Melbourne - Day 2 (Flinders Street Railway Station - St. Paul's Cathedral - Hosier Lane - AC/DC Lane - The Scots' Church - The Block Arcade - Union Lane - Chinatown - State Library of Victoria - Melbourne Central - St. Francis Church - Melbourne Town Hall)
Chyme bought us croissant the day before so that we can prepare our own breakfast the next day. It's a working day for them and they left early in the morning after sending Ryan to school. So I made croissant with ham and cheese. It's super easy to make and it tastes good too. Just placed it inside the sandwich maker, wait a couple of minutes then it's ready. Love the melted cheese and the crispy toasted croissant.
We left home around 10.50am and walked to Ringwood Station which is just 10 minutes walking distance from Chyme's house. We took the train to Flinders Street Railway Station and the journey took approximately 50 minutes from Ringwood Station.
We left home around 10.50am and walked to Ringwood Station which is just 10 minutes walking distance from Chyme's house. We took the train to Flinders Street Railway Station and the journey took approximately 50 minutes from Ringwood Station.
Flinders Street Railway Station
Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, located just opposite Flinders Street Railway Station. It's a beautiful church and admission is free.
St Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral
Address:
St. Paul's Cathedral (Free admission)
Flinders Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
Visiting hours: Mon to Fri - 8.30am to 6pm, Sat - 9am to 6pm, Sun - between services
Hosier Lane is just 3 minutes walking distance (220m) from St. Paul's Cathedral, one of the main tourist attractions in Melbourne. It's quite crowded with tourists taking pictures with the colourful grafitti.
Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane
If you Googled world best croissant, basically Lune came into the picture. This shop is just 1 minute walking distance (120m) from Hosier Lane. They only accept card payment. The shop wasn't very crowded and there's no queue at the counter while we were there. There's five types of croissants for you to choose from - traditional ($ 5.90), pain au chocolat ($ 6.60), ham and gruyere ($ 9.50), lemon curd cruffin ($ 7.50) or almond ($ 9.50). Since both of us love almond we decided to go for almond croissants. There's no seat but there's a high tables where you can stand and eat. They also offer free chilled sparkling water. The almond croissant is crunchy and fluffy but it's a bit sweet for my liking.
Lune
Lune - card payment only
Assorted croissants
Assorted croissants
Almond - $ 9.50
Almond
Address:
Lune Russell Street
Shop 16, 161 Collins Street,
Melbourne 3000,
Australia
Opening hours: Mon to Fri - 7am to 3pm or sold out, Sat & Sun closed
AC/DC lane is just 2 minutes walking distance (220m) from Lune. It's a colourful street named after the legendary Australian rock band. Good thing is the street is not as crowded as Hosier Lane. So you can take your own sweet time to pose in front of your favourite graffiti spot.
AC/DC lane is just 2 minutes walking distance (220m) from Lune. It's a colourful street named after the legendary Australian rock band. Good thing is the street is not as crowded as Hosier Lane. So you can take your own sweet time to pose in front of your favourite graffiti spot.
AC/DC Lane
On the way to The Block Arcade, we passed by Scots' Church just 4 minutes walking distance (300m) from AC/DC Lane. The Block Arcade is a shopping arcade located not far away from Scots' Church. It has a beautiful architecture with its famous mosaic floor.
The Scots' Church
Address:
The Scots' Church
156 Collins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
The Block Arcade
Address:
The Block Arcade
282 Collins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
We stumbled upon Union Lane on our way to Chinatown. It's another street art just like Hosier and AC/DC Lane. We saw a graffiti artist or "tagger" creating a mural on the wall using a spray paint can.
Union Lane
Graffiti artist / tagger creating a mural on the wall
We had our lunch at Pacific BBQ Cafe located in Chinatown. We decided to share a plate of rice mixed with duck, soy chicken, crispy roast pork and BBQ sweet pork. Soy chicken tasted okay but BBQ sweet pork doesn't taste good to me. The duck tasted gamey and the pork tasted a little too strong on the pork flavour.
While the waitress was clearing the next table, she accidentally dropped a cup of milk tea and it splashed all over my cream coloured based blouse and jacket. Luckily my grey jacket is waterproof but not my blouse. I can't get rid of the milk tea stain on my blouse and the waitress felt so guilty. She kept on apologizing to me. Later on, her manager came to our table and told us that our meal is free or charge. Well, there's such thing as a free lunch but I smell like milk tea the whole day.
Chinatown
Chinatown
Pacific BBQ Cafe
Rice mixed with four kinds (duck, soy chicken, crispy roast pork and BBQ sweet pork) - $ 18 (free of charge)
Address:
Pacific BBQ Cafe
213, Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
After our late lunch we walked over to the State Library of Victoria which is just 4 minutes walking distance (300m) from Pacific BBQ Cafe. One of the main attraction in the library is the beautiful reading room with skylight dome. We can see many photographers and their cameras inside the library. The best view of the library dome is at the 4th floor. However, we were unlucky that day as that particular floor is temporarily closed to the public.
State Library of Victoria
State Library of Victoria
La Trobe reading room dome
La Trobe reading room dome
State Library of Victoria
Address:
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
Next to the State Library of Victoria is Melbourne Central shopping centre. There's a bird clock that puts on a show and play music every hour. We were lucky that the timing was just right when we were there. The clock strikes 4pm and the bird clock starts putting on a show.
Next to the State Library of Victoria is Melbourne Central shopping centre. There's a bird clock that puts on a show and play music every hour. We were lucky that the timing was just right when we were there. The clock strikes 4pm and the bird clock starts putting on a show.
Melbourne Central
Bird clock
Address:
Melbourne Central
Cnr La Trobe Street & Swanston Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000.
Australia
It's time for dessert and here we are at Hong Kong Boi located on Franklin Street just 7 minutes walking distance (600m) from Melbourne Central. Only one table was occupied when we walked in. We have no idea what to order and asked the friendly staff to give us a recommendation. He suggested their best seller Old Time Buddies consists of dark chocolate, hazelnut soft gelato, choc chip eggettes, florentine (mixture of nuts and candied fruit coated with sweet sticky mixture of honey and sugar), feuilletine (thin sweetened crepes) and banana compote (banana cooked and preserved in syrup). It's delicious! My favourite was their hazelnut soft gelato. It's smooth and not too sweet.
Hong Kong Boi
Old time buddies - $ 11.90
Address:
Hong Kong Boi
Shop 2/155 Franklin Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
We decided to have early dinner at Mamasita since reviews said that we must go early to avoid the crowd. On the way to Mamasita we dropped by St. Francis Church, the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Victoria. It's built between 1841 and 1845 on the site of an earlier church as a simple brick Gothic style church designed by architect Samuel Jackson. Along the way, we passed by Melbourne Town Hall as well.
St. Francis Church
St. Francis Church
Address:
St. Francis Church
326 Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
Melbourne Town Hall
Address:
Melbourne Town Hall
90-130 Swanston Street,
Melbourne VIC 300,
Australia
Mamasita is situated above a 7/11 at the top of a stairwell at Collins Street. It's one of Melbourne's favourite Mexican restaurant and glad that we went there early. Since we didn't make any reservation, they have a table for us only if we can finished our food and leave by 7pm. So basically we have less than an hour to dine in.
The staffs are very friendly and they recommended us to try their char grilled corn off the cob which is a must to order. Besides that, we ordered pork cochinita taco that comes with pickled onion, habanero (chili pepper), crema and coriander. The char grilled corn is charred, smoky and spicy. Pork tacos on the other hand was just okay. We didn't have the chance to try other food as we're quite full. Hopefully we get the chance to come back again in the near future...
Mamasita
Restaurant ambience
Char grilled corn off the cob, queso, lime and chipotle mayo - $ 11
Pork cochinita taco, pickled onion, habanero, crema and coriander - $ 15
Address:
Mamasita (situated above a 7/11 at the top of a stairwell)
Level 1, 11 Collins Street,
Melbourne CBD
Opening hours: Mon to Thu - 5pm to 10pm, Fri & Sat - 12.30pm to 11pm, Sun - 12.30pm to 10pm
We took a train back to Ringwood from Flinders Street Railway Station around 7.50pm and the journey took us around one hour. Chyme offered to come and picked us up at the Ringwood Station and glad that she did as we're too tired to walked back home. That night, both of us started having sore throat and mild coughing. The worst thing about travelling is getting sick and our nightmare just begun...
We took a train back to Ringwood from Flinders Street Railway Station around 7.50pm and the journey took us around one hour. Chyme offered to come and picked us up at the Ringwood Station and glad that she did as we're too tired to walked back home. That night, both of us started having sore throat and mild coughing. The worst thing about travelling is getting sick and our nightmare just begun...
Flinders Street Railway Station (night view)
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