Assalamualaikum.
So we took off from KUL at 10.20pm and arrived at MEL around 7.30am. Tak berapa nak jetlag because MEL cepat +-2 jam dari waktu kita. Upon arrival, alhamdulillah tak kena check kastam. Nasib2 je tu. Ada yang travel sekali dengan kami, got stucked at kastam for almost 2 hrs, habis luggage kene bongkar, hp inbox msg pun kena check because they were suspicious why this lady was travelling alone.
Wajib declare apa shja makanan dan ubatan yang anda bawa. Print out the list and on the flight you will be given a declaration and tick the necessary boxes honestly. We got lucky serunding lepas, sebab tak check pun.. sebenarnya serunding tak boleh bawa. Formula milk pun kami tak bawa, because we plan to feed the kids with fresh milk. Kalau nak bawa kena seal dalam package dia. Basically we plan to cook sepanjang di sana, so we brought canned sardine, canned baked beans, maggi instant mee, instant seasoning for nasi goreng, serunding, and separate packings for rice (5 pot stiap ziplock plastic bag x 4 hari). Dengan periuk nasi sekali kami angkut. Hehe.
Keluar sahaja arrival terus beli simkad Optus 10 AUD untuk 5 days. We will be travelling out of the city on day 2 and 3 so we must keep #erynaelman entertained. Plus, it is for our communication with the car rental place and hotel when we are out of city, if needed. After that we rushed to T4 arrival, to wait for the skybus untuk ke southern cross station (ala2 puduraya or TBS kita). T4 is the nearest stop keluar exit arrival tu. We bought the skybus tickets early di online. Dapat discount 1 AUD each if beli online.
Southern Cross Station
Upon reaching, terus ke booth skybus and ask for the free hotel transfer shuttle. It will register for you and you have to stay alert if the bus conductor announce the hotel name. But don't worry they are very helpful and friendly if you are not sure you can always ask. We plan to eat the famous halal kebab here for breakfast but since everyone was still full sebab makan banyak atas flight, we have decided to pass.
City Tempo
Okay so kami book a small studio apartment di City Tempo via expedia. Dalam 106AUD per night. Unserviced. Its okay janji ada tempat tidur dan masak dah cukup bagi kami Alhamdulillah. They are very responsive. I emailed them right after the booking saying that we will arrive for an early check in by 12pm. Furthermore, oleh kerana kami nak drive, so kena book parking siap2. Di Melbourne mmg susah nak cari parking, if ada pun it is very expensive and ada limit hour. So we booked the car park for 2 nights. Harga 21.50 AUD per night. Redha je lah because we need a secure car park that is near to the hotel supaya dekat nak angkut anak2 nanti. Another thing is they are very sensitive about how many pax staying in. If it is for 4 pax maximum, means it is 4 pax, any additional guests will be charged. We are staying as 3 adults and 2 kids, so untuk elak kena query banyak2, kami minta adik tunggu dulu di luar hotel, naik gilir2. One more thing to highlight is the glass wall bathroom, means boleh nampak kalau you mandi. Hehe. kalau travel dengan kawan2 mahupun ahli keluarga lain, agak weird di situ. Other than that, its perfect.
Lepas settle check in, kami mandi dan solat. Zaime masak nasi and sardine. We had lunch and around 2pm kami turun to explore the city.
City Circle Tram
The transportation system in Melbourne is superb. Free trams at most of the crucial stops, and for first time visitors, the free city circle tram is a must and free too. It will bring you around the city and explain on the attractions. City Tempo mmg dekat sgt dengan city circle tram stop. Our first stop was The Parliment of Victoria. if you arrive early, it will give you the free tour inside the parliment. There's also the Etihad Stadium near docklands. Then we stopped at Federation square which is near to the Melbourne Park and Flinders Street Stations. We tried the famous King of Fries for 5.50AUD. Not so bad. Ada banyak lagi stops you guys boleh pergi which we did not go e.g. melbourne sea life and the melbourne zoo. Basically From the Federation Square we walked to the city tempo hotel, google maps is important to navigate us to the hotel. Suhu at that time sgt sejuk! Kesian Elman, tak biasa dengan suhu sejuk macam tu sampai pucat2 bibir dia.
Hosier Lane
Dekat Melbourne city mmg banyak sgt street art graffity one of them is hosier lane, Kami lalu je and snaps few pics situ. Elman dah mula meragam. So we had to make a move.
Bourke Street Mall
We passed by Bourke Street. Okay di sini memang shopping heaven. Antara attractions utama was H&M and Cotton On. It's 4pm and was getting dark macam nak maghrib. Suhu makin tinggi so kami tak dapat nak jalan lama2 di situ. Honestly memang tak shopping apa pun sebab kami rasa di Malaysia lagi murah. Haha. Thats the reality lah. Unless if you are working there, baju AUD30 at H&M memang murah gila. But if you are a tourist, convert semula ke RM harganya takdelah murah mana. Melbourne malam2 mmg alive sikit city dia. Ada street performances along the road. Most mall tutup pukul 9pm. The rest tutup pukul 6pm. But some groceries shop buka sampai up to 12 midnight. Memang convinient. Time ni kami sangat rushing sbb Elman dah kesejukan.
Coles
Sampai apartment we let anak2 and adik ipar settle down. Zaime and I turun semula and walked to the Coles hypermarket. Sini macam Tesco or Giant la utk kita. Kami beli barang2 nak masak, some snacks, fruits and bulla ice-cream. Hehe. Bulla ice-cream wajib. product diorang and sangat sedap. Di sini mereka ada limited sgt cashier counters. Semua kena bayar sendiri dekat self-help counter. Scan dan kemudian swap CC. So credit card is important. Kami beli barang2 dalam AUD40. Again if you are working and staying there, memang murah gila la barang penuh bakul baru AUD40. Resit kena simpan sebab boleh dapat disc 4cents for each litre time isi minyak nanti.
Balik smula apartment, anak2 dah tidur. kepenatan sangat on first day. Plus suhu memang sgt sejuk. So lesson learnt the next day saya prepare baju tebal2 (pakaikan baju double on then baru sarung baju sejuk). Malam tu saya prepare apa2 yang patut untuk travel out of city the next day. Potong buah2, masak nasi, rebus ubi keledek etc. Packing brg2 yang sepatutnya. Tidur dalam jam 11.30pm.
Thats pretty much about our day 1. Penat berjalan. bagi mereka kat sana apa ada hal setakat jalan 2-3 blocks. Tapi bagi kita yang tak biasa, penat and lenguh kaki!!. Hehe.
Love,
Wanie
