saturday, in the city too

waaaa...woke up to a cold morning in point cook. brrr.....the bed was not as warm as the one in kew. hahaha...
and it was a wet wet morning.

it was just me and my sis this morning.
first stop....breakfast. don't you love breakfast? well, i do. coffee and some nice pastry. my choice.

this is manchester press at rankins lane. not an easy place to find but with the help of google map, every place is reachable.

had 2 cups of coffee with these bagels, a latte and a cappucino.
the place was full and there were even people waiting outside in queues to get in. luckily we did not have to wait for ours.

then it was off to some unexpected shopping ;)

who would taught i would find this shop here in melbourne, and just 2 shops away from the breakfast place. i couldn't believe it myself either. this is the only store in australia.  the manager, i think she is, is a really friendly and warm person. i had thoroughly enjoyed my experienced being in this pocket store and chatting with her. heck, i even got my photo taken in the shop in her camera as i was wearing their cardigan and she said she loved how i carried it. wa wa wa....i was on cloud nine.

so with such warm service, how can i leave empty handed? ok, just an excuse to shop. this here will be my biggest purchase in this trip. this will remind me not to shop too much in the next few days ;)

i got a free perfume vial sample from the manager. see, i told you, she was wonderful!!!  i have never had such good service and a sample from their store before. love her so much.

went browsing to kill some time before our australian football match at etihad stadium.

got a piece of necklace from one of the quaint boutiques in royal arcade. they do have a lot of knick-knacks in all the boutiques here.

2pm, etihad stadium.

bought tickets to watch a game between carlton and gsw. not that i know who they are. haha...just wanted to get the experience of watching aussie footie. and boy, watching muscular men running around in short shorts had never been this exciting. i think i like aussie football already.

view from the stadium, docklands.

a cup of beer...

and a steak pie, perfect combo for a snack in the stadium.

my sis and i were on level 3, well, we got the cheapest tickets, aud20 only,  but the seats were not bad at all. i think the design of the stadium was really good. no matter where you are seated, you do get a view. brilliant, hence i got to see all those bulging muscles.

we were seated among all carlton fans. almost 90% of the spectators here were carlton fans so of course we knew which team to cheer for. anyway, it was an easy win for carlton. a sure-win game.

heck, i was even impressed with the toilet facilities in the stadium. so clean and so many. bravo.

the game ended, and we headed to federation square to watch the opening ceremony of the winter lights opening signifying the beginning of winter on 1 june.

there was a camp fire.

there was aboriginal singers. just a simple yet mesmerising warm performance on a cold and wet evening. perfect. however, time was not on our side and we did not get to stay long.

it was dinner time of german sausages, pork knuckels, dumpling, juice, sauerkraut, snitzels and whatever they put on the platter we ordered.

luckily we made our reservation, it was full house and we were given 2 hours to complete our meal.

1 litre mug.

platter for 6 of us. phew, it took a lot of effort to finish this plate here but everything was really good.

enough pork for the week.

after dinner, had a short walk back to federation square to see the lighted helix tree they have installed for winter.

this is the helix tree and there will be performances  here every evening.

home sweet home at  8 plus.......but the night was not over yet.

i went out again at 11 plus for supper and some drink.....and it was korean.
the place is opposite rmit in the city.

apricot rice wine which they mixed rice wine with canned apricot and blended together with ice cubes. very sweet, not actually what i had in mind for a midnight drink. and it was served in this big bowl and we had to scoop whatever we wanted into smaller bowls. strange way. if they had poured it into a tall glass and given me a straw, that would have tasted more apt because this really did taste like a dessert drink. like those yoghurt drink. hmmmm....

oh, the name of the place joomak. in the basement.

had some really nice hotplate squid.....

but just passable fried chicken.

and i wouldn't leave without a few shots of soju would i? it kept me warm as we left the place at about 1.

empty streets outside but not at the doorways of pubs.

only slept at 3am after finished checking all updates on facebook.

ok, to sunday.......camberwell sunday market.

it is a weekly flea market and it was interesting to browse at ppl's unwanted goods. well, one man's rubbish might be another's treasure.

jam donuts....better than the one at victoria market.

aud6 for 6 pieces.

ok, in a rush now, have to help my sis prepare salad for dinner at my uncle's house later.

ciao ciao. what a wonderful weekend!!!!