Nice Places in Melbourne

Almost hate myself for bitching and bitching about this place.. thought I post something nice for a change. Tyring to look at the positive side and not dwell too much into the negatives... and hope that will help reduce my frustration (guess I don't need anymore than what I have at work).

Desserts
- Ackland Street(St Kilda) has heaps of desserts cafe (i.e enjoying a cuppa with your dessert!). Brilliant idea and they looks tempting BUT quite expensive and really didn't taste as good as they look! :-> Nonetheless, still a good place to hang out on a weekends or weeknights after a long day of work!

- Greensborough. In fact, I believe that the suburbs have some of the nicest deserts places. Cna't remember the name of this particular Cake shop which serve one of the best Rum Balls! Seriously, the best I have ever eaten.. with rich Rum flavour, soft fillings and crispy chocolate chips coated on the outside. I would go all out to buy from there!

- Chapel Street. How can I forget my home ground? Well, there are a few, 2 that caught my attention. One near Toorak Road, and the other near High Street. Obviously pricey, but believe they are nice.

- Chocolate Factory at HighPoint Shopping Center. Very tempting set up. Nice chocolate with a variety of crepes and pancakes, with different fillings and etc... wonderful indulgence!
==> None of the above are as "refine" as those found in Singapore!

Pubs and Bars
- Martinis Club at Westin Hotel. A$18.00 for a glass of martini! Expensive but quite good quality! It reminds me of a S$13.50 a glass at Mortan's Bar in Singapore! Believe I tried something called "Borie" which is a mixture of Fragelico, Kahlua, and Espresso! Very nice indeed. Thoroughly enjoyed the drink.

- The Long Room. Crowded. A place to see and to be seen. Nice deco (even the people decorate themselves). Can be a bit loud... good if you wanna some place "happening"!
==> Still looking around for some clubs/pubs with Live Jazz.

Restaurants
- Dim Sum:
Have not been too a lot but there are 3 which are nice that I have tried.
1. Red Leaf at Sunshine. Cantonese, booking essential
2. Box Hill... this Taiwanese named restaurant that serve really good dim sum with good ambiance.
3. Sharks Fin in Chinatown. A little overrated and overcrowded till the boss is no longer friendly and the service is NOT fantastic. In fact, I did tell myself not to give them anymore of my business since they don't deserve it!
- Asian Food
1. Chinta Ria, South Yarra. Good Malaysian cuisine and friendly manager
2. David's, Prahan. Fantastic ambiance and good fusion food, typical Chinese food that resemble those from Crystal Jade.
- Others
1. Laurent, Toorak. Basically a cafe that serves really nice sandwiches! And the desserts are nice too!
2. Restaurant along Graham Road, Port Melbourne. Nice Aussie food... and nice ambiance
3. Stork House, Port Melbourne.

Will constantly explore and look out for better places to hang out and eat.

Getting An Internet Broadband Connection - Sounds Easy?

You are absolutely wrong! At least NOT in this country!
I tried, I tried and I tried... 3 attempts to do so with 'Mobile 3' one of the many service provider.
- First, no identity/proof of residence, cannot
- Then no passport, cannot
- Then Credit check, can't verify my employment, lots of problems.

Excuse me? I am paying the bill (and it's not cheap), why do I have to go through all these pain? The 'normal' me would have boycotted the company and NOT give them my business (since they don't deserve it)... but when here, I am NOT normal. I can't be... cause my options are limited, at least for the price I am willing to pay! The service providers here are ALL blood suckers! They drink blood in bright daylight. It's definitely not a consumer world... cause consumers have really no say but to live with those crappy services and hack-care/stuck up (take it or leave it) attitude! #&$#!@!

Am I too pampered in Singapore for being treated as I deserve as a customer? Or am I asking for too much? U know what? I believe any customer oriented and developed countries wouldn't have been like that. Competition and consumers' right to choose wouldn't have allow those businesses to survive... that's the norm, but not here... definitely NOT.

The sad truth is, I will be going back to that provider again this week to sign up for the connection... I despise myself for doing that, but I really have no choice since I am too lazy to search for a better provider and I'm not willing to pay for any hardware cost or a LAN line. In Chinese, the term is "Jian"! Sigh!

Courage

Thought I continue the subject on "Courage" here in my own blog... As usual, very delighted to receive comments from my fren in Singapore...
Courage vs Thick Skin....
Can't really sepearte them, they go hand in hand. Just an illustration:-
- Join the various Tennis Clubs without knowing anyone. The feeling is very awkward, especially when existing members know each other real well and had their own group partners to play with. I had to be thick skin enough to just join them and hit some balls. Guess the consolation is, I wasn't playing that badly even though it is difficult for me to win the games I played. Need to learn how to read the ball and obviously to be able to volley well! Slowly...
- Pub Crawling with a group of strangers!
Yes, that was last Friday, 18 Aug... I joined this group and did the pub crawl with them. A good way to know Melbourne as well as to make new frens. Enjoyed and had a very interesting encounter! Had to be think skinned enough to introduce myself in front of a group of about 15 people, on the road!
- Flamingo Dancing with Tapas... that's what this particular restaurant, 'Kanela' had to offer to attract crowd. I went there a new fren on a Friday night, after a meet-up session. There is only one 20-mins performance a day, for $10 cover charge! Not a bad deal at all!
- Mexican food at 40% off! That was yet another makan session I joined, that allows me to meet new people and to know another suburb, Camberwell, this time round.
Just these 2 weeks, I gave myself 9 points for taking a big step forward to changing my lifestyle here. So, was I being too thick skin or courageous to take the bond step forward? The rewards are obviously knowing more people and discovering new Places in Melbourne! Besides, I get to occupy my time efficiently! So, what's wrong with being thick skin?

Getting back my Lifestye!

As previously mentioned, it has been close to 6 mths (half a year!) since I moved. Guess what? The Life activities puzzle is slowly getting pieced togehter.
Before August:
Used to have to think about where to go and how to fill my evenings and weekends. Compared to my activities filled life in Singapore, I was close to depression. Guess I was, at one stage, totally sicked.
Now?
Well, the tennis season started this month and I signed up to play for 2 Clubs...
- one private club (Oak Park), where we play in the Northern Suburbs Competition, and
- the other, Monash U Tennis Club, where I signed up to play in their "Internal Competition"
- also volunteered as back-up player for Clifton Hill, playing in the North Eastern Suburbs

Continues to have regular session with my tennis coach (just like in Singapore) to improve my strokes.
With these competitions and social tennis, I would be playing tennis at least 3 times, if not 4 times a week (if I play with my Sunday partner)! Way more than when I was back in Singapore...
Fantastic, something which I have always wanted and this is a good start. Even though the standard I play is not high, it is a good way to polish my competitive skills and build my confidence .
As an example, for this week, I will be playing tennis for at least 5 days!!!! Sun with club, Mon with colleagues, Tue Woman's Comp, and Wed and Thur substituting regular players in anther club...don't I just LOVE it!
It will only gets better with my Training with my Personal Trainer and if I join the running club, regular running session will be on my schedule as well.
How about some hiking or nature walks with a group? And some drinking sessions or outing over the weekends?
Life will continue to get better I reckon (and hope)... at least now, I am seriously saying that I have NO TIME for Golf and Aikido which I wanted to continue! Maybe after this season...

1 Aug, 2007 - Enough of this country
It has been 3 months now since my last post! How time flies, and I am supposed to be updating my friends with activities here... indeed, A LOT happened but just couldn't find the time to do this diligently. Will keep trying.

But TODAY, I had enough and thought I need to pencil this down before my emotion subsides again... just needed to share this.
I really had enough of this amazing country I am currently in... Always curious about "How can they even compete with the rest of the world?" Just take these examples and judge for yourself:-
- It takes at least 1 to 2 weeks to open a bank account and to receive the ATM card...maybe longer, depending on which bank.
- It takes at least 3 weeks to APPLY for a Visa card (that you have to pay yearly subscription), regardless of how RICH you are. And you have to go through the hassle of "Validating" your identity at the Post Office! Amazing? Wonder how that works and what is the Value Add? That probably explains why they do not have FREE Visa card.
- Bank charges a monthly "Servicing Fee" for atm transactions and etc... Cannot remember when was the last time I actually have to PAY the bank for their inefficiency!
- It takes at least 3 weeks (if you are lucky) to get connected to Broadband or any internet services. And probably another a few weeks to arrange for an appointment if you need any installation and etc?
- You have to PAY to be part of the Airline Club... unlike other airlines where access is based on mileage accumulated to qualify. So in fact, one actually pays for the food and the service from these lounges (better eat more man)
- It has been 5 months now and I haven't have all the fixes completed in my apartment (fyi... I have to call almost every other week to "chase" for these jobs to be done!). What has the world become? I have to chase you to give you business!
- You have to pay for statement or bills to be sent to you. Want it free? Get it online... else pay $2 every month for it!
- The fines here are worst than Singapore! Ridiciously HIGH... to a point of being unethical (a real revenue generating means)
- You almost have to queue for at least 10 mins to get a cup of coffee since there is only 1 person manning the store during PEAK hours!
- Almost have to talk to machine everything you call a Service Line, and the best part is... you almost always have to stay on line for at least 15 minutes before getting to talk to somebody and end up having to repeat whatever you have told the machine!!!!!
- Obesity is extremely HIGH... fries, chips, chocolate, sweets, whatever unhealthy stuffs you can think of, people like it (including myself)
- People are arrogant.. and think too highly of themselves.
- There is no such things as Interest Free Instalments - Dream on...
- Loads of alcohol being consumed... well, why not when alcohol is cheap and readily available?

Compare to other countries, you wonder how they can ever compete. I am really interested to see what happen 10 years down the road.
Well, the answers lies with the fact that they are blessed with huge land with rich natural resources and nice landscapes and etc... Self-Sufficient.
But... sigh, living in their own world, oblivious about what is happening worldwide!

I will share my experience today in my next post. A MUST read.