While four unknown singers were singing Advance Australia Fair, a boat carrying choir sailing into the harbour. It was a magical moment. It reminded me the scene of the Australian National Anthem was sung by Human Nature and Julie Anthony during Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony. 

The drums and fireworks choreography was astounding as the combination gave us orchestrated live performance. This was something lack of during the New Year Eve 2006 Fireworks.  

Perhaps, due to the fireworks were confined in much smaller area compared to the New Year Eve Fireworks, the impact of the fireworks was much significant. At one stage, we could hardly see the fireworks as the sky were penetrated by the smoke caused by the fireworks. 

 

 

Interesting stories/ facts about Australia:

26 January 1788 was the date on which the First Fleet, under Captain Arthur Phillip arrived at Sydney Cove and set up the Colony of New South Wales. First Fleet is the name given to the 11 ships which sailed from Great Britain in May 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales. It was a convict settlement, marking the beginnings of transportation to Australia. (1) Consequently, it used be a controversial arguments on naming January 26 as the national day. 

Australia Day is also called Foundation Day, Anniversary Day, Survival Day, Invasion Day, Day of Mourning and Protest (by some Indigenous Australians) Australia’s six colonies federated into one nation on 1 January 1901. Western Australia was not even claimed by Britain until 19 September 1829. (2)

Advance Australia Fair is not the first and only national anthem. The song was firstly performed in 1878, but only gained its status as national anthem in 1984 to replace God Save the Queen. A national plebiscite was held in 1977 to choose the National Song. Advance Australia Fair received 43.6% of the vote, defeating the three alternatives: Waltzing Matilda (28.5%), Song of Australia (9.7%), and the then-current national anthem God Save the Queen (18.7%). (3) Waltzing Matilda is still an “unofficial anthem” until now. Widely sang during sports to cheer the Aussie teams.

Perhaps, former Cabinet Minister Amanda Vanstone, who was ditched by John Howard during recent Cabinet reshuffle thought the history of Advance Australia Fair was not dramatic enough by creating unleashing her new national anthem recently. What’s more laughable: It took her 6 years to write the lyrics with intention to make Australians feel proud of their country.

Advance Australia Fair Lyrics

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in Nature’s gifts Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage Advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing, “Advance Australia fair!”
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing “Advance Australia fair!”

For more fireworks pictures, browse my photo gallery - cedimage.com

(1) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet
(2) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day
(3) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Australia_Fair

 

 

I didn’t have good first impression of Shanghai as Pudong Airport is an old-fashion designed airport. After touring around Shanghai, I can conclude that the airport is no longer suit the image of Shanghai although the departure hall is much modernised compared to the arrival hall.

On my way from the airport to the city, I noticed a drastic change of scenery from village, farms to skyscrapers. The government also tries to ‘hide’ the rural area by planting bamboos along the road. (Bamboos are tall and dense.)

Our first tourist destination was Shanghai Bund, the Hungpu Riverbank of Puxi, the old town in the west Huangpu River oversees Pudong of the eastern bank of Huangpu River, the new financial district (the financial central of China). From there you can see a great contrast between a new modern city and old-but-well-reserved old buildings across Huangpu River.

Cruising along Huangpu River is a must. The pictures say it all– it is the best way to see the mix of sophisticated and historical city. Main attractions such as the Oriental Pearl Tower and other modern buildings in Pudong, The Shanghai Bund and the lights contribute to your scenic night cruise. Oriental Pearl Tower is the tallest structure in China and it was designed based on Chinese instrument named lute.

As Shanghai Bund was used to be British and American settlements (also known as International Settlement) back in the late 19th and early 20th century, you can see western-style buildings along the riverbank. The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bund)

Nevertheless, you haven’t really seen the old town until you leave the city central. We were staying at a four-star hotel but surrounded by some old building in Puxi. This gave us a chance to see the older side of Shanghai and to try some local ‘street cuisine’. As we were wandering around the town nearby the hotel at night, I was asked by a girl “Do you want girl?” Obviously, she was offering prostitution service to me.

Before leaving to Shanghai, I was frequently warned by my friends about how dangerous to wander around without tour guide in China. I have been told about robbery and kidnapping tourists cases in China. (N.B. this is according to my friends without statistics to support the statement.) Anyhow, it is always a safe practice to travel in group and with tour guide wherever you go.

Nanjing Road is a famous and busy shopping mall just like Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. In fact, Shanghai is a shopping heaven especially when you hold strong currency.

We were so lucky to feel the ‘Spring Snow’ on our last day in Shanghai. This picture was taken at Jade Buddha Temple.

Find Gucci, Armani, D&G and many others for dirt cheap price at XiangYang market. In other words, this is a market sells a lot of counterfeit designer goods. According to my tour guide, this place won’t last long since the government is currently combating imitation.

Chenghuang Miao Shopping Mall. I like the old wooden buildings in this area. Apparently, there is a restaurant selling the best Shanghai Pork Bun. You need to wait for at least one hour to be served. I love food but I gave up. Almost impossible to spend an hour waiting for food when you are travelling in group.

It was the end of 15-days Chinese New Year celebration. Red is the lucky colour according to Chinese culture. Consequently, we saw a lot red lanterns and colourful Chinese New Year themed decoration around the city during our tour such as this one in the picture.

“Better City, Better Life” is the theme of Expo 2010, which is another world-class event to be held in China after Beijing 2008 Olympics. I believe this event will keep Shanghai booming with more skyscrapers mushrooming around the city.

P.S. Shanghai is the first city in my China series. During my 8-day tour in China, I saw modernisation greets the ancient world. In fact, it is quite scary to see the current development of China. Gigantic constructions were seen in many cities. I will reveal more in my coming China series. Stay tuned and don’t forget to check out my photo gallery for more photos taken in Shanghai.

 

Sydney New Year’s Eve Fireworks was always the biggest event attracted huge crowd to pack the city. This year fireworks surprised me with the fireworks display from the high-rise buildings in the city. It was congruent with the theme “A Diamond Night in Emerald City” and this is something that had not been seen in the recent years. The scale of fireworks display from the buildings was seen greater than the millennium fireworks and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

However, it also disappointed me with the simple ending at the Harbour Bridge. The fireworks were ended while I was waiting for the climax. 75th birthday of Harbour Bridge made me expect more focus on the bridge. I guessed with the equivalent budget as previous year, once the fireworks were channelled to the buildings there were limited effects could be done on the Harbour Bridge.

For some people, new year was about celebrating the achievement in the past year. For some people, new year indicates new hope after experiencing the rough ride in the past year. For some people, new year was about partying – another so-called valid reason to get drunk.

For me, I just began the new year with fireworks photography disaster. This was my first time taking still photos. It was proven much harder than using a video cam. I also learned that location is equally important as equipment and technique. I reached Opera House at about 3.30pm but the place was packed earlier than I thought. As a result, without using the tripod as it was meant to be, taking fireworks photos was a disaster. What more annoying was standing behind someone who was clapping his hands to acknowledge the excellent fireworks without realising he was blocking others’ view and photography.

The party is over. For those who have been struggling in life in the past, I wish the new year can bring you new hope and the new calendar can inspire you to strive for the best for your life. For those who have had a good ride in the past year, I wish your success will continue. For those don’t have reason to celebrate about, you may want to start your plan and outline your goals to be attained in the next 363 days.

Everybody, Happy New Year!

Hours before the event, this boat attracted us to shoot some photos. It’s very interesting but I don’t know the reason behind it. Perhaps, you can tell me. Let me know by adding your comments if you know why.

A lot of people did something silly during the new year celebration. These are 2 of them.

P.S.

January is about Sydney Festival. I will write a few articles on this theme. Check out “What’s On?” for more info on Sydney Festival (and some handpick events).

 

On 26^th December, when I was passing by Pitt Street Mall, I was not only surprised by the crowd around that area but also Policemen were employed to guard the entrance of Myer department store to control crowd.

Although I was thinking to buy something from the highest level, I gave up as soon as I was reaching the ground floor in the afternoon. How to shop when you barely can stand still? Of course many could as they were smiling while carrying their shopping bags out of the store.

Long queues in front of Bally and Gucci: I never thought of people would line up to enter luxury boutique.

For me, Boxing Day is another public holiday to rejuvenate after Christmas party. Cricket fans may spend most of their day in front of TV on watching Boxing Day Test Match. For some people, it’s about Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. And for many others, Boxing Day is about great bargain, a day you couldn’t be late to enter a department store.

For interesting read on the origins of Boxing Day, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_day

Diamond in a coat hanger symbolise75th Anniversary and Sydney Harbour Bridge’s nick name is coat hanger contributed by its shape and design. In the past, the climax of the firework display was ended at the Harbour Bridge, followed by the “Bridge Effect”. So, this graphic will be lit up with special lights projection after the fireworks finale. However, great amount of fireworks may cause smoky scene blocking the clarity of this “Bridge Effect”. So, it will be worthwhile for you to wait for a couple more minutes after the fireworks show. I am a fan of green colour fireworks, it is reasonable for me to expect more as this year theme is about Emerald City. I even suspect the Opera House will be “painted” with emerald colour at the end of the Midnight Fireworks. Not a surprise to see the diamond and green colour again on the flag when the theme is “A Diamond Night in Emerald City”. The diamond is transformed into flower with green stems denote the Waratah, NSW floral emblem. I think the zig-zag lines stand for the harbour bridge. So, I deduce this combination correspond to the blooming Sydney City in the past 75 years. There are a few vantage points for great fireworks viewing, which are available on http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nye/VantagePoints/Default.html. My favourite place is the front court of the Opera House. This place will be packed on that day, my tips are:

• Get there early. Some people did start their picnic in the morning. I normally went there at about 3pm and still manage to get a good spot.
• How to pick a good spot? Take out your camera or video cam, ensure the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge fit in your screen.
• Don’t bring glasses and alcohol as they are prohibited (security check at the entrance).
• Bring enough drinks and food as once you leave the premises, you may not be granted the admission again (Capacity applied at every vantage point. For Opera House, it is 6,000). Tune into 104.1 2DayFM for fireworks’ soundtracks. Trust me; this is going to enhance your enjoyment.

Back in 2002 (if my memory is right), the 9pm was cancelled caused by the bad weather – too windy condition. Pray for a good weather.

Factual info of this post is obtained from “The Official Event Guide for 2006 Sydney New Year’s Eve” published by City of Sydney. The official website: www.sydneynewyearseve.com

P.S. Come back to check out the fireworks picture after the midnight of 1 January. I’ll post them as soon as practicable.

In fact, it is a battle between Christmas themed flags and New Year Eve themed flags around the city. Since 23 November, Macquarie Night Lights is back by ‘painting’ the buildings with colourful drawings at Macquarie Street. Macquarie Night Lights Projections will conclude on Christmas Day.

Before and after lighting of Conservatorium of Music at Macquarie Street

Let’s uncover the Christmas Spirits. I think it’s pointless for me to write a long winded blog, the pictures are self-explanatory. If these pictures are not enough to entice you to play Christmas songs, check out my photo gallery - cedimage.

Sydney Harbour

State Library of NSW

NSW Parliament House

Hyde Park Barracks

Christmas Tree at Myer of Pitt Street Mall & Darling Harbour

Christmas Tree at QVB

While you may be queuing up in front of shopping complex on the Boxing Day, I may spend my day to write about New Year Eve celebration. Tips on best location for fireworks display will be included in this blog. So, if you are celebrating the new year in Sydney don’t forget to check this out after your shopping spree. Wherever you be, I wish you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

P.S. Webjet has kick start its air ticket bargains; you don’t need to wait for Boxing Day Sales.

On the Christmas Eve, we touched down Ayers Rock airport. The heat hit us as soon as we stepped out from the airplane. We couldn’t feel the humidity in the air at all. This kind of desert weather could only be experienced at Outback in Australia. Our first destination was Kata Tjuta (Olgas).

Kata Tjuta is aboriginal name that mean ‘many heads’ as you can see from the picture. It is 546 metres above the plain and 1,066 metres above sea level. We hike through the 7.4-km “Valley of the Winds” as it is too steep for climbing (In fact, it is forbidden to climb as Kata Tjuta is a sacred place for Aborigines). However, walking under hot-and-dry weather with temperature more than 36oC was a test by itself.

Day 2 was a very special Christmas Day not only because seeing the sunrise at Uluru (Ayers Rock) but climbing up Uluru was a fantastic experience. It was a big challenge especially right after the first part of the journey, where no rails were available for us to hold while climbing up the steep slope.

At the peak of Uluru, the view was astounding. In the middle of no way, this giant rock offers such big platform with 360 degree views of the flat land. Uluru is 348 metres above the plain and 863 metres above sea level with about 10-km circumference. Consequently, you can imagine how astonishing this giant rock created by the Mother Nature. Surrounded Uluru are some little vegetation, red-coloured desert and some higher grounds such as Kata Tjuta is seen from a very far distance. Uluru is simply an undisputable Australia icon.

High satisfaction was gained at the peak and the way down wasn’t as tough as we though. I was glad at the end of the journey for our determination to reach the peak of Uluru. We didn’t manage to see beautiful sunset view of Uluru on the day before due to cloudy weather but the climbing experience of Uluru certainly paid off.

However, after the climb, I was shocked to read from the notice board (the one I didn’t notice as I was too eager to climb) many lives were claimed throughout the years at Uluru and it was advised that not to climb Uluru. I have to thank the generosity of the Aborigines community for allowing the Government to build the route path at Uluru for climbers although they against people climbing since Uluru is a sacred place for them.

After Uluru, we headed to Kings Creek, a place close to King Canyon for the next day. On that evening, we witnessed very beautiful sunset as you can tell from the picture. I made a 7-minute video clip that I still enjoy watching every now and then.

Day 3 at Wartarrka (Kings Canyon). I felt like I was in ‘Indiana Jones’ while hiking around the canyon rim with 6-km climb for the breathtaking views of 300 metres to the canyon floor. The beehive formation of the ‘Lost City’ rocks and the lookout that required swimming across a waterhole at ‘Garden of Eden’ were 2 thumbs up.

You simple can’t ask for more since Kings Canyon has such a wide array of distinct landscapes to offer in addition to the mystical rock and stone formation.

Mount Conner is another astonishing icon; it is unbelievable flat like a big table placed on the plain. We didn’t reach Mount Conner; just managed to have a nice view from far on our way to Alice Springs. According to my tour guide, it is quite costly to climb Mount Conner.

Day 4, started the day by viewing sunrise from a hot-air balloon. It’s the easiest challenge apart of getting up at 2.39am. No many scenic views but the experience was superb as it was my first time floating on a hot-air balloon.

In the afternoon, we took a 24-hour train journey. It was a tremendous train journey for seeing the change of the vegetation (from desert plants to tropical rain forest) as we crossing the red-coloured desert (Centre of Australia) to tropical land (Top End). Since I was boarding on economic class, I couldn’t access the luxury train facilities provided for first class passengers. However, we still manage to shower on the train I noticed water was flowing out directly to the desert while showering. I just wondered what would happen to shit and urine.

After spending few days at red-sand desert, the greenery at Ubirr, Kakadu on Day 6 was extraordinary bright for me. In fact, it was brilliant green.

Would you believe if I tell you the gigantic object in front of the people is a termite mound? It’s also named ‘The Cathedral of the North’ and it’s claimed 50 years old.

Started Day 7 in rain on a moderately steep climb to Gunwarddehwarde lookout to view this impressive Nourlangie Rock. This place is known for its ancient living shelters and variety of ‘art galleries’ (rock art).

In fact, there are too many pictures and oodles of good experience to share with you. You have to check my photo gallery or come here to experience by yourself. Be prepared for a physical-intensive journey and reasonable level of fitness is definitely required. I’ll have to go back to the ‘Top End’ as there are many beautiful places that I yet to explore.

I wish you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - creating your very own unforgettable Christmas/ New Year celebration.

Oops, I wrote too much this time, the next post will be more picture dominated with Christmas spirit themed. For those e-newsletters subscribers, I heard Santa has started wrapping your presents. If you haven’t, you still have time. Special gifts will be sent out in conjunction with next post. Ho! Ho! Ho!

P.S. Soon after Christmas (most probably after my Christmas party hangover), my next post will be about New Year Eve celebration. Tips on selecting best location to view the fireworks display will be included in this blog.

Thanks to Rose for her contribution of most of the Outback photos.

At almost every weekend, I used to have three-kilometre run from my house to the beach then to Bass & Flinders Point and back to my home. I enjoy seeing surfers surfing, kids building their sand castles, people walking their dogs, pushing their kids in prams, families were out for picnic or barbecue, and people were waiting for seats at a café by the beach. That’s all about Cronulla, a good place for friends and families to hang out under the sun.

Unfortunately, Cronulla was put on international map caused by Cronulla Riots incident last year. For what I had seen and experienced, I was disbelieved to see the Cronulla Riots news was broadcasted on local TV stations when I were on overseas holiday. Tolerance, a simple word but not that easy as it sounds is the key to avoid the repeat of such incident.

Just taking Australian Idol 2006 as an example, the quality of Top 10 contestants superseded the previous seasons. And what notable is the acceptance of voters on ‘foreign bloods’. The winner is Damien Leith, who is an Irish (an Australian Permanent Resident who yet a citizen), the runner up is an outback girl who own both aboriginal and Indonesian blood and the third place was succeeded by Dean Geyer who is originally from South Africa. If we could accept an Irish to be named Australian Idol, why can’t we accept the beauty of multiculturalism in this country?

In our daily life, if we can open our heart to understand and tolerant with others’ cultures like how we acknowledged and rewarded the Australian Idol contestants according to their talents (regardless they are native Australians or otherwise), we all can live peacefully and enjoy better life.

Christmas and beach is almost extricably linked in Australia as we don’t have white Christmas. Same goes to multiculturalism, which is congruent with the increase of migration of foreigners from year to year. Cronulla is in fact a good place to celebrate Christmas especially for those residing in the south of Sydney city. For those Sydneysiders who want to get away from the crowded Bondi beach, Cronulla can be a very good alternative.

On the eve of Cronulla Riots anniversary, I hope the last year’s incident will not repeat this year. Cronulla Riots served as a reminder for all of us – ‘tolerance is the key of unity and peace’.

Cronulla Mall during Spring Festival

Oat Park Pavilion

Bass & Flinders Point

Nevertheless, stronger Christmas atmosphere can be felt around Pitt Street Mall, where the merchants have done a pretty good job (and early) to remind the customers to start their Christmas shopping. Among the notable ones is David Jones’ Christmas window dressing. The lively puppets are the central of attraction for the crowds and cameras. So, one day when you wonder when Christmas is, come to Pitt Street mall, let the Christmas jingles, the vivid coloured Christmas deco and the shopping atmosphere prompt you Santa Claus is coming to town!

P.S. More pictures will be uploaded to Christmas Special Photo Gallery in coming weeks.

Upcoming Christmas Events:

24th Annual Carols in the Domain will be held on 16 December 2006. The organiser claims it is the Australia’s largest Christmas event. I went there 2 years ago, and watch the live telecast from Seven Network on the other year. Based on my experience, picnic at the park with thousands of people is more enjoyable than sitting in front of TV with a big bucket of pop corns. I will be there this year.

Pre-show performance starts at 3.00pm and the concert commences at 8.30pm. And it is FREE! For more info: http://www.carolsinthedomain.com/

For those will be celebrating Christmas in Melbourne, you may want to mark you calendar on this event. Carols by Candlelight will be held in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl (in the gardens of King’s Domain Park) on Christmas Eve (24 December).

Pre-show entertainment starts after 7pm and the main event starts at 9pm. Another reason why you should consider to go, all proceeds raised from Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight® go towards enabling children who are blind or vision impaired to access and participate in every part of life they choose. For more info: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=1185

Pretty Women by the Sea

The women sculpture is coloured by the elements behind it. On a sunny day like today, I am convinced the pretty women won’t feel lonely. And obviously, the artist knows what Bondi is stand for.

Little Sculptures

 

Can’t find a better place to feature these little sculptures. The cliff accentuates the arts. Excellent job!

 

Plant?

This is another good example of well use of the background. The sculptures portraits a great contrast to the colour of the rocks with the delusion of the plant is growing on the rocks.

More or Less

 

I like this sculpture as we can see the word more from the front angle while the same four characters formed the word ‘Less’ if we see the from 90 degree side angle.

 

What’s more?

The Sculptures by the Sea will be ended by 19 November. For those who are in Sydney, you should grab this chance to have a coastal walk while appreciating the arts. And have a sun bathing at Bondi to get tanned for summer.

City Rail offers extended service in conjunction of Sculpture by the Sea event while there are free soft drinks available (promotion activity by a soft drink company). Information is accurate as at 11 November. Don’t blame me if you don’t get free drinks.

P.S. For more pictures of the sculptures, visit http://www.cedimage.com/ (my photo gallery).

Sydney (November 11, 2006)