on Mar 18th, 2007
OExp: Melbourne (2nd Stop)
Well, I haven’t had a chance to write a blog for the past two days. Lena and I have had a marathon tour of Melbourne. We spent most of the time walking in the city and going “oooh!!” and “aaahhh” of how fantastic the sights along Yarra river in the middle of the city looks like and the twelve apostle along the Great Ocean Road. The view from both areas were just amazing during sun set. I have a couple of pictures that I shall post soon. Lena left for Sydney this morning and will head back to Penang tomorrow. Jim will be with me for the next day or so. I also had the opportunity to meet up with Jan Ning (childhood friend) whom I have not seen for almost 12 years. I had the most wonderful time catching up with her. Ooops running out of internet time again. To be continued….
Continue….
When we first arrived at Melbourne Avalon Airport, the Sun bus dropped us of at the Southern Cross station (formerly known as spencer station). I then had to enquire on how to get a tram or train to the Magnolia Court Boutique Hotel. I stopped at the ticket counter for directions on how to pick up a tram. I asked the ticket sales person how one would wait for the tram and the answer was ” Just stand in the middle of the street!!” . Without knowing how the tram works… standing in the middle of a busy city street wasn’t my idea of getting anywhere fast. I asked again.. are you sure… and got the same answer again. Nevertheless, Lena and I walked along the streets and attempted to stand at a little stop sign in the middle of the road. It was the right place to flag the tram but unfortunately with the Formula 1 Grand prix in town, some of the trams downtown were rerouted. So… after dinking around we decided the subway was the way to go, no more standing in the middle of the street with 30C beating on us and lugging our luggage all over. So we walked back to Southern Cross station, hopped on a train and took it to Jolimont station. In 5 minutes we were  at our stop. Lena gave me the classic look of “I told you so” 😉
On my final day in Melbourne, I bought a ticket to the FINA World Swimming Championship at Rod Laver Arena. I really wanted to watch the swimming heats but it does not begin until April 25th and I would not be around until then. Being adamant and wanting to watch a world class competition, I bought the tickets for synchronize swimming. I only got to watch the preliminary session and as usual Russia came up on top, followed by Japan, Spain and then USA.   The Rod Laver Arena is the stadium used for Australian Open Tennis Championship. The stadium can actually be converted into a world class swimming pool. Sitting in the arena, I could hardly tell it was a tennis court.
I am writting this blog from Melbourne Airport, next stop is Adelaide.
3 Responses to “OExp: Melbourne (2nd Stop)”
Whatever you do, take a stroll along the river and watch the gas flame displays from near the casino – just awesome! see you soon.
Yup, checked that off. I was there two nights in a row. I don’t think I can afford doing the late nights much longer. I’ve not known 1am for sometime until the past two nights!!. I’m off to FINA World Swimming Championship over at the Rod Laver Arena. Will catch up soon.
It looks like you are having a great time. I really enjoy reading your blog so keep it up.