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 - 

John Mayer Live Concert | The Great Ocean Road Drive | Sunset @ The Twelve Apostles | Wine tasting at Yarra Valley | Stargazing & watching Penguins at Philip Island | Enchanted Maze @ Mornington Peninsula | Geocaching at Arthurs Seat State Park | St Kilda Luna Park | Our awesome stay at the Airbnb accommodation |

Cafe-hunting in Melbourne, Apr 2014!

I was in Melbourne last year for a short 2 days, and i didn't think i would be back so soon..
But i did!
And this time it was for John Mayer Concert!!!

I've always wanted to catch him live ever since "Where The Light Is",
and i think i had one down from my bucket list this year!

There's so much to talk about for this trip,
but first, a trip to Melbourne is wasted without a pilgrimage to their cafes.
I was in coffee paradise!
Read about my other cafe finds in Melbourne last year here!

St Ali Coffee Roasters

12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne | 7am-6pm daily | www.stali.com.au

St Ali is my favourite cafe because of its location, great food and great coffee. 

It's really a no brainer! 

Do a little search on Melbourne Cafes and St Ali comes up tops! 

My Mexican Cousin

Secret recipe corn fritters w poached eggs, 

grilled haloumi, rocket and tomato relish.

This is their mainstay on the menu and St Ali's most popular dish.
You can read more about it here!

Dr. Marty's Dreamtime 

Dr Marty's crumpets w buttermilk ricotta, wattle seed, native pepper & red gum honey 

It's my first time trying crumpets, we don't really see that in Singapore. 

Crumpets are pancakes cooked on a griddle, 

therefore they have a harder but spongy texture similar to pancakes. 

The nooks and crannies are there for a purpose - 

to absorb the melted butter and other delicious toppings!

I kinda like them!! 

Someone bring them into Singapore please! 

Wanderlust in Queendsland, Gold Coast (:

It's 6:11am at the Brisbane Airport,
i've not been awake so early since forever,
let alone drinking some marble mocha at a cafe,
waiting for the check-in gates to open.

The past 5 days had been such a great bonding experience
with my folks from the Tay Family!
Us 3 families took the leap of faith in free and easy travelling,
(a concept foreign to my package-tour-going parents),
and took the high road to adventurous car-renting, map-reading, and alternative vacation home wanderlust joy!

I'm soo glad we did it because the stay was AWESOME.

We stayed in a 2-storey mansion,

my dad was the chaffeur for trip, 

we cousins bonded over late-night chats/card games/national day parade viewing, 

while our parents bonded over the casino,

and we all had fab home-cooked dinners thanks to our aunts! 

Here are some highlights of our trip! 

Car rental 
My dad was the appointed chaffeur of this trip,
upon touch down we headed straight to pick our 12 seater car
from Cut Price Car Rental

My awesome papa, best driver ever!

Thank god for GPS, we were able to navigate around
without the use of maps (:

It was seriously Cut Price value at 775aud for 6 days,
inclusive of premium insurance.
It's really cheap considering there were 10 of us in all,
definitely way better than taking cab in australia!!

Our dream vacation home 

After an hour's drive, we reached our vacation home at 10 Grant Place. 

The exterior of our humble abode was a sight to behold!