Melbourne Day One & Proposal Day - Queen Victoria Market, St Paul's Cathedral, West Lake restaurant, Chez Olivier le Bistro

I love Australia I love Australia I love Australia. Nuff said.

Ever since our first visit to Perth, I have completely fallen in love with Australia. Maybe it's the place, maybe it's the people or maybe it's the weather. But I just love everything about Asutralia! Being able to come back again for the second time, but this time to another region is definitely a dream came true.

We booked our tickets somewhere in March, after much much comparison, we decided on AirAsiaX.

Seat + luggage and meal combo made us about 1.8k poorer per person. I've heard people who stole better deals from AirAsiaX, but flying during Raya definitely means we won't be getting the cheapest air fare in the world.

We wanted to stay in the city center, we wanted to be able to get around places without renting a car, and most importantly we needed a place that fits 6. And I knew Airbnb was definitely a better option and boy was I right! We rented the entire apartment with 3 rooms and 2 baths at Exhibition Street and it's such a strategic location. We spent about RM8k for 8 nights and we thought it was an absolute bargain! It's within the free tram zone so we barely used our MyKi cards at all! Speaking of which, our house owner Ash was super kind to have lent us their MyKi Cards so we didn't have to buy any. We also came to learn that MyKi cards accept negative amounts so we could totally maximise our tram / train rides at the end of the trip!

Now let's talk about the weather. Generally, it is so much colder than Perth. Melbourne's weather is temperamental so some days got really cold but some days were okay. Anyhow, I'd advice layer layer and layer. And, do dress up! Everybody I saw over there was very well dressed up it made me really happy to be able to play dress up too!

Our first full day in Melbourne started with getting lost in the city and got confused by the tram system. I must say it was a little tricky to understand how tram works at first, but the more you study the map, the more you will be familiarised with the routes.

Though it took us way longer than we should get to Queen Victoria Market, we thoroughly enjoyed the scenic historical building all along the road. We often stopped by to snap a few photos before moving on. Seriously though, Melbourne is extremely picturesque, I'd say I prefer Melb over Perth!

We pretty much just hopped on the tram 19, 57 or 59 to Stop 7, Elizabeth St and it took us to Queen Victoria Market.

You will also notice that many people in the tram would be heading there too.

So I'd say just follow the crowd and you're pretty much safe?

Anyway, the market looked a little quieter than I'd expected.

Not sure if it's cause of the cold weather,

or it's just cause it was a Sunday.

We got help from a store owner for direction to the food court.

When we were at the food court, we pretty much just wanted to eat everything.

We had some grilled fish with salad, pumpkin roll, and pork porchetta!

This food stall is the bomb for my fellow readers who eat pork!

Every bite was heavenly!

All the food here ranges about 15-25AUD, they are not the cheapest but then again, they are not the priciest of food in Melb.

We then spent some time strolling around the market and we picked up quite a lot of locally made stuff!

Bought a pair of animal fur mat (they're Soo fluffy!!!), some kangaroo leather products, some accessories (earrings, rings, gloves, key rings) and some fruits too!

This place is great for procuring souvenirs!

Spotted a band performing live upon leaving.

We took the tram in the opposite direction to head back to our apartment.

Passed by the stunning St. Paul's Cathedral so we had to just pause and snap some photos!

Ancient circle tram!

We didn't have the chance to ride on it though.

Our lunch was a family luncheon at the West Lake Restaurant @ Chinatown.

Our generous aunt kindly pre-ordered all these exotic seafood for us!

We were absolutely spoilt by her generosity!

Some of the delicacies included lobster, snow crab, and abalone!

West Lake Restaurant

Address: 189 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Hours: Weekdays 11AM–2AM

Weekends 10AM-2AM

Phone: +61 3 9662 2048

I am an avid fan of abalone.

I'd have to say their abalone totally exceeded my expectations!

Not only was it absolutely tender, the sauce was also perfectly cooked!

Both of the lobster and snow crab were absolutely fresh and juicy!

I wish I had bigger tummy space to keep all hese food.

After our sumptuous lunch, we continued to walk around the city center, but this time with one mission- THE CHEMIST!

I love their chemist! One of the many reasons for my unwavering love towards Aussie pharmacy is their wide range of skin care products!

I'd been a loyal user of La Roche Posay Skin care ever since my first trip to Aus!

Unfortunately, Malaysia doesn't carry them so I always try to stock up when I visit Aus!

Chemist warehouse was also having the crazy end-of-financial-year sales where most of the supplements were sold at a discounted price plus buy 1 free 1 promo!

We went absolutely cray cray and bought a ton!

Then, we headed back to our apartment to unload all of our shopping before meeting with another relative of D's for dinner.

They took us to a really fancy French restaurant- Chez Olivier Le Bistro, located further from the city center.

Meet the bunch! Lol!

D went for Filler Mignon and he thought it was extraordinary!

Escargot was really juicy, went really well with the garlic!

Being a fanatic of foie gras, I just couldn't leave the place without ordering one!

And boy, it was probably one of the best decisions I have ever done in ages when it comes to food.

The foie gras pate was absolutely smooth and creamy, it melted upon contact with our mouth.

All in all, the dinner was lovely.

It was really nice to be able to talk to the locals and learn about Melb from their point of view!

We also popped down to one of their condos to chill and catch up.

I absolutely adore the Jasmin!

She's so friendly and down to earth and we talked absolutely loads.

Right after they dropped us right at our Airbnb, D suggested that we go for a walk because he knows how much I love seeing city lights and taking a walk in the city.

He was extra diligent in photo taking. Hahahah!

Everywhere we go, he would be asking me to pose for a photo.

I always love taking photos in front of beautiful lights anyway so I really enjoyed his unusual kindness, not that he's not kindly other times. Hahahaha!

Later on, we went to the riverside for a walk, this place was absolutely stunning.

D knew I HAVE TO take photos in front of iconic backdrop in all of our trip,

So he started setting up tripods to take great night scene photos for me.

After we located the best spot for photos, we snapped a lot of photos.

I also suggested that we take some photos together now that the tripod was all set up.

But D strangely pressed the button and walked funnily towards me. Hahaha!

I questioned him if he had pressed the button because I couldn't hear the timer.

He then sneakily came to me and with a cheesy smile, I knew he was up to something. Haha!

I didn't know my engagement ring was ready by then, so I kept asking him how could he just propose without any ring? Then he started requested for the QVM accessory ring he bought for me in the morning, which I have also left in our Airbnb as I washed my hands earlier. Hahahahah!

It was really funny because I felt a little shy when there are passer-by. I'd ask him not to get down on one knee when I spotted someone coming. And it's really funny cause all the while the place was quiet but when he wanted to propose, there were so many people walking around.

So after a while, he didn't want to wait no more, so he instantly knelt down and he PULLED OUT THE DIAMOND RING!

Totally unexpected!

He then asked the question and of course I said yes!