Looking Back on my Year of Travel - From Bali to Melbourne, Boracay to the Greek Islands, London to New York City

Sunset in Seminyak, Bali

On my 24^th birthday last year I was standing on a beach in Seminyak, Bali when I made the monumental decision to move to London. It was something that I’ve always dreamed about – travelling around Europe, working overseas and making the most out of life. It was finally time to get out of my comfort zone and actually do it!

The London dream is shared by thousands of twentysomething girls. So I admit I don’t feel like I’m unique, as I am but just another girl working in Central London catching the Tube each day. Yet I still feel a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I feel like pinching myself – that I actually moved all the way across the world with nothing but a 12 kilogram backpack!

A Western Australian sunset at Cottesloe Beach

A Melbournian start to 2010

Soaking my feet in Torquay, Victoria

I started the year in Melbourne, devouring a book about living and working in the UK whilst enjoying balmy summer evenings. I went jogging with my brother in the Royal Botanical Gardens, walked along the beach in St Kilda and spent quality time with my best friend drinking cocktails in secret laneway bars and having high tea.

A Filipino Getaway

Boracay's White Beach

Pagsanjan Falls

In April I embarked on, and survived, a group holiday to the Philippines. I was astounded by the beauty of Boracay – the white beaches with sand so fine that it’s used for day spa treatments, the fresh value for money seafood and crazy beach bars. Most of all, I was humbled by the generosity of my friends and their family in Manila.

Once my UK work visa came through and I quit my job there was no looking back! 

A European summer

Falling in love with Santorini

Octopus handing to dry in Paros

I’ve always wanted to ‘summer in Europe’. Landing in sticky, hot Athens the weather didn’t disappoint my travel buddy Kassie and I. We sailed around the Greek Islands, enjoying beautiful sunsets in Santorini and even hiked up the volcano. On the Amalfi coast we ate spoonfuls of gelato every day and then ventured to Rome to be immersed in history in the hidden churches discovering Michelangelo in the unlikeliest places. Paris meant plenty of macarons, an escape to Disneyland before we relaxed in Nice and gambled some Euros in Monaco. 

Sacre Coeur in Paris

Capri, Italy

Then I sailed the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia on a 7 day cruise. The scenery in Croatia is simply stunning – untouched national parks, pristine beaches and imposing mountains. My biggest feat was climbing to the top of a 16^th Century pirate fortress!

London -  a home away from home?

Serpentine bridge in Hyde Park

In London the holiday was officially over. I needed to get a flat and a job asap. In four weeks I traipsed all over London looking at 10 flats, meeting with recruiters and interviewing for jobs. How would you describe yourself in one word? Exhausted!

Time escapes you when you’re endlessly hunting and by sheer chance I ended up living in a hostel run by nuns. Despite the weekday lock out by 11pm it was the best experience of my life! It’s here where I met my ‘London family’. Having a support network is the most important thing you need when you arrive in a big city. Even though you never know who’s going to stay in London as the hellos and goodbyes are always constant, my friends ground me when the grey skies and cold causes bouts of homesickness.

Weekends away in the UK

It's exciting to be able to escape London for the weekend. I visited Edinburgh and was charmed by the amazing B&B we stayed at and then also drove around Inverness in one day! In Bath, I channeled Elizabeth Bennett and went to the thermae spa, browsed the charming Christmas markets and enjoyed eating a cinnamon butter Sally Lunn bun.

View from Edinburgh Castle

Bath Abbey at nightfall

I’m ending this year on a high in NYC with my brother Ryan – I survived my first blizzard and am looking forward to seeing the ball drop. 

This year has been a tough, challenging, emotional roller coaster. Travelling is always about big highs and lows. My biggest high this year is waking up every day in a new city, feeling like my next adventure in 2011 is just around the corner. 

Windows down, head out, sun on the face...drive to Torquay

For the time-poor road tripper, Torquay is an easy drive from Melbourne for sun, sand and surf. Just over an hour's drive outside of Melbourne, Torquay is a relaxed surfer town. You know you're in serious surfer territory when the surf stores lining the main street are almost as large as the average department store.

The beach was packed on a 40 degree day, but rather than going for a dip I walked along the beach where couples sheltered beneath the rocky coves and children splashed in the shallows.

High Tea at the Hotel Windsor

Traditional High Tea at the Hotel Windsor is a Melbourne institution. When my bestie informed me we were going to high tea in Melbourne I had a sneaking suspicion that was where we were headed.

On a pleasantly warm Friday afternoon dressed in a ladylike fashion, we were ushered to a table whilst the smiling waiter explained high tea to us first-timers. Firstly, we were treated to a glass of sparkling rose, the 3 tiered stand featuring finger sandwiches, petit fours and scones would be brought out and we would be offered freshly brewed tea or coffee. Simple, right?

High tea was being served in the Grand Ballroom due to renovations, an ostentatious Victorian-era room with high ceilings and decorative walls. Most tables were filled with couples, families including one with a toddler who charmed the socks off the patrons around us, mothers with their young daughters dressed in their prettiest floral dresses with matching handbags and (low) heels and then there were us - Ladies Who High Tea.

We couldn't help but say yes to the rose which was light and had a fruity palate.

The delicate finger sandwiches featured smoked salmon, egg and cucumber. No crusts in sight!

The plain and raisin scones were warm and fluffy with the choice of strawberry, blueberry and clotted cream. There is no slathering during High Tea. Gently slicing the scone in half lengthways, you use separate knives to layer the scone first with jam and then with a generous helping of cream. Be generous, you don't go to High Tea everyday!

Just as we bit into our scones and craving piping hot tea, it was served in its own pot with additional hot water.

Then there were the petit fours - which to start from? The standout was the delicate pear tart which had a custard dream filling wrapped in a glazed, ultra thin slice of pear. It was heavenly.

The service at High Tea was prompt, friendly and anticpated our needs before we could voice them. Upon leaving one of the waitstaff asked if we enjoyed it and we replied strongly in the affirmative.

The Hotel Windsor
111 Spring Street, Melbourne
High Tea is served 3 - 5 pm weekdays

Melbourne Summer Eats

I've just returned from a relaxing 10 day visit in Melbourne, soaking up the sun, nabbing a few bargains and doing lots of eating. Below are my top three Melbourne Eats, I confess I am missing Chapel Street and my brother's inner city apartment already. Suburbia seems overrated.










1. Suzuki Night Markets @ Queen Victoria Markets

Before you enter the markets you can hear a thumping folk band entertaining the hungry crowd. An intoxicating mix of smells greets you as you gently nudge your way through the people. The problem is how do you choose what to eat? Stalls sizzle with an international array of freshly fried, battered, stewed, grilled and baked foods. Worse still is watching what other people are eating - this induces serious food envy. The lack of empty tables necessitates eating wherever you can, perching on any empty space while you feast on New Orleans Creole Jambalaya with chicken and chorizo or honey dumplings and wash it all down with a sangria.





2. Hutong Dumpling Bar, 162 Commercial Road, Prahran

This upmarket Chinese restaurant has a dumpling viewing window so you can watch the chefs in action. The duck roasting oven is also on customer display and apparently cost $300,000! Either way, I enjoyed the shanghai dumplings as an entree when yours first bite releases the hot soup into your mouth, the specialty claypot melt-in-your-mouth scallops and eggplant and the very sweet pork spare ribs in a honey sauce. The service was a bit hit and miss though.



3. Ganache, 250 Toorak Road, South Yarra

My best friends swears this is the best chocolatier in Melbourne. I opted for the hazelnut fan slice and she had the passionfruit and mango slice accompanied by lemongrass T2 tea. The milk chocolate was velvety and smooth perfected by the wafer base sandwiching the crunched hazelnuts. I tasted her slice too which was light and fluffy, the sweetness of the fruit offset by the white chocolate mousse. This made for a rather decadent afternoon tea.

Whilst this isn't a "top 3" you have to eat Lord of the Fries if you're in Melbourne after a big night or snack attack, just a pity they ran out of the below:



All photos were taken on my iPhone. Big thanks to my bro for letting me crash on his futon! =)

Liquid Desires at NGV

"One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams." - Salvador Dali

I have a penchant for Surrealist art and particularly the way in which the definite line between dreams and reality is blurred.

I remember studying Surrealism at school and deconstructing Salvador Dali's melting clocks. In 2006 I visited the Tate Modern in London and viewed Surrealism: Desire Unbound. My favourite exhibit was the Lobster Telephone - it's bizarre, it has sexual connotations and...it's a lobster!

The Lobster Telephone is one of the surrealist artworks in Liquid Desires at NGV.

Liquid Desires looks at Dali's body of work spanning his entire career. I was amazed by his artistic diversity - film, television, advertising, fashion design, theory, photography, publishing and his exploration of new ideas and mediums.

I would've loved to have seen more "clocks" in Liquid Desires, but perhaps I'll come across them in another Dali exhibition somewhere else in the world. Adding to the list of things that I must do in my lifetime - see The Royal Heart at the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueras, Spain.

Melbourne Comedy Festival - Good Times Roman

I am a comedy festival virgin so going to the Melbourne Comedy Festival was nice way to be introduced to side-splitting live comedy.

Arj Barker - Original Bits and Pieces

Oh Arj, your use of video footage before your performance to relax the audience and get rid of pre-conceived ideas (eg. ladies comedians are not sleazy) was rather clever. Arj's show had just the right amount of crass mixed with his trademark anger. I like Arj for his laid back Americanisms and yes, he does have a lot of dirty jokes, but all were very funny. My favourite jokes were using fonts to be clear on your tone in a text message - Good Times Roman, Sarcastica, Chill Sans and his views on intimacy in a relationship...which are perhaps too rude to mention.

Arj is also in Flight of the Conchord which I am addicted to at the moment!

Arj's performance in the Comedy Festival Gala is below.



Jason Byrne - The Byrne Supremacy

Byrne is Irish. So that means he's already funny by default. Byrne has an incredible apt for jumping from one idea to another and is all over the stage even rolling on the floor. He takes the absolute piss out of the audience and gets it so right on the money. A lot of his jokes started with "I love Australians because..." "they love Easter only because they get time off to paint their fence". He picked up on subtle body language of audience members and just rolled with it. The best part about Byrne is that his humour is very real and self-deprecating. His high-pitched imitation of the Aussie accent left me saying for days..."Is that it?"

Byrne's performance in the Comedy Festival Gala is below.

Melbourne Daze

The secret is not to have what you want, but want what you have.


Lunch at Orange @ 126 Chapel Street, Windsor





Meeting the dogs on Chapel





Cat in the window surrounded by sexy books



Working on being a model/photographer's assistant





Late light afternoon at Victoria Gardens



Thanks to Ryan for some of the above photos.

V Festival at Melbourne Showgrounds

Footage of the Killers performing Human last night at V Festival


There was no raining on thousands V Festival concert goers parade yesterday at Melbourne Showgrounds. Despite Friday's all day downpours, the skies remained fine whilst international acts like Kaiser Chiefs and the Killers took to the stage. V Festival is a recent addition to the summer music festival scene in Australia catering to a rather mixed demographic of rock, pop and a little bit in between.

Wei and I, and everyone else hopped on the express train to the Showgrounds and were greeted with long lines at bag check so we made it a little late to Duffy's set. Duffy is a 24-year-old Welsh jazz singer whose recent hits Mercy and Rain On Your Parade have been on high rotation on commercial radio. Her sultry voice combined with her overall blonde Brigitte Bardot looks perhaps attracted a lot of the males to her set. Either way her softer ballads were ill-fitted to a festival crowd and would be more suited to a nightclub or lounge. In her black tank top and denim shorts, Duffy teetered around the stage, singing mostly side on to the audience. Her ballads like Stepping Stone, Warwick Avenue led her to confess that she wasn't "relationship obsessed" but found it more compelling to sing about than political issues. She does have an amazing voice live and I would love to see her play in a more subdued setting with an orchestra.





The somewhat random surprise hit of the V Festival was Vanilla Ice. V Festival was determined to break down the stereotype of Vanilla Ice being an uncool one hit wonder and took him to the Virgin Mobile stage at all the concerts. Most of the fans were admittedly embarrassed to be watching Vanilla Ice, but once he hit the stage he won the crowd over with his rapping and short mixes. When he performed Ice Ice Baby, the crowd was dancing and singing at the top of their lungs. What embarrassment?

The Kaiser Chiefs, in the opportune playing period right before the Killers, revved up the crowd with old favourites like Ruby and I Predict a Riot. Frontman Ricky Wilson stood on the railing, held up by a security guard grabbing the back of his jeans and seemed to be on the cusp of crowd surfing. He taunted the audience several times and briskly climbed the ten metre tall scaffolding to get a good look at the crowd. The Kaiser Chiefs set consisted of songs from Off With Their Heads and favourites like Never Miss a Beat and finished off with a rendition of Mark Ronson's Oh My God. An insider reference to Ronson's influence on the latest album perhaps? Interestingly they didn't play Addicted to Drugs - hopefully not for censorship reasons at a festival...




By the time the Killers hit the stage at 8.15pm the crowd was impatient and in high anticipation. Brandon Flowers and the rest of the band delivered a great set, going from song to song without a break and giving the audience what they wanted. Flowers is a suave performer, wearing an-all black suit and waistcoat, he strutted around the stage confidently. He seemed less like the arrogant opinionated muso that the media often plays him out to be. Flowers said few words although confessed that we was having a much better time than the V Festival in Sydney! Crowd favourites included Human, Bones, Mr Brightside and the encore of When You Were Young and Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.






My absolutely favourite moment at an outdoor music festival like V is when an amazing band is onstage at dusk and the sun sets to their performance - in this case Kaiser Chiefs and I Predict a Riot.

Melbourne, I love you

Melbourne has become a home away from home for me. An exodus from Perth has occurred among my bored twentysomething peers. For me this mean free accommodation in Melby and having a little difficulty returning home.

1. Penguins at St Kilda

Melbourne's best kept secret is that penguins live amongst the rocks in the groyne - past the jetty. We spotted a wet penguin who stepped out of its abode but quickly got a bit shy and hid again when he noticed how much commotion he was causing. A little boy then spotted a penguin right near the path, "Is it real?" he asked his parents. Yes indeed.

2. St Kilda Festival

St Kilda is a little boho and a little rough around the edges. It has a Fremantle vibe to it but its not as clean nor as picturesque. It does attract a mixed crowd and last Saturday evening the St Kilda hosted the Yalukit Wilam Ngargee - People Place Gathering Main Festival Concert next to Luna Park. It was a balmy evening and hippies and non-hippies alike took off their shoes and danced in the sand to acts like Lee Morgan.

Also had a spot of coffee and dips at The Fringe Cafe. This bustling corner cafe has a nice ambience with cozy couches inside and sidewalk dining outside. The homemade dips were very yummy.

3. Shopping on Chapel Street

I prefer shopping on Chapel St than in the CBD, perhaps I find it easier to hunt down those bargains or I'm less likely to get lost. Either way Chapel Street is a well known favourite for fashionistas with boutiques and chain stores dotted along the strip. Even if you're on a tight budget it is possible to find a few low-priced goodies. At a little stall called 2% in the Chapel Street laneway I bought a dress reduced to $25! I later found a belt at Dangerfield (on Brunswick St) that cost $38 (more than the dress!) but completed the look. Why are nice belts so hard to find at a good price?

4. Cookie

At Cookie my vodka and cranberry was served from an individually chilled cranberry juice in a test tube like bottle. Interesting touch. I like the different levels at Cookie giving you the option of bar hopping within the same location. On the third level a DJ spun mainly old school beats whilst late-twentysomethings got their groove on the dance floor. There was some rather interesting dance moves and two enthusiastic guys jumped onstage to give an impromptu camp performance - complete with a ladder as a prop. Nice improv.

5. Lygon Street, Carlton

This street reminds me of Fremantle's cappuccino strip except its about 20 times the size with plenty of restaurants and bustling with cafe patrons dining al fresco. We ate at this fantastic no-fuss Italian place called Cafe Correto which was heavily decorated with Grand Prix paraphernalia on the walls. I had penne pasta with mixed vegetables - mushroom, semi-dried tomato, capsicum - and bacon. The penne was al dente perfection! It was a huge plate and only $16.50. Great value for money. An "astonishing" fact - we ate dinner at 11pm. I don't think any Italian restaurant in Perth has a kitchen open that late.

For dessert we trekked into a packed Gelato place and tried the top three flavours - we deduced they were rum raisin, choc mint and ferrero. Sharing a small cup was a smart idea as the serving was huge.

There was one major downside to my Melbourne trip though - being stuck on the M1 for an hour and 15 minutes before my flight home. No apparent reason for the traffic jam surfaced, except for impatient motorists who don't know how to merge. Luckily though I ran into the bag drop, to security check, got my baggage frisked for illegal substances, ran to the lavatory and ran to the gate. No time to pick up some Krispy Kremes, although I did spy someone carrying 3 boxes of KK donuts home.