A feast for the eyes and the belly!
Category: Melbourne, Australia
Brunch at Chez Dré, Melbourne
This post is going to be mostly pictures as I really can’t call it a review. Because I’d been procrastinating, this post is more than one and a half years overdue. So… just enjoy the photos.
Some of the best coffee can be found in Melbourne! I’m usually all about tea, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do (or in this case the Aussies), and drink copious amounts of coffee.
Ratatouille baked eggs with chorizo, eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, onion, and toasted baguette
Eggs Royale with Tasmanian smoked salmon, poached eggs, tobiko, yuzu-miso hollandaise, and toasted sourdough
Smashed sweet potato, goat’s cheese, poached eggs, truffled honey roasted nuts and toasted country loaf
Confit pork belly, poached eggs, pumpkin puree, rainbow chard, crispy prosciutto, pain d’epices crumb and toasted baguette
Queen Victoria Market in 20 Pictures
Missing Melbourne and its food so badly now.
The macarons on the far right look like bath bombs. I don’t get the rainbow food craze. These days food is looking more like soap and soap is looking more like food.
“George recommends”. George as in the George from Masterchef Australia? I LOVE that show.
Not too many captions today – just wanted to get this out before I head to work. Hope you enjoyed the photos, do check out the post on South Melbourne Market if you’re interested. Cheers!
Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory, Melbourne
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank, environmentalist
“Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.” – John Ruskin, writer
Such gorgeous flowers. It was like being in a real life Wonderland.
Outside the conservatory, we continued to take more pictures.
English-style cottage where you had to pay something like ten Aussie dollars to go in. Um, no thanks.
Miniature houses, because why not.
This reminds me a little of that Chip and Dale episode, “Out of Scale“. If you know where I can get hold of a couple of anthropomorphic chipmunks, do tell me! It’d be much appreciated.
Till next time!
South Melbourne Market, Melbourne, Australia
WARNING: This post is mostly about me getting really excited about vegetables. Read at your own peril.
So… another #throwback post because I haven’t been going out much in recent weeks. I did try Ruby Tuesday for the first time last month but it was horrible, so I’m not even to bother writing a post about it. Aside from that, it’s mostly homecooked food or Deliveroo. I haven’t quite decided whether it’s a blessing or a curse.
Living in Hong Kong, I’m really lucky to have an assortment of supermarkets within walking distance of my apartment, so grocery shopping is really convenient. Still, I can’t help envying Melbourne residents who get to shop at South Melbourne Market.
I mean, just look at the impossibly neat rows of fruit and vegetables! The tomatoes at my usual supermarket aren’t quite as uniform in size and shape.
I may look really calm in the photo, but deep down I was trying really hard to contain my excitement.
Can’t say for sure, but the local children probably don’t have a problem with eating their greens.
Like a pedestal.
It’s almost pornographic.
Aside from glorious fresh produce, there are other goods and services available, including a nail salon…
… art prints…
… essentials for your fur babies…
… apparel…
… a place for hipsters to pick up their sriracha…
… and lots of beers!
There are also places where you can rest and have a quick bite before doing more shopping. P.S. Loving how the two little kids are enjoying their snack/staring off into space while the adults are having a conversation.
Dips and sauces.
Carbs = Life
“No bones about it”, “The place to meat”… cute.
*slowly peels face from screen*
I LOVE dips. When I was in Dubai, I practically ate my weight in hummus, and then some more. Give me hummus, tzatziki, and some warm flatbread… heaven.
To be fair, there’s bottled sauces in Hong Kong too, but maybe it was the fresh winter air in Melbourne, somehow everything just smelled and tasted better there.
That’s it for tonight, I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, and maybe this weekend I’ll be able to work on some Christmas-related content. One of my resolutions for 2016 was to blog more regularly. I adhered to it from January to April, stopped in May because we had to move, sort of picked up the pace in September, then lost the spark again. Hopefully this month will be a productive one. Blogging does take a certain form of discipline, and I do want to see where I can go with it in 2017.
So yes, see you real soon!
St Anne’s Winery, Melbourne, Australia
Can’t believe November’s ending… where did the year go?!? On the bright side, there’s nothing like Christmas! Do you have any plans for the holidays? Edwin and I will probably stay home and have a quiet Christmas, just the two of us and the TV. Since it’s the festive season, we might also have some fancy snacks like cheese and parma ham, maybe some wine? Sounds like fun already!
Anyway, I’m (still) going through photos of last year’s Melbourne trip, and I’ve been wanting to share some pictures of St Anne’s Winery. Initially I thought to put everything together in a general “Sights and Sounds” type of post, but it’d be too long, I didn’t quite know how to structure it and thus never got around to doing it.
Now that I finally have some time on my hands, I still feel overwhelmed by the prospect of sorting hundreds of photos. So you know what? I’m just going to do a mini post. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? D’oh!
At the entrance/parking lot
Now THIS is what I call wine tasting. After the massive disappointment that was Gurdies Winery, we finally had a proper experience here. There were at least a dozen wines (possibly more) that we could try, and the staff was wonderfully warm. They were happy to make recommendations and to explain what makes a certain wine special. The jargon usually goes right past me, but if you fancy yourself a connoisseur then you’ll definitely appreciate the effort.
So much fun trying the different wines. Got a bottle of (what else?) moscato and orange chocolate liqueur, while Mum bought a bottle of red wine. The price lists were displayed clearly on the counter, so you don’t have to worry that the taste you just fell in love with is secretly $100 a bottle. In any case, the prices were all reasonable, with most of the wine costing less than $20 a bottle.
Also, mad respect for how shiny their floors are LOL.
I have a feeling this is what my sister’s ideal living room would look like.
Some of these barrels were ENORMOUS! Two of them combined would be roughly the size of my apartment.
If you’re travelling with children or non-drinking adults, St Anne’s offers other goodies too, so they won’t be too left out. The kiddies (and kids-at-heart) would be especially interested in the candy, methinks.
Ending with another massive THANK YOU to Uncle Michael who brought us around different parts of the city, including this place! Hope to see you all in Melbourne again soon!
Sovereign Hill, Ballarat: Old Gold Town
Sovereign Hill is an open-air museum (and theme park of sorts) in Ballarat, a city north-west of Melbourne. It’s got historically-recreated buildings to give us an idea of what Australia in the 1850s might have looked like, complete with antiques, machinery, and other paraphernalia of that era. (Here’s the Wikipedia link for more info.)
You can mine for actual gold, but I doubt you’ll find more than a speck or two.
Main Street. It’s no Disneyland, but it still has a certain charm.
Hope Bakery serves sweet and savoury pies! Bought an apple turnover for Mum and a beef and cheese pie for myself. There’s also a modern cafeteria off Main Street, where Mum bought a cup of coffee.
Gorgeous houses. I don’t think we were able to enter though. Oh well, happy to admire from afar.
Since Sovereign Hill is well, a hill, you can these stunning views.
There’s real livestock too!
If Mum had an Instagram account. #coffeeaddict #seetheworld
There probably weren’t any recycling bins back in the day. Just sayin’
Some of the activities that you could participate in include nine-pin bowling. No extra charge, but it’s quite popular and you might have to wait quite a while for your turn.
Ye Olde Fire Brigade.
(Singing) ~ Going to the chapel and I’m… already married.
You could also ride on a carriage, but it would cost extra.
Waiting for the mine tour, which is underground. Yes, we had to pay extra, and no, we could not climb that tower.
The mine tram would go down at an approximately 45 degree angle and the tunnel was PITCH BLACK. Even with the lamps at the end of the tunnel, the underground mines were really dim and it took some getting used to.
The show that we watched was a tale of two Chinese brothers. Yes, there were Chinese miners in Ballarat 150 years ago. The Chinese went to distant corners of the world for gold, and The Land Down Under was no exception.
Our tickets also included admission to the Gold Museum. There were gold nuggets, gold trinkets, tools for mining gold, and of course lots of history lessons, but the exhibit that really caught my eye was this one…
“Chinese Fashion Design Students Re-imagine the 1850s in the ‘New Gold Mountain Street Style’ Competition”. Apparently the costumed characters in Sovereign Hill fascinated the Chinese visitors and so Sovereign Hill had a fashion design competition to strengthen its ties with the overseas Chinese community. Interesting.
One last photo for the road: one of my favourite displays in the museum. Golden chalice, anyone?
A Tour with a Difference: Phillip Island, Melbourne
Another post so overdue (> 1 year), I can’t believe it… So let’s dive right in!
First stop of our Phillip Island tour was The Gurdies Winery. Since it was winter, the grapes were “asleep”.
To be honest, this part of the tour was a bit of a letdown. Let me quote from their website:
“Sample (and you can buy at discounted prices as well) some of the area’s finest wines whilst enjoying a selection of local cheeses and olives with tasty fresh crusty bread and crackers, fruit in season and other local produce.”
Sounds great, huh? In my mind I was picturing something like this:
Or at the very least something like this:
This was what we had:
Okay, so it doesn’t look that bad. But here’s the thing: the winery was in fact closed that day. So we had to sit outdoors with the winter chill seeping into our bones. Yes, I understand that travelling to Melbourne in July means having to brave the cold weather, so that’s no one’s fault. But why bring us to a winery when it wasn’t even open?
The makeshift picnic was prepared by our tour guide, who also brought along three bottles of wine for us to sample: two white and a rosé. Personally, I prefer white wine, so it’s fine by me, but my merlot-loving sister would’ve been disappointed.
Our tasting session didn’t last very long. After everyone had maybe a thimbleful amount of wine, our guide collected the bottles and loaded them back into the van. I get that “sample” doesn’t mean “drink copious amounts of wine”, but the experience just left a bad taste in my mouth (pun fully intended). I mean, could we even buy the wine if we were interested, given that the winery wasn’t open for business?
Next up was Panny’s Chocolate Factory. My gosh… this was probably the worst part of the trip. If you have read previous posts on this blog, you’ll know that I rarely complain. But I really do want to share my travel experiences, the good and the bad.
Once again, let me quote from the ATWAD website:
“This is not just a “stop and shop” stop, we take you on a guided tour of the factory where you will see and learn how it is made, and of course, you get lots of FREE samples along the way.”
The guided tour (done by Panny’s staff) was incredibly short, and I couldn’t hear ANYTHING at all because two minutes after we entered the premises, a busload of tourists poured in and it was GAME OVER from there. The kid in the red shirt happily elbowed his way to the front, and proceeded to invade every single photograph I took in that place.
To put things in perspective, everyone else in this photo (not including the guide) was from my group. We were originally in front since we were first to arrive – makes sense, yeah? Didn’t stay that way for long.
We were given some time to take a closer look at the exhibits, and some of them looked pretty fun, but it just couldn’t be done. Some particularly obnoxious people were pushing and shoving the whole time, and after a while I gave up and joined my mum, who had wisely made a beeline for the exit the moment it got crowded.
Oh, and the part about “lots of free samples”? ONE piece of chocolate, about the size of a one dollar coin. I’m never trusting anyone’s sales pitch ever again.
Taking pictures outside while waiting for the other family whom we were travelling with. They were a family of four, and plus my mum and me it was only six people. The small group size was partly why I went with this particular tour. I did not pay 280 Aussie dollars (not including tips) for this day trip to be trapped in enclosed spaces with loud, inconsiderate tourists.
Thankfully, the next part of the tour was much, much better. We visited the Philip Island Wildlife Park, and it was (mostly) glorious. We were up close and personal with lots of animals native to Australia, and even got to hand-feed kangaroos and wallabies!
We were each given a bag of these pellet things to feed the animals, which weren’t shy, to say the least. They know that the humans come with food!
This little guy is a wallaby!
Hey guys, anyone hungry?
Aww… Look at its little paws. What could be cuter?
Well, there’s the answer right there.
Mama Swan guarding her egg(s). You can see how she’s eyeing the camera suspiciously.
Echidna (the “ch” is pronounced like a “k”). Fun fact: echidnas and platypuses are the only two living mammals that lay eggs.
Adorable! This scene looks like it could be in a children’s book.
Daddy (?) tags along.
White-bellied sea eagle. I didn’t manage to capture the moment in which one of them flew across the aviary. But oh, it was quite a sight.
Just yesterday, Edwin and I had a conversation about birds in aviaries, and about animals in captivity. It was sad to know that these eagles may never know just how high they can soar. On the other hand, the white-bellied sea eagle is ranked as Threatened in Victoria and Vulnerable in South Australia and Tasmania (source) so I suppose it’s safer in here.
Would you want to spend your life safely in a cage, or would you want to live freely (and possibly dangerously)? I honestly don’t know the answer to that question.
Alright, moving on from philosophical musings…
Dingoes! At one point they all came together and had a meeting.
I’m guessing this was Mama Swan’s mate?
There were koalas too, but they were the least exciting animals. Honestly, they do absolutely nothing. When you finally come across a koala that is close enough for you to take a decent photo, there’s a 90% chance that it’s sleeping.
There was also a small room which housed a variety of snakes and lizards. I didn’t take photos, as it was rather dim and I didn’t want use flash and risk provoking the creatures. Just saying, the glass cases didn’t look particularly sturdy and I did not want to be in an enclosed space with them for long. It’d be just slightly worse than being with those tourists in Panny’s Chocolate Factory.
In case you weren’t particularly impressed with what you’ve seen so far, how about this?
Have you ever seen so many kangaroos in your life? It was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen, and it was also a little scary. Remember when I said they know that the humans come with food?
Now imagine literally dozens of them jumping towards YOU, and you’re pretty low on supplies because you didn’t expect there’d be this many of them hanging around in the furthest corner of the park. Also, many of them were much larger than the ones who greeted us near the entrance.
So yeah, these guys ate whatever was left in my bag and the bag itself. I didn’t mean to feed them paper – they just tore up the bag and ate it up before I could get it back.
Mama and baby kangaroo! So cool seeing them up close.
That’s it for the wildlife park!
Before heading to see the penguins, we had dinner at what looked like a sleepy seaside town with gorgeous views.
Turns out Philip Island is known for other kinds of birds too.
Had dinner in this lovely cafe! (Yes, dinner is included in the tour package.)
Mum ordered a salad with anchovies on the side. And just to show how different our dining preferences are…
Muahaha… My chicken parmesan that looks like a massive Valentine heart!
Waiting for the penguins to come to shore. It was FREEZING, and even with the blankets that the tour provided, we were shaking!
And… just our luck, it started raining. Heavily. I tried to wait in the rain (the blankets were waterproof), but my mum was having none of it and dragged me into a sheltered section. We did manage to see a few penguins later on, but unfortunately the viewing experience was marred by other people pushing and shoving.
At that moment, the real horror was that flashes were going off everywhere, even though all the guests were repeatedly reminded that flash photography was strictly prohibited. The flashes would not only startle the penguins, but could also cause them to be disoriented and thus be unable to find their way home.
So many people seem to be unaware that when observing animals in their natural habitats, we need to be as unobtrusive as possible. I get that humans are naturally curious, but we mustn’t forget that it’s their planet too.
Okay, semi-preachy end to a long and winding post. Quite a few highs and lows in this one, and I applaud you for making it all the way to the end. As always, all opinions are my own, and I’m just sharing my personal experiences.
If a long post like this one reads like it’s going in different directions, it’s most likely because it’s been sitting in “Drafts” for a long time, and I add on to it whenever I can. In any case, I’m glad that this one is finally seeing the light of day, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I’ve got a few more posts coming up, so stay tuned!
A Tour with a Difference
http://www.atwad.com.au/
A Tour with a Difference: Great Ocean Road, Melbourne
There’s a rumour making its rounds, and it goes something like this: once you stay in Australia, you don’t want to leave. I know of people who went there about a decade ago with the intention to study or work there for 3 to 4 years, and they’re still there. Though I can’t confirm it, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that they’ll still be there a decade from now.
Last July, Mum and I headed Down Under for a week, and it was a blast. Fresh air, fresh food, loads of space (it’s a sign that you’ve been in Hong Kong too long when you’re practically agoraphobic) – who’d want to leave?
Not these two. By the way, those brown specks in the background are wild kangaroos. Exciting stuff, but nothing compared to the throngs of kangaroos we encountered the following day! (To be seen in a future post.)
When in Melbourne, Mum and I stayed with Uncle Michael and Auntie Aibee, long-time friends of my parents. (Uncle Michael and Auntie Aibee, if you’re reading this, I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality!)
We also booked a couple of day tours with a local company called “A Tour with a Difference“, and it’s the Great Ocean Road day tour that I’ll be sharing with you in this post. I’d wholeheartedly recommend this tour to anyone who’s interested. We had a fantastic experience, and our guide Ian was simply wonderful.
Also, the convenience can’t be beat – they even picked us up from our doorstep first thing in the morning!
Started our tour proper at Bells Beach, with seasoned surfers braving what felt like zero degrees out. (Don’t let the sunshine fool you!)
It isn’t hard to tell that we’re from the tropics.
We had a “traditional Aussie breakfast” by the beach (well, more like by the parking lot, but okay). Bush Billy tea, lamington cakes, vegemite and crackers… traditional indeed! Friendly reminder – don’t overdo the vegemite, like I did.
So… my cheapo Taobao trench coat shrank in the wash and became way too short for me. It didn’t really fit right to begin with, but now it looks like it was stolen from the kiddie section. I’m debating whether to let it go, but technically it still fits and ugh, navy blue goes with everything! #vaingirlproblems
Mum creeping up on an unsuspecting cockatoo.
There was this really friendly dog who wanted to play fetch with everyone in the tour group. (His owners were chilling at a nearby table.) Unfortunately I threw the stick a lot less farther than he anticipated and he couldn’t find it. Oy, If I ever have a dog (one more reason to move to Australia), I better work on my pitching skills!
The next part of the tour was super fun – feeding the birds! To be fair, it’s also quite scary, with birds flying towards you and literally clawing at you. Later I discovered that one of my hands was bleeding. T_T
Is this the bird that scratched me? He’s got a face I don’t trust.
Mum’s expression here is priceless. Actually I’ve got a bunch of funnier shots, but she’ll never let me off the hook if I put those up.
I loved that all meals were included – no hidden costs! No scrappy takeaway boxes either – these were proper sit-down meals in lovely restaurants. The food isn’t going to blow your mind, but it’s definitely better than expected.
After lunch, we got to walk off our meal in a lush temperate rainforest. The pictures don’t do it any justice, and you’ve got to see the trees in person to appreciate their magnificence.
It isn’t hard to believe that some people live in trees once you’ve seen the size of ’em (the trees, not the people). I mean, I live in a tiny apartment in Hong Kong, so my imagination doesn’t require much stretching.
True story: we were supposed to see the two of the Twelve Apostles, but Mum and I wandered off and walked around 1.5 kilometres in the wrong direction. D’oh! It sure took us long enough to wonder why there weren’t any other humans in the vicinity.
We made it eventually. It would have been rather anti-climatic otherwise.
The sun was beginning to set, and the light was beautiful. Again, pictures don’t do the scenery any justice whatsoever. I wonder if wildlife photographers have this thought all the time. The beauty of nature can never be fully captured by a camera.
We walked down the Gibson steps to get a closer look at the Apostles.
Golden light!
“I’ve always heard every ending is also a new beginning, we just don’t know it at the time. I’d like to believe that’s true.” (Source)
More amateur food photography from yours truly. Um, it’s a cheeseburger.
Hot chocolate: the best way to start – and end – a day.
That’s it for now! Stay tuned for more posts on the wonders of Down Under!
Melbourne Packing List featuring Polyvore
Of all the times I’ve travelled, this is probably the one in which I’m least prepared. I’ll be flying off tomorrow morning, and right now my bags are only half-packed. After every trip, I tell myself to travel light, but knowing me, it may never happen.
This time I’ll be stopping in Singapore for a few days, so there isn’t any real panic. I know where the shops are, and I can always borrow something from my mum. In any case, here’s an overview of what I’ve packed:
Friends have been telling me that Australia is currently experiencing a really cold winter, and my usual Hong Kong winter wear isn’t going to cut it. Honestly, I don’t want to buy something that I’ll never wear again, so hopefully my old jacket will be enough. Meanwhile, I will probably layer up like mad, and look suspiciously puffy in all the photos!
This will be my last post before the trip, and the next post will probably be in August. I already have so much to share with you all as it is, so next time I’m going to be brimming with lots of my usual chatter and food pictures.
Well, bye for now, and see you soon!
Daydreams and Day Trips 