Beaune

I’m having mixed emotions today because of my weird encounter with a stranger at the train station. So there I was minding my own business, with my earphones on playing the list of songs fro mmy phone while people watching, THIS MAN on my left raised his voice a few times to say hello to me.

Now of course, any sane person like me wouldn’t answer to the first few hellos because I’ve always smiled or waved at people whom I think was saying Hello to me, but really it was to the person behind me. Hence, I ignored him, thinking that he wasn’t calling out to me! Not giving up, he waved his hand over just inches away from my face, that I could literally feel the wind caused by his hand movements. We ended up talking about Angry Birds WTF because he assumed I was playing that game on my phone. So I wasn’t very keen on talking to him because I’m sorry, his pronunciation wasn’t very clear from the first place due to his Arabic accent so I tried to break off the conversation by putting my earphones back.

THEN TO MY ASTONISHMENT, he asked me ‘ARE YOU STRAIGHT?‘

WHAT.THE.HELL.

ANYWAYS, after a hectic schedule in Paris on the first day, all we did on the second day was just travelling across the country to Switzerland. I was a little down at first when I see itinerary list for the day as there was probably two things at most. But at the same time, I was quietly looking forward to Switzerland because my parents had always been telling me how wonderful it is whenever I ask them about their Europe trip decades ago.

But boy oh boy it sure was another gloomy day as it was drizzling for quite a bit during our whole journey.

It was pretty chilly and helll I was freezing in my sheer top! Of course I didn’t want to admit that in front of my family or they would reprimand me for wearing something so thin! 😛 I’ve always remembered seeing the newly advertised Kinder Bueno White in every magazines I read, so when I finally see it being sold at one of the snack stores, I stole my mummy’s money to pamper myself with Kinder Bueno. I have to say though that I still prefer the milk chocolate. Guess I’m just not used to eating white chocolate! 🙄 Halfway through our journey, we spotted a castle on my left and doesn’t that just reminds you of the castle in Super Mario when we play as a kid?!?! 😀

Midway through to Switzerland, we’ve made a short detour to a quaint town known as Beaune to spend a little bit of my dad’s money LOL time. As soon as we made our entrance, I could feel the peace radiating from the town already without even having to get down from the bus yet!

We were given the privilege to have our own lunch so relying on our instincts sense of smell, we went around sniffing and spotting for the cafe with the most patrons! While walking along the streets, there it was, the smell of grilled sandwiches and the sound of a busy restaurant serving its customers with a variety of mouth-watering food, we knew that restaurant would be THE ONE.

As everything was mostly written in French, thankfully the names were quiet similar to English and with the help of a pretty girl whom served our table that afternoon, we managed to pick our lunch without any problem and I dare say, this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had on my Europe trip. Though the simplicity, each dish was perfectly prepared! 🙂

As the saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is by filling up his tummy! So as cunning as I can be, seemingly that my Dad was happy, I went up to him and asked him if he could buy me a pair of red loafers from that a random shoe shop! One must not be afraid to take chances and go further! So there I was, pushing more buttons HAHAHAHHAA, I asked my dad if I could get a box of macarons! 😛

I must say that not that I’ve tasted a lot of macarons but I could tell that these ones were good!! I was keen on buying more pastries because honestly, I’m a sucker for all things sweet but I sternly reminded myself that no, I wouldn’t be able to finish them! Although it’s just a small pastry store from a quaint town, Pâtisserie Wagner does wonders with their selection of pastries and desserts!

After spending a good two hours in Beaune, it’s non-stop travelling to Switzerland! As soon as we arrived, we were famished by then so we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel called Penthouse. The meat was absolutely juicy and even more flavourful when it’s combined with creamy mushroom sauce! Funny thing was, it was already close to 9 and it was as bright as ever outside!!! So my parents and I took a brief walk outside the hotel just across the street to have a look at these colourful watches because they were so eye-catching from afar when I walked into the hotel earlier! Wished I could have a box of these beauties!! 😛

Moving on to outfit pictures!

What I love about this top is it’s capelet collar because I guess somehow, having something over my shoulders makes me feel protected in a way hahaha! That’s why you see, superheroes have capes! And I’ve been buying these kind of tights because I love the idea of knee length socks but not so much of the socks itself because it tends to slide down as I walk, whereas these tights gives the illusion of you wearing a knee length socks and you need not have to worry of it sliding down your legs(!!) and having to pull it up over time and again. I’ve gotten so many questions whenever I wear these out because strangers would always come up to me and ask if those heart shapes were my tattoo! I think I’ll die if I put a tattoo on my thighs because as you all know, I’m highly intolerant to pain!!

Sheer Blouse with Pleated Capelet Collar from Topshop
Black Cuffed Shorts from Zara
Tights from Topshop
Accessories from random silver shop and Diva
Heart Pendant with Necklace from Dearest Mummy
Longchamp bag borrowed from Mummy

PS : Yes, I brought Minnie along with me for my entire Europe trip!!

J’adore Paris

Melissa : Hello Daddy can I speak to you?
Daddy and Mummy : WHY? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BUY AGAIN?
Melissa : *giggles like a schoolgirl*

They know me too well -.-

Please pardon my short absence as I was having the time of my life coughing my lungs out when I got back from my trip! And I’ve been recuperating in the corner ever since. 😥 Nevertheless, it was definitely one of the best trips that I’ll keep close to my heart because my daddy had promised to take me to Europe when I was ten and I’ll be constantly reminding him of how he didn’t keep his promise at the end of every year for a decade. So I could literally say that this is my long awaited trip and I thank you so much for keeping your word and making it happen! 😛

To start with, it was definitely the longest flight that I’ve ever taken but it somehow made me realised that I could really sleep soundly even if it’s in a plane! Anyways, upon arriving in Paris Airport, I decided to change my outfit IN THE AIRPLANE’S TOILET and i thought it was an impossible mission knowing how tiny the space is. I even managed to put on my tights so I think I’m Superwoman!

Skipping all the usual things people go through in an immigration, we’re done and while waiting for the bus, we saw a little bird getting rolled over by a trolley full of luggage and it just happened right BEFORE MY EYES OHMYGOD! So the first thing I thought of was OHMYGOD THIS IS A BAD SIGN instead of POOR BIRDIE. Anyways, I love how everyone have their pooches on a lead walking around because it’s just so exciting to look how these puppies resembles their owner!

Yuuppp that’s right! That’s the very first man that caught my eye on the streets of Paris! *wiggle eyebrows!!* I have to say that I didn’t spend that much time in Paris though, to be more specific, I only have like a few hours? Which I honestly can say that, IT DEFINITELY WASN’T ENOUGH AT ALL! 👿

One of the reasons to that was due to the heavy traffic in Paris. I hadn’t expected traffic to be this bad especially around Avenue des Champs-Élysée. But I guess that it’s one of the famous tourist area so that explains everything.

We were spared 5 minutes at Arc de Triomphe (better known as Arch of Triumph) and I have to exclaim that I really, REALLY love the intricate details that were beautifully carved onto these buildings and pillars. So much history and beauty being put together and I really love buildings with designs like that. 🙂

Every single spot we stopped at, I would force my daddy to take pictures of my outfit to which he would agree!! 😛 Anyways, while walking towards Louvre Pyramid, the iron grills along the street seems somewhat familiar to me because as an avid follower of random fashion blogs and pictures on tumblr, I would always ALWAYS see iron grills in those common street style pictures!

After much walking, I thank Heaven that we were then whisked off for lunch at Chef Edouard’s! The waiters doesn’t just look yummy but they sound even better when they speak mandarin! That reminds me of this video which I just watched the other day HAHAHA!! Anyways, I was quite impressed with the choices given because we were being spoilt with I’m guessing chicken(?) pâté, juicy escargots, duck confit and apple tarte tartin to finish off and I surprised myself when I could finished all of them single-handed! 😯

Finally, I spotted a cute red Vespa parked by the roadside!! I knew that the owner was sitting at one of the tables just right opposite but I pushed my pride aside to take pictures with it shamelessly because HELLOOO, you can hardly find one in Australia or Malaysia!!

Then off I went on a boat ride with the new found Parisian boyfriend HAHAHAHHAHAA ! 😛 Anyways, there was a point when it comes to a spot where I noticed these police officers on the speedboat and walking around in their uhm BLACK DIVING SUIT? I nudged my sister and told her that it looked like as if they just walked out from an action-packed movie. 😕

But really, I love the last picture here though I must admit that I hadn’t been able to capture their emotions at a close range but I enjoy looking at this picture tremendously because of the way they smile at each other and you could tell that they are having a good time just talking by the river! Friends or not friends, it’s the warmth they’re giving and that makes me misses my friends and family dearly!

As we only get to spend a day in Paris and without much time left, the only place left to go was Eiffel Tower when it comes to sight seeing. However, due to the VERY VERY BAD TRAFFIC, the woman who acted as our tourguide told us something that nobody wants to hear.

All I could hear was ‘YOU.MIGHT.NOT.HAVE.TIME.TO.SHOP’.

Then it seems like the end of the world, not because I couldn’t resist the shopping beast inside me but my brother in law started to mumble repeatedly saying ‘I don’t care, I want to shop. I don’t care if we don’t go to the Eiffel Tower!’.

When he mentioned those words, I got so worried because it was bad enough that I hadn’t gone up to the Great Wall of China regardless of me going to China a few times. So I didn’t want to come all the way to Paris and not go to Eiffel Tower!! Till this day, the ‘Great Wall of China’ incident is one of the things that I didn’t want to think or talk about!

Luck was on our side however, we got to go up to Eiffel Tower in the end! *throws confetti!* The view was just spectacular from where I was!

Lastly, it was then time for shopping at the prestigious Galeries Lafayette! You see that picture on that bus? My mummy saw it at the airport earlier and told me that I should buy that ‘headband’ because i would be crazy enough to carry that on my head HAHAHAHAH! Obviously my instinctive reaction was to give her the -.- face but secretly, I wished that I do have that LOL! Jokes aside, I really love that girl I saw from the coat she was wearing to her boots. And I love how that man’s pants matches the pedestrian traffic light. 😛

It definitely felt like I’ve signed up for an amazing race competition because of the time limit we were given to buy everything in one place. To be more specific we only had 50 minutes to do our shopping. To make things more boom boom pow, it was one of the largest malls with the best brands inside. I have to say that I dislike being rushed when I’m trying to take in my surroundings both visually and emotionally but hey no complains because after all, this is a tour! But I did add one bag in one of my latest favourite colour to my collection which I will show you very soon! Though on the bad side, by the time I tried on the clothes I wanted to buy, there just wasn’t enough time for me to pay so I was quite devastated at the same time!

Anyways outfit time!

As I was in Paris, I’ve decided to wear something taking a slight influence from the Parisians’ style. Honestly, I love this combination so much because it is so comfortable to wear in at the same time especially when you’re on a holiday. What do you guys think? 🙂

Sequins and Grosgrain Ribbons Jacket from Topshop
Tulip Print High Waisted Shorts from Topshop
Black Pleated Tank Top from Kookai
Accessories from Lovisa and Diva
Heart Pendant with Necklace from Dearest Mummy
Longchamp bag borrowed from Mummy

Leaving on a jetplane

So this is a pre-drafted post. As you’re reading this now, I’m already in the jetplane/my boyfriend’s G6 airplane heading off for a holiday!

Be rest assured, I have another post written for you people just in case you miss me while I’m enjoying myself.

PS: As much as I try to steer myself away from the colour pink, I can’t help it but to look for items in this similar shade when my new favourite colour is FUCHSIA!

A Night to Remember

As far as I can go back to the memories etched in my mind, the only time I really enjoyed watching fireworks on New Year’s Eve was back in the days when we celebrated entering into the new millenium. That was probably one of the biggest events then and, that’s also when the trend of putting fireworks on every new year eve begins. It’s funny how the years after just do not bring as much excitement like the last one and consequently, making the annual fireworks just another publicity event solely for publicity purposes. That being said, I’m only referring to the ones in Malaysia as far as I am aware of. But then again, I guess that’s just one of the way things work and it also boils down to the individual him/herself on how to turn just another event into a night to remember with just a pinch of effort.

Thankfully for last year, I manage to grasp onto the opportunity for a NYE trip with Joanne Elaine and it’s been a long time since I’ve gone out on NYE’s walking through a huge crowd and pushing through to Federation Square right down to Yarra River just for a good spot. Of course, there were a lot of street performers that night and there was a pair that caught my eye as I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.

Drawing faces on pathway using gigantic brushes and water? That’s a first for me and I applaud for their creativity. It wasn’t till another two hours before the clock strikes twelve signifying the new year and there we were, three of us on the bridge. It wasn’t entirely the brightest idea to head over to the casino bar for drinks and risk losing our good spot, and it felt ridiculous at the beginning to think that we have to stand at the same spot overlooking the river for a good two hours. I’m glad with did the latter as that’s when we opened up among ourselves, even without the help of alcohol.. 😈

After hours of pouring out our darkest secrets and stories, it was only a few seconds left before the clock strikes twelve. Everybody was eager and we started counting down the last 10 seconds in unison with the rest of the people on the street. And for a good 15 to 30 minutes, there was just a spectacular display of fireworks surrounding us and I didn’t know where should I be looking at. Words can’t describe how beautiful that sparks are bursting out from the skyscrapers and making it even more beautiful from the reflective windows of these buildings.

Not long after, it was a long walk heading back to our apartment and to make it even better? I got us some Ben & Jerry’s to celebrate the night.

Till we meet again, Melbourne. 😉

Shining in Brighton

What better way to end the last day of the year with a bang other than to spend the day seeing all things bright and shiny. And to make it even more obvious, where else in Melbourne would you be able to find a beach lined with brightly coloured huts none other than the Brighton Beach!

It was quite a bummer at the same time that the owners of the cafe have decided to take a rest on the last day, because I was looking forward on going to Mart 130 for a nice brunch! Plus, it wasn’t really helping when our next random pick of cafe was closed as well. I guess it’s true what they’ve say, ‘Third time’s the charm’ when we stumbled upon Inkr7 Bar and Grill.

We were famished by the time we found ourselves seated, the aroma coming from the open kitchen was simply testing our patience. What captivates me about Melbourne’s cafe is the variety each cafe has to offer, and they don’t conform themselves to the general english breakfast menu you can find in a lot of cafes here in Perth.

Once we’ve arrived at Brighton, I guess we were the only fully clothed beings hanging around but who cares when you’ve got coloured huts!! 😎 That was a hot, no, hot is an understatement. It was burning close to 40 degrees and every step we took on the sand was equivalent to walking on glass shards. You just can’t keep your feet on the ground for more than a nano second. There you go, three asians doing the hoppity chicken dance and fully clothed, twas was a good impression! 😈

There’s just something special about the beach that I like about, probably the relaxed atmosphere, or if it’s the crystal blue ocean. That was a fun day blowing bubbles and jumping into the water just to cool my feet down once in awhile, but above all, being playful without a care in the world of being judged. 😀

I was wearing:
Topshop Embroidered Crop
Cotton & Co Pleated Shell Skirt

Photographer : Joanne Elaine

Cotton Candy

This might probably sound shallow to some but I absolutely adore all the movies and drama series that revolves around styles. It’s how they show an individual’s characteristic through the means of clothing and exaggerates it, and I really like that. Consequently, it got me thinking that, why shouldn’t we make a statement and express ourselves that way by going all out, just because. And that’s exactly what I did on the fifth day of our Melboure Trip where we’ve planned on heading to the parks and doing a whole bunch of sight seeings.

I don’t think it’s weird or ever wrong if you just want to go to the park in a dress that makes you feel like a ball of fluff! It’s funny because when we started our morning by meeting Valerie, the only thing that came of her first mouth before even saying HI is ‘what the heck are you wearing?’! And if that’s not convincing enough that I was a total fluff, when we reached the Queen Victoria markets for breakfast and I was trying to pick up my tissue from the floor like any other responsible beings, all I had to do was to stand up and make everything around me fall like domino pieces. My chair was one of them. 🙄

It’s funny how everyone must have thought at that time, well lady, that’s what you get for wearing a dress bursting with cotton candies and unicorns from your layers of tulle underneath that dress.

BACK to the markets, Joanne and I decided to buy a bouquet of flowers before heading to the park just for the fun of pictures! Valerie recommended the jam filled American doughnuts and it was one of the BEST doughnuts that I’ve ever eaten. What’s not to love of deep fried sugary coating doughnut filled with hot dripping strawberry jam? Kept some for our sugar high picnic alongside with some newly bought white nectarines!

I have to say that that day was probably one of the most girly days I had throughout the year. After catching a tram and a few long distances walk, we found a nice little gazebo that reminded me so much of the scene from Sound of Music. When you put three girls together in that situation, they’ll start dancing and singing to ‘I am Sixteen going on Seventeen’ even though they’re in their freaking 20s.

And yes, we brought a dog and an ice-cream fan along. Don’t give us that look. 😛

For my outfit that day, I insist on choosing a fluffy dress channelling my inner Carrie Bradshaw but like I said, I’m not one of the girly girls you would see around. So I put a little dash of myself by throwing on a varsity jacket just to casual it down, and my felted hat just for that slight eccentric edge. It’s always nice to bring a clutch out every time but annoying at the same time when it could not fit everything I need to bring out at once. Therefore, I thought it wouldn’t hurt that I use my ipad protective casing as clutch instead and I think it mixes pretty well with the colour palette of my outfit for that day!

I have to say that Valerie has been very patient with us girls for wanting to stop at every spot we find worthy of fancy pictures. It wouldn’t hurt a bit to amuse the joggers around by running up and down the hill a few times just to get that good shot! It’s my favourite past time to be spending time having picnics on the grass and that was just what we did when I was dead tired from excessive running. It’s tough running itself, but running in an outfit is no joke. 😡

Gaining our energy back from a sugar high filled lunch, we continued our day through to Shrine of Remembrance which somehow resembles a Pyramid to me, at least. The reason being that it’s the only structure in a vast area surrounded by trees and hedges planted asymmetrically. It’s also one of the reasons of why I love Melbourne so much, because I could feel like I was thrown into a quiet time of era and the next moment, I’m standing alongside a busy street.

Annnnd the next second, you’ll find yourself in an Italian street. 😎 I just couldn’t resist on insisting that we MUST at least come to Il Dolce Freddo for their Pandan ice-cream. It’s the only flavour that I’m longing to try though they have many more unique flavours to offer, and that was one of the decisions in life that I do not regret making.

Perfect bliss.

I was wearing:
Topshop Gradient Tulle Dress
Romwe Felted Cat Ears Hat
Marc by Marc Jacobs Neoprene Stardust Ipad as Clutch
Peter Alexander Jelly Flats

Photographer : Joanne Elaine

Yin & Yang

Well, all I can say is, you know that tiny obssesion that Belle from Beauty and the Beast has with books and libraries, the majestic architecture and the whiff of smell you get from the old pages? We had that exact same feeling on the forth day of our trip when we stepped into Melbourne’s National Library. It was a day of getting to know Melbourne city itself a little more by visiting most of the famous spots that we heard of greatly. Not forgetting, it was also a day to shop.

We headed to the State Library the very first thing in the morning, to avoid the ‘crowd’ because we thought that it might be a litte too loud with our cameras’ shutter noises. It was a tad bit daunting when we have to pass by some security personnel before getting into the main hall, because as much as we tried fitting in by looking normal, you can’t get pass two girls holding two big cameras and one of them walking around with a cat hat on her head. 🙄

We spent almost an hour for our shots in library, frolicking around, as well as putting our nose into every corner of the library but most important of all, trying our very best to remain inconspicuous at all times. I figured that the security guards knew what we were doing all this while, because I remembered seeing a sneaky smirk out of the corner of my eye when we were walking out of the library heh heh. 😛 But like what I’ve always said, what are the chances of us bumping into them again, so it’s definitely okay to go all out and do what you want to do! 😎

We told Boon Hee that we would really love to catch the tram instead of going everywhere with just a car, so we could get a glimpse into how the locals commute to their destination. I’ve always enjoyed walking and getting lost in the city regardless of how big or which city I am in, because you will always, ALWAYS ponder onto something new by exploring the unseen streets. It teaches you a lot more about the culture, and also random fun things just by discovering a new street art or any other sorts of things!

Walking towards the street filled with graffiti art was just one of the many examples that I was pointing out to. Right there and then, there were two men creating another graffiti art on top of the old one. That was when I realised, how it all blended in together and how many pieces of art are there on this street alone. There were quite a few more groups of tourists around, so it was rather hard taking pictures without at least having one person in your background. We didn’t spend much time around as it was getting rather hot as the sun peaks at noon. Plus, it didn’t help much that I was wearing a faux leather shorts, go figure HAHAHAHAHA! 🙄

Headed off to Federation Square to catch another tram to a cafe I’ve been pestering Boon Hee about!! I guess this is the equivalent to Shibuya intersection in Tokyo? Hahahha there’s just soooo many people, and if you throw in some horse carriages, cars and trams into the scene, it’s so busy that it gives me the adrenaline pump like I needed to run. I know this doesn’t make sense but I just love this busy life that Melbourne is giving me, the need to move constantly! And for those who watches Masterchef Australia, haha this is where they serve at one of the episodes for the Masterchef Professionals! 😛

Now, back to my Soda Rock diner which I insist on speaking to you about! I’ve seen it a couple of times prior to this and I really like this cafe’s concept of the 80s! Before our trip to Melbourne, I was telling Joanne on how we could dress like the 80s while dining here, and we thought of Grease immediately. Of milkshakes and hot dogs, with Elvis songs playing in the background, what is there not to love about this? It will be a pretty cool if everyone turns up with perfectly hair-sprayed hair, skater skirts, fluffy pastel sweaters, a lollipop in the mouth, cat-eye shades and gliding in with the a pair of roller skates. Now that’s just my imagination isn’t it?

Serving one of the thickest shake I’ve ever had and one of the humongous cheesiest hot dog bun, we’ve definitely underestimated their serving sizes as we were so bloated right after, it’s not even funny because I felt like a gigantic hot dog rolling down the street doing window shopping. Had a bit of fun shopping because I insist on getting at least SOMETHING in this trip, but it was a Boon Hee-Goes-to-Shop Day because we girls didn’t get anything much. 😦 It was a fun day altogether as it was my very first time getting a go at pool HAHAHAHAHAH! Quite addictive I must say, and I’m a fast learner yoo, coming from Joanne’s words. 😛

Isn’t it just funny of how Joanne and I are so similar yet so different for our outfits of the day? I’m loving our outfits a lot on that day, but wait till you see the day after. It just keeps getting better and better heh 😈

I was wearing:
Topshop Sheer Embroidered Shirt
Coco’s Fortune Pearl Faux Leather Shorts
Romwe Cat Ears Hat
Proenza Schouler PS11
Aldo Gold Dust Oxford Flats

Melbourne by Night

There is a saying that goes by ‘everything changes when the night falls’. I can say that Melbourne city is living up to that phrase without a doubt in mind. I didn’t know how many times have I repeated this to both Joanne and Boon Hee, but oh yes, they have to bear with my constant squirms of how I feel so alive whenever I walk the streets of Melbourne.

Isn’t the view behind just breathtaking? It’s been a long time since I’ve surrounded myself with skyscrapers and I truly missed being the city girl at heart. We both got a change of outfits after Mount Dandenong to get all sparkly for a night of fun and adventure! Prior to that, we had dinner at Madang that was tucked hidden at a corner, and knowing that Joanne was with us, Korean food was definitely inevitable. 😛

For the four of us, we ordered a table full of food! Though I’m one to eat Korean the least, I must say that their Bibimbap was rather tasty! I remember vaguely that I had something similar when I was in China almost a decade back but it tasted awful and what more, they have dog meat in it!!! 😕 So I guess that’s probably one of the contributing factors as to why I hardly opted for Bibimbap or even enter a Korean restaurant.

Disgusting memories aside, we walked along Yarra river that is lined with bars and street performers later that night. I remembered pointing out to almost every bar and said that I would love to try them some day! It’s really nice to see how everybody was dressed to the nines, including us, that is. 😈 I would lie if I were to tell you that the walk wasn’t magical, though wasn’t in the conventional way, but a combination of walking under fairy lights with a picturesque view in front, and also by having the right company by my side would inarguably sum up to that.

We couldn’t suppress our fits of laughter when we saw Elmo playing a saxophone on the street, because it was just too funny to see the adult version of Elmo to put it this way. I guess that, he got kicked out of Sesame street and was left to fend for himself on the street, oh the poor thing hahaha! 😆

Walking past a few blocks, we finally arrived at Eureka Skydeck! Cheated our way through using our student cards to get the cheaper concession’s price hahahahahhahahahaha such cheapos we are! We took a 13 second ride lift up, which was surprisingly fast but it was frustrating at the same time how I had to kept yawning to get the pressure out of my eardrums! 🙄 The place was packed to the brim when we got out, and most of them were just waiting by the side of the glass looking down for ages not wanting to move for others to take a decent picture, which wasn’t very nice of them!

To be honest, we all agreed that we only thing that we enjoyed for Eureka Skydeck was the freaking photobooth. I’ve always like the American photobooth where they have a long strip of 6 pictures at carnivals but this was one of the closest that I could get to one! You could tell that we definitely had a lot of fun being idiots, squeezing ourselves into that tiny small box. The only thing that we did that night was heading to Crown Casino and oogled at boys from the bar har har!

I was wearing:
Witchery White Broderie Anglaise Shirt
Uniqlo Black Skinny Pants
Topshop Velvet Bow Collar
Furla Leopard Print Candy Bag
Aldo Gold Dust Oxford Flats

A Taste of Melbourne’s Hillside

You would think that we will be spending our entire time in the city when we’re in Melbourne. But when the third day of our trip came, we’ve conquered the marvellous picturesque city, had our fair share of the breezy ocean and breathed the crisp luscious air of Melbourne’s hillside. While we were on our way back to Melbourne from the Great Ocean Drive the day before, Boon Hee (our nicest host in Melbourne) rang Joanne and asked if we would love to join his family for a day at Mount Dandenong! Without a doubt, we didn’t give it a pass and went for it although we didn’t know exactly where that’s supposed to be but OKAY, LET’S GOO!!!!

The only description that we have of this place was that everybody comes here for scones and jam at Miss Marples’ Tea House! An hour drive out from the city, equivalent to Genting to KL, we’ve reached a place that resembles a scene out of Twilight. Right, what a movie to be compared to but that was the first movie which came across my mind, when we were surrounded by tall trees which gives out the eerie yet a calming vibe to it. Right there and then, Joanne’s eyes and mine met, wiggling our eyebrows because we thought of the exact same thing; ‘WHAT AN AMAZING BACKGROUND FOR PICTURES!’. Unfortunately it didn’t happen as we didn’t have much time for that so we promised each other that we would have to come back here by ourselves next time.

The restaurant was packed to the brim when we arrived, and we had to wait close to half an hour before we could get two tables to fit all 8 of us. The food was rather decent but I have to admit that the warm scones with whipped cream and strawberry jam was rather addictive though! Justttt, coudln’tttttt stop myself, darn it, please give me another slab of that jam!!

Apart from the cafe, there are other stores selling bits of pieces of unique little gems that one can’t simply find in the city itself! There was a store selling all kinds of teapots in shapes and sizes, a variety of different flavoured teas and salt and pepper shakers which were rather cute! Thought it was really tempting for us to get these, but we figured that we should probably save these purchases when we get our own houses/apartments in the near future. What I’m trying to say is, we decided not to waste our money on these and let’s just spend it all on clothes and shoes for now teeeheeeee!

While we were waiting for Boon Hee’s family to get some teapots, we quickly went down a small lane that made our hearts fluttered a little when we saw it. I love how there’s so many different types of greenery in one picture alone, and the vines that crept up the wall giving it a whole different ambient. We were told that it might be a little bit chilly as we are up and above, and so I’ve wisely chosen to paired my favouriteeeee shirt with one of the best details with my loud baroque print pants that reminded me a lot of Versace! That’ll keep me warm! I liked how it matches with my fiery hair that day and I thought that it would be great if I go all out on the prints on my bottom half with a pair of dalmatian print flats!

Driving slightly further away from that quaint little town tucked away on its own, lies another tourist attraction with a vast view of the whole Melbourne City. Couldn’t really see anything because I’m short sighted heh from afar but in my opinion, the best view of the city throughout my entire stay has to be the one that I wake up to every morning in the bedroom! 😛 Little did I know that this place holds the giant chair too which was purely coincidental, as it was definitely one of the things that I’ve written in my ‘To-Visit Places’ list but all I’ve written was ‘Giant Chair’ without the name or even the location hahahha.

Mannn, I reckon that I make a good travel buddy but you must never, ever rely me on directions.

PS: I had to break my third day into two posts as there were too many pictures which I was struggling to narrow it down to for my blog, so that was Melbourne by day for our trip. 😉

I was wearing:
Witchery White Broderie Anglaise Shirt
River Island Jeans
Lovisa Spiky Necklace
Proenza Schouler PS11 bag

The Great Ocean Drive

After spending all day in the city a day before, we thought that it will be the next best thing to travel further down to the Great Ocean Drive just to surround ourselves with the amazing beauty of mother Earth. Long before the trip, this was one of top of our ‘Must-Visit’ places in Melbourne and I’m really glad that Valerie agreed on taking us on this road trip! I told her that she had just signed up for a big deal of fun with me around when it comes to a road trip! 😈

A great big thank you to you, valerie!

It couldn’t just get any better when Valerie took us for some breakfast at a small cosy cafe called Hardware Societe which was located nearby our apartment before adjourning on the few hours of long drive. She reckoned that this was a good place for breakfast as they serve one of the best egg breakfasts!

Apart from that, the breakfasts on the menu are definitely not the ones where you can generally find in any other places. Got myself a serve of poached eggs with trout on a toasted bagel with salad and hollandaise sauce and it was lip smacking delicious! It really is hard to find places which gives you that much of a salad ratio to the other food on the plate so this would be definitely one of the breakfast places which I will patronize often if only I live in Melbourne.

I was told by Valerie and Boon Hee that the drive will only be approximately 3 to 4 hours but neither of them told me that it was only till the START of the long windy Great Ocean Drive along the coast! However, it didn’t feel like ages as we took turns singing karaoke in the car filled with songs back from the 90s! Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Aqua, Spice Girl and Westlife, we were surprised how some of us remembered the lyrics word to word still! It was a pity that Valerie had to endure our croaking voices throughout the entire journey but I’m sure she must have enjoyed our presence, because it will be a shame not to!

Driving along the beautiful coastline, we stopped by a beach because the colours of the ocean were just too perfect on that sunny day for the start of our mini collaboration. After all, it was also the best time for us to dip our feet into the cold water just to cool ourselves down! 😛 Spent almost an hour there just to get the perfect shots but with the glaring sunlight and the blazing hot temperature, it was hard for us to work so these were all that we’ve got! But we didn’t beat ourselves too hard over this as it was only first try, and we know that it’ll just keep getting better!

It was only 7 hours later that we arrived at our destination, The Twelve Apostles which I believed had turned to 7 Apostles due to erosion. It’s a pity really, that a few more generations from now, our children will never get to see these creations of mother nature. As contradicting as it may sound, but I can’t believe that we drove 7 hours to admire these rocks hahaha! To be honest though, that place was filled with so many tourists that it was pretty hard to jump into a good spot or even stay for long to get some decent scenic pictures.

For that day, we dressed ourselves in beautiful long dresses just to fit in with the cool breezy place that we were heading to, and thankfully it wasn’t as cold and windy as expected. With a little bit of breeze, it gave just the right amount of wind for our portrait shots. I’ve chosen my black asymmetrical dress that I had bought a year ago, saving intentionally for a trip to the beach and matched it with a sequin-embellished bra for that shiny peek-a-boo. 😛 Lately, I’ve been adding a slight hint of manliness just to toughen my outfits a little and my flat taupe ankle boots was the perfect end to this outfit and with my coloured hair, I felt like this look had give me an extra few years younger which made me feel like just another college student! 😎

But alas, after spending some time taking some shots, we called it a day and started our drive back home which was shockingly much faster and shorter compared to the road we used earlier during the day. As we were all worn out by the end of the day, we indulged ourselves with pizzas and chips heh heh because nothing beats greasy food to satisfy our cravings after a long tiring day! 😛

Do you like how I styled this outfit of mine? 😀

I was wearing:
Zara TRF Asymmetrical Dress
Topshop Sequin Embellished Bra
Topshop Varsity Jacket
Lovisa Spiky Necklace
Proenza Schouler PS11 bag
Ninewest Taupe Ankle Boots

PS: Credits to Joanne for some of the photos above. Check her blog out for more eye-worthy pictures, this chicka of mine is a talent to be watched out for!