So, I went to Melbourne again last week. I went there once in 2015. This time, I went alone. I did invited a few friends to tag along but it did not happen. So, there I was, catching my 8.30 pm flight to Melbourne alone with an orange backpack I borrowed from my housemate. It was my first time travelling with that kind of large backpack though, was quite nervous especially when the people from the airlines started to randomly weigh some of the passengers' carry on. So scared! Adrenaline rush all of the sudden but alhamdulillah all is well :)
I am not going to go into details of my trip. Just going to highlight a few things I think worth mentioning. So let's start :D
#1 Camberwell Market
I came here as well in 2015. I like this Sunday Market. Prolly because it is a very big Sunday market and this kind cannot be found in Sydney. Nothing has changed much since two years ago and I like it. Oh and I saw this two elderly couple performing at the same spot and still wearing the same hat! How heartwarming is that?
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2017 |
I was browsing through piles of old postcards when an old guy came to the stall and started talking to seller. He told the seller that he came in 1984 and not much has changed! That's like 33 years ago. That's a long time. He said he was impressed that the guys selling postcards are still here and well, I am impressed as well! Oh and I bought a few postcards and the seller said "Ta!". I know that brings the meaning 'Thank you' but this one I learnt from a friend. He told me that it is scouser accent. I guess Australian has it too.
#2 Mount Beauty
The journey to Mount Beauty was something I'll never forget. We passed through Myrtleford and Bright before we reached Mount Beauty. The towns were extremely beautiful and cannot be expressed in words or even pictures actually. Sorry I did not have a lot of pictures taken at these two towns because I was driving. There are a few good ones taken by Elia.
 |
| Myrtleford |
 |
| En route to Mount Beauty |
 |
| Autumn trees |
 |
| Bright |
Personally, I think I've overcame my fear. Many might not know but I am actually not quite confident with my driving and going to Mount Beauty, we have to pass through 7km of squiggly road. At first I feel like changing the driver but I just went through it. Alhamdulillah we safely arrived at Mount Beauty but sorry Elia, you got motion sickness after that! I'll practice more after this so that you'll be comfortable with me driving. Anyhow, I think I should be alright now to drive from KL to Kelantan. Feeling a little bit confident now hihi.
#3 Shepparton Mosque
For me, having the chance to visit local mosque while travelling is a blessing. It will be wonderful to visit the places where others used to praise God and do their 'amal. So, from Mount Beauty, we drove for another 2 hours and a half and thank God, when we arrived, there are two men closing the mosque. I quickly rushed to make sure we can still enter the mosque. So I opened the door and asked,
"Are you closing now?" - a little impatient here haha
'Assalamualaikum sister.' - slapped in the face Sab! You should have said you salam first!
"Waalaikumussalam. We wanted to pray for a while if you don't mind."
'Yeah, sure sister. Please come in. Take off your shoes and I'll show you the light switches so that you can turn them off when you are finished.'
Alhamdulillah. I cannot but keep thanking God for allowing me to pray in this mosque, 2 hours away from Melbourne City. I hope all of you can pray for blessings for this mosque. May Allah keep guiding them and make things easy for those people praying in this mosque.
 |
| Main prayer hall |
#4 Abbortsford Convent
Elia was planning to bring me to this place called The Lentils in Abbortsford Convent. At the café, you can have a pay-as-you-wish food. It's all vegan and it's buffet. So you just have to queue to get the foods and pay as much as you want when you are finished. The food is nice actually and not eating protein is kinda good of a practice sometimes, I think.
There are something I noticed here is that people who volunteered in the kitchen are mixed from all kinds of background. Knowing that, it is somehow pleasing and somewhat beautiful. Should have taken a picture there but nope guys, I was just into the moments a little too much haha. Sorry!
#5 Good Shepherd Chapel
Oh and we visited the Good Shepherd Chapel that situated just outside the convent. We went in not knowing what to expect but the inside was somewhat beautiful. There's a guy making his prayer and I saw he was a bit concern we both of us walked in. Well, prolly because we are wearing our hijabs on but we tried our best to act chill and still come in and wonder around the chapel. I took a few pictures inside the place, hopeful that it is not rude since I took pictures of the mosque as well. Here's what we saw.
 |
| A token we brought home |
#6 Coffee Hunting
Told myself that I want to drink as much coffee as I can in Melbourne and I did. Went to a lot of cafes and yeah, I am going to stop buying coffee for at least two weeks now to compensate for my ridiculous spending in Melbourne haha. But here's a few cafes you should prolly consider checking out:
- Industry Beans - Affogato here is da bombz!
- Little Rogue - The matcha cheesecake was absolutely delish and the coffee as well haha
- Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters - The flat white was nice, subtle taste I can say
- The League of Honest Coffee - This one has a very strong flavor. You can surely taste the acidity of the beans from a cup of flat white.
 |
| Some cafes you should try :D |
Okay, that's all for now from my Melbourne 2.0 trip. I'm glad I made this trip. It's educating in a sense I am still trying to gather my thoughts and organise them properly. I hope I would be able to properly articulate what I learnt from this trip in another post, not so soon though! Need to go back to reality and get good marks.
Ttyl. Oh and take care :)