Burger Edge @ The Dining Hall, Melbourne Central

Another halal burger place in the city! We were thrilled to hear that Burger Edge at The Dining Hall serves halal burgers. According to their website, "Burger Edge uses only halal beef and chicken, but is not a halal environment. They use salami, ham and bacon in their burgers. Therefore customers are requested to alert counter staff if this is an issue to avoid cross contamination on grills and preparation areas". So please double-check or ask when you order.

We've tried their beef burger with halal beef rasher, spicy chicken burger and chicken tandoori salad. I must say they were pretty tasty!

Burger Edge is located at the upper floor food court in Melbourne Central.

Malaysia Hall's Bazaar Ramadhan 2011 is also back!

Wow, Ramadhan bazaar in Melbourne TWICE  a week! What more could you ask for when fasting away from home right? :)

Source via Malaysia Hall's Bazaar Ramadhan Event Page

The bazaar is going to be held EVERY SUNDAY, starting tomorrow August 7, from 3.30 pm until Iftar.

Location: Malaysia Hall, 4K High St, Prahran

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A Weekend Afternoon Excursion to Half Moon Bay

You know that feeling that comes over the weekend, when you want to go somewhere, but can't think of anywhere to go because you think that you always go back to the same places?  Well, whenever that happens, remember that there is always somewhere new to discover!  We love going to the seaside, and sometimes, just driving by St Kilda Beach and Port Melbourne is already a good enough excursion for us.  Last Sunday, we wanted to visit the beach and the sea (again).  We didn't want to go as far as Frankston, and we've visited St Kilda, Brighton Beach, Port Melbourne and Williamstown many times already.  So where did we turn to for options?

This! Our Melbourne "Go Explore" box of cards.

Based on the card, we chose to head to a place called Half Moon Bay, a bit further down from Brighton Beach.  The card also mentions that there's a Fish & Chippery there.  So the expectation: definitely be at the seaside, eat some fish and chips, and enjoy a cup of hot coffee in the cool breeze.  Thankfully, the weather was beautiful that Sunday.

This little area is actually called Black Rock.  There's a jetty called Black Rock Jetty, a small jetty that you can walk or cycle on, and see people unloading their boats into the water.  And yes, we found black rocks too on the on the edges of the water (where the place gets its name).

There's a small cafe there, where we bought our coffee and calamari & chips.  They were pretty good too.  It's a really nice atmosphere to have our food, coffee, being outdoors and just relax with the scenery.

There's a parking area with meter available on site.  To get to Half Moon Bay and Black Rock Jetty, you can refer to this map.  It's about half-hour to forty-minutes

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So next time you're along Beach Rd, remember to head down to Half Moon Bay.

Lord of the Fries: Chapel St

Few weeks back, we were invited to visit the newly opened Lord of the Fries on Chapel St.  It's always great to have more Halal and vegetarian eateries outside of the city!  Since they launched their Mark sauce recently, that's exactly what we had: Mark burgers and fries with Mark sauce.  The taste of the new sauce is quite tasty.  As for the burger, I think I prefer the Spicy one with Jalapenos... but I'm sure everyone has their own fave sauce and burger :) Now our friends just told us that their nuggets are pretty good too! We'll surely give that a try next time.

 

Lord of the Fries is located at 170 Chapel St, Windsor.  For more info, you can visit their website.

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Fairfield Park Boathouse & Tea Gardens

If you wanted to be around nature and you don't want to go too far out of the city, then Fairfield Park is the perfect weekend excursion for you!  Fairfield Park is located at the top part of Yarra Bend Park, while the park at the lower part is Studley Park.  Either one, you'll get lots of lush trees and grass and the Yarra river.  Imagine having a picnic there, sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying your scones and jams, then later on, you might want to paddle the boat along the Yarra.  Yes, it's all there and we loved the serenity of the atmosphere.

We visited Fairfield Park Boathouse & Tea Gardens for the first time last weekend.  We noticed that there are picnic tables and BBQ pits around the park.  When we visited Studley Park last two years, we took the chance to paddle the canoe along the river.  That was definitely exciting yet very relaxing.

You can find more info on Studley Park via their website, and more about Fairfield Park boat house at their website.

The snapshots below are from our visit to Fairfield Park Boathouse & Tea Gardens.  

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Chilli Padi Mamak Kopitiam

It has definitely been a while since we visited any new Halal eateries around Melbourne.  With Malaysian food trends coming into Australia within the last few years (not to mention also on Masterchef!), another Kopitiam-concept eatery has opened in Flemington.

Our good friends Shaliz and Din introduced us to Chilli Padi Mamak Kopitiam.  Thanks to them Walk Walk Melbourne can now add another Halal cafe into our collection :)

 

Chilli Padi Mamak Kopitiam is located at 295 Racecourse Road, Flemington.



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Melbourne Laneways

One of the hidden sights of Melbourne are definitely the laneways.  They're tucked neatly in between buildings and they are usually filled with small cafes.  We love walking through these laneways, and just enjoy being in the midst of the activeness of people walking and people sitting down on the sides sipping coffee having a chat.  The one in the photo here is Centre Place.  Centre Place is located between Swanston St and Elizabeth St, between Flinders Lane and Collins St.  If you walk from Flinders St, you can go through these laneways: Degraves St - Centre Place - Block Place - The Causeway - Royal Arcade - and exit at Bourke St.  When you visit Melbourne, make sure you don't miss visiting these laneways.



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Walk Walk Melbourne: CBD Halal Map NOW ON SALE!

Getting around Melbourne for Malaysians and Muslims could not have been easier now that you can buy a copy of your own pocket-size WALK WALK MELBOURNE: CBD HALAL MAP.

If you're in Malaysia or anywhere you might be, you can also purchase this map before you come to Melbourne. Simply send us an e-mail at blogwalkwalk (at) gmail (dot) com to inform your interest

For Customers in Malaysia:

WWM CBD Halal Map = RM10.00
(Please note that it may take 3-5 days for postage)

For Customers in Australia and outside of Malaysia:

WWM CBD Halal Map + Postage Within Australia = AUD7.00

We can post the map to anywhere in the world! E-mail us for more details.
Payments can be made via Online Banking and also PayPal.

Send us your order at blogwalkwalk (at) gmail (dot) com.

Buy it for yourself, or send someone a surprise! :)

Melbourne Memories

We're delighted to hear that our blog brings back nostalgic memories to some Malaysians who have lived in Melbourne back in the 70s and 80s. If there's any specific place in the city that you'd love to see captured in photographs, we'd be happy to do some photo hunting to those places. Who knows, maybe we'll even discover places which we might have never visited before too. List your favourite places here, drop a comment, or e-mail us :)

One of the Three

One of the “Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch”.

Might this be Batman, Swanston or Hoddle?

@ Cnr Swanston n Bourke St

Weekly Wondergram

There's a lot of fun and quirky things to see in Melbourne when you walk around and take the opportunity to see the things around you.  Thus, having a camera with you when you're out on the street is very helpful if you're into capturing snapshots of the everyday like me.  Here are some of my snapshots from last week around Melbourne CBD.

 

 Aren't balloons just fun to see?

 

We are always attracted to these markings on the streets.  They look like a life-scale construction drawings.  And at the very least, they give you a hint that some works are about to be conducted there, specifically.

 Golden bikes, anyone?

Photos | iPhone

Apps | Instagram, PS Express

Location | Streets of Melbourne

Memories of Melbourne

How do you frame your memories of Melbourne?  I'm sharing some of mine here at wondergram.

If you have nice ones you'd like to share with me or others, feel free to send an email :)

Summer = Beach!

So it's summer... and images of the beach, that gentle wave and warm breeze might be in your mind.  Thinking about going for a picnic with families or close friends, and having a swim while you're at it sound like a lot of fun.  But if you're not into heavy crowds, then it might be a bit difficult to find a more private spot during this time of the year.  You can bet places like St. Kilda Beach, Williamstown and Frankston is going to be full of visitors.

But there's hope!  Last Sunday we decided to drive towards Frankston, as we haven't visited that part of Victoria for quite a while.  On the way, we passed by Chelsea and Edithvale.  From the road, we can see glimpses of the beach behind the rows of houses.  We decided to take a turn and drove in, and found a very nice beach. We loved it!  The beach is not crowded at all, and a lot quieter than Frankston.  And for those who don't like a lot of crowds, it's just perfect.  (There's even life guard points not far from that part of the beach)

How to get there? Well, since it's like a 'secret' beach, we thought you should try discovering it on your own too. All we can tell you is that it's somewhere before Frankston, in suburbs of Chelsea and Edithvale.  To find an entrance into the beach, you'd have to drive into the roads of houses there. Good Luck :)

And there's also a wetland in Edithvale!

 

 

You might stumble upon this little guy when visiting the beach. 

Fret not, this is not a jellyfish.

It's actually a harmless secretion from sea snails 

as told by a local there when noticing us looking a bit confused) 

 

 

These are some pics from Edithvale Wetlands. 

This wetland is included in the Ramsar Convention, which means that it is high in bio-diversity. 

It's really nice to see a landscape different from what we usually see around Victoria.

A Summer Evening Walk in Fitzroy Gardens

Keep your eyes open...
for Fitzroy Gardens!

Fitzroy Garden is just a stone-throw away from the CBD, and on a good sunny cool day, you must find time to visit and walk through the gardens.  It's one of Melbourne's heritage, with layout similar to that of Carlton Gardens.  It's funny that you don't get the sense of how big the garden actually is until you walk through it.  The thought of the garden being right next to the city centre will fade quickly once you're inside, surrounded by huge matured trees, rows of elms, spacious lawns and lush landscape.  Urban parks like these are just breath-taking.  They truly are sanctuaries for the city!

 You can get to Fitzroy Gardens via the City Circle tram, get off at St. Vincent Plaza and walk for a bit.  Or, if you're take a tram at Collins St and stop at the corner of Spring St, you can walk through Treasury Garden to get to Fitzroy Gardens.

Walk alone, or bring a company, take a mat with you or a good book, have a picnic or a light run, or just simply anything.  You'll definitely find some serenity there :)

Market Updates

If you're looking for places to shop or browse for stuff, other than at shopping streets and shopping malls, try checking out some markets from this list by Only Melbourne.

You're sure to find some pretty unique things from the markets ;)

Watching the Water @ Port Melbourne

There are just those times where you yearn to be somewhere where it's peaceful and serene.  A place where you can just stand, watch and appreciate all that is beyond your own self.  To us, that place is often a place of nature.  One of the perks of living in Melbourne is that you get the city, the suburb and nature all in one place (as what I've told a lot of people why we truly enjoy being here).  So if you're ever feeling in the need of going to that place, we are delighted to recommend any beach along Port Phillip Bay.  Unlike many of the locals here, we prefer to go to the beach when it's not hot nor sunny (which means, bring a jacket just in case the wind and chill gets too harsh on you).  And the best thing about going to the beach when it's not the typical weather that one would go out to the beach is that there won't be a lot of people.  That's what you need if you're looking for some tranquil moments, right?

Bring coins to pay for parking and a picnic chair is good if you just want to sit and watch the sunset and the sea (maybe we should try sitting next time instead of standing).  And may I add, the clouds are always breathtaking to watch, especially when it gets heavy and seems to be as intense as the water.