Happy November! Can’t believe 2016 is almost over. When everyone is working on their assignments and exams, I am back to HK for a 4 months holiday! Back to late September, me and my friends visited Melbourne for 5 days. The first time I visited Melbourne was over 10 years ago, and I barely remember the trip, so I was really excited. I will try link everything (cafes, places) below, hope it can help you plan your trip.
Day One
After a 2.5 hours flight from Brisbane, we arrived Melbourne in a rainy chilly day. We then head to city, where our hotel is, by Sky Bus ($19 each). After checked-in and put down our luggages, the rain stopped (thanks God!) and we went out to explore the city. The Melbourne city is full of restaurants, cafes and art. We were too hungry and cold, so we went to Manchester Press recommended by a friend. Their beagles are amazing! We ordered bacon, maple & banana (top), smoked salmon lox (bottom) and a cup of hot mocha latte. The really like the sweet banana one, it is so goooood.
It was too cold (compare to BNE), because of the rain, so we went in the State Library of Victoria. I saw a lot of photo on Instagram in this Library. It remains the vintage architecture style, with the white wall and wooden floor. Running Man actually filmed here 3 years ago when they had the Australia episodes. I am amused by numbers of people that actually studying in there. There were so many tourists and they could still manage to focus and study in there.
Then we walk across to the other side of the city, near Flinders Station. We spent almost 2 hours in Hoiser Lane, where all the wall are covered by graffiti. Even though the sun was going down, the lane was still crowded. I guess people enjoy taking photos for Instagram haha.
Day Two
We took an hour train from Flinders Street station to Belgrave for Puffing Billy. Puffing Billy is a coal fuel train which is 100 years old and still function today. We didn’t book the ticket in advanced and didn’t go there earlier to get tickets. Luckily, my Melbourne friends arrived there at 9 and they helped us bought the last tickets for 11:30am train to Menzie Creek Station. (Lucky us!)
Most people took the train until Lakeside for more scenery. But it took almost 3 hours to return, so we decided to just stop at Menzie Creek, which only took 30 minutes to travel so we could continue visit other spot around Belgrave. The special thing about Puffing Billy is passengers can sit on the side of the train and put their legs outside the train. It is recommended to sit on the right side for better view. Right after we arrive Menzie Creek, we have to run to the other platform to take the return train back. 
Overall, I will recommend just travel to Menzie Creek Station, if you only wanna experience the train ride or you are not interested to scenery. It is quite tiring to sit in the train for 1.5 hours with the wind. Also, according to my friends, the scenery along Menzie Creek to Lakeside is not special. Although there are nothing to see in Menzie Creek, the ticket price is so much cheaper. One hour is very enough to sit aside the train to take photos and experience Puffing Billy.

Day Three
We went to the Queen Victoria Market for breakfast. It is a market with grocery, food and souvenirs. We tried jam doughnut from American Doughnut Kitchens, which is pretty good. I like how this area is full of arty stores, coffee shop and street music! 
 

Then I went to meet my another two friends in Fitzroy, an arty vintage suburb near CBD. We had an afternoon tea in Addict Food & Coffee. Left: Potato Hash Bottom: Chocolate Fondant Pancake Right: Sweet and Savoury Breakfast

We were crazy about second-hand clothing/ thrifting suddenly for some reason, so we basically went into every single vintage boutique lol.

Day Four
Last full day in Melbourne is a day trip to Great Ocean Road. We joined a Chinese day tour, which brought us to Port Cambell National Park to see Loch Ard Gorge and The Twelve Apostles.
It would be so much better to drive there than day tour. The coach trip is bad, my friend did throw up a bit and I felt ill as well. But it felt so good to see sea stacks out of textbook and the beautiful scenery in real life! We returned Melbourne by 9pm.

Day Five
So the last day we visited a art market in Fitzroy, called Rose Street Market. It's not big but a lot to see! All the booth sold really unique handmade products, like jewellery,  drawings and cloth crafts.
We failed to try the Lune Croissants so we went to a cafe called Industry Beans.
Hope this post attracted you to visit Melbourne. I'll definitely visit this city again!
Watch my Melbourne vlog:

SEE YOU,
cherry xoxo

Hi peeps, how's life? Most people back to school in September and I am having my mid semester break now. Today, I'm gonna share 5 tips to find the best cafe! I had been cafe hunting in Brisbane a lot, and I am quite proud of myself that so far the cafes I went never disappoint me:P So I wanna share my experience and the way I found cafes. If you are looking for cafes and restaurants, keep on reading!

Can't believe September is coming, 2016 went way too fast! Two weeks ago, I went to Adelaide for five days with my parents. "Adelaide? Why are you going there?" Almost everyone ask me this question when they know I am going there. Well, I never been there, neither my parents. Sydney, Melbourne, there are very touist-friendly and we have been there couple times. So why not try something new? It only took 3 hours to travel from Brisbane to there. Compare Perth, where we never been as well, Adelaide seems to be more practical to visit.

We arrive there in a Saturday afternoon. My parents are pretty exhausted after all the travelling, so we just head to the hotel and rest. The hotel is in the city, which is only 20 minutes drive from the airport to there. Then we went to explore the city, but it was late and shops close quite early in weekend. We have dinner in the China Town and back to the hotel. We sleep super early because we have to wake up at 5am the next day...

Day two is eventful, we went to Kangaroo Island. It is one of the largest island in Australia. After 3 hours of coach and ferry journey, we finally make it to the island. We joined a local day tour so we didn't really have to plan and worry about anything, lucky the tour guide/driver was really friendly and able to tell us everything about the island. It's a beautiful island facing Indian Ocean. I thought it would be very cold there, but it was not that bad. We went to Seal Bay, where you can see wildlife seal in a short distance. My favourite spot is definitely the Remarkable Rocks, that all erode rocks formed a spectacular scenery.
 The next day, we walked around the CBD, like The Rundle Mall, University of Adelaide and the art museum...then we rented a car and drove to Glenelg Beach. Compare to Gold Coast, it is way less commercial. It feels like Santa Monica in Australia. Palm Tree, beaches, ice cream...
After that we drove to a random beach recommended by the hotel reception. It's called Morino Beach. We are lucky enough to see the sunset there. It was so relax and beautiful walking around the rocks and wooden path.

 


In the last full day in Adelaide, we visited Mount Lofty, the highest point in Adelaide. You can see the whole Adelaide CBD in 180 degree, but it's too cold and windy lol. Then we went to Hahndorf, he oldest German settlement in Australia. I will say don't put too much expectation in here, it's a pretty old village. Maybe is a weekday, it wasn't that busy and only some shops open. However, food was really good! We ate in a restaurant called, Hahndorf Inn, and I think they targeted tourist. They provide real taste of German cuisine, for example, sausages, brezel, knuckle and beer. If you like German food, you must try this! 

Hahndorf Inn - http://hahndorfinn.com.au/

Overall, I think Adelaide is a place to relax. There is a quite and slow city, not much too see. It would be quite boring to live there or study there, but still it is a lovely city. A little tips: the tram in Adelaide CBD is free. It means that travel around the CBD, within certain station, is free of charge.



Hope you like my sharing and don't forget to check my vlog in Adelaide.

SEE YOU,
cherry xoxo

Hello guys! SO, I decided to update and change the design of my blog! Finally! I tried so hard to make it happened with all those HTML and coding...and it all worth it. It isn'y the best situation I wanted now, but I still really proud of myself!