on the bike on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Melbourne reminds me of San Diego/Long Beach chill with the beaches and the Bay Area hip with the trams and bikes. A wickedly awesome public bike rental system they’ve got, but only so around the city center. Forget about taking your bike to anywhere else like St. Kilda where there’s hardly any station (Refer to the bike station map) And I tell you. Those bikes with industrial-scale heavyduty weight and sturdiness are not meant for little people like myself.
Case in point, at one point, a nice guy who was just walking by saw me wrestling with a bike trying to release it from a tight parking grip of the station. He came up and asked “Did you already pay for it?” I looked at him with a frustrating and puzzled look that says “Are you kidding me? Of course I paid for it. Do you think I’m some sort of retard who’s just wrestling with a securely locked bike with a helmet on cause it’s so amusing?” It turned out he did because he - an Australian of an average physique mind you - gave a little jerk and the bike just popped out like a properly baked Poptart.
I guess the point of this story is that he was a perfect gentleman with a cute smile and my upper body strength was non-existing. and whaddaya know? A month later, i seriously injured the other ankle and got to be on crutches for a month! An intensive upper body exercise cannot get any more consistent than that.
but i digress.
If my ankle - the one before the crutches - wasn’t so fucked up - or if I were slightly more inclined for a bit of tour to begin with - i’d’ve taken advantage of it more, especially with my weekly pass. When I got back to Seoul tho, I realized that they overcharged me for the weekly rental so I called to make an inquiry. It turned out, it was me, of course, who misunderstood the rate. However, the city apologized for not indicating how the weekly rate and overcharge works more clearly and refunded the extra charge! Generally, I must say my experience with people in and the city of Melbourne was extremely pleasant. Very much unlike my experience in Sydney… Dot, dot, dot indeed.
Those public bike rental stations are slowly popping up in Seoul now. Except they’re yellow here. :)
Leftovers from the Melbourne trip
Melbourne, Australia
a privately managed airport on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
it was so shocking to learn that you had to pay for the shuttle that takes you from one terminal to another at Sydney airport. It was already complicated AND slow enough to get through the custom and make it to my connecting flight on time, which was practically impossible. And they make you pay for the most inefficient shuttle system I’ve ever seen in my life!! One of many things that give me the impression that Sydney, considering its scale and traffic, has one of the worst airports in the world. no joke.
Leftovers from the Melbourne trip
Sydney, Australia
S & B on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
These two lovely ladies are sisters from New Zealand. While I was waiting for the Melbourne flickr group meet-up, I approached them for they seem so young and full of excitement for what the day has to offer. They were waiting for their friends as well and I took that small window of opportunity.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
no junk mail i on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
this is such a strange idea to me that people put up a sign that says “No Junk Mail”. Does this actually work? I mean does a postal worker or the postal service actually sort through your mail and not insert any junk mail in your box? Usually in the states, you have to contact the company directly or put yourself on PO Box or something. I was quite amused by these signs everywhere.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
catty graf on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
teens on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
struck a convo with a couple of chatty teens in front of a public restroom.
“That’s an old camera you have.”
“Actually it’s not that old. They still make these I thihnk.”
“Are you a photographer?”
“Yeah”
“Are you from America?”
“Nah. I’m from Seoul.”
“Where is that?”
“In… Asia..?”
“Oh. Why do you have an American accent?”
And on… That was part of pretty much every conversation I had with strangers while I was there. I guess I do have a pretty strong CA accent and I do look like a tourist with a camera on my neck, if not many. I came to terms with that self-image awhile ago.
After the brief moment of sharing a moment of alliance purely based on raw curiosity, an urge to kill time and the basic biological need to relieve ourselves in front of the occupied public bathroom, they were more than willing to pose for me before leaving the spot. cool kids.
For more photos of Melbourne, click here
st. kilda, melbourne, OZ
Melbourne_FE2-30 on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
For more photos of Melbourne, click here
st. kilda, melbourne, OZ
psyched for the sunshine on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Before the trip, I had just put away all my summer clothes as Seoul just was moving on from the foot of autumn. Aussies, on the other hand, were waiting for the weather to warm up. Coming from the gradually declining temperature, the strong sun was more than welcoming.
For more photos of Melbourne, click here
st. kilda, melbourne, OZ
Murray’s Whale Ale on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Just when I thought I had run out of photos of beer…
For more photos of Melbourne, click here
st. kilda, melbourne, OZ
brunch on Flickr.
asparagus wrapped in jamon on sourdough with goat cheese w fat yak
at Nshry
Via Flickr:
For more photos of Melbourne, click here
st. kilda, melbourne, OZ
don’t ever call me trashy on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Thanks to Guy, I was able to get a taste of Melbourne graffiti scene. There was this one alley in the city and the walls and everything else on it was just convered with spray paintings, stencils and art works. There were some large-sized works that were more collage designs, which were pretty cool and some classic graffiti letterings and then there were these hip hip garbage bins.
Nikon FE2 | Nikkor 50mm F1.2 | Kodak Ektar 100
Melbourne, OZ
Born n raised in Seoul, Korea & shaped in the U.S. Traveling, photography, good eats and cinema makes her a happy gal!
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