The Royal Melbourne Show

As a child I've always dreamed of attending a carnival / fair. You see, back in Singapore we hardly (or ever) have fairs or carnivals that are on par with those you get in Western countries. It could be due to the lack of space we have, but to be honest I know I won't enjoy it as much because there won't be any animals to play with. Realistically speaking, I don't actually think there is a purpose to hold such a fair back home similar to those held in Western countries.

There won't be any farm animals to pet and see, that's for sure.

But enough about that, let's move on to the Royal Melbourne Show. This year marks my third time visiting the show. I have to say I end up exploring something new at the show each year. Also, going to the show with different groups of people each year definitely affected my experience :) The amount of enjoyment experienced increases each coming year.

There are several things to do at the Royal Melb Show. Personally, I found myself seeing a part of the Australian culture that's absent in my home country. Namely agriculture, crafts and animal rearing. Attending the show certainly taught me that the Aussies take great pride in their livestock and crafts. It definitely made me yearn for an authentic farmer's lifestyle in the great Oz outback. I've always loved the lifestyle of the Australians who live way out in the suburbs. To own a farm definitely isn't any easier than a job in the city. I salute all the farmers out there, I know for sure such a lifestyle isn't one that I'd be able to get used to unless it was the only option for me left for survival.

There were lots of livestock at the show. Some of them took part in competitions, but what I was in awe of really was the "quality" of the livestock on display. They were beautiful. To have looked the way they did definitely displayed the amount of blood, sweat and tears on the farmers part to have raised them that way. There were also certificates for each animal, and it was interesting to see the awards some of them had won (the animals!! How cute :>) as well as the names each of them were given.

Imagine the amount of effort that was put into this piece.

These were actually made out of eggshells!! :o

The Arts & Crafts section blew me away. As an avid baker, I was mesmerised by the cakes that were submitted for the show. Trust me, if I were the judge it would have been difficult to choose a winner. There were several different categories for each submission, but I definitely have to say that the pieces that won first place definitely deserved it. I can only dream to be able to make such masterpieces like that. I think I've watched enough of Cake Boss to know that I'm the baker that ends up dropping the entire cake onto the floor once its completed.

I wonder how long it took these contestants to come up with their crafts. It made me realise that it's most probably a big deal for them to go home with the ribbon. It reminded me of those Outback Western movies that show the lifestyle of those who live in the country. Very "Howdy y'all" if you get what I mean. Although I'm sure my perception is most entirely false and naive.

My favourite (& the only reason why I was willing to visit the show again) section had to be the petting area. In this room there were several sheep and kids around for you to pet and snuggle. I love this concept so much because the animals were basically running around an enclosed area and you were free to walk around and pet and feed them :) I love sheep and kids, they are the cutest things. At one point one kid tried biting my leg and left a trail of poo behind me as I was trying to get a picture with it. Tsk, naughty naughty. There were volunteers however whose role was to wait behind each animal and clean up their poo each time they left a mess. It was such a sight to see the animals fighting over the food when someone tried to feed them :) They were adorable, I loved it and only wish I could have captured a video of those moments.

Cutie :) 

Can you see that poo in between the legs of this kid. Tsk tsk.

Another highlight of the show for us definitely had to be the Masterchef Kitchen that was assembled by the team specially for the show :)

Every chef's dream. A room filled with every ingredient you could possibly need. 

Fun fact: Did you know that it takes 4 weeks to edit one 1hr episode and 6 weeks to edit a team challenge episode?

It took the team five weeks to assemble the Masterchef kitchen specially for the show. It was ten times more magical to have been able to step into a makeshift Masterchef Kitchen as opposed to simply seeing it on screen. Some of the past contestants were present on the day itself as well for a meet and greet. However I don't keep up with the Masterchef shows so I wasn't gushing to have a picture taken with them.

I'll now leave you with some random bits and bobs I caught from the day :)

Isn't this the cutest thing you've seen? 

Didn't win anything at the games area. Never had luck with these. 

The only downside was that it decided to pour the day we visited the fair. We knew it was going to rain beforehand (the morning itself), but decided to wing it anyway. My poor friends unfortunately haven't seemed to learn that an umbrella in Melbourne is as useless as a bicycle with no wheels. I learnt that lesson the hard way and was prepared with a hooded jacket.

The beautiful sunset :)

We didn't stay till the end to catch the fireworks, but it definitely was a day to remember. I enjoyed myself thoroughly :)

Other states in Australia have their own respective shows too: Royal Adelaide Show, Royal Brisbane Show, Perth Royal Show, etc. I wonder if the experience is the same elsewhere too.

Have any of you attended one of these shows? Or how are carnivals and fairs celebrated and carried out in your city? I would love to know :)

Xx.

Photo Credits: Choo Hong Tan & Myself