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Hello! If you’ve been receiving my emails about Australia, you’ll be happy to know that you can finally put some images to my words. I’ve only just gotten around to uploading photos to Flickr, so I’ll just describe them below. There’s a whole lot more to say than I have time for at the moment, but at least this will do for now.

I’m loving it here in Melbourne! I hope the photos below can convey some sort of evidence towards that fact. :) Enjoy!

So before I left, Flo and I (and Corey, too) cleaned my room so that it can be tidy for a whole year.

Pretty spiffy, eh? I’m wondering if it will look this good when I come back in July 2008…

So on my flight to Melbourne, I had a brief stop in Hong Kong airport. I didn’t leave the airport since my layover was only a couple of hours. But I did get to walk around and shop for an outlet converter. Did you know that the Duty Free shops in Hong Kong are called Free Duty? Hahaha, that made me laugh every single time I read it.

When I finally did arrive in Melbourne, the first thing I did was I took a cab to my soon-to-be apartment. I never thought my first mode of transportation in Melbourne would be in the back of a taxi.
Oh, here’s an interesting fact: It’s customary to sit IN THE PASSENGER seat in a cab instead of the back. I don’t do it though because coming from New York, sitting in the passenger seat — right next to the driver — is just too weird.

So I get to 50 Barry Street in Carlton, VIC (in Melbourne) and sign my final papers and finally get to my room: 709. I live on the top floor of a 7-level apartment building. It is quite nice.

Above you can see my tiny but very sufficient kitchen and sink.

Here is the tiny bathroom sink and the very water efficient toilet. There are two buttons on top of the toilet. One is to flush with only half the tank (mostly used when you pee) and the other is used when you take a dump and need to flush solid waste. This is great!

Directly in front of the sink and toilet is the shower and the line of “cubbies” for miscellaneous bathroom storage.

My closet is basically a tall, black one-door space. It came with a few hangers and a shoe “rack” (too bad I didn’t bring all my shoes, otherwise, this would be of great use). I’ll probably eventually buy a smaller clothes rack to place inside this space. Nothing special about this closet I guess. It’s your standard closet.

This is what most of the outlets in Australia look like. They all have on/off switches which make it great for power management and consumption. I like them.

Here is the living area with the bed to the right and my desk to the left. The door you see there leads to my balcony where I can stand on clear nights and see Melbourne University to my left and the city center to my right.

…to my left…

…and to my right…

This is the view I get every morning walking to class. It’s certainly breathtaking I think. :)

Even during cloudy and rainy days, Melbourne looks great. This of course, is one of the buildings within RMIT.

This is what the Ambulance vehicles look like here.

And here are the vehicles that the “Fire Brigade” operate. Fancy. The sirens aren’t as interesting as NYC sirens, but this really only translates to less-annoying sirens in general here. Unfortunately, because they sound less interesting, they often fail to capture my complete attention. I’ll have to get used to them. And of course, every time I hear them, I expect a mob of undercover agents rushing out of the sewers and building rooftops…but that never happens (or hasn’t happened…yet).

By the way, here’s the corner building on the block where I live. I sometimes think of it as my local “Flatiron Building”.

To get around, most people use the tram. I personally have been walking around because I am close enough to most areas I need to get to. Plus, walking allows me to explore and wander more than being trapped inside a tram car.

There are plenty of different tram cars on the tracks. This particular one above is of the newer variety.

When you get on the tram, you are supposed to swipe and validate your Metcard, but sometimes you can just ride it for free. The only thing is, if you get caught by the nasty plain-clothed tram officers, you can get fined a hefty sum and possibly be detained. So generally speaking, you can risk it, or wisk it.

Burger King in Australia is called “Hungry Jack’s” because of a legal dispute over a previously named food joint in Australia called ‘Burger King’. Just a random little tidbit of information I picked up while being curious about the familiar looking logo.

Walking around Melbourne, I’ve noticed that there are a ton of 24-hour 7-Eleven’s here.

And of course, they have their Starbucks here too.

Also, a lot of electronic stuff in Melbourne is lit up in a nice LED-blue.

My elevator buttons are no exception to this great looking blue effect. It makes me feel like I’m in the future.

One of the great things about living where I live is that I am literally up the street from one of Melbourne’s largest markets — The Queen Victoria Market.

The Queen Victoria Market, or just “Victoria Market”, is home to a plethora of fresh food and meats at fantastic prices!

This meat counter looks like meat counters back at home in Chinatown, NYC!

Yum! Plenty of meat to go around and eat!

There’s also fresh seafood…

toys…

and clothes! I am totally going to buy one of these day-glo jackets before going back home to the States.

The Victoria Market even has live animals!!

But they aren’t to buy…

…or eat.

They’re there just to be petted!

Look at the crazy criss-crossing of tram wires above the city streets! This place is going to be a great home for the next 12 months! :D

I hope you enjoyed this little “tour” of the part of Melbourne that I live in. I wish many of you could visit! I’d love to bring you around. There’s plenty of great food here as well as one of Australia’s best shopping districts. Do let me know if you are coming!