Queensland: The Sunshine State

The last stop of my Australian trip was Brisbane. There is so much to see in Queensland, and I only caught a glimpse of it. I'd have to come back another day, no doubt. My aunt and grandaunt were kind enough to host me, bring me around, cook for me, make me feel at home.  But the highlight of the trip, other than spending time with family, was the unexpected encounter with my aunt's friends at the community garden. Every Tuesday they go there to tend to their vegetable crops and some fruit trees, and they'd bring tea and cakes to share after a morning's hard work. I had the privilege to spend some time with the golden citizens, listening to their stories way back in the days while enjoying a cup of hot tea with strawberry shortcakes. 

There was this 80 year old man, Kasper, whom I was particularly fond of, who liked to introduce himself as 'Kasper, with a K and not C like the friendly ghost you know of'. I thought that was so cute it made my heart smile. He was kind enough to give me a tour of his fruit orchard (well not his but he was the main person who looked after it) and introduced me to the different trees and plants that I know close to nothing of. Loved listening to his stories about where he was originally from - Switzerland - and how he got to the land down below and grew his roots here. At that moment, sitting at the shed basking under the warm sunlight with gentle breeze on my face, being completely captivated by his stories and simply enjoying the old folks' company - that was one of the best moments of the trip.  I can only hope that when I turn 80, I'd still be strong and healthy and able to walk about doing stuff that I love, and sharing my stories with the younger generation. 

Aunt tending to her veggies. 

Nasturtium, one of the few edible flowers, which I find so beautiful. 

Man-made beach somewhere near the city. 

On the way to Gold Coast, or somewhere close to it, can't remember...

Waves that beat on the rocks, day and night. 

Exemplary state of impermanence.

View from some floors above, in the Twin Cities casino (twin cities being Coolangatta and Tweed Heads). Lots of retired folks. Kinda amusing seeing them around chillin', playing bingo etc... 

Somewhere out there. I can't remember where this was taken... Probably during a pit stop on our way to Gold Coast, at this clubhouse where we had coffee and cake.  

Some island that many people go to to check out dolphins and whales :)  

Ideal place for a retreat, away from the world full of noise and distractions.

One of my favourite pics. That's Uncle Barry's hand cut off, as I was taking a panoramic picture. 

Trippy...

The red lighthouse. Because every coastal town needs one :) 

This was taken at Manly Beach I think. Quite honestly I don't know what's so 'manly' bout this beach. 

Don't see many six packs around... :P 

But I do love the cloud formation... So fluffy, like it's out from Mario the video game back in my time, and you can jump from one cloud to the other. 

That just about summed up my trip to Australia. Wonderful trip, would love to be back, but for now, back to reality. (Well, technically I was back to reality many months ago, this was just an overdue post). Peace. 

Adelaide: The Good Life

As years went by, I find it harder and harder to meet true friends who are willing to work on keeping the friendship going for as long as it can be. Not that there aren't people I can call friends, but most of the time it's usually with strings attached, or they're just not that interested in being true friends. It's understandable- most people at this age would already have their own family or have their own clique of friends; or they just want something from you, or it's just a fleeting encounter that couldn't be solidified into true friendships. And so it makes me value all my old friends even more, especially those you've bonded with since school days. Friends like those are rarer than any gemstone in the world, and I'm ever so thankful that I have more than one of these rare gems.  This is a super-belated post on my trip to Adelaide, my second stop in Aussie. Jun, one of my rare gem friends, who's also the reason why I was in Adelaide, picked me up from the airport. And so began our little weekend adventure!

Because my time there was limited, there's only so much we can see. My intention of this short trip was mainly to catch up with Jun, and then do some sightseeing. I'd say it's a pretty successful trip given that we had so much time to catch up - over meals, while walking the dog to the dog park, the drive to the little quaint German town called Hahndorf, the time spent at Glenelg beach. Come to think of it, this is the longest amount of time we've spent with each other since we graduated from high school! And so, when we weren't busy catching up, eating or drinking hot chocolate (or having ice cream lol), below are some pics we took over the 3 days that I was there. 

At The Loose Caboose where it's a restored railway station-turned-cafe that serves good breakfast/brunch and coffee. 

I don't remember what this is called, but it's delish!


This, I think is called the caboose cakes- potato croquettes with some mayonnaise drizzles and cabbage on top. It's really good too, but I'd prefer it without the mayo.


Somewhere in Hahndorf the German town there were two little cute bears having their tea, oblivious to the world around them. That's just awesome.


It's a beautiful day out- perfect for Birkenstock clogs shopping and fudge-shopping. :P
Had a craving for ice cream there, but managed to suppress it. Win. Yes.


Glenelg beach, which reminded me of my days in Santa Monica, LA.


Capturing sunset.


All smiles, because it's good to be alive and have great friends.


Same time, same place as the pic above, but a different view.


This was the real reason we were all smiles earlier- the anticipation of hot choc and ice cream!
Lol jk. We are grateful for being alive.
And yes I gave in to my cravings after all. No regrets though.


Had dessert before dinner. That's the right way to do it people.


This girl played so beautifully I couldn't resist but sat there the whole time until she's done.
Location- The Malls Balls at Rundle Street.


This is Niño saying bye to me, and vice versa.

It's been three awesome days, time well spent with friend. Looking forward to another trip/hangout like this, whenever that is. Thank you Jun, for being such a great host and friend! xoxo.

Melbourne - Part 4

On one of the days that I roamed the city by myself, I found myself checking out the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) where they have two free exhibitions on the ground floor. Because it's free and who doesn't love free stuff, I decided to check them out first before I explored other exhibits. Most of the visitors there were mainly school children- probably another school excursions, and that made me feel younger by being around them. Found myself stopping at each section to learn more about movies- the history, the cinematic effects, the color schemes and the importance of it, the important people who contributed substantially in the movie world etc. The highlight of my time there though, was when I stumbled upon the 80s old school computer games, specifically Tetris. It was on the old square box computer monitor, with green letters and a blinking cursor on black screen, asking if you want to start a new game, and in parenthesis Y/N. LOL. I couldn't help but sat and play. Before I knew it, almost an hour has gone by, and I reluctantly stood and left. (And that's also only because there's this boy standing next to me watching over me, I reckoned he's just waiting for his turn...) For that one hour there though, I felt like I was a kid again which was pure bliss. Thankful for that chunk of time in my own little heaven, even if it meant having to extricate myself from the web of wonderland soon after. It's all good though. Some pics below. :)

This pic is way better than the pic I took of the dome in Melbourne Central.
Bestie has a good eye for photography. :) 

Last winter market at Vic Market.

They have what they call "winter market" every Friday evening throughout their winter months, and we managed to make it to the last one. It's awesome I loved it! At one end there's a stage with jazz performance (I love jazz!), at the other end there's movie screening (I love movies too haha!). Andddd... drumrolls please... there's a lot of food (I love food!!! :P)!

Enough chilli chicken to feed a village in Africa.


We live in a world of (over)abundance, don't you think. I do hope they finished selling every bit of it, or it's going to waste. While other people are starving and dying of hunger elsewhere...


This one's pretty! Looked tasty too, but I've had my share of food, and on the 5th day of my vacation I know better than to overeat. :P


Baby octopi (or octopuses?)! One of my many favs :)


I'd come back to try more of their food too, at Hardware Societe.
The portion is a little too huge for my liking, but it's scrumpilicious! :))


On one of the nights bestie and I went for a live jazz performance at The Commune Cafe.
Fem Belling was the vocalist, together with the band called John Montesante Quintet (JMQ).
Awesome performance, great food and wine too. Definitely worth the trip- we got all wet on our way there due to the heavy rain and strong winds that evening. But it's okay because even my soaked cold feet enjoyed every bit of the night. Easily the best night of my time there. :))


St Kilda beach. Couldn't take my eyes off the people kitesurfing there.
All I could think of was "I wanna do that too... someday".


Probably the best pizza I've ever had in my life.. so far. :P  My last night in Melbourne and bestie brought me to this Papa Gino's, a family-owned Italian restaurant they've been going for a long time now. Everything I tried there was delicious, I can see why my friends keep going back there. :)

Melbourne - Part 3

I suppose there's a lot more that I could do in Melbourne, like visiting the aquarium, the zoo, taking the river cruise, or day tour to Great Ocean Road etc., but I didn't want to rush and since there's just not enough time to do everything, I'd rather just relax and explore the city by foot. Found my favourite bench to sit and people-watch. Pic below was the view from the bench. 

Somewhere further down this street there is a jewellery store, where one of my childhood best friends got his then-girlfriend an engagement ring. :) Bestie told me the story while we were walking along this street. We reminisced together about his proposal to her, which then brought back memories of us helping out as MCs on the wedding dinner. Ah memories! What'd we do without them?! We'd be less of a person that we are; without memories we'd be void of identity. After all, we are our memories, piece after piece that were accumulated and stacked up kinda like Jenga blocks, which gave us an idea of who we are...

This is the other side of the view from the bench. The State Library of Victoria, if I'm not mistaken. 

The hot chocolate was so thick and just like melted chocolate, it's to die for! Didn't fancy the whipped cream on top but it'd be hard to drink too if it's all just chocolate. I regretted eating so much of the spaghetti earlier on before dessert... couldn't really enjoy the hot choc and had coffee instead. Note to self- must return to this place the next visit, whenever that is. 

Shrine of Remembrance. They have a good collection of memorabilia and information about the two world wars, and the more recent ones too. 

Fire outside the Shrine. Made me all pensive and sad. Wars, guns, power, wealth, bloodshed...

Story never gets old, it's still happening in some countries. 

Botanical Gardens where I spent an afternoon roaming around. 

Another nice place to sit and bask in the good weather. At peace. 

One of the many laneways where you can find cafes and dining places and little shops. 

I was walking around in circles looking for a place I wanted to try, but I couldn't find it and kept coming back to the same block. Too hungry to walk anymore, I sat down at the first cafe I saw. It's a nice little place, coffee was good, but the food looked better than it tasted. I mean, the only thing I really liked was the hash brown. Go figure. :/  Oh well. Never try never know. 

Melbourne - Part 2

As someone who grew up in a city, I feel at ease with huge crowd around me. I like being surrounded by the hustle and bustle (most of the time, with exceptions), but only just enough so I can get lost in the city and wrap myself up in my own thoughts, and not too much that it might overwhelm me. The lights, the trams' bells, the street performances, the quirky fashion, the cafes sprinkled all over the city. They stimulate my senses, in a good way. Here I spent my time walking around, stopping to breathe and feel the drizzle on my cheek; I'd let all of me soak in everything that I see, feel, hear, smell, touch. The city's tempo is fast, you can tell by the average speed of people walking on the streets, but it's not as fast as those in New York City. You won't get the irritated grunts whenever you slow down. People are very expressive too. Every day that I was there I saw people with Gothic makeup and eccentric clothes, which initially led me to think that there was some theme party or festival that I didn't read about in the visitor's guide, but later on I realized it's just who they are. In my wildly imaginative mind though, I was almost convinced that there's a whole group of them, part of Addam's family or something, that congregates every evening at some secret place, and we're just not privy to it. Boohoo. Not invited cuz we're not cool enough.  >.<  At one point I was so curious I almost went up to them, oh I don't know, for a picture maybe? Or a casual chat, and maybe get an invitation to the secret party. But I was too timid for my own liking, and they just walked on by. I was left alone with my own thoughts. Gah.

A mother trying to capture her son in still pictures but he just couldn't be bothered. haha. 

One of the things I really enjoyed while I was there was visiting museums. The picture above is of the National Gallery of Victoria- NGV International (they have another one called NGV Australia). I wanted to go back there to check out the exhibition of Catherine The Great's private collection, but never got the time to do so. As it is, there's already so much to see in the free sections. It's a pity I missed it. Ever since we learned about her during one history class I've held this fascination about her, wondering what her life was like back in the old Russian days before communism. Must've been a heck of a woman to lead the country back when women were expected to just take care of the family and do nothing else. Ah well. Perhaps another day, in another city.

Check out this award winning dress suit in the contemporary art section. 

If you have too many utensils and don't know how to utilise them, here's an idea. :P  

I thought this chair was kinda cool. I'd get it if it was for sale. 

Federation Square. 

Fed Square seems to be where all the school kids hang out during their lunch break. Either the schools are all very close by, or they have very long breaks. So nice to be students there. They get to go for excursions every day it seems. One day to NGV, another day to ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), and another to Queen Victoria Markets. Seeing them having so much fun made me slightly envious of their school days.

On one of those days there was a performance- a mime show interacting with the school children. The event was to raise awareness of hearing problems, be it acquired or congenital, and after the performance they screened some video clips of people sharing their hearing problems and how getting a hearing aid helped change their lives. They had booths nearby encouraging people to get their hearing checked for free too. I gave it a pass... telling myself I probably don't need it yet.  

Fed Square at night. A lot quieter but still nice and pretty. 

Yarra River, which according to my friend is quite polluted. Once there was a guy who canoed there and got food poisoning, which after investigation seemed to be related to this river. I don't know how true this is, I just thought it's a pretty intriguing story and now everytime I think of this river that's what I'd picture in my mind. lol. 

View from where my friend lives. That's Flinders Street Train Station, and behind it Yarra River. Every morning around 11am there will be two guys on the rooftop taking a ciggie break. Fun fact.

This is Flinders St train station again, at the front entrance. And a tram. 

Minutes before taking this picture, I was listening to this news anchor reporting on a strike that tram drivers are having to protest against the low wages. 

To be continued...