April20
turned the alarm off before i slept - was really tired from my saturday’s activities. still, i woke up at 7am and was out by 9. my first destination was st kilda esplanade for their arts & craft market. i got into the city and was walking towards the tram station when i stumbled onto another arts & craft market. groovy! wandered about and got happily engrossed with the stalls. i love love love the handmade soaps that are so easily available here. the varieties! and scarves! if i stayed in a temperate country i would have so many scarf buying frenzies.
as i got to the end of that market, i found myself right in front of the national gallery of victoria. chewa said i can’t leave melbourne without stepping into this museum. and since i was right there, i thought - why not? walked briskly through some of the exhibitions. saw some ridiculous contemporary art, one of which featured a framed mirror and titled - the art of seeing. i kid you not. these artists are either too lost in zone, or plainly taking us for a ride. the asian exhibits were interesting. i saw one bas relief and could immediately tell it was from banteay srei. the exhibit i enjoyed most was the Dressed to Rule exhibit which featured imperial robes of china. well worth the visit.
by the time i finished browsing through all the exhibits, it was afternoon. i took the tram and went to st kilda. the arts & craft market was lovely to walk about it, similar to the one i stumbled on earlier. i ended in acland street and did what people do there - stare at cakes, and ate them. probably the most expensive cake i’ve ever eaten, and certainly not the best. saw a chocolatier and couldn’t resist having another cup of hot chocolate spiced with chilli. san churro does it differently, they add cinnamon as well, which was lovely. a chocolate in their shop caught my eye - dark chocolate with absinthe. bought it, tried it, liked it.
after that, i jumped into the tram and headed back into the city to check koorie heritage. i wanted to see more indigenous art. ngv ian potter centre had a better collection. by then it was 3.30pm. figured i had time to stroll brunswick street. sat on the city circle tram, and tram 112 to reach there. well worth the effort. the cafes and eateries around here had attitude and it was very me. if i stayed in melbourne i can see myself spending a lot of time in this area. i like brunswick more than lygon street. munched through a slice of lamb pizza while walking around, and it was such delicious pizza!
at the end of brunswick street, i checked the clock. it was 4.40pm. i wondered whether i was in time for sunset at st kilda. decided to go anyway. jumped onto a tram and off i went. by the time i reached the beach the sun has begun its descend. i strolled to the rocky ends of the pier. lots of people were fishing along it, and seagulls hovered. on one side was the beach, on the other the city and docked yachts. it made a lovely view. i watched the sun till it dipped and disappeared, then walked to a small platform and waited for penguins. it was cold and very windy, but the prospects of seeing wild penguins made it all endurable. true enough, some swam right up to me. if i reached out i probably could pet them.
i made my way back to the city - shivering but happily invigorated from the experience. i completed my souvenir shopping and went home.
gosh i am tired! gonna crash into bed. i typed all that in a daze, not sure whether i made any sense at all. anyway, pictures tomorrow! night people.
