concert

Melbourne Trip

Posted on April 29, 2018

Got it in two.

So I went to Melbourne for a few days with R, J & T to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform with Joe Hasiashi, the music of Studio Ghibli films. Here’s what happened.

Thursday

Started the trip with a delayed flight, causing our arrival in Melbourne to be around 8:30pm. We caught a bus into the city and walked the rest of the way to our apartment, where we met up with T who had already checked in.

A quick rest to settle in, before heading downstairs to grab some pizzas for dinner at Roza’s (tandoori chicken was legit).

Friday

Friday night was the concert, so we had the day to explore and have fun. We had a good sleep, and took our time in the morning. We had decided to see a movie that day, so booked the tickets online at the cinema in the Crown, and left around midday.

We saw the new Avenger’s Infinity War movie, and opted to see it in a Vmax theatre. Spacious, comfortable seating, huge screen, Dolby Atmos sound system – definitely should be the standard for cinema experiences. The movie itself was good, albeit a bit confusing because I’ve missed a lot of the previous Marvel movies. I don’t even want to know what the budget for that movie was…

After the movie, we walked around through the city, seeing the different shops and restaurants around, before deciding to stop to eat at Betty’s Burgers. They make a pretty delicious burger. And they have some crazy cool desserts too.

A bit more of a wander, before heading back to the apartment to get ready for the concert. Once we were suitably fancied-up, we walked to the venue and eagerly took our seats. Then this happened for two hours.

It was a very special night. Joe Hasiashi seems like such a sweet old man. Hearing the music of the films played live with a big orchestra (not as big as shown in the video mind you) was such a treat. Made me want to watch all those films again.

But the night was not over yet! From the venue, we walked to the Crown and went into the casino. I got to watch R&J lose some money, despite my best button-pressing efforts. T had to head back early, so I opted to go too while R&J stayed a bit longer to meet up with J (okay this started as laziness, but now it’s just confusing… too late to go back now).

If you haven’t noticed by this point, while I did bring my camera to Melbourne with me, I hadn’t taken it out yet as I don’t have my camera bag and would have to carry it everywhere with me. But luckily, we had our whole Saturday with no plans, so I decided to make up for lost photos then. Speaking of which…

Saturday

Another late start this morning, as we had had a late night, and were in no rush to get anywhere. We had some breakfast at the apartment (the classic Nutella on toast), before heading out with some loose ideas of what we wanted to see. Camera in hand, we ventured across the river and started by ducking into a church for a quick look.

Then we crossed the street to go into one of the free galleries they had running, which was all about technology, past and present. They had exhibits related to film, animation, sound, the internet, video games, television and the like, a lot of it interactive. The games area was pretty dope.

After exploring the exhibition, and watching a bit of the experimental film they had running next-door, we headed off down Swanston Street, in search of the Overwatch mural. It was several blocks down before we found it, but we got there in the end. It was pretty cool.

From there, we walked in search of a few of the famous street art lanes, specifically Hosier and Union. Union wasn’t far, so we walked there and had a look, while stopping for J&T to get some lunch. R&J also bought Mario Kart for the Switch so we could have a tournament later. I decided not to eat lunch, so I could save room for what was coming later on…

We made it to Union lane and walked through. It’s cool, but quite a dank, dirty lane.

At this point, R&J decided to head back to the apartment to rest before our dinner venture. I walked with T to the next lane, Hosier, which I expected to be similar to Union. I was wrong.

Hosier was much bigger, more popular and just generally more interesting. There was a LOT more art to try to take in, with so many layers upon layers from different artists painting on top of each other. We spent a while there just looking around and taking photos, spotting new things when looking from different angles. I took a lot of photos…

It was definitely a highlight of the trip. After we left there, we came across the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria), which we had been looking for earlier, and so we stopped in to check out the free exhibits. They had three floors of Australian art, old and new. Paintings, sculptures, and everything in between. I didn’t take many photos inside, but boy was there some cool stuff.

And a couple more from upstairs:

Once finished there, we walked back to the apartment, feet sore, stomach empty. A bit of a rest (some photo-processing time for me), and it was out to dinner. We had booked to eat at Gami Chicken and Beer, on A’s fervent recommendation. He had been hyping this chicken for months (Korean fried), so we were eager to try it.

We found the sneaky restaurant and ordered bulk chicken, with the four different sauces, so we could try them all. Now, I will say, it wasn’t life changing as A had made it out to be. I’m not a different person now having tasted this chicken. But, it was pretty damn good chicken. We struggled to eat it all, ending up with some leftovers to take home, though we put in a solid effort. I ate waaay too much, but no regrets.

Somehow we managed to walk back home, and prepare ourselves for the Mario Kart tournament. J came over too so we could catch up and have some not-so-friendly, competitive games. Not that you asked, but yes I did win most rounds.

After many games, laughs and screams, we concluded our final night in Melbourne, took one last polaroid photo, and called it a night (except me, I’m writing this).

Tomorrow we have to wake early, get ready, pack up and clean the room before checking out by 10am. Then we’ll have a couple hours to roam around and get some lunch, before heading to the airport to catch our flight at 2:30pm.

Though we were only here a few days, we managed to do a lot which I’m happy about. Melbourne is a really interesting city and a lot of fun to explore. I’m looking forward to returning some day, hopefully sometime soon!

Signing off now. I need sleep.

Day 25 – Zagreb

Posted on July 21, 2017

We’ve had one yes, but what about second breakfast?

Our hotel has a buffet breakfast included, so we didn’t have to worry about that. After we ate, we got ready to head out and just started exploring the local area. There is pretty good signage around pointing out the various museums and other landmarks around, of which there appears to be a lot.

We walked down to the nearby square, where there was a market and a folklore festival of sorts happening, with a stage set up and performances by a range of different groups from various countries. They played instruments, sang and danced in traditional fashion.

After listening for a while, we walked around some more before needing a break from the intense heat (well over 30 degrees), so we stopped into a place we came across called Tolkien’s House. There were some LoTR references around and on the menu, but it turned out to be a pretty shallow use of the name.

We had a nice cold drink though and a chance to rest, before continuing on and getting to a large cathedral. There were also some interesting old walls and buildings around the church.

From there, we walked back to the hotel, stopping into a supermarket to get water and a few supplies. After a rest, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner which was a short walk away. We ordered some bread and a pizza as a starter to share, as they were quite cheap.

When they were brought out, we realised how big the portions were. We actually didn’t finish them, as we needed to save room for our mains. Speaking of which, those came out and were huge too. Everything was so good though, and we did our best to get through it all. Was way too full to try the dessert unfortunately, but we may go back another day to try some new dishes.

After dinner, we headed back to the main square, as the folklore concert was supposed to continue from 7pm, and lo, it was in full swing when we arrived. We watched a couple of the performances (from Iraq, then Macedonia) before calling it a night. I got mostly videos of the performances, so not many photos to share.

Tomorrow we’ll likely check out all the museums and galleries in the area.

Day 21 – Prague

Posted on July 17, 2017

What can you see, on the horizon?

Let me preface with: no camera today. Sometimes you just need a break from the extra weight of a camera/bag and a chance to experience the day without worrying about photos. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Our day began in the usual fashion at the apartment, before we headed out to visit Prague Castle, stopping into a church on the way. We didn’t realise how big the castle was though and how many different things there were to see inside.

We spent some time just walking around, checking out the buildings, churches, gardens and panoramic views the castle offered. I’m probably going to go back there tomorrow with my camera and spend the day exploring it properly, as the others want to do some shopping.

After that, we trekked back towards our apartment, and went to find some dinner. There was a highly recommended burger place near our apartment, so we walked there and it surely did live up to the reviews. Delicious burger, good atmosphere/music and pretty good prices.

We then had a short rest at the apartment before going to a nearby gallery which was hosting a concert we had booked tickets for in the morning. It was a Czech guitar duo, who had arranged and performed various classical songs in a small venue. Was a nice way to end the night.

Photos and details about the castle to come tomorrow.

Day 18 – Nice

Posted on July 14, 2017

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

Today was Bastille Day, and an interesting day it was. There was a bit of a solemn, tense mood throughout the city, rather than the usual celebratory festivities and fireworks, due to the terrorist attack in Nice last year on this day.

This year they had some serious security on the streets, including police and military personnel.

Our day started with a breakfast at the hotel, before walking down to the beach area, where we believed most of the events were taking place.

We went first to Quai des Etats-Unis, where they were handing out coloured square tiles to lay out in a large formation to spell out the phrase Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité in large letters, to be read/photographed from above. Each tile also contained the 86 names of the victims of the attack last year. It was nice to be a part of that homage.

We then walked up the main street along the coast, seeing all of the messages, flowers and tributes to the victims along the way.

There were however still lots of people out on the streets, walking, chatting, swimming at the beach, and still enjoying the day as best they could in the presence of armed forces.

We decided to stop into a cafe to get some water (and shade), as the sun was relentless. We got a snack too (I had some Nutella crepes). It was nice to just spend some time looking out over the main street, listening to the surprisingly on-point music from the cafe.

After a while, we walked down around the beach some more, and settled down in the shade of a tree to rest once the heat got to us again. Once we had recovered, we walked up the street a bit to where they had fenced off the street and a large crowd of people were lining the barricades. We assumed this was going to be where a parade/march of some sort was scheduled.

It was meant to start at 4:30pm, but we waited a while and nothing seemed to be happening. It was hard to figure out what/where/when events were on since everything was in French (surprisingly). Just as we were losing hope, some jets flew overhead, leaving blue, white and red smoke trails.

Soon after, military troops marched through the street to applause, but they soon walked past and seemingly nothing else was happening. There was supposed to be an appearance by President Macron, which is why most people were waiting around there, but after some more waiting, we were told it was too late and he would not be coming anymore.

We later found out he did come to Nice though and give a speech, but it was in another area, and later in the day I believe. Would have been better if we had a better idea of the day’s schedule, but oh well. It was dinner time anyway. We walked a bit and found a Greek restaurant which looked good. And it was. Also there was this dog just chilling in the middle of the street.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel briefly to refresh, before walking to the venue where they were having a concert (orchestra and choir), which was actually the same park we visited on our first day here (with the water spraying fountain things). We didn’t have much of a view of the stage, but there were screens we could watch, and could still listen.

There was a solid chunk of speeches to begin with (I think that’s what they were, hard to tell when you don’t speak French). After a while of this, the orchestra began to play, which was nice classical music. We didn’t stay until the end as the others were tired and wanted to head back, as we have to get up super early tomorrow.

I actually didn’t get too many photos today, as there weren’t many great opportunities, but I did get a lot more video which was nice. Tomorrow we wake up early to catch our flight to Prague.

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