Ph(f)oto Friday: Building within a Building

... or rather, a tower inside a shopping centre. This is Coop's Shot Tower, located in the heart of Melbourne CBD. It was completed in 1888 and 50 metres in height. This building was saved from demolition in 1973 and incorporated into Melbourne Central complex in 1991.

Melbourne Central complex is a shopping centre with a train station in it's underground level. Recently a Shot Tower Museum was set up inside this tower.


Side note: I think I have subconsciously venting my craving for holidays to food binging = ="

Ph(f)oto Friday: How to draw Totoro ^^

Totoro makes me happy :)

We attended the 2012 Japan Festival and Art Festival in Melbourne last year. There was a small entrance fee but as we were there to promote Japanese Film Festival, the organiser paid the fees on our behalf.

There were tables set up with different activities available in the festival. Some of the activities, like kirigami were not free. Participants need to pay for the cost of the papers used. However most of the activities were free - including this one on drawing manga. We tried our hand at a couple - Totoro, Doraemon and the hardest being Ichigo (Bleach).


Side note: Lately has craving for chocolates and ice-creams :/

Puffing Billy

Train departing from platform 9 3/4

Seriously - with the amount of smoke, I almost thought I was in platform 9 3/4, departing to Hogwarts. Anyway, meet Puffing Billy. Puffing Billy is Australia's Premiere Preserved Steam Raily, running on its original mountain track from Belgrave to Gembrook in the scenic Dandenong Ranges.

Getting to Puffing Billy via public transport is easy. Just take a train all the way to Belgrave station, follow the instruction from Belgrave station and walk to Puffing Billy station.

Most people take Puffing Billy to Lakeside station, but we decided to go a little further, all the way to Cockatoo.

Yes - this thingy is not cheap at all

Our brilliant idea was to take Puffing Billy to Cockatoo, then back tracked to Lakeside. We were hoping to do some bushwalking to soak in the glorious autumn leaves. That was the ideal world. The real world - no walking trails between Cockatoo to Lakeside, we ended up walking by the road side, and honked a couple of times by drivers who worried we might hog their side of the road.

What autumn leaves? These were all autumn leaves there were = ="

What autumn leaves? The leaves were as green as can be, or just different shades of green. Just like this.

No kidding - both pictures taken on the same day

Anyway, back to Puffing Billy Belgrave station. I've jumped too far ahead, let's backtrack a little. One is allowed to take many pictures of the Puffing Billy when it was stationary at it's stop.



It appears that only gentleman with nice beard get to work at Puffing Billy stations.



We were told that if you listen carefully, the chugging sound of Puffing Billy going uphill sounds a little like "I know I can, I know I can." LOL.

Peek-a-boo!

As I mentioned there wasn't much in Cockatoo station but more action was found in Lakeside station. We attempted to walk a fair bit of the road to Lakeside station but cheated part of it by hopping on a bus :P

We tried paddle boats too! I have wanted to do this for the longest time but it never worked out. So it was great :)

Yup - allowed to sit with legs hanging out of the train :)

How I wish this photo is clearer!

 

 

Side note: I wish for a quiet, uneventful Friday!



Ph(f)oto Friday: Burger and Chips, Anyone?

I don't know the origin of these artworks but stumbled upon them when I was on the way back from Queen Victoria Market. They are located at the corner of Elizabeth and La Trobe Street, in Melbourne CBD. ^ ^


Side note: Exams day :/

Ph(f)oto Friday: Neighbour's Cat

Staring far ahead...

This kitty here, is just across the street from mine. I think the cat belongs to my neighbour

The first time I saw this cat, I stupidly worry it will jump to my balcony though my friend has now assured me that it is a bit too far for that. The second time I saw this cat was when my little niece was here. This cat kept her entertained even from afar. ^ ^


Side note: Maggie Beer's ice-cream is an evil thing

Eating our way in Sydney

Drool~ superior Ippudo ramen

Even since I moved to Melbourne, I realised one significant thing that Melbourne is lacked of - good Japanese food (ok, maybe two - eligible bachelors). The first thing I wanted to have when I travelled back to Sydney for a work conference was a good ramen. Sigh - Ippudo has arrived at Australian shore finally but made it's branch in Sydney (darn!). So, first off the list was Ippudo ramen!



No - I didn't polish off all 4

Deep fried ice-cream

Dessert to follow was durian shake and deep fried ice-cream. Durian shake was as good as getting the fruit here in Australia. Little P (who happened to be in Sydney at the same time for a business trip) and I met up with my former classmates from Japanese class in Sydney - one from HK and the other from Brunei.

So there, not only Malaysians like durian. The deep fried ice-cream was also very good, it was not doughy, instead wrapped with a crispy layer. By this time, Little P and I were stuffed to the brim because prior to dinner, we had a very late lunch. However, we polished every bit down. This was then followed with a very long walk around the city. Grin.

Sea Urchin (Uni)

The next day's itinerary was Sydney Fish Market. I was guilty of influencing Little P to watch a TVB Lifestyle show called Tokyo Walker. Tokyo Walker is a travel show introducing places in Tokyo and since watching them, she had massive craving for sea urchin to the extend that she checked out the menu of every since Japanese restaurant she walked pass. To order to ease her craving, off we marched to Sydney Fish Market.

Sea urchin - Found! But of course, sea urchin alone will not keep the hunger pang away. So we had these as well. :)

Our dessert pick to end our seafood brunch was macaron from Adriano Zumbo.

Zumbo's first venture shop is in Balmain but we took the easy way out and visit his nearby patisserie in The Star. There's actually a conveyor belt desserts, just like kaiten sushi but instead of sushi, it was dessert.

These are not mine

These are mine

Unfortunately, I can't remember what flavour I chose. :P However if you like macaron, do give the ones from Zumbo a try, they are one of the better ones :)


Side note: I need a holiday!

10 Random Things

It started out that my friend told me to write a profile about myself. I was just playing along, even if it doesn't work, hope it would at least amuse her.

1. Has affinity to square things - TV, computer, phone. Actually likes surfing the net and watching TV, concurrently.

2. Dreams of reading manga in Japanese or watching anime without subtitles. Took up Japanese language classes, still at baby stage but whenever I travelled to Japan, it motivated me to study harder.

3. Tried every type of bread in a bakery before, simply because it's fun!

4. Grumpy in the morning, thawed slowly with coffee. Though has tendency to sing out "Ohayou" to random strangers in the morning in Japan.

5. Green tea - green tea milk, green tea cakes, green tea mochi, green tea Kit Kat

6. Started jogging because worried not able to complete an exercise ECG. Continues jogging due to peer pressure.

7. Reads about cooking, travelling, daily life, fashion, etc - on blogs.

8. Reads, listens to music and eats lunch at the stairwell.

9. Google is one of my best friends.

10. Believes that one can only whistle when they are happy :)


Side note: I stupidly forgot that there's a 31st in July! :P

Ph(f)oto Friday: Hanging chairs

These hanging chairs are found inside a little cafe along Little Bourke Street in Melbourne. This little cafe is famed of serving one of the best coffee in the city - Brother Baba Budan. The cafe is small, and usually full, so I have not had my coffee in this cafe so to speak, only did takeaway. The coffee has great aroma and strong (that's how I like my coffee), much to my mother's disapproval. She is fond of her 3-in-1 coffees :P

P/S: Thought I'll start a new 'series', just because there are lot of little things that caught my eye. :)


Side note: Alright, I better drag myself out of the house now (as of Sunday, 1 pm :P)

China: 14 days Itinerary to Beijing and around Shanghai

This is the index page for 14 days trip to Beijing and around Shanghai.  

Some light reading:
1. Some China History in bite size
2. Post travel findings of 10 Random Things about China
3. Travelling from Melbourne to Beijing
4. Summary version of my trip around Shanghai, or rather Wuxi to be more specific.

Beijing:
Boring stuff of accommodation review and logistics
Sensational food in Beijing

Day 1
 - Summer Palace (颐和园, Yíhé Yuán)
 - Old Summer Palace (圆明园, Yuánmíng Yuán). 
 - Dinner at 南门涮肉 (Hongyuan Nanmen Shuanrou)

Day 2 
 - Forbidden City/ Palace Museum (紫禁城, Zǐjìnchéng/ 故宫, Gùgōng)
 - Dinner at Donghuamen Night Market (东华门夜市; Dōnghuāmén Yèshì).

Day 3 
 - Walking in the huge Tian'anmen Square (天安门) and visited Mr Mao at Mausoleum of Mao Zedong (毛主席纪念堂, Máo Zhǔxí Jìniàntáng)
 - Temple of Heaven Temple of Heaven (天坛, Tiāntán)
 - My solo walk at the stadiums - 鸟巢 (Bird's Nest), 水立方 (Water Cube) 
 - Dinner at 大董烤鸭店(金宝汇店) Dadong Jinbaohui

Day 4 
 - Mutianyu Great Wall (慕田峪)
 - Bird's Nest (鸟巢), Water Cube (水立方) - revisited
 - Dinner at 便宜坊烤鸭店(哈德门店) Bianyifang Hademen Restaurant

Day 5 
 - Ming Tomb - Ding Ling (明十三陵  - 定陵)
 - Yonghe Lamasery (雍和宮, Yōng hé gōng)
 - Dinner at Wangfujing Snack Street (王府井小吃街)

Day 6 
 - 景山公園 (Jingsan Park)
 - 北海公园 (Beihai Park)
 - Song Tang Hall Museum (松堂博物馆)
 - Temple of Confucius (孔廟庙) and the Imperial College Guo Zi Jian (国子监)
 - A walk at a hutong - 烟袋斜街 (Yan Dai Xie Jie) and Hou Hai (后海, hòuhǎi)
 - Lunch at 那家小馆(永安里店) Najia Xiaoguan

Day 7 
 - A supposed to be cherry blossom festival at Yuyuantan Park (玉渊潭公园) and visit the super cute pandas in Beijing Zoo

Day 8 
 - Hangzhou (杭州) - West Lake (西湖, Xi Hu) and lunch at Grandma's House (外婆家, Waipojia)
 - Return to Wuxi - Nanchang Street (南长街)

Day 9 
 - Suzhou (苏州) - 虎丘 (Huqiu Hill), 拙政園 (The Humble Administrator's Garden)
 - Overnight in Tongli (同里) - at Jingyitang and visited Gengle Tang (耕乐堂)

Day 10 
 - Tongli (同里) - Retreat Garden (退思园, Tuisi yuen), Museum of Ancient Chinese Sex Culture, 古风园 (Gufengyuan), 崇本堂 (Chongben Mansion) and 珍珠塔 (Pearl Tower)
 - Back in Wuxi (无锡) - Chong'an Temple (崇安寺)

Shanghai
Day 11 
 - A morning walk in Yu Gardens and bazaar, complete with breakfast at 南翔馒头店 (Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop)
 - Day and night time stroll along the Bund

Day 12
 - Breakfast in Commune and checking out the arty Tianzifang (田子坊)
 - Jiang'an district
 - Experience the superb service in 海底捞 (Hǎi Dǐ Lāo) hotpot restaurant

Day 13
 - Other random places in Shanghai - Peace Hotel, East Nanjing Road, Shanghai Science and Technology.

Side note: Time for dinner!