On the first day of reaching Melbourne, everyone was really tired and jetlagged from the long plane ride, so a lot of our energy was already gone by the time we got to Melbourne. We got to stroll around Little Collins street where I was met with countless shops and cafes, and it was overall a really new experience for me. My friends and I went to a really cute cafe where they sold beautiful desserts and tea sets, so we decided to buy milkshakes. However, the milkshakes took a really long time, so we barely got to our meetup point on time, but it was still a really enjoyable and fun experience. When we got to the Lume, all of us were really tired because of the plane ride, but  it was really calm and the ambience was really nice inside, so it was very chill.  After the Lume, we walked back to our hotel and got our rooms. After a bit of rest time, we got to go outside on our own and eat lunch. 

On our second day, we had a graffiti tour all around Melbourne and we had to walk a lot out in the cold weather, but it was really interesting to see the different types of concepts and art styles of hundreds of graffiti artworks. I even got to see a few of Banksy's art works which was so cool to me because I thought I'd never see them. Our tour showed us all the different techniques and how to differentiate if a work is bad or not.  After that, we ate lunch at this really good cafe (we ended up going there twice). After lunch, we went to a graffiti workshop and we learned to make our own stencils and graffiti art, which was so interesting since I never knew this much effort and time went into graffiti art, so I found it to be a really fun process. 

After that, we took a tram to St. Kildas beach to see the festival going on and it was just so refreshing to be in this kind of environment because this isn't something we really get to experience in Singapore. My friends and I rode this rollercoaster ride and it was just really exhilarating. After the ride, I felt very hyped up and energised from all the flips and turns of the rollercoaster ride. Not only this, but the people around us were also seemed to be having a lot of fun and I really liked how friendly everyone was! My friends and I decided to also walk around the beach and on some rocks where we took a lot of pictures and spotted a jellyfish on the shore. Overall, I really liked spending time at St. Kildas beach and experiencing the upbeat atmosphere of the festival. It was something I had never experienced before, so I found it to be very new and exciting.

For day 3, we went kayaking in the morning and I thought it was really fun, but my arms and back were super tired by the end of it since we had to kayak around the river for such a long time. However, it was a really good experience since we got to sightsee many buildings and encountered many people who encouraged us while kayaking. After kayaking, we had a smartphone photography workshop where we learnt how to take and edit pictures with our phones, which was really interesting. After that, we went to the Melbourne Central mall for lunch. I really liked the Melbourne central mall since it was huge and had many things, as well as really nice restaraunts to eat at, like this one japanese ramen place which had really delicious bento boxes.

For day 4, we went to a puppet workshop which we learned how to make a puppet and learn to control it. We got the opportunity to perform our skits on the stage and it was really fun to make our own stories on stage. After that, we went to the National Gallery of Victoria and then went to experience the Alexander McQueen exhibition which was definitely a big highlight. It was amazing to see the different eras and styles of McQueen's works and it was really inspiring to see as well. After the exhibition, we went back to our hotels to freshen up and then go out on our own to eat dinner, and of course, we went to our favorite mall, Melbourne Central to go shop around and then eat at din tai fung. After eating, we accidentally took the wrong tram and then ended up getting lost for a short while, but fortunately we ended up getting back to the hotel safely. 

On our fifth day, we went to the Healesville Sanctuary to see so many local Austrailian animals. We saw animals like the dingos, wombats, kangaroos, koalas, and many more. It was really fun to see the different types of animals in Austrailia and after we saw all the animals, we went inside a souvenir shop where there were so many things like homemade soaps, keychains, and cute stuffed toys. On our bus ride to the hotel, we made a short stop to a chocolate factory which had really beautiful landscapes and farms. It was so therapeutic and fun to see how the chocolate was made and the entire shop was just full of chocolate delacacies. I got to try a chocolate hazelnut truffle which was absolutely delicious and sweet, and it was such a great experience.  

On our sixth day, we went to Victoria Market to look around and buy souvenirs, as well as eat lunch. At the market, there were so many varieties of things like albums posters, hats, clothes, and jewellery. I bought jade zodiac figures and jewellery for my family as souvenirs and we browsed around the place until it was lunch time. After lunch, we went back to the National Gallery of Victoria for a tour of beautiful artworks. I got the opportunity to learn about paintings and clothes made from ancient Japanese and Chinese artists, which fascinated me so much since many of these works were from hundreds of years ago. This taught me how history can be preserved through artworks and paintings, and I found that to very cool. Not only this, but I also got to see one of Picasso and Van Gogh's artworks in person!

After the tour, we went to Her Majesty's Theatre to see the Mary Poppins musical. We couldn't take any pictures during the play, but I can say for sure that it was an amazing experience. The sound effects, props, and acting was just out of this world. There was a scene where a massive puppet popped out of the stage and I really admired the effort and work that comes into musicals like these. The actors were also phenomenal at their job and made this such a great experience for me. 

On our last full day in Melbourne, we first went to NIDA to learn about costume design and actually got to make designs outselves based on a script, which was really fun and new to do. After this, went to a different small exhibition called the Blindside Exhibition. We saw digital works of art and it was really cool to see a different type of exhibition other than paintings and it really fascinated me. I didn't get to take any pictures of this gallery, however I really liked the concept and idea of the artists leaving their pieces to the audiences' interpretation.

 After the Blindside exhibition, we went to Melbourne Central mall again for lunch and we saw really nice cafes with drinks and sweets. After that, we walked all the way to the botanical gardens to see the Avatar movie outdoors. It was a long walk to reach there, but it was so worth it. There were so many dragonflies and fireflies flying around the place which made the already beautiful even prettier. My friends and I passed and shared around snacks while we waited for the movie and the weather was so nice, which is why I think this was a big highlight of my Melbourne trip. I really enjoyed watching the movie outdoors with all my friends and we had such an amazing time there. After the movie, it was really late at night and we took a bus home to pack up for departure next morning.