Memoirs of a Chan

One of the best things about having visitors is that I get to try a whole bunch of different restaurants. My last meal with Janice and Sue Mae was at Movida Next door at the corner of Flinders Street and Hosier Lane. It’s a walk in Spanish Tapas restaurant that is the smaller and simpler neighbour of the more famous MoVida.

We ordered a selection of dishes to share including mushroom and ham croquettes.  It was a hot day in Melbourne and both Janice and Sue Mae queued for an hour to get into the restaurant after spending the afternoon at the beach.

Janice’s legs were sunburnt and as red as these octopus tentacles. Unfortunately Mae was feeling dizzy from dehydration so it took her awhile to recover and dig in.

We ordered grilled gambas (prawns) to go with our pulpo (octopus). Most of the dishes we ordered were from their daily specials board.

There were several pescada dishes on offer but we settled for a grilled whiting.

The girls favourite part of the meal followed with churros and dipping chocolate as well as a baked citrus and cinnamon custard dessert. It was delicious……

The next weekend, Sue Mae, Jo and I decided to try Chin Chin, a modern Thai/Vietnamese inspired restaurant on Flinders lane.

Our first dish was the Kingfish sashimi with lime, chilli, coconut and thai basil.

Next up was the wok fried salt and pepper squid with nuoc cham and vietnamese mint.

After that, we had the caramelised sticky pork with sour herb salad and chilli vinegar.

Sue Mae’s friend recommended the crispy skinned duck, pickled cucumber and ginger salad with sesame salt and fresh lemon.

Our last main dish was a dry red curry of soft shell crab with snakebeans, thai basil and kaffir lime leaf.

No dinner is complete without dessert (as Mae likes to say) so we tried the Palm sugar ice cream sundae with salted honeycomb and lime syrup (an assault on my tastebuds) and the black sticky rice with fresh mango, sweetened coconut cream and sesame seeds.

I flew back to Perth for the weekend to help my aunt celebrate her birthday.

She chose the Atrium buffet at Burswood casino for her birthday dinner. I haven’t been there since it’s been renovated.

The renovations resulted in a classier, more elegant looking Atrium. I think they were trying to look as good as the Hyatt cafe.

It was nice to celebrate her birthday with a family affair.

The dessert selection had Janice grinning from ear to ear.

I thought the best items from the dessert selection was the ice cream, in particular, the apple sorbet.

All you have to do is let the Atrium know that you’re celebrating a birthday and they provide complimentary champagne and birthday cake.

Unsurprisingly, we walked out of there, feeling ready to burst.

Despite the heavy meal from the evening before, Dad took us to lunch at Nobu at Burswood, which has recently opened in Perth. They have chains all over the world and are considered a Japanese fusion/ Peruvian inspired fine dining restaurant.

The chef, Nobu Matsuhisa opened New York’s Nobu along with restaurant co owner Robert De Niro. It became a big hit and many restaurants were opened later.  We started off with the Yellowfin tuna sashimi.

Next were the lobster sashimi tacos and wagyu beef tacos.

My favourite dish was the seafood ceviche. Apparently Nobu worked at a restaurant in Tokyo which was frequented regularly by a Peruvian entrepreneur. He was then invited to Peru to set up a restaurant there and found he struggled to get the ingredients that he was used to in Japan so he had to improvise.

The signature dish there is the Black cod miso and we had that in the bento box which is actually made up of two boxes, not one.

It’s not everyday that we get to go to Nobu so we sampled their chocolate souffle with green tea ice cream and their banana and passionfruit spring rolls with vanilla ice cream.

The weekend went all too quickly and I found myself back in Melbourne and back at work. Two days later, Jess flew to Melbourne for work.

We went to the Oriental Spoon, which has become my regular ‘go to’ Korean restaurant.

We ordered seafood pancake, which I didn’t like as much as their kim chi pancake.

We also ordered seafood tofu hotpot and BBQ squid bulgogi.

The tastiest dish though, was their chicken BBQ bulgogi.

While Nobu isn’t the kind of restaurant that you go to everyday, lo and behold, I found myself there again less than a week later. Jess has wanted to try it and she decided to take Liam and I to the branch in Melbourne.

Nobu in Melbourne is based at the Crown Casino complex and it looked like a funkier, less sedate version of the branch in Perth.

We kicked off with some of their famous cocktails. I can tell you now that I’d go back there just to have their cocktails again.

Once again,  we order the Yellowfin tuna which came highly recommended by our waiter.

The scallop sashimi wasn’t on the menu in Perth so it appears to be a dinner only menu item. I was keen to try it and glad we did as it was my favourite dish of the evening.

One cocktail in particular is worth a mention. I can’t remember the exact name but it sounds like ‘Guyver’ and has elderflower in it.

We ordered Yellowfin tuna and salmon sashimi tacos which were a little dry and disappointing. The sauce was also quite ordinary and not as nice as the versions in Perth.

Their seafood ceviche was also not as appetitising as I remembered. It had less citrus and lime than the one in Perth and I kept comparing it to the ceviche that I had at Sushi Samba in Vegas..

We orderd the black miso cod as a main and while it was delicious, Jess agreed with me when I said that it tasted like the one that Yo Sushi, London used to make.

The soft shell crab came recommended by someone at work so we sampled that.

I had plum wine which was tasty but I spent alot of the time sipping at Liam’s ‘Guyver’ cocktail.

We followed up the evening with a drink at the Velvet bar.

I’ve been to this bar several times with Janice and was pleased to see that the cocktails hadn’t shrunk in size.

After finding $280 return flights to Perth with Tiger Airways on Friday 23rd December at 9pm, I flew to Perth the next morning at 7.10am to spend Christmas with my family.

Mum picked me up at the airport but we kept my visit a surprise from my dad. The look on my dad’s face when he saw me was priceless.It was fantastic to spend some time at home with the family, catching up with friends and generally over indulging.

I spent 4 days there before flying back to Melbourne for work. Janice flew to Melbourne two days later to celebrate New Years with me. I was excited to show her my life here.

Sue Mae picked her up at the airport and they went to Hellenic Republic for lunch the next day. I had a half day at work on the 30th December so we decided to hit the post boxing day sales.

All that shopping happens to be JUST Janice’s bargains! I didn’t do too shabbily myself.

We went to my favourite Korean restaurant for dinner.

We ordered chicken bimbimbap, tofu and seafood hot stew as well as barbeque spicy squid and bulgogi beef.

The real hit though was the kimchi jeon (pancake).

The next day was New Years eve which we also spent shopping. It was a balmy 36 degrees and we headed to Chinatown for dinner before having pre-drinks at my place.

We headed to the Emerald Peacock for drinks.

Our party of 5 grew by the hour as Sue Mae and some of Jo’s friends joined us.

Cocktails were our drink of choice since the bar wasn’t serving shots.

They were easily the weakest cocktails we’ve had. Lucky we had pre-drinks!

The Emerald Peacock was just one of many rooftop bars in Melbourne. It’s on my street, about two blocks down from where I live and it had no cover charge for entry on New Years Eve.

Just before midnight we rushed out onto Swanston street which was closed to traffic and walked towards the fireworks we could hear.

We stopped at the corner of Swanston and Bourke street where we thought we’d pose for a few group photos.

After the fireworks ended, we couldn’t decide whether to go to another bar, club or get something to eat. In the end, our stomachs won and we headed to Chinatown.

On New Years day, we had a leisurely sleep in before gearing up to go to Summerdayze.

It just so happened that it was a whopping 37 degrees that day.

I must admit, I was slightly nervous at the thought of going to an outdoor music festival in 37 degree sweltering heat however judging by the crowds,  at least I wouldn’t be suffering alone.

We went just after lunch, before any of the more popular artists were due to come on. We had to queue for about 35 mins in the sun to get into the main tent.

We were melting without any shade but patience is a virtue as we managed to get seats in the shade quite near the front.

The shade made all the difference. I don’t think I would have lasted till the evening if i had to sit under the sun for 6 to 7 hours.

Grandmaster flash was on stage DJ-ing when we arrived but finished his set shortly after. There was a 15 minute interval and then the Scissor Sisters came on.

I’m not a fan of theirs but I did recognise a couple of songs. The next to play was DJ Erick Morillo who I thought was pretty good.

He played the kind of songs I like to dance to at clubs…..not that I’ve been clubbing recently.

The big drawcards of the festival (for me) were Snoop Dogg and Calvin Harris.

Snoop was really good live and managed to engage the crowd, even those who don’t enjoy his music. Next up was Moby. I haven’t ever been a fan of his music and he didn’t play some of his more well known songs.

We sat down throughout his set and found by the end of it, our ears were ringing. We were seated near the speakers and Moby’s set had alot of bass.

The highlight of the evening was definitely Calvin Harris. From the moment he came on stage, it was clear who the majority of the crowd had come to see.

He had an amazing lightshow all the way through.

We danced all the way through but had little room to move since we were standing on our chairs and had to be careful not to knock each other off.

We left after Calvin Harris finished at 9.30pm, deciding to forego Pendulum in favour of dinner. Where else could we go for dinner at that time of night but Chinatown?

This summer is shaping up to be a busy one. On Friday I went to my work Christmas party. The theme was ‘Old Hollywood Glamour’ and I based my outfit loosely on a 1920’s flapper girl.

The girls from work came over to my place to get ready. It was nice to unwind and share a drink after all the long hours we’ve been working recently. None of us went over the top with our dresses or hair in case we partied on afterwards.

Just before 6pm, we made our way to DiMattino’s on Lygon Street, Carlton. It was a particularly warm day and I was grateful that I was wearing a lightweight dress.

We started off having drinks and finger food in the main restaurant downstairs before making our way to the upstairs area which we hired out privately. We were seated randomly and I found myself on the same table as the IT guys and my manager as well as the CFO.

The seating arrangements only applied when food was served. Most of the time we all moved around the room and mingled. Robert Walters had an open bar so I was able to choose from a range of beer, wine and a few spirits. I stuck to white wine and vodka and lemon. It turns out that is quite a deadly combination.

It was a great night though things got a little haphazard towards the end. I narrowly avoided being pushed to the ground with a heap of other people.

I spent most of the night dancing and proudly managed to stay and dance in my heels for 5.5 solid hours. It’s a big achievement.

I did pack my flats, just in case however I lost my black faux silk gloves sometime during the night.

I woke up dehydrated and tired on Saturday, with a few bruises on my arm and what felt like bruises on my toes. My calves also hurt. What a workout dancing in heels is.

Nothing less than Dim Sum would do for lunch so I met up with Jo, Mae, Lam and his cousin at Shark Fin House. I figured it was a good time for Mae & Jo to meet Lam, in case we do any interstate trips together later on in the year.

The highlight of my weekend was our surfing excursion. Jeannie, Jo, Sue Mae and I went on a road trip to Apollo Bay, along Great Ocean Road.

We figured it was a good way to see some local views as well as learn to surf. We booked ourselves into a 1.5 hr lesson at $55 including wetsuit and surfboard hire.

The wetsuits may look sexy but they stank of other people’s sweat! Before expending our energy on trying to surf, we indulged in fish and chips and a seafood platter.

Our surf instructor was exactly how we expected. Blonde windswept hair and a carefree attitude.

First he demonstrated what we needed to do on the sand and got us to practice on our boards on the sand.

Once in the water, our instructor had us lying on our boards, facing the beach and we had to ride the wave to the shore as the first step.

Our second step which we spent more of our time practicing was to surf towards the shore and while we are riding the wave, get up onto our knees.

The third step was to ride like that with one foot on the board and the other leg still on one knee.

Finally he asked us to stand up on our side. I was already struggling with the one foot on the board so I didn’t have any expectations.

Jeannie managed to stand up a couple of times and rode the board to the shore once. I merely managed a few standing star shaped attempts. It was tiring business and I was working up quite an appetite.

I drove back to Melbourne so that Sue Mae could get some rest. We decided to celebrate with a Korean dinner at the Oriental Spoon on LaTrobe Street.

A work colleague took me here to try their Bimbimbap.

For variety, we ordered a selection of dishes.

The next day, I woke up feeling a little sunswept. My chest and shoulder muscles were sore and my eyelids were red and burnt since I forgot to put sunblock on them.

I can clearly remember the night I found out Mae had decided she wanted to study veterinary science. I was in Malaysia at the time with Janice and Jess.

Sue Ann and Sue Mae had taken us to a rooftop bar with a pool and we were drinking cocktails. Janice was in her first year of Chiropractic Science and I remember feeling so optimistic about their road ahead.

5 years later and here I am, living in the same city as Sue Mae and present for her graduation. My Aunt and Uncle flew over for the graduation ceremony and I caught up for dinner with them on their first evening here.

We went to a Japanese restaurant around the corner from my place before going to Passionflower for dessert.

On Saturday, we headed to the University of Melbourne and posed for pictures with the Young Lady of the Day.

Mae’s friends turned up to show their support and to pose for photos.

The Walter Hall was full of families and friends showing their support for the new graduates.

The ceremony was for graduates of Veterinary Science, Dentisty and Oral Health science. There were a few other smaller disciplines but dentistry and veterinary made up the majority. My Aunt and Uncle were so proud and it was nice to see that since I missed my sister’s graduation.

The rest of that day included a Dim Sum lunch, an afternoon nap and dinner at Thai Taste.

We did manage a quick coffee and chocolate platter stop at Koko Black which is in a narrow arcade along Bourke Street mall.

I suppose Koko Black is Max Brenner’s main rival. I had been there to buy chocolate before but didn’t realise they had a coffee shop above the storefront.

The interior was warm and inviting, perfect for lovers of coffee and hot chocolate alike.

Unfortunately at dinner that evening, I was so excited about having dinner at Thai Taste, which has fast become my favourite restaurant in Melbourne that I forgot to take pictures of the main meals and only remembered when our dessert came out.

The next day, we met up with Mae’s cousins for lunch at Song’s Kitchen.

This was followed closely by some shopping and more dessert.

My last meal with my Aunt and Uncle was at a restaurant in Chinatown. So far, I’ve enjoyed all the places we’ve eaten at and I’m making a mental list of all the places I think my parents would like to try when they come and visit.

This weekend I caught up with a friend I hadn’t seen in over 12 years. We used to hang out back in the day and moved around in the same social circles.

We met up for a steaming bowl of Ramen from Ramen Ya in the GPO Melbourne before catching a movie. Along the way, we stopped to admire the Christmas decorations and street performers.

Since this was our first catch up in over a decade, we thought it was only appropriate to catch up on all the year with plenty of food.

After lunch, we stopped to have frozen yoghurt in the QV building.

After watching The Immortals in 3D, we had a tea and hot chocolate at Max Brenners.

Max Brenners is an Israeli chocolate shop chain. They offer a huge array of chocolate based entrees and drinks.

I was first introduced to it 7 years ago in Melbourne by my cousin Sue Ann. Since arriving in Melbourne, I have studiously managed to avoid it. Their chocolate pizza is particularly lethal.

We decided to have dinner at the Taiwan cafe on Swanston street, which Mae and I had tried only a couple of nights ago. It is a very popular place to eat and I have rarely seen it without queues.

When Mae and I ate there, we had Siew Long Bao (Dumplings) and hot and sour soup noodles which weren’t particularly hot or sour.

Upon the first visit, I couldn’t see what was so great about the food that warranted the queues and packed tables.

On my second visit there with Liam, we ordered Taiwanese spring onion and egg pancakes. Their texture was similar to Roti or Paratha.

The next day, the sun was out in full force so we ventured to St Kilda for some ice cream and a bayside jaunt.

We had a few drinks at a beachside pub where a live band was playing and enjoy the Sunday session vibe.

After parting ways, I had dinner with Sue Mae at Ying Thai, a Thai cafe on Lygon street.

I was feeling nostalgic so I thought I would blog about my family’s trip to Disneyworld and Canada more than 15 years ago.

Back when we were living in Saudi Arabia, we would spend our summers in London with Jessica, my aunty and uncle.  On one such summer, our parents took us on a family holiday to the US, where we visited New York, Boston, Maine and Orlando in Florida.

While our parents anticipated us enjoying Disneyworld, I think they were unprepared for how quickly they reverted back to children.

Jess and I queued up for the largest and scariest rides but we weren’t too impressed with the rollercoasters so we spent all our energy trying to get autographs from Main’s street’s famous residents.

We managed to catch the classic main street parade while we were there.

The parks that we visited were the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Centre and Universal Studios however my photos were mainly of Magic Kingdom.

Our holiday to Canada was part of a different trip as my dad came along for this holiday.  We visited Canada twice as his younger sister lives in Edmonton. 

Although we were very young when we visited them, I still remember West Edmonton Mall vividly.

At the time of our visit, it was the longest mall in the world.

The mall had a large ice skating rink, 20 cinemas, mini golf course, wild water park, fantasty land with a 36 story drop of doom and triple loop rollercoaster as well as a mini seaworld with pirate ships, a small acquarium and dolphin shows.

I would have happily spent everyday of summer there.

We didn’t stay in Edmonton for our whole time there though. We visited Toronto, Canada’s largest city.

We also visited the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Icefields, where I first drank from the ’Fountain of Youth’.

It was the first time I had seen such beautiful scenery.

The icy conditions didn’t phase Janice one bit.

On our second trip there two years later, we visited Toronto again but this time with my father.

From Toronto, we went to see Niagara Falls.

We went on the Niagara Falls cruise where we had to wear waterproof ponchos to keep us from getting soaked.

We went on a road trip to the beautiful town of Banff.

Lake Louise was incredibly beautiful and the town of Banff captivated me straight away.

We went to Vancouver on our first trip to Canada.  Vancouver is consistently ranked among the top ten cities in the world to live in but I didn’t know that at the time.

We hopped on a ferry to Vancouver Island to visit the Butchart Gardens.

At the time, I didn’t quite fully appreciate flowers and gardens but I thought the cottages were cute.

To keep us interested our parents took us to Bedrock City which is a Flintstones themed park and camping ground.

When I showed up at work for my first day, I was pleased to see that the offices were as nice as I remembered them to be.

There were a few new starters that day as Robert Walters has been on a strong recruitment drive in the lead up to the end of the year.  We received flowers as a welcome present which I have never received at a company before.

I thought it was a lovely touch and hopefully, a reflection of the work culture at Robert Walters.

I don’t think I’ll get used to going up the lift to the 41st floor. My ears pop every single time.

The view from the Finance area is amazing but at the moment, we’re too busy to appreciate the views.

I enjoy walking home from work in the evenings as it gives me a chance to enjoy the Christmas decorations along Bourke Street mall.

My time in Melbourne hasn’t been completely filled with job and apartment hunting. Melbourne is known for it’s great restaurants and bars. It’s part of the reason why I wanted to move here.

Jeannie took me out to a Japanese restaurant on Smith Street, Fitzroy. It’s called the Wood Spoon Kitchen. It’s a cute little restaurant that serves a range of Japanese inspired dishes.

We ordered a selection of onigiri, ebi salad and sweet potato.

We also ordered a Salmon Soba salad and a Sukiyaki beef and tofu. Delicious!

On the day of Sue Mae’s last exam, we celebrated by going to Hellenic Republic for lunch.

Hellenic Republic is one of George Calombaris’s resturants.

He is more widely known for the Press Club on Flinders Street. Friday afternoon is a relatively quiet time for the restaurant so we were sat and served in next to no time.

Hellenic Republic, based in East Brunswick serves traditional Greek food with a twist.

For starters, we ordered Tyri saganaki – Kefalograviera cheese with sweet peppered figs and pita bread with Taramosalata, a white cod roe dip.

For our mains, we had moussaka and Melitzana Papoutsakia – baked eggplant, yoghurt, garlic, chilli. The flavours blended well together and the moussaka was comforting and felt like good home cooked food.

The next day I caught up with Jo for Korean BBQ at Seoul House on Russell Street.

We chose the all you can eat for $28. Jo was a little camera shy so I didn’t take any photos of him.

After dinner, we made the obligatory stop at Tutti Frutti and had frozen yoghurt for dessert.

Sue Mae and I stepped up our indulgence level and met for dinner on Monday night as well. We went to Thai Taste on Johnston Street, Collingwood.

I’ve been there twice already while visiting Sue Ann and another time when Vivian, Janice and I flew to Melbourne and met up with Sue Ann and Sue Mae.

Back then, I wasn’t that into Thai food as I couldn’t handle spicy food.  Now I’m obsessed with it.

For me, no thai meal would be complete without Tom Yum Soup. It was delicious. They do it very well here.  The real surprise was the Panang duck curry. We had it with rice and roti. I couldn’t believe how nice it was. I definitely prefer it to massaman or green curry.

We ordered spicy papaya salad. We ordered it at a medium level of spice but it was too much for both Sue Mae and I and as a conseqence, most of it was wasted.

We ordered two desserts to share. Taro and sticky rice coconut soup and mango with sticky rice. It was very rich and heavygoing so we didn’t finish it.

Sue Mae has helped alot with my transition to life in Melbourne. She took me to Ikea when shopping for household goods, helped me move my stuff from Jeannie’s place to my new apartment, gave me little parsley and basil herb plants as a housewarming gift and given me plenty of tips.

We went to Sakura Kaiten Sushi at the corner of Little Collins street and Exhibition Street in Melbourne’s CBD. It was a mid week ‘pick me up dinner’ and ‘Thank you Sue Mae’ meal.

It is basically an upmarket sushi train. The setting was much nicer than your average sushi train, lower lightning makes the small restaurant look more  intimate.

They had some more unusual dishes on offer, like yakitori chicken with wasabi soba noodles.

They also had dishes like soft shell crab sushi, red bean mochi and Chawan mushi.

Their takoyaki balls looked too good to pass up.

I met up with Sue Mae on Friday, the last day of my first week of work. She is working all weekend as well as 3 days of next week so we thought we’d celebrate/commiserate my first week of work with a bowl of ramen from Ramen Ya in the GPO on Bourke Street.

It is a specialist ramen restaurant that looked more like a bar and I felt like I belonged in a scene of Naruto. I had the seafood gyoza ramen with chicken & soy stock. Sue Mae had the charsiu kimchee ramen.

When moving to a new city and attempting to find a place to live before starting work, you have a limited amount of time to explore the various areas.

It was too expensive to live in the city in London and living in Perth is very suburban in nature so I knew that I wanted to live in the city or an inner city suburb in Melbourne.

My preference was to be within walking distance of the city since I’ve been burned by my experience with public transport in London. After ruling out finding a flatmate, I found a cosy one bedroom apartment in the city, a mere 10 minute walk from work.

It’s a minute’s walk to the largest Woolworths in the city as well as a large Big W, one block away from Chinatown and two blocks from Bourke Street mall’s shopping strip.

I liked my apartment as soon as I saw it, after having seen quite a few previously. There was another apartment that I really liked but it had less natural light and no door to separate the bedroom from the living room/kitchen.

When I viewed it, the apartment was clean and spacious enough for me.  

The kitchen/living room was one room and the bedroom is separate with an  ensuite bathroom.  I could definitely see myself living there. The bonus? It has a heated rooftop pool and decent storage space.

I submitted my tenancy application the day I saw it and happily received acceptance of my application on Monday morning. I could pick up the keys on Thursday which meant I would have a few days to set up my cute little apartment and sleep in it for a couple of nights before I start work.

It will be the first time I’ve lived alone as well so that in itself is exciting. On Monday afternoon,  I went into the office to pay the bond (ouch!) and the first month’s rent (double ouch!) as well as sign the lease.

It’s wonderful to think that I’ll only be a 10 minute walk from work and a 10 min walk from two Fitness Firsts. While I was in the UK, I would wake up at the indecent hour of 6am, catch the tube to work early and go to the gym in the morning.

Partly so that I would get it out of the way and also to avoid rush hour on the tube. I managed that routine for so long and I’m not sure where the discipline came from because I certainly didn’t do that in Perth, when I had a car and was a 5 min drive from the gym and from work.

At least now, during busy work periods, I can go in the mornings so I can free up my evenings for dinners or drinks. 

After a few days of getting myself organised and doing research on household goods, I picked up the keys on Thursday. 

I’ve moved into my new place and seriously lucked out!! I managed to furnish my new place very nicely and for a pretty good price.

I found a company that sells factory second white goods, so they are all in perfect working order & come with warranty but can’t be sold in the shops because of scratches or minor nicks.

I bought a 5kg top loader washing machine, 210 Lt Westinghouse fridge, Sanyo bagless vacuum cleaner and your standard size Sanyo microwave all for $658 including delivery.

They arrived yesterday and they all work fine. I washed my new bed sheets & vacuumed like crazy.

I bought cleaning products the week before so that I could go in and give everything a good scrub. Actually the real estate agent showed me the receipt for the steam cleaning of the carpets/cupboards etc that was done the day before I moved in but I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it another wipe down.

I saw an advert for household furniture for sale, posted by an international student living in the QV apartments around the corner from me. I went to see what he had for sale.

He had a very nice Italian leather look cream 2 seater sofa, wooden 3 drawer bedside table and a white coffee table (it’s actually a set of 3 but they stack underneath each other) which I wanted so I bought the whole lot for $200.

I had already put a deposit on a Slumberland bed from Snooze for $769 (bargained down from $979) but the student had two beds for sale.

One was his own which was a King size Slumberland bed and the other was a guest Slumberland Queen sized bed.

At first, I wasn’t interested. I didn’t want a secondhand bed but he showed me the receipt for the beds from February 2011 (bought from Freedom Furniture).

He said he moved into these apartments this year and his parents bought him all the furniture, including the Queen sized bed anticipating that they would visit him frequently. In the end he decided to return to Singapore and the queen size bed had rarely been used and has always had a mattress protector on it.

I stripped off the mattress protector, checked that both sides of the mattress had no stains or odours. I sat and jumped on the bed. It really was very firm, new looking and in tip top condition. The price on the receipt was just under $1000 and it came with a 10 year warranty

His asking price was $350 but I bargained it down to $250. It was rather opportunistic of me as I knew he had to get rid of all his furniture as part of the conditions of his lease so he was desperate and I kind of took advantage of that.

I was hesitant until I remembered that my bed in the UK was second-hand and was already there when I moved in. I think of all the times I’ve stayed in hostel beds throughout the year and though, hey, why am I being so squeamish now? It’s a good, reasonably new, good quality bed. I am only renting after all.

I high-tailed it to Snooze and got my deposit back on the bed. When I returned, the international student had packed all his cooking/kitchen utensils, 2 heaters, one drill, rice cooker, rolling pins, toaster & weird ugly ass cushions with the ugly brown comforter and said I could have them all for free.

He gave me two pots, a small and a big frying pan plus a wok, cooking utensils plus a big chopping knife and another normal knife. They were all stainless steel and good quality stuff. He even threw in an ice cream scoop and a set of whiskers which I hadn’t planned on buying.

The day before I moved, I got 10 free large plates, 10 small plates & 10 bowls & the kettle from the guys moving out of the apartment in front of my friend Jeannie’s place. It saved me buying crockery. One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure!

Basically my whole place is nicely furnished for $1050 and very comfortable and cosy though I’ll need to get a TV. It couldn’t have worked out better!

I used laundry detergent mixed with water to scrub the bed down, waited for it to dry, vacuumed it and then sprayed it with Glen 20.

My whole body is aching from the cleaning and moving around furniture. It’s definitely helpful to have such savings on furnishings when I haven’t received my first pay check yet! I’m relieved that I’ll be starting working this Monday and that I will have settled in my new apartment for a few days before starting work.

I had known for some time after deciding to leave London, that a move to Melbourne would be next on the cards for me. I had originally planned to move to Melbourne before London but my mum convinced me that London would be a better move to begin with. What a wise woman she is!

10 months after I resigned from my job in London to go travelling, I find myself arriving in Melbourne, on a beautiful sunny day. I spent 2 fantastic and relaxing weeks in Perth where I did nothing but eat, sleep, catch up with friends, spend quality time with the family and hit the gym everyday.

I flew out to Melbourne the day after my dad’s birthday.  I headed to Perth’s domestic terminal at 7.30am on Sunday, with my sister and parents in tow. It was reminiscent of my departure for the UK over 3.5 years ago except this time it wasn’t sad. Dad said it didn’t feel like I was leaving since I’m a mere 3.5 hour flight away.

I had abit of drama at the airport as my luggage was 4 kg overweight. I had weighed it at home but all 3 (yes THREE) of our weighing scales don’t work! One has the battery half falling out, the other just spits out weird numbers and the last one I didn’t know existed until the day I left and is over 10 years old. Lucky I didn’t step of them! I may have mistakenly thought I’ve lost some weight! tee hee!

I arrived at the Tiger Airways terminal desk where they promptly asked me how I’d like to pay for my $80 excess luggage fee. The answer to that was…I’m not paying anything of the sort! I took out two pairs of shoes, gave them to my mum & transferred my laptop & camera cables to my backpack. I managed to get it down to exactly 30 kg which is what I paid for.

My flight time was only 3 hours 15 minutes but it took some time to get out to the ‘baggage hall’.

I was horrified when I saw it. I have flown Tiger Airways to Melbourne before, (with the VDM girls! xoxo) but it was still a surprise. Sue Mae, my lovely kind cousin was waiting for me outside the cage doors. It was so nice to see her and it was a beautiful afternoon with sunshine and a nice breeze.

We drove to Jeannie’s apartment in Elwood where I’ll be staying while I set up my life here. 

We’ve been friends since we were children. She is one of the first friends I had in Saudi Arabia and from the age of 5, Jeannie, Leila and I were practically inseparable right until we each left Jeddah. Every time I see one of them, it feels like no time has passed at all.

Her apartment is 8 km from the city. It’s a lovely, quite affluent area. The bus stop is less than 2 mins walk away.

She also lives right by the beach. It is essentially a bay beach so it’s good for windsurfing, but not so good for surfing.

Sue Mae and I went to the city for Korean food followed by frozen yoghurt from the QV building. I chose Taro and Green tea frozen yoghurt.

Already then, in my tired state, I could get the sense of Melbourne coming back to me from all my memories of it before.

Monday morning rolled around and I had my first interview, with Medibank Private. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get into the city or how difficult I’d find it to get there so I left the house an hour and a half early.

I was delighted that it only took 30 minutes for me to get to Collins street from Jeannie’s house and even more delighted to see that I didn’t have to walk very far to get to their offices. I love the tram system!

It’s so easy to navigate and figure out. I do think that my recent travelling exploits have helped though. If you can figure your way around South America, Melbourne should be a cinch.

My objectives for the first week in Melbourne were to, familiarise myself with the CBD, meet up with the 5 recruitment agencies I had contacted and to hit the gym everyday. I’m happy to report that I hit all those goals for the first week.

The weather in Melbourne has been FANTASTIC! It has been sunny with blue skies and an average of 25 to 28 degrees. It has reminded me of the other times I’ve been to Melbourne where the weather has been fantastic.

Even the simple act of walking down Collins street and Bourke street, then past Federation square gave me such a sense of excitement.

It made me think ‘this is my new city, full of restaurants, shops and laneways for me to explore’.

Everything is so easy and there is a relaxed feel to the city. It’s large without being too intimidating and it has a real buzz. It’s so well planned and easy to get around. I should work for the Melbourne Tourism department!

In between meeting with recruitment agents and going for job interviews, I’ve explored a few areas of Melbourne that I may want to live in. I have to pass St Kilda everday to get to the city and I really love the area.

Acland Street in particular has such a buzz to it, although Fitzroy Street is equally popular.

St Kilda is also home to Luna Park and a bay beach.

I thought about looking at apartments in this area, especially as it’s so close to Jeannie but Jesse, Jeannie’s boyfriend said St Kilda is a great place to go and visit rather than live so I figured I’ll keep it special by not living there.

After a 3 stage interview with Robert Walters, I was offered the role of a Senior Accountant within their central management accounts team which looks after all of Australia.

Robert Walters are a global recruitment consultancy firm, one of the largest around and I have a history with them. In Perth, they hosted a ‘London Roadshow’ event that helps qualified accountants make the transition to London. In London, they found me a job within a week of my arrival and I was contracted through them for 2.5 years.

I decided to accept the job based on my experience during the interviews, the position description and the possible global opportunities available within the Robert Walters group. 

My start date is in two weeks, which gives me ample time to find an apartment and set myself up.