Posts Under: Blog

Moovin’ to the Magic of Moomba

March 8, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

Happening at Melbourne’s Birrarung Marr and Alexandra Gardens area across both banks of the Yarra River, the Moomba Waterfest is one of the longest running festival in the City of Melbourne which has been celebrated since 1955. Pitched at securing community involvement and celebrating Australia’s multi-cultural identity, the celebrations are apparently Australia’s largest free public event. Those of you who are keen to read more about the history and background of the Moomba Festival can check out this paper by the City of Melbourne.

Happening from 6 to 9 March, Moomba promises fun for everyone with activities for families, the musically inclined and the sporty. A major street parade, free concerts, thrilling watersports and exciting theme park rides at the carnival along the river promises participants a spectacle of sight, sound, sweat and sizzle.

Here’s a snapshot of Moomba’s carnival and fireworks show for your viewing pleasure.

Australia’s Largest Public Gallery – NGV International

March 3, 2009 • Blog • 2 comments

Last Sunday, I decided to make a trip down to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) International at St Kilda Road, having heard so many wonderful things about it. What I experienced was truly inspiring, and I spent more than three hours wandering and exploring its fascinating and sprawling galleries occupying three storeys. The scale of this attraction rivalled that of the Melbourne Museum, another masterfully built museum.

Established back in 1861, NGV International is the oldest and most sizable public art gallery in Australia (and most probably the Southern Hemisphere). Located in the arts and leisure precinct in Southbank of Melbourne, it has a significant collection of about 63,000 artworks and artefacts. They include artworks from masters like Rembrandt, as well as ancient collections from Pre-Colombian America, Egypt, Rome and parts of Asia. The gallery has a sister museum – The Ian Potter Centre of NGV Australia at Federation Square – which focuses on Australian art. Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to visit that but I’ll definitely make a date to patronise it soon.

Are We Ready for Generation Y?

February 28, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

Courtesy of debaird

Came across this article on the definition of Gen Y folks (also called Millenials, Digitals and Echo Boomers) by Mark Healy which stated some possible responses by marketers to this generation should be. Quoting from the article, here’s what the definition of Gen Y-ers is like:

“Born: technically, 1977-1998. I’m talking about the group born post-1990, who are 0-19 years old right now. Optimistic and confident. Believe everyone should have their own path. Communicative but not necessarily classically social. View lifestyle as a right, not a privilege. Digitally trained. Don’t so much reject rules like Gen Xers, but see rules as irrelevant. Same with some institutions.”

Where Did Prostitutes and Drug Addicts Hang Out?

February 25, 2009 • Blog • 2 comments

The answer was St Kilda’s Beach – well, at least in the past. After many years of gentrification, the bayside resort area just south of Melbourne city has become a fashionable and swanky beach neighbourhood, attracting families, singles, seniors and anybody who wanted to spend a day at the beach. Other than the beach, the precinct also had a nice F&B and shopping belt along Acland Street, and a nifty little theme park (Luna Park). In a spirit of wanderlust, I decided to check it out last Sunday morning and bought a Sunday Saver tram pass (which cost AUD 3.10) and decided to explore this destination at the City of Port Philip.

Palm-lined roads greeted one along the ocean front, with festive carnival stalls on a Sunday peddling art souvenirs, T-shirts, and other wares.

Melbourne at Night

February 24, 2009 • Blog • 2 comments

Took these night photos while going on a tram ride throughout the city of Melbourne. The view of the Yarra River at night was simply stunning and the cool weather made it all the more pleasurable. I guess this also showcased the capability of my trusty Panasonic Lumix LX3 in handling night photographs – without a tripod!

View of Yarra River from St Kilda Road

Celebrating Responsible Living

February 22, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

As part of my long walk last weekend, I visited the Sustainable Living Festival held at Melbourne’s Federation Square just beside the Yarra River. It was a pretty interesting encounter for me and shows the extent to which environmental and social consciousness has taken root in this cosmopolitan and multi-cultural city. There were also several lessons to be learnt from my walk through the festival which may be useful for event and roadshow organisers in Singapore. They certainly pull out all of the stops to make the experience as thematic and holistic as they come – albeit in a socially responsible manner.

The only thing I can’t bring back though is the weather. Even though it is summer here in Melbourne, the temperature was a nice cool 22 to 23 deg Celcius, and the cool winds and dry weather made it even more comfortable.

Anyway, here goes…

Exploring Melbourne’s Picturesque Parks

February 21, 2009 • Blog • 2 comments

One of the reasons why I like Melbourne so far is because of its well manicured parks and gardens. In a way, the city is similar to Singapore, albeit with more stretches of greenery co-existing harmoniously with the concrete jungle. Coupled with the cool and dry weather, they make excellent locations for sport – lots of people run and cycle all hours of the day – having a picnic, having a snooze, or just reading a book or chilling with friends.

Being an outdoor person myself, I had to discover these parks and ventured on a very long walk today.

One of the first landmarks I saw on my walk through Victoria Street was this rather humorous though irreverent treatment of a former VIP of the city at a public park!

Scenes of Life along Swanston Street

February 19, 2009 • Blog • 3 comments

Today, I finally stepped into my campus officially for the first time as part of a series of briefings for international students. The briefings on what to look out for plus the dos and don’ts of varsity life was useful, although some of the points seemed more suited for primary school kids. Like the fact that you should look left and right before crossing the road, or that you should not talk to strangers etc.

After the briefings, we were treated to a BBQ lunch by the Graduate Student Association of the university which was highly popular as you can see below.

The only thing is that lunch wasn’t really barbecued meat, but more of a hamburger with either a lamb hotdog or a vegetarian burger patty!

Making Visitors Feel Truly Welcomed

February 18, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

During my walks around the city of Melbourne today – in between running a couple of errands here and there – I chanced upon the Melbourne Visitor Centre located at Federation Square along Flinders Street. The building itself was pretty nondescript as it was literally a glass box with a contemporary minimalist touch as you can see below.

However, what I experienced when I stepped inside totally blew me away! These guys have thought of possibly anything and everything needed to make a tourist feel welcomed, and they have gone to great lengths there.

Walking through Melbourne University

February 17, 2009 • Blog • 4 comments

Day two of my stay in Melbourne was full of largely administrative chores like opening a bank account (I chose Commonwealth Bank, which has more ATM outlets around the city), getting an Australian mobile line (Opted for 3, which is the most affordable option here), and purchasing other household items like detergent and food containers. I also took the opportunity to walk around the campus of the University of Melbourne to understand what’s available there and where the various buildings are located.

Sprawled across a vast compound at Parkville, which is just slightly north of the Melbourne CBD area, the University of Melbourne is Australia’s second oldest university which is established way back in 1852. It is considered one of the top universities in Australia for certain fields like law, arts, humanities and engineering. Because of its rich history, the buildings within the campus are an eclectic mix of old period architecture with distinctly European influence interspersed with newer more contemporary buildings.