i don’t know if the same observation resonates with the rest of the general population but i speak for myself when i say this: melbourne is expensive. very expensive. especially so when you’re a student from a third world country who’s not used to buying half a sandwich which, when converted to your local currency, could already feed a family of four back home.

it took a while for me to stop converting (okay, who am i kidding? until now, i still convert. it continues to give me heartaches but for what it’s worth, it sharpens my mathematical skills which might just save me from alzheimer’s in the long run if the cardiac arrest won’t get to me first.) but somehow, as the weeks went by, i learned to get creative with regard to spending and satisfying my desire to check out the great spots the city has to offer. like catching a train to the city during weekends because not only is it cheaper but it gives you an unlimited pass to melbourne’s public transports as well.

so there was trina and me on that saturday many many months ago. (yep, this is just one of those ultra-belated posts, alright.) when we heard another student friend talk about south melbourne market, we decided to go there the next weekend. partly because we wanna check the place out, but mostly because we heard we can buy a bag of grapes there for just a dollar. (now that was the main motivating factor! lol.)

yep. all because of the dollar grapes, baby.

even if it meant hopping on the wrong tram which led us to the opposite direction and only realizing it halfway through when we noticed we were slowly going north. (the market was obviously on the southern bit.) had a good, long laugh over that. while waiting for the tram that would finally take us to the right direction, we saw a marriage proposal written in the sky. it was nice. i couldn’t help but smile and wonder how much it must have cost. it never occurred to me to wonder if the girl said yes.

as always, whenever i’m in a new neighborhood, i love taking in the sights and sound of it all. i’m probably one of those dumb-looking tourists who can be compared to hyper-excited dogs with shining eyes and hanging tongues. i do make an effort to contain myself. give people the impression that i’m civilized and all that but really, i’m probably no different than your dog. except that, perhaps, your dog’s so much more cuter.

and no, trina and i never found those $1/bag grapes. but it was fun just walking around the market and taking pictures of stuff we couldn’t afford.