Sunday, September 14, 2008

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2008...中秋節快楽!

Wishing Everyone a very Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2008...

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Sydney Biennale 2008...雪梨双年展 2008.....シドニーバイアヌアル2008....










As one should be aware by now, I'm always keen and ready to visit the latest exhibition at the art gallery or at some convention...and so I managed to catch the Sydney Biennale 2008 on its last day on the weekend...its held at a couple of locations around Sydney CBD and I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art as well as Cockatoo Island (yes! one of the venues was actually on an island and u had to take a 15 min free ferry shuttle service from Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour to the remote island which used to be a detention facility for criminals and convicts.)


I particularly enjoyed the Cockatoo Island venue though i'd never go back there again! Cos it was really eery with the art exhibitions and instalments placed within the abandoned buildings and sheds and tunnels running through the small island...many exhibits were held in dark sheds with no lighting...and many places were really dark and creepy;(
On the other hand, it was a fantastic experience being able to visit an island to see an art festival and walk through art instalments on an abandoned industrial/detention site...i think it was actually my 1st time to visit an abandoned industrial site in my whole time in Australia and definitely the first time for me to see such an art festival on an island as opposed to in a museum or art gallery!!

And I shall also be visiting another Biennale in a few months time (its in my plan anyway) at a different city somewhere in Asia...that would mean 2 Biennales in the space of less than 4 months...heheheh...

PS: Whilst going to the MCA, I encountered a big crowd surrounding a lady...it was one of those street performances again which are commonplace around Sydney (especially the tourist-packed areas)...decided to stay and have a look given the large crowd...it turned out to be a British woman here trying to earn some extra cash and she was to fit herself into a small glass cubicle....well what followed turned out to be extremely interesting it seemed...and NOT for the performance itself but her hilarious sexually-loaded jokes as she was preparing to perform the act...first she said to this lad (very good looking i may add, he's mate (or partner??) was too...) asking if he was 'with' the other guy whom was with him..and asking to 'borrow him'...hhhmmmm..kinda weird dun u think? ...she then had another male volunteer from the audience to come up so there were 2 in total...she asked one to hold open the glass lid and the cute one to bend down on all fours to act as a platform for her to climb up and into the cubicle...she said whist she was doing this 'have you done this before?' and the audience let out a laugh..she too..haha...we all knew what she was referring to...and then she pushed it further by saying if he were to go to prison, he would find himself in that position again since he's so such a handsome lad..yes! those were her own words...she then asked one of the volunteers to kiss her for goodluck on the cheeks n when he approached her to kiss her she suddenly kissed him on the lip..in front of his pregnant wife...hahaha...she did ask the crowd to give the wife a round of applause for being a good sport and allowing her to kiss her husband n even more, she said he must be 'loaded' after asking if the guy's wife was pregnant..hehe...she was so funny...

Bondi-Coogee Coastal Walk..Simply Amazing!!....邦迪至库及沙滩沿海道之旅...バンダイークウギイーの歩き道

Above: The day happened to be the Sydney City 2 Surf Marathon Fun Walk i think...and the guy is dressed up as a ninja turtle with green stockings...prob gay, hahaha...dun ask me why..

Above: The View Along the Coastal Walk



Above: The Stadium at Olympic Park...




Above: My footprints along Bondi Beach. Leaving my mark...hehehe

My cousin (the half-hk one) came over to sydney to visit last month from his working holiday in nz and I took him around after work and during weekends...brought him to all the usual suspects such as Bondi Beach, The Rocks, Sydney Opera House,etc...but the one place i discovered whilst researching on where to bring him was the supposedly famous Bondi-Coogee Coastal Walk...i hadn't been myself...so this was a perfect chance to go...its a 6km walk along the coast from Bondi Beach all the way to Coogee Beach, passing Tamarama Beach, Bronte Beach, and other coastal suburbs...I greatly enjoyed it and it takes roughly 2 hrs to complete...very walkable in my opinion...those who come to Sydney and have the spare time should consider trying it out, very worth your time, believe me!!

I also discovered the Royal Botanic Gardens, which is beside the Art Gallery of NSW (one of my favourite haunts nowadays..hehe...i've always had the art genes in me..) and the views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from the REG is simply spell-binding to say the least!!
Another place I went to during my cousin's stay in Sydney was the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains (which was really not very exciting..though i enjoyed the small town feel of Leura enroute..my first trip to rural NSW if i remember correctly...) and also the Sydney Olympic Park where the Sydney Olympic Games of 2000 were held...i enjoyed the place greatly...we were on a tour group and so had a quick drive thru complete with guided information by the tour guide...

Was a wonderful time spending time with my cousin on his this trip here...we also caught the Beijing Olympics Opening ceremony together, though, he dosed off after 30mins and i after an hour and a half or so...haha...cos we still had to wake up early the next morning for our Blue Mountains day tour...

More pix at my online photo album...