After Van Gough I took the #1 tram to South Melbourne Markets not really knowing where to alight and in which direction but I figured it out by asking the locals.
I remember going to the markets in the past but getting the # 96 tram from outside the YHA - that # 96 tram gets you to a lot of places!
At the markets you can find anything and everything except a bank ATM. All atms at the market are unbranded or third party and will charge you an excessive transaction fee to use therefore I avoided using them.
I purchased 2 Portugese tarts , 3 mini assorted quiches, some cooked extra large king prawns, a very large piece of salmon, dutch carrots, kiffler potatos, garlic, leek organic pears, apples and bananas (which tasted so good compared to my supermarket purchased one) and freshly squeezed bottles of organic orange juice. I was feeling so hungary. I could have bought much more food but had to restrain myself as I will be going to the Good Food and Wine Show tomorrow. Just as well the markets were closing at 4 pm so I had a time restriction to shop as well. I forgot the loose 800 g free range eggs and the really large freshly made gourmet sausages. Back to the YHA with my heavy bag of goodies on the #96 tram where I got off at the Convention centre to pick up a program for planning tomorrow's Good Food and Wine Show visit. Rating : 8/10 smaller market but just as good as Queen Victoria Markets - open 1 hour later on a Saturday then Queen Victoria Markets.
Photos attached of South Melbourne Markets below.
It's that time of the year again - another trip down to Melbourne. I hope it won't be a disappointing one.
It is going to be freezing with temperatures between 15 and 3 degrees C. I hope I've packed enough clothes! I changed out of my work clothes into wool leggings under trakkie daks with a long sleeved t shirt hoodie and puffer hoodie on top of them.
I also have a pillow and blanket for sleeping as it is an overnight trip. No one is sitting next to me yet but they may join the train along the way so I just sit up in my seat for almost the entire overnight trip.
The person next to me was a no show by Broadmeadows - 1 hour outside of Melbourne so I thought I could strech out and sleep but the lights on the train are suddenly turned on. No sleep for me.
Almost at Southern Cross Station. Hope to have a shower and some hot breakfast before planning my day out today.
Good Food and Wine Show isn't until tomorrow for me.
Then off back to Sydney on the fully booked out overnight train again.
First stop toilet break at Southern Cross Station. It is around 7 am when the train arrives after sitting just outside of Southern Cross Station at a red light signal for 15 minutes as the train arrived earlier then scheduled.
Next stop breakfast - not much is open and I knew there was a Hungary Jacks near by so I decide to try the deluxe breakfast burger but not in a meal just with a hash brown and minus the cheese as usual.
It was the worst breakfast burger I have ever eaten! The deluxe breakfast burger was meant to have a brioche bun with mustard tomato lettuce cheese egg and bacon as per description and promotional display photograph. What I got was a brioche bun with a single lettuce leaf , a greyish egg, a blob of tomato sauce (at least that was what it looked like) and a huge amount of mustard which oozed all over my fingers so badly that I had to chuck out the deluxe breakfast burger almost immediately after taking a bite of it - there was no bacon at all on the deluxe breakfast burger just a huge amount of sauce - the bacon was completely missing and all I could taste was mustard and tomato sauce on a brioche bun - yuk!
I had to then find the nearest toliet and wash my hands that were covered in mustard and tomato sauce. The hash brown was almost cold when I received it but the only thing edible. I then went to the other Hungary Jacks at the other end of the station to lodge a complaint as this is where the nearest toliet was to wash my hands.
The manager did absolutely nothing and told me to go back to the Hungary Jacks at the other end of the station. Stuff that - I have other things to do today and it isn't exactly the most convenient as I have to lug my suitcase with me all the way back. Will have to lodge a formal complaint to Hungary Jacks head office and not eat at a Hungary Jacks again.
Worst thing was I had to wait forever just to get my deluxe breakfast burger minus the cheese - as I think my order was given to someone else and had to be remade quickly for me. No receipts with order numbers given out either.
I had sent an email to the YHA asking if I could have a shower and to hold a keep fresh mesh bag (these are the best food storage bags) for me as I was arriving very early.
When I reached the YHA and I had a proper shower.
Onto Van Gough @ NGV after catching up on my blog and recharging my phone. Then shall see about going to the markets in the afternoon.
To be continued.
Reached the NGV later then I intended as I had to wait for my phone to fully recharge after storing my bags and having a shower.
The art gallery open at 10 am and by the time I arrived there were already thousands of people there. First thing I had to do was cloak my backpack. Then line up in one of 2 very long queues for ticket sales to see the Van Gough Seasons exhibition. I didn't realised that there was a members priority queue so waited in the ticket sales queue with everyone else for 45 minutes to an hour until I got to one of the ticketing counters. MCA members have reciprocal benefits with the NGV. The ticketing assistant advised me that I there was a priority queue for members and to make up for lining up by going to the members lounge and having a complimentary tea,coffee, hot chocolate and biscuit. I said I will go after seeing the exhibition to recharge my phone. He also advised me to go in the left line which is the members priority queue to get into the actual Van Gough exhibition. This was very fast scan and your in.
Although it was after 11 am before I actually entered the exhibition, I only planned to spend about 1 - 2 hours maximum there as I also wanted to go to South Melbourne Markets to get some fresh produce for dinner and the markets close at 4 pm today. I tramed it instead of walking everywhere today!
What did I think of the Van Gough exhibition? Was it worth seeing? Absolutely. I think I like Van Gough more then Degas which I saw last year (refer previous Degas blog).
I love how Van Gough (although completely mad ie he had mental health issues) was able to paint bleak to bright according to how he felt and the seasons which can have an effect on peoples state of emotions and mind.
What was interesting was his attention to detail and layers of colours and textures. Looking at his paintings with the naked eye looked very different from behind a lens of a camera. I took a tonne of photographs of his paintings after looking at each of them with my eyes and I thought it created an optical illusion almost- the eyes saw the paints in 3 dimensions whereas looking through a lens of a camera made them look flat- 2 dimensional. Rating : 8/10
Photos attached.
Photos attached
Whilst making and having breakfast I continued with my blog and recharged my phone and put my suitcase into the paid storage lockers for the day.
It was only 9.15 am when I set out to the Convention and Exhibition Centre where the Good Food and Wine Show was. I collected my free wine glass and wine voucher from the Citibank stall just outside the entrance of The Good Food and Wine Show and joined the Citibank priority entry queue. At 9.30 am the ordinary line was already quite long. I was the 2nd person in the queue and at the very front of the Citibank priority entry queue but the queue was already winding around the corner from the entrance. At 10 am we were the first to enter after all the exhibitors with yellow wristbands had entered and before the long queue of ordinary ticket holders.
First stop was suppose to be Blush Tomatos and to purchase some bread but I ended up being the very first person to queue up to go into the "Food Wonder Land". I wasn't sure what to expect but the magician at the front trying to entertain us wasn't very good. Pick a card I was asked but don't show it to me - you can show everyone else and put it back into my deck of cards. So I did, he was suppose to guess it but got it wrong twice. He also entertained us with riddles. Then it was time to go into the "Food Wonderland"
It was sponsored by Colgate and was about teeth sensitivity. We stop at a number of food stations beginning with a hot beverage with a sample of the new instant sensitivity relief toothpaste to rub on areas of our teeth that are sensitive to hot and cold. I didn't sample it as my teeth are only sensitive to cold things not hot and I had no idea which teeth.
Onto the next food station pumpkin soup with some sort of foam. Yum then onto the next station mocktails - now my teeth started to be affected by the cold acidic drink.
Then onto a savoury food station teriyaki chicken skewers - yum. Finally onto dessert a cold icecream with popping candy and caramel sauce in a plastic pipette. Delicious however once again my teeth were affected by the cold ice cream - more so then my lactose intolerance which I ignored!
Throughout the tasting experience there were performers - the tong and egg juggler at the chicken teriyaki station was quite good with her juggling skills -fake Japanese accent needs a little work though.
Photos attached.
Photos atrached
Last celebrity chef session of the day was the 3.30 pm session with Miguel "Crazy Bull" Maestre Since it was the very last cooking show for the day and the duration of the Melbourne Show - it came complete with his little son - amazing juggling act with toddler in one hand and cooking with the other live on stage. Finale included him singing La Bumba and with backup band in costume.
Photo attached
Disappointing this year - no black seedless grapes - Substituted with Modi apples or Almonds - Substituted with prunes. Mushrooms and tomatos were present again this year.
No fresh bread loaves - substituted with bagels and bagel chips.
No fresh duck meat sausages or seafood this year - substituted with lots of small goods salamis and jerky.
Lack of quality chocolates - substituted with quite a few brownie and chunky fudgy biscuits.
Same types of cheeses this year.
Loads of alcohol this year. Soon it will be called The Good Wine Show.
Favourite products this year Future Bake Chocolate Fudge Bownie Bars and Abes Bagels and Vegemite Bagel Chips.
I stayed as usual until the end of the show ie 5 pm where suppliers either run out of product or start giving away stuff. I always go for the fresh mushrooms - they never sell any they just use them for cooking up dishes to sample - I think I started a trend a few years ago asking if I could take some at the end of the show on the last day of the show. Now others have the same idea! One lady even asking for a container to put them in. I only took 3 small and 3 large mushrooms not being too greedy - would not have minded the potted herbs on display though but was cautious in case they were inedible eg had been sprayed with insecticide.
Walked back to the YHA retrieved my suitcase from the paid luggage lockers, packed my pack it cooler bag, toliet break and recharged my phone.
Off to Southern Cross Station to board the XPT back to Sydney but nit without dramas.
1. Shorty after the train departs the platform at Southern Cross Station, we are asked to present our tickets - such a hassle each time as I carry an electronic ticket on my phone and the phone reception in and around Melbourne's Southern Cross Station is really bad falling in and out of signal.
A passenger shows her train ticket and thinks she is sitting on the right train in the right carriage in the right seat only to find that she is on the wrong train - she was suppose to be on a Vline train not a XPT train bound for the same country destination - she could not exactly alight the train as the next station was a few hours away outside of Melbourne. It is the middle of the night and the train is fully booked. Luckily the train attendant found her the one and only seat on this XPT train bound for Sydney but the catch was it was in first class. The passenger could not get a refund for her ticket but was offered a discounted fare for the first class seat. First passenger incident on this train solved.
2. Onto Moss Vale and the train was delayed almost an hour arriving into Central Sydney due to a medical emergency there.
3. A passenger sitting opposite me fell asleep and missed her stop at Campbelltown - an hour out of Sydney. How she managed to miss the announcement prior to the stop and wake up after the train departs the station platform is a mystery. She had no power left on her phone and therefore could not contact her ride from Campbelltown station. I loaned her my charger to charge her phone which was enough for her to make a phone call which was also a problem due to blackspots outside of Campbelltown. She had to get to work by 9 am therefore had to catch the next available train from station back to Campbelltown.
4. The guy directly in the seat across from where I was seating coughed all through the night and would not cover his mouth. In the end I slept with first a blanket over my head then took out a face mask and slept with it on.
Finally arrive at Central at around 8 am. Worst train trip ever - home to shower eat and sleep. No visiting of VIVID precincts tonight!
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