Retrospective: Melbourne

Although I am now sitting in the bedroom of my dear friend Samuel in Taipei, many miles and days away from Melbourne, I thought I would finally get around to posting about it. I spent much longer than anticipated in that fine city, as I 1) missed my first deadline to leave due to ineptitude, 2) missed the roadtrip which was going to take me to Sydney due to exhaustion and 3) missed my flight, two days later, due to a heinous lack of planning. So, after very numerous days living in the beautiful home of Chloe, Hamish, Telford & Louise, I finally got the only kind of transportation I can handle (a train) and chugged to Sydney in a daze of disbelief.

Also, I feel like a loser posting these pictures as they already exist on facebook, but MOM doesn't have facebook so at least they'll be new to someone. <3>

What I love about Melbourne (a brief sampling):

1. My friends. The circle of people living in Melbourne, and granting me access to their floor, fridge and liquor cabinet, are some of the greatest and warmest people around. Not to mention caustically offensive. Oh heart.
2. The architecture. (See first picture!). That terraced housing, swoon. North Fitzroy was just named 'whitest' suburb in Melbourne by the Stuff White People Like author, partly due to its incredible aesthetic.
3. Umm, everything. I kinda want to live there ok? Bright sun, strangers who smile and talk to me, people not staring at each other if they wear something slightly unusual, FOOD FOOD FOOD, the fact each neighbourhood could almost be a seperate city in terms of it's feel... lalala shut up.
4. Oh, those trams.

(Hamish 'incognito' and Chloe).

The photos above (taken by the jolie Cindy from very rural French Canada) and below were taken in the middle of a very long period of partying. Just after these photos we went to the spa, where Cindy pranced around in her lingerie (much to the chagrin of the pool supervisor, who was wearing crocs to match his vest, much to my chagrin) and then, after changing into more respectable clothes, to a Russian orthodox Church service. First, we tried to go to an Italian Catholic service, but they had a notice on the door in very fine print, covering an entire page, about how abortion laughs in the face of human rights or some junk. Could Not Deal. Anyway, the Russian service was seriously moving. I recommend.