Monday, December 31, 2012

final post for 2012. a closure to melbourne. goodbye.

happy new year!!! well, to those in the pacific islands, australia and new zealand ;)
there are still 2 more hours to go here but by that time i should be sleeping already.
gosh, do i switch off my phone or not?? will there be messages coming in at the strike of midnight?? those are really thoughtful hor? i am waaaay past that kind of thing dy, too old i guess.

i have to wake up at 6am tomorrow to pick up my parents from the airport, hence a good sleep is totally necessary.

i feel so sad to be posting this post. it will mean goodbye to melbourne for good. i don't want to say goodbye to the little man as my brother calls him. sob sob.

goodbye to 2012 is ok. no regrets and i think i did whatever i had to do this year and it went well.

deep breath, here goes melbourne city at random again ;)

there were days when i went to the city with my sister and her family, then there were also times when i only went frolicking and wondering with my cousins, and there was also that one day when my brother joined me for a free walking tour and drove me to st kilda. all these were happy times and the weather was on my side too. so share my good times with me ok?

melbourne state library.

t2 in melbourne central. it is a tea shop, selling all sorts of tea leaves and all paraphernalia to do with tea. i got myself a tea infuser here. i have not even seen it in malaysia. impressive.

eye of melbourne- not! still hanging there without its gondola and not operational.

2 books i got from books4less. i love this bookstore but one needs to have a lot of patience to browse through all the books in the shop as they were not catalogued or in any computer system. most of the novels are priced at 5 dollars and the store is opened the whole year round! woohoo!!! i know we can get cheaper books during big bad wolf sales here in malaysia (rm8) but they don't happen all the time, do they? this bookstore is a must visit for book lovers. google for their location in the city, there are a few.

southern cross railway station. this is the view from the 33rd floor at my cousin's apartment. an apartment with a great view, no doubt.

sorry grandma! want a drink? it is a pub.

melbourne tram, city circle. just hop on and go for a ride, it is free for all.

parliament of victoria.

ok i know this is not right in this post, but i forgot to put this in the earlier post. ice-cream in cubes. love their fruity flavoured ones. really refreshing on a hot hot day.

melbourne is also well-known for their many lanes and things you can discover in the lanes, here are some of them, all in the form of graffiti.
dreams are free. how true.

this one here is  union lane, right in front of myer department store.

did anyone lose their purse?

a bird in the bush. ;)

i wonder if santa will send a reply.

melbourne square.

explore the city in style.

explore the city and be friendly to the environment. however, be sure to go and get yourself a helmet first. haiz, the price of the helmet is more expensive than the bike rental.

flinders street train station.

south wharf skyline.

federation square.

docklands. there are many art pieces scattered around in the city and they are really unique. i love all of them.

dame edna statue at docklands.

still docklands.

holly cow!

etihad stadium at docklands where many concerts are also held. the concerts can be heard from my cousin's apartment. save on tickets then.

up up and away.

flagstaff garden.

this is the flagstaff.

queen victoria's market....souvenir shopping time.

and some fresh produce.

melbourne port. my brother was supposed to drive me straight to st kilda from the city, but we ended up at melbourne port instead when we turned right instead of left.

a wedding party arriving in style.


luna park at st kilda.

pinatas hanging in a restaurant by the sea. they were in the midst of preparation for a special birthday party.

st kilda's lighthouse.

city skyline from st kilda. beautiful.

a restaurant at the end of the pier.

spotted, a penguin among the rocks. finally.

this is where you should head to if you want to catch sight of a penguin or two but you do really need a pair of sharp eyes to find them.

tanned tanned tanned. everyone commented that i looked burnt when i came back to malaysia.

christmas trees at federation square.

a giant bird house??

subway in melbourne? no such thing! you will find shops if you go down if i am not wrong.

cobbled lane and graffiti at hosier lane. this was during the walking tour i joined.


royal arcade.

rmit.

melbourne central.

can't escape from hello kitty.

found these special stamps in the post office and got myself one set for collection.

aaahh.....my joy in his new romper.
no lah, i did not buy it for him, his parents got it. i would get it if i find it. ;)

a popular dumpling place. check out the queue. melbournians have developed a taste for chinese food. but again, there are also non-melbournians in the city and you see lots of asians instead.

giant russell in myer.

hmmmh....does this look like russell's expression?? kind of right?? love ya.

well, that is all for this last post of the year. it is a closure for me. goodbye 2012.
thank you for being good to me.

i hope 2013 will be good and i have more opportunities to explore different new things which will result in a better me.
i also want it to be good to those around me. spreading my hope and wishes to all of you out there too. have a good 2013. take good care of yourself!!!