Saturday 7th - Monday 9th December 2019 - Matsuri Japan Festival Darling Harbour, Queen Victoria Markets, The Big Design Market & Gingerbread Village

Saturday
Before catching another overnight XPT Sydney to Melbourne, it is a very quick visit to the annual Matsuri Japan Festival at Tumberlong Park Darling Harbour. So crowded, this is a 1 day festival from 11.30 am - 7.30 pm today. Rating 8/10 wish I had more time to spend there - quite a fun family festival.

Everything Japanese is available - live entertainment including a kpop type performances centre stage,  food stalls, dress ups, music, silent disco, tea ceremony, origami, flower arranging, tourism and travel to Japan information booths - huge queues for everything especially the food stalls. Some busier then others. Those that weren't busy heavily reduced their dishes to upto 50% off.

I opted for ( bad choice) chicken teriyaki gyozas - I requested half half chicken/vegetable - sorry no can do. They were $10 for 5 pieces - tasteless and burnt! I can make them better - sauce and chilli did not make them any better. Rating 3/10. Should have gone for the yuzu chicken and salad or hero salmon or chicken with rice and salad dish.

The lane to the light rail was closed off so I walked to the next lightrail stop at Paddy's Markets. I board the light rail bound for Central Station and wait for the overnight XPT train to Melbourne.

The train is fully booked - same seat as last weekend C12. I had such a good sleep until a couple boarded at Wagga bound for Albury. The swearing cursing and arguments that went on between them woke me up and continued throughout the night. All I could hear was the female shouting to her male travelling companion "SHUT UP!" over and over again and the swearing and mumbling then when it became too loud and they started kicking my seat from behind I had to get up and tell them " Excuse me but people are trying to sleep!". A train officer pops out and asks them if there was a problem and the female asks the train officer to remove her male travelling companion. The train officer escorts him out to another car - no more kicking the back of my seat. The female remains in tears. I try to get back to sleep - such disgraceful behaviour in first class, I may as well travel in Economy class!

Sunday
Arrive in Melbourne at Southern Cross Station - 2 minutes late! Is that a record for the overnight XPT Sydney to Melbourne!?

First thing was to head to the Travellers Aid office for a shower. It used to cost $7 for a shower which includes a small bar of soap and a full sized towel now it costs $10. I take my time with my shower but do not use the towel provided just the soap bar.

After my shower I was able to store my wheelie bag with travellers aid as I just used their services. This saved me a full days storage in one of the station's not 100% reliable pay lockers ( I would hate to get my luggage stuck in one of these lockers on a day trip to Melbourne).

First stop breakfast - a breakfast wrap at Hungry Jacks as I walk to the Queen Victoria Markets. I had not intended to visit the Queen Victoria Markets but did so because it was 1. Early and The Big Design Market was not open until around 10am and I only intended to spend a few hours there not a full day which was plenty of time to look around. 2. The markets were on my way to The Big Design Market so why not. 3. I needed more food.

I purchased a few goodies at the markets to bring back to Sydney with me. No souvenirs only 1 bunch of shallots 1 bunch of corriander 1 kg of large Bacchus Marsh strawberries and some carrots . I also purchased a tub of quail eggs as they were larger then the Sydney ones and about half the price. I probably purchased other fresh produce but I forgotten what they were.

Sorry the blog site crashed yet again and I have to rewrite what I lost. I therefore continue a few words at a time - another incomplete blog.

I now make my way to the part of the market that is the "deli" section after walking through the fresh produce sections of the markets ie fish poultry and meats ,  fruit and vegetable, nuts honey and eggs , foods trucks and stalls. If you get lost around the markets retrace your steps by finding your favourite food truck or stall - eg the freshly made hole in the wall  dounut truck which always attracts a long queue of customers and which emits a strong aroma of fried batter which can you can smell meters away. No donuts for me I only like dark chocolate coated custard filled churros ( yes Melbourne's Spanish style donuts).

The 'deli' section of the Queen Victoria Markets is a must visit, located in a building next to one of the  main fresh produce areas, it is a collection of original market stalls selling almost everything . Entering this section of the markets is taking a step back in time and around Christmas when the decorations are up , it feels as if you are walking through a small European village except without the snow. You could easily spend a few hours in this building slowly strolling amongst the large selection of cheeses , cold cut meats, charcuterie, loafs of bread, bottles of wine, Christmas and non Christmas cakes pies and puddings, antipasto, sauces, dips, spreads, dried herbs and spices, fruit and nuts, cans and tins of edible products - the list goes on and with some curious products too.

Then there are the food stalls - Yep I was still hungry and in search of a good sausage on a roll. I had spotted people eating some sausages on a roll with what looked like onion and asked where they got them from - I could not quite make out what the guy was telling me in his thick accent and it sounded like " Black Forest". I went search but could not find any store with that name but realised he was saying " Bratwurst" when I found the stall ( and a queue of people) in the corner selling the sausages on rolls he was eating. "Black Forest" - "Bratwurst" same country. I ordered a chicken and mushroom sausage on a roll ( as I don't like pork)  and what I thought was onion was actually sauerkraut- how unAustralian! I scoffed it down - it was delicious - must have been the curry chutney tomato sauce they put on it as there was no mushroom in the sausage and I didn't like the sauerkraut much . The sausage wasn't the best but I could have had another one - so hungry!

Onto find some other things I could take back to Sydney with me tonight. My bag was getting heavy and full - I should have just taken my wheelie back with me instead of leaving it in day storage at the Travellers Aid office. I purchased a round loaf of dark rye bread, a tub of mascarpone cheese pesto and sundried tomato dip and some speckulaas ( a German spice mix I use in my gingerbread and Christmas puddings).

Onto my next destination down the road along LaTrobe The Big Design Market but not without stumbling across a small handmade Christmas market tucked away in an old hall along the way. Curious I walked in and had a quick look - only 1 stall caught my eye. No purchases.

Next stop was why I came down to Melbourne for The Big Design Market at The Royal Exhibition Hall Carlton Gardens.

I probably took more photos of the gardens and exhibition building then I did of the market stalls and their products inside The Big Design Market. Carlton Gardens is so beautiful in the Spring and into Summer, they are worth taking a walk around even when the there is nothing on at The Exhibition Building. Only Melbourne can make graffiti look good in a garden!


I didn't buy much but did take lots of photos and was more interested in spending my time making badges for myself and as gifts for a $1 each then anything else. I ended up making 3 badges - so much fun all you had to do was use your imagination to create them. So glad I carry a black marker around with me! it made my artwork stand out on my badges more.

I could have spent an entire day at these markets but a few hours was enough for me to see everything there. I did not need to eat or drink anything there as I had just had food although I was very tempted to - the queues were too long. I keep moving onto my next stop which I had to find first.

My final stop was The Gingerbread Village someone had told me about by Epicure at St Collins Lane. The 30 minute wait in the queue to see it was worth the wait. Only photos (hundreds of them) can describe this display. I must have taken almost a hundred photos on my phone from every angle of the Gingerbread Village display - entry was a gold coin donation to raise money for the childrens hospital. Rating 9/10 - equally as good as the Myer Christmas windows!

(Refer Facebook for photos and stats of The Gingerbread Village)

I make my way back by tram to Southern Cross Station but not without stopping off to get yet another lot of snacks a sushi roll with chicken lettuce and cucumber in it and a dark chocolate custard filled churros! I scoff both down before picking up my wheelie bag from the Travellers Aid office and waiting for the overnight XPT train back to Sydney. 6 pm and the shops at Spencer Street Outlet are now closed so no time for more shopping. I was going to do a general shop at Coles so I did not have to do it when I returned home but could not be bothered.

At 7.50 pm I board car B seat 02 first class same seat. There is no one next to me so I try to sleep. I was woken by a rather demanding and disrepectful mother with 2 children (with so much luggage the children could not even carry on board their own) who boarded the train at Albury in the middle of the night. The train officer initially assisted them with their luggage onto the luggage racks but it looked as if she gave up and left them to find and load the rest of their luggage onto the luggage rack which was quite full. I hope they didn't damage anyone else's luggage as the amount of banging they made was enough to wake the entire car up. The mother's seat was B01 ie next to me window seat and her 2 kids were allocated seats behind her. Now the rudeness of this woman starts to show. She tells me that the seat I was sitting in was hers. I told her straight out that no it wasn't as I had boarded in Melbourne and had had my ticket checked by the train officer already and that her seat was the window seat next to mine. She told her kids that the seats behind her were theirs. The family continues to make quite a bit of noise whilst I try to fall asleep again. The train officer comes around to check passengers' tickets that just boarded including the woman and her 2 kids tickets. She kicks up a fuss about how she requested seats to face each other so she could face her kids but was sternly told by the train officer that she could only have seats facing each other if she booked 4 seats and she had only booked 3 seats. END OF STORY!

I go back to sleep but was unable to sleep as well as my last trip. We arrive in Sydney about 5 minutes late I think - who cares anymore - no more stopping off straight home. Work tomorrow.

Definitely no more adventures next weekend ( except for trying to get a ride on the opening weekend of the new light rail from Circular Quay to Randwick) - no more days off until Christmas and Boxing Day which I have absolutely no plans for this year. My 2nd Christmas in Australia in over 25 years - how am I going to cope with the Australian Summer heat!!!!!!

I wish A Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to all the readers of my blogs around the world.

This year because I am working every day up until Christmas day I think I'll be having KFC and 711 - no time to cook this year. This goes very well with my tacky Christmas card theme this year!