#melbourne

It's without a single doubt the big trip I made to parts of Asia and Australia in late 2018 🤩 It was one and half month long and got to visit four different countries!

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🇯🇵: First we were in Tokyo for a week, got to experience the neon lit streets there, various shinto and buddhist temples and how different the culture was in general. With the weird ads playing in the subway and whole districts dedicated to anime and gaming. We also ate at a local noodle place and got some funny looks while struggling to eat with chopsticks.

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🇭🇲: Then we went on to Australia, where we spent the largest chunk of the trip. We travelled along the whole east coast from Melbourne in the south to Cairns in the north. Got to see many cool animals in the wild such as koalas, kangaroos, penguins, dingos... heck, I even got to swim with a wild sea turtle when I was freediving in the Great Barrier Reef, which was a dream come true for me! We did many other fun things while we were there, like competing in a swim run at Bondi beach where you had to carry an inflated duck while also wearing flippers on your feet.

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🇸🇬: After that we went Singapore for a few days. Got to see some of the cool architecture there such as the Gardens By The Bay and saw a bunch of wild monkeys and even a flying lemur when we walked in a small forested park. Also got drenched in true monsoon rain, which made me realize I shouldn't complain about Swedish weather.

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🇨🇳: Lastly we went to Shanghai, also for a few days. You could say it was very... interesting Haha We did dodge a few bullets when it comes to scammers since we had read up on the tricks they use. We also couldn't really use the internet there cause of the way China blocks internet traffic. The central city was very cool though with the big skyscrapers and the old town really made you feel like you were back in ancient China.

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I'll never forget the time I spend there on the opposite side of the world, it was a true trip of a lifetime 💙

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I always knew I wanted to travel, but my mom is terrified of flying so growing up we didn't exactly go very far on the rare occasion we did travel. When we were 19, my (now) wife and I saved up some money for a trip, and that first day is still like a fucking fairy tale in my mind. My first time flying, and I fucking loved it, 30,000 feet in the air, looking down at the clouds. Stepping off the plane at CDG and getting that feeling of "Holy fuck, I'm in fucking Paris". Checking into our hotel then taking a nice stroll down to the Eiffel Tower. I proposed to wife my at the Eiffel tower that day (I know, wicked fucking cheesy right?) Going to some bistro and getting a bottle of fancy French wine, some fancy French cheeses, trying some escargot. It was like all of these mystical things that I never really imagined I would be able to do and see all materializing in one day.
For my first year wedding anniversary a few years ago, we did a road trip across the UK. We started down south then up to Scotland before looping around and heading back down the other side. We only booked our accommodations a few days ahead so we could decide whether to stay somewhere for longer than our loose plan or shorter as we felt it. We also stayed at our first (and probably only) 5 star hotel that felt as big as our flat at that time. Was lovely and the only thing that would have made it better and even more memorable would be if I could've brought our pooch with us. Sitting beside a mountain stream, legs dipped in the ice cold water, blunts going around and the three of us breaking into songs. The fact that apart from travel tickets, we had nothing planned and just did whatever we felt like. That was special. One of my favorite memories is meeting an acquaintance of an acquaintance for literally 1 minute in Sydney. When I told him that i'd be visiting Melbourne, he said he'd show me around as he's from there. Unfortunately his flight back was delayed. Figured it was the end of that, but he ended up having a friend show me around instead, and through that friend I met some amazing people and ended up having the greatest day of my month long trip. Ended up feeling like this random group of people were lifelong friends.
The time I spent in Tokyo early this year. One night I stumbled upon a sake bar next to my hotel, and I was making small-talk with the owner/bartender. After a few minutes, it clicked for both of us, we knew each other already! In 2013, I went to a sake bar on the far west side of town and got friendly with the bartender. That night he gave me his business card and I took a photo of us. In 2016, out of all the bars in Tokyo, I found him again at his brand new self-owned shop in the northeast side of town, by pure dumb luck. We were so utterly stunned, that he, his partner, my newlywed wife, and I shared a bottle of his best sake, on the house!

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Had an uncle that lived a few states away. He took us to a steak house. My brother and I had never been to a restaurant this nice. The cheapest steak was $70. My brother and I were not expecting that, but my uncle was well off. He told us to not worry about price, and that this meal was about catching up and enjoying each other's time. We were there for almost 4 hours, laughing, talking sports, talking about anything. Tons of food, but it was a blast. I had a great steak and desert. My uncle passed away very unexpectedly last year. It crushed me. I learned that life is about the experience. Dont stress money. I've learned to enjoy simple conversation and others company. I would give anything to relive that night. Also, the tab was around $400 haha. The fanciest place I've eaten was a restaurant inside a castle/mansion that is often used for celebrity weddings. The food was fantastic: usually when we have restaurant food, even if it's really good, we often feel the taste could be improved. Not so here: everything was spot on.
But "worth it"? That's a tough one. If the price was cut in half, then yes absolutely it would be worth it. But sometimes it does seem like price scales way faster than quality in restaurants. Commander's Palace. I'm glad I ate there but I don't think I'd go again. The overly formal setting and dress code made me uncomfortable. The food was really good but I'm not often in a position to justify that much money on one meal. So I guess I would say worth it if you like that kinda formal setting and have the money, but it's not for me. Most expensive was teppanyaki in crown, Melbourne. Not worth it, but that's mainly because one of the cooks was sick, so the other cooks had to rotate between stations and we kind of missed out on the connection that's part of the experience. Not really the restaurants fault, but considering that it cost 400AUD we felt pretty miffed.
For my dads birthday a couple years ago we did a SF trip. We ate at the French laundry, the food was great but the atmosphere and dress did put a damper on my experience. I am happy I went but idk if I would go again, I enjoyed my meal at Gary Dankos and State Bird Provisions more because they were more fun.

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