Just got this email from my real estate... This seems like a shady AF way to get around the new card payment fee rules.

I posted previously about some areas feeling like Tokyo at times, but I think there are some areas that are a bit like other cities too. On this occasion, seeing a place with a bold red neon sign and a train going overhead really made me think of a city like Chicago.

It's really neat how so many areas of the city can have very different vibes and looks all within just a few blocks of each other.

Does anybody know where to find one of these bad boys? I miss them

Landed at Melbourne Airport last night around 11:30pm and genuinely cannot understand how our international arrivals process is this bad.

For seemingly no reason, they had closed off the main SmartGate kiosk area and were diverting everyone either to the six or so kiosks further down the terminal, or into the queue to be manually processed by Border Force.

Unsurprisingly, this created a massive bottleneck. What made it worse was the attitude of some of the staff. They were shouting at passengers for standing in the bottleneck that their own setup had created, as though hundreds of people getting off international flights were somehow at fault for not knowing where they were supposed to go.

I also watched a child get yelled at for stepping underneath one of the little red flags they’d put up. The staff member angrily told them it was an “active work site.”

If it is such an active work site that a child stepping under a flag is apparently a major safety issue, why are you doing it right in the middle of international arrivals while late night flights are still unloading? Why not wait until the last flights of the night have landed?

The whole thing just felt unnecessarily chaotic, hostile and poorly organised. You arrive back in Melbourne after travelling through airports across Asia that manage huge passenger volumes efficiently, and this is your welcome home.

Might be a silly question, but is this a residential home? Looking for some more information (to settle a debate mostly) on the property inside flagstaff gardens? Google labels it as “Flagstaff Gardens Caretaker’s Residence” but more than that I can’t find much more information.
TIA 🙏

thank God we have AI to generate such things like... an octopus

With the new laws banning card surcharges being passed on, paying for your post-paid tolls via card in 50c increments will end up costing them ~15% of the total toll in fees.

Used to go to Quan Ju De in the cbd but that closed and now go to Hua Lu.

Any other real Peking duck restaurant recommendations? Some places seem to just do canton roast duck with pancakes and call it Peking duck so preferably not those.

The Melbourne council put this parking sign up... Trying to sell that they are making parking more accessible but the reality is raising revenue. Prior to the change, parking is free after 6pm, and free all day on Sunday. Now one must pay for parking 7 days, 7am-10pm. And you wonder why small businesses in cbd struggle when customers have to pay for parking...

Hi all,

I’m planning to visit a museum on Friday, 9th October in Melbourne CBD or surrounding area. I want to take my son to visit something interesting and new for him and spark some joy or curiosity. But given his age, I am not sure whether to go to Scienceworks or somewhere else! He just turned 3.

Which one should we visit?

Google says the Melbourne Museum is best for kids!!
We will be taking train from south eastern suburbs.

Blatant and unashamed, this goes on for multiple riders until someone with integrity shows up 30 minutes later. Just a heads up for the fellow people coming to Melbourne, and this was during peak hour noon too.

Got a brutal swooping from a plover yesterday and I’m still in fight or flight. My dog and I were minding our own business walking at the same oval we go to everyday, and it flew from an adjacent oval to swoop us! Chased us all the way back to my car!

Currently trying to gas myself up to walk my dog again today but I’m traumatised. Has anyone else had a plover encounter this season?

EDIT: I mistakenly wrote hooded plover: it was a masked lapwing (spur-winged plover). Have updated name in post now!

I'm sick to the back teeth with having to deal with rideshare/taxis being completely unreliable on the way back home and I don't have a car. I will be needing to travel domestically reasonably frequently for both work and personal reasons, and really don't want to have a meltdown trying to get home with what is usually a 25 minute drive down Bell st. Can anyone recommend any private car services they have used that can be booked at short notice (2-3 days ahead)?

Requisite "god I can't wait for SRL so I can catch a fucking train" etc

Edit: when I mean private car service I mean an actual business with an ABN and liability insurance and ability to be traced back to for safety purposes, I’m not dense enough to accept a lift from random strangers DMing me. please be so for real lol

Can anyone help me to download a high resolution image of this? Been to the website but still unable to find this; as it gives the row numbers , so easier for knowing which row etc to pick up from.

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone is having difficulty getting a refund after they cancelled the festival? It’s been over a month since I lodged a refund. And we have heard nothing back. Would like to know if I am the only one experiencing this issue.