Ciao! Mi dispiace (sorry) if I was MIA for the past month; I just came back from a 10-day winter escapade in Australia with my good pals - a long awaited promise to my mate Brian in Sydney. It had been 10 years since our last visit to Down Under and things hadn't really changed much. The trip kicked off with 2 full days in Melbourne where we stayed at Albany boutique hotel in the posh South Yarra area, close to shopping/cafe central Chapel Street.
Being a virgin traveller in Melbourne, the city was a fresh breath of air literally especially when the cold wind caused us to go blue in the face at a constant 10 deg C. Based on my poll with Melbournites, we soaked up the vibes at Swanston Street (mall, mall & more mall), Degraves St & Central Place (good buzz), Federation Square (its alrite) and South Bank overlooking the city skyline. 
A kind elderly tourist guide pointed us to lunch at the recommended Hardware Lane where we decided on Cafe Miro's delizioso offerings of chef's antipasto (beautiful cheese, ham & grilled vegs), hearty pastas and vino bianco to celebrate our first meal here. Dinner was at La Camera, a casual Italian joint at South Bank where diners were lapping up the thin-crusted pizzas. It was amazing how much Italiana cucina has caught on here at every corner and street; you'd think it's little Italia everywhere! Si, รจ vero! 
By mistake, we took a wrong tram and ended up at Toorak and Chapel Street where we found room for some dolce, caffe and hot chocolate at the popular Cafe Greco. The counter was gleaming with chunky slabs of cakes and Greek desserts - guaranteed to send you to diabetic heaven. Adriano obliged me without much persuasion and shared the huge slice of warm apple crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum... how not to put on weight like that? 
The next morning, we headed straight for brekkie at the Queens Victoria Market - a great haunt for fresh seasonal local produce from artichokes and beetroot to cherry tomatoes and dried apricot. There were all kinds of potatoes, aplenty cuts of fresh meats, freshly shucked oysters and gleaming seasonal fruits (3 bloody rambutans were A$5 - siao!). I could hang out here all day blissfully staring at and tasting the produce. Now if only I have access to a kitchen! 
At the gourmet hall, a couple of young Aussie stall owners teased us 'Hey, you're Singaporeans? Come try lah, don't pray pray!' and we rolled our eyes at them, before loading up on the creamiest feta, proscuitto and salmon rolls stuffed with cheese and wild rocket leaves. i couldn't resist a cheap A$10 bottle of sparkling Shiraz - in preparation for our long drive to Port Campbell. 
In the evening, it got really cold and I had to pile on the clothes and gloves looking like a squeezable rolly orange bundle - A said he could spot me from far and I won't get lost in the crowds! Haha. We kinda had a love-hate relationship with the cold winter climate but we all agreed it was such a refreshing change from the perennial heat and humidity back home. After more shopping at Chapel Street, we met up with Rory - B's Irish boyfriend - for a pint and warm dinner in front of the fire place at James Squire pub. The oysters were glorious, mussels in wine plump, and Chicken parma (supposedly a Melbourne specialty) hearty and generous. 
Since it was our last evening, I was adamant on hunting down a decent Vietnamese meal - yes even after the bloody full dinner! By sheer dumb luck, we stumbled upon this Viet place opposite Chinatown which claimed that Bill Clinton had 2 bowls of pho there! So we couldn't resist and tuck into a steaming bowl of pho each. I nearly puked from overeating - that was how greedy I was! Gross. Now I know why it's so easy to pile on the kilos in winter.
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