| misadventures in melbourne, victoria (july 21 to 29, 2001) | moolah | |
| minus day one (july 21) - met hana and caren at airport. went for bk dinner, met 2 secondary school classmates whom we haven't seen for ages. 9.20pm flight, stopover at denpasar bali to unload a whole bunch of beach-goers, and re-load with another bunch. inflight entertainment consisted of wallace & gromit, and i slept through the others. | airticket + oz visa + airport taxes: SGD650 | |
| day one (july 22) - reached melbourne 8am, went to queen vic market, then melbourne city central. bummed into yuni (old college fren who i've not seen since college, and has spent last 7 years in melbourne) at sportsgirl in daimaru building. stayed at caren's bro (neil)'s place in clayton suburbs. accessible via met on parkenham and frankston lines from melbourne city central. | coffee at queenv: $2.20; diet coke mcs: $1.20; met fare to clayton: $2.60; dinner from charcoal kings for 4: $11.50 | |
| day two (july 23) - made some phone calls in morning. went down to book ski/snowboard trip at backpackers centre along lt bourke street. spent rest of day walking around melbourne city, and checking out stores. dinner at clayton with neil and laurel. wanted to take last train to city central, and spent night at crown casinos coz mt buller transport leaving from spencer st bus terminal at 4am, but missed the last train at 11.36pm. so bummer, gotta nap abit and take $35 cab to spencer st bus terminal to meet a bunch of sleepy skiiers/snowboarders. | brunch at clayton: $11.80; zone 12 met: $4.40; alzburg accomodation + city to buller return transport + buller entrance + 2 b/fs and dinners: $324; 3D snowboard rental: $70; zone 1 met: $2.60; dinner at la porchetta; cabfare to spencer: $35 | |
| day three (july 24) - slept on bus ride to mt buller, reached alzburg about 7am. rented snowboard, checked in, and went straight to slopes. alzburg is at mountain base, so it's 20 minutes drive up, but the view along the way is fantastic. setting of thomas hardy novel, think woodlanders. caren thinks more of stephen king salem lot setting, it can look quite eerie at night. got to slopes, and off to ski/snowboard school. spent rest of time mastering snowboard techniques, and getting used to lugging piece of wood attached to left foot, and trying not to trip over. met paul and jacqui, fellow skiiers, and 2 rooms away from us at alzburg. nearly missed bus back to alzburg, coz talking to john whom caren met on slopes. big dinner at alzburg. cheesecake was fantastic! slept straight after dinner, very bad for digestion. | snowboard discovery (beginner lift ticket + 2 hour lessons): $40; pepsi from vending machine on slopes: $2; ham & salad sandwich: $4.40 | |
| day four (july 25) - got up at 7am, big breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, OJ, and coffee. almost couldn't get up bus. at slopes around 9am. began 2nd day of falling down slopes. ventured up to blue bullet 2, just above blue bullet 1 which is beginner's zone. day went past quickly, and this time punctual for bus back to alzburg. another big dinner, this time with choc fudge cake. stayed up to watch ed and bowfinger on tv. | unlimited lift ticket: $40; hotdog: $4.50; coffee: $3.50 | |
| day five (july 26) - again up at 7am, checked out, another big breakfast, another ride up to mt buller. spent time up and down bourke st. met john and caren for lunch. then to lt buller spur (intermediate slopes). very good snow cover, and lotsa fun down winding slopes. lift ride up lt buller spur was very interesting too, mountainous view. my last ride, it turned pretty foggy and couldn't see very far, so decided to take lift all the way back to bus point. took bus back to alzburg to return snowboard equipment, then back to melbourne. stopped for dinner at yea (small town along the way). went straight back to clayton from spencer train station. | unlimited lift ticket: $40; pizza: $4; mineral water: $2.50; souvlaki dinner: $6.70; diet coke: $1.70; zone1 met: $2.60 | |
| day six (july 27) - quick breakfast, went down to half tix to book phillip island tour. then to backpacker centre to book great ocean road. weather change and i went back to clayton to get warmer jacket. train trip took forever, and i missed my 1.30pm bus! caren had to leave without me. had to change it to 3.30pm penguin express tour. scenic drive to phillip island, with glorious sunset. unfortunately no photo taking opportunity along the way, and no photo taking of little penguins (btw, they are really called little penguins coz they are world's smallest penguins) as the flash would startle them. approximate arrival of penguins about 5.45pm. saw several penguins making their way out of the sea, and out on land to their burrows. very adorable, they would stop and stone for awhile before continuing. oso saw a hare amidst the burrows. left about 7pm, and to cowes for dinner. ate at this italian restaurant with seaview. reached melbourne about 11pm, and got back to clayton past mn. very very tired by then. | cheese & bacon bread: $1; zone12 met: $4.40; phillip island: $55; great ocean road: $54; coffee: $2; phone calls: $0.80; cadbury picnic: $1.60; dinner: $26.20; zone1 met: $2.60; 7-11 water: $1 | |
| day seven (july 28) - got up at 6.30am, and at clayton train station at 7am to be at flinders street to catch great ocean road bus at 7.45am. however, train took 20 mins to arrive, and we couldn't make the 7.45am bus. so we decided to take to city central and catch the 8am melbourne transit centre stop, but was there slightly late. so we ran all the way to the last stop at 8.15am yha, but just missed the bus. and got lost running around victoria street looking for howard street. in the end, we had to forfeit the bus money. that was the morning, had lunch in city central. then met june and ken at 4pm outside nike at lonsdale. went to south yarra (chapel st) which is very happening with many shops with sales signs. went for yummy chocolate cakes at cafe greco along chapel st. then to mekong (vietnamese noodle place) near chinatown. off to crown to meet john, aaron, paul, and jacqui. went for drinks, to casino, saw fire display, then back home. another dead beat day. | zone12 met: $4.40; lunch: $8.20; cakes: $14 (june); skirt on sale: $20; mekong beef noodle: $6; victoria bitter: $2.50 | |
| day eight (july 29) - got up about 10am. wanted to have korean food for lunch at this restaurant in clayton (june's recommendation) but it wasn't open for lunch. ended up having lunch at this cafe. left for airport at 1pm. flight direct back to singapore uneventful. did however watch josie and the pussycats on inflight entertainment. | cheese & bacon brunch: $1; transport to airport: $12.50 |