Shop Til You Drop

Over the weekend, I took a solo trip out to the Chadstone Shopping Center (pronounced "Chad-stun"). I was in need of a new pair of jeans since most of mine have been feeling loose lately (all those gym sessions must be paying off!). Chadstone, known as the fashion capital, is the biggest shopping center in the southern hemisphere and sits in the Malvern East section of the city. It is an easy 15 minute bus ride away, making it all too easy for shopaholics like myself to spend countless hours in a shopper's paradise. I grew up in close proximity to two malls, one of which being the high-end Mall at Short Hills. For this reason, I am no stranger to the euphoric feeling of walking into one of these places. However, the effect that Chadstone had on me was indescribable. Before I even stepped foot off the bus, I felt an overwhelming feeling of excitement in my stomach. 530 stores? This made my trips to Short Hills mall, which boasts just 160 stores, look like child's play.
A Chadstone shopper could want for nothing- the super-regional shopping center has a grocery store (Coles), Kmart, Target, hair salons, and nail salons along with a wide range of luxury stores like Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Tiffany and much, much more! I chose to stay in the moderately priced stores to look for my purchases. My favorite store is called Supre (check it out here) which I would compare to a higher-end and more organized Forever21. Tops go for about $30. This is the place to go for the perfect going-out shirt or dress. Witchery is another very popular store here and has tons of great stuff as well (check it out here)
It was time for me to get on track and deal with the task at hand: buying the perfect pair of jeans. I wasn't looking to spend a lot since I am on a tight budget down here. There a lot of stores down here that just sells jeans, which definitey made shopping easy for me. I first went into a store called General Pants, which sold a lot of brans such as Sass & Bide, Nudie, Wrangler and Lee. I figured I'd definitely be able to find something in this place. An over-eager sales girl approached me as soon as I entered the store. I inquired about the size conversion from U.S. to Australia for jeans, and she informed me that the sizes are the same. After trying on about 10 pairs of my U.S. size, I couldn't get any past my ankles and I had broken a sweat. I concluded that sales girl was misinformed and booked it out of the store.
I walked around for a little while and came across Jeanswest, another denim store much like the one I had just been in. The people here were 10 times more helpful and informed me that I should go up 2 full sizes in Australian jeans. This was music to my ears and confirmed that I hadn't actually gained 20 pounds in a month. All of their jeans were on sale and I ended up with a great pair of jeans that I LOVE for just $65.

B.Y.O.K.

I wasn't sure what the food would be like down here. There a lot of similarities for sure, but just as I suspected there are a few things that I will need to adjust to. French fries, or "chips", and fried chicken are available just about anywhere. Indian restaurants, Mexican restaurants and even the gym on campus all have chips. Also, due to the overflow of Asians here, it's never hard to find a Japanese or Chinese restaurant. Curry is a crowd favorite and is added to many dishes. It is definitely hard to make healthy food decisions when the smell of fried chicken is wafting through the air and clouding my good judgement. Luckily I've been able to stick to salads and frequent the gym. One thing that bothers me is the lack of condiment use here. Ketchup is NOT free at the cafe on campus (35 cents for a little packet) and I've yet to see hot sauce or ranch dressing. This may be a blessing in disguise for me, a self proclaimed ranch dressing connoisseur, but it's disappointing nonetheless. My friend Sam, a fellow American and condiment lover, has resorted to buying a bottle of ketchup at the grocery store and bringing it with her when she goes out to eat. Extreme? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.
All of these diminutive differences aren't affecting my life in a terribly negative way, but there is one thing that I will never, EVER adjust to: Vegemite (a fancy and misleading name for concentrated yeast extract). I had heard about vegemite before coming down here, and I knew it was a staple in every Australian household. This morning an Aussie friend of mine suggested I try the enigmatic dark brown goo. The piece of toast with butter and vegemite looked innocent enough. It was reminiscent of apple butter, so when I was expecting a similar taste sensation when I took my first bite. All I can say is, I do not understand the appeal here. It tastes like eating a spoonful of salt, only 10000 times worse and more unappetizing, with a bitter aftertaste. All the Australians in the room were unanimous in saying that they L-O-V-E the stuff and can't live without it. Me on the other hand... I lost my appetite for the day and will never go near vegemite again.

1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 13.2 Tequila, floor

I am happy to report that one of my favorite drinks, the frozen margarita, is available down here... in LARGE quantities. Last night we went to Taco Bill's for half price cocktails. It is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in the city, and from the outside it doesn't look too promising. But once we stepped foot in this place, I felt confident that we had made a great decision. The ambiance was everything I'd want in a Mexican restaurant... tacky decor, mexican music, and rowdy tables of tequila pounding college students. My general rule of thumb for Mexican restaurants is "the sketchier the better"-just as long as the food and drinks are good. Any Mexican restaurant that makes an attempt at being classy is missing a key part of the equation. I had heard rumors about the fishbowl style margaritas at this place. The "Pancho Villa" is served in a supersized margarita glass and holds 13.2 shots of Tequila. There are 10 flavor choices for this monstrosity of a cocktail. I chose the Peach one. I had anticipated sharing one of these with a friend, but our Aussie friend who brought us there wouldn't allow us to share- he made us order our own. As I sit here this morning with a pounding headache and a burning desire to get on the treadmill (I'm sure these things had over 2,000 calories), I am proud to say I don't regret my decision to have my own personal Pancho Villa.

I'm here!

I've been getting a lot of requests for an update post!! My life has been quite a whirlwind ever since I arrived here Monday morning. Tons has gone on, but nothing too earth shattering just yet. Let me start by saying this: I didn't realize how big of a shock 40-50 degree weather would be. Really. I only packed one pair of boots, and left my frye boots and uggs at home! I'm having my mom ship them down to me (fingers crossed it doesn't cost an arm and a leg). But the atmosphere down here is just perfect. The people seem to always be happy and eager to help out in any way. I was able to go to KMart today to furnish my dorm (just one example of how VERY similar Australia is to the U.S.), and when I was carrying all of my bags into my building there were so many people asking if they could help. These people are just a breath of fresh air.
The campus has been pretty deserted all week due to the fact that all of the Monash students are on a semester break. Classes begin on July 19th, so the campus should become more lively closer to then. For now, the only people around are the international and exchange students. Yup, you guessed it- this place is FILLED with asians! Although there are around 70 americans here between Loyola and the other American colleges, we still seemed to be outnumbered by the Asian invasion. Orientation sessions have been taking up most of my time, as the Monash staff wants us to have a comfortable transition into our semester here. However, this orientation is unlike ANY orientation session you could find at Loyola, let alone most U.S. colleges. A majority of the discussions lead by Monash staff, with the exception of class enrollment, have involved nightlife in Melbourne and partying! Since the drinking age here is 18, we are allowed to drink and go to bars legally. This is a huge treat for us 20 year olds who have been sporting fake ids for the past few years. Alcohol is served at most school events, and we are allowed to openly drink in the dorm buildings and anywhere on campus.
Tuesday night was my first night out. There was a pub crawl organized by the school, lead by a few grad students. We took the train into the city and hit three fun bars: Riverland, The Carlton Club, and Madame Brussels. I figured we would be going to random college dive bars, but I coudlnt have been more wrong. The three stops of the night were sophisticated and fun. First stop: Riverland. The ambiance of Riverland is comparable to a bar in South Street Sea Port of NYC...it was right on the water. Its wooden picnic tables were set up outside overlooking the water, and heatlamps kept everyone toasty on the chilly evening. The popular drink choice here was mulled wine... for $8 a pop, we were served a cozy, warm mug of a spiced wine... it tasted like heated up sangria. I liked the red better than the white. One of Riverland's many gimmicks is that it has a gourmet sausage stand right in the middle of the outdoor seating. Words can't describe how delicious it smelt there. Our student tourguides lead us to our next stop: The Carlton Club. We walked a few blocks through the bustling city and arrived at the bar. A deep red velvet carpet covered the rich looking stairwell that took us up into a lounge area that was adorned with lifesize giraffes and ostriches and neon chandeliers. It seemed like something out of Saturday Night Fever. The outside part of the bar was set up with high tables and more bamboo than I've ever seen in once space. I wasn't too impressed by this bar but it was definitely fun to go to because of the outrageous decor. Our last stop on the crawl was Madame Brussels. This bar, described as "a rather fancy terrace and public house", was my favorite bar of the evening. A few flights of stairs brought us into a room decked out with a lawn, flowers, hammocks and lawn furniture. The down side was that the drinks were pricey, and the bartenders were stingy with the alcohol they put in the mixed drinks. For this reason, I stuck to mulled wine which was only $6.50 a glass (cheaper than Riverbend's). I had a wonderful night and learned a lot about nightlife in Melbourne! Just an FYI to all my fellow Americans- I didn't see ANY fosters down here yet! The popular beers I've seen are carlton draught, james squire, and tooheys. Hard alcohol isn't too popular since it's so expensive... about $10 for a cocktail and $30 for a liter bottle at the liquor store! For pregaming, almost everyone drinks boxed wine. But this is nothing like franzia... it's called "goon" down here and tastes delicious mixed with orange juice. Beer is obviously also acceptable and a popular pregame libation. I stayed in tonight, but tomorrow is Thursday night... the biggest night of the week! I'm looking forward to it.
Check out the bars I went to!
Riverland
The Carlton Club
Madame Brussels

Peace out USA!

While everyone is planning weekend getaways to the Jersey Shore and the Hamptons for Fourth of July weekend, I am preparing for something a little bit different! Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving my house at 6 AM (to avoid 4th of July traffic of course) for JFK airport. My destination? Melbourne, Australia. After nearly a whole day of traveling, I will arrive in Australia on July 5th at 9:30 AM and be there until late November studying at Monash University. Considering I have never traveled out of the U.S., this is a very new experience for me! My nerves are starting to kick in a little, but I know once I arrive in Australia I will be very excited to explore and soak in my new surroundings. After hours of packing (and of course A LOT of help from Mom) I was able to squeeze 4 months worth of clothes and shoes into 2 large suitcases. There's no looking back now! Australia here I come :)
After a lucrative month of working at a golf club as the beverage cart girl, I was able to make some exciting purchases for my trip. A few of my favorite things include the Longchamp expandable carry-on and Lilly Pulitzer luggage tags!




Longchamp expandable carry-on
get it here!
Lilly Pulitzer Luggage tags
get it here!