CBD & Chinatown

Our last suburb stop was St. Kilda where we ate lunch (a yummy grilled barramundi, salad, and chips) and had a coffee, and we also looked at the beach briefly.

After that, we returned to the CBD to indulge in an onsen that Trixie had found online. As we were early for our onsen appointment, we wandered around Chinatown a little. At the onsen, I had a pleasant hour with the male section all to myself. Compared to Japan, this wasn’t the best (it was really a sento and not an onsen, and it only had one pool) but it did the trick. We explored a park in the CBD after the onsen. After that, we met my Junior College classmate for dinner at a tapas restaurant. I hadn’t seen her in 30 years so this was a special treat.

Overall, I liked Melbourne. It reminded me of San Francisco in terms of atmosphere and vibe, but without the homelessness and pockets of overt poverty. The traffic was a little bit much though. I was especially fascinated by the hook turns. Because of the trams, cars are not allowed to wait in the middle of the street to turn right. Instead, they must wait in a specially marked lane on the left, and then make a quick right turn as soon as the lights change. Trixie was a tad nervous making the hook turns.

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