where then do we go?

It was our last day in Hong Kong. I had to meet a client at Langham Place, Mongkok. I woke up really late., this gives Mr Ting a chance to join me there. He was looking for his morning coffee and for all you know,it was quite a nice hotel building with some good shopping tenants like H&M , Sephora, Star Bucks.

I rushed up the building, went up the office and in less than 15 minutes , i was done. It was really a last minute arrangement; and given it was a Monday morning, lots of meetings for my client..thus i did a quick introduction and then say will follow up with her from Shanghai.

Sms Mr Ting, but was unable to get him so i started shopping at H& M. Managed to get some 2 clothings and a bag ( So much for last minute shopping) before Mr Ting joined me . We went back Tsim Sha Tsui , walked around trying to get a decent place for lunch. Finally ended in a small 茶餐厅 near our hotel. We had chee chiong fun ( again !) and porridge. It was a simple lunch ( coz need to checkout and we are running late ) , but find the food so so.

Edwin went to get the 蛋仔 . It was bad, not in any way like the one we had at Mongkok a day before. What a difference a day , a place makes - for 蛋仔.

After my last last Body shop spree..off to the hotel where we were long overdue from our checkout time. You bet, our card expired and have to get a new one. Happily got down lobby and missed our bus to airport, so we decided it was Cab time. Mr Ting was saying, we’ve tried the ferry, the tram , the MTR except the cab. Got our cab and away to Kowloon .

I must say i am really impressed with the efficiency of the HKG airport. In spite Mr Ting was way too early for his flight, he managed to check in all his luggage at Kowloon without having to do so in the airport terminal. Now , this gives me and him more chance to shop, given now we are both luggage fREE!

We had our last last fill of Xu liu shan. I had my bird nest and Mr Ting 芒果椰奶 drink. Was good. Though i must say, i am upset that i cannot get my Mango blouse during th eleventh hour , and i seriously think the HKG airport should have more tenants which would benefit my LAST LAST LAST minute shopping: Mango, Zara, H&M instead of chocolate shops, LV…

I am sure Mr Ting had a good time buying Krispy Kremes doughnuts back to Singapore for his colleagues while i buy 2 boxes of egg rolls for my boss and friends. Hkg airport is in fact a nice place to shop ( comment by Mr Ting) .

To end this wonderful trip with a good company, only 2 words to describe Hong Kong : SHoP + EaT !

The Long Trip to Lan Tau Islands - Big Buddha

We woke up a little bit earlier this morning in hope of reaching our final destination before noon, when the sun would become very Hot. We kind of made it!

Not before our morning breakfast of Chee Cheong Fun and Porridge and this little store, along Stanley Road (Central) - WAI KEE CONGEE SHOP (威记粥店)

Chee Cheong Fun - HK 8

Carrot Cake (Very very good!!!) - HKD 6

Century egg and sliced pork porridge - HK 8

It was cheap and good food.

To get to Lantau island, there a number of choices - take the train (MTR) or take the ferry. We chose to take the ferry. We took the ferry from berth 6, other berth brings you to different islands, or to different parts of Lantau, i.e. nearer Disneyland, or Ocean Park.

The ferry ride was comfortable and takes about 40 mins. On arrival on the island, there is a bus terminal where you can take different bus routes to where you wish to go to. Bus 2 brings us to the Big Buddha at HKD 25 per pax (weekend pricing). The ride, winding through the islands takes about 25 mins.

On the ferry

Big Buddha on the top of the Hill

Before climbing the hill, we went to the nearby temple and they serve such interesting snacks and bean curd.

The bean curd was delicious.

On top of the hill, there sits the Buddha. It was Huge and there were lots of people there - tourist to look and see, locals praying, etc …

That was about as much as we did on Lantau Islands, most touristy thing. We did the reverse of our route - bus back to the ferry terminal, sat the ferry back to Hong Kong Island and went to “cool off” at the nearby Financial Centre. They had very interesting shops there … Mango and Zara are both there. A very interesting thing to note is the number of Filipinos in Hong Kong. Even in Singapore, I have not seen such a huge congregation of them at one pace. They line the entire pathway and walk ways of the pedestrian bridge to the Financial Centre. They were also all over the streets and roads outside the financial district. It was a weekend, so most of the business buildings were closed. Yet, it seemed strange that they were seated on the pavement right outside all the high end boutiques, like LV, Salvatore, etc …

We rushed over to Mongkok as we were meeting up with KC. He was going to bring us to buy Mobile Phone (for Ms Lee’s brother) and I wanted to get a pair of sneakers.

Mongkok is a good place to roam. Did not get much chance to look around that are though.

Dinner was at YUNG KEE RESTAURANT (镛记) - 32-40 Wellington Street, Central. They are famous for the geese. It is a must try. Very delicious!

We had ordered about 4 dishes and the total bill for 3 persons came up to about HKD 600. Not the cheapest meal and I think only the geese was worth the bug.

After dinner, we tried the public transport “ferry” that brought you back to Kowloon. It was packed. At 8 pm each day, there was also this very interesting light show that happens with all the buildings on Hong Kong Island. Good to see from the side of Kowloon.

Fionna, Edwin and KC

The Olympics Mascot lantern exhibit by the river, where the torch relay had just ran through the day before.

To that, we ended our satisfying day.

3rd day in HKG: The Pingshan With No Shan

We decided we’ll do one thing different in every trip, not the touristy stuff as mentioned by my travel partner. The night before bed, after the IC figured how we should get there by MTR, we decided: Pingshan Trail.

What attracted me to visit Pingshan was the old pagoda and the way Pingshan is positioned on the brochure – it made me feel slow, quiet and peaceful. It seems like a good change from the buzzing places we have been in for the past 2 days.

Switched metro and we arrived at Tin Shui Wai station. I soon realized, we are moving towards the “village Hong Kong”, like Yio Chu Kang Singapore?

Tsui Sing Lau (1486)

Tsui Sing Lau, the Gathering Stars Pagoda, is the only ancient pagoda left in Hong Kong. The pagoda is a ‘feng shui’ structure to prevent floods and evil influence from the north. I would not say the architecture was unique or particularly exciting. If one is expecting more architecture from this visit, you will be disappointed.

We started walking after we gathered from the pagoda care taker where we should head to begin the Pingshan Trail. We noticed some of the residents, in spite of staying in very old, small laned houses (like those in Shanghai), the interiors were nicely renovated. Mind you, some owned BMWs.

Tang Ancestral Hall

This ancestral hall was built by TANG Fung Shun, the fifth generation ancestor of the Tang clan about 700 years ago. It is the ancestral hall of the Ping Shan branch of the Tang clan. Mr Ting was commenting to me, it would have been most appropriate for our dear friend KC Tang to be here.

Yu Kiu Ancestral Hall

This ancestral hall locates right next of the Tang Ancestral Hall. It was built by the TANG Yu Sing and TANG Kiu Lum, brothers of the eleventh generation in the early sixteen century.

The entire Pingshan trial took us about 30 minutes but on a hot sunny day, it might not be particularly exciting.

We took a light rail train 68 M to Yuen Long, where we begin our FOOD hunt round TWO.

Yuen Long is similar to Toa Payoh New Town , a very self sufficient estate on its on away from the city. You can find all the brands like G2000, Adidas, Nike…etc and the famous Heng Hiang Lao Po ( aka Wife biscuit- a pastry with winter melon filling)

Big B Desserts

We were both very thirsty and so cold desserts were our first choice. We found Big B dessert and ordered the specialty Big B fruits platter..mind you it’s really huge ( just compare my face and the size of the bowl in the photo) …with fruits like kiwi, pineapple, mango, longan, lychee , atap seeds and jelly grass. Tasted good but I must say it’s not particularly unique or exciting. We also tried the mango chee chiong fan (CCF). Salute. I must comment that I am impressed with the Hongkies for their creativity with all the different fillings they can come up with to pair the plain chee chiong fan.

For the mango CCF, it is filled with sliced mango and topped with blended mango dressing. Not really nice, I prefer the you tiao filling CCF. We saw a lot of people ordering the plain CCF, with sesame and sweet sauce, but we were really too full after Big B and the mango CCF, so we gonna give it a miss.

Dessert at Kai Kee Dessert (佳记甜品) along Yau San Street.

Off we go to search for Heng Heung wife biscuit (along Castle Peak Road Yuen Long), it was crowded and we bought like 5 boxes and we left the shop. Saw another shop, Wing Wah, less crowded, but nicely packaged. We decided to give it a miss. Wanted to go for a massage but we gave up after being unable to locate it. I shop at G2000 and then was back to search for food again .

Mr Ting and I decided to try the famous beef bee hoon. It’s a small shop (Victory Beef-Ball 胜利牛丸, along Fau Tsoi Street, but crowded with people. They have 2 shops in Yuen Long. It’s really one of the best bee hoon soon I have eaten. A definite must try; the beef is cooked to perfection – just the right tenderness and the beef balls, bouncy. The soup is strongly beef flavored. I ordered the iced lemon tea which tasted fantastic, not acidic (like those which turns acidic when you add hot water for too long) , topped with fresh lemon slices. Cost us around 39 HKD.

I realized though Yuen Long, the Hongkies are generally very well mannered people. They queue for buses. Enough of food and off we go, back to Tsim Sha Tsui Empire Hotel and leave behind all our barang barang - which was mainly food.

After that, we headed down to Central again. This time we were going to take the “Tram” to Happy Valley.

The Tram ride was interesting … Happy Valley was the place where Horse Racing took place every Thursday. We were headed there on a mission - for Chee Cheong Fun with You Tiao from this place called TASTY CONGEE & NOODLE WONTON SHOP (正斗粥面专家) at Happy Valley, G/F, 21 King Kwong Street, TEL 852-2838-3922.

The Dough Fritters in Rice Roll was delicious and cost HKD 30.

They also had very good Beef Hor Fun at HKD 68.

The Duck Feet in XO Sauce was also lovely at HKD 44 for two feet.

After that Scrumptous meal, we went to look for this Cake Shop named Zoe. It was a tad difficult to find as it was a really tiny shop at the corner of some street. They sell small little pieces of cake which cost around HKD 30 each. It wasn’t cheap, but their chocolate cake was delicious. (We actually only ate the cakes we bought 1 day later, as we were too full and left it in the hotel fridge till we finally had stomach room to eat it.

We headed back to Central on the Tram.

Decided to look around for Zara and ended up at the Financial Centre, where there was both Zara and Mango. Unfortunately, nothing good was to be bought, or what’s good to be bought was not fated to be bought that night.

We went back to Stanley street, looking for some nice chill out place to rest ourselves, the bar - bohemian lounge on 3-5 Old Bailey Street Hong Kong, is no longer there. =( I heard it was good for Jazz.

Strolling round Central and Lan Kwai Fong numerous times in the sweltering Summer Heat, we finally chanced upon this Blues & Jazz place with a live band. The band was good and it was a little place with character and style. (Some of the people there were boldly dressed in leopard spots. =) Can’t remember the place but it’s a white building, along the back lane of LKF on the 2nd level of the building.

After a good night sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning in Hong Kong.

Today, we decided to explore Central - the city central of Hong Kong, the happening place. We took the train nearest to our Hotel（尘沙水） to Central（中原）and went hunting for both food and good shopping. The first thing tha caught our eye as we went out of the station was Marks and Spencers. (Well, at least it caught the eye of my partner). I was more interested in locating H&M and Zara. Looking around us and at the shops present at this area, we concluded that this was the REAL “Orchard Road” of Hong Kong. Not, Tsim Tsa Shui as KC had mentioned.

Our first stop was locating a Wanton noodle store along Stanley Road. It had the most delicious Wanton Noodles. they also served 2 other kind of noodles, which was popular among the locals.

The noodles cost HKD 25 for Wanton, 38 for the Shrimp Roe and Meat Slices respectively.

This was the shop we ate from …
MAK’S NOODLE (麦克云吞面世家)
ADD G/F, 77 Wellington Street, Central
TEL 852-2854-3810
OPENING HOURS 12pm to 8pm (closed on the first three days of Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Winter Solstice)
DIRECTIONS Central MTR Station, Exit D1 & D2

After the very satisfying meal, we went shopping, or was it food hunting again? We got ourselves a local dessert. Apparently this auntie only sells 2 hours a day along this street. It was some red bean cake. Not too bad.

We also went in search of Nai Cha (Milk Tea)（奶茶）. Located this quite famous place 阑芳园 around the corner, with loads of magazine features. Had our milk tea along with the also famous local snack of French Toast with a twist - with kaya.

We finally made it to M&S, after our breakfast x2. Not my shopping haven, as I get this back home in SG. Ms Lee, on the other hand, was torn between getting more stuff and being able to carry it back to Shanghai.

Later on, we went exploring the area and went in and out of various buildings, walk around quite a bit. Landed up at an open space in the middle of the city, where we began to take snaps of the towering skyscrapers of the city.

We also finally discovered H&M along and I was excited. Managed to get a couple of things in that short span of time we were there.

After our shopping, we went for dessert at 杏花楼 and had Jiang Chuang Nai（姜撞奶）, and Yang Zhi Gan Lu（杨枝干露）. Yummy!

Also had X.O. Fried Chee Cheong Fun.

For the strangest reason, I decided to take this flight of escalator that I saw everyone taking. We went up and up and up and up. For a split moment I thought we were on our way up to the Peak, but the final flight of escalator only brought us up the mid-levels. Once there, we realized that there wasn’t anywhere else to go to. There wasn’t an escalator that headed downwards. (Paiseh, make you walk so much!!!) We headed down on foot, via another route. Passed some very expensive housing there - Tycoon court.

This was where we made our descent after a long ride up on the escalator. (I wonder how the locals do it every single day?!)

Went passed Garden Hotel and reached the place where the Tram officially begins to take tourist up to the Peak. We did just that.

Got in line of the long queue and waited patiently to get our turn onto the tram. Wasn’t the best designed manner of crowd control, but I guessed it worked for the Chinese people there.

The tram ride up to the peak was very nice. I did not get a place to sit though. The view was good and at certain locations where the track was very steep, it was quite exciting. Took no more than 15 mins, but cost HKD 85 for a 2 way trip.

Me on the tram …

The view was very good on the Peak. It was not worth it to pay for the Peak Observatory Tower. It cost more money and there was too much tourist there. Very noisy. I recommend going over to the building beside it - the mall. There is less people there, and even though the building was shorter the view was still as good.

Below are some of our very unsuccessful shots of getting a couple shot.

Decided to get some drinks at the peak but ended up at Bubba Gump for Shrimp and LOADS of onion rings. Way too much food for 2 persons. It was all AMERICAN Sized. Be-warned! Food served here is also not exactly very cheap. But you get what you paid for, considering it is the Peak!

After the very scrumptous meal, we were to head down to Central again to meet up with KC and Ron, who was visiting from Guangzhou. The Queue to to take the Tarm down to Central was amazingly long!!! We waited for about 1/2 hour or more before we got our turn. the wind was strong and cold. I was ill-prepared without my jacket, lulled into thinking that the weather was very warm as it had been the night before when I had just landed. (Do bring a jacket up to the peak.)

Back on “Ground”, we walked from the Garden Hotel to where we were supposed to meet for dinner. The Cha Can Ting (Tea House) opposite Yung Kee. The guys were already there. We had absolutely no appetite after our meal at the Peak.

Above is a shot of the Financial District by night. It remains a happening and crowded place after hours, as the nightlife, restaurants, bars begin their business.

Drinks after was at this place above Lan Kwai Fong. Introduced by KC, it was a nice little bar above all the noisy and rowdy bars.

LKF was a nice hang out place, but it was too loud, and too much westerners that it didn’t feel cool anymore. It was happening, but I felt that Xin Tian Di at Shanghai was still a cut above it.

It was great to meet up with you guys!!!

It was my first trip to Hong Kong and it was the May Holidays in China. No doubt it was considered peak period as I could not get a seat to fly out of Singapore on Cathay Pacific and, eventually, had to take United Airlines. (Jet Star was not cheap either for the same flying period.) United was relatively good, and it is part of Star Alliance, so I got to accrue miles too.) Departed Singapore at 6.40 am and arrived in Hong Kong at 10.30 am (approximately a 3 1/2 hour flight, costing SGD 550, including taxes, etc).

I was a tad disappointed with the long queue at the immigration going into Hong Kong. Waited in queue for about 1/2 hour before I finally got out. Headed to get a Krispy Kreme Donut (Terminal 1 Arrival Hall) for a snack, while I waited for Ms Lee to arrive. I did not wait too long as her flight was only 1/2 hour apart from mine.

How to get to Hong Kong City from the airport? It was so easy. You buy those train tickets (about HKD 90 per pax) from the airport and then you sit a very nice comfy train to go to Kowloon Station (Airport to Tsung Yi to Kwoloon). From Kowloon station, you then can take a free shuttle bus to go to the hotel we were staying at - Empire Hotel, Kowloon.

The hotel is situated in Tsim Tsa Tsui, and was very near the train station. Very centrally located and near a lot of places - Mongkok, You Mei Tai, etc … (Hotel was booked together with a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong, on dragon air, from cTrip for about RMB 5000+).

Met up with KC for lunch that day for nice dim sum.

After that we went to walk walk around near the river … on the Kowloon side … had a drink at Starbucks by the river.

After long, long, walk, we went in search of food for dinner … We followed instructions in a book and found this very interesting store along the Temple Street Market that serves very delicious Claypot rice and loads of other things …

Above are pictures of the Oyster Omelete (Yummy!), and Lai Liu Ha … and I realized that we were too eager to eat the food that we had not taken pictures of the claypot rice (the most impt one) and the vege we had. The entire meal cost about HKD 100 only … =)
After dinner, we went to walk around a little and ended up making wrong turns a couple of time and ended up walking a lot of “yuan wang” road … oops!!!

It was a tiring day … =)

This was the final day in Melbourne. Our flight was at 1550 hours and we were due to be back in Singapore at 2130 hours.

Early morning we woke up and went to DFO Spencer St, as my mum wanted to get more T-shirts which were quite cheap. She got what she wanted and more. Giordano Tees were going at $5, she also bought a couple.

Had a brunch of Fish and chips and calamari and prawns at DieselFood.

Then we went back to check out of the Hotel.

We hung around at the lobby for about 45 mins, before we were picked up by Starbus and brought to the International Airport. Checked in and then went roaming around at the Duty Free and not buying anything … so EX … and then had my final meal at the airport of Lamb and rosemary Pie.

Lamb and Rosemary Pie

Boarding Gate 10 : SQ228 MEL to SIN

The 2nd last day of our trip in Melbourne, we woke up lazily and ate some light breakfast (leftovers from our late night supper the night before) before we headed out to Melbourne Shopping District on Bourke Street, where there were a congregation of large shopping centres that crosses vast territories and goes over a few streets. They included GPO, Melbourne Central, Meyers, David Jones, QV and Target Center.

GPO, Melbourne

Meyer and David Jones (Huge department store)

Elle Macpherson, visiting Australia

Mid-day, we rest our tired feet in a Shanghai Restaurant (mum wants Asian cuisine, still). We had the set lunches of promfret and Wuxi prawn and guo tie.

After our meal, we went on further shopping (mainly window shopping) as the sales on were still very expensive by Singapore standards. It’s probably due to the exchange rate.

My mum was really tired from the walking, but she obliged me to find the location of Golden Monkey during the day and see if I could check it out now. Walking about, a few wrong turns, and I eventually found Golden Monkey at Hardware Lane (A tiny little lane which I had wanted to find), where there were very pretty and tiny restaurants, which weren’t really open at that time of the day. I was glad I walked through it. Eventually did not go back to Golden Monkey. Sighs!

Hardware Lane

Dinner was also at another Asian Restaurant - Chinatown Dumpling Restaurant - Beijing food. Ate dumplings, Spring onion dry noodles and fried Kailan. Damn filling!!!

After our meal, I wanted to go chill in a pub. There was a nearby one which I thought was a Jazz Club, from the name - Manchester Lane Jazz Club. We arrived there and there was a cover of $15 because some band was going to perform there - Hugo race. I just wanted to chill, and listen to a nice band. My mum wasn’t so keen, but she was very accommodating. I would have gone to another pub, but I wasn’t sure if the other one I had identified (Bennet’s Lane Jazz Club) would have a cover or not, and it was too far away to go check out. So, we just stayed there. From 7.15 pm all the way till 9.15 pm before the first band was supposed to play. The performance was delayed about 1 hour. The first band which I though was the in house band - James McCallen - was like a rock band, but I absolutely did not like the songs they were singing.

I was hoping to myself that the other brand (the big name one, whoever they were) would be better. The Calendar of events had said they were going to sing the style of blues. When they began, they also performed their rendition of rock. Bad rock, in my opinion. Rock, that I do not listen to. Sighs! It was a terrible mistake and I’m so sorry to have put my mum through such horrible music and terrible misery.

We kept coming back to the same tram stop at Swanston Street and Flinders Street and my mum would pray every time we stood in front of the cross at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral.

A late night snack of donuts and instant noodles before some packing and rest …

Farewell to Melbourne, in 24 hours time I will be back in Singapore.

This morning, I was looking for a post office. I had asked numerous people from various convenience stores, but most did not know how much it was to send a postcard back home. The map I had showed one relatively near my hotel and so I went out early morning to hunt it down. Unfortunately, it was merely a post box.

Eventually, on the way to Queen Victoria Market, went to the post office on Collins Street and William Street and sent out the post cards. Also had breakfast ate a basement deli (owned by a Vietnamese).

Eggs and bacon on Toast (Simply cannot be compared to the one I had at Richmond)

Queen Victoria Market opens only on selective days. They are closed on Monday and Wednesday. They are open till 2 pm on Tuesday and on Thursday, 6 pm on Fridays, closed at 3 pm on Saturday and 4 pm on Sundays. Therefore, to catch the market, we had to get up early.

We bought the daily tram ticket for $6.10 (I found out later on that the cashier at IGA Express gave us a wrong ticket. We got a Daily 5 pack instead of the daily ticket. This ticket was supposed to be a set of 5 which a passenger could use 1 on each day.

QVM was a huge market and my mum was looking for a leather handbag. The search took about 2 hours and included many little other buys such as Gold plated souvenir plates, wallets, fruits, etc … by which time, my hands and shoulders were aching from carrying the barang barang. Ouch!

Had to go back to the hotel, as my hands were filled.

I ate donuts from Krispy Kreme (a very popular chain of donuts in Melbourne).

Rasberry Filled Donut and Apple filled, Cinnamon Donut

After the quick meal of donuts and fruits, we went out to the nearby DFO on Spencer Street.

Shopping … my mum bought a number of T-shirts, which had quite good cutting. I tried to get some shirts, but found the cut very unflattering. Either they did not have sizes small enough, or they cuts were broader than the typical Asian cuts, making me look exceptionally broad. =( I also saw an Aldo shop which had everything on 50% discount. A pair of sandals cost $59.95 (SGD$78) and shoes cost $79 (SGD$98) and was quite tempted to buy, but I figured that I wasn’t working yet, and I did not want to spend so much, especially when I was spending my mum’s money. I’ll get those when I start work soon. =)

Bought a pair of berms though. It was relatively cheap something which would cost almost double in SIN.

On the way back from the DFO, I saw this beautiful glass panel of the Southern Cross Station, and simply had to get a picture of it.

We had dinner at the DFO, I had my subway and my mum had her Japanese Fried Rice.

After dinner, I went to Explorer’s Hotel to go online again. I found out that they had wireless internet connection at the cheapest rate around me. ($6/hr). Went to check mail, check in on my flight and let my mum track her stocks.

After that, I wanted to go to Dizzy’s Jazz Club, which was supposed to be on Swan Street, occupying the original post office building. We were on Swan Street, a dark little street, where most of the shops were already closed. After we got off the Tram (No. 70), I was trying to locate the correct number. Asked a shop keeper but to no avail. The 2nd shop keeper actually knew there was a jazz club opposite the road, but said it was closed down for about 6 months already. Sighs!

Ex-Dizzy’s Jazz Club

So, decided to take the tram back … back to Swanston Street and went into Young and Jackson Hotel to look at Chloe, my mum said no music don’t want to sit there, because we would not be chit chatting. So, went to walk around Federation square and ended up in a cafe for late night supper (I get really fat with my mum).

Federation Square

Prawn and Spinach Pizza

Caesar’s Salad

Roasted Chicken Breast on Rissoto

After the meal, we headed back to our Hotel very FULL!!!

Once again, by 6.30 am (4.30 am in SIN) we were awake to have our little breakfast in our room (we got our own, as the tour package breakfast was over … thankfully!!!) and then headed over to Holiday Inn on Flinder’s Street again to wait for our early morning pick up coach.

We headed out of Melbourne city and drove towards the Dandenong Mountains (or called the Blue mountains because of the special eucalyptus trees that grew on the ranges producing a light blue tinge on the mountains. This was the 2nd time I was there, the first being the day we were enroute to the Cattle Farm.

Our first stop was a morning tea of Aussie Billy Tea and some lamingtons (sponge cake with jam in between, coated in chocolate and coconut … very sweet, but quite nice) at a nice little picnic ground.

After the morning tea, we went to Belgrave, which was where we hopped onto the Puffing Billy, the oldest steam train in Australia (or was it the world), for a scenic ride round the Dandenong Ranges. It was the day after Easter and it was still a public holiday and there were so many people there. Fortunately, we were with a tour (APT) and we had carriages reserved for us.

On the train, I met this couple who were from Canada (Vancouver). They were retired and were travelling through Australia, with a grand finale of a 6 weeks cruise back to Honolulu. It was like a perfect retirement plan - travelling the world.

After the Puffing Billy Ride, we went into the Yarra Valley. Our first stop there was at Fergusson Winery, where we had our lunch. Bumped into a whole group of Singaporeans at the dining table, some were working in Australia, some were studying in Melbourne, one was even from NUS, SDE. Small world.

Fergusson winery was a small winery and the scale of its grape vines were small in comparison to the later ones I would see. The wine tasting was great. I concluded that my favourite Red wine would be a Shiraz, which I find a little more spicy and to my taste. For white, I like Chardonnays, but I love Rieslings even more.

Grape Tree Leaf

Fergusson Winery

The 2nd winery that we went to was the Rochford Winery. This winery was a little up market as can be seen from their more elaborate tasting room. The lady who guided us, gave us a quick lesson on wine checking. How to see the colour? The way to properly taste the wine and the way to fully let the aroma come out of the wine.

Rochford wine tasting

Helicopters in the backyard of Rochford Winery

The final winery was the Domaine Chandon, the winery which produced sparkling champagne Moet and Chandon owned by the LVMH group. This winery was elaborate, big and beautiful.

We were given a tour of the place and explained the wine making process. Stable wine takes about 3 to 6 months to produce a bottle, but for sparkling champagne, it usually takes between 3 1/2 years to 8 years to produce a bottle. The process involves many procedures and involves a huge amount of labour. Fortunately, technology has been able to help in the procedure, drastically reducing the labour intensity, and ultimately the cost of the sparkling wine.

Greenpoint, Domaine Chandon’s Tasting Room

A glass of Moet Chandon Dry Champagne

I loved the place. It was so pretty!

We left the Yarra Valley, after that and headed back into Melbourne City. We reached our hotel around 6 pm. Rest for a bit and then headed out to the Crown Entertainment Centre for dinner. We had the Continental Buffet at Saunte Restaurant. It was packed with people. It cost $21.90 pax.

It was the 1st time I saw people queuing at a buffet. People queued at the line, from the salad to the mains. It was insane. I grabbed my plate and just hopped to which ever counter I wanted to get food from. It was too much food! The people there eat so much, and without wonder, become so insanely HUGE!

After dinner, we slowly made our way back to our hotel for a rest. It had been a long day and my mum was still not feeling well, so needed rest.

Woke up late this morning around 9.30 am. It is a lazy Sunday and I let my mum sleep in a bit more as she wasn’t too well. It was Easter today, on hindsight, should have went on the final tour of the Yarra Valley, which we were going tomorrow, today. Most of the shops in the city were closed for Easter.

Tram in Melbourne

We headed down to Bridge Road, taking the Tram No. 48 there. As it was a Sunday, there was a all-day-Sunday tram ticket which cost $2.50 for unlimited usage on all trams in all zones. Very value for money.

We dropped off at Bridge Road, which was a long road, and made our first stop at Richmond Cheese and larder for a late breakfast. The place was packed with people. The menu looked divine. I had “The Lot”, which was eggs, any style, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. My mum had the eggs scrambled with parsley and bacon. The Coffee Flat was good too.

After our very satisfying (and fattening) meal, we headed to check out the shops that were open. My mum went into a ladies shop and spent close to 2 hours browsing the bargain sections of clothes ranging from $10 - 20. It was a long wait for her.

Finally, we left that shop and walked on down Bridge Road. That walk took us almost to the end of the road, and I could not find the factory outlet that I was looking for. We headed backwards on a Tram, as my mum was really tired. We got off earlier up the road. Went shopping in a Cotton On shop, and we all came out with something. It wasn’t like dirt cheap, but it was decent clothes at reasonable prices.

After all that walking and shopping, we got on our tram and headed back towards Melbourne CBD. Stop at Kings Street and hopped onto another tram 55 to bring us to Victoria Market. There was this very nice lady that we talked to and she showed us the place to get off. Queen Victoria Market for the second time was closing when we arrived. Apparently, it closes at 4 pm. We were an hour over time. (Gosh, life is too relaxed here, everything closes so early.) We managed to get some fruits (grapes and strawberries).

We went back to our hotel after that. Dropped off our things, which was quite a lot considering we did not shop very much. After resting for a bit, we headed down to Swanston Street for dinner. Was going to find a place called Chilipadi, that served good Asian Food, but it was closed. Ended up around Chinatown area and we had Cantonese Claypot rice. My mum was sick, so supposed to eat noodle soup, but she was tempted by the rice and so she had her way. Very filling pot of rice! We also had chickens feet, which tasted like there was an overdose of red wine in it. Weird taste!

So, after more souvenir hunting we headed back to our hotel. (My mum just keeps looking and lamenting what to get her boss and all, but never decides what to buy. Why? Souvenirs are never worth it. So, she feels it’s EXpensive. I agree, but if you want to get souvenirs, they are called “Tourist Shops” for a reason, right?

Federation Square by night

Flinder’s Street Station by night

Ok, tomorrow is my last day tour with APT, and we are going to sit on the Puffing Billy Steam Train and visit the Yarra Valley Wineries.=)