Down Under Day 4
Dec. 25th, 2014 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoMerry Xmas from Australia. In the midst of summer, hah. Departed Sydney early this morning and took a short domestic flight to Melbourne.
Lunch was provided by the tour and was at a dim sum place. However, the dishes were predetermined rather than a la carte, so they weren't all that varied. Tasted pretty much like every other dim sum I've had. Meh.
We checked in early to our hotel, the Crown Metropol, which is attached to this huge casino complex, also called Crown. Gotta say, the place looks really high class both inside and out. However they're more stingy about their internet, which sucks. I'm pretty much relegated to using the free wifi in the lobby for this post.
After checking in, our tour guide took us on an 2 hour walk around the surrounding area, which is the city center. Man, this guy is a beast.
We saw the Yarra river, the town square, Hoiser Lane (aka Graffiti Alley), the town hall and government buildings, and ended up at the local Chinatown (aka the long street with all Chinese restaurants and pretty much nothing else).
I am further impressed by the city, which is prettier than Sydney. There are old style buildings from the colonial days interspersed with glass covered modern high rises, and yet the mix blends well instead of being schizophrenic. Also, the newer buildings all have their stylistic quirk, without giving the impression of trying way too hard to flaunt gaudily. I like it here.
Tomorrow we'll be finishing really late since we're going to see some penguins in their natural habitat. Since they're nocturnal, that means after sunset. So by the time we get back it'll be around midnight. Then the day after that we have an early flight to NZ. So probably the next journal update is going to be delayed.
Lunch was provided by the tour and was at a dim sum place. However, the dishes were predetermined rather than a la carte, so they weren't all that varied. Tasted pretty much like every other dim sum I've had. Meh.
We checked in early to our hotel, the Crown Metropol, which is attached to this huge casino complex, also called Crown. Gotta say, the place looks really high class both inside and out. However they're more stingy about their internet, which sucks. I'm pretty much relegated to using the free wifi in the lobby for this post.
After checking in, our tour guide took us on an 2 hour walk around the surrounding area, which is the city center. Man, this guy is a beast.
We saw the Yarra river, the town square, Hoiser Lane (aka Graffiti Alley), the town hall and government buildings, and ended up at the local Chinatown (aka the long street with all Chinese restaurants and pretty much nothing else).
I am further impressed by the city, which is prettier than Sydney. There are old style buildings from the colonial days interspersed with glass covered modern high rises, and yet the mix blends well instead of being schizophrenic. Also, the newer buildings all have their stylistic quirk, without giving the impression of trying way too hard to flaunt gaudily. I like it here.
Tomorrow we'll be finishing really late since we're going to see some penguins in their natural habitat. Since they're nocturnal, that means after sunset. So by the time we get back it'll be around midnight. Then the day after that we have an early flight to NZ. So probably the next journal update is going to be delayed.
