First impressions and early adventures

As you might expect, we've been doing a lot since we arrived. I mentioned in the previous post that we woke up at 4am on our first day here and started to explore the city. We were staying downtown so the city "woke-up" shortly after we did. We've been consistently waking up around 6:30 (which should be a huge surprise for anyone who knows Brendan or myself) and wandering around. We're staying a little north of the central business district (CBD) so we've gotten a taste of a different part of town as well.

Our 5:00am breakfast - Chai tea and a ham and cheese toastie (or breaki sandwich, I can't remember). 

Chinatown, before it woke up.

An important building and a fun fountain, I'm not exactly sure the names.

Some green space! I was very excited to see grass amongst all the buildings.

The biggest cupcake I've ever seen.

Mt. Dew is not common! Actually, Pepsi products as a whole are not common and Mt. Dew is even harder to come by. They only have this 'energized' version which tastes about the same.

Lunch: cous cous, shredded lamb & chicken (for Bren) and chicken/avacado sandwich (for me).

As far as first impressions go, here's what I've found:

1. Crazy weather. It's winter here so in general it is cold. However, Melbourne has this weird pattern of weather where it will be mid 50s in the morning, with overcast and rain, then brighten up for an hour, then bring in a rain flurry that will drench you in about 5 minutes. Needless to say, we always wear jackets, scarfs, and bring an umbrella.

2. Very diverse. I've seen quite a mix of cultures here, mostly represented in the food selections. I would guess that almost half of the population is Asian (which makes sense, given the location). Tamar will be very excited to have her choice of Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai, Turkish (I'll try some for you, Grant), and a handful of European options. I have yet to see anyone that resembles a Latin or African culture, again probably the location.

3. Expensive. Everything is very expensive here. Each meal is at least $10 AUD/person (about $10.60) and that is pretty cheap. We have gone to the grocery store a couple times to try and save money but even there things are pricey! I almost bought a $5 gallon of milk. Almost. We will be drinking water.

4. Friendly. Everyone here is quite friendly. Even in the rush of the big city store keepers and restaurant owners seem to be genuinely nice. This also extends to everyone we've met so far, including potential roommates in my search for a place to live. (More on this later).