March 9, 2011

Sights & Stuff @ Inner Melbourne

"If there is any such thing as a universal question, it may be this: Are we there yet? Generations of children have asked it. They have then grown into adults who have to answer the same question when their children ask."     - excerpt from ODB-

My twin sis & I are both planners. No matter its work, or personal, we are very organize people. We travel alot. And its not surprising that we planned wayyy in advance for our trips. We study the place we will be visiting and do lots and lots of research. And its always a marathon (in a good kinda way) cos we will try to visit as many places as we can. Rockstar on the other hand, its a laid back type of person. His view on travelling is "It’s the journey, not the destination." He enjoys what he can, tries to live like a local, instead of a tourist. And he complains whenever he travels with me. Hehe.. And i guess you will to if you travel with us.


But after many trips with him, I guess his laid back attitude has gotten to me. The trip to Melbourne was well-planned as usual but we were more relax. Each morning we wake up, spread the map on the bed and decide where we wanna go.

So this post will be filled with lots and lots of pictures...and I meant really alot.. and was taken throughout our trip there; hence the differences in sky light and weather.

Melbourne Central - Its like our very own KL Sentral, but with a much bigger shopping center. But whats cooler is that they build it around an old 'Lead Pipe & Shot Factory' which have since been converted into shops.




Sorry, couldn't resist taking this. Rockstar Bowling in Melbourne Central.
Notice that the sign says '...till late..'. Yeap, I realize in Melbourne they don't have a fix time in closing. If there are no customers or that day is a slow day, they will just close shop. How lucky is that?? *hint to boss*


St. Peter's Eastern Hill.
Its a small church/ chapel located just opposite its well-known neighbour, St. Patrick's Cathedral. They have this quaint, rustic looking, cosy feel to it. Oh, and I like their red door.


The huge and imposing St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Its so impressive and the hugest church I have ever seen. My pictures do it no justice.


The picture on the right is their 'pipe organ' and its like 2 stories high.


1st pic : The front part of the cathedral..
2nd pic : Taken from the front towards the back of the cathedral. The door at the end its the front entrance.


1st pic : Taken from the back towards the front of the cathedral.
2nd pic : See the 2 tallest candles. That's ours. We decided to drop some coins into the offering box and light some candles. I dunno.. maybe it makes us feel holier.. hehe.. nah, its was just for fun.. I guess being inside such a big church makes me feel so small and insignificant..


Just a random view of Melbourne city, taken at the corner of Parliament house.
If you look closely, you will notice a girl lying on the grass. Its common in Melbourne. Its almost the ending of summer and the people there are just trying to catch whatever bit of sun they can.


Parliament House.


Hotel Windsor. Just the name sounds grand.


Limo on the road.


The Forum.


Melbourne GPO
 *I think. sorry can't remember*


The Atheneum.
I think its a library.


The Ian Potter NGV Centre.
Lydia @ Fed Square Book Market and a grassy spot off Fed Square.


Federation Square.


See the beach umbrellas and chairs? Its just there for you to sit and sun-bask or people-watch. Nice..


Melbourne Visitor Centre.
If you are are visiting Melbourne for the 1st time, do drop by there. You can get everything there, from brochures, tours, info...etc...Its like the biggest 1-stop visitor centre I've seen... Oh, that's just the entrance. It goes underground.


Flinders Street Station.


St Paul's Cathedral.
We were walking past in on Sunday morning and the bells were just going on and on and on. Its so harmonious. I wish I can hear it everyday.. OK, maybe not everyday but more often la..


View of Yarra River, from different sides.


And its a proper cafe. Not like some illegal-under-bridge-mamak-stalls I have seen.
I wish we could have just sat under it, have our lunch surrounded by the river. Another thing you'll notice is that Melbourne weather changes likes a girl's mood. Seriously... No offence to womankind.. but it can be hot and sunny, and then gloomy, and then sunny and windy and then something else..


Some street performers.

There was this 2 guys dress in tights doing some aerobics and stunts. They even got some guys in the audience to help. Its really funny in a way cos they were a little gay and... especially the guy in pink top and gold leopard shorts... he was very expressive in all his movements. I wonder why some of the parents allowed their children to watch...they were hopping and jumping around in tight and bright underwear..but I'll give it to them..  they were good, and really sporting.. If you want to see more, ask my twinnie, she took video of them...


Batman Park just across the river.
I was hoping to see Batman, or even take a picture with him.


But its just grasses... and trees.. and normal people...


Melbourne Exhibition Centre..which looks very suspiciously similar to ours..
Maybe its the same architect..


Crown Entertainment Complex.
Its Melbourne newest complex with hotel, shopping, and big casino.
One of the entrance of the casino. I didn't gamble, I swear.. cos we have already spend all our money on shopping contributed in another way to Melbourne's economy. We just walk through it.


Royal Arcade.
Gog & Magog guarding the entrance.


Lydia.

Dungeon of Magic. It was close :(


Entrance to the Block Arcade.
Not reddish the building. Its the un-likey looking pathway into the alley. Just at the left side of the picture below. Zoom in if you can't see.
An old, grand looking arcade, opened in 1892.


Pic 1 :  Sidewalk cafes and quaint shops into the Block Arcade.  
Pic 2 : Inside view.


Chinatown.


Go read the history. Its interesting. It started out as a bath but have now been converted to a heath and fitness centre. Its nice to see how they retained their old identity with adaptation to the modern world.


Pheww.. That's the last of it. Looks tiring but its actually quite relaxing... Did not manage to visit many places that we planned too..
Forgive me if I have displayed any form of 'jakun-ness'. It's the 'living with passion' part of me that see things very excitedly... and after all, as what some people say, we still live on tree-tops.





OK, just 1 last picture of me. I'm not going to let my sister take the centerstage on my blog..
Erm, and its actually the only picture I could find of me.. all the others have her in them.. And if you still can't tell us apart, she has longer hair then me.. This is ME, not her...


Btw, this post its just the Inner Part sights in Melbourne. Wait for the others :) Oh, and I realise that the pictures on my laptop look much nicer cos I have a darker screen. So please, before you read my blog, lower down the brightness of your screens k? Then my pictures will look much nicer.. cos I selected them based on how they look on my screen.. For my sake, pretty please?




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