one week trip to oz

thursday, february 22, 2024

just got back from my morning walk with worm, the day after coming back from melbourne! i thought i'd write up an entry while the memory of the trip is still fresh and i'm still coming down from the high of it.

we were there to see taylor in concert but decided to maximize the trip and stay for a week. this was the first time we were staying in the city proper, as we'd usually bunk with relatives who lived in the suburbs an hour away from the city. i think being in the city worked well – everyone's grown up now, and we all like the freedom to explore.

our airbnb was beautiful and had windows all over, so you got a good view of the city. it's also the tail end of summer in australia i believe, so it would be bright out until about 8pm, which was very nice.

 

highlights

day one: we went to the shopping center at melbourne central. i hit up sephora and finally got to try rare beauty products in person! they're as nice as everyone says, but expensive. i bought a foundation anyway. i was trying to decide between the foundation and the blush, but i think i made the right choice!

my sister and i went and got some travel sims at optus and were assisted by the most unenthusiastic worker in the world. not that you have to be Happy at your job but i was eager to get away from her bc the vibes were so rank... at least we had data access after that.

we went to victoria market with an older cousin who is probably my favorite cousin in my big family! the market was fine – i don't have much to say about it. it was crowded because there was a swiftie event going on, i think. there was a guy with really nice arms running the sugar cane juice stand. i bought ravioli from a food truck. i generally don't like having meals in markets or anywhere where you just have to eat your food standing off to the side, so i'm glad this was the only time i went.

day two: i went to the state library by myself. there are two large chess sets in front of the building where people can play – the boards are set up on the ground, and the pieces are the height of a small child. i don't know how to play chess, but it was cute to see people playing.

i was told this library has more reference/historical material than fiction but that didn't matter to me. i went inside and looked for the tale of genji (it just happened to be the first thing that came to mind for some reason, lmfao).

i stupidly wore heeled sandals that day and my feet hurt as i walked around the stacks... my sandals were so noisy too LMFAO... i found the tale of genji and then went to find a seat and only when i sat down did i realize i picked up volume two. i didn't recall seeing volume one and my feet were killing me so i just resigned myself to reading the volume i got lol.

but i remembered i woke up to my current favorite fic writer having posted a new fic so i instead read that on my phone and then. immediately left the library to go to a sex shop 😐 (it was a good fic........)

there was a pretty one called high tide that was a short walk away from the library so i went there. i promise i don't go buy sex toys on a whim every time i read good smut LMFAO but i'd been meaning to buy a new toy anyway (think last one i bought was in 2018). the person at the store was very approachable and helpful! i recommend the store.

i also saw this guy PAINTING the dune poster outside melbourne central. jesus christ

day three: taylor! see my previous post.

day four: i was dead tired after the concert and the long walk back to our apartment, so i decided to take it easy that day. i had homework to do for my program, so i went to the library to get some done in the quiet central area. my sister joined me after visiting a zine shop and then we went to the children's section to look at their books. i tried translating a korean book about a dog for her, but turns out i have A Lot of work to do on my korean LOL.

then we got gelato and joined our family to visit a hot pot place for dinner.

no pics from this day, so here's pinky + donnie tucked in nicely by my sister.

day five: this was a family day! my favorite cousin picked us up and brought us out of the city proper and we went and ate at a nearby shopping center before going to my aunt's place.

i brought the bracelets my sister & i made to share with my nieces and girl cousins, and was pleasantly surprised when my favorite cousin (a guy) picked two of mine out :) i didn't think he'd want any.

his picks.

one of my nieces is technically my god daughter (via... baptism?) and she picked out some i made that i really liked as well.

her picks.

they both picked bracelets that were meaningful to me ("i don't know anything" is from betty, and i have the betty counterpart to the "august" bracelet) so i was very happy.

one of my cousins just moved to australia with his wife and little girl, and i ended up being that niece's chosen person of the day. we played dolls and bubbles and tennis and i read a book to her. she even asked to sit with me when i ended up playing a board game with the older kids T_T she's so sweet and smart. i was honored she wanted to hang out with me so much lol

i really love the relatives i have in melbourne and wish i could see them more often! i jive with them much more than the ones who live in my hometown lmfao... watch me pack up and move to australia in the next 2-3 years.

day six: my sister and i hit up the national gallery of victoria to see the jean jullien exhibit, which we found out about from our aunt. it was SOOOO cute and fun! i like his work a lot and think it suits well the underwater-themed immersive experience for kids he made.

there was an area with provided paper and markers for you to draw your favorite sea creatures.

we explored the rest of the gallery too. i was of the belief that i did not like art museums but it's been a while since i've been to one and i found myself enjoying. maybe i can appreciate them more now that i'm older?

i also unexpectedly saw this painting in the wild. i didn't know it was at this particular gallery, and had seen it a lot online... it's really good. two cute tall girls asked me to take a picture of them in front of it too lol.

also, check out this tumblr sexyman. this is duke of apple in the vile oubliette by fei yining.

we went for dinner at a place called the meat & wine to celebrate my brother's birthday. i noticed towards the end of our dinner that our server had a friendship bracelet on, so just before we left, i gave her one i made! (it was daylight, which i later realized was taylor's surprise song during the concert day the server attended. love when things line up like that.) she accepted it Very Professionally but my dad noticed after i'd gone that she jumped up and down and showed her coworkers... CUTE...!!! i love interactions like that.

day seven: our last day! after checking out and leaving our bags somewhere, my siblings and i split up since my brother had to find a place to do his work at. i realized the previous night as i was packing that I COULD NOT FIND MY PASSPORT and panicked a lot... so first on the agenda was hitting up every place we'd been to. luckily we didn't have to go too far down the list—turns out i left it at optus, which was the only place i brought it out. we luckily did not have to interact with the same girl to get it back, and i felt much better.

we went shopping for a bit at melbourne central, emporium, and some random stuff along the road before regrouping at the library. my cousin took us out to dinner at a place called mr. ramen-san which has a hilarious name but was actually quite good! a nice meal to end a good trip.

haul

i was too lazy to take pictures of the makeup i bought, but i got the rare beauty foundation + a sephora brand blush + a sephora brand lip tint. pretty standard stuff! on to the exciting things: books and clothes!

we went to a store called gorman because my sister really likes their stuff. i did not think it would be my style (though i found it very colorful and cute) but i ended up buying a shirt there and trying on some other stuff!

t-shirts are so Annoying to shop for because i am very specific about the cut and fit. sometimes the collar is too tight, the sleeves too long or dropped, it's weirdly oversized... i end up buying a lot of more fitted crop tops because they look good on my figure. but this one was a regular length shirt and LOOSE too, and i liked how it looked on me! the print is cute too.

we also hit up a place along the road called princess highway that i wanted to see but we kept passing in the evening after it had already closed. (sidenote: stuff closes pretty early there!)

that place is a DREAM. lots of vintage-inspired stuff at decent prices. i usually find items that only hit two of the Big Three things i look out for: stuff i find cute, stuff that looks good on me, stuff thats in my size. but this shop hit all three!! cannot explain the joy that comes when you find something cute and IT'S IN YOUR SIZE.

i tried lots of clothes on, but ended up buying a necklace, a long sleeved button-up, a skirt, and a red dress.

(i don't have a nice place to hang and photograph the dress in my house so you get the product photo from their online store lol.)

the staff were also super friendly. one of them also owned the red dress i tried on and helped me tie the straps unprompted. she had a bracelet too so we gave one each to her and the other staff member (not a swiftie, but accepted the bracelet very happily!).

i bought two books at NGV: how to love by alex norris (the oh no comic artist) which was very funny and insightful, and big beautiful female theory by eloise grills, which i have yet to read in full but am enjoying so far.

there were two different bookstores in emporium, so i went to both. i found a copy of lolita by vladimir nabokov at QBD with a very agreeable typeset + paper combo, so i bought it.

when reading classics i need paper to be bright, margins to exist (in some prints there are barely any margins, which sucks!! i like to write in them!!), and fonts to be big and clean – for some reason it helps me stay engaged. i'm not naturally a classic lit girlie but have gotten into it as i've gotten older, so i try to find ways to encourage my own interest.

i also hit up readings, which is a beautiful bookstore. i liked their selection and probably could have spent longer in there/come back if it weren't the afternoon before our flight out lmao. i found a few books i wanted, but just took photos of them and instead bought this book.

i'm not familiar with this author but it says she is of tiktok fame. the introduction is very um. theatrical, in a millennial way? but i have high hopes for the contents of the book.

i almost forgot... stationery! i don't remember the names of the stores i went to besides but i bought some pens, decorative pens, refills, washi, stickers, and a notebook. my novelty purchase is a cute, nondescript sticker book. the last time i bought one it lied to me (said it was a sticker book, but i could not get my stickers off the pages after?!?! agony) but this one is legit :)

final thoughts

this was a long post, whew... when i got to melbourne, i told my sister that nothing really jumped at me about it. not that it has to, but i'd been mentally shopping around for places to live and work next, and melbourne was on the shortlist, so i was hoping for some sort of Sign that it would work.

but as i continued to spend time there i realized that i really liked it! it's a lively place but not exciting in an overstimulating way (which is what new york feels like to me). it's a very livable city with lots of nice people. i was comforted by the prevalence of asian food and products and seriously, it's so nice to have a library and find cute clothes that fit well. and i love the family i have there! i'd love to go back some time soon. for now i like that i've come home feeling refreshed by my vacation. yippee :)