Another day, another delayed blog post. Ever since school started, I’ve just been putting it off since I’ve got school most of the time. Then on weekends, I try to do as much as I can to really experience Melbourne fully to the very second. It’s been working out pretty well so far and every weekend, I’ve had some functions to attend to (even if it’s just a hangout with friends)!

Remember how I told you that one night when I decided to make friends paid off? Well, it sure did in the first week of school! A couple of friends led to another group of friends led to more new friends! (I sound pretty sad right now) Soon enough, I was making friends daily since all of the exchange students are so open to meeting new people/each other. I pretty much have these friends that I hang out with most of the time and I really enjoy the group! On the first Monday night of school, the Melbourne Uni exchange club called MUSEX (They call themselves Musexuals, I know), had a welcome party at this club literally right beside my residence. It was crazy. It was great. The deal of the night was to toss a coin against the bartender and if you guess it right, you get your drink for free and if not, you had to pay. When I got there, I bought a guiness with some friends to start the night right and then when the game started, so did my winning streak. 😛

Win #1: Vodka Coke

Win #2:  Delicious Apple Cider which led me to…

Win #3:  Equally as delicious Pear Cider (+ my friend’s champagne)

The night felt wonderful, fresh and the atmosphere was great. I guess alcohol makes any place, any time awesome. 😉

Luckily, I was able to wake up the next day and make it in time for my 11am class. The one thing I learned about this uni is that the people love BBQs. There were literally at least one BBQ every day of the first week and the best part of it all, it was all FREE!

Later I learned that the student union charges each student around $200 per year and that money goes towards the free BBQs. Hehe too bad I’m an exchange student and I didn’t need to pay for that. The free BBQs go on every Monday and Tuesday and it comes with live music too! What more can you ask for to make your beginning of the weeks bearable?!

I tried visiting the libraries more to see which one I would like to study in during finals and so far, I’ve only seen Bailieu. The first floor is pretty neat with these cool studying spaces but the inside decor for the other floors are pretty bland and I don’t like studying in places with no colour. #highmaintenanceme

Kim, my friend who’s also from Vancouver but doing an exchange at Monash Uni, came over and we went out for dinner at a place down the street called Coconut House. I noticed that there were an overwhelming amount of Malaysian and Chinese restaurants here but hardly any Korean/Japanese. So Coconut House was a random venture as the outside of the restaurant looked presentable so we decided to try it out. Even though Kim can’t take spiciness, I’m training her little by little and I think it’s working out well haha. We both got laksas (It was Kim’s first time) and got some delicious drinks to cool us down!

On the Thursday, we had services and societies day at school. I didn’t learn much about the services but I sure got a ton of free stuff!

I also learned that there was a bubble tea shop right inside the student union house so I don’t need to trek to Chinatown to satisfy my bbt cravings!

Something cool and random that a couple of friends and I noticed one day was that the Australia coins had profiles of Queen Elizabeth as she ages. So as the years went up, so did the number of her double chins. (Don’t blame me, blame the coins)

On the same Thursday night, MUSEX had a welcome dinner, but the tickets sold out fast, so we decided to have our own little dinner get together before the afterparty at Bimbo Deluxe. We mostly came for the $4 pizzas again, the jovial atmosphere, and that the afterparty venue was only a block away.

I swear I came to Melbourne just to take more food photos. I simply have too many photos of food adventures that I went on and not enough actual adventures! You can say that I had a great time at the afterparty but that was the beginning of my weeks of being ill. A couple of friends and I got hungry afterwards and started wandering for a McDonald’s. The harsh wind plus my lack of clothing led to sickness but the chicken nuggets were well worth it!

Friday comes clubs day where all the clubs gather together at north court and you look and choose what to sign up for. This was also the day that I realized this university housed a lot of religious people because I swear, 75% of the them were religious clubs. IT was kind of lame that you had to sign up for a lot of the clubs right there and then, so if you didn’t sign up there, you probably won’t see them ever again unless you really stalk them yourselves. My friend convinced me into signing up for this Asian club (how typical) called Australasian. It shall be interesting … But on the other hand, I’m seriously thinking of joining the surf club (gotta fulfill my goal here)!

On the same Friday, my friend Julie, a local, had a spare ticket to the Frank Ocean concert and wanted to grab dinner beforehand so we did just that at Chef Lagenda (another Malaysian joint!). The food was delicious but the news that came beforehand wasn’t so great. Apparently, Frank Ocean got sick a few days before the first concert and really teared his vocal chords on Thursday night so he had to cancel the rest of his gigs in Australia (and later found out he cancelled Osheaga in Montreal as well)! I was really devastated but what can you do, I hope he gets better soon!

On Saturday, the girl I met on the plane (Yoori) took me to high tea and them tour guided me around the Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne. The high tea was exquisite and obviously, flavourful. And I swear, they have macarons everywhere…

She then proceeded to take me to this secret viewpoint of the city that really competes with the Eureka Skydeck (a tourist spot for a overlooking point of the whole city). Its a secret so I can’t really tell you where it is but I can say that it’s in the washroom of a very fancy hotel. Here are some photos for evidence. 🙂

Here’s a panorama view:

We then walked through Chinatown because I told her I’ve walked around it and has seen it but never through it. She even led me to Daiso! I did not know that Australia had a Daiso, it sure felt like home. Yoori led me to the state library and this was the first time  I actually stepped into the huge building. The inside was MESMERIZING. I did not know that the state library is a part-time art gallery haha. There were so many doors to a different part of the building that I just couldn’t explore it all in one day.

The most beautiful part had to be this room with this really rustic and Harry Potter-esque feel to it. They had the classic green lamps and wooden tables and chairs. I found it to be elegantly precious. I’d like to study here one day, I thought to myself.

We then proceeded to a cheap grocery shop because I needed some essentials and that concluded my personal tour provided by Yoori! I had a really wonderful time this week despite having a runny nose that I just wanted to cut off. I’m on my way to getting better now with some lingering traces of a bad cough. As the weeks and days get warmer, my health will surely get better as well.

I saw this pretty cool sight on a street. I thought I’d take a photo of it.

Toodles!