Flagstaff Gardens

Yesterday I was still in that awful concoction of homesickness that led to an intense bout of depression – so despite having befriended Alex (having a new friend is always an achievement in a completely foreign country) and inspected an accommodation at Walsh St, I walked towards the direction of CBD, and passed by:

Flagstaff Gardens – a park of greenery so beautiful against the cloudless deep azure sky that my heart felt completely lightened up by the sight. If there’s one thing I really love looking at and taking photos of, it’s sceneries and nature displaying its glory for all of us to behold. My depression was quickly lifted after this.

The streaming sunlight in winter.

Long shadows.

If you can squint properly, you can see a girl lying down on the green, green grass relaxing and enjoying herself – this is probably an odd wish, but I’ve been wanting to do this in a Western country (or a country with 4 seasons) which seem to have the softest and greenest pasture, so to speak. Soft green grass, clear blue sky, bright sharp sunlight sheathing you with a warm glow – it’s almost like the movies and from many pics I’ve seen.

Walking in CBD.

I curiously spotted a judge (or a lawyer?) walking down the street – this amused me enough to warrant me snapping a pic of him, as I’d have thought such people would’ve have driven or something.

This could be Swanston St or Bourke St (I don’t remember which), ‘cause I remember that oyster sculpture thingy at the centre-bottom of the pic.

Oyster on the bottom-left, and that’s the trams which I’ve still yet to ride on.

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I woke up early in the morning today (Thursday) at about 7.30pm – I clearly didn’t hear my annoying ringtone (as I’ve mentioned in my previous entry), so Ghavin who was sleeping next to me on the couch woke me up. Got ready, and after a few hitches finally set off at about 8.40am. I walked towards the direction of Bouverie St, Carlton, initially intending to try sitting on a tram or a train but I soon realised I don’t have a Metcard with me (the ticket thingy for the trains, trams, and buses in Melbourne – it’s all streamlined here which is what Malaysia should research into too), and the shops I passed by don’t seem to be selling Metcards, and before I knew it I was already walking halfway to Bouverie St, and I was like fuck it I’ll just walk.

So I did arrive at the office on Bouverie St where I’ve been the day before, and I asked the appropriate questions that I should know of and then submitted my application – Jessie, the Malaysian staff who was quite friendly, told me that I’m almost confirmed for the room, and even asked me what time I’d like to move in tomorrow, which I’ve decided on 2pm.

And then I walked back to CBD to RMIT Building 108 on Bourke St (aka my Business building) and stayed there utilising its computers – I love their computer labs because it’s really massive, has ample of space, works pretty decently than my Malaysian college’s computers, and… downloads at 1.4MB/s on average wtf. I took the opportunity to upload my pics on Flickr as a method to disseminate my pictures to friends and as a backup.

At about 1pm+, left Building 108 to meet Will, who told me he’d be waiting at Elizabeth St at Officeworks, a shop that sells office supplies. After he got the string he wanted, we went on a search that had us a wee bit lost (walking towards one end only to realise we should be walking towards the other direction) before we finally arrived at Dragon Boat Restaurant at 149 Lonsdale St.

Looks like a pretty.. high-class restaurant.

After we ordered a few rounds of dimsum (we arrived quite late at about 2.30pm), we realised that the buffet was actually over wtf and we had been ordering individual dishes instead. Will had already told me that I need only pay $10 and he’d pay the rest, but I still feel that it’s a bit too much lol – the bill came at about $40, which essentially means (sorry, I’ve a habit of converting to RM since I’ve yet to earn my money in AUD) that it’s about RM120 WTF for both of our lunch alone.

Will who studies and works at Sydney.

Dimsum.

Mmmmm I can’t believe I’m actually having actual good Chinese food for once in Melbourne – when I entered the restaurant, it felt as if I was back in Malaysia or in Hong Kong or something, what with all the Chinese servers around talking in Cantonese, Mandarin, and a heavily-accented English.

Went to Melbourne Central’s Borders for a bit before we departed as he had to fly back to Sydney later that night. And I returned in the absolute safe haven that is my uni’s computer lab, and after a bit, met up with Ethan at Gloria Jean’s right opposite Building 108 to chat for a bit (also discovered he MIGHT be moving into the same building as me =D), then back again at the comp lab to nap wtf. It opens till 9pm on weekdays, so I foresee myself spending plenty of time here.

A few things I’d like to talk about:

1) An elaboration on the racism issue in Melbourne raised in my previous entry. Two cases to highlight this:
– Ghavin and his friends were on a tram/train about last week, and this elderly Australian man called out, “Can anyone help me to get off the train?”, and when Ghavin and his friends moved to hold the old man, the old dude yelled, “DON’T TOUCH ME, YOU FILTHY ASIANS! YOU DON’T BATHE, DO YOU?” among other biting remarks. Ghavin and co were stunned and were incessantly pissed, but didn’t want to do anything as they weren’t in their own country and didn’t want to aggravate things further – later on, the staffs on the tram/train told them to just ignore it.

– Pigeons/birds in CBD are not afraid of humans – they don’t fly away when you walk too close to them.

– I once witnessed a lady called out to random passers-by asking if she could buy a cigarette off them.

– People don’t smoke inside any indoor building, they do it outside, and most of the time, around a trashcan that doubled as an ashtray.

I’ve been walking around so much for the past two days, I think I’ve already gotten used to walking for 40 minutes or more to any destination. Strangely I didn’t even bring along my iPod with me to accompany me on these journeys – I had a fun time taking in the sights, smells, and sounds as I strolled through CBD, trying to familiarise myself with the streets, pleasant thoughts forming in my head. Yesterday I’ve also learned from an Asian woman I stopped on a street to ask for directions that I could walk through a mall to get to the other side. O_O

There is so much to explore in Melbourne – I hope to do that by the end of the year or something: discover hidden roads, sacred trails, exquisite gems placed throughout the city.