Besides being covered in the street art that is synonymous with Melbourne, the laneways also lead to some of the city’s best cafes, shops and restaurants, and are always worth taking time to explore.

Wunderkammer is a retail store, so packed full of treasures that it feels like a natural history museum. Wonderful for browsing, Wunderkammer stocks medical and scientific instruments, crystals, rocks and other specimens.

Melbourne is one of the coffee capitals of the world so the standard is very high. There are heaps of good cafes around, but sitting on top of the pile is at Brother Baba Budan. Specialists in single origin coffee from quality international coffee beans. When ever I’m in the city, this is where I get my caffeine fix. Usually it’s a smooth silky Caffe latte that goes down way too easily. The quirky ceiling made from chairs is worth a look too.

Free lectures held in a cosy bars around Melbourne's inner north. This wonderful organisation runs weekly courses on a range of topics, purely for the pursuit of knowledge. The perfect antidote for a post-grad like myself who often misses lectures and class discussions. Uni with a glass of red wine - yes please.

Designed by Corbett Lyon, the residence house-turned private museum is quite an impressive establishment, where one could enjoy two types of contemporary art gallery walks: one is the public gallery and the other is a more eclectic visit to Lyon's house museum guided by Corbett or his wife Yueji the family members. The organ performance has been a preciously memoriable experience too!