bird adult). All the tour participants were loaned some impressive touring technology, strapping on headsets that turned our tour guide into a portable radio station, allowing the tour guide to speak in our ears as we traversed from location to location. The tour was composed of interesting historical videos and a chance to sit inside the Concert Hall and Opera Theatre – it is an architectural nerd’s delight to be able to witness the interior concrete fins and design.

The Rocks Sunday market was a short 10 minute walk east of the Opera House and Circular Quay (pronounced “qee”). While the market had a large assortment of random wares to purchase, Michelle and I were most engrossed in, of all places, a candy store. Sticky is a candy store that specializes in the making of custom hard-candy, with designs of little fruit and words (mostly names of couples to be used as wedding favours). Lolly maker Greg invited me to step behind the counter to take closer snaps of the confectioners-in-training, which was a privilege! So we watched up close, for an hour, as Sticky made passionfruit candy from start to finish!

To summarize the long candy-making process, melted sugar is poured onto a cooling table, where citric acid and colourings are added into mix. After the candy is well mixed, the confectioners then whip the hefty slabs of candy to get air into it, giving it a beautiful, glossy look. The different parts of the candy are then stuck and rolled together to resemble a design, and are stretched thin on a hot table to be chiselled out into a massive amount of candy. While this may seem easy, it is a long and physically demanding process. The end result is always a crowd pleaser though, as nothing tastes better than delicious and artistic looking candy! In addition to names, they also do company logos and other retro designs. If I ever quit my job, I want to be a lolly maker.

Michelle and I were getting increasingly hungry as we witnessed candy growing up, and would soon turn diabetic if we continued to purchase and eat candy. So we then took the ferry to Darling Harbour ($5.30/pp), got off at the Maritime Museum, and walked to the Sydney Fish Market.

The Sydney Fish Market is not only the place to go to get your fresh fish, but also a great location to consume the seafood right there and then. For example, a delicious dozen of fresh pacific oysters was only $15.90 per dozen, complemented with lemon wedges and a small fork. Or perhaps you could indulge in some fresh sashimi, where you hand-pick the fish and then it is all sliced for you on the spot. You would have no choice but to be absolutely stuffed after eating it all in one go (tip: 200 grams per person is more than plenty of fish)!

A productive weekend of surfing, candy, and seafood. Not bad for the America of Australia!

After spending two months in Melbourne, I figure I’d get out and see the rest of Australia. Michelle and I (along with my other fellow imported workers Lindsay and Ruby) went to Cairns in Queensland.

Cairns (Australians pronounce this as “Caans”… the ‘i’ and ‘r’ is silent) is a little tropical wonder in Australia. Its amazing how Australians can go from a cold, rainy and depressing winter to a hot and humid winter with beautiful oceans and beaches, simply by taking a 3 hour flight. Cairns is home of the Great Barrier Reef, coined the “largest living organism in the world”. While I personally dispute this claim, as scattered coral across the shore shouldn’t qualify as one continuous living thing, its still amazing.

We opted for a snorkelling tour on the Ocean Freedom – as one of the more expensive tours, it came fully loaded with an enthusiastic tour group, full-on snorkelling equipment (and optional diving equipment), a generous buffet lunch and lots of little educational tidbits both on the main cruiser and a little glass-bottom-boat that tagged along. We were first ferried out to the Upolu Cay on the Great Barrier Reef, where we experienced our first snorkel ever.

Snorkelling is enjoyable, but it takes a bit of effort to make the experience comfortable and worthwhile. We first spat into our snorkelling goggles, rubbed the spit around the lenses, and rinsed out the excess. While it sounds a bit uncivilized, it actually prevents the goggles from fogging up (feel free to educate me on the science how-to). Tighten that mask up, and then attach the breathing tube to the goggles frame. Make sure that tube end sticks behind your head, and clench the mouthpiece between your teeth and lips. More amusingly, you can make a “two!” sound quickly and spit out any sea water that happens to leak into your mouth. You can choose to enter with a bodysuit, a lifejacket, or for those more adventurous and fit, nothing at all. Laziness and a lack of jellyfish contributed to my choice of a lifejacket. Don some rubber flippers and you’re ready to go.

Then, you jump in. And for those who have never done any snorkelling before, its a bit of a shock.

You’re restricted to only using your mouth to breathe, and any sort of facial expression will only result in a salty mouth. A bit of apprehensiveness sets in, where you feel like you’re not getting enough oxygen into your brain, all because of a ridiculously undersized breathing tube. The only thing that saves you from complete panic is that lifejacket.

Once you get your bearings and realize that your nose is no longer an option for basic survival, then you swim your way over to a dark patch of blue in the turquoise ocean, which is a small bit of coral. Then flatten out, stay still, and be amazed.

Shortly after staying still, the fish that you scared away when you (more specifically, me) were flapping wildly, begin to emerge from the oddly elephant-ear-shaped coral. All sorts of shapes, sizes and colour of fish start to pop out. The giant clams begin to relax, and open and close their mouths again. That black long tube on the bottom by the bright blue starfish is a sea cucumber, breathing and filtering out the nutrients in the ocean. Those fish that you scared away now venture close to you, exploring and curious to see the unexpected guest who dropped by. Some fish simply don’t care have the time pay attention – we saw two fish dancing in a circle, chasing one another, perhaps in a mating ritual. I was consistently amazed as we went from coral to coral, experiencing a different school of fish, rainbow of colours and new life every time.

Unfortunately, you will likely become exhausted before you see everything you want – the reduced oxygen flow, the frustrations of salt-coated mouths, and your lower leg muscles will all take a toll on your stamina. So you swim back, climb on deck, take off all the gear you meticulously put on, and drag yourself upstairs to dry off and sunbake, knowing you’ve just saw a coral reef that was not in a fish tank.

Some lessons learned:

• Do not get the disposable underwater cameras. Opt for some cheaper housing (DiCAPac clear plastic pouches) are perfect for snorkelling since you won’t even approach below 2 meters, and they are rated for 10 meters. If you have money to splurge, then by all means get the official waterproof housing for your camera. I advise against the disposable cameras so much that I’d recommend even renting a digital waterproof camera over the disposables – the disposables just have abysmal photo quality, and film scanning adds to the cost and pain. Two disposable cameras with development and burning to CD is the same price as a two-day rental of the camera.
• Always eat the sea sickness pills. Even if you don’t think you’ll have sea sickness. Just do it, and right away – they take a while to kick in, and its a small price to make sure that sickness won’t ruin a part of your day.
• Stay still when snorkelling! Michelle and I stayed a spot for a few minutes and fish came to nibble on my toe, and all the fish were just hanging around us.
• Try to find an area to go with the waves and current, as it will make your legs a break and you can coast right over some coral effortlessly.
• Get sunscreen – you’ll be reapplying excessively often, and coming home as a rock lobster doesn’t earn you any cool cred. Aerosol sunscreens makes reapplication easy and convenient, but they’re also prohibited on a flight!

Paul (Australian coworker/parma affectionado) – By definition, it can’t be a good pub if there is no decent parma.

And having a great Parma is serious business.

Better known as a Chicken Parmigiana in North America, Parmas are big hit amongst pub eaters in Melbourne. Given Melbourne’s heavy Italian inspiration and roots, a Chicken Parmigiana is always guaranteed to be on menus across the city, no matter how Scottish or English the pub may be. A parma is breaded then deep-fried, and as if that wasn’t enough, a healthy slab of fatty ham is laid on top and smothered with mozzarella and tomato sauce, and is served with a side of salad and chips.

Not simply content of having Parma reviews buried within food review sites like Urbanspoon, there are websites dedicated to Parmas, a pub that boasts it has “Melbourne’s Unique and Best Parmigianas”, and newspaper articles who track those Parmology experts. A common special is a “Pot & Parma”, which is a half-pint of beer with the fried goodness.

And its one of many things Melburnians like!

For the first weekend in Australia, we (being the North American imports working in Australia) decided to head north east to Yarra Valley. We opted to go on the Epicurean tour, consisting of food and wine pairings in addition to the winery visits – while it was steep at $180 per person, it was worth it. I’ve been itching to go to a winery since the first experience two years ago at Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario.

Our first stop was to the De Bortoli winery, where we were given several different pairings of wine and cheese. In the spirit of attempting to preserve our palate, they paired wines and cheeses going from white wine, to rose, to red and ending with the dessert wines. Some of the best pairings were the Riesling with the goat cheese and the Pinot Noir with a brie cheese (surprisingly great with the rind). I honestly wish I remember which wine went well with the extremely creamy and thick cheese, but thats the downside of being a lightweight. I walked away with a Noble One, as I tend to be biased towards sweeter type wines; this thick yellow wine goes well with a blue cheese.

After just under an hour at De Bortoli, we were then dropped off to roam free at Yering Station, where we happened to arrive on the same day as a large farmers market. Yering Station had a two full-fledged restaurants, a tranquil pond, a museum gallery of all its historic wines on showcase, and a bustling cellar door with art lining the walls. Yering Station felt largely like a commercialized sales area, one of the least memorable parts of the tour. Thankfully, we only had an hour to kill at Yering Station.

Lunch time, but not without a little educational experience first. Our tour guide, Steven, brought us to Domaine Chandon, famous for its sparkling wines. We arrived to the aroma of freshly pressed grapes, and were given a quick overview of all the machinery used in the wine making process. The recently-emptied Riddling Hall is where the sparkling bottles of wine containing yeast, used for carbonation, settles. The neck of the bottles are then frozen and the yeast removed, resulting in a clear sparkling wine. We then strolled upstairs to the Chandon Greenpoint Brasserie, the dining room of Domaine Chandon.

We were promptly served an anti-pasto and four generous glasses of wine: Vintage Brut, Chardonnay, Heathcote Shiraz and a Sparkling Pinot Shiraz.

I walked away with a Chardonnay, which was heavily influenced by my choice of main: Saffron Mussels with garlic, chili, white wine and saffron butter, with sour dough bread. The freshness, richness in the colour and juicy of the plump mussels was spectacular. The juices and the butter was so savoury that, at the insistence of our tour guide, that we finish it with a spoon. It was a choice that I definitely did not regret.

After a fantastic lunch, we were then transported to Coldstream, one of the more intimate tasting bars that, while the wines were not grown in the immediate vicinity, did not lack the atmosphere of a cellar door. Definitely wished I bought something from Coldstream, but my budget was well exceeded by this point!

To wrap up the tour, we went to the Yarra Valley Dairy to have more samplings of cheese, coffee and wine. Delicious flat white with caffeine to round off more wine tasting.

Overall, the Epicurean tour was fantastic, and good value for the $180 we put in for it. We met other fantastic individuals on the trip (a mother & daughter life-savers aka lifeguards, and a finance professor born in Canada), and Steven, our tour guide, supplied excellent trivia as we went along our day. Highly recommended.

FYIs for this post:

• Mains are different than entrées in Australia – a main is the “meal” sized plate, while an entrée a smaller portion.
• Cellar Doors are what I think are the sales areas of the wineries, named so because the cellar is where the wine is stored. Canadian wineries do not typically feature their sales areas as cellar doors!
• Wine tastings at most wineries were free (with the exception of the Noble One I sampled) – a sharp contrast to Canada where you pay per sample! A wine lovers heaven, for sure.
• While I have used the term “good value” appropriately, Melbourians have taken this term and have applied it to people – “he was a great person to meet; he is good value”. Imagine my confusion.

If you saw a picture of something you’d immediately recognize as Melbourne, what would you expect the picture to be of?

If you asked this question for other cities, the responses would be fairly quick and unsurprising. When you ask Melbourians this same question, it yields a whole spectrum of answers, including:

• The skyline
• The pointy-shaped thing
• Lanes and alleyways
• Trams
• Flinders Street (Train) Station

It is unfortunate that Melbourne does not have any incredibly unique architectural or internationally recognizable landmarks. Even the downtown skyline doesn’t have any recognizable towers or structures. Options for night photography were limited to the Giant Sky Wheel, Flinders Street Station and also Victorian Arts Centre (the pointy thing). I ran into another night photographer, Ben, who even mentioned that he’d have a lot more suggestions if we were in Sydney. While Melbourne has a lot of unique food and cultural experiences, the architectural eye-candy is a bit lacking.

The Australian government also just changed its slogan to There’s nothing like Australia. What was wrong with the previous Where the Bloody Hell Are You slogan?

Another year of Tim Hortons Roll Up The Rim, and another year of no fantastic winnings. This year’s final above average record of 4 wins and 23 losses also achieves a record low of number of cups during the contest – too bad there is no Tim Hortons in Australia!

I got a few funny looks when attempting to take this picture in Melbourne’s Federation Square (facing west to Flinders Street Station), but I suppose as a Canadian nut taking pictures of two dozen used coffee cups, they were justified.

Final Statistics:
Record: 4 – 23
Spent: $42.67
Won: $9.23
Probability: 17.82%

[RUTR 2010 Results]

My last Tim Hortons contest cup of tea was at the Calgary Airport last week, as the Vancouver Airport’s Tim Hortons was unfortunately closed.

I’ve been asking around what Melbourne’s famous landmarks are – expect a RUTR Finale shot shortly!

Current Statistics:
Record: 4 – 23
Spent: $42.67
Won: $9.23
Probability: 17.82%

[RUTR 2010 Progress]

I arrived very jet lagged to Melbourne on Saturday, March 13th after spending 18.5 hours over four flights from Calgary! I’ve been fortunate to get an once-in-a-lifetime three month work assignment in the city, which is a mixed blessing since while I get to travel for work, I’m also going into another busy season and also away from family for three months. However, as long as I am here, I am going to enjoy one of the most livable cities in the world!

Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bun) is four-million citizens strong, and is located on the south-east tip of Victoria and also the country. The closest major city is Sydney, which is a whopping 10 hours away. By comparison, Calgary to Regina is only 7 (boring) hours away. University semesters run from February to November at 5 months each, and average highs vs lows are 26°C and 14°C in the summer, and 13°C and 6°C in July.

Melbourne, like most major cities, have some excellent restaurants. Unlike most major cities, Melbourne prides itself in keeping the best places hidden from plain view, via alleyways and lanes. Melbourne’s Tourism office even has this sick sense of humour advertising to tourists discover these local gems! For those who don’t consider themselves adventurous (or have an irrational fear of alleyways), there are more than enough visibly safe areas with great food – for example, Lygon St., north of downtown the CBD.

Australia has its own well-developed local vocabulary that most tourists don’t bother to learn until its too late – I am no exception to this rule. There is no downtown in Melbourne, just the CBD (Central Business District). Lemonade is Sprite. Footy is Australian Rules Football, which is nothing like European and American football, and has even more complex rules. Arvo is afternoon. I’m a bloke. While lattes exist, its cousin without the foam is known as a Flat White. And cafes are everywhere – literally two on every block within the CBD. Italian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese restaurants litter the streets, and all are authentic in their execution.

You would think that having such healthy competition would drive down prices for coffee, food and generally everything. In fact, Melbourne has some of the most expensive food costs I have ever experienced! Lunch downtown in the CBD would exchange for a tenner, as long as you don’t opt for a $3 drink. Normal sized shampoo is $8. A local cafe’s small flat white is about $3.50, and a basic pair of Oakley sandals is about $80.

To be fair, I am currently drinking a delicious $3 local bottle of wine from the bottle-o. The Flat White is always fantastic, no matter what cafe I walk into. I’ve yet to have a bad meal, even considering quick-serve food court stuffs during lunch. Add the hustle, bustle and never-ending activities of the city, and I’m simply glad to be in such a beautiful place for three months.

[Melbourne 2K10 Photo Set]
Blog post cost: $2.00 = $0.013/MB x 150 MB (photos, typing, proofing and “general internet”)