Life Down Under (Part 7): St. Kilda, Footscray, Dandenong, Docklands - and Melbourne's "Jollibee"??

- August 16-24, 2022, Tuesday to Wednesday.

- Despite feeling a travel high from my recent trip to Adelaide, I had to come back and work on my research. I was quite glad that my friend Karin decided to invite me to have dinner at Lygon Street (trams 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72). Lygon Street is known as Melbourne's Little Italy and is lined with endless Italian restaurants. Of course, Italy is known for its food, right?

Chicken parmigiana and carbonara from Universal Restaurant.

Desset at Brunetti (Brunetti is a wonderful, wonderful place. This branch is in Lygon, but there's another one near Flinders Street at the heart of the CBD.)

Chocolate eclair, rum cake, and hazelnut cheesecake.

- Come Friday, I rode an early tram to St. Kilda (tram 3/3a, 16, or 96 to Esplanade stop or Luna Park stop.) St. Kilda is known for its beach. My goal wasn't really to go to the beach, but to see Luna Park. Unfortunately I went during a weekday, and it is only open during weekends in the winter. The will operate more regularly again once the warmer months come. However, it was nice to see the facade, at least, because Luna Park has been around since 1913. It was made with the brains of those who worked on the amusement park in New York's Coney Island. In Australia, there are several Luna Parks but Victoria's Luna Park holds the trophy for being the very first Luna Park in the country. It is known for its giant face, which serves as the park's entrance.

This photo is funny because the car drove in my shot. Now it looks like I was afraid of being hit by the car! But don't worry, I was far from the sidewalk's edge, and the car was at the other side of the street.

This is the shot I was going for (this is another shot, not an edited shot.)

Beatles inspired.

Giant origami penguin!

St. Kilda beach and the light house at the back. 

Palais Theatre, beside Luna Park.

Say AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

- After taking my ever so vain pictures in front of the park, I walked around and took Tram 12 to Mills Street to visit the ISKCON temple (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). The Hindus were celebrating Krishna's birthday, also known as "Janmashtami."

Just sat to feel the chants.

Giving offerings to Krishna.

 - Since I finished my agenda very early that day, I decided to head to the docklands (tram 11 or 48 to Bourke Street - Docklands stop). The docklands reminded me of the Manila Bay because of all the yachts anchored at the docks. The dock, however, is artificial and was created in the 1800s.

Manila Bay?!

Sitting around, basking in the sun.

- From the southern part of the dock, I walked all the way to the northern part of the docklands (can also be reached by trams 30, 35, 86 to Waterfront City / Docklands stop.) I visited The District Docklands, which is the main mall in the Docklands. It partly reminds me of SM Mall of Asia because it is some to the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel, like how SM MOA is home to the MOA Eye. I had an amazing lunch at Krabby's Crab Boil. 

Yes it is exactly what you think. Marvel Entertainment (via Disney) gained naming rights to the stadium. It used to be called the Docklands Stadium.

Northern side of the docklands.

The District Docklands.

The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.

My precious precious meal with crabs, prawns, scallops, baby octopuses, fish, and....

....snow crab!!

I LOVE YOU KRABBY'S.

Had gelato afterwards. I had whiskey cream, pecan caramel, and panna cotta. I still wonder why I decided to have gelato....out in the open....where it was freezing cold.

- On Saturday, my colleague and I headed to a suburb called Footscray (tram 82 to Footscray, or ride the train from Southern Cross for shorter travel time). It is known for having a concentration of African communities, as well as Vietnamese. Upon arrival after a long tram ride (should have taken the train instead!) we looked for Sheger Cafe Bar and Restaurant to have some Ethiopian food. I had not tried Ethiopian food until I went to Sheger so it was a new experience from me. I had Tibis, which is lamb cooked in tomatoes and onions, served with injera (traditional flat bread, like a mix between pancakes and Indian roti). My colleague Andrew had Kitfo, which is spice-marinated raw beef, served with injera.

Kitfo (left) and Tibis (right). Both dishes served with injera.

- After lunch we went around the shops, mainly me looking for some Ethiopian traditional clothes that I can wear casually (not to appropriate!) The prices vary a lot, depending on the material. Eventually we passed by the Saigon Welcome Arch along Leeds Street. Completed in 2016, it was made to celebrate the Vietnamese community in northern Footscray. We also appreciated some of the random graffiti that we found in a rather hidden square.

My Ethiopian dashiki.

One of the many Ethiopian cultural shops.

Saigon Welcome arch. It is based on several motifs, such as the crane, turtle, boat, and so on.

See the letters "VN"? The letters stand for Vietnam. If you look closely, you can also see the illustrated history of Vietnam.

A random wall during golden hour. I don't know if you noticed, but I wore my dashiki because of the African cultures in Footscray.

Colorful graffiti.

- On the way home, we made it a point to pass by Edgewater Square / Gordon Street stop (via tram 82) to have an early dinner at St. Burgs. The restaurant opened in 2015 in Maribyrnong, and later opening a branch further west in Caroline Springs. What's special about this restaurant is that it was opened by 3 Filipino-Australian brothers. Apart from their American-style burgers and sides, they have a special section called the "Filo menu." In this section they have Filipino-inspired burgers and other items that have an uncanny similarity to Jollibee ("Yum Durger" anyone? - and yes that's spelled with a D). I actually discovered this restaurant after Googling if Jollibee has already opened in Australia. Jollibee might come to Australia soon, but for now, we have St. Burgs. And it was glorious! I wasn't able to try everything but I did try their Yum Durger, fried chicken with Filipino-style spaghetti, and their ube shake with coconut jelly. I think I'd go back to this restaurant more often than I should, if it were nearer to where I am staying in Melbourne. Having St. Burgs was the best way to end my Saturday!

St. Burgs in Maribyrnong.

Their Filo menu. Must come back to try the others items!

Bida ang saya. HAHA. Well to be fair, they didn't taste exactly like Jollibee's but they were...."familiar" Filipino flavors.

- Come Sunday, I rode the train to Dandenong (Pakenham Line to Dandenong station) to visit the Indian and Afghan precincts. They were conveniently located just outside the Dandenong train station. Little India in Dandenong was a lot smaller than I expected, mostly with colorful shops that line Foster Street. I literally mean colorful not only because of the colors of the food or clothes that they sell, but each establishment is painted a certain color. Most of the stores are restaurants, groceries, and traditional clothing stores.     

Little India in Dandenong.

Swagatam! (That's welcome in Sanskrit and many other Indian languages.)

One of the many many stores selling Indian clothes. Of course I got some for myself.

- The Afghan precinct mostly had carpet stores, grocery stores, and restaurants. I had never tried Afghan food before, so I decided to have lunch there. I tried Najimi Restaurant because I saw a lot of people (Afghans) there - that's usually a good sign. I tried the qaboli pilaf, which is shank with rice. for dessert, I tried their pistachio flavored sheer yakh, which is like kulfi (Indian ice cream, thicker and sweeter than the usual ice cream, but less chewy than gelato.) The Afghans running the restaurant were also very kind and patient since it was my first time trying Afghan food so I had to ask for information about their dishes. I enjoyed Afghan food a lot!

An Afghan grocery store.

Afghan restaurants.

A hidden Afghan clothing store. They only had women's clothes though.

My lunch!

Afghan staff making my sheer yakh.

It does taste like kulfi!

Najimi Restaurant.

- That night, I had dinner with Megan, who just celebrated her birthday a few days back. It was nice to catch up with her, and realizing that I had been in Australia for a month already! 

I actually feel glad that I have friends all around Australia.

- During the week I was busy working, but I did have time to do a mini photoshoot with the magnolia tree behind St. Francis Church near Melbourne Central. I also took a photo with the Chinatown arch nearby in Little Bourke Street since I was already in my Chinese attire. (More posts about Chinatown in the future when I do more exploring.)

Magnolia tree.

I love the colors so much. Like a painting!

Note, the flower petals were already on the ground, I did not shake the tree or anything.

Chinatown arch at Little Bourke Street.

- A month has flown by and a lot has already happened - both good and not quite. They happened too fast that I didn't notice how long I have been away from home. It still feels like I had just arrived. I have a few more months to go before I return to Manila but hoping that I'll have time to explore despite all the research work I have to do here in Melbourne!