19th Feb 2010 Today is Friday and there is no school. My co-tenant and I had planned to visit Queen Victoria Market, since I have not been to Melbourne before (Recall 1st day when I got lost). We planned to go at 11AM. She also mentioned that if you go later in the day, just before their closing at 2PM, the items there will be sold cheaper. Again, we walked there. It was quite a distance. As all markets, it has got the dry and wet sections of the market. The dry section sells salads, tortilla wraps, beans, kebabs, pharmacy, etc. The wet section, you should know, the usual as markets are. However, the stalls in the market have similar items and are sold at different prices in each stall. So, do make a list of what brand or type of food you are intending to purchase and then, at the market, walk around and make mental notes of the vary prices and quality of the item you intend to purchase before settling down to buy from one of the stalls. Eg. Endowner Apples—some sell at AUD$2.99 per kg or AUD$2.50 per kg, etc. Please also note that cheap prices doesn’t equate to good quality. The cheaper apples may be of bad quality too; being too ripe or bruised. I bought a broccoli, capsicum x 2(both plus broccoli, $2.50), lemon ($0.70), pumpkin ($0.55), 3 punnet of strawberries ($5), lettuce ($1). A note of observation today, most of the vegetables sellers in the market are Asians and I highly suspect that most of them came from Hong Kong as they are often see speaking in fluent Cantonese. After shopping at the market, she brought to drop by a supermarket that she recommend for cheap goods—Aldi, that was just around the corner from the market. Bought some cereal, oil and muesli bars. I have decided on eating food with high carbohydrates so that I will not feel hungry easily. Another note of observation, in Aldi, all things purchased have to be placed in the eco-bag. Carrying lots of stuffs, we went back to the hostel and rested for a while. Just before I went out, my bedroom was accidentally in locked mode and I was locked out of my room. I then had to go down the flight of stairs and walk to the management office to help me out. Unlucky timing I had. They had all went out for lunch. I then had to go back to my hostel and wait while watching TV with my co-tenant until 2PM, before I went down to retrieve the keys from them. Down and up the flights of stairs. Unlocked my room and I took my keys out of the room and went to the office to return the keys. Finally, then I can set off myself to the Melbourne Central to get a pre-paid card for my mobile. I then signed up with Optus. Later, I went to QV Square which I went on the 1st day by chance. I am getting to understand Melbourne better. Maybe on Saturday or Sunday, I should plan on dropping by the Chinatown of Melbourne. First, I went into one of the pharmacy and bought Vaseline Lotion with Cucumber, Aloe and Vitamin E extract ($7.50 for 750ml). Next, I went into Woolsworth and bought rice (5kg for $12.49), tuna which was on offer (5 for $5), fruit and muesli bread ($3.99), chicken lovely legs = chicken drumsticks ($3.31), mixed vegetables mix ($1.59) and 6oog of mozzarella cheese ($4.98). Carrying a big baggage, I walked home. Again, up the many flights of stairs with I guess ten kilograms of baggage, due to the rice. Settled down and rest for the day. Curry udon is on the menu today. Finally, the pot of curry is cleared. There will be new food tomorrow. The day of flighty stairs—8 counts of ups and downs.
