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Brighton Beach Film Diary: Catching the Sunset!

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I’ve always wanted to visit Brighton Beach after seeing pictures of the colourful bathing boxes everywhere! Earlier this May, we finally did a short trip down. There wasn’t much to do, especially since it was close to winter and the weather was really cold. The strong winds weren’t thaaat kind to us, but the scenery absolutely made up for it. We were stoked to be able to catch the beautiful sunset!

How to get there:

By train: A 20-minute train ride from the city on the Sandringham line. We took it from Flinders Street Station to Brighton Beach Railway Station. There are two sections of the beach, you have to take a short 500-metre stroll down to the bathing boxes, but it’s a pretty enjoyable stroll given the amazing nature around.

By car: Depending on the amount of traffic, driving from the city to Brighton probably requires around 20 minutes. Council parking is available nearby once you get there.

By bus: Catch the 216 or 219 bus from Melbourne CBD.

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This is my Dad, picking up seashells from the shore!

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I couldn’t comprehend how all these surfers could tolerate the cold water particularly since it’s sooo cold outside! But it was great watching them surf in such a carefree manner.

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I’ve always thought that there would be plenty of space in front of the bathing boxes in the pictures I’ve seen but it was actually a pretty constrained area. With the high tides, we hardly had any space to walk so we ended up jumping from one bathing box to another!

For more Australia adventures, visit here and here. I also did a travel video here so you can watch the sunset in a short timelapse. 🙂

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Queen Victoria Market Favourites in Melbourne!

JER_9824JER_0153Queen Victoria Market has always been one my favourite places to visit in Melbourne! Imagine Singapore’s Parsabella Farmers Market, but better. Step into a cozy cafe or enjoy street food aside alfresco tables in the cool breeze. Grab some groceries, a couple of healthy snacks (granola, nuts, pumpkin seeds, etc.) and some wonderful goodies for your skin. More pictures below!

To avoid disappointment for making a wasted trip down, do note down that QVM is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays!! From 1 June to 31 August though, their Night Market opens from 5pm to 10pm on Wednesdays.

Opening Hours

Tuesday/Thursday: 6am-2pm (for produce) and 8am-2pm (for speciality shopping)
Friday: 6am-5pm (for produce) and 8am-3pm (for speciality shopping)
Saturday: 6am-3pm (for produce) and 8am-3pm (for speciality shopping)
Sunday: 9am-4pm (for both produce and speciality shopping)

Getting Here

By Train

  • A 7-minute stroll along Elizabteh Street from Melbourne Central Station or William Street from Flagstaff Station

By Bus

By Bike

  • Ride along Royal Parade and Victoria Street on the major bike lanes leading to the Market.
  • Free bike parking provided in and around QVM!
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By Tram

  • My favourite option! Hands up if you have a thing for free rides. I love how convenient travelling is with the free City Circle tram, it’s also why I make sure our accommodation venue is always in the vicinity of the CBD.
  • You can take tram 19, 57 or 59 to stop 7, Elizabeth Street or tram 55 to stop 9, Peel Street.
  • Get off at the corner of Elizabeth Streets and La Trobe and walk to the Market in the North direction.

 

queen victoria market by jerlin huangJER_9834JER_9836JER_9852Baked goods and brewed coffee – one of the best breakfast combinations. Cappuccino from Market Lane Coffee, coconut macaroons and almond biscotti from the bakery right opposite the glass windows/tables (sorry I can’t remember the name). The almond biscotti pairs perfectly with a dollop of cappuccino foam and the sweetness from the coconut macaroons balances off the bits of bitter in the coffee.

JER_9846queen victoria market by jerlin huangIf you’re not up for coffee but some chocolate indulgence, koko black is for you! Their hot chocolate is amazingly rich and luscious. Would never give it a miss each time I’m in Australia.

IMG_5919Check out that charming chocolate art 😉

JER_9840queen victoria market by jerlin huangMy family got a few tubs of raw honey back from this store and they loved it!

queen victoria market by jerlin huangJER_9906There’s also a really attractive doughnut truck right at the end of the farmer’s market if you are craving for some sugar and carbs.

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Skincare products from Coconut Revolution which I absolutely loved and wish I bought more of! I highly recommend their Coconut Body Butter. It provides a nourishing treatment and tops it off with an amazing coconut scent. They have three kinds of moisturizers: the body lotion, body cream and body butter – in ascending moisturizing levels and thickness. The body butter is the thickest and also the most expensive, but it has the longest lasting effect. Might get my brother to ship more back from Melbourne because their shipping fee costs almost AUD$30 🙁

JER_0155queen victoria market by jerlin huangqueen victoria market by jerlin huangPeople watching at Queen Victoria Market can be a really beautiful sight :’)

For more things to do in Melbourne, read here, here, or watch my travel video here!

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Melbourne Things To Do: WilliamsTown and Direct Factory Outlets!

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1. WilliamsTown

On the first day after our flight, most of us were really tired so we decided to have a chill aftertoon out of Melbourne CBD. Williamstown was one of our options since we could get to take the ferry ride from the city at Southbank Promenade down to the Yarra river. The Melbourne River Cruises ferry ride was a tad expensive though (AUD$29 for adults) but they have a family package as well!

JER_9778JER_9780JER_9782JER_9784JER_9790JER_9798JER_9800JER_9802JER_9804JER_9805JER_9807JER_5878Confession: We went to Williamstown mainly for the Fish N Chips!! We had really good recommendations for this stall – Off The Pier, Fish and Chippery –  but the weather wasn’t exactly in the best of mood and they didn’t have any indoor seats for their customers.

It started to rain and got really cold so we settled for another indoor Fish N Chips restaurant, Williamstown Mussels, to hide from the strong winds.

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Guess what? After eating our fills with a huge family combo, we went back to try Off The Pier because we couldn’t leave without getting a bite of “the best Fish and Chips” 😛

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And boy did it not let us down!! We got it without the chips because we had so much chips in the previous restaurant. The fish batter was crisp on the outside and the fish was so fresh and tender on the inside. It was so much better than the one in Williamstown Mussels. Prawns were 10/10 amazing too but if I’m not wrong they cost AUD$2.50 per piece. One thing about Australia though – they do not have chilli sauce. So fellow asians, please take note haha.

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Williamstown was a really tranquil and peaceful town, but it was a little quiet and isolated – like a seaside village. There wasn’t really much to see except a few quaint shops and cafes.

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The scenery was good though, thank God the weather cleared up so we could see the clear, blue skies 😀

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2. Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) @ South Wharf

The ferry then came to pick us up and we requested for them to drop us near the Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) at South Wharf!

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JER_9765The rest of our day was pretty much spent shopping. DFO South Warf (20 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia) is one of the best shopping outlets in Melbourne. There is also free wifi in the basement food court for those taking a break from shopping!

I was right there last year as well! They have a huge collection of discounted clothes and shoes from a wide variety of both Australian and International sports and fashion brands! (Adidas, Nike, Converse, New Balance, Nine West, Dr.Martens, UGG, Michael Kors, The London Rebel, Calvin Klein, etc.)  I got a pair of Nikes there, shoes are pretty cheap in Australia for some reason. Unfortunately, the shops in Australia close quite early (DFO closes at 6pm) so we didn’t really had much time to shop. I also met up with my brother for a short while before he had to run off to study for his exams.

And that was it! Most updates will be here soon 🙂

For more things to do in Melbourne, read here, here, or watch my travel video here!

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VIDEO: 10 Days of Australia Travel Adventures – Melbourne & Sydney

Hey m8s I’m back from a family holiday in Australia! New South Whales was amazingly good, refreshing and just what I needed to kickstart my Summer break 🙂

Here’s a video featuring the amazing scenery and nature Aussie had to offer! Will share my favourite places real sooon 😉 Australians are really chill by the way, most of them end work before 5pm and go to the beach to unwind after. Haha it makes me think that Singaporeans are too fast-paced for their own good.

Thx AU it’s been real 😎