Melbourne September 2006

5th September, flew into Melbourne for Chee's pharmacology exam in the ANZCA college at St Kilda - second time in Melbourne - first in April for physiology exam. Deja Vu, Melbourne seems to be a depressing place, always for exams. The first trip, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Great Ocean Road for 12 Apostles (or as I say, the "12 Aportos").

Touched down in Avalon airport at 2pm, rented a car and drove to Melbourne (45 min) together with Chee's study partner, Kim onboard. Got a free upgrade from a 1.8 Nissan pulsar to a V6 3.2 Ford Falcon (Yeha!) . Initial hypothesis; the lady (blonde) seems to like me specially my sexy crew cut :) Then we quickly realized, parking spaces in Melbourne are only for mini cars (SMART), big cars huge liabilities. Dinner was at St Kilda, in Balas - a fusion of Indian and Thai cusines, quick, cheap, and yummy food. St. Kilda has strange parking charges, pay only to park in the night, no in the day. After dinner, we walked along Acland Street and saw 5 cake shops with yummy enticing cakes on display behind the windows. Amazing! These cake shops seems to have been there for generations, with decors dating back to 1900s. Wanted to try some cakes but no appetite before the bloody exam..... :( Displays on the shops along Acland are interesting, there are aliens on the roof & etc. Anyway, night was cut short for more study.


6th Sep, exam day and it was raining (common in Melbourne). As Chee put it, the day to see the parole officer (if she pass, freedom, if she fail, another seven months of study), . Her exam finished by mid day, and we were back in St Kilda for lunch in this Asian restaurant called "KL cafe". Had Nasi Lemak, Mutton curry and Char Kueh Teow (ok ok this is for three persons not just me). Me coming from Singapore & Chee from Malaysia, the food were quite authentic . Next few hours passed really slowly as the two (Chee & Kim) waited for their exam results to be released. Seems like eternity!

To kill this few hours, we went to the National Gallery of Victoria for Picasso; Love and War 1935-1945. It was great until Chee saw the Weeping Woman series - and wondered if she will become one of the weeping woman!! Should have gone to the Crown casino or some place more cheerful!


Truth be told, Chee and Kim PASSED! Yes, both passed their exam as indicated on the list posted at the college. Thought of celebrating at Crown casino, but we have to rush for our last flight back into Sydney. Hopefully, we will visit Melbourne in the near future for pleasure, not pressure!