melbourne - day 2

Day 2 in Melbourne was almost a blur - the day just went by too quickly!

First stop was Laurent Patisserie on Little Collins Street where Justin and I picked up some breakfast for the other two back at the hotel. It took some time trying to find the place as the front entrance was boarded up but after walking up and down the street, Justin spotted the entrance in amongst the scaffolding and yay, we were in! And what a sight to behold...cakes, cakes and more cakes!

Cakes that were too sweet for breakfast

Breakfast pastries galore!

After breakfast, the four of us spent the most part of the morning in Melbourne CBD shopping and taking in the city sights. We split up for the shopping and met up again at about 2 to grab some lunch. In amongst walking down the main shopping streets, Justin and I settled on a little laneway of cafes as our destination for lunch. The laneway would've only been about 3 metres or so wide but it was jam-packed even at 2 when we decided to get lunch. Leong's quick thinking got us into a booth seat at a little place called Sergovia.

Justin and I shared a 'Prosciutto Pizza' and a Lamb Salad.

Shopping was definitely on the agenda and the four of us taxi-ed our way to Chapel Road to squeeze in some shopping after lunch. Chapel Road is home to quite a mix of shops and I managed to pick up a few little goodies - 'cupcake frosting-flavoured lipgloss!' was one of them. Prices are generally reasonable but unfortunately the 'I love Cooking' apron I saw in 'Genki' was just out of my budget. But if you were to ask me what was my favourite shop, I'd definitely say 'Genki' - lots of little cute things and Japan-influenced brands.

As shops started closing up at 5, we made our way over to St. Kilda for dinner. We ended up eating at a place called Vibe (which was alright) but my attention was already on dessert after dinner. I think it was called Acland Road but here you had shop after shop of Italian cake and pastry shops which were stocked to the brim with all things sweet. The four of us literally gaped at the display in every window (as was every passing pedestrian) and finally decided on Europa (which had been reviewed on the Visit Melbourne website). To be honest, the chocolate and prune tart which I shared with Justin was nothing to rave about. I still think the displays were awesome though.

Leong and Edith decided to try their luck at Crowne Casino after dinner whilst Justin and I headed back to the hotel to call it an early night. Melbourne was turning out to be much, much better than I'd thought. No wonder people make weekend trips to Melbourne. It would probably be better if you had a car; it was actually getting quite tiring walking around everywhere.