Beat the summer heat with the gift that is Australian winter. I’ve always known about Australia but never had an obsessive-type of interest (don’t get me started on my past obsession with Russia and more recently, Morocco) – coming from the Philippines, it’s far enough to be interesting but not so much as to be “exotic”. Don’t let the map fool you though, Melbourne is a good seven plus hours away from Singapore.

As far as I can remember, I’ve always associated the land down under with the outback, kangaroos, koalas, the great barrier reef, driving on “the wrong side” of the road, Hugh Jackman, Yvonne Strahovski and Ruby Rose. Yes, all those are true of Australia so it was no surprise that the autumn winter was pleasant, the scenerie breathtaking, the koalas adorable, the people friendly and the accent sexy… What blew me away was… the coffee.

Having lived in France where sitting in a café for hours was part of la vie parisienne (not that the coffee was particularly amazing, mind you), I thought my friend was exaggerating when the first thing he told me about Australia was that “cafés are a big deal”. Big was definitely an understatement – these Aussies take their coffee seriously. In fact, I’m gonna be bold and say it: Melbourne has the best coffee I’ve had. I’m sorry, Italia, but I found my new coffee heaven.

I set out on my coffee adventure determined to visit as many cafés and take as many shots of the good stuff while avoiding an untimely OD. I’m not gonna list down all the cafés, though. I’ll only write about my two favourites in the CBD. They’re both amazing for different reasons.

First up, Degraves Espresso Bar (23 Degraves Street). Right down a tiny street, Degraves, filled with tables and chairs in the middle of the road leading up to some of the many lanes, you’ll ifnd this small but ever so busy espresso bar. This street is right in front of Flinders Station, walking distance from Federation Square. It’s impossible to miss with the queue of people outside the door, mostly locals waiting for their favourite brew to go.

When I got there, it was packed, so I was waiting around for a table hoping that someone’s bound to leave soon. After a few minutes, I almost gave up – it was the peak of brunch time and I was getting ready to just move to another place… but just as I placed my order to go, a table freed up. Score.

A big rusty iron sign, with a huge champagne pommery poster inside. The menu is written in chalk, with breakfast specials including bagels, quiches… It was busy but the staff was cool and most of them were cool inked kids with funky hairstyles and awesome style. I suppose that’s something to do with an art supply store just next door.

I ordered a soy latte that morning. I’m no longer lactose intolerant and I don’t usually order a soy latte basically because milk is very important in coffee and soy doesn’t really do coffee justice, in my opinion. However, their soy latte was surprisingly really good. I was impressed. I was really tempted to order another one, but I had to refrain myself. Unfortunately, I was not able to try any of their breakfast specials.

Although, there’s a Little Cupcakes shop right down the street. The thing I love about this little piece of heaven is the fact that they have “mini” cupcakes. That way I can indulge in many different flavours without feeling too guilty! As an out and proud cupcake addict (and biased towards Magnolia Bakery), I was happy with the mini red velvet and the orange poppy seed. It wasn’t too sweet and you can actually taste the flavours bursting in your mouth. Yum!

Equally as incredible is Brother Baba Budan (356 Little Burke Street). A little further into the heart of the CBD, this one is a little trickier to find. I almost missed it because it didn’t have a massive sign out front. In fact, there was no sign… at all. I checked!

The first thing I noticed walking into the place is how small and quaint the place felt. There was one big “common table” with chairs around where you can hold meetings, or hang out with friends… or you can sit alone in peace. However, due to the fact that the carafe d’eau and glasses are set up in the middle of the table along with the sugar, it also forces some sort of interaction. Kinda like a community feel where you see the locals enjoying their java with the morning paper.

That in itself is a cool concept but the really interesting thing are the chairs hanging from the ceiling. Yup, wooden chairs. Lots and lots of wooden chairs. Pretty cool if you ask me. I couldn’t help but snap away…!

They serve two kinds of coffee each day: the house ’spro and a single origins blend that changes daily. I asked the server a little bit more about their blends. That day they had a Colombian Carlos Imbachi, which was fruity and zesty. (I wasn’t able to catch her name though, but she was super helpful and she knew her coffee.)

I had a house ’spro machiatto, it was smooth, not too strong and only slightly acidic. I don’t have a photo because I enjoyed it so much that I forgot to take one. However, this was the house ’spro latte, and it was smooth – i love it when they steam/froth the milk just right. The milk didn’t overpower the coffee, you can still taste the coffee without feeling like this is coffee flavoured milk.

Aside from the coffee, my favourite thing about Melbourne is the massive amount of street art. Yes, street art is legal and some establishments even encourage it. It definitely adds personality and feel as you walk down the streets with these masterpieces watching over you. There’s a distinct separation between street art and tagging. It was interesting to see a guy with a white paint bucket in one hand and a roller brush on the other walking around painting over the tags. (I read somewhere they accidentally painted over a Banksy a while back… whoa!)

For some street art goodness, check out a post I had with a photowalk I had with the band, Kill Kurt Reifler in Fitzroy.

Melbourne has definitely become one of my favourite cities. It’s relatively small – the CBD is pretty much a grid with trams cutting through and connecting people to the various suburbs around it. It’s a good mashup of old and new. Old buildings with intricate iron works and sky scrapers and the Docklands with modern condominiums. Calm neighbourhoods and busy downtown streets.

Melbourne CBD reminds me of Manhattan. I personally describe it as what happens when you toss NYC and Paris in the blender, add crème anglaise and a pinch of swoon-worthy accent. Yup. It’s definitely the best of those two plus an awesome chill vibe.