The Snowlady Chronicles: Melbourne Sampo (Walk for those of you who don't know Japanese)

Monday November 4, 2013

Melbourne, Australia

Sunny but Cold when Windy!

I left my apartment at 8am on Saturday Nov. 2 to take a taxi to Haneda airport which is 30 minutes away. I was to catch a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong connecting to Melbourne Australia. While in the taxi, I was not feeling comfortable. You know, one of those feelings that you forgot something. After checking for my passport, credit cards in the taxi for at least 10 times, I arrived at Haneda which is only about a 20 minute drive from my apartment in Akasaka. Went to go check in and happily found out that I was booked in biz class... But the agent was not giving me a ticket and after contacting the supervisor said that I need a Visa to go to Australia. WHAT??? Had no idea. Thank God for the Internet. She gave me a link and said to get a "visa" online. And since the plane is delayed one hour I should have time to get a Visa. Whew. It was actually pretty easy but I learned a lesson. Always check for Visa requirements as they change quite often.

Anyhoo, the flight to HK was uneventful except the captain said a typhoon was approaching HK so it will be bumpy and boy was it bumpy! I was sure glad we landed safely. And the flight arrived on time despite leaving an hour later. Since I had a 4 hr layover in HK, before catching the flight to Melbourne, I decided to go shopping. Big mistake. Ended up spending beaucoup $$$s. Shoes and jewelry mainly. HK airport has the BEST shopping!

The flight to Melbourne was uneventful but as I was out of sleeping pills had issues sleeiping thru the 9 hr redeye flight. I need to figure out how to get prescription sleeping pills in Japan as it really helps one overcome jetlag quite quickly.

Anyhow, arrived in Melbourne around 730am on Sunday (almost 24hrs since leaving my apt), made it thru customs with no incident albeit the customs officials quite strict, caught a cab and made it to my hotel by 10am- ish. First impression of Melbourne, quiet and flat. No mountains to be seen and the city was quite dead as it was Sunday AM. But very clean. Although, it's always a shock to see "old toilets" and no "ToTo toilets" prevalent in any country outside Japan.

Putzed around the hotel unpacking and getting my act together which included making a shopping list for things I need that I can't get in Japan.

Decided to check out the village of Toorak as there are many high end shops. Big mistake. All the stores were closed on Sunday. So decided to make the best of it and walk to South Yarro which is supposed to be hip. Although again most of the stores were closed, I got my exercise (7 km or so of walking) and found the Aesop store which was open. Love their products! So bought a facial scrub and bath oil. I then took the metro back to city central as I was getting tired due to lack of sleep on the plane.

By the time I got back to the hotel it was a mere 10 degrees with drizzle but had to go find a hat! You see, I'm in Melbourne to go to the Melbourne Cup for my bestie Sandra's partner Bob's B-day. Melbourne Cup is one of the most famous horse races in Australia. It's actually a national holiday and takes place the first Tuesday of November. So out I went with no coat and therefore freezing, looking for a hat. And I found the perfect hat and on sale. Can't wait to show it off at the Cup!

By the time I bought the hat, had an early supper at a quaint Italian place in an alleyway, it was already around 6pm, so headed back to the hotel with the intention of writing and posting this blog but ended up falling asleep!

So needless to say the next day (today- Monday) was tough. I woke up with head on the desk at around 130AM, tried to go back to sleep with no avail. So ended up tossing and turning until around 5am and then the alarm went off at 7am as the plan was to exercise and then meet Sandra and Bob for a tour of the city. I ended up hitting the snooze button until 830am, no exercise, no brekkie, but got to Sandra and Bob's hotel by the promised 930am. Unfortunately, Bob's ankle acted up so he decided to stay in the hotel and rest up for the day. So Sandra and I did a 10km + walking tour of the city on our own. What a FANTASTIC city. I love it and can see why its one of the top 3 most desirable places to live in the world. The city has character with magnificent old buildings, beautiful gardens and unique neighborhoods. We started with the arcade and lanes walking tour, followed by elegant enclave tour and ended with a tour of the Fitzroy funky district. Fabulous. Met Bob for dinner and we went to an early Greek dinner in the Brunswick area of Melbourne. Can't get any decent Greek food in Tokyo so was very much looking forward to it and LOVED it! I definitely can live in Melbourne!

Luv Cathay Pacific Biz Class