Dec 11, 20155 min read

#FELinMEL Day 4: Carlton Gardens, Chinatown, St Kilda Night Market

I can’t believe I woke up late today, and screw up my itinerary! I still managed to go pretty close to my planned itinerary, but I had to give Chinese Museum a miss, and I did not have enough time to explore at the Melbourne Museum. Nonetheless, it was still a great day!

Started off the day with cafes Breakfast Thieves and Proud Mary. Breakfast Thieves is positioned in the remains of an old chocolate factory that serves premium coffee and splendid food. I had a Scrambled Egg Croissant and a cappuccino. Both the scrambled egg and the croissant were amazing, it’s like one of the best that I have ever had! However, the coffee wasn’t to my liking.

BREAKFAST THIEVES

Opening hrs: 0730-1600hrs (Mon-Fri), 0800-1500hrs (Sat, Sun).

Address: 1/420 Gore Street Fitzroy, VIC 3065.

http://www.breakfastthieves.com.au/

#1: Breakfast Thieves.

#2: Breakfast Thieves.

#3: Cashier and barista counter.

#4: Pastry display.

#5: More pastries...

#6: Scrambled Eggs Croissant (AU$9) and Cappuccino (AU$4).

About 10mins walk down the road is another popular café, Proud Mary. Proud Mary is an ideal spot for some coffee and relaxation. The café takes pride in delivering quality products, and serves one of the best coffees in Melbourne. The coffee was fantastic and it is so good that it is currently at the top of the list among all the coffees that I have tried in Melbourne. It is a very hippy café I would say. The overall design was pretty wild and trendy. The servers were hippy, the music was hipish!

PROUD MARY

Opening hrs: 0700-1600hrs (Mon-Fri), 0800-1600hrs (Sat, Sun).

Address: 172 Oxford Street, Collingwood VIC 3066.

http://www.proudmarycoffee.com.au/

#7: Proud Mary.

#8: Proud Mary.

#9: Interior of Proud Mary.

#10: Proud Mary's coffee beans.

#11: Flat White, AU$3.80.

#12: Barista counter.

Next, I moved on to Royal Exhibition Building located in Carlton Gardens. Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located in the central of Melbourne, Australia. The 26-hectare site contains the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Museum, IMAX Cinema, tennis courts and an award winning children’s playground. The garden is an outstanding example of Victorian landscape design with a variety of European and Australian tree plantings. The Royal Exhibition Building, completed in 1880, was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 to 1881, and later hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. After some restoration works in the 1990s, it was awarded as the first building in Australia with a heritage status in 2004, being one of the last few remaining of major buildings from the 19th century. However, due to an ongoing event, I was unable to visit the building.

ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDING

Address: 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton VIC 3053.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/reb/

#13: Carlton Gardens.

#14: Carlton Gardens.

#15: Carlton Gardens.

#16: Carlton Gardens.

#17: Carlton Gardens and Royal Exhibition Building.

#18: Royal Exhibition Building.

#19: Royal Exhibition Building.

Right outside the Royal Exhibition Building is the Melbourne Museum. Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history museum located in the Carlton Gardens of Melbourne, Australia, adjacent to Royal Exhibition Building. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall Architects and is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere. There were many exhibits going on, but I only managed to visit Dynamic Earth, Marine Life, Dinosaur Walk, Wild and the Children’s Gallery. I think the one that I liked the most was Children’s Gallery, where they talked about plants and animals, though this area was meant for children. Dynamic Earth and Dinosaur Walk were pretty interesting as well, especially when I get to see how Earth was like million years ago and how Earth will look like in future.

MELBOURNE MUSEUM

Opening hrs: 1000-1700hrs (Daily).

Admission: $12.

Address: 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton VIC 3053.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/

#20: Melbourne Museum.

#21: Children's Gallery.

#22: Children's Gallery.

#23: Science and Life Gallery.

#23: Science and Life Gallery - Dinosaur Walk.

#24: Science and Life Gallery - Dinosaur Walk.

#25: Science and Life Gallery - Dinosaur Walk.

#26: Science and Life Gallery - Wild.

#27: Science and Life Gallery - Wild.

#28: Science and Life Gallery - Wild.

Next, I travelled back to city and went to Chinatown to take a look. There wasn’t much things there but was lucky enough to spot a Transformer Bumble Bee mascot with a matching yellow limousine. I had dinner at Shandong Mama, which is located within Chinatown. Shandong Mama, famous for their dumplings, are made from quality ingredients hand-picked and prepared by Mama (the owner) herself. Their handmade dumpling skins come in three different thicknesses to match the filling and the cooking method. Fish dumplings taste best in thin skin, which allows prompt cooking and avoid overcooking. Meat dumplings require thicker skin to withstand longer cooking. I had the Melbourne Fried Dumplings (AU$14.80), and the filling consists of prawn, squid, mussel, fish, chicken, lemon rind, olive oil, parsley and garlic. It was a dish created with inspiration from the Australian multicultural food scene. It was super duper awesome, like the BEST dumplings I have ever had! The worst dumplings are those with thick dumpling skin and a pathetic amount of filling. Shandong Mama’s dumplings are just the opposite, worth every cent that I paid for it.

SHANDONG MAMA

Opening hrs: 1100-2100hrs (Daily).

Address: 7/200 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.

https://www.facebook.com/shandongmama

#29: Chinatown.

#30: Chinatown.

#31: Chinatown.

#32: Chinatown.

#33: Chinatown.

#34: Shandong Mama.

#35: Melbourne Fried Dumplings, AU$14.80 (10pcs).

After getting a quick change up, I headed out for St Kilda Twilight Market which was happening at O’Donnell Gardens, just a street down from where I am staying. The St Kilda Twilight Market is a place to meet, eat, buy, create, enjoy and share in the heart of St Kilda, featuring fashion, jewellery, food, artwork, vintage wear, craft, and many more. Only available during the summer! I had a henna done for AU$25, which is pretty expensive as you can get them done in Singapore for just $10. I also had a Ferrero Rocher Crepe (AU$10) that comes served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – thin crepe with nutella, hazelnuts, wafer chips and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Taste wise normal.. I also bought some bracelets that were going at 3 for $5, this one is cheap!