18th November 2008, Tuesday

Breakfast

Woke up quite late today, probably because it is comfortable to sleep, after yesterday’s tiring train ride. And secondly, the bed in Victoria Hotel is simply too comfortable. When I woke up, I went to the hotel lobby, and look for a Melbourne Map. And looking for a place to sit down for breakfast, I caught sight of a restaurant called “Alice Restaurant”.

It is a restaurant selling thai food. Yup, I ordered one favourite stuff. The Lamb Cutlet. It is a great cutlet, but a bit small in portion. And after the tank is full, I went to the nearest place, The State Library of Victoria. It is a common name for a street or name called Victoria, because it is the time, when Queen Victoria rules, and she help to develop the Australia to the day it is today. The state library is a totally different environment in the library. On every section, right in the middle, is the place where a librarian will be sitting in, and if there is a noise too loud, she would go over and remind the person to be quiet.

State Library of Victoria

No one talk loudly, and there is no noisy kids. On the first floor, one section is for everyone to use the internet, and the internet is limited to 30 minutes per use. Another section is totally for reading purposes. On the second floor, are some paintings, and there is a section for the chess room. It is a place with 4 or 5 chess tables, and anyone can sits on it, and challenge the person for a game of chess. Well, if there is a conflict, why not settle on the chess table? Haha. This section also have some shelves, having only books related to chess.

Ned Kelly Exhibition

At that time, there are some exhibition, and there is even a Ned Kelly exhibition, describing how Ned Kelly became the legend of Australia in the yeat of the 1800s. One of the exhibition that really caught my attention, is the diary of May Stewart. She write a diary in the year 1906. At that time, she is a 18 years old lady, who lives in the 1906. Her diary was acquired by the State library from a book store, and the library finds it interesting and motivating, and is very curious of her life. During her life, she describes the things in her life, and some of her thoughts. And some occasion, she adds postcards, to describe about her travel around certain places in Australia. The library is very keen to get to know her, because despite the much information, no photograph of her was ever found. Library is very curious of her look, and appeals for the next of kin, or whoever know of May Steward to send a photograph of her so tha the missing puzzle can be completed. The only thing the library know is that they acquired the diary from 43 Mc Kean Street North Fitzroy. Sadly, she dies in 1976 in her last entry. . . It is very sad. Well, if she have a descendent, they could send a photograph of her, or proof that they are the descendent of May Steward.

Gaol

After the walking through the library, I went to look at RMIT. It is a very popular and famous university in Melbourne. It stands for Royal Melbourne Institution of Technology. And it is actually using the old building of the prison. Just next to it, is the building called Gaol. It is an old prison in Melbourne, used to keep the prisoners, and even have execution there.

Gaol is actually a much bigger building, but through the time and ages, a lot of places are torn down to make way for development. The only place that is left standing is the old gaol, which is a three storey building filled with prison cell, and there is even an execution stand on the second floor.

I take few picture with Mr Xiao Lao Shu, and it is quite fun. But it is a bit errie inside also, cos you will think of the days when it is actually used.. In the prison, there is no sanitary utilities. Everyday, there will be a pail of shit in the prison cell, and can you imagine how smelly the prison can be if there is a pail of shit just beside you of where you sleep? Aiyoh. And then, when it gets to winter, it sure is very cold, because there is no insulation material in the building. I go to walk around, and seeing other cells, nd on the third floor, most of the cells are locked, because I assume they are used for office stuff for the gaol management.

EXecution

On the second floor, there is an execution stand, and around it, is the history of the most famous legend, Ned Kelly. And on the first floor, there is a Ned Kelly’s famous metal armour for the public to try it out. I put it on and have some difficulty to move around. I was wonder how did he manage to move around, and with that weight of the steel, how can he run away.

But that metal suit of steel have saved Ned Kelly for a number of time, because there are some bullet holes on it.

After leaving Gaol, I walk down south, to look at other things, and along the way, I saw this huge crowd, all walking toward one direction. I follows them, thinking of where are they going. Along the way, I say the crowd is getting more and more. Is there a protest going on? After walking for a few blocks, They all went down the escalator, and I was curious of where are they going, and then, they reached a place, a split off. Can you guess where they go to? And after I found out where they go, I returned back, and found out two things. One bad thing is: I am lost~!and one good thing is : I found donut king. I promised a friend that I would take a photo of the donut King in Melbourne, to show. hee hee, I got it finally, with Mr Xiao Lao Shu. Too bad, I gobbled up the donut before I thought of the need to take a photograph with the donuts.

Eureka Tower

I went to the next place. Eureka Tower. I take the tram across the yarra river, and passes by this concert hall. Seems there is a performance that day, because there are a lot of people there. I look for the place, and it is called Eureka Tower. Hee hee, this reminds me of Albert Einstein, because he like to say the word Eureka, when he found the solution to a problem. Eureka tower is a 89 storey high building, overlooking Melbourne. And It is a tragic sad thing, because I forgot to bring out the spare battery, and it is low in power. And after taking a few shots, it ran out of power, this is so sad. But still, I got to see the city. It is a but cloudy, and there is not much to see. I think I go there at the wrong time where the sky is not clear. It is quite high price, perhaps it is the running cost of the lift. It is a lift that goes straign to 89 storey. There is even a place where you can go out to a glass chamber, and the city is below you, and you can take photo there. Running out of the day’s budget, I can’t go for that. Sad.

Anyway, there are two corners where people can go out of the glass door and into the outside and faces the wind. The wind is so cold and strong on top wo.
After a few walk around, I went to the hotel nearby, and try another lamb chop, right next to the one where I eat on the first day, to compare the different. It seems that this new stall, is offering a much better taste, and the lamb chop is a bigger slice. Hmm…. I should have go for that. But still, I went back to the hotel.

Swimming and Spa

When I reached, first thing that come to mind, is a good swim. The hotel have an indoor swimming pool and the indoor spa. I The pool is a heated pool, and it is quite nice. But I enjoy the spa more. As it have bubbles, and the temperature is quite nice. Too bad, the battery is flat, else I can take a few shots. It is only after I finished swimming, I realized that I do have a spare battery that I should have load it up first and take some photo of the swimming pool and spa room. Duh.

As I watched the news I saw this news about the crime scene in Adelaide. It seems that a few days ago, a street was condoned off. This is because of a murder scene. A 16 years old youngster murdered someone, and that is why they condoned off the area to the public to gather evidence. Hmm…. Why do people kill each other one?

By the way, before I end, let me tell you, the place where everyone goes to after going down the escalator, is to the train station. It is the Melbourne Central undergroun subway.