This is the final post about the last day of our Melbourne trip! We spent one more day in Melbourne after coming back from Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. The Nobbies (Seal Rocks) was awesome and so was Swan Lake Guest House.
Here’s a random photo Ling took of me at Phillip Island. That bitch (it’s a female dog!) belongs to the car rental company’s owner, a friendly one, wagged her tail and came up to me to be petted. 🙂
We had a iVenture Card which allows us to choose 5 different things (anything from Puffing Billy to admission to Eureka 88) and we realized that we couldn’t utilize it fully due to a lack of time. I wanted Ling to browse around Queen Victoria Market so that’s where we went after checking into Citidines on Bourke Street.
Unfortunately, it had just closed! Ling had a craving for fish and chips and I wanted to bring her there for some proper ones but since that plan was scuttled we headed to Maccas instead.
Maccas is the local slang for McDonald’s and I eat at different ones all over the world – from McDonald’s in Korea to McDonald’s in Germany (where they serve beer). It’s a favorite haunt of mine from back when I was studying in uni due to their ever changing menu. It was called New Tastes Menu back then and I had written quite a lot about it.
Salads Plus was their new initiative the last time I was in Melbourne in 2003 and this time it was Tastes of America. This is what I love about the McDonald’s in Australia. You can actually eat there every week and have something different from a limited time menu.
We had the California Chicken (AUD 5.95) – pretty much the only thing we can eat since she doesn’t take beef. The other two versions are Smoky Texan (Angus Beef) and New York Classic (also beef).
The California Chicken burger is a chicken patty with sweet chilli lime and summer mayo. I never quite got what summer mayo means. 
It’s pretty good though – I love the crisp lettuce in Australia, it’s very different from the limp ones over here.
We also browsed around cooking shops – we share a common interest here – and I bought a Cuisipro decorating pen for AUD 20. I want to use it for plating when I cook for her – you can write stuff using gravy or chocolate, and Ling promptly *stole* it coz it’s too awesome! -_-
Hopped on the free City Circle Tram and ended up at Crown Complex. There’s flames in the evening but it was still early so we walked around instead.
Ling + HB in Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne!
The Travellers! That’s what these wire frame art is called. It chronicles Australia’s history and the first one is called:
Gayip. It represents the Aboriginal period before the settlers came during the convict period (1788-1888). Australia used to be a penal colony e.g. a place where English prisoners were shipped to. The Prime Minister when I was studying then proudly traced his heritage to his grandmother, who was a convicted thief.
Chill On Ice Lounge & Ski Lodge is an overrated tourist trap.
You dress in cold weather parkas and go into a -10 Celsius room made entirely of ice. There’s a free cocktail served in a glass made entirely of ice!
That was pretty good but there’s nothing much to see inside. You can’t take photos either, but there’s buttons to press for posed photos.
None of them turned out well though so we didn’t get the photos. Admission is AUD 30 per person (!!!) – we just wanted to use up the iVenture Card and this was one of the places which accepts it.
The next destination is the Eureka Skydeck 88. It’s located on the 88th floor – thus the name, and it’s the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere with an observation deck at 285 meters.
This was pretty nice – you get an entire 360 degree view of Melbourne from the observation deck. There are avid photographers camping with kitted out dSLRs with huge lenses to take photos of the grand view.
It’s quite nice, especially at sunset. 🙂
You can see one side is still bright, while the other is getting dark.
We spent quite a while there before going to Coles.
Lord of the Fries! Haha! I love the reference (it’s a rather dark book).
I had promised to cook her dinner before going back – a complete course with kangaroo roast as the main dish. We had a lot of fun in Melbourne – our first trip overseas, but definitely not the last. I’m going to write about the kangaroo meat dinner tomorrow before we head off for more lovely memories together on her birthday weekend! <3
I love you dear! It’s always a pleasure being with you and I would like to spend each and every moment of my life with you in the future. *hugs*
That dog is so fat! Look like a seal. 😀
I like visiting every country’s McDonalds. They all have different menus.
Haha! Yeah, it is eh? 🙂
I was surprised when it came up to me and was so manja somemore.
Me too! I visit every country’s McDonald’s when I go to different ones. It’s always good to eat from the different menus. 😀
Nice view from the Skydeck for that high price.I learned to find other tall buildings to get free city views!
I stayed at Citadines in Xian & it was a good bargain for that class. How come yours is Citidines?
Finally I get to see what a decorating pen looks like. I often saw chefs drawing lines and flowers & had no idea what they used.
Indeed! I thought the price was a bit high too but since we had the iVenture Card, it was alright, we didn’t even use the 5 attractions we could choose from. 🙂
I love Citadines on Bourke Street – they’re a full service apartment so there’s everything you would want in a kitchen. It’s better than MY kitchen! Haha!
That’s why I chose the place – to cook. It’s not cheap though, but not as expensive as Rydges on Swanston either (a whopping RM 2,200 per night).
I haven’t seen a good decorating pen around here too, which was why I bought it in Melbourne. Cheers mate!
Oopsss…u realized I ve actually stolen the decorating pen. 😛
I was wondering where it went! 🙂
Nevermind dear, no birthday cake for you then.
Haha! I’m kidding, I’ll cook for you with that pen…when you return to me. 😀
Aww…your trip are making me falling in love with Australia.
It’s an easy place to fall in love with! 🙂
I’ve always loved Australia, especially Melbourne. I love the city, it’s very different from, say, Sydney.
I’ll always prefer Melbourne to all other cities.
It’s a nice place to go to.
Love your couple pics! Sweeeeeet!
The bitch is so submissive…belly up asking for a belly rub. Sweet:D
Yup, that’s a very friendly dog there. 🙂
Haha! Thanks Eve! We had a blast in Melbourne.
It was a good trip and we’ve got another one coming up!
so sweet la!!! I wanna go Australia in the future!
Yup, Australia is an awesome place to go to! 🙂
There’s lots of different experiences in that one single continent-island.
There’s temperate weather at the northern parts like Darwin to the 4-seasons-in-a-day fickle weather of Melbourne.
You two look like characters from Star Trek! LOL!!!
Haha! Yeah, I thought the cold weather parka they gave us was very Star Trek too. 🙂
At least it wasn’t red – the red shirts in Star Trek are the first to get offed.
It’s a very small room (smaller than Snow World) and the only merit is that it’s -10 Celsius and you can drink at a bar made entirely out of ice with a cup made entirely out of ice.
Awww australia is def a nice place for getaway! The dog is so cute lah XD!!
Yup, I love Melbourne! 🙂
I’ll like to go back again…maybe in another 10 years, to see how it’s changed. Haha!
It’ll always be a bit of a home to me coz I studied there for 4 years.
Friendly dog, came padding up to me, I thought it might bite, but it just rolled over and let me pet it.
Love the McD there! How I wish our own McD will have limited menus too for a change =)
Yup, I eat a lot of McDonald’s when I was in Australia – they have limited time menus so there’s something new each week. 🙂
You know, I think the McDonald’s here is starting to do that too! I just came back from McDonald’s (the one with the playground and McCafe at Kota Damansara) and noticed they had another new burger out!
It’s different from the egg promo (which you can add to any burger – Fillet O Fish and Egg is good), this is an entirely new burger, not the McPepper, it’s a BBQ limited time offer.
I thought that was great, at least something different. 😀
wonderful view from the above!~
Yup! It’s an amazing view eh? 🙂
I love the Eureka Skydeck too! I thought the admission price was a bit steep, but it’s worth it for the view. We didn’t stay long, but the view was magnificent! 😀
You guys should try the Lamb burger in McD! And oh, it reminds me of the smooth and creamy McD ice cream in Perth!
That sounds awesome! 🙂
We saw the Angus burger lineup but my gf doesn’t eat beef so we had chicken instead. I was tempted to have one though. Haha!
Yup, the thing I remember best about Maccas in Australia is their fries. It’s awesome compared to KFC (would go to a fish and chip shop if I wanted thick cut potatoes).
I have the icing pen 🙂 It works really well although it’s kinda hard getting the icing into the pen.
Yeah, I still don’t have it in my possession. Haha!
It still remains stolen as to this date. 🙂
I want to try though, it sounds like it would be easy, maybe with a more liquid substance like gravy instead of hot, molten chocolate or icing?
It’s a fun culinary tool nevertheless. I’ll enjoy using it…when I get my hands on it.
Kidding dear.
For some reason, I have quite the obsession for Ice Bars! On my bucketlist is a visit to the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
Nice! I’ve always wanted to go to the Ice Hotel in Sweden too! 🙂
Built from scratch every single year, it’s amazing. I didn’t go the last 3 times I was in Europe but I’m determined to make a stop there next time.
I’m not keen on ice bars like these though – there’s not much people around, people drop in just to drink and leave (you can stay for 10 minutes) but with the weather in KL, I might just do that. 😀
their McD look so much more delicious and appetizing than ours O.o