Mail!

I was having a good day; worked out, talked to mom & dad, shopped at the Queen Vic Market, had lots of coffee AND THEN...
I got my first official piece of mail! Yay! It was my insurance confirmation, sent on July 15th from Ohio. Until now, I had only gotten a newsletter from the wine club I joined.
Maybe now I can get a library card!

Webcam!

Best thing ever! Makes it seem like I am not on the other side of the world!

Left Is Right

People drive on the left here. The driver's side of the vehicle is on the right hand side. Someone told me when they first got here they kept thinking the cars looked like no one was driving them.
It's critical to know left is right, especially when crossing the road.
At first, I kept walking on the right side of the sidewalk and I was like a fish going upstream. Even when on escalators, the waiters stand on the left and let the walkers pass on the right.

Public Ablution Rooms...ahhh.

One thing I find extremely helpful, is the frequency and convenience of public restrooms. Almost any city park will have a flushing toilet.
In downtown Melbourne, there are still many above ground loos, which was how it all started back in 1859. That was when the first one was erected on a corner near a post office. It would be another 40-50 years before the women could enjoy the convenience of the public restroom. Now, most of the above ground facilities have been modified to cater to either sex.
Until the 80's, the city subscribed to the underground restroom system, as you would have seen in the UK. I have noticed several of those once upon a time staircases completely sealed off with only the sign and wrought iron railing remaining. Upkeep was the main issue for their closure, as the traffic of the city grew in volume.
Don't forget the hand sanitizer!

Stuff makes me happy

It happened so conveniently. Americans move home, leaving things they no longer need, I pay them for these things, and wah-la, we now have an *awesome* apartment!
Sort of by happenstance, I met Mark and Nikki on a meet up group for Expats. The sad thing was that I met them at the tail end of their Aussie stint. I spent their last day with them out and about it Melbourne. They are great people, so much fun!
Anyway, for a small investment, I practically got a complete kitchen, minus the major appliances, and all of the creature comforts girls like and boys don't care about!
I love throw pillows for the couch! Every sofa should have them. And a blanky. Every couch should have a blanky! Lamps, geez, you totally need a lamp or two. Let's not forget the vacuum! I don't love to vacuum, but I love the outcome. They were getting rid of everything that I couldn't easily find it the thrift stores. It was brilliant.
I spent all day Thursday unpacking bags of the stuff and putting it in it's new home. It felt like Christmas!
Last week was a great example of "if you're patient, you just might get what you want"...After the stuff arrived on Wednesday, Jim later scored a rolling car with shelves out by our rubbish area. It wasn't in the garbage, just rolled next to it; great condition and free. Exactly what we needed too, along with all the other stuff. There's no place like (Australian) home.

Queen Victoria Market

Jim commented about this on his blog, but I was there again today.
It is also somewhat of a flea market too. I scored a wristwatch with a stop watch for $15.
According to our new German friends, the market is apparently mad busy with rock bottom prices at the end of close on Saturday. Sunday is good. But not as good as Saturday.
I was on the 1/2 price 2 hr train ticket so I had to get down to business. The fruit and veggie market is like the biggest farmer's market you have seen. Inside is the meat/seafood and deli section. I think I spent about $70 (including the watch) but got chicken, fresh orange roughy, deli ham, minced chicken (eh?), and a ton of fruits and veggies. I guess my hand cart is a trolley, so I loaded up the trolley and was back on the train in an hour and 1/2.

Shrine of Remebrance

I was out exploring last Thursday and ended up making an accidental find. I was meandering through the Royal Botanical Gardens and saw this big granite building. When I went to check it out. It had stairs, so I climbed those and walked around on it. As I came to the back, I noticed you could actually go under or inside it.
It was free! That was the first thing I liked, but it was also educational and that was nice too. It was the Shrine of Remembrance, erected in 1934 for the soldier of Victoria who fought in WWI. There is an eternal flame and monument on the premises for the WWII veterans as well. After watching a short video, I was guided on a private tour by Keith, a volunteer. He showed me everything there was to see. Awesome.

Geting the "In"

Although is is not hard to find places to shop, it is hard to find placed that give good deals. At present, I am on a shopping mission. Don't read: fun, trendy shopping. More like household necessity shopping. Stuff is expensive here. There is rarely a day that goes by that I can go out and not spend money. Getting somewhere on the train costs at least $6.80.
Before I arrived, Jim had purchased a pot, fry pan and silverware at Target. Oh, and a spatula (...and a bed, desk and futon, to be totally honest). All of those things were handy. But, being a girl, I needed more stuff. I found my way to the Salvation Army store, or "Salvo" as they call it here, hoping to score some deals. To my disappointment, it was similar to the trendy boutiques surrounding it, not the dependable "thrift" store I was used to at home. I would have a hard time paying $15 for someone's used afghan. They did have some plates that I reluctantly paid $1 each for.
Over the weekend, we met up with some Americans, or similar; from Germany, lived in DC for 7yrs, so Americanized at the least. They have been here for about 2-3 months and gave us the scoop on some shopping.
The Reject Shop. In a word, awesome. Jim and I each spent about $40 and go the following:
Clothes wardrobe hanger $15, 3pk hangers, a bamboo cutting board $8, umbrella $4, french press $8, baggies $2.5, gladware $3, toaster $12, bucket $1, kitchen cleanser $2, and a $15 backpack....anyway, you get the point. I think its so cheap because it's made in China. And from here, that's not too far.
Dan Murphy's. This is a discount liquor mart, similar to Applejacks. The in here is the wine. There are heaps of vineyards here. Most small vineyard sell their grapes to larger brands. If the small place has a surplus of grapes, they bottle the wine but can not label it as it will be in competition with their counterpart. So, they produce "Clean Skins" which are generic label wines that cost $2-$12. It's essentially the popular label brand at a fraction of the cost. Yellow Tail is apparently more here ($5-7US vs $7-12here) because of the high tax on alcohol. Yeah, Clear Skins! I got a generic cab-merlot for $1.99.

the answer to the question you all have...

Jet Lag

A wise man once told me, "It usually takes about one day for each time zone you cross to fully feel normal again." I'm not certain how many timezones I crossed. For those of you with no idea, Melbourne is +14 hrs for MI and +16 for CO. That's right, I'm in the future.
Everyone and their dog has advice on how to get normal faster. The Footy game kept me up pretty late, 11pm, on my first day. However, I was still wide awake at 3 am. Hmm. The next night was worse. My dinner didn't sit well, so my stomach was upset and I was a raging mean girl by 830pm. To bed by 9, and up at 3 again!
Over the last few days, things have gotten better. I can stay up until 9-930 and sometimes 10pm. I still wake up at 6am, which is totally unnecessary, but at least I am sleeping for 8hours. Today, however, I might try a nap.

Grocery Cart

From the time we went to the market on Friday, I was very envious of everyone's rolling satchel for groceries! I had to find one! Target didn't have them, the grocery store didn't...everywhere we went where you would actually need one, they didn't carry them.
However, when I was exploring a main street near our house, there they were chained up on the sidewalk outside a Chinese odds and ends store "Uncle Buck's". YES!!! The lady walked out and asked me what color I would like. I spent some time in the store and bought some other stuff and was so excited to put my purchases in my new wheeled cart! It was $24 of pure pleasure. I was so happy. A while later, I was on the other side of the street and there was another Chinese treasure store with carts...in flower patterns...theirs were $22 (boo). Anyway, I still like my cart. Isn't it cute?

Downtown Melbourne

During the weekend we visited the downtown area. It is HUGE. Denver is a shadow compared to Melbourne. The population is 4 million, the whole state of CO is 4mill. Chicago's population is 2million and the state of IL is about 12mil.
We went to the 88th floor of the largest residential building in the world, the Eureka Tower. It is a total of 92 stories high. It uses a neat water balancing system to stabilize it during high winds. The last 10 stories have gold plated windows. When it was completed in 2006, the mid-level (floors 82-87) pent houses sold for 7mil. null, it was neat. Not quite as tall as the Sears Tower, Sears is 443m and the Eureka is 300m.
Melbourne is like NYC in a way. There are the cluster ethnic areas. The Target Centre, for example is in "china town".
Target was crazy, more like a department store. It had 3 floors with escalators. As far as product selection, not nearly as accommodating as what Americans are used to. We are so spoiled. I have to say, it is a luxury to be able to purchase food, cleansers, clothing, plants and washer fluid in one tidy and convenient location.

Halloween

I must say, sometimes I feel like I am in the 80's and 90's here. Skinny jeans abound. Skinny jeans are worn with either flats or tucked into mid calf height boots. Big girls, little girls, skinny jeans are not weight specific.
However, the most fascinating trend, at least to me, is the use of tights. Yes, tight! They are everywhere; under skirts, shorts, and even (gasp) alone! I feel as if it is Halloween all the time. I have even seen stirrup pants. For real.
It is winter here, so scarves are all over the place too. That is a trend that makes sense to me, so I participate.