Exploring Melbourne – Southbank, Federation Square, Hosier Lane and yummy delights

6 May 2019  

We took an overnight flight to Melbourne on Qantas QF38, arriving on schedule at about 9.30 AM. Immigration clearance was fast and we took the Skybus from the airport to Southern Cross Station. Our “home” for the next 5 nights was an Airbnb studio apartment, located right across the station, along Spencer Street.

We managed to get the keys to our apartment to drop off our luggage at the apartment, although official check-in time was 2 PM.

We had nothing really planned for the first day of our 5-day stay in Melbourne city besides exploring the area around the CBD on foot and having dinner with my niece who is studying in Melbourne.

Melbourne was surprisingly chilly on this autumn day. It was good that we came well prepared. We walked down Spencer Street towards the Yarra River, searching for a good place to have breakfast or brunch.

The Hardware Société at 10 Katherine Place was where we went. Queues were normally expected at this extremely popular cafe, but we managed to get a table immediately at this newly opened and larger branch. Note: the original and smaller branch was located at 123 Hardware Street.

Their all-day French and Spanish inspired brunch menu was quite extensive. We ordered the highly rated baked eggs and lobster benedict, plus coffee to go with our brunch. There are a few options for the baked eggs that included one with vegetables, one with chorizo and one with scallops. We chose the scallops.

Baked Eggs with scallops and crispy jamon for AUD20.

The baked eggs did not disappoint. The eggs with runny yokes are served in a metal bowl, baked with perfectly cooked whole fresh scallops, cauliflower purée, leek and topped with crispy jamon.

Lobster Benedict with citrus hollandaise and 64-degree eggs on bun noir (charcoal bun) for AUD26.

The lobster benedict came with pieces of sweet lobster to balance the creamy soft boiled eggs with runny yokes. While the lobster benedict was delicious as well, I prefer the baked eggs.

I was surprised to see that they are even selling a cookbook “No Eggs On Toast”, containing recipes for the dishes in their menu for AUD 50. A good book to buy for aspiring MasterChef Australia contestants.

After brunch, we continued our walk down Flinders Street, heading to Federation Square. Federation Square is at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets, built above busy railway lines and across the road from Flinders Street Station.

The best view of the magnificent facade of the Flinders Street Station is diagonally across from Federation Square.


Federation Square is home to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) but the venue was closed for renovation.

 

Federation Square.



ACMI building at Federation Square.



View along the Yarra River.

We decided to do some sightseeing along the Yarra River and also the Southbank area of Melbourne. It was perfect weather for walking.

View of the Melbourne skyline from Sandridge Bridge.

We crossed to the south side of the Yarra via the Sandridge Bridge.

Sandridge Bridge across the Yarra River, Melbourne.

Sandridge Bridge was formerly a railway bridge. It was redeveloped into a pedestrian bridge and decorated with a series of giant steel sculptures, depicting the waves of immigrants who journeyed to make Melbourne their home. Glass panels on the bridge provide information of the immigrations from all corners of the world.

One of the glass panels on the Sandridge Bridge showing the number of Singaporeans who had migrated to Melbourne.


Autumn colours starting to show on some trees.

Beautiful views of the city skyline could be seen along the Southbank area of Melbourne. There are many cafes and restaurants along the Southbank and most of the restaurants are offering and serving lunch to the office crowd at this time.

View of Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) from the Art Center Melbourne.


View of Princes Bridge and the Melbourne’s CBD from the Art Center Melbourne.

One of the best spots for photos of the city is from the terrace of the Art Center Melbourne.
Southbank district of Melbourne.

View of the Yarra River from Princes Bridge.

Princes Bridge took us back across the Yarra River to the Flinders Street Station. This is also a good spot to view the scenic Melbourne riverfront.

Back to Flinders Street Station, it was time for some delicious gelato ice-cream. We went to the Pidapipó Gelateria branch located at 8 Degraves Street, just opposite the train station.

A scoop of salted caramel and a scoop of pistachio gelato for AUD 6.80. The pistachio flavoured gelato is the best I have tasted. Nutty and full of flavour.

We continued our walking tour of Melbourne at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, diagonally opposite of Flinders Street Station.

 

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne built between 1880 and 1931.

Statue of Matthew Flinders RN (1774 – 1814).

A statue of Mathew Flinders stood next to the cathedral. Mathew Flinders was an English navigator and cartographer, who was the leader of the first circumnavigation of Australia and identified it as a continent.

A rest area with benches for ladies only!

From St Paul Cathedral, a few hundred meters down Flinders Street is Hosier Lane. Downtown Melbourne is home to some of the best graffiti or street art and Hosier Lane is possibly the most famous of all the graffiti alleyways in Melbourne.

Hosier Lane, famous for the street art.

We could see street artists at work while flocks of tourists (us included) admired the colourful walls of this alleyway and snapped photos and selfies.

Even the rubbish bins are not spared from the creative artwork. 

Another back alley with beautiful artwork located close to Hosier Lane is AC/DC Lane. AC/DC Lane was named back in 2004 to pay tribute to the Australian rock band. The street art features all kinds of musicians.

AC/DC Lane is less crowded than Hosier Lane.  The artwork on the walls of this alley was just as colourful and interesting. Just round the corner is Duckboard Place, also a lane with artwork on the walls.

Someone apparently thought hanging old sneakers and shoes across the street is art.

It was about 3 PM when we took the free tram within the Melbourne CBD back to our apartment for a hot shower and some rest before our dinner appointment with our niece at 5.30 PM.

We had selected Rice Paper Scissors, located at 19 Liverpool Street, based on recommendations from previous visitors to Melbourne. This is a very popular restaurant that does not take reservations and queues are expected. We arrived at 5.30 PM, just when they opened and managed to get a table in the almost fully occupied restaurant.

The restaurant offers fusion Asian-style food with flavours from Bangkok, Saigon and Singapore.  The menu is designed for sharing, where we could select 5 dishes for 2 or 3 people to share at AUD 34.50 per person for dinner.

These were the 5 mains we ordered:

Sea Bream sashimi with yuzu sauce, topped with sliced chilli, mango and caviar. This was a daily/weekly special, not found in the normal menu. It was a good appetizer dish as the portion was small.


Crispy Barramundi Salad- tapioca dusted barramundi with a green apple and roast cashew salad and nahm jim (hot, sour and tangy Thai salad dressing). 


Lamb Ribs – Mekhong whiskey marinated lamb ribs in a sticky special sauce. This was our favourite dish of the night. The lamb was so tender and the sauce was flavourful.


Pork Belly - twice cooked pork in a tamarind caramel sauce, topped with a fragrant herb salad. This dish was really good too.

Crying Tiger - char-grilled wagyu beef with a spicy citrus dipping sauce. It was served with fresh lettuce to wrap the beef and eat it - Korean style. I found the beef a bit too chewy. Not the best cut for grilling I think.


For drinks, we tried the Chiang Mai Bloody Mary which was hot and spicy for AUD18.


For dessert, it was the “Mom, I have dropped my Ice-cream”. Nicely plated condensed milk, yuzu sorbet, puffed rice crumble and white chocolate ganache for AUD12.

Overall, it was a wonderful first day in Melbourne. We saw quite a lot of interesting sights and sampled some of the best yummy delights in a city known for its fine cafes and restaurants.

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Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance

7 May 2019 

A sunny day was forecasted for our second day in Melbourne. This was ideal weather for a visit to Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria located next to it.

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victorian state memorial to Australians who have served the country in armed conflicts and peace keeping operations. Built between 1928 and 1934, it was originally to honour the 114,000 Victorians who served in the First World War (1914 to 1918). The Shrine now commemorates all Victorians who have and continue to serve, in the defence of Australia.

We took the tram to the Shrine of Remembrance, alighting at the tram stop along Saint Kilda Road. We followed a path up the slope towards a pyramidal shaped structure whose design was inspired by one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus.

A flock of white cockatoos was grazing on the grass of the green lawn by the side of the path while the clear blue sky shone above us. The birds were quite tame, continuing to feed while we took photos.

Little Corella, also known as the bare-eyed cockatoo, feeding on grass seeds.

The first place we visited at the Shrine was the Second World War Forecourt with 3 flagpoles, Cenotaph and the Eternal Flame.

The top of the WW2 Cenotaph featured a stone sculpture of a group of soldiers, carrying their fallen comrade.

In front of the Cenotaph is the Eternal Flame. It was quite touching to see a group of students standing around the Eternal Flame, heads bowed in silent prayers. 

View of the Shrine from the Second World War Forecourt.

We walked up the flight of steps and entered into the heart of the Shrine, known as the Sanctuary. Later, we found that we should have entered through the visitor centre located at ground level where we could first watched an introductory video of the Shrine. 

The Sanctuary is the heart of the Shrine, where thousands come to pay their respects to the fallen.

 

The Stone of Remembrance is in the centre of the Sanctuary, sunk below the floor where visitors must bow their heads to read the inscriptions “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN” on the symbolic gravestone. 

Above the stone is a pyramidal roof with a skylight in the centre. The First World War ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The position of the skylight is such that at exactly 11 AM, on 11 November (Remembrance Day), a ray of sunlight would fall directly on the word LOVE on the Stone of Remembrance.

Surrounding the Sanctuary, there are 42 caskets containing the Books of Remembrance. These books list the names of all Victorians who served overseas during the First World War. The names are listed without rank, in alphabetical order.

One of the books listing the names of all Victorians who served overseas during the First World War.

We took a flight of stairs down to the lower floor where we met an elderly war veteran, dressed smartly in uniform. He invited us to follow the arrows marked on the floor to view the Galleries and then the Crypt.

If only I could spare a few hours to browse through all the interesting exhibits and read stories of Victorians engaged in overseas conflict from 1880 to present day. We had a few other activities planned for the day, so we took a quick look through the exhibits.

A few exhibits caught my attention. One was the Changi flag. After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, a group of Australians hid this flag for 3 and half years in the Changi Prisoner of War (POW) Camp to prevent it from falling into Japanese hands. It was interesting to read the story of how the flag was a symbol of stoic determination of the POWs and its usage in burials and other ceremonies during those times.

The Changi flag with signatures of 16 Australian servicemen who was inmates in the POW camp before being send to work on the Railway of Death in Burma.

The Gallery of Medals was also interesting for me. 4000 service medals were displayed, each one representing 100 Victorians who has served in war and peacekeeping operations and 6 who have lost their lives.



The centre of the Crypt has a bronze statue of a father and son, representing two generations of soldiers who fought the First and Second World Wars.

Father and Son Statue in the Crypt, surrounded by regimental colours.

The regimental colours and series of bronze panels represent the navy and army units that took part in World War I.

After viewing the Sanctuary, Galleries and Crypt, we went to the Visitor Centre where I watched the introductory video that explores the creation and design of the Shrine and its role.

After viewing the interior, we took a walk round the exterior of the Shrine.

Entrance courtyard to the Visitor Centre.

The East Wall.

The Student Entry Courtyard with a canopy of red poppy flower. The poppy flower is the first flower to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers' graves during WW1.

Just outside the entrance of the Visitor Centre is the Gallipoli Memorial Gardens. We saw the Man with the Donkey statue. This statue honours a heroic stretcher-bearer and his donkey that saved many wounded soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign, often exposing himself to fire. He was killed in action.

Further down was a statue of a British soldier, on guard with a rifle and bayonet fixed.

Although my original plan was to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, I am glad we spent some time at the Shrine. I am impressed by this fantastic and dignified monument to those who have fought, suffered and perished in service to the country.

The entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens could be seen in the background.

The Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is just across the road (Birdwood Avenue) from the Shrine. That is the next place we visited on our second day in Melbourne city.

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A walk through Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

7 May 2019

After visiting the Shrine of Remembrance, we had just about two hours to explore Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. We had an appointment to visit some relatives who live in the suburb later in the day.

Entering the garden through the Observatory Gate, we went to take a peek at the Jardin Tan cafe, located near the entrance. This French-Vietnamese eatery is opened by Shannon Bennett, whom we knew from the MasterChef Australia show. Somehow, the food displayed at the cafe did not appeal to us at that moment.

What impressed us instead was the sight of the Cockscomb Coral Tree which originated from South America. The rough texture of the tree’s bark and the fine foliage that grew out of numerous thin antenna-like stems was quite unusual.

Cockscomb Coral Tree near the Observatory Gate.

We followed the signs for the Australian Forest Walk and really enjoyed the sights of the trees and greenery, lit by the warm autumn sunshine.

We arrived at the Guilfoyle’s Volcano in the south-east corner of the gardens. This is not a real volcano but instead a water reservoir with a pond showcasing water plants in the “crater”.

A timber boardwalk winds around up and down the cone to the crater of the “volcano”. Cactuses and other arid climate plants lined the timber boardwalk. These plants were quite fascinating for me.

Loads of golden barrel cactus that looks like the eggs of the Alien Queen from the movie Aliens.


This view of cactus flowers made me think of a space rocket taking off into space.


Timber boardwalk around the crater of the “volcano”.


This landscape somehow looks like the bottom of the sea with “brain corals” and “red sea anemone”.

Melbourne’s city skyline could be seen at the top of Guilfoyle’s Volcano.

Cactus flower – a rare sight for me.

We headed north, towards the Ornamental Lake where we were hoping to have a simple lunch by the lake and rest our feet.  Indeed, there was The Terrace cafe. We ordered chicken wraps and a pot of tea.

Our simple lunch at the Terrace Cafe.

I regretted not bringing a picnic lunch as the lakeside would be ideal for a picnic under the gorgeous autumn sun. Many people were doing just that!

A family enjoying a serene cruise around the islands of the picturesque Ornamental Lake.

We left the Botanic Garden via the route we came, via the Shrine of Remembrance.

We took the tram back to Flinders Street Station where we had to take a local train to Williams Landing, where our relatives are living.

Prior to taking the train, we made a detour to the Lune Croissanterie’s branch in the CBD to buy what is reputed to be the best croissants in Melbourne for afternoon tea with my relatives.

Lune’s croissants packed in a takeaway box.

Lune’s croissants were not cheap but I enjoyed every bite of the soft buttery traditional French croissant with crispy and flaky crust. Yum.

It was nice to visit relatives in a faraway land. We spent the rest of the afternoon chit chatting about life in Melbourne versus back home.

We ended Day 2 of our trip with a delicious dinner of Chicken Biryani cooked by my aunt. And a swift car ride back to our apartment in Melbourne, thanks to our cousin-in-law.

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