Melbourne (Day 2)

My sister, Nicole and I ventured out by train cos we couldn't fit all 7 people into the rental car. We encountered a group of rowdy (and a bit tipsy) teenagers in the carriage we boarded. They were probably on the way to the beach.. judging from the way they were dressed? Well.. 16°C is definitely not my idea of fun in the sun.. and I certainly wouldn't risk freezing my butt off.. no matter how big!

We got off at the Melbourne Central underground train station.. the shops and layout have changed quite a lot.. except for the iconic glass cone and old brick tower right in the middle. We took the tram up Elizabeth St. to the La Porchetta near Queen Victoria Market.. where we met Siew Peng, Darren and their two daughters, Jennifer and Kimberley for lunch.. round one of the usual pizza, pasta and lasagna galore! Then, we adjourned to Brunetti's for their famous coffee and cakes.. and obviously piled on more calories!

Hopefully, we burnt off some by meandering down the city and attempted to photograph a few of Melbourne's landmarks.. Flinders Street Station.. Victorian Arts Centre.. St. Paul's Cathedral.. The Yarra River.. The Australian Centre For The Moving Image..

And also stopped to smell the geraniums at the Ormond Uniting Church garden...

Later that evening, we went out to a nearby Chinese restaurant called Ripples Bentleigh for dinner.. great tasting chicken herbal soup.. sizzling Mongolian beef.. sweet and sour pork, seafood toufu and luscious green dou miao which even the boys ate! Justin had a few sips of red wine and turned the same colour shortly after...

Then it's back home to play games on Kinect and also Whoonu.. a game that tests how well you know another person.. and Siew Peng gave the boys yoyos and 'personalised' Coke bottles.. although I distinctly recalled us laying down the 'No presents' rule the last time we met???