Melbourne 360° Rialto

Everything is unraveling. I am being propelled to the great unknown by my own undoing. Is it natural to feel fear? It’s pre-Melbourne jitters all over again, except this time I’m throwing myself right into New Zealand’s phenomenal South Island. I am excited, yet, a billion things are about to affect me emotionally all at once in just a few days, and it was just so exhausting entertaining each thought laden with each different set of emotion. It’s like opening a gift box, each containing things that might anger you, excite you, sadden you.

Two days ago I’ve just gone through an entire cycle of paranoia, depression, slight euphoria, and back to depression again, characterised respectively by watching Australia’s Border Security on telly while eating dinner (noodles with beef which sorta failed, and Desmond spilled soup onto the kitchen floor lol), the thought of leaving my friends here for good, sip a little bit of goon while playing Big 2 and Heart Attack with Des, Ethan, and Ivan, and thinking of the same depressing thought again.

Mike dropped by during our card games in his going-out attire at 10.30pm, and when we asked him, he replied that he has always been going out for a walk at that exact same time every night. “It’s my alone time you know,” he explained, “Some people do yoga or whatever, I smoke weed and then go out for a walk.”

When Ethan mentioned that he was going out for a jog, I was torn between laziness and wanting to exercise for a bit before my New Zealand trip. Mike’s words inspired me somewhat, and so I made up my mind to actually do something to keep my depressing thoughts at bay, and so with some bits of goon in me, after e-mailing Matt, I was out jogging at Flagstaff Gardens.

We were supposed to meet up, but we couldn’t find one another, and so after completing two rounds (didn’t exactly jogged the entire two rounds, but sufficient for someone who rarely exercises) I went back home. That bit of alone time does ring true—as I jogged, I felt myself slowly easing and at peace.

Perhaps I should jog more.

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On Monday the 9th, Ethan and I set out for a dinner at Port Phillip Arcade before heading towards Rialto Tower on Collins St on foot at about 7.30pm, where the Melbourne 360° Rialto can be found. At 253 metres high, it offers a spectacular view of Melbourne, with the city set in its daily life going about its routine. And at the top at the observation deck, life seems to stand still for a moment—everything seems relatively serene, where you’re away from the hustle and bustle of the city life at 253 metres above everyone else.

It also costs AUD$10.50 (concession price) to get to the top; we didn’t know it was a full-day ticket where you can re-enter as many times as you want, otherwise we’d have done so in the morning instead of only going in the evening.

#1 The row of taxis and the building near the Rialto Tower.

#2 Hello Melbourne and the setting sun.

#3 A landscape version of what could possibly be my favourite city in the world.

#4 Between the stainless steel grill thingies that prevent people from jumping over.

#5 I turned around and took a shot of this explosion of red reflected against the glass.

#6 How can you not love this city when it has a heart-shaped roof on top of a building! It’s remarkably impressive.

#7 A zoomed-out shot, where you can see the words “Strata Storage” on top of a building and a completely colourful rooftop!

#8 A closer look at the colourful rooftop.

#9 Sun setting at the horizon.

#10 Pretty Melbourne in its twilight—this pic is so beautiful (to me at least) I feel like shedding tears wtf.

#11 And another look.

#12 The city shrouded in blue.

#13 This pic was taken at night but for some reason, my camera captured the sky as blue.

#14 Wish I could present this picture in its full size as it looks better than this, but the city looks even more amazing at night.

#15 Another shot.

#16 A closer shot of what I presume to be Southbank.

#17 Tiger, tiger, burning bright.

#18 Good night, Melbourne.

#19 A shot of a different side.

#20 I thought the brightly lit road looks almost like a river running through the city.

There were two observation decks at Rialto—at least, that’s what I think it is, I wasn’t very observant wtf—and they offer a glimpse of the city all around the tower, hence its name: the Melbourne 360° Rialto. If you’re coming to Melbourne and want a high-rise view of the city—and you should, when the weather is nice—get here in the morning and your ticket would last the entire day.

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Cut my hair today at Best Cuts at Elizabeth St (AUD$10)—was taking a nap having returned from the Queen Victoria Market after surveying prices for souvenirs with Ethan, when Desmond rang me up (we had earlier talked about cutting our hair together) and so I met up with him there, where Ethan joined us shortly after.

For some reason I was feeling a little sleepy and lethargic, partially because the night before it was relatively cool and I didn’t feel like removing the blanket around me, but after having my hair cut by a Middle-Eastern or Indian guy, I felt as if an invisible burden has been loaded off me and I felt exceptionally cheerful throughout the day.

I’m contemplating if I should go to Brunei early next year as Desmond would be able to bring me around (after he practises his driving that is…), which was one of our topics of conversation for lunch at Maccers near Victoria Market (or actually, we’ve been discussing this idly throughout last or two months ago). My reasoning: if I’m not doing this now, I will prolly never be able to do this again in the future when a somewhat native Bruneian (and a good friend) could show me around.

Also just finished booking my accommodation at Christchurch and I’m soo hyped up for it right now. Or maybe it’s just the haircut that’s feeding me all this euphoria. Or both.