صباح الخير
means good morning. (sa-ba-h-arkh-hai-ye)
About a week after my trip to Sandakan, I hopped on to a plane flying to Melbourne. It was my first flight in the afternoon, I assumed it's the best time to fly as a 8-hours flight is time consuming and tiring, which mean a sufficient sleeping time before is important.
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| Boarding pass. |
Not forgetting to mention, it's my first time to fly alone. My younger sister took a different airline to Melbourne. Her flight was 2 hours earlier than mine. I reached the airport about 4 hours before.
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| Aerotrain. |
Taking aerotrain is hassle and make me nervous all the time. In my experience, trips that involve taking aerotrain to another terminal never failed to make me run like a professional track runner. At the satellite, there are various duty-free shops but I never had sufficient time to visit all of 'em. I'm afraid that I'll miss the final boarding call. It happened during my trip to Indonesia early of this year and I can't complain but to buy a new ticket for the next morning. Not forgetting to mention my name had been called several times during my trip to Sabah last year. Another time was when I traveled to Hong Kong via Cathay Pacific, I reached the gate during the final call.
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| The gate. |
Unexpectedly, the flight had been delayed due to the bad weather in Dubai. Lucky me!
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| My newly bought warm boots. |
I almost fell asleep in the waiting hall. Finally, announcement had been made and everyone is queuing up according to their seat number. I found my seat and thankfully that the seat assigned to me is my favorite seat of all time which is the strategic seat next to the left wing and window.
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| I got a row of seats for myself. |
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| A wet towel is offered during the preparation to take off. |
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| Not my favorite. |
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| The first meal. |
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| This is blissful. |
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| Tear the cheese into pieces and mixed with this salad. |
The In-flight entertainment is awesome! They have variety of TV programs from different regions of the world. Most of the movies are hits and still new. I've watched Kung Fu Panda 2, Insidious, National Geography, House, Family Guy and etc during the 8 hours flight. Generally, many may thought that the cabin crews are all originally from UAE, just for your information, most of the airlines from Saudi Arabia, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, they recruit crews from all around the world throughout the year. There are unlikely interaction difficulties between the passengers and crews as the company always arrange different crews from different background for every international route.
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| Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. |
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| The supper. |
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| A very small can of Pepsi. |
It's been a pleasure and relaxing flight with Emirates. Truthfully, the flight attendants are pleasantly approachable and helpful compared to other airlines that I had been flying with. It's my first time flying with Emirates and they had given me a memorable and enjoyable flying experience.
Oh Melbourne, I miss you so much!
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| The BFF who welcomed me empty-handed. No flower no banner. |
Early in the morning I can't wait to visit my most favorite place in Melbourne.
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| Follow me, folks! |
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| Yes, it's Queen Victoria Market! |
Just a brief introduction, Queen Victoria Market is established since 1878. The market is divided into different precincts; Victoria Market Palace Food Court, Fruit and Vegetables, Wine Market, General Merchandise, Delicatessens, The Meat Hall and etc.
Enter the entrance facing the Elizabeth Street, you'll see butchery stalls that sells raw meat. This market are open daily except Mondays, Wednesdays, and Public holidays.
The Meat Hall
Seafood stalls. (Just located next to butchery stalls)
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| fresh Salmon, nom nom! |
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| Yabby. |
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| Raw oysters. |
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| Octopus. |
The Deli.
Fresh from the oven!
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| The wine stall. |
Fruit and Vegetables (Cross the Queen Street which just behind the indoor market building)
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| Candies, anyone? |
Wine Market. (Only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays)
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| Wine tasting. |
The shops along the Victoria Street and Peel Street.
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| Pet Accessories shop. |
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| 'Sticky' |
Ask me about the weather. This is my second winter holiday in Melbourne, the first time was when I am much more younger and stayed for a shorter period compared to this trip. The strong wind really blow me off and although there was sunshine most of the time, but the coldness felt inside is unbearable and I actually was down with dry cough and flu during my stays in Melbourne. It's frigging cold and I sleep with a pair of warm stockings and thick shirts.
I have my meals outside most of the time, the prices are affordable and forget about the conversion. You can't expect to have a lunch meal at 3 Australian Dollar, no?
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| Yours truly with layers of clothes. |
