Wishing My Melb Stay Was Extended!

Just returned to Syd and the 5.5 days in Melb was a blast! I wanna do it all again - next time, the stay would be extended - hopefully. There was just sooo much to do and very little time. Little time to spend with TY, little time to eat (cause obviously you can only eat breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner) and little time to really catch up with everyone!

Day 1
Right after the horrid paper. Yes, it was really THAT bad, and it still makes me squirm when I think about it. I really don't wanna look at the results when they come out. Am thinking I'll prob know in 2 weeks time... My flight was delayed for about 15 mins cause of traffic on the tarmac leaving Syd, but got to Melb where TY picked me up in his new Golf GTI. It is a really cool and awesome car. I didn't wanna drive it on that day though cause I was feeling tired and thought I'd try it the next day. When we got home, I couldn't resist and had to cuddle Kara (TY's cat)... She's so fluffy and adorable, and I'll definitely miss her.

Day 2
I got to try out TY's car! It's really nice... makes me wanna replace mine.. Hee. Anyway, went grocery shopping in his car and cooked lunch for TY and his bro - this chicken dish. They really liked it... Comes from all the experimental cooking up in Syd cause food here is so expensive. Then in the evening, went to the Coburg drive-in cinemas to watch Sex in the City and Narnia 2: Prince Caspien. Went with Jul and Cher who've never been there before and they said it's a different experience - good experience, cause you drive your car to the cinema... haha... It's very 80s and there are quite a lot of hoon-type cars around too. Surprisingly there were more pple at the later session. Movie tix are really cheap - about $15 for 2 movies per person which is so worth it. If none of you guys have been, you should go!

The movies were really good, although with Caspien, the atmosphere was too dark and the lighting on the screen didn't really give us a very good view of what was happening during the dark scenes, so that was a let down. It was my second time watching, but TY, Jul and Cher's first time... and it was a real pity they couldn't really see what was going on during those dark scenes, but if they could, it would have been awesome.

Day 3
TY and I had takeaway for lunch at one of the Jap restaurants near his place, but we had to do a really quick one cause TY had quite a lot of work to do at the office.

During the arvo, met up with one of my close guy friends, C, and we went to San Churros. For those who don't knonw San Churros... Think about their delicacy - a hot fresh-from-the-oven long donut covered in cinamon and sugar powder with a cup of hot melted milk chocolate, white chocolate or dark chocolate of your choice... Mmmm... The first time I tried the food at this place, I felt heavenly... hee... and I was pretty excited cause they opened a new store in the heart of Melb city which was great! It was C's first time and he was like "Can't believe I missed out on this!" Haha! C didn't get to stay long with me though and had to rush off to meet his sis. But later in the nite, we had games night and C dropped by! It was sort of a little reunion for me... and I was quite touched, cause not only did C come when I wasn't expecting him... some other close friends came too. Really touched that they had their own plans already and couldn't stay long but made a detour just to come see me. I thought it was really sweet. Then there were other ppl who I didn't know either... It was good fun! We also had lots of takeaway pizza to satisfy those rumbling stomachs for those who wanted supper or din. It was a really good nite with computer games, Killer Bunnies, Apples 2 Apples... some played Scrab... and hmmm.. other games.... Can't exactly rem...

Day 4
It was a Mary Geelong outing... hee! TY managed to take the day off... There was a slight miscommunication before - me thinking that it was just a Mary-me day (haha.. sounds so funny)... but it was actually a Great Ocean roadtrip to Geelong for TY and myself with Mary, to meet Dave later after his work. Anywayz, we planned it all well... TY and I had to wake really early to get Mary and then we toured Geelong. Went to this local animal sanctuary/nursery with lots of active animals awake (even the koalas and wombats)... not forgetting a little baby wombat we got to pat. It was sooo adorable and only 11 months old. TY has the photos... I'll load it up when he passes the pics to me. Then we went to this winery and I bought some desert wine. It was yum! I'm don't really fancy red wines... love my desert wines, ports and white wine. =) But that's just me...

And for lunch, we went to Torquay at this fish place, and also walked around.
When Dave ended work, we went to his house waiting for him to get back, and then Dave took us all to this pizza place. And while waiting for Dave, Mary gave us a tour of Dave's place and made us some hot drinks! So sweet! Dave's place was really cosy... floor was a bit cold though. Dave prob needs a carpet. Hee! But can't believe he's paying really cheap cause his company's sponsoring. The pizza place was really good too... but I think we ordered a bit much and had to take away. I'm actually getting hungry thinking about it. Anyway, after, we watched Mongol at the local Geelong cinema. The movie was long and I nearly fell asleep at some bits... haha... but it was really good. I was pretty impressed with the acting. I have to say though that it's been a while since I watched a foreign movie with subtitles. It was a long and tiring day, but really nice adventure we had, and we got to catch up with Mary and Dave! And oh, Cher landed me her really warm jacket. It's so nice too... might look for something like that.

Day 5
I had to wake early to go for my optometrist appointment near Melb Uni... Then TY tramed up to meet me in the city and he took me to this awesome Jap place for lunch. We actually found out there was another one in the city... Then for dinner, we went to Stonegrill where we met up with one of my friends - we call her Red (her nickname)... The prices of the Wagu beef increased so we didn't end up getting it. Maybe next time when I start earning more... haha... But yes, it was definitely good to catch up with Red. And after din, TY and I spent our last nite watching the Hulk at Hoyts. TY's bro came as well for the movie. The movie overall was good, but not as good as Iron Man I thought.

Day 6
I had to return to my optometrist cause I forgot to bring in my lens the day before and he wanted to have a look at them and to have a special clean for them, so I went in bright and early to drop it off. Then TY and I went to have yum cha with Dave and Mary at Shark Fin House in Chinatown. Yum cha was one of the things on my to-do list and I was really happy I got to do that. It's been a while since I yum cha-ed. After yum cha, TY and I walked around for a bit and shopped. I actually got quite a few pieces of clothings. Then we went home and I had to pack for my flight. My sis dropped by and gave me more clothes which gave me a little bit of a headache cause I wasn't sure how to fit them all into the bags, but I managed. Soon it was time to head to the airport...

BUT I missed my flight! I actually checked in the night before and thought I could just come after check-in hours and dump my bag, but unfortunately, I could only dump my bag half an hour before. I realised that my bags had to go through the scanners and the guys on the tarmac will have to trolley my bags to the plane, which would take time. Well, I got to the check-in counter 15 mins after check-in. The fortunate thing was that the first ground staff person I spoke to said I have to pay a fee of only $50 to change to the next flight, which was a mistake on her part, cause according to the person at the service desk who was changing my flights... she said that I had to purchase another ticket altogether... BUT because ground staff made a mistake, I just had to pay $50. Phew! They said if I didn't have luggage, I could have just gone straight to my gate. Sigh! I really didn't realise... and I've never missed a flight before...

Oh well... It might be a blessing really... cause I met this girl on the plane who was sitting next to me. She's from China and started speaking to me. She said she's doing nursing at UTS and her English isn't very good... and we sort of started to chat about a range of stuff. Eventually, I found out that she's a Christian. Then she asked me where I stayed and she said it's close to her. In fact, her elder was picking her up from the airport when she landed and she asked if I wanted a lift cause it's on the way anyway. I was a bit hesitant at first, but said okay... Her minister is Caucasian, an elderly guy who has lived in Aust for quite some time... In fact, he asked me which church I go to in Melb and I found out that he and the senior pastor of that church are really good friends. Like wow! What a coincidence! It was really sweet for them to offer to send me back... I might go to their church cause it's near to my home, but dun really know yet... cause I quite like Wesley Mission Church. Well, their church is more international students and Wesley is more ABCs... And it's strange, but I tend to click with the ABCs more... hmmm... Will see...

Stay tuned for my next long update on life back in Syd with my new job... It's late and I need to catch an early bus at 7:40am!