Spring is in the air. Well, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. This will be a long blog as I've lots of pictures from my recent trip to Adelaide and Melbourne to share.
Took lots of pictures of this cherry tree as it reminded me of the Sakura season in Japan. Miss the lovely spring blossoms in Niigata and friends at ADORC oops I mean ACAP
Lavender is my favourite flower. I like to keep a handful of dried flowers in my coat pocket so I can smell their fragrance whenever I take my hand out of my pocket.
Even the pine trees are in bloom on this fine Spring day. The mix of cones and yellow flowers look so pretty.
Free transport is available around the city by tram or bus. It's so convenient. The new trams in Adelaide look sleek and colourful.
We went to the Farmer's Market for breakfast and to shop for organic home-grown products. Bought organic brocolli and pears which seem to taste much sweeter than the ones bought from Chinatown market. They have organic wine too.
Spent one lazy morning pottering around the Torrens River near the University of Adelaide. The view from the riverbank is so serene.
The black swans are extremely friendly. If you are in a paddle boat in the river they will come right up to you for food.
Unfortunately this one got nothing as I forgot to bring along some bread. It appears that this very tame pelikan bird is used to posing with humans. Hope he is not expecting food too.
During the weekend we went to our favourite beach in Glenelg with my daughter and niece to eat their famous fish and chips.
From Adelaide, we had only 2 days left in Melbourne. So much to see and do but so little time. We decided to catch the free Melbourne City Tourist shuttle for a quick tour of the city before the weather set in. I need to stay at least a week to explore all the interesting places in Inner Melbourne alone.
Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square. The staff were extremely helpful when I asked for help to plan my trip to Ayers Rock next year. Friends from Japan are welcome to join our group for this adventure.
The Melbourne skyline viewed from the casino would have looked even more spectacular at night but it was too cold, wet and windy for us to venture out after dark.
Innovative architecture blended well with the surroundings. A very creative mix of attractive buildings here especially the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. I especially liked this fierce looking snake creature.
The famous Crown Casino where fortunes are made and lost. Alas there was no time for me to try my luck.
I would have loved to experience the awesome view of Melbourne from the Southern Hemisphere's highest viewing platform, the Eureka Skydeck. but hubby (who is afraid of heights) declined. It's a glass cube that projects 3 meters out from the building 88 levels up.
An interesting building near the Skydeck88. Golden bees on the wall of a building. What will those designers come up with next?
The famous Flinders Street Station....probably one of the busiest transportation stations in Melbourne. I love the architecture.
And these impressive looking buildings which blended so well with the modern ones.
While waiting for the rain to stop, I took some shots of the Forum Theater.
And this wonderful old church in Southern Cross. There are many churches and older buildings in Melbourne which are well preserved. I noticed many had female figures sitting on top of the buildings. Interesting!
Even the office buildings have a majestic frontage although the interior is probably very modern.
After a long and tiring walk around the various precincts, it's time to enjoy the delicious food. There is a wide choice of Asian food along Swanston Street in particular the Chinatown area.
This is my favourite restaurant serving delicious Vietnamese beefball noodle soup. It's particularly good eaten with their chilli paste. Apparently President Clinton took 2 bowls!
All the famous bakeries and large hotels are selling their brands of mooncakes. Many have ventured beyond the traditional lotus and egg yolk filling to other odd combinations. Even Hotel Nikko has set up a stall at the Mid Valley MegaMall to promote their cakes.
I met up with 3 important experts from ACAP for dinner. We were so busy eating that I forgot to take photos during the meal. However as the night was still young and the moon exceptionally bright that night, we took a slow drive to Kuala Lumpur to view the Petronas Twin Towers.
Posing with old friends outside the Shah Village Hotel. The experts will be leaving for Kuching and Bintulu in Sarawak the next day to visit the new EANET monitoring sites. They will be welcomed by our colleagues in East Malaysia and local university experts.
