Victoria Day 2 - Melbourne City Centre

Assalamualaikum. G'day Mate.

As we were allowed to check in early (here), we went straight to our room. Time to refresh & recharge ourselves. Pretty satisfied with our room. Double decker bed (lower bunk is queen size), separate toilet & shower room. Sink outside. Spacious enough to accommodate us three + our bags. 

While waiting for the 2 jemahs settle with their urusan, I chose to sail away to dreamland. Labuhkan curtain, and bergelaplah bilik. Perfect condition for a 'good night' sleep. Adalah terlelap sejam dua, and when I woke up the 2 Jemahs were also in dreamland. 

We had brunch in the room before our walkertapaki around Melbourne city. Ms G only had plain water early this morning while Ms H's last meal was at KLIA2 before her flight to Melbourne last night. Whilst me? Sempat lah layan perut with croissant & hot tea while waiting for Ms H to arrived. 

27 Jul 2015 

Melbourne City Centre

First thing we did right after hitting the street in Melbourne was to top up our MyKi. We had 3 cards with us courtesy of Ms Dzulichan. Thanks babe for lending. 

For more about this reusable travel card please refer here. 

Melbourne has always been in my wishlist. And having to tick it off from the list is something so meaningful to me. Selama ni cuma Melbourne jom, Melbourne jom jak. Never dream I'll be here for real. Alhamdulillah for this opportunity ya Rabb.

Ibis Budget hotel is super love by us. Only a stone away from tram station, convenient stores & restaurants. All is simply reachable by walking. Most attractions pun dekat juga i.e Flinders Street, Yarra River, Flinders Walk etc. Ndak sempat berpeluh pun (provided u're NOT here in summer). 

#1 Turun hotel, terus nampak Collins Street tram station

#2 And finally, my own picture of Melbourne's tram. 

#3 Bright clear Melbourne skies welcome us that morning. Good vibes from the start made us more excited to explore the city

#4 The love I have for signboards. Ibarat irama & lagu. Gituuuu

We didn't have proper itinerary for this trip. Purposely went with 'mana dan, kami jejak' concept. Mana ndak sempat, insha Allah next trip boleh jejak. We wandered around as long as our legs don't give up on us. Sakit kalu, balik bilik rest for tomorrow gonna be a pretty long day for us. Tapi haruslah masing² gigih, bukan selalu jejak Melbourne kan. 

#5 The unique facade of Building 80 Swanson Academic Building of RMIT (Royal Military Institue of Technology). 

Lepak at one of the benches in front of the Swanson Academic Building (SAB). Pastu berangan, tu jak mampu lah. Mau jadi student balik macam semua malas ke laut. Mau jadi lecturer or tutor, bakat ke laut. Tapi paling win bila ada orang declare Melbourne as her kampong. Fuh, only after few hours landed terus mengaku kampong. Itu dia! Berjangkit sudah gen lupa diri to each one of us. Semua ndak mau kalah; sorang Seoul, sorang Melbourne, sorang Beijing (eh???).

#6 Forgot what building is this but I took it mainly because of the Australian flag. Although it's not clear what flag it is from this picture

#7 Some monument near the City Square

#8 Among the first row of shops we encountered that sells souvenirs. 

Bila nampak souvenir shop, memang boleh teka siapa paling excited. Hopping from one shop to another. Bersinar mata dia masa nampak all the souvenirs & gifts. Automatically laju congak dalam kepala total orang yang bakal dapat & juga sang² pemesan. Aku perhati dari seberang jalan jak sambil sapu bibir with pretty striking red color lipstick. Sambil snap few gambar of the buildings around me. And I fell in love immediately. Suka tengok all those old, Gothic & 'rusty' architectures. Patutlah beria masukkan Melbourne dalam wishlist kan Bie. Albeit it took ages for me to accomplished, alhamdulillah sangat. 

#9 St Paul's Cathedral, Swanson Street

#10 Flinders Street Railway; another moment of truth for moi

#11 Kalau boleh aku mau ambil gambar tiap sudut station ni

Can't help but to smile widely while taking picture of this station. Finally, my very own picture of Flinders Street station. No more layan gambar orang lain nor do I need to go to its website just to cuci mata. #bukanstatementriak

#12 The view we'll see when coming from Ibis Budget (esok punya cerita)

#13 Federation Square with Melbourne city sightseeing double decker buses in front of it

We also went to La Trobe Reading Room at Victoria Library, had snack time at QV Mall, and appreciating the murals at Hosier Lane but I will write about those in different entries. I think they deserve an entry in its own. Gitu tiba² rajin si Err, quite frightening jugalah I must say. 

So, before we went back to the hotel (again to refresh & have dinner), we stopped by at My Chemist. Beli shampoo, perfume (as suggested by many kunun perfume sini al-murah), and whatnot. Then singgah Woolworths beli sayur-mayur sebab mau tunjuk skill masak esok & hari² seterusnya. Aku bab² beli bahan mentah gini memang suka. Kadang boleh habis berjam² telek semua benda. Shopping these things excite me. Adakah faktor umur? 

#14 Can I say browsing through them is some kinda therapy for me? 

Ms H & I collected money to buy our barang mentah. While Ms G didn't join us for she wanted to buy food we can't consume. If the 2 other jemahs (Ms C & Ms P) join us, we would have our own 7E. Diorang dua tu memang terpaling juara bab beli & angkut makanan dari Malaysia. I so cannot wait for our NZ road trip, mesti masing² sibuk berkungfu di dapur caravan. And speaking of which, ntah lah bila boleh execute our NZ plan. Itinerary sudah siap terperam berabad lama, nowadays masing² sibuk with life. Timing bercutian semua ndak sama. Sobs. 

#15 Ms G opted to pay at thd counter & Ms H paid at the self service counter. Mencoba katanye

We went out after dinner. Saja mau ambil angin malam near Yarra River. Tapi yang tu macam biasa, next² entry lah. I have another 3 entries before scribbling about our first night in Melbourne. Koh!

Gigih melantun² sekarang siap mau buat separate entries ha. Tabahlah. Janji ada, jangam gebang jak lebih sudah.

eryantierdabdulkarim