springvale, an inner suburb of melbourne

if you were to be dropped from the air and landed in this suburb, you would never guess that you were in australia. you will be hard pressed to find a caucasian in this area; a white man is a rarity in this suburb, populated mostly by vietnamese.

it is an eye-opener, an educational experience to visit springvale in melbourne. springvale has a distinctive character. it took me some time to believe and accept that such a place exists in australia.

you can get almost any oriental food and merchandises in the shops at springvale. typical of an asian setting, it is bustling with people and the salespersons are all the time loud. there is no need to pack chilli, sauce and other asian condiments when you are going over to stay in melbourne. you can get them at springvale. i have seen them selling frozen durians - the whole fruit - at springvale. you can even get ice kachang at aus$2.50 a cup.

when we go to springvale for breakfast, we usually eat the vietnamese porridge. for lunch, we will have noodles or rice with side dishes at one of the small restaurants.

the toilets have this violet light. my friend chris explained to me that it was meant to deter drug addicts from injecting themselves in the toilets. the blue colour light makes it difficult for them to locate their veins.