Brisbane on Foot
Had a good sleep last night. Woke up to a fresh morning. Chatted with 'Good Fren' over SKYPE. Packed my bag with water, some cash and my trusty digicam. Slapped on the SPF 50+ sunblock and I was on my way!
Where was I going? Alone??
Being away from 'Good Fren' is nothing something I will want to repeat again or often. This episode makes me realise that I am very dependant on him. =_=
However, the little excursion I took alone (#3 and #5 are still in Sydney, while #2 and #4 headed for the Australia Zoo in the morning) today brought back that familiar feeling of independence.
I attempted to walk to Fortitude Valley... without a map...
I just walked and walked... The sun was hot, but the wind was cool. Very enjoyable.
Found some intriguing buildings along the way.
Left: A Freemason temple. It is huge, given the population of Brisbane, i.e. around 1.8mil. The Freemason building in Singapore is probably half of this.
Right: Look at the 2 contrasting ground floor facades. They are part of the same building which soars above them!
St John's Cathedral.
Tried the website of this school... It doesn't work.
Ahhh... Chinatown red!!
This picture sums up the Chinatown in Brisbane... It's made up of Chinese and Vietnamese goods and services.
As with most Chinese-y areas... Sale of loads of knick knacks...
I had a lunch of Vietnamese Pho in this rather funky shop.
Smart move in 'modernising' the shop front. Same street side foods but presented in a different manner.
In the next street, there was a market with a live band playing.
Every self-respecting Chinatown has to have these gates.
I found this weird little shop... I wonder what they are peddling... The gnomes look freaky, man!
Wickham Street is a grudgy mix of old buildings and shops full of the youthful.
I like the gritty feel... The cab went past here last night, and the queues for clubs were snaking along the pavements and around the corners of the buildings.
Old and proud.
In the past 6 months, I've been living in countries where drinking is the norm. I hope Singapore will never have a drive-thru bottle shop.
As I made my way back to the city centre, I walked past this building. I think it's a school.
Somehow, I found myself along the river... Observing the public pathway tracing the river's meander.
The sky was clear blue... With some clouds... Framing the skyline.
As I glided along the riverwalk, I was torn between walking to South Bank and taking the City Cat. I remember my couz telling me to get on the City Cat.
So I did. =))
Here it comes!!!
So exciting!!
I think I said,"YAY!" aloud while walking down this ramp.
Passengers were alighting in an orderly manner.
Initially, I sat inside because it was too crowded on the decks.
But the view is too good to be missed.
I let the pics do the talking... I dunno who she is... Her kid, who looked mixed, was complaining a lot during the short journey... She sounded Singaporean/Malaysian.
The Wheel of Brisbane... It is always in the background.
Even after I alighted the City Cat and was walking through the greens, I could see the Wheel in a distance.
Somehow, I stumbled upon this amphitheatre. For those in engineering, there was some sort of 'micro-mouse' competition going on.
So... where I was is called the South Bank Parklands. It is a sliver of public park sandwiched between some apartments with ground floor retail and the river. You know where Butter Factory is in Singapore (the name of that area slips my mind)? Imagine if you could push those apartment blocks with the jap restaurants away from the river, then insert a strip of man-made park with modern facilities such as eateries, pool, landscaping, bicycle tracks etc.
I like it. Especially when you see a little somewhat goth and barefoot batman walking around excitedly. =))
Of course, the weather completed the experience perfectly.
I wonder how much it costs to maintain these facilities.
Walking a little away from the river, and I found myself on Little Stanley Street. With a few blocks of atas apartments and ground floor restaurants, pubs, award-winning hair salon etc.
I then realised that the parking for the public was in fact under the parklands.
Making my way back to where the serviced apartment is, I walked up the Goodwill Bridge.
I could see the Martime Museum from the bridge.
It is very well-used by cyclists and pedestrians.
Trigger-Happy-Me!!!
Lovely bridge built with the users in mind.
On the other end of the bridge is the Queensland University of Technology.
Because it has an open layout, I could walk through it. There were signs providing directions on campus which were extremely helpful.
This is my favourite bit of the campus. I love those concrete inserts and the shadows they cast on the brick wall.
QUT is next to the Botanics Garden. You can see part of the city from the garden. This view reminds me, not of the Singapore Botanics Garden (that has super stringent view controls), but of the view from the Istana gardens.
I noticed a lot of bamboo in the garden. They were swaying gently in the wind and creaking rather loudly.
Korean grafitti found on bamboo!
Some people were getting hitched in the garden... This lady watches on... a few years later... after her wedding...
So that concluded my little day trip on foot around Brisbane.
In the evening, I met up with #2 and #4 for dinner. It has been a long since I last saw them... I think it was last Friday after the dinner at Rohrig Mansion!
We went to the Beach House for some food, beer and live music... Talked about their findings in Hong Kong...
Next week is gonna be real busy...
Posted on 3/28/2009 07:40:00 PM by BLINKYMUMMY and filed under
brisbane,
mba,
travel
| 2 Comments »
Where was I going? Alone??
Being away from 'Good Fren' is nothing something I will want to repeat again or often. This episode makes me realise that I am very dependant on him. =_=
However, the little excursion I took alone (#3 and #5 are still in Sydney, while #2 and #4 headed for the Australia Zoo in the morning) today brought back that familiar feeling of independence.
I attempted to walk to Fortitude Valley... without a map...
I just walked and walked... The sun was hot, but the wind was cool. Very enjoyable.
Found some intriguing buildings along the way.
Left: A Freemason temple. It is huge, given the population of Brisbane, i.e. around 1.8mil. The Freemason building in Singapore is probably half of this.
Right: Look at the 2 contrasting ground floor facades. They are part of the same building which soars above them!
St John's Cathedral.
Tried the website of this school... It doesn't work.
Ahhh... Chinatown red!!
This picture sums up the Chinatown in Brisbane... It's made up of Chinese and Vietnamese goods and services.
As with most Chinese-y areas... Sale of loads of knick knacks...
I had a lunch of Vietnamese Pho in this rather funky shop.
Smart move in 'modernising' the shop front. Same street side foods but presented in a different manner.
In the next street, there was a market with a live band playing.
Every self-respecting Chinatown has to have these gates.
I found this weird little shop... I wonder what they are peddling... The gnomes look freaky, man!
Wickham Street is a grudgy mix of old buildings and shops full of the youthful.
I like the gritty feel... The cab went past here last night, and the queues for clubs were snaking along the pavements and around the corners of the buildings.
Old and proud.
In the past 6 months, I've been living in countries where drinking is the norm. I hope Singapore will never have a drive-thru bottle shop.
As I made my way back to the city centre, I walked past this building. I think it's a school.
Somehow, I found myself along the river... Observing the public pathway tracing the river's meander.
The sky was clear blue... With some clouds... Framing the skyline.
As I glided along the riverwalk, I was torn between walking to South Bank and taking the City Cat. I remember my couz telling me to get on the City Cat.
So I did. =))
Here it comes!!!
So exciting!!
I think I said,"YAY!" aloud while walking down this ramp.
Passengers were alighting in an orderly manner.
Initially, I sat inside because it was too crowded on the decks.
But the view is too good to be missed.
I let the pics do the talking... I dunno who she is... Her kid, who looked mixed, was complaining a lot during the short journey... She sounded Singaporean/Malaysian.
The Wheel of Brisbane... It is always in the background.
Even after I alighted the City Cat and was walking through the greens, I could see the Wheel in a distance.
Somehow, I stumbled upon this amphitheatre. For those in engineering, there was some sort of 'micro-mouse' competition going on.
So... where I was is called the South Bank Parklands. It is a sliver of public park sandwiched between some apartments with ground floor retail and the river. You know where Butter Factory is in Singapore (the name of that area slips my mind)? Imagine if you could push those apartment blocks with the jap restaurants away from the river, then insert a strip of man-made park with modern facilities such as eateries, pool, landscaping, bicycle tracks etc.
I like it. Especially when you see a little somewhat goth and barefoot batman walking around excitedly. =))
Of course, the weather completed the experience perfectly.
I wonder how much it costs to maintain these facilities.
Walking a little away from the river, and I found myself on Little Stanley Street. With a few blocks of atas apartments and ground floor restaurants, pubs, award-winning hair salon etc.
I then realised that the parking for the public was in fact under the parklands.
Making my way back to where the serviced apartment is, I walked up the Goodwill Bridge.
I could see the Martime Museum from the bridge.
It is very well-used by cyclists and pedestrians.
Trigger-Happy-Me!!!
Lovely bridge built with the users in mind.
On the other end of the bridge is the Queensland University of Technology.
Because it has an open layout, I could walk through it. There were signs providing directions on campus which were extremely helpful.
This is my favourite bit of the campus. I love those concrete inserts and the shadows they cast on the brick wall.
QUT is next to the Botanics Garden. You can see part of the city from the garden. This view reminds me, not of the Singapore Botanics Garden (that has super stringent view controls), but of the view from the Istana gardens.
I noticed a lot of bamboo in the garden. They were swaying gently in the wind and creaking rather loudly.
Korean grafitti found on bamboo!
Some people were getting hitched in the garden... This lady watches on... a few years later... after her wedding...
So that concluded my little day trip on foot around Brisbane.
In the evening, I met up with #2 and #4 for dinner. It has been a long since I last saw them... I think it was last Friday after the dinner at Rohrig Mansion!
We went to the Beach House for some food, beer and live music... Talked about their findings in Hong Kong...
Next week is gonna be real busy...
