My Son is in Australia

My son is in Melborne on an assignment for his company. This is from an email about his trip there and his first day in "Melb."

I am south of downtown Melbourne ('Melb' for short). So far I am loving it.

Travel Review:

The second hardest part regarding yesterday (see below for the first hardest part) was the schedule. It started with a 10:40pm flight out of LAX (12:40am Dallas time). I ate dinner, then watched a movie or two until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I took 5mg of Ambien and woke up 4 hours later. (It's supposed to be good for 7 to 8 hours.) I took another, and woke up 2-1/2 hours later. I stayed up, played some checkers (won every time) and watched more movies. We landed and I went through customs. I arrived at the hotel before noon, checked in, and had one goal: stay out and about until 8pm so I can get accustomed to the local schedule. I didn't realize how difficult that was going to be.
I hopped on the Tram and went to Flinders Station (south end of downtown Melb). At the time I only had a Metcard Day Pass and wanted a Weekly Pass. I bought one, then went walking/shopping. I decided that I needed a watch since my mobile phone would only show me Califoria time. (How screwy is that?) I saw a store for Swiss Watches and crossed the street. Swiss Watch is not the same as Swatch, which is what I wanted; I kept walking. I found a Swatch store just after 2pm and left wearing my purchase. I needed food and coffee so I could stay awake. I passed McDonald's and looked for something local. My map showed a Greek section, so I went there. I had two lattes and a spanakopita (delicious). I left around 3:30pm and walked to Federation Square, which is a civic center with a tourism information shop. (I learned that from the Melbourne travel guide on the flight.) At 5pm I decided to give in to fatigue. I felt like I was a pedestrian vertigo, so I caught a Tram back to the hotel. I tried to stay up, so I watched TV until 7pm. I took 5mg of Ambien, and woke up at 1am. Went back to sleep and woke up at 3am. Went back to sleep and woke up at 5am. Went back to sleep and woke up at 7:30am. I got up and went to breakfast. I realize that I need 10mg of Ambien, and that I need to avoid drinking two lattes four hours before trying to sleep.
The hotel TV has ten stations. These are numbered uncomplicatedly from 1 to 10. A minimum of five channels are dedicated to sports, mainly rugby.
The first hardest part regarding yesterday was taking off my shoes after having worn them for more than 30 hours. I would have burned my shoes if it hadn't been a toxic hazard for the kookaburras.

Love,
E