Alternative O-Week

So instead of attending the Uni's O-Week (Orientation read: party), I went to Brisbane to see my aunt's family, whom I haven't seen for...oh, six or seven years. So I flew to Brisbane after signing up for my photography class (yay Sina!), and have now decided that there is a very real possibility that I want to move to Australia when I am done with medical school and residency and all that jazz.

Firstly, Brisbane is located along the aptly named Brisbane River, and there are an abundance of bridges (like the Story Bridge shown, and I don't know what the story is...har har). If you don't know me, I like bridges. I think bridges are freaking awesome.

My aunt and uncle showed me around the city, and pointed out a bunch of places that I could go visit on my own the next day or whenever else. I think the thing I liked most about Brisbane is the fact that even though there are high-rises in the CBD (Central Business District), there isn't that feeling of pressure that I normally associate with densely packed tall buildings.

After dinner, we went to this little area called Little Paris, where there are mostly Italian restaurants. The name comes from this Eiffel Tower replica, with the words "Savoir Faire" on it, which ironically, is a brand of Italian cooking appliances. But misnomers aside, they serve scrumptious desserts. This picture does not do justice to the desserts. If you're ever in the area, go to La Dolce Vitta Caffe and get those desserts! Not pictured: a Lychee Spider, which is peach gelato in a glass with lychee soda. It is also quite delicious.

After dessert, we went to watch my cousin's basketball training. Basketball isn't that popular in Australia, but my cousin has loved the Lakers (oh ugh) for as long as I can remember. He trains on Tuesday nights, and they have games every Friday. But more on the basketball a little later.

The next day, I went for a little exploring of my own. The first stop was UQ, the University of Queensland, where I got on the CityCat--a ferry that goes along the Brisbane River, and you can hop on and off as you like. It sounds weird for someone from California, but the CityCat and other ferries are very regular modes of transportation, it seems. For me, I've decided that between the three modes of transportation: by air, by land, and by sea, I prefer the first two vastly over the last. I don't do motion sickness very well, even if it's never too bad.

One of my stops was North Quay, which is the closest stop to the CBD. There is a section of the CBD called Queen Street Mall (hereafter abbreviated QSM), which is filled with stores and malls and all that jazz. What I like most about it, however, is that this part of the CBD is exclusively for pedestrians. Below the QSM runs a bus depot, and if you go into any of the shopping centres along the side of the QSM, you can go down to the bus depot and hop on the buses. It's really rather ingenious in minimising traffic, and it also makes for a much more pleasant tourist experience. It makes me think about the infrastructure of cities like San Francisco, and how much it can be improved. Of course, the city of Brisbane is relatively new; its growth over the last few years is, according to my uncle, absolutely ridiculous, and so everything that's being built is the newest and best. But nevertheless, I am still impressed.

I walked from the QSM to the Shrine of Remembrance in ANZAC Square (so short it can hardly be called a walk), which commemorates the Battle of Gallipolli during World War I. Unfortunately, the Allies were badly beaten by the Ottoman Empire in the battle, but it was the first major battle undertaken by the joint military formation of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), so it's a pretty big deal here. As for the eternal flame, I want to say that it's dedicated to all the troops from both WWI and WWII, but I can't be 100% sure.

From there, I walked down to Riverside, and then got back on the CityCat, and went down to the South Bank. There's a bunch of stuff along the South Bank, including the State Library of Queensland, the Performing Arts Center, several Art Galleries, and this awesome little Nepalese Pagoda. It was constructed for the World Fair in Brisbane in 1988. Don't laugh, this is my attempt at an artsy picture.

On Thursday, I took a boat to Moreton Island, the third largest sand island in the world, after Fraser Island and North Stradbroke Island, all off the coast of Queensland. Moreton Island is really close to Brisbane, just an 80 minute boat ride. It's really gorgeous, and as you can see, not at all crowded. This might've had something to do with the fact that it was a weekday, and also during the school year for most people, but it was so calm and beautiful anyway.

There are a great many number of things you can do on the island, such as parasailing, kayaking, scuba diving, sand dune sliding, quad biking, to mention a few. I partook in the sand dune sliding, although there are no pictures, as well as the quad biking. Also, the most unique part of the resort is the opportunity to feed wild dolphins.

Yes, feed wild dolphins. There are no pictures of that, either, but I got a couple shots of dolphins when we were sitting on the jetty. Also, there were a bunch of pelicans in the morning, so I took about 80 pictures of pelicans. I'm not particularly fond of pelicans, but they were really cooperative in the picture-taking, so here they are.


Friday night, the basketball game! Some really bad action shots. I should learn how to use my camera better. Thank goodness for those photography classes, I guess.


Then, it was back to Sydney. School starts tomorrow--I'm actually kind of looking forward to it!