Yeah, this station is rather nice, and you can sort of tell that it has been around for a while,…read moreand that it is also a rather major station as well. It is quite close to the shops, which is also a pretty good thing, and the trains are also reasonably frequent, and some of them are express as well, which I certainly do appreciate. Sure, it might not be one of my favourite suburbs in Melbourne, but the station does have some charm, and there is also a bus interchange as well, which also helps.

I had the greatest pleasure of attending the Chocoholic Tour hosted by the best in the business,…read moreKristen Mercieca, in the beautiful, sunny city of Melbourne on Sunday, 30th March 2014. If there is one word to describe this experience, it'd be 'Chocolate-licious'! My family and I were all marvelled by Kristen's insatiable passion in the history and culture of chocolate making and its deliciously chocolatey influence in Melbourne's vibrant food scene. During our relaxing tour, everyone got to experience the sights, smell and sweetness of the best chocolates Melbourne has to offer to the world, as well as hear the interesting background behind each of the shops, their unique histories and fascinating stories passed down through generations. My kids totally enjoyed the experience (and exercise), not to mention tasting the yummy chocolatey delights from each of the shops during the tour. I especially loved the quirky and tasty little chocolates from Koko Black. They were all uniquely special in their own ways, in taste and style. Overall, Kristen made everyone feel welcome and thoroughly entertained by her sweet blend of humour, passion and knowledge in everything chocolates in the two hours of fabulous food and fun. We certainly had the best afternoon with the kids in Melbourne, and would highly recommend this Chocoholic Tour to anyone, in Australia or from overseas!

Checked in here for the Yarraville street festival…read more I had a good time here for the festival, I do enjoy the area, walking around the streets lots of stalls and people everywhere. The whole community gets involved and it was nice to see. Went and checked it out and was there for about an hour, had some food to eat (not to overally pricey) and a couple of drinks. A good festival and nice to check out. But runs once a year.

Well, so far so good - I haven't been mugged, offered drugs or asked for change! The trains come…read moreand go (sometimes on time too!) and the ticket machines work.

Great way to see the Central Business District in Melbourne on the City Circle Trams…read more Hop on a historic W-class tram for free. Route 35 goes in a clockwise direction. The 60 minute ride has a narration in English and stops at highlights along the way. The W-class trams were built from the 1920s to the 1950s. They remind me a bit of the streetcars in New Orleans. We used the trams to get a nice overview of Melbourne with stops to reach museums, Flagstaff Gardens and Queen Victoria Market. Had a great view of Marvel Stadium, Flinders Street Station, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Immigration Museum from the tram. So interesting to also see all of the Australian Open/AO advertising throughout Melbourne. A nice way to explore Melbourne especially when you have limited time in the city.

We purchased a MetroCard and tapped it each time we got onto a tram. The trams in the central…read moreshopping / business district are free and we did not have to tap. All of the trams that we got onto during the weekend were very very crowded it was standing room only. most were wearing masks since we were squeezed on top of each other. The City Circle Tram is a free and convenient way to see the sights of central Melbourne and the Docklands while experiencing a ride on one of the city's much loved older & historic trams. An audio commentary should have provided details of city landmarks & major attractions. We waited for the number 35 tram that never came. There was no notice that it was not running for the three days we were in Melbourne. We stopped another tram driver and asked, we were told it's not running.

As far as Melbourne suburban train stations go, Oak Park fares pretty well. It's clean, safe and in…read moreclear view of the local shopping strip, as well as being classed as Zone 1 if you're going from Oak Park to the city (any further past Oak Park the other way you will need a Zone 2). The lighting at night is excellent, and the trains and station are well manned by Metro security, ticket inspectors and police. There are parking areas on both platform sides, although at peak times, particularly in the mornings and the after school period you've got a better chance of winning the lotto then getting one of those spots. Oak Park is serviced by the Craigieburn line, which frustratingly has its fair share of disruptions, delays and cancellations. Things have seemed to have gotten better since timetable changes in August 2011, and trains during the week day peak times have increased to one every ten minutes into the city, and at other times during the day one every 15 - 20 minutes. If you get there at the wrong time of the day be warned, you'll be seething at the express trains they'll go straight through from Broadmeadows, and on weekends the service is positively appalling with only one train leaving every 50 minutes into the city. At that rate it's hard to believe Oak Park Station is a Zone 1 suburban station! All in all not bad; if this station had toilet facilities (particularly for those of us with children), refreshments and snacks this rating would definitely be improved.

We went to the Village Belle Hotel on a warm November evening. My ex-sous chef friend tried to get…read moreus in Republica but it was all booked out. We then tried to get into Juana's Tacos but they had a one hour wait for seating and were no longer doing takeaways. So, my friend recommended the Village Belle Hotel as he said we were guaranteed to get a seat. The venue is massive with an upstairs, downstairs, and outdoor seating. They have a large cocktails menu and a succinct dinner menu. We decided to order a carafe of Pimm's cup as my friend likes gin and wanted a summery cocktail, the yuzu salmon to start off with, and the lamb shoulder for two as our main. The salmon yuzu arrived before our drinks. The cured salmon was served with grapefruit and pomegranate seeds. The taste was tangy, sour, and soy sauce like, but delicious. Pimms was overly sweet and I could barely taste the alcohol. The lamb shoulder was quite disappointing. Though the meat was tender and it was a large portion size served with crunchy broccoli, beans, brussel sprouts, and zucchini, it lacked flavour. I couldn't taste salt or pepper or anything and there was none on our table. I think it was just lamb cooked in its own juices and that's what we had been served. Quite disappointing.

This is my experience so you may disagree on this. So the food isn't that great. The wait time take…read moreawhile to give the food to people. But the people who work here are nice people who spend a lot of time trying the make you food perfect. I recommend you go here. But the food isn't that great.

Elegant, comfortable store with knowledgable, professional staff. (Lovely coffee, too! ;)read more

One of the good things about this station is that they have since opened it up on weekends, so now…read morethe train always stops here. That is probably a good thing, due to all of the apartments that have now gone up in the area. The station, well, I quite like it, namely because it reminds me a lot of some of the London Stations that I have visited (particularly Westminster). Mind you, I've never seen much of a need to get off the train here, but as a station, it is still pretty good.

Long barrier queues in peak hour, limited food oprtions, and in need of more Myki machines…read more Closed on weekends, Flagstaff Station specialises in deliveing the 9-5 crowd to heir offices. Great access to Melbourne's court precinct and flagstaff gardens.