Adal & Adel's Blog: Day 3 in Melbourne!

The day was cold and sunny once again - perfect weather for a Sunday!

Uncle Keith dropped Bryce and Jemima (A&A's cousins) off at school and church for practice, then dropped A&A off at Glen Waverly station, from where A&A took the train down to the ubiquitous Flinder's Street Station.

Jemima & Adel

The Glen Waverly train station ticket salesperson was abrupt and glum, and didn't appear to be very happy to be working on a Sunday. A&A were suddenly reminded of Singapore, where ticket sales people grunt and make noises instead of actually speaking to us filthy paying customers.

Melbourne, it seems, still needs to go further down to reach the near abysmal service standards in Singapore.

Flinder's Street Station Exterior

Flinder's Street Station (Exit)

View from Flinder's Street Station

St. Paul's Cathedral is right opposite the train station, and are just about the only 2 Roman-styled buildings in the area - the rest are all modern buildings. It must have been quite difficult to develop the area without compromising the old-world feel in the vicinity!

A&A's first stop was of course, the Queen Victoria's Market!

Having obsessed over trying the foods in the area for months, they sprang joyfully into the market in eager anticipation.

From what you can see in the photos, most of the market consisted of clothes, interesting gadgets and stuff - much like the Pasar Malam in Singapore. The Food section consisted of very few sit-down areas, which was quite disappointing for A&A. But as they exited with nothing more than a package of Kransky sausages their Aunt had instructed them to purchase, they heard haunting music from the streets.

A group of (what seemed like) aboriginal people were playing in the streets, busking and selling CDs at the same time. Adel was suitably impressed, and bought a CD from them for $25.

From there, they walked down to navigate the completely confusing road systems in Melbourne to try to get to St. Kilda's. Since their Uncle and Aunt had spent so much on them the past few days, they really wanted to get something for them to show their appreciation.

The Melbournian transportation system can be accessed with just one card, called the Metlink Card. The price varies VERY WIDELY, from $10+ per person on normal days to a Super Sunday Saver thingie that costs $3.10 per person on Sundays for a full day's trip. The Full Day Metlink card allows you to travel on Trams, Trains and buses with no limitations whatsoever, and it also comes in different time frames (e.g. 2 hour tickets which are only valid for 2 hours).

You validate your ticket when you get on your transport, and there's no need to validate it again when you get off. The City Circle Tram is free and is very useful for tourists.

St Kilda's! We passed by a very Roman-Cathedral looking church along the way while searching for the shop we were looking for. It's a very quaint area, mostly residential - but the shopping area is bustling with activity due to the proximity of Luna Park and St Kilda's beach nearby.

A small restaurant! In Singapore, you'd only be able to afford these sort of places if you were a billionaire.

Strange looking van outside a restaurant. Pest-Busters, maybe?

Adel's sharp eyes finally spotted what they were looking for after almost 2 hours of walking! The Monarch Cake Shop! It was introduced in the F1 race City to City thing broadcast on Channel 5, and is very highly recommended in most guidebooks to Melbourne. It features a famous Kugelhof and a cheesecake with a 100 year old recipe. Of course, that was what A&A had gone to buy.

They also bought a slice of lemon custard cake which was FANTASTIC, and a cherry tart, which Adal liked but Adel didn't.

Cheese Cake made with 100 year old recipe

The Famous Kugelhof from Monarch Cake Shop! It tasted just like Chocolate Swirl Cake, actually.

Monarch Cake Shop interior 1

Monarch Cake Shop Interior 2

Monarch Cake Shop Interior 3

Check out the ancient cash register and weighing machine! :-)

It wasn't actually used though - it was just for show.

The sales lady in the shop was really nice! And all the cakes that they bought only added up to $50 :-)))

En Route Back

The bridge to Flinders' Street Station had a row of plastic panels with various countries and the history of the emigrants to Melbourne. Singapore's panel, sadly enough, was the only one which was vandalised with a coin. Perhaps our 'endearing characteristics' have made us world-infamous? Or perhaps there are Singaporeans living in Melbourne who detest Singapore enough to vandalise a panel with its country's name? In which case, the government really needs to find out what is so bad about the country that is making people leave.

In Melbourne, the same railway track can sometimes go to 2 very different locations. A train stopping at Platform 3, for instance, can go to either Glen Waverly, or Belgrave. Since A&A were in too much of a rush to catch the train and couldn't quite find information signboards, they boarded the train the same direction they'd taken when they came, and it led them down the wrong direction towards Belgrave. They had to get off at a near-deserted station called Hawthorne to get back to Burnley to transfer. The wait took a good half an hour.

Burnley Station - when they say it's open air, they're not mucking around! It's really open-air; no shelters except for one around the size of 2 bus-stops in Singapore. This in a station 4 times as long.

Train Stations in the East are popular hangouts for delinquent youths and gangs, so it's no surprise the station is coated end to end with graffiti. A&A felt a little exposed, especially since it was approaching nightfall.