Tag: Fitzroy

Melbourne (Day 71): Fitzroy and Lucy Liu

May 10, 2016

Each morning we seem to wake up around 9:45am. We can’t seem to get over the 2 hour jet lag from being in Asia for 2 months. We’re both feeling a tad under the weather so being able to take it easy is helping. Or maybe our bodies realize we aren’t on the go and that we are, and will be, around doctors for a good chunk of our Australia leg.

We finished off most of our groceries for lunch today and did a couple more bookings for Australia. We booked a flight from Sydney to New Zealand on Air Emirates’ A380, the price of the ticket was only $10 more expensive than flying Virgin Air. We’re both looking forward to flying Emirates since we don’t get the opportunity very often (Tim: and more importantly, to fly on an A380).

Tim made me some vegetable soup
Tim made me some vegetable soup
Spaghetti day 2 with corn on the cob
Spaghetti day 2 with corn on the cob while we trip plan

Our plan for today was to explore the Fitzroy area of Melbourne. Fitzroy is an area north of downtown and is about a 10 minute tram ride from the apartment. We were there at night while eating at the Napier, but we weren’t able to see much else. The area is known for its boutique shops and cafes, making it the most hipster area of Melbourne (and probably the Southern Hemisphere).

Skipping Vinegar Girl sign. Was the first animated neon sign in Australia.
Skipping Vinegar Girl sign. Was the first animated neon sign in Australia.
Melbourne trams
Melbourne trams

We took the tram down and started walking along Gertrude Street and ended up finding the Museum of Melbourne and the Royal Exhibition Building. The Royal Exhibition Building is a beautiful Victorian World Heritage building.

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Royal Exhibition Building
Big trees surrounding the Royal Exhibition Centre
Big trees surrounding the Royal Exhibition Building
Outside the Royal Exhibit Centre
Outside the Royal Exhibition Building
It's Fall here, but it still looks pretty green to me
It’s Fall here, but it still looks pretty green to me

We walked through Fitzroy, going down Brunswick, Smith, and Johnston Street. The Fitzroy area reminds me of the Capitol Hill area in Seattle. Very hipster and has a certain grunge feel to it.

There are a lot of houses in Melbourne that look like this. Cast iron finishing that remind us of New Orleans.
There are a lot of houses in Melbourne that look like this. Cast iron finishing that remind us of New Orleans.
Majority of corner buildings have graffiti art on them
Majority of corner buildings have graffiti/murale art on them. Saw this one while walking on Gertrude St.
Cool looking door while walking on Brunswick.
Cool looking door while walking on Brunswick St.
Perseverance Hotel on Brunswick St.
Perseverance Hotel on Brunswick St.
Welcome to Fitzroy! (on Johnston between Brunswick and Smith St.)
Welcome to Fitzroy! (on Johnston between Brunswick and Smith St.)
Restaurant on Smith St. such a bright murale
Restaurant on Smith St. with such a bright mural

There are a lot of neat restaurants and small coffee shops in the area. A lot of the boutiques and some restaurants were closed on Tuesdays so the streets also seemed a bit quieter. I could imagine how busy this area gets on weekends. We stopped by Messina, a gelato place that was recommended by Chloe and Lonely Planet. It’s supposed to be the best gelato in Melbourne. We tried a couple of flavours and ended up sharing a double scoop of apple pie and salted caramel white chocolate. Everything at Messina is made with fresh ingredients in the back, so that being said, it was really good gelato.

Messina on Smith St.
Messina on Smith St.
Some of our delicious choices
Some of our delicious choices
Our double scoop cone was $6.80 AUD = $6.48 CAD
Our double scoop cone was $6.80 AUD = $6.48 CAD. You can see the white chocolate shavings on the bottom.

After finishing our gelato at Messina, we walked back to the tram and made our way back to the apartment to rest up before dinner tonight. On our way back we walked behind the apartment complex and walked on the path along the Yarra River (a River that runs through Melbourne). We also went to check out the pool and gym area. It’s too bad the weather wasn’t warmer. It would be nice to relax by the pool. Maybe on the way back in June (Tim: it’s only going to get colder…).

Yarra River walkway behind the apartment
Yarra River walkway behind the apartment
Hot tub
Hot tub
Lap pool
Lap pool

We waited for Marcus to come back home from work and then got ready to go to a popular Melbourne restaurant called Lucy Liu. Apparently there is no affiliation with the actress. Lucy Liu is an Asian fusion restaurant and one of the “hottest” restaurants in the city. Considering it was a Tuesday night and we arrived just before 8pm, we still had to wait about 20 minutes. It’s safe to say it’s a popular place. (Tim: When people describe restaurants, cafes, or bars in Melbourne, they always sound like Bill Hader’s Stefon on SNL to me).

Entrance to Lucy Liu is on Flinder's Lane, a cobble stoned alley just off a main street downtown
Entrance to Lucy Liu is on Flinder’s Lane, a cobble stoned alley just off a main street downtown
My passionfruit ginger and mint mocktail and Tim's beer
My passionfruit ginger and mint mocktail and Tim’s beer
Calamari in a green mango salad ($18 AUD)
Calamari in a pickled mango salad ($18 AUD) – we didn’t realize it basically has a papaya salad in this.
Fried chilli chicken ribs ($15)
Fried chilli chicken ribs ($15)
Tempura soft shell crab with a lot of fresh Thai basil and jalapenos ($16 AUD)
Tempura soft shell crab with a lot of fresh Thai basil and jalapenos ($16 AUD)
Papaya salad ($17 AUD)
Papaya salad ($17 AUD)
Short rib rendang curry ($36 AUD)
Short rib rendang curry ($36 AUD)
Tim and Marcus
Tim and Marcus
Vietnamese coffee with layers of Chinese doughnut ($16 AUD)
Vietnamese coffee ice cream with layers of Chinese doughnut ($16 AUD)

Everything we had at Lucy Liu was really good. I actually underestimated how big the portions would be since it was such a trendy place. We were really full half way through the short rib curry. Tim’s favourite dish was the tempura soft shell crab and I really enjoyed the curry.

Tomorrow’s our last full day in Melbourne before setting off on our Australian adventure. Marcus is concerned that we haven’t experienced how cool Melbourne is. We told him we already know it’s cool and that it’s probably too cool for us. I joked around with him that we’ll come back another time with a better (non-backpacking) wardrobe.

Steps today: 11,000

Melbourne (Day 69): Queen Vic, Graffiti and Pub Food

May 8, 2016

After such a beautiful day on Saturday, we woke up to grey skies and rain. We took our time getting ready this morning and I had vegemite on toast for the first time. I wasn’t a fan of it. After doing a load of laundry and throwing the clothes in the dryer (so nice to be able to use a dryer again), we headed into town.

Our first stop was Queen Victoria Market, the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. The market is quite large with different areas: seafood, meat, deli, produce, clothing & gifts, and a food court area. We did a quick loop around the different areas and went towards the food court and food trucks in the back. There weren’t as many food vendors to choose from for lunch as I had imagined. We decided to try Sri Lankan food and shared a roti and chicken plate. The dish had a lot of good flavours and was very satisfying.

Outside Queen Victoria Market
Outside Queen Victoria Market
Deli area was full of deli meats, cheese and olives
Deli area was full of deli meats, cheese, and olives
Clothing and knick knack vendors. Lots of leather goods.
Clothing and knick knack vendors. Lots of leather goods.
Sri Lankan lunch
Sri Lankan lunch
Sri Lankan food
Sri Lankan food. We ordered the Devilled Chicken (like a chicken tandoori stir fry)
Devilled chicken with roti for $12 AUD ($11.45 CAD)
Devilled chicken with roti for $12 AUD ($11.45 CAD)

I read that the doughnut truck at Queen Vic was good, so we lined up for doughnuts. They come in bags of 5, and you can either get raspberry jelly filled or plain. Since they have such high turnover, the doughnuts were super fresh and delicious.

Doughnut Truck at Queen Vic Market
American Doughnut Kitchen truck at Queen Vic Market
5 jelly filled doughnuts for $5.50 AUD = $5.25 CAD
5 jelly filled doughnuts for $5.50 AUD = $5.25 CAD
Produce part of the market. Pretty fair prices for fruits and vegetables
Produce part of the market.
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Pretty reasonable prices for fruits and vegetables

Since we got to the market fairly late in the day (the market closes at 4), many vendors were pushing their meats and produce pretty hard. You can get some good deals at the market on Sundays at 3pm. Queen Vic closes on Mondays, so it makes sense that they’re trying to sell off all their inventory for the week.

Australian soda drink. 7-eleven here is really expensive (like $4.90 for a bottle of coke), so we went to a Vietnamese grocery store and this was only $2.75 AUD ($2.60 CAD)
Australian soda drink. 7-eleven here is really expensive (like $4.90 for a bottle of coke), so we went to a Vietnamese grocery store by the market and this was only $2.70 AUD ($2.57 CAD)
Hot Star and Gong Cha. Just like Taipei except obviously more than double the prices.
Hot Star and Gong Cha. Just like Taipei except obviously more than double the prices.

After the market, we walked around some of the streets and side streets in the main shopping area. There are a lot of side streets and alleys in Melbourne that have a lot of personality. There’s a lot of graffiti art in the city… it’s a hipster’s Instagram’s photoshoot’s dream.

Alleys around Melbourne, reminds me of Gastown
Alleys around Melbourne, reminds me of Gastown
A pretty nice H&M
A pretty nice H&M
Myer, a department store in Melbourne
Myer, a department store in Melbourne
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Graffiti art around Melbourne’s lanes and alleys
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Not wearing the right outfit for this graffiti photoshoot
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And neither is Tim
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Union Lane in downtown Melbourne
My attempt at being artsy
My attempt at being artsy

We eventually made our way down to Federation Square, which was broadcasting an AFC (Australian Football League) Australian rules football game. It’s an interesting sport that we don’t quite understand (Tim: I’m pretty sure I understand it, I just think it’s a wacky sport). Tim describes it best when he says they are basically playing quidditch (like in Harry Potter) without the brooms.

Flinder's Station
Flinders Station
Flinder's Street Station
Flinders Street Station
Federal Square
Federation Square
AFC playing on the big screen
AFC playing on the big screen
Federation Square with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background
Federation Square with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background
Macca's (McDonald's in Australia)
Macca’s (McDonald’s in Australia)
Sushi in Melbourne. Instead of cones they have 3/4 length roll sushi
Sushi in Melbourne. Instead of cones they have 3/4 length roll sushi

We took the tram back to the apartment and rested up a little before dinner with Chloe and Alex. We were meeting them in an area fairly close by called Fitzroy. Apparently Fitzroy is the most hipster area in Melbourne. We’ll have to walk around the area during the day time to check it out.

We met at the Napier Hotel, which is a restaurant and pub (I learned that pubs here are called hotels). It’s nice to be able to visit with Chloe while in Melbourne and for Tim to finally meet her. Since she and her boyfriend have been living abroad for two years, I’ve never actually met her boyfriend, Alex, yet. Marcus also came for dinner, which was good because he’s such a nice guy.

Napier Hotel (Pub)
Napier Hotel (Pub)

Apparently pubs in Victoria serve chicken parma (chicken parmigianas) and its a very popular dish. I tried one with kangaroo meat instead of ham and Tim had the kangaroo pie. Both dishes were pretty tasty and since the kangaroo meat on mine was covered in tomato sauce and cheese, I could hardly tell it was any different than beef. The portions here were quite large. We haven’t had portions this big since Seoul.

Chicken parma with a layer of smoked kangaroo ($25 AUD = $23.80 CAD)
Chicken parma with a layer of smoked kangaroo ($25 AUD = $23.80 CAD)
Kangaroo pie ($18 AUD = $17.15 CAD)
Kangaroo pie ($18 AUD = $17.15 CAD)
Us with Alex and Chloe. I think you could tell who lives in Melbourne and who doesn't
Us with Alex and Chloe. I think you could tell who lives in Melbourne and who doesn’t

We sat and chatted for a while and then were told the pub closes at 10pm so we got up and left. Restaurants and stores in Australia close really early. We learned from Chloe that there’s weekend wages in retail, so they get paid time and a half on the weekend and even more on Sundays – no wonder they close early.

Marcus dropped Chloe and Alex off at their place and we headed back to the apartment to have an earlier night. We’ll probably see them again before we leave Melbourne.

Steps today: 10,000