brisbane 12-14th may

Brisbane, Queensland

i love this place sooo much. whilst most people would find it boring and slow paced, and few would even visit it for a holiday (well i didn't want to go there initially too), i now find it a beautiful, nice and relaxed place whereby i spent some of my most memorable days.

even though we were there for a mere 3 days, i think the both of us had really great fun. it's a city of old and new (which is the case for many aussie cities too), a city of modern living combined with elements of laidback, casual lifestyle.

i heart brisbane!

12th May

thong and tim, with the fourex beer factory behind them. this is bout 100m from our hostel.. and we were on our way to the train station.

University of Queensland

tim brought us to visit his university... quite beautiful isn't it.. with all the ancient architecture and nice trees and plants scattered around.

Brisbane river

i love the river that runs through the heart of brisbane.

love the idea that the river runs thru the major city areas as well as rural areas where pple live, thus the river is one that is used as a major mode of transport. they take the river ferry (citycat) from places to places along the river like a bus.. hopping on and off at ferry stops which are lined frequently along the river. the citycat system is actually quite high tech and efficient.. the ferries come quite frequently.. and there are timetables at every stop that tells u the exact time the ferries come throughout the day, each day of the week.

arguably this river is probably not as breathtakingly beautiful or huge compared to the really awesome ones around the world of course.. but it's beautiful and unique in its own way too.. imagine living next to the river, and u can just hop on the ferry to go anywhere else.. so cool..

beautiful skies on that day we first took the river ferry. and mind u, the citycat is not some slow boat, it actually speeds very very fast along the river. u can choose to stand outside and watch the scenery, or sit inside the ferry where it's air-conditioned and fully glassed. we always choose to stand outside by the railing.. and let the wind whip our hair madly.. cold like crazy but we loved it.. heh.

so that day, we took the citycat from UQ into the city. very fast ride.. cos brisbane is so small..

Brisbane city

the lovely Conrad Treasury casino behind us..

the Conrad Treasury by night. isn't it breathtaking? looks like some ice palace or something.. throughout brisbane and other parts of australia, there are lots and lotsa this type of buildings.. nice colonial styled architecture (australia was colonized by UK) all around, in the midst of modern high rise buildings.

Mt Coot-tha Lookout

we then took a bus up to Mt Coot-tha to have a view of the entire brisbane.

see the river in the middle? could only capture part of the river of cos.. the entire stretch is too long to take in one pic. it's pretty curvy, much like a snake that zig-zags around.

i rem the wind was very strong and i wasn't feeling good that day.. had a terrible bout of cramps and actually puked out my lunch (sandwiches made by tim!) earlier on. super paiseh. but as always it felt good after the puke and i was back to normal in a while. heh.

then that night for dinner, we headed down to this bar and grill at a youth hostel called the Down Under. pretty cool.. it's like a pub.. but at the side against the wall there are nice cosy tables that we could have dinner and order drinks at the same time.. and dinner's really cheap! $7 aud for a steak.. which is a pretty hot deal i'd say.

the steaks look fabulous right? mine's the one at the top right. steak with mash potato. and the mash potato is such a huge serving.. like one mountain, and then the steak is stacked on top of the 10cm tall mountain. tim ordered steak with pepper sauce (bottom right).. we thought it's gonna be the normal black pepper sauce but it turned out the pepper is the ungrounded kind.. cool.. look like greens beans.. heh.. tasted pretty good when we bite them actually.. and the drink we were holding is not some ribena ok.. though at first i thought the guys ordered some cordial drink.. wahaha.. looks like right? yea yea.. u think they're so guai..


13th may

more pics of the city...

war memorial and city hall clock tower

that's the post office behind us. how can the post office look so good?

Eagle Street Pier

we headed down to the Eagle Street Pier craft and deli market, which is only open on sundays. i love markets! it's like pasamalam, without the heat and sweat. hehe. with more beautiful surroundings too.

the market was lined along the river.. i think u can catch a glimpse of the citycat ferry on the river. and that's the Storybridge stretched out behind. nice place for a market isn't it?

the market is full of craft stalls, food, fruits, drinks, accessories, shawls, souvenirs etc. not alot of things to buy actually.. cos the prices are quite marked up and the things are not good bargains.. aussie markets are nothing like the chatuchak kinds.. u can find things to buy if u're rich la.. but i'm not and it's not a shopping trip for me anyway.. haha.. i only bought a shawl there for 14AUD.. heart pain already.. anyway the atmosphere at the market is really good. it's really for the atmosphere and not for the shopping la.

but when it comes to food, yes there's quite alot to buy! and we are generally more generous with food la.. have to eat wat.. and it's worth it to try out the food in the country u visit.

thong and tim and their sausages. hur hur. made aussie styled. yes there's an aussie style k! i dunno wat they added.. got something.. forgot wat.. i'll ask thong again cos i din eat the sausages.

me and my fav strawberries! 5AUD for a box. ok la. for sweet strawberries. huge and red! hate those in singapore supermarkets... sour like mad. tim said it's the first batch of strawberries in the strawberry season, hence it's actually not the sweetest yet. it'll get sweeter still. but i think they're quite nice already. happy!

and we also bought this cheese stick bread thingy which tasted soooo good! i've never eaten anything like this.. love cheese sia. we ate until no time to take pic la.

thong always bend down when he takes pics with me. most of the other pics for the rest of the trip also like that... take note ok. he thinks he's so tall that he cannot fit into the photo. lol.

Brisbane museum

can't believe we actually went to the museum right.. hehe...

we're nerds ok. we like to gain knowledge. hurhur. free entry wat.

but actually there's only lotsa fossils like this one (looks like night of the museum dinosaur right?), lotsa info on animals (aussie is like an animal kingdom), history of the pple, colonization.. blah blah..

so we spent our time making funny faces like this.

Southbank

we all liked southbank pretty much. relaxed and pretty place.

and this... is the southbank street beach! man-made in the middle of the city.. abit funny cos it's just like a huge swimming pool with some sand. and lotsa seagulls feeding on tourists' food. and waliao.. i can't believe there were pple suntanning can.... think only these 2 leh, seriously. thong likes the bikini babe so he took a photo of her.

and in front of the beach is this square that has a huge compound that allows buskers to do their thing.. see this busker on the left with his red hat.. damn funny guy la.. his performance was really successful and it drew such a huge crowd, think hundred over pple.. i've never seen any busking activity like this before!

oh oh.. and see thong in the background (white shirt)?? he's one of the 4 "lucky" participants to be called up.. haha.. and he had to do this catwalk and dance thingy which was seriously funny.. haha.. poor thing.. kanaa laughed at by everyone.. with me being the loudest of cos. i video-ed the whole thing down so that i can blackmail him in future, heh..

and boy could he really do stunts.. at the end of it everyone went up to put moolah in his hat.. and thong spotted this kid who put in a 50 dollar note!! what the heck. of cos the 3 of us walked away silently. heh.

there's also a market at southbank on sundays. but again.. nothing much to buy too. we bought this special chocolate-filled banana as it's only available in this market.. and it's pretty good!! it's called the wicked banana. i had dark choc while thong had hazelnut choc. and we went bananas!

apparently the technique is to drill out the centre of the banana, fill it up with choc, then seal the ends with beeswax so that the banana wouldn't spoil. cool sia... i wanna franchise it in singapore!

and with our bananas and other food (fish and chips, calamari rings, chips) we sat on this ground for a picnic. i love picnicking on the grass in aussie! cos they're not wet and dirty and u can just sit anywhere without a mat.. no mosquitoes too!!

on the southbank.. opposite side of the river is the city.

this is an ultra cool bbq pit!! they have this in many areas all over aussie.. usually in the parks. wat happen is u just gotta press a button, and this grill will heat up, and u can grill and cook anything u want on it.. cool right? they dun even need to buy charcoal, buy metal grill, and then slowly grill their satays.. okie i agree it looks abit dirty and unhygienic.. but heck la.. who cares. australians are clean pple and they clean up the grills after use. just make sure u put some water to wash before use la.. too bad i din get to try it. boooo. there were lotsa families who would do this and have picnics by the park.. and it smells so heavenly each time we pass by.. bleh.

beautiful night views. the Uniting church.

City Hall.

14th may - Australia zoo

and off we went to the Australia zoo at Sunshine Coast, an hour's ride away. it's the home of Steve Irwin and family. opened by Steve's parents, it was taken over by Steve and his wife and children. this is where Steve was cultivated his love for animals and wildlife from young.

now that Steve is gone, his family and all the staff that he has trained himself would manage the zoo and live his dreams. i love the way they all tried to educate visitors and inculcate the proper knowledge about wildlife as well as love and appreciation for the animals. they did this in a fun and enthusiastic way, which is really like Steve Irwin's style. you can really say his spirit lived on in them.

and this is my first koala encounter in aussie! i love koalas.. they're really so cute.. as cute as everyone has been saying, and really like what u see in pictures. u know, koalas sleep the whole day long. they sleep 20 hours a day to digest the eucalyptus leaves they eat. so whenever u see koalas u can be sure that they're bound to be cuddling some branches and sleeping..

another sleeping koala from the back.

yet another sleeping koala!! so sweeet right?? sleeping like a baby.

finally, a koala that's not sleeping? wrong! this one's sleeping too. i swear they have all sorts of sleeping styles.. though mostly they'll cuddle up a branch.

this zookeeper is so cute right?? and he has a hairy chest. hmm ok. inconsequential.

by the way, koalas have pouches like kangaroos too! heh that's a new piece of news. their babies, small like a jellybean, crawl up to the pouch when born, and stay there till they're big enough to come out, and they'll ride on their mum's back till they're old enough to fend themselves, and then they'll bid farewell.

i cuddled a koala!! once in a lifetime experience. paid $15 AUD for this k. plus the photo of course. but i'd say it's worth it.. i've been wanting to cuddle one since young!! anyway, the koala's really nice to hug. it's all tame and cuddly when in ur arms.. like a big baby.. doesn't move about or kick u.. heh.. just clings onto u.. sooo adorable la! anyway this koala is a boy and it's 4 years old (child or adolescent). hehe. i couldn't rem his name cos i was too excited bout cuddling him! but the naughty boy was shitting all the way when i was carrying him. bleh. shitting little pellets of shit that dropped to the floor.. luckily not my hands. heh.

but sadly.. thong din get to hug it. only one person could and the queue was too long so it's paiseh to ask the zookeeper to let thong cuddle it. sobs.

and my mum.. arghhh.. she said this photo looks like we're proud parents of our baby. wat?! now i can give birth to koalas... right...

and then we came to roo land... where there are so many roos lying around lazily.. and u're free to walk with them, feed them, pat them!!

i made friends with him.. hehe.. so soft is their fur!!


wadcha looking at??




thong's pal...

these little piglets are so adorable and they follow the zookeeper wherever she goes.. heh.. silly little things.

look at this spotty one!! so cute isn't it? heh.. trotting along.. i didn't hear them oink leh..

little lambs.. babies..

i dun really like reptiles but this croc is one hell of a croc. huge leh! we were watching the reptile rangers dangle huge chunks of meat on their hands, and the croc would leapt up and snatch the meat.. dangerous sia..

and this is one even bigger and fiercer croc!! lying around on the road like that.. scary.. with some rangers' help me and thong timidly climbed aboard... heh.. we were so brave!!! yea.. except it isn't real. or i'm sure we would've been dead meat in a snap.

okie end of the zoo. by the time we headed back to brisbane city it was late.. rather, it wasn't late cos it's prob like 5 or 6pm but the skies were already dark...

that night we just hung around at southbank and the city, taking in our last views of brisbane before heading off to sydney the next day.

storybridge at night.

this ice-creamery at southbank. forgot to mention earlier but southbank is lined with lotsa eateries and cafes.. anyway this Cold Rock place sells really cool ice-creams.. u can add in extra stuff in ur ice-cream, like mars, snickers, tim-tams, cookies, a very vast selection of stuff. then they'll take ur selection and crush it up into bits, on this frozen plate thingy, and add the crushed bits into the middle of ur scoop. the frozen plate makes the crushed bits all frozen and hard.. thus the name cold rock, i think. heh.. pretty special.

the beach is pretty deserted at night.. so we just hung around.. chill abit..

and we sat on this bench with a magnificent view of the river and the city opposite.. and chatted the night away.. the actual view is of course much nicer than the pic.. and i love the way the wind blew on our faces, the sound of the water, the sight of pple taking slow walks or jogs along the river. so peaceful and serene.

and so i say, brisbane, u should really spare a couple of days for this place. a peaceful, relaxed getaway in a pretty city unlike any other.