Newmarket Plaza, Newmarket.

Not a bad little spot, this, though nothing particularly special. Note it is best to visit on a day when there are no races of a Melbourne Cup nature being run at nearby Flemington racecourse, so as to avoid the hordes of drunken tarts in frocks and cunts in suits that tend to infest the joint.

Other things.

Been a bit of quiet week here, I know, but normal service will resume very soon.
In the interim, after having a bit of a think, I've decided to start adding links to other unique Melbourne blogs here. First one up is That's How I Pork Roll . Enjoy.
Suggestions for other candidates are welcome.

Barkly Square, Sydney Rd. Brunswick.

Harsh. It's a harsh place, the Sparkly Bear, drawing itself back in from Sydney Rd. in a grim march of chain stores (a Kmart, a Coles and a Woolies) and discount outlets, back to...nothing much. The food court is being renovated at the moment, with more work to come on the rest of the place. This can only be a good thing.

Springvale special part II- Battista Court, Springvale.

Yes, yes, sorry to bang on about Springvale but this place is kind of special. It doesn't look like much from Springvale Road:

Mainly because someone has built halfway across the original entrance. You can see that from this pic of the threshold:

Love that pink terrazzo floor. I have no idea who Battista was or why this is named after him. I remember it as being a quiet place and it still is- still in very good nick, too, as you can see in this pic, taken from the alleyway end:

Springvale special part I- Golden Plaza, Springvale.

OK, a bit of a saga this time.
I genuinely like Springvale. I grew up there, still live fairly near by and go there pretty often. It has shops, all right, and those shops have customers, who bring their cars. Most days it is packed, so catch a train there if you can.
Heading south-ish along Springvale Road from the station, first you will pass the Springvale Centre :

This was the built in the early 80s, and has a couple of great stores in it- pork butchers, seafood stores and green grocers. Then you come to the massive Springvale Central:

Get yourself a sugarcane juice on your way through to Buckingham Avenue, where you will find this place:

If it has a name, I couldn't find it. What you will find is delicious bbq quail on a stick, great roast pork rolls and (upstairs) a place called Frozen Smart that only sells frozen foods.. Head right, towards the end where the butchers are, head out across Balmoral Avenue and you have arrived at  Golden Plaza:

Phew. It's pretty non-descript inside but seems popular enough. The shops are more of the same, really.

Don Arcade, Hawthorn.

An odd one, this- a quaint and fairly small strip of shops that basically form the exit path from Glenferrie train station. Not sure how business is in there these days but as you can see, there is space available if you want to have a crack at running that sandwich bar/porcelain doll repair shop/scrapbooking supply store you've always dreamed of.

Richmond Plaza, Richmond.

A reliable old school style walk-through, with some fairly cheap & nasty shops in the recent extension out the back. Often a good spotting place for drunken screamers. If only all the entries here were such a pleasure to visit.

the well, Camberwell.

What is it about Camberwell and the names they give shopping centres? First they had the appalling-named Chocolate Box Centre, now they have the well (note lower case). It's kinda try-hard but nothing special once you get inside, a sprawling mix of cheap sushi joints and ugly womens' clothing stores hemmed in by a car park

Heart Arcade, Frankston.

The centre of Frankston is being slowly consumed by the Bayside mall, which sucks life from the surrounding streets while constantly expanding. Over on the highway, the Peninsula Centre is pretty much derelict. But in Wells Street, the Heart Arcade struggles on.

Mordialloc Plaza, Mordialloc.

What a disappointment. This is not a plaza in any sense of the word- it is an ugly doorway leading to a supermarket. There is a degree of uniformity to the shops along Nepean Highway on either side of it, but a plaza? No. And what's with that stupid "M"?

Caulfield Plaza, Caulfield.

This is a pretty dire place. The inside is grubby, and most of the shops are cheap food joints, catering to local students and pensioners who want to get out of the weather. The toilets are appalling. I think it's only the supermarket that keeps it viable.

Port Phillip Arcade, city.

I used to go through here a lot. The Flinders Street end smelt of canvas, from the tents and such sold in the army surplus store that was there. The coin and stamp dealer always looked like it was on the skids, with dust and dead flies in the windows. At the far end, on Flinders Lane, was the electric buzz of the old Missing Link Records store, my main reason for going here.

It looks somehow different in this picture, taken when it opened in 1969. That sculpture is a beauty.

Northcote Plaza, Northcote.

Despite being the proud owner of a rather fruity purple and yellow logo, Northcote Plaza choose not to use it externally- the small sign above the door is all the branding you get. This place is much more of a mall than a plaza, even to the extent of having K-Mart as an anchor tenant.

Clayton Shopping Plaza, Clayton.

When I was very young I used to get my hair cut in a barber shop called Sammy's, that was located toward the back end of this plaza. We also used it as a short cut through to the (since demolished) library.

Palm Plaza, Dandenong.

This is a quite large and elaborate effort, and is also one of the few true plazas in Melbourne- it is a large outdoor space used for events and activities other than shopping. Dandenong is also blessed with several fine arcades.

Coburg Plaza, Sydney Rd.

Plazas were a popular addition to the streetscape, and were friendlier to existing local shops by fitting into the existing landscape, rather than drawing people away from their local high street the way stand alone malls do. They were also a handy way to give people access to off-street parking.