travelling

St Kilda: Checking out the ‘burbs

September 22, 2011

When we stayed in St Kilda, we took the time to explore the neighborhood a little. It’s an inner city suburb, about 15 minutes out from the city and located right next to the bay. Sort of like our Marine Parade, with the beach on one side and a whole street of cafes and bars on the other.

I hear it’s got a thriving red light district but we didn’t see anything during our walks around town in the evenings, which was good, I guess. We did get yelled at by a bunch of white boys as they drove past us but then again, they could have been yelling at the cat nearby so I didn’t like chuck a rock at them or anything.

Besides that, everyone else seemed really nice and I liked that the streets were buzzing with energy.

We checked out the Makers Market on Saturday morning to do a spot of shopping. Unlike flea markets where you can sell all sorts of junk, everything sold at the Makers Market has to be well, made by the sellers. So there was stuff like hand-sewn dresses, paintings, crafts, jewelry and even soap.

In many of the stalls, the owners were sitting there making new stuff so I spent some time watching a really sweet lady sew a dress on the spot. She’s done it so many years that it takes her 20 minutes to complete one dress from start to finish.

I wanted to get one for Kirsten but the one I wanted was $70AUD, so I figured I’d try to make one myself. Seemed easy enough when she was doing it, so says me who got an F for my Home Econs. An actual F. All because the dress I made looked more like a moo moo. I tried negotiating my way into an E by telling my teacher that fashion was subjective and I’d wear it for a whole day if she gave didn’t fail me. She obviously couldn’t see my genius.

Anyway, back to St Kilda. I’m wrapping it up with pictures of the kids admiring flowers. They usually only see the tiny yellow ones in Singapore so when they saw all the different varieties of flora in Melbourne, they went a little mental like “SEE, PINK FLOWER! YELLOW! WHITE! PURPLE! SO MANY FLOWERS!!!”

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Rooming with Roomorama

September 21, 2011

I tried different sorts of accommodation options when I was Melbourne, ranging from the standard hotel room to a mountain lodge to an apartment and I have to say that my favorite was hands down, the apartment.

That’s the one I booked through Roomorama and it was a 2-bedroom apartment in St Kilda. I’d never tried home apartment rentals before this because I didn’t even know that had such a thing to begin with. I was familiar with the commercial studio apartments but this one was literally one of a kind. Each apartment on the site was done up differently and owned by different people so there was that personal, homely touch.

I loved the decor in our St Kilda apartment. Dark wooden floors, classy modern furnishings, a full kitchen with a washer and dryer, and 2 outdoor patios – one out front and one at the back.

We would whip up a feast of bacon, sausage, eggs and toast every morning and have it outside on the patio even though it was freezing cold. The kids would run around the courtyard picking fallen flowers to warm up while we sat back and sipped our hot coffees, feeling like life couldn’t get any better.

 

When the kids got too cold, they’d grab their cereal and run back into the apartment to take shelter for a while before coming back out again. This here is Kirsten finding herself a nice spot beside the heater and munching her cereal looking extremely contented.

And why yes, those are indeed clothes pegs we used on her hair.

I think the kids also really appreciated the living space. They had plenty of room to play hide and seek, peekaboo and pretty much go crazy in the apartment.

So much so that on the second day, the owners came by asking if we were having a party because the neighbors had complained about having too much noise. Then they saw the kids tearing around the house and we were all “yeah, they’re having a party alright.” Ok, to be fair, it was a nice quiet residential location so we did try to keep it down after that.

The amenities were also very good. It was thoughtful of them to include plush towels, toiletries, coffee and snacks so we had everything we needed for the stay right there. It really did feel like home.

The entire apartment sleeps 4 and cost only $179 a night, which is so much cheaper and more comfortable than getting 2 rooms in a hotel. Best part is that every new experience with Roomorama will be something different and I’m already browsing the site for ideas for our next trip.

Huge thanks to Roomorama for a sublime experience.

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travelling

Cowboys and Tumbleweeds

September 20, 2011

We just got back to Singapore yesterday after what was the best holiday the kids ever had. Ok it was basically the only holiday they’ve ever had but they’ve been raving about it non stop. Their eyes light up when they talk about the trip and Kirsten keeps reminding us about all the fun stuff she’s done.

“Yesterday we go see the penguins, remember? So cute right? Remember yesterday we sit the boat, and the boat go SO FAST! I like the boat. And the horse. And the tram. And the birds…”

I’ve still got lots of places to share and pictures to edit so those will be coming up over the next couple of days.

Today though, I bring to you the beauty of Churchill Island. Located right next to Phillip Island, it’s got a Heritage Farm that’s got the cutest cattle I’ve ever seen – Shetland Cattle, otherwise known as furry cattle. By me, at least. The long hair makes them all look like super cuddly soft toys, soft toys with horns that can pepper me with large holes.

During this trip, I’ve grown rather fond of farms. The smell isn’t half as bad as I thought it would be and all the animals are so relaxed all the time, just walking around eating their grass. I think if we lived in a farm, Truett would make a really good cowboy. He walked around exploring the place, petting the animals and blending right in.


And this was the chicken that Tru was chasing but then it decided to turn around and peck him on the hand. So obviously, he backed away from the crazy chicken. When Kirsten saw it, she ran up to the chicken and tried to tell him off, like “no no, you cannot peck kor kor.” The chicken couldn’t care less and tried to attack her as well, so they both turned and ran away from it.

We would have intervened but it was too hilarious to watch.

There were also wagon rides pulled by this beautiful shetland horse. She was so gentle that she ate right out of Tru’s hand. I assume it’s a she because I didn’t see the um, thing that boy horses usually have.

Totally loved the wide open spaces, the wild flowers, the pretty cattle, the wagon rides and the fresh air. But most of all, I loved watching them look like this.

PS. The second episode of Olay 360 is out here. It’s all about combating pigmentation with skincare and makeup so you get flawless, radiant skin. I know many of you enjoyed watching me cringe, so here’s more for your viewing pleasure.

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