Melbourne Places

W-class trams date back to the 1930’s.

W-class Tram at the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Street
A W-class tram was the first tram I rode in Melbourne.  It was before I lived here and in the days when there was a conductor on board.
I clambered up the high wooden step and sat on a hard seat [...]

The Minh Phat Supermarket in Richmond makes a lie of the saying “one supermarket is  much like the next”.  The isles here are not full of familiar brands,or things we have seen a hundred times before.  Minh Phat Supermarket, in Nicholson  Street  just off Victoria Street, Richmond is different – very different.

I’d been shopping and [...]

At the Booktalk Cafe, 91 Swan Street, Richmond food, coffee and books seem to be of equal importance.  The cafe is central to the ambiance of the shop.  The tables and chairs are in the middle of the space and then they wander between the book cases to the back of the room.  This is [...]

Can you go past a bargain shop without popping in?  I can if I’m in one of the many shopping areas that have Two Dollar or Bargain cum Gift Shops dotted along the strip.  You’ve seen one you’ve seen the lot.
In Victoria Street, Richmond the Two Dollar Bargain and Gift Shops are different.

They can look [...]

I wanted to cook a duck on Saturday. Well two ducks, really – in my experience one duck feeds only two people.
We decided only on Friday afternoon to have  Peking Duck cooked at home for dinner on Saturday.  Buying  the ducks so you can do this is not always easy.
The only ducks available in my [...]

Take a trip into Asia on a Melbourne Saturday morning.
Take the 109 Tram and head to Victoria Street in Richmond. The moment you cross Hoddle Street the atmosphere changes. You are entering a different world.
Many people call this area little Saigon.  I’ve been to Saigon but it’s not Saigon to me.   To me it is [...]