The Days of a Silly and Ordinary Girl! :D: March 2019

[Travelogue] Melbourne: Day 2 (3/3) | State Library of Victoria + Pidapipo | sillyandordinarygirl

By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - March 25, 2019

Here comes the last part of day 2!

After our trip to the Brighton Beach, we rode the train back to CBD by getting on the same Sandringham train heading to the City (Flinders Street) that took us around 23 minutes, and from the Flinders Street Railway Station, we found our way to State Library of Victoria.

There are two ways to reach the State Library from the Flinders Street Railway Station:

1. walk 1-2 min from Flinders St/State Route 30 towards St Kilda Rd/Swanston, turn left onto Swanston St and walk straight for 11-13 min to the library.

2. ride the Metro Train from Flinders Street Railway Station, take the metro heading to Hurstbridge, and get off after two stops at the Melbourne Central Railway Station. The Melbourne Central Railway Station is beneath the Melbourne Central shopping mall. From the mall, find your way to the exit on Swanston St, and you'll find the library right across.

Well, which way do you think we took? :E

The State Library of Victoria is located on a block framed by Swanston St, La Trobe St, Russell St, and Little Lonsdale St. We can enter the library from several entrances: Swanston St, La Trobe St (with accessible) and Russell St. As we came in from the Swanston St at the east side of the library, we were directly welcomed by the La Trobe Reading Room with this huge elegant dome on top of it.

(credit : https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Printable-Library-map-Oct-2018.pdf)

The aerial view from above Swanston St

credit : wikimedia by Brian Jenkins

State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia
Open daily 10am-9pm
Admission: Free
Wifi available

We walked all the way across the reading room, and took the elevator to the balconies encircling the dome. We roamed through one level to another level of balconies, checking the "World of the Books" exhibition in the Dome Gallery level 4, where they display books in various forms from diverse era in different languages, including cuneiform from the Mesopotamian era, medieval manuscripts, to the smallest book ever produced. It was really fun, it felt like entering a mini book museum. :)

As we finished encircling the level 4's exhibition, we continued to explore the level 5's Dome Gallery to the highest part (level 6) which is the Dome Viewing Balcony, where we were greeted by this stained glass artwork of William Shakespeare, which is also one of the earliest stained-glass windows made in Melbourne, and was first commissioned for the facade of the new Apollo Music Hall in Bourke Street, which opened in 1862.

William shakespeare stained glass State library of victoria melbourne

Being established in 1854, the library itself is Australia's oldest public library, and one of the first free libraries in the world. It has a vast collection of over two million books, hundreds thousand of photographs, manuscripts, maps and newspapers, focusing specially on material from Victoria, including the diaries of Melbourne's founders.

So, if you scroll up, and check the map again, we actually didn't explore the other part of the building, which is the Cowen Gallery and the Redmond Barry Reading Room. Half of the excuse is because it was getting late and we were hungry, so we thought we needed to go out and find ourselves some food. The other half of the excuse is I guess, we didn't know that there's still more to see of the library, as our source of information about the library at that time was Instagram, and all the pictures that people tagged with the "state library of Victoria" were just this dome. So we thought 'okay, visiting the state library' ✔ (we could tick that off our itinerary)

We exited from the same Swanston St entrance, and I took a chance to snap this huge chess in front of the building.

We walked back to the Melbourne Central shopping mall, and had our dinner at Nene Chicken at the side of the mall facing the Swanson St and the library. You know how much I love this Korean fried chicken, right???? :d If no, read this. And one more thing, don't bother asking me how much we ate. You just need to know that we love it. XD

The Nene Chicken was enough to fuel our energy back and we decided to take a stroll around the CBD area, window-shopping, and we ended up in the Degraves St where a Gelateria caught our attention. There's something about it that kept calling us (maybe it's our sugar craving!), and magically, we found ourselves inside the store already.

Here we were, in Pidapipo! More about Pidapipo Gelateria will be featured in the upcoming posts. I think maybe I need to dedicate a blog post only for it (still maybe), but I should give you a bit of a teaser, we're super glad that we ended the day with the gelato that was soooo good, we ordered the Pistachio and Dark Chocolate one btw, and I think it was one of the best impromptu decision we made during our trip in Melbourne. XD

Well, well, see you on the next one?

xoxo

sillyandordinarygirl

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[Travelogue] Melbourne: Day 2 (2/3) | Brighton Beach - The Colourful Bathing Boxes | sillyandordinarygirl

By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - March 17, 2019

After filling our tummy with highly nutritious brunch at the Auction Rooms, we started our journey of the day to one of the "must-visit"(s) in Melbourne, which is the Brighton Beach. From the Auction Rooms in North Melbourne, we rode the tram no 57, for 9 stops and around 11 mins, to the Flinders Street Railway Station, and got on the next train to the Brighton Beach Railway Station (Sandringham train). The trip to Brighton Beach takes around 24 minutes/11 stops, and we can ride on the train by simply tapping our Myki card at the station, but you'll have to purchase a paper ticket if you don't have it. So, it can be said that Myki card is pretty essential and convenient for your trip in Melbourne if you're travelling by yourselves.

The Brighton Beach Railway Station is pretty close to the beach, only about 200m away, and as we got off the train, we saw the beach right away, so we just walked along the road till we got to the white stretch of sand.

(Beware, lots of narcissism ahead!)

Brighton Beach is mainly famous for its row of 82 colourful bathing boxes which owners use as changing and storage facilities (mostly to keep bathing and swimming necessities) and also as a great place to relax on the beach side with families in summer. These licensed bathing boxes/beach boxes have been there since the 19th century, and still remain as they did over one hundred years ago, with their classic Victorian architectural features, timber-framed and no water and electricity connected.

The owners, holding license approved by Brighton Council, have the freedom to decorate and paint their bathing boxes as they like and make them different from one another, which indeed makes the row of boxes looks even more artistic and eye-catching with the colour variations.

As unique as each one is, these boxes are known to cost quite a big sum of fortune as families usually own them for generation, and they are rarely for sale. So once it is available to purchase, the price can be pretty surprising. One of the boxes was even sold for $337,000 last year in an auction.

Brighton Beach is one of the hottest tourist destinations in Melbourne, so be aware that there will be lots of tourists. It is expected to be even much more crowded in summer, as the locals and the owners of the bathing boxes usually come to the beach to sunbath, to relax or to swim.

Fortunately, for us, when we were there, it was winter, and there weren't too many tourists, so we were able to snap some good pictures without being photobombed by others. Though sometimes, we had to be patient too waiting for good timing to take the photos. But, it was worth it after all, I guess? :D

(gotta admit, it seems that i like weird poses? haha)

(fixing my bandana here, not putting on headphones, if you wonder...XD)

Wanna see the inside of the boxes? Click https://www.realestate.com.au/lifestyle/meet-the-owners-the-and-step-inside-brightons-bathing-boxes/.

And, after we had enough for our doses of narcissism, we're back at the Railway Station and headed to the CBD.

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[Travelogue] Melbourne: Day 2 (1/3) | Auction Rooms - Best Brunch Cafe in North Melbourne? | sillyandordinarygirl

By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - March 10, 2019

Hello, are you ready for our day 2 in Melbourne? I'm guessing you're saying 'yes'! Haha

Well, we started off the day by having a brunch at one of Melbourne's most hip cafe for the past few years, Auction Rooms in North Melbourne. We set off from the Larwill Studio hotel, walked for around 4 minutes to Abbotsford St Interchange tram stop, rode Tram no 57 (West Maribyrnong to Flinders Street Station) for 7 stops, got down at North Melbourne Town Hall tram stop, and walked 60 m to reach the cafe. (you can check other routes from 'googlemap' or https://ptv.vic.gov.au)

photo taken from @auction_rooms

Honestly, at first, after we got down the tram and walked a bit, (I didn't how far it is from the stop, I literally followed Diana on her every step haha) I was pretty surprised when she suddenly stopped in front of a very old building, which looked like it has been abandoned for a while and gonna be torn down pretty soon (sorry, but this was what I really thought of the cafe before getting in). I was just about to ask her whether it's the right place or not, when I saw some people coming out of the door and got a glimpse of the inside. "Wow, this must be it." I remembered saying to myself.

Stepping in, it was like entering a whole different place. Far gone was the adjective "abandoned", "old" or "almost-torn-down", and replaced by the words "warm", "cozy" and "homely". I was amazed at the way they maintain the old auction house and beautifully incorporate a fully wooden-furnished cafe into it, which probably was what brought out the "comfy" ambiance. I think, if I were local, I would love to stay here for hours! I don't know what it was, but there's something about the place, perhaps it's the wooden interior that somehow relaxed me.

It was around 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, but although it's on a weekday and it's passed breakfast time, not yet lunch time, it was still pretty much crowded. There were only 2-3 empty tables left when we got there, but while we're waiting for our food to be served, I remembered seeing all the tables soon occupied, so I can really deduce that this cafe must be very popular.

The Auction Rooms itself is not only a cafe but also a coffee roastery, featuring a selection of daily blends available for purchase. These coffee beans are supplied by its ex-owner, Andrew Kelly, (The Auction Rooms became part of St Ali's family in 2016), who is also the founder of Small Batch Roasting Co.

"We take great pride in sourcing seasonal produce, supporting sustainable farming practices and composting our food waste."

Ever since the beginning, the Auction Rooms has been committed to the sustainability philosophies, so its menu has been changing over time, depending on the seasonal availability of (local) ingredients, but don't worry, some of the classic all-day menus get to stay. Oh, and they have vegan and gluten-free dishes to opt for too!

Breakfast board : grilled chorizo, smoked salmon, cauliflower fritter, soft-boiled egg, rye soldiers, granola, turmeric & ginger smoothie - AUD 20.5

Arepa e’huevo : Colombian corn pancakes, fried egg, creamed mushrooms, crispy sage, vino cotto, gremolata & parmesan (gf) (v) - AUD 19.5 + bacon AUD 4.5

The food tasted pretty good, not over-seasoned, healthily-balanced meals I would say, which were what we needed to charge us up to get ready for the day.

To sum it all up, the ambiance itself is enough to make me like this place, but added with the delicious food, served with fresh natural ingredients, great service and also their commitment to sustain the environment, there's definitely no wonder why this cafe, even after 10 years since it was opened in 2008, is still irreplaceable as one of the most recommended cafe in North Melbourne.

And you know what, Diana and I are not heavy coffee drinker, in fact I don't usually drink coffee, so we didn't try the Auction Rooms' specialty blend, which is why I can't give you any comment about that, BUT from the information that I read in the internet, their coffee is to die for. So if you're a coffee lover, I think you should really try their coffee. I saw a lot of other customers coming in specially to indulge themselves with the freshly blended coffee, so the claim must be true!

The Auction Rooms

103-107 Errol Street

North Melbourne, 3051 VIC

Ph: 03 9326 7749

Opening Hours:

Mon-Fri 7 am - 5 pm

Sat-Sun 7:30 am - 5 pm