Melbourne great eats and spots – part 2

Back to the Melbourne post…

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Presenting……

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The University of MELBOURNE

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From top-left: the classic walkway of Old Arts Building; in front of the Union House where all the food and misc stuff are; the wanna-be professor @ the Professor’s Walk; umbrellas on a shiny day is crucial due to Melb’s unpredictable weather – this is the walkway I take everyday towards Psychology building and last but not least, mom totally blends in with the students in front of the Baillieu Library.

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p/s: it’s quite nice to take a walk around the university if you get a chance to

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While you’re in the city, there’s two free shuttle/tram services that will take you around the vicinity of the city. One round is approx 45 minutes; so hop on and don’t miss out on Melbourne’s great sights such as :

• Southern Star Observation Wheel
• the Docklands precinct
• Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens
• Queen Victoria Market
• Melbourne Aquarium
• Immigration Museum
• Southbank
• the Shrine of Remembrance
• Royal Botanic Gardens
• Chinatown

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The Melbourne City Circle Tram is scheduled to arrive at designated stops every 10 minutes from 10am to 6pm daily and until 9pm Thursday to Saturday during daylight saving time.

The Melbourne City Circle Tram does not operate on Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Be aware that the city circle tram is maroon in colour and is numbered 35 just in case it’s not maroon. So don’t hop onto any other coloured trams for a free ride! If caught doing so, penalty is ~AUD$150, if not mistaken.

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On the other hand,

The Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle operates daily every 30 minutes between 9.30am and 4.30pm, excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day. Click here for their more info on their route.

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The Queen Victoria Market is only walking distance from Melbourne University, but mom and I still took the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle – yeah Malaysians are QUITE lazy, I would say

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Who would’ve thought the market could be so much fun? I think the lady(top right) knows I’m thinking picture so she’s smiling while selling her seafood, don’t ya reckon?

A must-visit on Saturdays as they have the other part the market open too; they sell from clothes to shoes to accessories to randoms; good for souvenir buying

A great place to buy your fruits and seafood…not the best in Melbourne but best in the city!

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Queen Victoria (QV) Market is situated on the corner of Queen and Elizabeth Streets in the Melbourne CBD and is easily accessed by foot, car, train, tram or bus. More info here.

QV Market operates on:

• Tuesdays, 6am to 2pmThursdays, 6am to 2pm

  Fridays, 6am to 5pm (General Merchandise to 4pm)

  Saturdays, 6am to 3pm

  Sundays, 9am to 4pm

The Market is closed Mondays, Wednesdays and the following public holidays:  Good Friday, Anzac Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

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Melbourne City in general…

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The City town hall where PlanetShakers have their sessions/events sometimes…

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The horse-carriage ride you could hire for AUD$100 ( I forgot if it’s per hour or per ride *shrugs*) – makes you feel like cinderella, the pumpkin carriage?

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Other than, the city is full of shops, trams, more shops and more trams.

If you wanna shop, Bourke Street is the place to go.

If you want exclusive shopping, go to Collins Street (high end shopping)

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p/s: you can hardly  get lost in Melbourne city, because it’s a freaking square!

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If you happen to be in town and you’re craving for some sweet stuff, dont miss out on Crown Bakery’s Mango cake – they’re yummylicious!

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Coated with egg-chiffon on the sides of the outer layer and mango puree on top, this mango cake is the best I have ever tasted – not sugarly sweet and very very fulfilling. Chocolate cake lovers will love this too! Layered between the cakes and cream are fresh mangoes; priced around AUD$26? for the whole cake, one cannot ask for more – definitely SCRUMPTIOUS!

omg – looking at it reminds me of the countless times we had this cake; be it celebration or farewell or just for leisure. missing it heaps, Melbourne peeps, tapau please??? xox

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The other shop that duplicates this mango cake is BreadStory but I still think this one beats it anytime (biased, I know *tee-hee*)

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For dinner, don’t hesitate to  indulge yourself in some Italian cuisine on Lygon Street; and I would definitely recommend Mercadante for ambience, services and food (ok-ok).

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The boss is a very down-to-earth guy who loves playing with the customers; top right – he playing tic-tac-toe with xn, middle left - he stole my camera to take his own pic, bottom left – he took his simpsons mask and put it on (btw, I really think the aussies love simpsons more than anyone else) and bottom right – he loves to show off the tricks he can pull (I shall not reveal here, go surprise yourself by visiting )

p/s: remember to tell him you’ve never been there! *chuckles*

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Top left- salmon fettucine, top right – chicken avocado penne, bottom left – some special pizza, bottom right – the SCRUMPTIOUS chocolate pizza

The pasta sauces are very unique as they have their special mix, although it may get a bit much after a while, and the pizza is gi-normous! (so do practise chinese style eating – share~)

and their signature chocolate pizza is a must-try. pizza with nutella spread is the bomb here. but please, do drink plenty of water after

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Across the street from Mercadante’s, there is a gelati ice cream parlour that no-one in Melbourne would not know about, i.e. Il Dolce Freddo

again, I dont have pics of the shop, but you cannot miss it, with the mass of people queueing up, especially on friday and saturday night.

A must try here is their Ferrero Rocher flavour – truly SCRUMPTIOUS!

Personally, I like their green tea, mango, boysenberry and durian flavour too! yep, durian flavour rocks~ full of flavour, taste and smell. I’ve tried the gelati in Midvalley and it’s NO-WHERE as fresh as this place.

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I remember I always had a hard time choosing my flavours because for you get 2 flavours for AUD$4.80.  My mind is always battling with itself prior to ordering:

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“hmm.. Rocher is a must because i’ll regret it…and green tea la”

“but I always have Rocher…maybe have something different, like durian or boysenberry”

“but sure regret wan looking at other ppl’s Rocher…dowan green tea la then…Rocher and Durian”

“but i like green tea ice cream………Rocher and Green tea la”

“then again, not everyday they have durian and so long didnt have mango already…. k la k la Mango and Durian”

“But…”

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Before I came to a conclusion, it’s my turn and I blurted out, “Rocher and Green tea please, thanks”

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double -.-”"”

BUT I WANT DURIAN ALSO! *grumble*

Then I’ll leech off my friend’s one… hahhhaa

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Now which one would you choose???

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miss.qp

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Mercadante

Address: 123 Lygon Street, CARLTON 3053

Tel: 03 9347 6974
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Il Dolce Freddo

Address: 116, Lygon Street, Carlton, VIC 3053

Tel: 03-9639 3344

BBQ pork char siew @ Famous Seremban Favourites, Sunway Mas

Calling out to all char siew (bbq pork) lovers!!

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Have you recently satisfy your cravings for some slightly burnt juicy pork? If you haven’t check this out~

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Located in Sunway MAS commercial centre in Taman Mayang, Famous Seremban Favourites shop sells Seremban’s famous food; their char siew rocks my world, and apparently their hakka mee made it to the top too (I didnt order that – wasn’t aware until after -.-” ).

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The  “pun fei sau” (some refers to half fat and half meat but this restaurant claims it is their 3-tier pork, i.e. skin-fat-meat-fat-meat) meat that they give is just yummylicious… words cannot describe how i feel when I bite into it hehe~

p/s: the other one that can beat this is the one along Jalan Pasar, KL (shall intro the next time )

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The wan tan mee, on the other hand, wasn’t so great, even the char siew that comes with it is different to the one you order separately.

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I also tried their “siu kai” (roast chicken) with their “yau fan” (oily rice) instead of the white one, as I have heard some good reviews on it.

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Sadly, the rice didnt do it for me; too bland and not tasty at all. I think I could do better

They’re lucky they’ve got the char siew and sauce to complement it.

The chicken on the other hand, is nothing to shout about, nonetheless yummy(how wrong can it go right?).

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Aside from the good char siew, there’s really nothing spectacular about this shop. Moreover, there is so much air of snob, there’s barely any room to breathe. Look what they gave me for my portion of roast pork:

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Is that even edible??? there seriously wasn’t any meat/fat/skin………….. *grumblegrumble*

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Anyhoo, you’ll probably get better treatment and better “parts” if you’re carrying a dslr camera as the owner would think that you’re a flogger (food blogger) and give you some extras/deals.

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Priced at RM4.50 for a normal takeaway of char siew meat, I would say it’s quite pricey (moreover for a small portion).

Dont think I’ll be back anytime soon (until I get a dslr! muahahha); unless I’m around the area and craving for some good char siew

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hunting for more good char siew(s) – suggestions?

miss.qp

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Address: 80-1 Ground Floor, Jalan PJU 1/3B, Sunway Mas Commercial Centre, 47301 Petaling Jaya

Opens 7.30am till 4.30pm daily- char siew available only after 10am

Closed on Tuesdays; Call 017-279 8582 to check for availability.