Brisbane - 7 to 15 Feb 2009

This will likely be a brief post (in terms of words) on my recent trip to Brisbane.

Its not that there isnt much to talk abt Brisbane, but just tat my recent trip there was more of a Rest & Relax nature so we din have much on our list of "to-dos" and basically let each day overflow to the next.

Photo of the Clock Tower of the City Hall in Brisbane City


City Hall in Brisbane City


I just absolutely love the architectural building in Australia, though I only found a few in Brisbane. One of them is a Casino, of which the building glows in varying coloured (pink, purple, red, green, blue) lights at night. Personally I think the lights spoilt the magnificent image of the building and some of the coloured lights made the building looked kind of eerie.

A Casino in Brisbane City

Bank of New South Wales' Building

There were also some interesting shopping arcades and pretty shopping malls but I was too shy to take out my camera and shoot in the middle of the street.

An interesting fact I note while shopping in Brisbane is that I actually recognize a lot of brands and shops which are also found in Singapore. Eg. Starbucks, Ajisen, 7-Eleven, Body Shop (not sure if I recall wrongly but I thought I saw it there), Crabtree & Evelyn, etc.....

Seems like a lot of F&B and retail shops have made their way international. Same thing I noticed in Hongkong when I went over last October. So there is tat sense of familiarity wherever u go.

Anyway, I sort of managed to curb myself and not go on a crazy shopping spree this time coz I spent like nearly AS$500.00+ within a 3 hours shopping session (ok, almost half of tat went into my 2 new set of swimsuits which is hard to buy in Singapore...see, I got reasons one...). Had to stop myself after tat...so I am glad to say that most of my expenses on this trip were on food and lodgings.

We also took a walk down the bridge connecting from Brisbane City to South Brisbane where the Old Library, Musuem, Cultural Centre and their big Ferris Wheel are.

Way down to South Brisbane

View of the City from the South end of the bridge

The first interesting thing we saw after crossing the bridge is this piece of art "tied" in mid-air. It looks like just strings and wires suspended in the air but it actually forms an image from a certain angle that resembles an archway with 4 openings. Smart!

Archway suspended in mid-air

An artistic statue which I find quite pretty

A look back at the City from South Brisbane


The bridge from afar

We went to take a look at the "Game On 2009" exhibition at the Old Library where some "old" arcade games were displayed and available for playing and other newer games as well. The exhibition was rather disappointing as it was rather small and there were not as much varierty and games as we anticipated.

At South Brisbane, opposite the side where the Old Library, Museum and Cultural Centre are, is where a big park and a "man-made" beach are. The place is just beautiful but as it was rather late when we reached there, I was unable to take photos. I did not revisit the park/beach although I did think about going there to swim but rumours/hearsay of floating brown objects at the man-made beach totally killed the idea.

We had also wanted to take the Ferris Wheel but I decided against it as it was too late and I dun think we can see much scenery in the dark night.

A fantastic photo of the Ferris Wheel (*I think its one of the BEST photo I have ever taken)

Entrance to the Park

A look at our room at Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane where we spent 4 nights. The room is not that big but it was neat and clean and the furnishings looks modern. Some FoxTel channels were available but not the cartoon channels, luckily they have the comedy channel which I enjoyed. The roof top pool and spa was a really good place to hang out at night and especially if u are in for night dip (not skinny dip mind u...it is still a hotel pool)~(Pics on the pool below)

Night Scenery from Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane

Day Scenery from Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane

The only complaint I have abt the hotel is the location. It is located at the top of a hill - Spring Hill (the whole Brisbane city is built on sloping land...so we generally have to walk up and down hill all the time). As I was only armed with 2 "really high" heels and a not so glamourous slipper, my feet were practically killed from all the walking I had to do for the first few days.

Cool Roof Top Pool & Spa

See the clouds above? Aww....

Jacuzzi Spa Pool

We checked out from the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 to move on to Coolum, Sunshine Coast where we spent the next 4 nights. It was a blessing that we decided to rent a car (from ABEL car hire...check it out...quite reasonably priced) coz Hotel Hyatt Regency Coolum, where we spent the next 4 nights, was actually like a resort hotel at the bottom of Mt. Coolum. Definitely need a car to get out of the resort to anywhere along the Coast.

Wonder if its coz we arrived 2 hrs late, but we were upgraded from their King's Room to their Presidential Suite Room. I was really WOWed by how spacious our room turned out!

Living Room with the Flat Screen TV, mini Bar and Study Table

Living Room - Sofa Area


Dining Area and the Entrance


Separate Bathtub and Shower Room


Gorgeous Bathroom


Guest Room


Master Bedroom


A look out from our unit (lots of greens...)


Looks more like a villa, but we only occupy the ground floor


Hmm...wonder how the 2nd floor rooms look like?


Lovely view of the Villa (abt 4 units per villa)


In the resort compound

Lots of walking in the resort to get to the restaurants, spa and other areas

Shutter service is available within the resort

Beautiful pond behind the villas

^_^ Pretty right?

Golf Pro Shop and Restaurant, Golf Course to the right

The resort compound is rather big so they offer shuttle service around the resort to bring u to the village center, spa house, main admin building, carpark area and the various villa units.

Maybe its another blessing that our resort hotel turned out so nice coz we encounter rather nasty weather at the Coast - RAIN! So, we spent quite a lot of time indoors watching movies and surfing the internet. Guess I would have enjoyed the facilities at the resort more if I am a person who likes Golf, Tennis or Spa (Spa was just unfortunate coz the treatments there were fully booked when we wanted to try them!)

Kangaroos at the door step

I probably will try out a lot more things if I return to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast again...felt that I din get to do much this trip. But R&R is wat I got...rejuvenized!