I told you I'd be back

Off The Yarra River

It’s great to be back! Ah, Australia. I have missed you so. I could actually really call this home despite the short time I’ve spent here studying as an exchange student in 2007. The moment we stepped onto the plane and heard Australian accents (discounting the many that we heard during our island hopping---these were more notable), I was so excited!

We landed in Melbourne a few days ago and reunited with Patricia & Brian Le and Patricia’s boyfriend, Anthony who is originally from Perth (Western Australia). It was great to reconnect with familiar faces after traveling for so long. Lara and I crashed at their hotel for two days and spent basically spent our time together roaming the streets in search of everything that could satisfy our senses, mainly our stomachs. While we were out, I recognized “heaps” (Haha, Aussie lingo for a lot… a.k.a. hella) of places that looked familiar to me and reminisced the times I spent here with old EAP friends from California whom I once meandered these streets with.


Things I noticed, now that my lenses are a little clearer and wiser:

• Australians drink a lot, I mean… a lot
• CARBS, CARBs, CARBS! After being in Asia for so long, I realized that the foods here are so heavy, yanno perfect for soaking up all that alcohol they consume here
• The fashion here beats the U.S. x 10, hands down. Even Bangkok had some good fashion as well. Too bad we can’t step our game up with our 20 lbs of goods in our backpacks.
• The holidays beyond the northern hemisphere do not exist. Hot weather and the holidays do not mix to me. I have however, found a stoned Santa hanging out on the streets of Melbourne though… hehe.

I have to say, as much as I enjoyed Adelaide and all the amazing people I’ve met in that city, Melbourne was my absolute favorite city in Australia. This city is easy to navigate (despite Lara and my constant disorientation and faulty navigation) and has such a great public transportation system that I’m sure they effortlessly boast. I also enjoy the rich culture they have here; everyone is so diverse. Oooh, and not to mention the amazing architecture here and their awesome graffiti covering walls in their alleyways-- everything is so colorful and fun, such welcoming resplendence. I wish I lived here, it’s so much like San Francisco minus the steep hills and complicated streets.



I definitely tried to re-experience and revisit the sights I’ve once visited. Some places we visited were: St. Kilda, Max Brenner's, Melbourne Central Mall, The Queen Victoria Market, The Croft Institute and the main CBD shopping area.

Here are a few pictures of our first two days here:

The Docklands-- if you lose closely, there's a cow stuck in the tree

At The Croft Institute, this place has a mad scientist theme,
but before we got here, we had to go through a dodgy alleyway:

Federation Square & Flinders Train Station

I remember having a plan trying to get back here. I would get hired by one of the Big 4, apply to be relocated for a year and eventually try to live here (yanno, get citizenship somehow). It seemed so easy then when you’re naive. But since my career path has taken a turn, I can only be a permanent visitor and daydreamer of what it would be like to actually live in this awesome city.

We leave for Sydney tonight to visit my cousin and her family but until then, I will always be left in awe by the beauty of this city and the amazing time I had here.


Always charmed,
Ana