Study Melbourne meetup in Ballarat

Every now and then Study Melbourne has these meetups for students to meet one another and explore the great city and countrytowns.  This time we explored a country town called Ballarat which is the gold mine city in Melbourne. I still remember going to Sovereign Hill and having heaps of fun there. This time we went into town via Vline a country train service which serves Melbourne and the Country towns. The trip was about 1.5 hours from Melbourne and they only have one per hour.

The train was comfortable. Here people snoozed, talked, ate and studied. Once we got out of Ballarat station we could see all these old buildings. On the train we saw the lovely countryside and the farms.

First stop was Federation uni for the "How far we have come competition". This photo competition was open to all International students to enter and some have won multiple prizes. All of their artwork was really good and depicted Melbourne well.

Next up was the Mining exchange and the Art gallery. I have touched on this in the other post so we'll skip over to lunch at Jackson and Co. I went there for dinner and thought that they were good for their sweet potato wedges. Had that again today and they were really good. What's even better is that they have $15 lunch deals. But unfortunately service was slow and we were waiting waiting waiting for a while for food.

Here are some other random shots of the biennale. I hope you enjoy these.

An exhibition we went to after lunch

Thanks to Study Melbourne for the invite and the Vline ticket.

Mundo Lingo's 4th Birthday Party

Mundo Lingo is a language exchange group which has just started this year in Melbourne but has been operating from other countries. We recap on the successful party.

Photo by Nico Tamayo on Facebook.

RNIS was invited to their 4th Birthday party which of course is free entry. Mundo Lingo has been operating all over the world for four years now before coming to Melbourne this year. People from about 26 different countries all come together to learn a new language or two.

The one in Melbourne was started by an English guy called Luke.

Of course they had their drink specials as well as the food specials which were all $10. But I wasn't here for the food, rather the mingling. It was fun and exciting and I mingled with a few lovely Japanese people who were here on a tourist visa.

Later on there was more partying in the party room.

Many thanks to the guys at Mundo Lingo for the invite and do go to their Wednesday meetups at the European Bier Café which is always free. There is yummy $7 pizzas there.

Malaysian Bazaar

This bazaar was in Malaysia Hall which is a short tram ride away from the city and a 10 minute walk from Prahran station.

They only accept cash and there are about 17 stallholders all of which are student/Malaysian clubs.



Image courtesy of MH RC on Facebook

Here I sampled many Malaysian foods including their tradition roti and pumpkin donut which is just amazing. Then we also had their sesame ball which is also good. This one did not have the red bean paste, rather it had a sesame and bean paste.

The roti ($2) was not too oily which I liked. 

Prawn fritters. Image courtesy of MH RC on Facebook

I also tried the prawn fritter. This one was not as huge as the one in Malaysia festival. In fact this one was smaller. I really enjoyed this.I had that and their nasi goreng ($7) which was homemade. I also enjoyed the nasi goreng. The egg was cooked well. If only there was cucumber. If you want to eat there, some of the stalls do not have cutlery so you might have to BYO it.

Desserts courtesy of MH RC on Facebook

The Nasi Goreng stall courtesy of MH RC on Facebook

Roti Jala courtesy of MH RC on Facebook

They also did do teh tarik ($2 a cup) but I wasn't in the mood for that. To me teh tarik in some of the cafes is always too sweet and way too creamy. I wanted the rose tea but they did not have. Rose tea is just sugar, the tea and water.

Do come by on their final day of July the 11th.

 

Mundo Lingo

We talk about this newest language exchange meetup.

Mundo Lingo is a new Melbourne Language exchange meetup which meets twice a week- Wednesdays and Fridays. They always attract 250 or more people to these free events. The organisers are lovely people and they really want everyone to enjoy themselves. It is free to come

They meet at bars such as Platform 28 and European Bier Café. I have tried Platform 28's chips and it was ok. You order and pay at the bar and the staff will give you a buzzer. The buzzer will ring when the food is ready.

The meetups are very lively and people talk about the footy or the weekend. At each meetup we meet new people.

The European is an old bar and there they have $7 pizzas and $13 parmas on Wednesday. 

Do go to the Mundo Lingo events if you can and especially if you are having trouble with English. They have a Facebook page here for you to join.