At 112 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, this is apparently a popular place for dumplings (though I haven’t tried it myself). I love the contrast between the noisiness of the signage and the weathered old building. The building itself was built for a Chinese merchant named Sum Kum Lee in 1887 in a style the Victorian Heritage Database calls a ‘western interpretation of Chinese style’. It’s notable that that long ago, this area was already recognised as Melbourne’s Chinatown.

The folks at Tropicana Juice/Food Bar, at 55 Swanston St, have been hanging their bags of oranges out the front for 20 years. There isn’t the slickness of the Boost experience, but it’s much more interesting. After you order and pay at the front, the cashier yells your order to the kitchen at the back of the shop. Somehow they remember everything and a few minutes later they pass your order over the counter. The ‘Body Builder’ smoothy is my favourite.

Hopefully you’ve taken in the magnificent neo-Gothic tower of the iconic Manchester Unity building, directly across Swanston St from the town hall. When built in 1932, it was the tallest building in Melbourne. But have you stepped inside? The foyer and arcade are beautifully decorated and maintained, most notably the lifts. Check out the cornices!

The Paperback bookstore at 60 Bourke St, on the corner of Crossley St and opposite Pelligrinis, has been an independent bookshop since the 1960s. The building it is in has housed numerous other businesses over the years – there’s still evidence on that dilapidated sign on the upstairs corner. To date I haven’t been able to find any information about the building itself.

Everyone is familiar with the clocks at the main entrance of Flinders St Station. Until mobile phones ruined the fun, meeting under the clocks was a Melbourne tradition. The Elizabeth Street subway (and nearby Degraves St subway) aren’t as well known. Tiles from Australian Tessellated Tile Company (known as the Tess) line the walls here. The company made glazed tiles and bricks from 1885, and would have supplied the builders of the station around 1905. The platform numbers and pointing hands were stencilled by railway employees.

Behind the glamour of Emporium, Melbourne CBD’s newest shopping centre, someone still needs to put the bins out. All around the city, there are streets and lanes, such as Caledonian Lane, lined with the rear entrances and services of restaurants, shops and offices. I love exploring these, and from time to time they offer up a colourful scene without really trying.