Two months ago, I asked the Husband, “Where do you want to celebrate your birthday?  Beach or city?”  And he answered, “City.”  So I booked a trip to Melbourne as this was one of our favorite cities.  We celebrated my birthday in Melbourne last year so I thought of giving the favor back to the Husband. 

We didn’t have any concrete plans when we arrived in Melbourne.  Our friends who lived there asked us what we planned to see or do and we replied, “Nada.”  But even with no plans, we saw a couple of places and exhibitions, discovered gastronomic indulgences and hung out with friends.  It was one of the Husband’s happiest birthday celebration and one of the most memorable getaways we’ve experienced.

I’ve got tons of food and travel experiences to share from our recently concluded Melbourne trip but for now, I’m going to share the highlights of our Spring getaway.

Our first meal on Wednesday was lunch at La Citta,  a cozy Italian restaurant in  Degraves Street.  The Husband and I each had a bowl of pasta and a glass of white to celebrate our arrival in Melbourne.

For dessert, we walked along Elizabeth Street and found this little store called Spanish Doughnuts.  They sell the most delicious Churros I’ve ever tasted.  Really, their Churros are something to die for.

After lunch and dessert, we went back to our hotel to rest for a while and unpack our stuff.  We arrived with champagne waiting inside our room.  I had to call the front desk to make sure they didn’t make a mistake as we didn’t order anything nor we were VIPs.  But they assured us it was a welcome gift.  How sweet!

Re-charged from a short power nap, we went out to meet up with our friend Lui.  Our first ride was the City Circle Tram provided by the city for free.

Wednesday evening was spent at Costco.  The first ever Costco in Australia is in Melbourne and we took the chance to see it with Lui.  It was a fun, massive shopping experience.  Almost everything inside that store is big, it was amusing!  We can’t wait for Sydney to open its own Costco store.  We shopped for a couple of items (mostly Hershey’s chocolates) and had dinner in the Costco food court which also serve massive food servings. 

Thursday morning, we had late coffee at Sensory Lab.  It’s a cafe with a concept of a laboratory–the servers wear labcoats!  And being inside their cafe is like being inside a science laboratory.  We tried their Tanzania brewed by syphon method

It was our first time to try syphoned coffee.  A different gastronomical experience to the normal brewed coffee we usually drink.

Thursday morning photowalk.  Took lots of photos of their cute, lovable trams.

Morning snack of hand-cut fries at Lord of the Fries.

Spent most of the day at Water City and Harbour Town Shopping Centre at Docklands.  Water City is like their version of Darling Harbour.   We took lots of photos at Water City and shopped at Harbour Town.  There were a few factory outlets here.

Very late lunch (around 3pm) at Le Cirque.

Steak night at Margo’s (Crown Entertainment Complex) for dinner.

And the biggest highlight of all was our reunion with one of our friends from the Philippines, Dith.  The Husband and I were so delighted to be able to spend time with her, catch up and reminisce of the good old days. 

We found some Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream at Le Cirque so we bought a three mini-tubs and had them for late night dessert.

The Husband’s birthday breakfast at Cafe Andiamo where I had Eggs Benedict and he had the Il Grande Breakfast.  One of the cafes in Degraves Street that I like.

Walked along the streets for photography enthusiasts and found a store called Michaels Camera where they had a camera exhibition on Level 2.

Husband’s birthday lunch at Maze Grill by Gordon Ramsay.  Love love love it!  A gastronomic experience we will always remember.

Took the tram and found ourselves at Carlton Gardens.  The weather in Melbourne is still very much Winter even if it’s already Spring.  It was still cold.  We found the Melbourne Museum nearby and saw their featured exhibition: Titanic.  We tried to get in but tickets were gone for the day. 

The Tim Burton Exhibition, an exhibit of his artworks, poems and movies.  It was a lovely exhibition that we enjoyed immensely.  After this, we went to the DFO South Wharf and shopped for a bit.

Breakfast on our last day was at Aix Cafe Creperie Salon, thought to be the place that serve the best crepe in Melbourne.

The Titanic Exhibition at Melbourne Museum.  Went back to the Melbourne Museum to see this exhibition and it was worth coming back to.

Met up with Lui and had brunch at the European Restaurant.  Their brunch is from 12:00-4:00pm.  Cozy lovely place, good food. 

Koko Black before we went home.  Dessert of Hot Belgian Chocolate drinks, Belgian chocolates, chocolate ice cream & mousse and shortbread.  A sweet way to end our Melbourne getaway.

More Melbourne stories in the coming days, this time, I will share with you details of each place or restaurant we went to.




All photos taken by the iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic Application.