taykexin: Wanderlust in Melbourne, Apr 2014!

When in Melbourne..
I love how i was able to embrace both city living and the great outdoors.

The highlights of my trip include -

The cherry on top of the icing got to be catching John Mayer live at Rod Laver Arena!!

I thought he would never come to Singapore,

so i was ready to fly all the way to Bluesfest for him.

Until by some miraculous stroke of luck,

a friend decided to give away his tickets cos he couldn't make it the concert in Melbourne!

I'm sooo blessed!! One off the bucket list!

John Mayer Live @ Rod Laver Arena

He is the reason why i took up guitar,

and why i've been practicing the same songs "Who Says" & "Stop This Train"

since Day 1 of guitar lesson.

He was the reason why i flew to Melbourne this time!!!

He came back with "Gravity" for encore which got errrbday screaming with joy.

Then the lights went out during his solo,

and all 8,000 fans knew exactly what to do.

The whole stadium was lit up with handphone lights :)

It was a beautiful starlit canvas against the sweet guitar sounds of John Mayer.

The ambience was PERFECTO!!!

Alright, John Mayer fans out there,
I've compiled some of the snippets of the performance here!!
Enjoy!!!

Whoop!!

Great Ocean Road & The Twelve Apostles

They say the best set out time for The Twelve Apostles is in the wee hours of the morning at 6am.

All i can say is that we TRIED, but we ended up waking at 10am lol.

Whatever pit stops i had planned all went down the drain.

We gobbled down some brekkie at our apartment and headed straight out!

Ready to set off!

We took turns to drive, and i must say it was soooo enjoyable driving along the GOR!!!

The speed limit was quite a pain in the ass though (limited at 100km/hr),

but the scenery along the drive was absolutely stunning!!!

Pit Stop 1 - Geelong Cunningham Pier

We could've stopped for some fish and chips but we were still full.

So we just took a stroll along the beautiful pier :)

Continued on until we randomly chanced upon a stretch of eateries.

We didn't even know where we were but we knew we were hungry & needed food.

Turns out there was a 60s' diner with a Classic Car garage at the back!

Freestone's Roadhaven

85 Great Ocean Road,

Aireys Inlet Victoria Australia

According to the owner,

the diner has made such a name for itself that vintage car owners would drive there

specially for food just because it also houses a classic car museum at the back of the diner.

An all-american diner ain't complete with milkshake and hotdog!

Onwards we went!

Stopped along the road for a photo op :)

The Twelve Apostles

A good 5 hours of drive later,

we reached our destination - The Twelve Apostles!

Check out the sun!

It's amazing how the colours of the sky change once the sun falls out of sight..

Sigh.. breath-taking!!

We watched the sunset beneath the horizon and caught it all on Time Lapse.

If you're wondering how, just download the TimeLapse app on your phone,

and Lumify app too for video editing.

Made a TimeLapse video of the
Great Ocean Road drive and sunset at 12 Apostles using Macbook Movie-maker!

It took us about 30mins standing in the freezing cold to grab the shot,

but i have say it was all worth it!

Yarra Valley

Set off for Yarra Valley the next morning with my new buy from kmart,

a super comfy panda overall!!

We were greeted by an AMAZING sight of autumn leaves and red trees during our drive in :D

We were rushing for the 3pm guided winery tour!

But first... Let me take MANY selfies!!!

Domaine Chandon (Moet & Chandon's Australian Winery) was nestled right in Yarra Valley

and specializes in producing sparkling and still wines.

At the end of the guided tour, we found ourselves at the Green Point Room

facing a spectacular view of the Yarra Ranges!!

Spotted an elderly couple spending a relaxing afternoon & having wine

in front of the Green Point Vineyard!!

Man if only my retired life is that sweet..

We ordered a tasting platter to try!

And of course we brought it out in the sun and enjoyed the wine

in front of the vineyard!!

We just had to!

Ahh... the life!

Enchanted Maze @ Mornington Peninsula

The drive up to the Enchanted Maze led us to some pretty amazing view!

So we made a pit stop for some photo opportunities

along the Mornington Peninsula Freeway & Arthurs Seat Scenic Road :)

Travel the world.. with Hummel Sports :D

Thanks Hummel for this comfy and gorgeous pair of trainers!!

There we are... The Enchanted Maze!

It was really an attraction made more for the kids.. haha

We headed straight for the Hedge Maze,

which was the biggest maze in the adventure park!

Kids could cheat and go by the hedge passageways..

What did i tell you about kids and the maze hahaha

Maze adventurers were also tasked with finding 4 buddha heads within the confusing hedges

before they actually find their way out of it.

Pretty installations within the park!

Made our way to the tube slides whee!!

Everybody's gotta drag their own tubes up to the top of the slide..

Arthurs Seat State Park @ Mornington Peninsula

I took a photo of this tree merely because i loved how hauntingly beautiful it looked.

Well, we went into the state park solely for one purpose,

and that was to do some Geocaching!

If you haven't heard about Geocaching, it will possibly change the way you travel!!

Geocaching is a real-life, outdoor treasure hunt game using GPS-enabled device.

Just download the app on your phone, and search for the treasures.

With 6 million geocachers worldwide, treasures are hidden all around us!

Find out more about it here www.geocaching.com

The "treasure"

St Kilda Luna Park

Whee!!! My first at a retro themed park!

Entrance was free so we walked about inside even though we didn't take any rides.

Gloomy gloomy day!

The Ang moh snow cones looked kinda pathethic compared to our red bean grass jelly ice kachang.

Asian dessert rock more!

This was some scary looking shit.

The worst thing is their heads swing left and right... eerie!!!

St Kilda Breakwater

Head on over to St Kilda Breakwater to see Penguins in their natural habitat!!

We spotted a few penguins hidden behind the breakwater rocks!!!

Our humble abode @ Prahran

It was my first time booking an accommodation with Airbnb,

and i couldn't be happier!

Located at 8 Williams Road,

this cosy apartment was honestly not very convenient to get to when travelling on foot.

We alighted at Windsor Station and pushed our luggages a good 20mins

before we finally reached our doorsteps.

However, it doesn't matter if you're driving, which was exactly what we did for the rest of the trip.

Other than the location,

our apartment was very comfortable and nicely decorated!

Our host Robert was also really easy-going

and we got to chat up with him many times during our stay :)

Check out the Balcony..

The kitchen was just the right size.

Breakfast is provided daily; there's muesli, cereal and milk in the fridge.

We also had all we needed for a mini cook-out,

which was what we did the night after John Mayer's concert :D

Mini cook-out!

Tadahh!!

Good thing that the living room table was equipped with candles and flowers..

Romantic dinner for 2 was easy to achieve!

Living Room in the day...

Bedroom

Did i mention, Robert has 2 ADORABLE KITTIES?!?!

I swear to you i'm NOT a cat person, and i usually react to cats with nonchalence.

But these little kitties totally changed my view towards cats,

and in fact made me fall in love with them!

Meet Massimo!

They were super attention-seeking and would always sneaked into our room,

climb all over our beds, and make themselves comfortable.

And.. meet Felix!

He. Is. So. ADORBS.

What is up with his ACT CUTE FACE OMGGGGG kill me already.

If you like what you saw,

click here to make your booking on Airbnb or contact Robert directly!

And these were the highlights from my trip!!!

Read about my Cafe haunts here in my other blogpost!

I miss Melbourne already :'(

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Wanderlust in Melbourne, Apr 2014!