Sunday 28 June 2015

Australia, Melbourne (Street Art + 1 Cafe)


My walk in Melbourne city gets more and more interesting each time I took a different route. I like the buildings in Melbourne. There's an eclectic mix of Victorian, neo-classical and corporate modern architecture. Well, I'm not an expert in architecture but I'm slowly learning to identify and appreciate most of the building structures that I came across. 
























The Theosophical Society caught my eyes here. It would be great to hear the perspectives of the theosophical society on spiritual development and the nature of God. I guess I've often heard from people who claimed to be atheists; it could be a pain talking to them whenever you get around the subject of a supreme being. 

Having said this, I don't have anything against atheist. In fact, I know quite a number of atheists and also those in between because you don't really know whether they have a religion or not.






























Interesting find here. I would like to get my hands on those rare books. Does it mean that I have to wear gloves to handle the books? I didn't manage to enter the shop though as it was not opened yet at that time. 





























We came across the public toilets along Collins Street. They may look common but I find them pretty interesting.























That's the LV building across the street, surrounded by many high rise office buildings. It's a strategic location, a living magnet to the executives working in those big corporations.































This structure at Hosier Lane intrigued me. Is what I'm seeing a minaret? But there's no sign of a mosque. Hmm.

I enjoyed admiring the graffiti in this lane. The lane has the best graffiti as compared to other areas in Melbourne. 




What's interesting about the street art in Melbourne is that the artwork will change continually. Today, you'll see an artwork, the next time you come around, it will be a different artwork. This is to say that the art scene here is so cool and very much 'alive'!! 

We saw some street artists working while we visited some of the lanes. The newly painted wall smelled of fresh paint and we had to be careful when we walk through so as not to step over on the paint buckets and brushes. 
























A werewolf is best kept behind bars. I wonder how the artists put this painting behind the bars. 































I love the monster photo. Is the monster a cartoon character?


Another form of art work. This time, with shoes hanging above us on a tightrope.































We also visited the street arts at Stevenson Lane. 






































What's unique about Stevenson Lane is that you get to see the paintings of Ned Kelly. This is the only lane that features Ned Kelly.























We had done a lot of walking, so we decided to take a rest at the Emporium and had some tea. Yeay!! I've been blogging about cafe-hopping lately and I wanted to hop cafes in Melbourne. Well, I ended up visiting only one due to the limited time I had. Huhu... I'm still feeling blue over this.


So here we were... at the Tea Salon!! A very nice place.
























They have really pretty teacups in the house. I wish I have one like this. The decoration was very princess-like and the service was the best I had ever experienced. I was in good-spirit when I left Tea Salon, and was ready for more fun and adventure.
























There was a variety of scones from the display. I love mine and dipping it with cheddar makes it even tastier. I finished off my scone with an equally tasty Turkish Apple Rose Tea. It was one, satisfying meal. Besides scones, there were also cakes and sandwiches, but I didn't get to try those.

In the evening, we went to witness some activities at the Federation Square. This place is so vibrant because there's always something happening here each night.























We joined a large crowd to watch a presentation by a group of environmental activists. They created an awareness on industrial pollution that had caused damage to the Great Barrier Reef. There was also a petition going around to halt all industrial developmental activity in the Great Barrier Reef. 

This is an eye-opener to me because it is the first time I see activists politicizing their mission in a public space. To me, they are very creative and admirable.




















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This was another artwork display in the Federation Square, known as the Molecules of Light. It's an award winning art work by UK Artist, Chris Levine, in commemoration to the International Year of Light. 

The artist used laser light to "create a sense of infinite and ever-changing nature in life" (quoted from a webpage). This sounded kind of alien to me and I guessed I'm not that philosophical to comprehend what it meant. Boo... to me.























The laser effect was programmed in a 1-hr cycle by the artist, so I waited for the laser to come around and wow!! The effect was stunning. Laser lights is so powerful. When I pondered more about laser lights, I begun to see the artist's connection with how laser lights has grown to have so many functions in our lives. 

Laser lights could either be used to benefit or destroy usIt depends on how you want to use it, just like nuclear energy. There are many benefits of laser light such as in medical surgery and industrial engineering. So is this why the artist was so fascinated with this light?? 























I'll end my post with this night view picture of the Flinders Street Station and The St Paul Church. Ciao.

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