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After walking past the 10 metre neon Mario on Flinders Street Melbourne I entered the ACMI Game On Exhibition. It is $15 Adult $10 Concession. For $5 extra you get a loaded iPod voice overview of the Game On gallery. Skip this as you can read this narrative in 10 seconds from the handout pamphlets. Keep in mind - this is not a video game expo but an exhibition funded by Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
Keep walking straight from the entry and you’ll be at the Memory Map - a collection of artist submitted short videos of the history of Victoria watched from all encompassing futuristic booths and is not a bad experience. Take a left up the escalators and you can watch student made films in the cinemas, have food and coffee at the cafe, or buy cool trinkets at the ACMI shop. Video gamers - you enter, pay, take a right down the stairs to the underground plethora of gaming goodness.
Let the games begin! Read the rest of this entry »
City shock has now hit home since returning to Melbourne - this time as a car driver. Heading outbound at 3pm on the Monash it is bumper to bumper with the pace at a gruelling crawl. The daily commute consists of torturous agony for several kilometres along a four lane highway. Who’s to blame? Road works, freight trucks and Melbourne’s relentless reliance on the wheeled machine.
For the last couple of years I have been living in the smaller cities of Australia. Primarily Darwin, Albury, Adelaide and Townsville. To explain my position I will explain what is typical involved as a regional driver.
Country-bumpkin: The week day begins with a quick breakfast with Koshie, and you hop into your car to start work. Your side street is empty and you pull out. Turn the corner and you’re on a main road. Four minutes later you pull into work. Park, enter work and avoid your boss to carry on with your packed mornos. Motivated and proactive you start work.
Country-bumpkin turn Melbournite: The week day begins with a quick breakfast with Koshie, and you hop into your car to start work. You wait for the opposite neighbour to pull out then follow suit. Three lights left and you’ll be on the highway into town. First light turns green as you approach smooth sailing. Second light a solid red and you sit 11 cars back. Your left turn lane blocked by 15 cars backed up - no compassion.
Country-bumpkin turn Melbournite cont’d: 18 minutes after departure your finally on the cruising on the Monash. At 100km/hr you cruise with roads busy but traffic flowing. Red brake lights come out of nowhere. To a rocking halt you see into the distance backed up traffic and await your 1.5 hour commuter doom. Welcome to the daily grind.
What happens when you neglect calling ‘that’ number on the highway signage for a month?
Debt accumulation totalling $56.20, thanks CityLink! Alas, no-one else to blame but my own complacency.
Country-bumpkin on a busy Preston tramway: Priceless
Related Articles: 30 Minutes Over… $55 Thanks Melbourne Parking Inspectors
Leroys is pumping out the brunchs at 11AM. It is nearly packed. Phew its hot where is my mango frappe! This place is so cool. Gig posters span the walls in all directions. Young crew serve great food - ciabattas with pesto, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon are delicious. Going for a stroll through the shops of Acland St then to the beach of St Kilda.
Just having a seat at Leroys. A nice mango frappe, muesli and yoghart, chillin with the missus. It is moments like this I won’t ever forget.
As you do when you’re an out-of-towner in Melbourne casually walking along a dark narrow lane at night we stumbled into something significant. To escape the frantic pace of federation square after the new year of 2008 clicked over we wandered into ‘the opium den’. Little known to us it had been voted New Bar of the Year 2006 and Australia’s Bar of the Year 2007! The Golden Monkey certainly lives up to the title with my girl and I enjoying ourselves immensely. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the new year we stayed at the Leo Pacific Hotel located at 378 Little Bourke St in Melbourne. Two nights minimum booked on Wotif.com was simply too easy. Situated in the heart of the CBD between Queen St and Elizabeth St it provides easy access to shopping, restaurants, entertainment venues and transport. Over the new year celebrations we paid $199 for the first night and $120 for the second. The normal price for our studio apartment with queen bed and kitchnette was just over $115 in non-holiday periods. Parking is ridiculous if you stay in a tower with it being around $45 a day, if you find a spot on the street make sure you feed the meter religiously! Inside was spotless, clean and quality fittings. Key card entry, no frivolous accessories just cheap quality accommodation in the city. We booked it on Wotif the night before New Years so it must not be too well known at the moment. Their loss and my gain. I recommend Leo Pacific to anyone needing to stay in the city in affordable quality accommodation.
- Author: johnnymestizo
- Filed under: Australiana
- Date: Jan 2,2008
This is my vent post. I had a slight clash with Melbourne CBD parking inspectors this morning. I’ve cashed up the meter, sipped down a coffee quickly posted a blog. Yes I admit I let time off its leash a little returning to the meter half an hour over. I was greeted small fluttering slip of paper neatly held under my windscreen wiper blade. On the 2nd of January 2008 at 08:23 my pleasant morning was devastated. I have not had much experience parking in Melbourne but to pay $52.00 in a parking tower over New Years and then to pay a $55 infringement (plus golds I actually did stuff in the meter) is a little bit steep. I am guilty of Offence No: 702E - Parked - Fail to pay fee and obey instructions on sign/meter/ticket etc. Road Rule 207 (2) (Meter Expired). By putting right hook turns and possessed parking inspectors across inner city Melbourne I will certainly be cautious next time I venture out to these streets of bedlam. Anyone else had experiences with nasty parking/traffic episodes in Melbourne CBD post your comments please!
Another inspector spotted shortly after the first incident patrolling down Chapel Street - his infringement gun poised firmly to his hip.
- Author: johnnymestizo
- Filed under: Australiana
- Date: Jan 1,2008
A hectic buzz filled the air as a sea of bobbing heads filled St Kilda Road bridge and Flinders Street Melbourne. People came from all over, across the Yarra, down from Elizabeth, Queen and Swanston Street all vying for a central spot to watch the fireworks show due at the stroke of midnight - the birth of 2008!
My friends and I pushed through this crowd which seem to flow all the way to Federation Square - an excellent viewing spot for the festivities. Also anywhere along the Yarra riverbanks from Batman to Spencer would also be an advantage. Read the rest of this entry »
