Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

Eventually we got back to the exact point of start we had that morning – 42 Russell Street – and our driver welcomed us back to the CBD and we all said brief byes and went on our other ways. Well, it was 7pm. I had to go somewhere soon, so I took the tram from there to my hotel instead of walking. I went up to my hotel room, undressed out of my bulkier clothing layers, plunked my bag near my other luggage, and watched TV for a bit. I haven’t finished Apothecary Diaries yet on Netflix so I sat through one episode.

After that brief jaunt up the snow mountain, I was eager for some pigging out. Fortunately, my second plan will sate that. One of the reasons I booked a room in Oaks Melbourne on William Suites is its proximity to one particular market – Queen Victoria Market. And on the same day as the snow trip, that market had a night market for food. Lots of stalls purportedly selling amazing food, according to reviews I’ve read. Man, I’d dig that. So my plans adjusted just perfectly. The snow trip ended just at the perfect time for a brief rest and then a few hours of just eating. Best thing is, the proximity is just tolerable walking distance. Perfect to jog up my appetite.

So I got to the market, and I could see smoke wafting in the air, and it smelled awesome.

I spent at least 30 minutes just walking around and seeing and smelling what’s what, mentally pinpointing the stalls I want to spend money on. Lots of stalls selling just mouthwatering things. I wish I had my 20’s stomach size and appetite back. But now I had to pick and choose my spots.

Yes there was a Filipino stall selling barbeque there, but as I saw they never sold the more “exotic” barbeques we had, I skipped. I could have these back in Singapore later anyway.

First one I spied that was an instant “gotta try that” was from a stall selling Nepalese meals. Less than 10 menu items, good sign.

I had their “chili chicken thali”, and the spiced in the meal was way more effective than the ginger ale I drank earlier. Very warming, very pleasant feelings after eating it. Pleasant chili heat.

I ate some more smaller items because I pegged the thali dish as my main. I figured that the more smaller items I eat, the more I can try out instead of doing two heavy main dishes.

Second one was from a stall selling Colombian meals.

The next stall was from a Greek one, selling donuts. I had the hazelnut choco, because I’m such a sucker for Nutella-adjacent flavors.

I was craving something meaty after that hit of sugar, so I bought some “classic bao set”. Nicely done food. I also bought a beef sausage from a stall nearby to add to the meal.

Note that there were lots of stalls, lots of good ones. But as I observed at the time, many of the very good ones I liked had very long lines and quite some time taken to complete an order. The stalls I went to first had very short lines and observably quick serving times – that Nepalese stall had only two people in line when I got there, and the food was supremely nice. So I prioritized the stalls I saw that had short lines and quick order completion. I wasn’t keen on playing the queue game with the appetite I had.

Now that other main was done, I looked for more desserts. I bought something from a stall selling “poffertjes”. I went for the classic one, 12 pieces of small mini pancakes with powdered sugar and a drizzle of chocolate. There were other variants, but I was keen on enjoying the original taste first. Delicious, warming as shit.

I was near bursting after this one though, but my appetite was still craving for those delicious Dutch mini pancakes. I had to hold it in and sate it with a ginger ale. It was 5 past 9pm when I was done, I spent my time observing the crowd and how they behaved in the night market.

I then walked back to my hotel full, but first I had to stop by City Mart for my brief breakfast tomorrow – a bottle of orange juice, two sandwiches and a can of Americano. Next day I planned as chill, but not snow chill, just a relaxing day at… another zoo. And souvenir buying.

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OK, so postmortem on Day 6.

I was deliberately very cautious on the snow thing. As it was my first time in a snowy setting, I wasn’t keen on skiing yet. I was content on getting beginner, hands-on, personal snow experience – like, how thick should my wear be, how many layers to wear, should I rent the shoes next time, et cetera. And definitely, my patience was tested. I had little patience to spare given how unsettling the chill was in the snowy areas, and I missed out on the bigger toboggan area due to conditions.

But I did learn quite a number of things – and in fact, into a positive.

• I would LOVE to come back to Melbourne in another possibility of an ideal vacation of late June persuasion, preferably last week of June heading into July again. Sydney was chill and nice, but Melbourne was proper cold. But Buller would be a secondary consideration – I’d rather try other resorts. Not that it’s bad, I just want to try other things. Maybe Melboune then Perth.
  
• It was a GOOD judgment call not to buy that bulky Decathlon snow jacket and instead buying the one from Shopee – a good jacket for just a third of the cost. It’s because the layers I wore were more than enough to shield me from the worst of the cold in the snow. But next time, buy a fucking scarf.
  
• Rent the boots, but next time wear a more water-resistant pair of shoes. The snow walking boots were HEAVY. If those bad boys went on my luggage, their weight would’ve been a sad chunk off my allotment. They did their job though. Feet was dry and warm the entire time.
  
• Maybe next time I’d like to spend a night in a snowy mountain lodging. The 10am to 3pm allotment was very very short. Just dipping my toes into this snow thing. Oh, and the agency that handled the bus trip was kind and nice – a hearty recommendation to “Extragreen Holidays” that went above and beyond the service.

Next day – another zoo, and then souvenirs.

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