24 January 2018, Wednesday

Our euphoria and fatigue from yesterday’s Australian Open Quarterfinal matches lasted well into this morning, as we slept in yet again before finally climbing out of our beds at about 10am. At 11:30am, we left our apartment for our first destination, South Melbourne Market.

One of the great things about Melbourne is that there is a Free Tram Zone within the heart of the city. Click here for the hi-res map. It stretches from Flinders Street in the south to La Trobe Street in the north, with a special extension that covers the three streets surrounding Queen Victoria Market – Williams Street, Victoria Street and Elizabeth Street. This means that QVM is conveniently located within the Free Tram Zone. The zone is further bounded on the east by Spring Street and on the west by Docklands Drive and Collins Street.

You can check whether your destination falls within the Free Tram Zone by referring to the map at each tram stop. Drivers will also make regular announcements when approaching the zone boundaries.

If your tram journey is entirely within the Free Tram Zone, you can travel for free and you do not need to tap your myki card when you board or alight. If you tap your card, you will charged a Zone 1 two-hour fare, so remember not to tap! However, if your journey ends or begins anywhere outside the zone, you must tap your myki card when you board the tram.

Alternatively, there is another free tram service in the CBD area – the City Circle Tram. Click here for the map. As its name suggests, it runs along the boundaries of the city centre in a circular manner, in both directions. It takes approximately 48 minutes to complete a loop.

The difference between the free tram and the City Circle tram is that the free tram is more direct as it cuts across the CBD area, e.g. down the main Elizabeth Street, whereas the City Circle tram takes a longer route along the outer boundaries of the CBD. Both trams are great for short distance travel within the CBD area.

I think that having these free trams in the CBD is a great idea because commuters benefit in terms of saving on transport. The trams also reduce traffic congestion as there is less need for taxis and private vehicles to ply the area. This in turn leads to less pollution as the trams are powered by electricity.

Unfortunately, after all the talk about free trams, South Melbourne Market is located outside the Free Tram Zone. From our apartment, we boarded the tram 96 at Bourke Street/Swanston Street and alighted at South Melbourne stop.

Based on my personal observation, a large majority of passengers do not tap their myki cards on the tram, even when travelling outside the Free Tram Zone. Do as the locals do at your own risk, as the penalty for getting caught is a hefty A$242 fine for adults. Don’t say you’ve not been warned!

South Melbourne Market (click here) is an indoor market that sells food as well as fashion and accessories, home and living, souvenirs and many more goods and services. We first went to the Food Hall to fill our tummies.

My friend ET had told me that there were some famous food stalls here but I couldn’t remember which ones. I saw people queuing up at a stall called Borek so I joined in and bought a sandwich. The bread was a little dry and it wasn’t that great.

We then went to the seafood section and were immediately drawn to the oyster bar. There were so many varieties of oysters here and they all looked yummy. We bought a dozen fresh oysters for A$20 to share. They were super fresh and sweet. It was worth making the trip here just to eat the oysters alone!

We then browsed the non-food sections of the market. There were stalls selling vintage wear, antiques and collectibles and even a pet grocer. We were very amused by the boutique snack selections for pets – the best of which were kangaroo rib racks and chewy roo lung (A$10 per piece). Exotic.

After spending about an hour at South Melbourne Market, we walked a short distance to Dead Man Espresso, located at 31 Market Street (click here). It is a café serving gourmet breakfasts and specialty coffee.

Apparently, one of the latest food trends was chicken waffle so we ordered one to share. I had never heard of it and was quite baffled by the whole concept of combining chicken with waffle. As it turns out, it was quite simply sliced chicken cutlet placed on top of a waffle. The chicken was savoury and the waffle was sweet, and the two don’t go together at all! Some food fads are just weird.

After the failed chicken waffle experiment, we walked to our next destination, DFO South Wharf (click here). Along the way, we passed by the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex but we didn’t enter as we were pressed for time.

DFO stands for Direct Factory Outlets and it is the best place, and perhaps the only place you need to do your shopping in Melbourne. There are over 120 stores selling Australian and international brands, including all the usual premium outlet brand names. With the favourable Singapore-Australian exchange rate, you can get plenty of good bargains here.

Unlike most other premium outlet malls, the shops at DFO are all housed within the same building, just like a shopping centre. So you can easily walk from one shop to the other, all in the comfort of air-conditioning. We spent slightly over two hours shopping here. It’s a good place to shop and I definitely recommend making a visit here for at least half a day of solid shopping.

We left DFO at 5pm and hurriedly made our way back to the apartment to drop off our shopping haul, before heading out again for our second day of AO action. For dinner, we had a quick bite at Guzman Y Gomez, a Mexican fast food restaurant selling delicious burritos. (On a side note, they’re now open in Singapore!)

We arrived at Melbourne Park at 6:45pm. Today’s play commences at 7:30pm, half an hour later than yesterday, so we had slightly more time to walk the grounds. We discovered that the area behind Rod Laver Arena was a hive of activity, with throngs of people crowding around the different themed sections.

Collectively known as the Grand Slam Oval, there were areas dedicated to each of the four Grand Slam locations: a Paris Quarter, a London corner, a New York themed area, and lastly, Melbourne Beach Club – perfectly representing the laid back Melburnian lifestyle. The atmosphere was fantastic and it really made the whole AO Experience very exciting. If there is ever a next time, we will come here earlier and perhaps spend the day soaking up the festivities before catching the matches.

Before we knew it, it was time to enter Rod Laver Arena for our AO Quarterfinal match between Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych. Our seats today were on the opposite side of the court, so unlike yesterday, the sun was no longer shining in our faces. However, yesterday’s seats were better because our seats today were behind the umpire’s chair, so our view of the court was partly obstructed by the back of the umpire’s chair.

Finally, after months of anticipation, the big moment arrived. Federer emerged on the court and was greeted by a thunderous applause. It is fair to say that the crowd was almost exclusively pro-Federer. After the coin toss and warm up, it was time for the real action.

The entire stadium hushed as the Czech stepped up to the line to deliver his first serve. He duly won the game and it was Federer’s turn to serve. Everyone was shocked when Federer got broken and trailed 0-3 after the next game. Berdych then went 5-3 up and was serving for the set. Before long, he had a set point.

It was super intense and I was not even in the mood to talk to YS or YE because I was so focused. It felt way more intense than watching on television back home, because we were right in the moment, there and then. Federer squandered some break point opportunities and saved a set point before getting the better of Berdych to bring the tie to 5-4.

At 6-5, the whole stadium groaned with disappointment when Federer double faulted and gifted Berdych another set point. If it were even possible, the intensity went right through the roof at that time. We held our breaths and clenched our fists tight. It was an edge-of-the-seat moment and no one was making a sound. Thankfully, Federer saved the set point and held serve, taking it to a tie-break.

The tie-break was a little anti-climactic as Federer turned up the heat and won it 7-1. With the first set secured, I could breathe much easier. Phew, what an exhilarating first set it was!

The second set was closer but Federer was in full force by now, and he won the second set 6-3 in around 30 minutes. Berdych then left the court for a medical timeout. In the third set, Berdych put up a fight but he was no match for the master. Federer was getting stronger as the match progressed and he was playing much more confidently now.

We even got to witness Federer floating four sublime drop shots at our side of the court. The ball looked as though it was floating through the air in slow motion until it made a cushioned landing on the other side of the net. It was like watching a magician or an artist at work. Simply breathtaking.

After about two hours, Federer wrapped up victory in straight sets to the approval of everyone in the audience. In his post-match interview with Jim Courier, he admitted that he got a bit lucky when he won the first set. I certainly would have preferred a more straightforward victory, but the first set drama only heightened the experience and made it all the more memorable.

The next two matches were exhibition matches so they weren’t exciting at all. The night session ended at around 10:30pm, much earlier than yesterday. We hung around till the last moment when we were chased out of the grounds by the stewards. What a great first Grand Slam experience it was!

As I write this post a year later, and especially considering how Federer had lost to Stefano Tsitsipas in the fourth round this year, we were incredibly lucky that things worked out as well as they possibly could in 2018. We had the good fortune of watching three Men’s Grand Slam champions in action (Federer, Nadal and Cilic), and also the eventual Women’s Singles champion of 2018 (Caroline Wozniacki).

We were treated to a high quality five-set match between Nadal and Cilic, and witnessed Federer’s eventual magical run to the 2018 crown with this victory over Berdych in the Quarterfinal. As tennis fans, and of course, Federer fans, it was truly a dream come true. As we left Rod Laver Arena for the last time that night, we hoped that we could eventually complete a Grand Slam of our own one day – by watching Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open in person. Let’s hope we can make it happen!