13/4/2014 - TarraWarra Estate

Being equally clueless on how to get around in Melb, we could only depend on GPS to lead us to the Yarra Valley. Thanks to the beautiful landscape and the nice songs playing on the radio, instead of feeling all tired and restless being on the road for so many hours then, we girls totally enjoyed our journey!

Of course, we owe our big big thanks to Sigrid because she was the one who drove us everywhere from morning till the sunset. Without her, I doubt we could make it to so many destinations within a day!

Thanks girl, for making this happen for us!!! =)

Since we did very limited research on the area and we had only limited time left for the day, we only managed to drop by at the TarraWarra Vineyard / Winery which offer stunning views!

.. and (not forgetting) the free wine tasting services. Though all sorts of wine were offered there, we couldn't really tell the difference between the good and the better ones simply because we were not too familiar, or should I say... lack of wine knowledge and experience.

Sure the winery interior looked very classy and elegant, but the vineyard was so much more attractive we couldn't wait to run out and do what we do best - snap snap snap! lol.

So LiYin's dream of getting to a vineyard finally came true that day. That was the whole purpose of going to Australia anyway - to have all our dreams converted into wishes, wishes converted into wants, and finally all our wants into reality!!

Another picture of the beautiful landscape on our way home... Isn't Australia such a lovely place to be?

As for dinner that night, upon the recommendation from my fellow friends at home, we decided to hit down to Lygon St for its Italian food. After wandering for a while, we decided to settle with Mercadante Woodfired Pizzeria located in Carlton because the entire restaurant was packed with people (Singaporean's attitude: if the restaurant is full of people, sure the food is spectacular!). teeheeee!

and that was how we ended our first day in Australia.. Contented, satisfied and most importantly, happpyyyyyy! =)

13/4/2014 - Brighton Beach, Victoria

Since Mr. Sun was smiling brightly at us that morning, we girls decided to carry on with our plan by heading to the Brighton Beach.

The beach is really not too far from Melbourne CBD, probably less than 30 minutes drive away if you don't get lost like us.. teheee!

Being a cultural asset and a popular bayside icon, we were totally fascinated by the colourful huts. Even though they look pretty normal individually, when viewed together they transform the entire beach-scape into a collective work of art!

and of course, girls being girls...

It's only normal to flood this whole entry with pictures of us at the beach! muahahahaha!

Not forgetting the beautiful beach that was well-maintained, family friendly, good for building sandcastles and sunbathing. If it weren't because of the cool weather, I believe there'd be even more people soaking in the sea because the beach was really a lovely, lovely place to be. 

Before we left, we had one last selfie of the three of us..

One last selfie of our shadows..

One last picture with the hut having the same number as my birth date..

One last bite of ice cream..

and OFF we went to our next destination, the Yarra Wineries!!

13/4/2014 - Waking Up in Victoria

Waking up to a handsome weather on the first morning in Melbourne got us girls so excited we had to start snapping pictures the moment we stepped out of our hostel. Lol.

Introducing my travel partners for this trip - Li Yin and Sigrid, my beautiful girlfriends from university days.

Being in an English country, the first ordinary thing to do of course, was to have a good ol' phenomenal English breakfast. While strolling along Elizabeth St, we decided to settle for Cafe Victoria as we were enticed by the smell of coffee coming out from the shop.

Macchiato, Cafe Latte and Cappuccino. Perfectly done.

Big Breakfast and Crepe Chicken Avocado. Truly relishing.

Thanks to Cafe Victoria, we were all geared up for the day!! 

Our next destination was Queen Victoria Market - the largest open air market in Australia that is spread over several city blocks.

Located at the corner of the Victoria St and Elizabeth St, the market is a true reflection of Melbourne's cosmopolitan makeup. Apart from fruits and vegetables, it offers a variety of meat, poultry and seafood, as well as specialty delicacies.

It also has a huge non-food related segment, selling a wide range of apparels, souvenirs, cosmetics and handmade art and crafts.

From there, we managed to grab a few unique souvenirs for our family and friends at home and we hoped they'll like what we've gotten for them because some of the souvenirs were truly adorable and exquisite we ourselves liked them so much! Lol.

Done with shopping, we then headed to the car rental centre and... 

Tadaaaaaaaaa!

got ourselves a Nissan Dualis for our road trips lying ahead! Hehehe. Give me some time and I'll blog about our road trips reallyyyyy soon! =)

12/4/2014 - KL to Melbourne

Finally, yes finally. The long awaited trip to Australia had happened! After having brunch with mum and a few of my uni friends, off we girls went to our dreamland! wohooo!

Well, I didn't expect I'd say this at all but AirAsia X really did surprise me with its service that day. I was more than glad to have flown 8 over hours with them as I had a delightful experience throughout the journey. Ask if I would recommend AirAsia X to my fellow friends, I'd say.. YES!! 

It's really not as bad as what most people expect from a budget airline. In fact I think the seats were as comfortable as that of many other airlines. Being a responsible passenger of course, I've actually written in to AirAsia to congratulate them on the good service provided and made some suggestion on room for improvements. Let's see if they'd do anything about it..

After arriving at YHA Metro in North Melbourne that evening, I decided to drop myself a note before going to bed. It says,

Indeed, we woke up feeling in heaven the next morning! Beautiful weather, wonderful environment, lovely people. We were sooo excited!

Want to know what happened next? Stay tuned, for I'll be leaving for another weekend getaway tomorrow! teheee. Livin' life, lovin' mine =)