Since that was all the way back in February and I hadn't even made it to Australia yet, I had no clue if I would have much time to show her around as I had no clue when my finals would be or if I would be able to host her since I hadn't seen my room yet. But all worked out perfectly. As mentioned in my last post, I had 2 papers and a final due on June 6 (the day she arrived) and nothing until the 17. It was nice to have the week to hang out with her and do some exploring around the city.
*Note: I didn't bring my camera to any of this so when Felicia posts pics, I will upload them to here.
Monday
Felicia arrived an hour before Mike and I had our final, which I was totally not worried about. After taking it, I realized I shouldn't have even spent the 3 hours I did studying. The questions were pretty much the big concepts we focused on the entire semester AND we got the case study in advance. This may not be the case for everyone and maybe partially because my classes are pass/fail (but I'm still kicking ass in them) but most of my classes were a joke compared to SC. For instance, my Entrepreneurship class was 12 weeks long with one 2-hour lecture (and a useless 1-hour discussion) each week. When you put that into perspective, SC has 15 weeks of class and a class like this at SC would meet twice a week for 1.5 hours or 2 hours. Essentially, I learned less than half the amount of material I would in a class at SC during the semester.
Anyway, so with Felicia now in Melbourne, Mike and I decided we should take her to Cho Gao, a bar at MelbCentral, that we had previously went to with Chavie and Jess. Chris and Becca tagged along and we enjoyed delicious $4 pizzas and several cocktail jugs. We then wandered to Puggs on Hardware and even the treehouse bar (not sure of the actual name) that Chris and Becca had been talking about for a few weeks. FINALLY, we made it to the treehouse bar, which seriously was a mixture of a kid's treehouse and the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream. While the drinks were pricey this night and we were the only people there, the place was awesome.
From there, we headed back to the Village and decided to avoid Turf. A great decision. We watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High instead. Great movie. Sean Penn is a badass.
Tuesday
Felicia and I headed out around 10:30 am to go explore. While it was cloudy and pretty cold, it wasn't terrible out. However, by the time we walked the few blocks to the market, it was pouring and not being prepared with umbrellas, we decided to head back to the Village and formulate a plan for the week just so that Felicia didn't miss any sites she wanted to see.
After a few hours of hanging around, the rain cleared up and we headed over the Melbourne Museum. Neither Mike nor I had been so it would be a good experience for all of us. I haven't been to a museum in years but I realized how much I like them (yes, I know that sounds nerdy but it's the truth). Hopefully, over the summer, I will find some time to make it to some museums, whether in NY or LA.
Once we finished up at the museum, we were starving and went to Grill'd on Lygon. While there are many things that I don't like about the food in Melbourne (mainly how expensive it is and the lack of Mexican food), Grill'd is one of the places I will definitely miss when I get back to the States. I know we have great burger places - In N Out, 5 Guys, Umami Burger, etc - but this place is amazing. NOMNOMNOM
As we walked back to the Village from Lygon, we realized how cold it was actually outside - somewhere in the 40s. With it being so cold, none of us wanted to venture out to bar hop so we watched American Pyscho. The movie was interesting to say the least. Christian Bale was amazing as usual but it was a total mindfuck the entire time. Did he actually kill them? Was he mentally insane? IDK!!!
Wednesday
Even though it was crappy out again/as usual, I told Felicia that we would actually do real exploring today since Tuesday was a fail. We trammed down to Flinders and crossed over the Yarra. We explored the park there (which I hadn't really done yet) - some stops included the Sidney Myer Performance Bowl, the Shrine of Remembrance, and the Botanical Gardens.
That took a few hours and we were pretty exhausted. We walked over to DeGraves and had lunch at a cafe there. I explained to Felicia that no trip to DeGraves is complete without a stop at Little Cupcakes so we went there and threw down some delicious, yet tiny cupcakes.
Mike met up with us then on DeGraves and the 3 of us walked over to the Parliament Building, where we would be taking a free tour. Our tourguide (Richard) was quite the character - telling us tons of stories (much of it trivial) and converting everything to American terms (despite there being Australians, Canadians, and Brits). Having took Australia Now this semester, it was pretty interesting hearing about some of the stuff I learned in class while on the tour.
With bars/clubs/getting drunk being my Melbourne specialty, I was excited to show Felicia some more bars. Mike and I decided to go to Croft Institute, a science/doctor themed bar. I had never been there but my guidebook said it was one of the best and most of my friends had been there saying it was cool. The place looked like a hospital inside (even had a gurney in the bathroom) with beakers on shelves all over the walls. Drinks even came with a plastic syringe so you could do shots. Pretty damn cool.
Croft (courtesy of Google)
Thursday
During the day, Felicia went on a tour to Phillip Island, so I did absolutely nothing all day except go to the gym. When she got back around 9, we started drinking and met up with everyone at Pugg's for Chris's last night (sad panda). Instead of sitting up close to Ryan playing guitar, we sat in at a chill table toward the front. Everyone was super drunk and it was great. We made our way down to Lambs on Lygon around 11:30 for tasty souvlaki. Most people were heading back to the Village but I wasn't that drunk or tired, so Erica, Elyssa, and I decided to go to Toff, where Chavie and Jess met us. I have to say, prob one of the best DJ sets at Toff thus far. Mostly remixes of Top40 songs along with house and trance music. Overall, a great day.
Friday
While a lot of my bitching about food revolves around Mexican food, I really miss bagels as well. Mike, Felicia, and I trekked down to Balaclava (the Jewish district) and got amazing bagels with cream cheese and lox. While definitely not as good as my bagels in Jersey, it did the job. We then wandered about Prahran market and Chapel St. Felicia wanted to see UniMelb campus so we trained back to the city and walked around the campus.
Friday night was Becca's last night so we all went to Brunswick St. The night involved Little Creatures (amazing beer), Bimbos, and Souvlaki King.
Saturday
Lazy day hanging around plus a Shanghai dumpling lunch. At night, Felicia and I went to the Geelong vs. Hawthorne footy game at the MCG. It surprisingly wasn't that cold out. But like last time, it was boring as hell. I don't know if it's because I don't know all of the rules, don't have a team to support, or just haven't group up with it, but I just really don't like it. AFL is just very odd - rugby meets US football meets Quidditch. IDK it's weird and boring and glad to get back to REAL sports.
Sunday
Sunday was Felicia's last day. She wanted to go check out Rod Laver Arena (where the Australian Open is held) but I wasn't really up for it. The tour ended up being canceled due to Kylie Minogue's show being set up, so I guess it was kind of good I didn't wake up early to wander down there.
Mike and I met up with Felicia later that day, grabbed a sushi lunch, and just wandered the QV and MelbCentral. Nothing too excited
And then all the sudden, it was time for Felicia to leave - off to Indonesia. The week flew past but was amazing. So glad Felicia could come and visit! If she didn't come, I would be totally bored...nothing to do with the weather so crappy and everyone studying for finals =/
But at least I have America in less than a week! Really stoked to get back!
Oh, before I forget, other highlight of the week - making it thejillboard.com - this awesome blog I follow. Here's the link: http://www.thejillboard.com/2011/we-run-the-night-dj-havana-brown/ What can I say? I have good taste in music.
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