Posted by Julia

We went to Melbourne last week to spend Christmas with my aunt and cousins who live there. The first few days were spent walking around the city center and enjoying some great food. Melbourne definitely has a different vibe compared to Sydney. The city seems more ethnically diverse and certainly lives up to its unofficial title as the food capitol of Australia.

Market Lane was an alleyway in the city where we found some great Asian cuisine. Shoya was a good Japanese restaurant that served an incredibly delicious wagyu udon noodle soup. A few doors down was Hu Tong Dumpling Bar - the best xiao long baos we've had outside of Shanghai (Nan Xiang). Another restaurant in the alley we checked out was The Flower Drum. It is supposedly the best Chinese cuisine in Melbourne. But upon hearing about the dress code (collared shirts and long pants), we were turned off and decided to cancel our reservation. They probably would not have welcomed a 7 month old either.

Melbourne is a very walkable city with a beautiful river terrace. Aside from the pesky flies everywhere, it was nice to stroll along the river.



We also walked to the Victoria Market, a large open air market with fresh produce, meats, seafood and goods.





We left the city on Christmas Eve and headed to the suburbs where my aunt lives. We hung out at the house, BBQ'd, hiked the Kokoda Walk and spent Christmas day singing, playing instruments and eating with my aunt's family.