photos from victoria (part2)

psst. did you see part1?

june 16th
we reach melbourne and head first to the markets. i meet up with my cousin who's staying just nearby. it's been like 2 years since i've last seen her!! each time i go back to singapore, she's not there, and when she goes back, i'm in japan. so we basically talked nonstop and updated each other about our lives.

i found gala's blog about a month ago, and have since fallen in love with her. well she talked about this shop in the markets called madame pompadour. (145 victoria street, west melbourne. tel03.9326.3344) when i saw her pictures i knew i had to go. well i love pink and i love fabrics and i love bright colors, and this shop had all that. i had to stop myself from buying too many things.


we headed off to the city and i just loved all the little alleys with cafes and beautiful little shops. ooh. we shopped till 6 when everything closed. DAMMIT. WHY WHY WHY do shops have to close so early in australia?? i just don't get it.

my cousin brought me to this little place called cabinet (11 rainbow alley. tel9654.0915) for some food and drinks. the people there, alan and ben, were the cutest, sweetest things ever. we had some really yummy dory fillet, and ben made us some gorgeous cocktails. ben creations. one of it was called waterworks. it was the yummiest drink i've ever had.

watermelon martini, topped with basil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar to bring out the sweetness in the watermelon. i loved it.


we went for a last drink at this place called murmur, in like the darkest, scariest alley i'd ever walked into. really. is it even safe?? and though that was like some dead alley, murmur was like super alive-and-kickin'! wow! really nice!


after 4 tough games, today was rest day. i think i might have been really tired this whole trip, because just after a beer and 4 cocktails, i'm actually almost a little high. god, i must be aging.

june 17th
we headed to footscray for our final game. they were good. and big! really tough. i think one of the ladies in their team had to be like at least 190cm. when she collided with one of my girls, she literally stepped over her??? seriously. we played a good game but we lost to better opponents, 0-3.


after the game, we went to a hockey shop. they had this humongous hockey stick there, obviously not for playing, but none of us could resist trying to dribble a ball. it was so fun. it was longer, or taller, than some of us! haha!


the whole team went for dinner together, after which we went into little groups. i had a real long talk with some of my juniors, and it made me really glad that i did go for this trip, because if i hadn't, i would not have had the chance to get to know them like this.


i went over to my cousin's house around midnight, and spent the next 5 hours chatting with her before finally passing out on the sofa.

june 18th
i made plans with my cousin to go speed shopping for 2 hours. we were supposed to leave for the airport at around 1, but i had a meeting till around 11. so i told her to sleep till around 10, and i'll let myself out, go to my meeting, then meet her in town later.

when i left her house at 8:15 (located right in the city), i couldn't figure out why helicopters were hovering. all i knew was i couldn't get a cab and i was late for my meeting. when i finally went back to the hotel and start asking what time we could go shopping, the girls were like, "didn't you hear? there was a gunman in the city."

i went, "WHAT!!!"

i didn't turn on the telly when i woke up, so i had absolutely no idea! my god!!! it happened just a street away from my cousin's place! that's why the helis were there! that's why i couldn't get a cab, cos the roads were all blocked off!! i called my cousin and told her something like, be careful, there's a gunman in your area!!

since some roads in the cbd area were blocked off, and we had minors travelling with us, our coach decided it was too dangerous to let our girls out in the city, so we went to some suburb mall on the way to the airport. i had to call my cousin to say goodbye, which was reeeeeeeeeally stupid because i hadn't said a proper goodbye yet! when i left her house,she was still sleeping! i mean, we thought we were still gonna see each other!!

anyway, we got on the flight safely and came back to hot ol' singapore. i swear i started like, pouring sweat, the moment i came outta the airport.

i later learn that the guy who fired the shots, had been assaulting his girlfriend on the streets. the 2 passers-by who went to help her got shot at. one, a 43 year old solicitor, died. the other, a dutch backpacker, suffered 3 shots and is in serious condition. the lady also got shot at. i thought it was horrible and really tragic.

i don't know what exactly happened... (did i get the facts right? was it his girlfriend?) but its outcome really saddened me.

brendan keilar and paul de waard, you two are true heroes, and i salute you.