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Melbourne vs Houston: Some observations thusfar

Drinking

Houston- Happy hour means things like $3 margaritas, all specialty drinks half off, $5 appetizers, etc. Drinks should rarely be over $10 unless you're at a "fancy" place like Anvil or an upscale restaurant.

Melbourne- To put it mildly, it's outrageously expensive. We went to a happy hour that proudly 

advertised cocktails for only $13. At least this was $5 off of the normal $18. Yes, you see that price correctly. So basically, pre-gaming is huge here.

This was $16, but hey, there's a syringe! 

Restaurants

Houston- Reasonably priced unless at an upscale place or hip new place that decides to be obviously overpriced. Big variety of restaurants and incredibly international.

Melbourne- At least there's no tax or tipping! As for variety...HUGE. There is every kind of Asian restaurant you can imagine, all within less than a mile radius of me. I've never seen so many different types of foods. Basically I am in heaven. Still skeptical about trying the Tex-Mex places though.

Sports

Houston- I hate football. Everyone knows this. I'd rather go to work than watch  Texans game.

Melbourne- Footy! Sorry, America, footy is about 700 million times better than football. It's fast, there are no timeouts, and meat pies are the concession of choice. Also, the men parade around in short shorts and wear no helmets or bulky padding.

People

Both very similar in this respect, but I almost want to say Melbourners are even friendlier. Plus their accents win.

Transportation

Houston- If your car breaks down, you're screwed. Complete dependence on a vehicle and driving long distances across monstrous freeways is the norm.

Melbourne- If I don't have a perfectly toned butt and legs after all this, there is seriously something wrong with me. All I do is walk, and it's pretty excellent. Example: today I walked down the street carrying the world's most gigantic baguette, and I felt so city-like! 

All this being said, I loved  Houston and I love Melbourne. The city is vibrant, diverse, beautiful, and easy to get around. The beaches are as close as minutes away, and rolling hills and farmland less than an hour out. As hard as it was to pick up and leave my life as I knew it, it's pretty amazing being in a place that's so different. I think it's incredibly important to experience new things and places, so I'm really trying to embrace this new place and life without too much comparison. 

The bay that I misjudged

So a friend informed me that the bay Melbourne is on is actually really huge and pretty, but I just happened to go to a dodgy bit of it on my first try. 

I hereby take back what I said about the bay!

Will and I took a nice drive south of the city to what is called the Mornington Peninsula, which has lots of cute beach towns and very pretty beaches. The weather has been nice [though now it's spitting rain], so it was the perfect day for beach strolls and fish & chips!

That's the city wayyy back there.