Hello from Melbourne!

last SG · 2008-04-28T20:14:30+00:00

Don't know. it was intrduced i thnk after sept 2007.

y33bas SG

Finally i got myself in Melbourne...I am staying in the suburbs - Frankston. I went for a show last night called 'Busting-Out'. It is woahhhh..anyone caught that show before and staying around the area.???

the Bear SG

wah.. i'm going in June but i have no idea where the heck my sister is staying.. i'm doing some house sitting while she's travelling in malaysia

elindra SG

Maybe u should wait for Rhonda to get online

She's living in Melbourne too

Rhonda SG

wah.. i'm going in June but i have no idea where the heck my sister is staying.. i'm doing some house sitting while she's travelling in malaysia

She stays in Doncaster, apparently near some pretty good Chinese / Malaysian restaurants. My map of Melbourne suburbs is drawn according to the good eating places, typical Singaporean-style!

Rhonda SG

Frankston... I went there a few weeks ago. The Frankston train station surrounds is quite bustling.

I think if you get hold of a street directory, and go online to Metlink's tram-train-bus guide, you can get around quite easily. I plan my trips these days using these simple tools. It can feel quite daunting at first, but don't get intimidated, and systematically go about it, you'll soon find it's child's play.

Been to Melbourne City yet? I gather you must have watched the movie in Highpoint Shopping Mall?

honeymouse SG

Welcome to Melbourne. Hope you had a pleasant stay in Melbourne.

Frankston is long train ride from the city , I hope your friend that you're staying with has a car to take you around.

Mornington Peninsula is a pretty place and there are few wineries around the areas if you're interested in wine. You can also catch the ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff. Arthur seat is also another place you can go although the chairlift is no longer in operation.

Anyway, have fun!

y33bas SG

hey there..so far i have been to my friend's place, Monash Uni and a few shopping centres in Frankston. Highpoint Shopping Centre is about an hour away from my place. I am currently at Leawarra station but the service is pretty limited. lol. I have walked the streets at Frankston at night but i don't see anything scary like my friend advertised. But one thing for sure that the grafitti around is plentiful. They're everywhere.! just like the pretty australian babes around ( but i find that some are abit on the plump side =D ) I need a car to get around man! omg..!

the Bear SG

hmm.. me old alma mater... Monash Uni..

but my campus was the Caulfield one.. beside Caulfield Race Course.. wonder if Monash still sponsors a day out at the races where Monash Uni students get to go in free

i lived in Armadale near Malvern.. trams to the city were easy and it was in Zone 1..

however, when i was there, the place was a serial rapist going around the suburb and us guys got together and escorted the girls to and from the hostel before and after school..

Rhonda SG

Omigosh! You are living very very far away!!

And please don't ignore your friend's warning. Melbourne can be dangerous at night. Hell, even in Melbourne City, people have been reported to be attacked by gangs of young men just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you don't need to go out at night, don't, especially since you don't live in a particularly good area.

y33bas SG

Yes super far away. I have to take down the schedule of the train/bus arrivals so that i don't miss any of them. Its pretty frustrating to find out that the bus service is not frequent.

One thing i like about the trains is that is it VERY quiet and you can sleep pretty well.. Oh and the graffiti is very irritating!

So far i haven't seen anything that will make me run.

OH and another thing when the aussies bump into you, they don't apologize and they continue walking as if nothing happened. BLAH!

Gedanken SG

Sleep on the train at night and you might end up getting graffitied.

Rhonda SG

Yes super far away. I have to take down the schedule of the train/bus arrivals so that i don't miss any of them. Its pretty frustrating to find out that the bus service is not frequent.

One thing i like about the trains is that is it VERY quiet and you can sleep pretty well.. Oh and the graffiti is very irritating!

So far i haven't seen anything that will make me run.

OH and another thing when the aussies bump into you, they don't apologize and they continue walking as if nothing happened. BLAH!

Well, not all Aussies are that rude. There are a few really polite and sweet ones.

Actually, it's hard to talk about 'Aussies' because there's not one homogeneous race that makes up 'Aussies'. An Aussie is simply anyone from any part of the world that happens to hold Australian citizenship so it's really hard to lump them all together and make one blanket judgement as such. I find that generalisations are hard to apply here, as the people are far too diverse and the circumstances are too varied.

Please do not be one of those really silly people who go around thinking that it's safe and not heed the warnings of well-meaning residents because all it takes is one split second of bad judgement to land you in deep trouble! Regret is always too late and I'd rather be forewarned than to reflect on hindsight.

Melbournite SG

here in melbourne too.......like some said, if u dont have to go out at night , then dont do it

if u have to go using public transpost at night, go with company.

if u want to go alone, have a car. at least in car u are safe and should anything happen, u can speed off like a cheetah

Melbournite SG

right now i am typing this reply, the 7News is saying 3-4 cases of violence and mischief here in Melbourne. Today is ANZAC day, so people are out to make mischief...especially on public holidays, stay at home.

y33bas SG

Hello there, i went out to the city on Anzac Day. Luckily my friend drove into the city area so i am able to avoid the crowds. Unfortunately parking is a nightmare and due to my friend being a countrybumkin he din know where are the places to park. So after going in circles for like forever we found a spot and went to the river side to see the 'fire' by the river. That place reminds me of Singapore River, only like 10 times better atmosphere, people and the ambience! WOAH! Beautiful!

and OH, aussies are reallly mixed like ja-pa-lang kind. =.=''

Melbournite SG

U wwnt to Yarra river?

Melbournite SG

U wwnt to Yarra river?

Rhonda SG

Hmm... the only 'fire' by the river in the city that I can think of is Southbank, where there are these flaming torches outside the Crown Casino by the Yarra Riverfront.

I had a friend who lived on the 28th floor of Freshwater Place and we used to lie on the carpeted floor, looking down at the crowds walking along the Crown Casino and every hour or so, when the flames ignited, we could hear the Whoooosh!! and then sense the fierce fire casting an orangey glow and pixie shadows all around us. Hehehe! I called it the fire-breathing dragons.

escadaraindrops SG

oh cool~ melbourne! I went there a few years back to visit my best friend. he's staying in the city, near melbourne central (:

Visit Great ocean road./zoo (yay!), the food in the city is not bad, the fast food (hungry jacks) portion is HUGE! Or just hang out in chinatown and play arcade games with the asian druggies! haha

How is the life there?
I heard aussia is kinda over-rated. No?

Rhonda SG

Life here? It's getting tougher.

In yesterday's newspaper, a two-bedroom house in Richmond sold for A$760,000 this month. Thing is, in 1996, the same house went for A$186,500 and in 1988, A$137,000. I don't think the price increase is due to renovations and improvements done to the interior. Property prices have become pretty crazy here over the past year.

Also in the same paper, "Inflation triple the official rate : Soaring prices have many families struggling to put food on the table". Examples were given, first price is for April 2007, second one's for April 2008, in A$ :

Toilet Paper, 8 x 190 sheets, $6.57 to $7.12 (pray for no diarrhoea! );

Frozen 1kg Chicken, $3.55 to $6.05;

White Bread, $3.23 to $3.60;

500g Butter, $3.58 to $4.25;

500g Processed Cheese, $4.85 to $5.92;

1 Dozen Eggs, $4.26 to $4.95;

150g Instant Coffee, $7.05 to $8.80; and

1 kg Laundry Detergent, $5.75 to $6.53.

And again, in the same paper, "Rising petrol prices have triggered a crime wave across Melbourne". Increasingly, it's been reported that people who pump up on petrol and then drive away without paying are mom's driving station wagons with kids inside and no longer just hooligans. Some of them use false plates too, to escape being caught on security camera.

Morale of the story : Life is not always greener on the other side!