plus qu’hier moins que demain

Just like how boyfie yearn for his Europe, there is a place I keep close to my heart -  Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne has a vibrant art and cultural scene which I like a lot. Everywhere I go, I see art. In its people, in the architecture, in random laneways, in performances, everything, anything!

Octopus lights in one of the restaurants that I dined in.

Giant purse seat in the middle of nowhere. I went to try it on another day when it was bright and sunny and it was surprisingly comfortable. Hiak hiak.

Busking is rampant in Melbourne, and most of them are good. This band near Queen Victoria’s Market played the most beautifully haunting music I have ever heard in a long while. They managed to capture a sizeable audience and err.. an entranced fan. Watch the video below [pardon the lousy quality]!

Did anyone catch this episode of Southpark where the guys decided to busk and make $$? It reminded me of this Aussie group!

Some gathering near Federation Square. It’s like Singapore Day in London, only that this is ____ Day in Melbourne.

Look!! My favourite animation company! They were celebrating 20 years in the animation industry and had an exhibition in Federation Square.

All of us decided to do the shameless photo-taking thang.

Instead of Nemo, I found.. Idontknow.. Nemo’s friend?

Also by Pixar. 

 Getting all cuddly with the creatures from Monsters Inc. Where was my Boo??

This dude is Mike, I believe. Urm, I half-unconsciously disregarded the security posts. Everyone was climbing in to take photos with the two monsters and I did the same without much thought! I only realised there were posts on my second visit to the centre. Oops.

Melbourne City may be a cosmopolitan place but it sure has its quaintness.

Horses that stank to high heavens but were very pretty. I love to hear the sound of their hooves clopping down the streets. But the smell….

I am a chess noob, but this life-size chess game on the street outside my hotel [Victoria Hotel] looked really fun! The owner of the cafe [which is in the background of the photograph] will set up the chess set almost every late afternoon if the weather is fine and dandy, and challenge people to play.

I wonder what those sprayed words mean. Oooh, the cheese cake factory makes wonderful cakes! I was tempted to buy a whole cake from them.

I was walking back to my hotel one evening when I saw this crossing the road. Laughs.

He parked himself by a tree and stood there quietly, not doing anything. -_-” I felt a bit mind-whacked.

How could one not smile at that?

Giant clock. I think this was in Melbourne Square.

High up on a wall where people won’t notice unless they sit down and crane their necks back.

Some marketing thang for a radio station very close by my hotel.

Laughs. That’s the band’s name. They were playing to a big crowd at Queen Victoria’s Market, and people kept going up to get their cds and shirts.

The crowd chilling and listening to The Band Who Knew Too Much.

I met up with my junior, April, for dinner one night and we passed by this guy who stood there with annoying noises coming out of his boombox. April commented irritably that he was the most useless and irritating busker she has ever encountered in Australia and “one day if I leave Melbourne for good, I will walk past him and throw something heavy at him”. *rofl*

Superman entertaining kiddos and their parents near a weekend market.