South Australia

I realised I have been MIA like anything, having 0 entries for February and just 1 for March! That's insane! I was hoping to blog more this year given that I thought that I would have more time on my hands but I guess not. Anyway. Just before summer holidays ended, I was given the chance to set foot on South Australia for the first time ever! Imagine the excitement in my bones when I got on the plane. It was a comfortable 1.5 hour flight, and was 30 minutes behind from AEST. Thank you, dear brother for the plane ticket and thank you JetStar for cheap flights (I'm becoming a loyal patron aren't I)

Much of my time was spent eating (as you all know it's my favourite thing to do) and resting. It was a very laid back holiday and I didn't do much running around to see sights like I would usually do. Admittedly there are too few photos from my stay in Adelaide. I did see a few gorgeous places though, and I think it would be terrible not to share.

Christies Beach, which is 30-45 minutes from the CBD.

Christies Beach shoreline, on the way to O'Sullivan Beach

Close to O'Sullivan Beach (if you look closely there are a lot of tractors and other construction equipment - new developments are coming to this area! Prime property I'd say)

Glenelg's Town Hall's classic architecture maintained. LOVE IT

More of the Glenelg Bay

Very nostalgic sunset at the jetty in Glenelg

Outside the South Australian Museum - I like the blending of the old and the new structures!

Outside the Art Gallery of SA - the collections aren't that impressive compared to the NGV but it's all right. Still worth a look.

Pigs lurking about in Rundle Street Mall.You know what's coming next, Adelaide wining & dining! Cyasssss!

Welcome to Brisbane!

When the spring semester ended, my friend Caloy and I decided to go on a 6-day adventure to Queensland. My best friend was kind enough to give us a roof to live under and good food to eat throughout the trip. It's funny how we're all from different cities. I live in Sydney, Caloy in Melbourne and Tippy in Brisbane. Because of this, we have had a lot of chances to compare Queensland to our places of residence. Of course Tippy has her own biases being a Queenslander.

Caloy and I took a plane up to Brisbane (Thank you, JetStar!) and after a hearty breakfast and a long early morning nap, we decided to first explore Brisbane's CBD. We took public transport which I may say is quite different from Sydney and Melbourne. The QR trains are one level as in Melbourne, but they're all pretty vintage. I actually liked it but I assume there might be a lack of seating capacity come rush hour. It comes out really cheap though, right about $5-6 for FIVE ZONES! Even much less if you have QLD concession.

Me enjoying the train ride.

In the city we went to see the Anzac Square. We had our photo taken at the Shrine of Remembrance. I think it's one of the places that are really worth seeing because it has a lot of history behind it.

Shrine of Remembrance with Caloy

Close by was the Central Station, but I wasn't able to go inside. Here's a photo from the outside:

Central Station is not their biggest station, but Roma Station

I must say their CBD is quite quaint and definitely much smaller than the Sydney one. It also isn't overflowing with people during lunch. What I like most about it is that everything is close to everything else. For examplem, The Cathedral of St Stephen's is merely a 5 minute walk from the shops where we had lunch.

This is the interior of the church where we said our prayers before going to Southbank.

Crisp white, classic structure. Notice that there are individual seats and not pews

At the dock you can see Story Bridge, which is something like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is much smaller, and its main difference from the Sydney Harbour Bridge is that it is a cantilever bridge where as the latter is a steel arch bridge. I heard you can also climb the bridge just like you can in Harbour.

The Story Bridge

We tried to catch the CityCat to get to South Bank but failed miserably so we just caught the usual ferry. The CityCat is bigger and it just sounds so much cooler.

City view from the ferry :-)

At South Bank, we walked until our legs gave away. Lol jokes. We went around the South Bank Parklands and it's really pretty. Seems as though it's so easy to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life in Brisbane. It's like a 10 minute ferry ride!

This is what welcomes you to South Bank!

What's even more awesome about it is that there is a man-made beach called Streets Beach (click on link for 360º view). I find that such an insanely gooooood idea. In Sydney, you can easily hop on a bus to get to Bondi or other nearby beaches or get a ferry that can take you to Manly in half an hour. In Brisbane it takes like 10 minutes, and there aren't any sharks!!! Haha I'm so sold to this idea since I can't swim properly but love the beach anyway.

Super awesome, right?

As we continued walking towards the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) & Queensland Art Gallery (QAG), we passed by the tourist attraction Wheel of Brisbane. It is, of course, like other ferris wheels in other countries, a great (aerial) way to view the city.

Didn't want to try it cos I get insane dizzy spells!

Tippy & Caloy on the bridge to the Galleries. This provides such a good view of the city!

Our last stop for the day was the GoMA and QAG. Unfortunately, the GoMA was still in the process of being set up for the upcoming exhibits. The Queensland Art Gallery, however, had quite a selection of artists and artworks, ranging from indigenous Aussie art, Picasso, Warhol, to Queenslander art. I really enjoyed our visit there but maybe not as much as I had enjoyed the National Galleries Victoria in Melbourne. What I loved most of all about it though is the very modern look of the building!

I love the colours they used! So easy on the eye.

This may be rather weird but this is one of the highlights of our city trip ---

Ceiling decor made of paper & clips (!!!)

This simple decoration of the GoMA looks really really good in real life. The best part is that it's simple and anyone can do it. I swear, I'm considering putting the exact same thing up when I finally have a house (with a high ceiling to match)! :-)

For the lack of coherence I promise you better entries about the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and many more of Queensland's pride! Happy holidays, all! :-)

To the city and beyond

I've been spending heaps of time in the city and I figured it would be nice to share how beautiful the place is. From where I'm staying, the city is around 15 minutes away by bus. I usually take the one called 440 and stop at Town Hall, which I reckon is the central area of the city. But I can't be too sure just yet. LOL.

Town Hall from across George street, at rush hour.

The bus stop right across Town Hall, where I wait to get home.

What I love about strolling around that area is its busyness and the designs of the buildings! Take for instance The Strand Arcade, a place where Australian designers are showcased. I reckon it's something like the Filo area at Greenbelt 5, but it doesn't look anything similar. Here's a photo.

See how they maintained the old building? This one is the only one left of Victorian Sydney, and it was opened in 1892. I find that really amazing. I should've taken photos of the interior but I was in a hurry as my mum was being her wild, shopaholic self.

I also had the chance to visit the Apple Store, and my was it massive. I like how they made it was made of glass panels:

Here's a photo from the outside, lol. Again, we were in a hurry to get to QVB. Will try and do a better job next time.

My favourite among all the places in the city is the Queen Victoria Building. It's been there since 1898, and I've loved it since I was 5! The place is just so quaint and pretty :3

QVB, top view (I took this when I was at Sydney Tower last week)

And the best part is the lifts!!! They're the old fashioned wooden-door-type ones. Such a shame that I've got no photo. But, the interior is just as amazing:

I adore the hallways!

The center of the building where the the clock is. What a beauty.

Me, by the staircase. Look at those antique tiles! They're treasures!!!

QVB is like the best place to find designer goods. It was perfect timing that I went yesterday cos so much stuff was on sale! I got a belt from Sportscraft, and I really wanted this hat:

The Rita Cloche in Berry
or in Black!

Ah... I feel like I'll be going back for that hat sometime by the end of the week, because it's too cute to lose. My mum says otherwise though. She thinks I should wait for the sale to come (it's currently selling for AU$69.95).

How do you feel about it?