Melbourne City Tour & Family Dinner 1

Day 3: 2nd Sept 2011, Friday

Mei yiyi had to go to work today so Becky yiyi (mummy's other cousin) became Ms. Tour Guide of the day. Becky yiyi is an extremely friendly person and I warmed up to her quite immediately. It was also the first time I met her in person. Becky yiyi drove us to the city for a day tour. She parked the car at the carpark of the national art gallery so that we could take a short walk to Flinders Street to catch a tram.

Just outside the National Gallery of Victoria

Before starting the tour, Becky yiyi needed her coffee fix so she brought us to a swanky cafe in the art gallery for a mid-morning tea. At the food display counter, mummy was captivated by the pretty sight of pastel coloured macarons sitting invitingly in huge bowls! We ordered a few to try...

Finally! Our very first taste of macarons... my favourite was salty caramel, mummy's favourite was rose petal and daddy's favourite was raspberry. Sweeeeeet but yummylicious! 

After our mid-morning tea, we took a walk to Flinders Street to catch the City Circle tram

The Yarra River with the skyline of Melbourne city in the background

Flinders Street Station... one of Melbourne's most famous landmarks

At the main entrance of the station with Becky yiyi

The City Circle Tram... it's free of charge and touring around the city was really easy and convenient  

Sitting with Becky yiyi in the tram

We hopped off the tram and took a short walk to the renowned Queen Victoria Market. There was quite a lot to see there... from common fares to unusual stuff...

Fresh kangaroo meat was sold in almost every meat deli but we never got around to try it... well, maybe next time *wink*

The wide array of local produce at the fresh market section... strawberry was just one of the very few fruits that I could identify

We had lunch in one of the many al-fresco cafes in Federation Square. From where we were seated, we had a good view of the city including the Eureka Skydeck 88

Our lunch... XXL-burgers, chips and chocolate milk shake.  The burgers were so humongous that mummy did not order any for me. I just nibbled a bit here and there of daddy's chicken burger and mummy's veggie-burger and... *burp* it was more than enough for us! Oh by the way, the burgers were good!

After lunch, we took a slow walk to the Royal Botanic Gardens. We only managed to cover a small part of the the very large park.

Early spring... most of the trees were still very "bald"

The Shrine of Remembrance... Victoria's war memorial of National Significance

On the way back, we walked around the inside of the art gallery before leaving. The stained glass on the high ceiling of this building was really nice 

Later in the evening, we went for dinner at Koo-kong (mummy's Kau-foo) and Grandaunt Carol's house. Koo-kong and Grandaunt Carol are Becky yiyi's parents.

Nathan, Alyssa and I helping ourselves to the basket of potato chips before the other guests' arrival... 

Koo-kong and Grandaunt Carol prepared a very delish meal for us... fresh prawns, beef sausages, ravioli (pasta with cheese and spinach stuffing), cold meat, avocado salad and BBQ chicken wings.

Desserts... fresh strawberries, ice cream, chocolate cake and more chocolates!

Joining us in the dinner were a few of mummy's other cousins and their families so I was introduced to more cousins there...

Left pic: With adorable Saoirse (Becky yiyi's daughter), an extremely friendly toddler who kept hugging me :)
Right pic: With Kai Yin, my only peer among the kids there (born in the same year)... we all played together like best friends :)

One for the album... with all my cute, tiny-tot Australian cousins