Melbourne - A place with nature scenery and city view. To sum up, I would definitely recommend people to visit this city , admiring their nice art wall and of course to kickstart everyday with their wonderful coffee.
Melbourne Travel Tips:
1. Simcard - You can simply purchase an affordable Optus simcard from Melbourne Airport at the price of AUD 25 for 55gb.
2. Melbourne City Circle Tram - Main mode of transportation when we were in Melbourne and the tram basically takes you around the city (free tram zone).
3. Myki Card - You will need this card if you get on other trams within Melbourne. Myki card can purchase from 7-11 or any Myki card
Where to stay in Melbourne ?
If you're traveling in a group, I would recommend you guys to stay in Airbnb and if you're finding some comfort, there are a range of hotels. Together with my 2 other friends, we chose Airbnb for our 5 nights (click here to check out our apartment) and it was really a great choice because this place is very convenient which the major supermarket (Woolworths) is just two lifts away and major shopping centers across the road.
Total Expenses
Flight ticket from Quatas airline at the price of SGD719 , with SGD800 money changed to survive in Melbourne for 5 1/2 days trip. We booked 6 days airbnb accommodation and shared by 3 people with the price of SGD279 each. In addition, 2 different day tours were also booked in advance from Klook SG at the price of SGD245.
I personally spent ~ SGD 2043.20 for 5 1/2 days trip in Melbourne.
Total Expenses
Flight ticket from Quatas airline at the price of SGD719 , with SGD800 money changed to survive in Melbourne for 5 1/2 days trip. We booked 6 days airbnb accommodation and shared by 3 people with the price of SGD279 each. In addition, 2 different day tours were also booked in advance from Klook SG at the price of SGD245.
I personally spent ~ SGD 2043.20 for 5 1/2 days trip in Melbourne.
Here is the overview of my Melbourne Itinerary:
Day 1 : Travel around Melbourne Central
A day that we mainly use our foot to walk around and also the first time to experience their free tram ride.
1# Lunch @ Laksa Bar
Soft Shell Crab Curry Laksa - AUD 16.90
We settled our first meal at Laksa Bar which is located in the small side alleys of Little Lonsdale street. The price is pretty affordable because it served with many different kinds of ingredients such as fish balls & fish cakes, tofu, egg, vegetables , soft shell crabs and has a mild spiced creamy curry , milk, coconut & chicken broth which is suitable for those who don't really take spicy food.
2# State Library Victoria
Entrance Fee : Free
Opening hours :
Mon - Tues (10AM - 6PM)
Wed (10AM - 9PM)
Thu - Sun (10AM - 6PM)
A good photo spot in their iconic State Library Victoria.
Entrance Fee : Free
Opening hours :
Mon - Tues (10AM - 6PM)
Wed (10AM - 9PM)
Thu - Sun (10AM - 6PM)
A good photo spot in their iconic State Library Victoria.
3# Emporium Melbourne
4# Hoiser Lane
Fabulous artwork at Hosier Lane which you will not get to see it in Singapore and you are free to take as many photos as you want. Certainly worthy to visit here and it would be recommended to visit before 5pm or else the area will be too dark. You can even join their Melbourne Street art tours , run by the street artists.
White bait - AUD 10.00. Too salty for my liking :/
Thai Salmon grilled - AUD 9.90
4pcs Moreton Bay Bugs - AUD 40 (each 10 AUD)
Address: 50 River Esplanade, Docklands VIC 3008, Australia
Luxury shopping center in Melbourne.
4# Hoiser Lane
Fabulous artwork at Hosier Lane which you will not get to see it in Singapore and you are free to take as many photos as you want. Certainly worthy to visit here and it would be recommended to visit before 5pm or else the area will be too dark. You can even join their Melbourne Street art tours , run by the street artists.
5# Flinders Street Station
Remember to take this photo worthy picture when you're in Melbourne. You can also board the free tram ride to reach this place.
6# Dinner at 大长今 restaurant
6# Rooftop Bar
Day 2 : Travel around Melbourne
1# South Melbourne Market
Address : Coventry St & Cecil Street , South Melbourne VIC 3205, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed - 8am - 4pm
Thur - Closed
Fri - 8am - 5pm
Sat - 8am - 4pm
Sun - 8am - 4pm
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1# South Melbourne Market
Address : Coventry St & Cecil Street , South Melbourne VIC 3205, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon - Closed
Tues - Closed
Wed - 8am - 4pm
Thur - Closed
Fri - 8am - 5pm
Sat - 8am - 4pm
Sun - 8am - 4pm
If you know me, I'm a person who don't eat shell food, but the oysters over here is super fresh which you will never regret trying it. :) Each piece is ~ $1.50 - $2.00 depending on what type of oyster you order.
More food as shown below with a total price of AUD 101.90:
White bait - AUD 10.00. Too salty for my liking :/
Thai Salmon grilled - AUD 9.90
4pcs Moreton Bay Bugs - AUD 40 (each 10 AUD)
Large fried rice - AUD 14
4pcs Garlic butter scallops (total AUD 18) and 4pcs Mornay Oyster (total AUD 10)
Opening hours:
Mon : Closed
Tues - Fri : 11am -11pm
Sat - Sun : 10am - 12am
Hooks at the Yarra is a highly recommended place to dine in as they serve delicious food. AUD 139.50 - Hooks Seafood platter (preparation time ~ 30mins) can be shared between 3 - 4 pax given the super large portion as shown from the picture. The selection of seafood including a whole baked barramundi , moreton bay bug , skewer of scallops , 6 natural oysters , 2 large BBQ king prawns, beer battered fish, calamari, bowl of mussels , 6 cold prawns , 2 crumbed prawns , smoked salmon & fries.
Yummylicious ~
4# Winter Night Market
Located at Queen Victoria Market
Opening hours :
Wed : 5pm - 10 pm
You can spend one of the Wednesday night to visit the Winter Night Market. There are many street food stalls and also band musicians on the stage to perform.
Day 3: Great Ocean Day Tour
Wed : 5pm - 10 pm
You can spend one of the Wednesday night to visit the Winter Night Market. There are many street food stalls and also band musicians on the stage to perform.
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Before we begin our journey with Go west Tours (booked from Klook SG) , we woke up around 6am to prepare and cook Maggie for our breakfast. We reached Marriott Hotel Melbourne and boarded the bus at 7:30am. A road trip to Great Ocean is a must when you're in Australia Melbourne, it's definitely and unforgettable and nice tour.
1#Spring Creek reserve
Our first stop is Spring Creek reserve where we had our hot drinks , cakes to start the day.
2# Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch
3# Kennett River
Another stop where we visited the Kennett River to feed pretty birds (super friendly and lovely) and also we spotted sleeping koalas.
4# Apollo Bay
Next stop - Apollo Bay where we stopped here for about 45 minutes to purchase your lunch.
Single scoop cone for AUD5.50 and double scoop for AUD8.50.
5# Great Otway National Park
A walk in National Park with the group to breathe in fresh rainforest air as eucalyptus tree tower over you. Tour guide also told us that rainforeats provide homes for many creatures such as rare carnivores Otway Black snail which feeds on insects , other snails and worms. BUT... I don't get to see any of it.
6# Twelve Apostles
Twelve Apostles plunge deep into the Southern Ocean is the second largest in Victoria's network of marine national parks and sanctuaries. You might not be able to see 'twelve' apostles due to wind, rain and high energy waves which carve 'Apostles and eventually disappear.
Side track : Do remember to wear thick coat when you are joining this Great Ocean Tour.
7# Loch Ard Gorge
Amazing photo-taking place in Port Campbell National park. Loch Ard Gorge was named after the clipper Loch Ard, wrecked here in 1878.
After the whole Great Ocean Day Tour, we reached back to CBD Melbourne (Marriott Hotel) at around 8:15pm. Feeling hungry, we met my friend's friend together to have Dragon hotpot which is similar to ma la xiang guo where you can pick your choice of ingredients to cook together. We went to Swanston Street for our dinner and it closes at 1:00am which is perfect to have midnight supper if you're hungry.
How to order : 
1. Get a bowl and choose the ingredients that you like at $3.20/100g
2. Pass to cashier and they will weight and calculate the amount.
3. Choose your way of cooking from Hot Pot soup or Stir-fried style.
4. Choose your degree of spiciness.
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Day 4 : Philips Island Day Tour
1# Hardware Societe
Address : 10 Katherine Place & 123 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon to Fri : 7:30am - 3:00pm
Sat to Sun : 8:00am - 3:00pm
Before we joined the tour at 11:15pm, we decided to go for our brunch at Hardware Societe. We were pretty lucky because after we finished eating there was a long queue outside at around 11:00am. The food is pretty decent and I really enjoyed eating while observing the chef cooking because it's an open concept kitchen.
Generous amount of lobster on a toasted bun with poached eggs at the price of AUD 26.
Roasted mushrooms with truffled chevre, seeded bread with poached eggs at the price of AUD23. The roasted mushrooms really give me 'wow'effect.
2# Brighton Beach bathing boxes
First stop will be the city's most colourful and pretty attractions - Brighton Beach bathing boxes. Based on our tour guide , he mentioned that the price of buying 1 unit is AUD 285,000. The huts are definitely instagrammable which you can't missed and of course this is what most of the visitors came to the beach for. Due to the limited time , we didn't get to spend much time exploring this place.
3# Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park
Second stop is Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park where we have the chance to hand-feed kangaroos, wallaby as well as watching animal show at 2:30pm. If you are visiting this place without tour, the admission price is AUD24 per adult and AUD12 for child (4 - 17 years old). You can purchase Kangaroo & Wallaby food at the counter for AUD 2.00. Totally a great experience and fun taking pictures and feeding Kangaroo & wallaby because they are very friendly and cute.
4# Visit the Penguin Parade at Philip island
Lastly, as the sun begins to set and the sky darkens, we sat at the penguins plus viewing area which provide up-close viewing of the cute little penguins heading home after a day out fishing at sea, waddling back to shore. You can get to see the world's smallest penguin with the average height of 30 - 33cm and weight about 1 - 2kg. During the bus journey, tour guide explained to us some background of the penguin and I was amazed by how smart they are. The reason why penguin only waddle back to shore during sunset because this is the safest time to make their journey back home as predators will not be around. For example, if too late , foxes will attack them and if too early morning, they will be attached by eagles.
Low season you can get to see ~300 penguins and if high season will be about ~2000 penguins.
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Day 5 : Walk around in Melbourne
Day 5 is the last day to spend full day in Melbourne as we are heading back to Singapore the next day. We decided to purchase spend the remaining money to buy some souvenirs and food back.
1# Tipo 00
Address: 361 Little Bourke Street , Melbourne 3000
Opening hours:
Mon- Sat : 11:30am - 10 pm
Woke up pretty late and had our brunch around 11:30am at Tipo 00 restaurant which is just 10 minutes walk from our Airbnb apartment. This is a restaurant that serve authentic Italian cuisine such as pasta and risotto located on Little Bourke Street. Heard from one of the staff that 3 months of reservation require to dine in there and for those who never book for reservation , they also allocate bar top seats for those walk-in customers. To me, the price is pretty steep.
Complimentary bread is served with a side of ricotta cheese and drizzled with olive oil and salt.
The pappardelle (AUD 34) cooked with Gippsland rabbit , hazelnuts & marjoram was surprising good but I feel the pasta can cooked a little longer. The rabbit meat was tender and this pretty amazed me.
Ginocchi - AUD 32
2# Queen Victoria Market
Address : Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hour:
Monday & Wednesday: Closed
Tuesday & Thursday : 6am - 2pm
Friday : 6am - 5pm
Saturday : 6am - 3pm
Sunday : 9am - 4pm
As compared with South Melbourne Market, I personally prefer Queen Victoria Market. I bought a lot of affordable and cute souvenirs for my friends and family. Over there, you can get to see many fresh produce and also I ended up buying lots of my souvenirs here ( eg: kangaroo ball, magnet , recycle bags, pens , shirt , bags for kids and more).
3# Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
Address: QV Square , 25/210 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon - Thurs : 8am - 10:30pm
Fri : 8am - 11:30pm
Sat : 9am - 11:30pm
Sun : 9am - 10:30pm
Just 2 minutes walk from our apartment , we decided to try out this chocolate bar café and ordered waffle and hot chocolate to share.
That's all. Melbourne is definitely a great city to visit ~
Opening hour:
Monday & Wednesday: Closed
Tuesday & Thursday : 6am - 2pm
Friday : 6am - 5pm
Saturday : 6am - 3pm
Sunday : 9am - 4pm
As compared with South Melbourne Market, I personally prefer Queen Victoria Market. I bought a lot of affordable and cute souvenirs for my friends and family. Over there, you can get to see many fresh produce and also I ended up buying lots of my souvenirs here ( eg: kangaroo ball, magnet , recycle bags, pens , shirt , bags for kids and more).
3# Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
Address: QV Square , 25/210 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon - Thurs : 8am - 10:30pm
Fri : 8am - 11:30pm
Sat : 9am - 11:30pm
Sun : 9am - 10:30pm
Just 2 minutes walk from our apartment , we decided to try out this chocolate bar café and ordered waffle and hot chocolate to share.
Two Tutifrutti Waffle - AUD 20
4# Dinner at D House Café
Address: 313-315 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon - Sun : 11:30am - 9:30pm
Together with one of my friend, we had HK Style Noodle where we can get to choose 3 ingredients with noodles for our dinner.
Dry noodles version was pretty plain which I required to add more chilli to enhance the taste.
5# Party at our Airbnb Apartment
To end our last full day at Melbourne, we bought some drinks and chips and also boldly invited neighbours to come and drink and play polka.
