Buddha’s Hand, Japanese Baths and Jazz

On the second day in Melbourne I was better prepared for the cold. With a new-to-me princess cut coat, I was finally comfortable in the brisk city. The day began with free toast in the hostel, which truly felt like a residence hall. Chris and I ventured out into the city to take in Queen Victoria Market.

At first it seemed underwhelming. We walked into a covered market area reminiscent of St. Lawrence market in Toronto, complete with butchers and cheese vendors that hawked apricots stuffed with marscapone. Then we walked through the double doors.
A near city block was filled with organic produce stalls, one of which featured Buddha’s Hand, a pioneer citrus species.

The market continued to expand as we walked deeper into the labyrinth of food and imports including iPhone cases, knitted toys and matryoshka dolls. We bought mixed nuts and went in search of much needed espresso.

After impromptu Skype calls with our parents on Little Bourke St, Chris and I wandered into Mr Tulk, the cafe adjoined to the State Library of Victoria. We enjoyed the decor, but the close quarters made conversation difficult. We overheard an American boasting about New York and a mother and son discussing medical exam results, which was just slightly awkward.

While we had planned to explore the library, I ended up seated in a lounge area charging my camera battery and reading a zine titled ‘macarons are not macaroons’, which led me to the realization that I’ve been saying it wrong all this time.

We matched on to East Melbourne for lunch at Tiny Cafe and relaxation time at the Japanese Bath House.
Tiny was perhaps the most adorable lunch and espresso joint I’ve had the pleasure of frequenting. The pumpkin, goat cheese and pesto sandwich was groaningly delicious.
It was my first time in a Japanese Bathhouse. Being naked in front of strangers felt uncomfortable at first, but as I took my seated shower and settled into the bath, my nervousness evaporated with the steam.
Refreshed and squeaky clean, Chris and I ventured down two wonderfully eclectic avenues: Gertrude St and Brunswick St. We came to Gertrude in search of Title film, music and book shop, which didn’t disappoint, especially in their film selection.
Shopping on Brunswick was incredibly fruitful and friendly. I met a fellow Canadian at a beautiful
stationary store and a woman who sounded Canadian at Naked for Satan vodka bar. As I was taking photos of the exposed distillery pipes, she mentioned the toilets were an especially good photo op. After sitting down next to each other with our mutual drinks, I leaned over and asked her if I had heard a North American accent. She laughed and sheepishly admitted that she accidentally replies to foreigners in their accents at times. We laughed together; I’ve definitely been guilty of that!
After dining on nachos at Trippy Taco, Chris and I saw Elly Hoyt at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club. She was an endearing performer, singing classic American jazz numbers and her own songs. Our feet tapped and our heads bobbed to the beat as we dreamed of learning to play music ourselves. So marked the halfway point in our whirlwind tour of Melbourne, and what a tour it was.

Eat, walk, repeat

We woke up on Flinders Lane at the Greenhouse Backpacker hostel in Melbourne yesterday morning. On our first day in the city, we followed our noses (read stomachs) through the CBD and into Richmond.

First order of the day was breakfast at Postal Hall, courtesy the Best Breakfast guide from Broadsheet Melbourne. The coffee and cuisine were outstanding, but the best part was the service, which aired on the side of aggressive friendliness. “You can have your eggs any way you like, as long as they’re poached,” the bespectacled cafe man told us.

Fueled, Chris and I embarked on Lonely Planet’s Laneway Labyrinth walking tour. (Genevieve, I thought you would be happy to know that post Shanghai, I’m addicted to walking tours). We stumbled upon a myriad of graffiti, hole in the wall coffee shops, consignment stores, zine libraries and even high end fabric stores.

Chris found a special friend.

I was a token tourist.

I spotted some yarn bombing.

Then it was time to eat more food than humanly possible to consume at Chin Chin. Since it was late in the afternoon, and since their menu looked like a smorgasbord of Asian delight, we opted for the ‘Feed me’ menu. Little did we know that this set menu would include 7 dishes and a serve of 2 desserts. Pictured above is me with the second dish, DIY salad rolls complete with peanut sauce and deep fried tofu, having a jolly time. Thanks very much to Erica for the recommendation.

We skipped dinner and went straight for drinks at Der Raum, another recommendation from Erica. After an hour long evening stroll from the CBD to Richmond, we buzzed into Der Raum, a high concept cocktail lounge with bottles hanging from the roof with bungee cords and board game size tables. They did not disappoint. ‘F*** the subprime’, a blend of caraway, orange, grape and cinnamon was one of my favorite cocktails to date, and it was a lovely last note of our first day in Melbourne.