Explored Orchard Road in the morning, one of the major shopping hubs in Singapore. Visited the Singapore Art Museum in the afternoon, which is one of the more interesting museums that I’ve seen to date, with an unique exhibit on moving pictures by coodinating curator June Yap with artists from Singapore, France, Germany, Japan, China, Indonesia and India. The brochure provides the following description:

An investigation into the relationships between image, location and the audience. moving pictures focuses on the image surface of digital video and new media through the tensions of art and cinema. It explores contemporary video artworks by artists from Asia in relation to the varied media landscapes within Asia and popular media culture. Within media culture, the language of the moving image creates a framework for reading, presenting and understanding contemporary images through narrative and dramatic effect. In focussing on the image surface, the curatorial theme intends to explore various contestations of the boundary between art, and the language of cinema and media culture.

The museum also featured the works of Tan Swie Hian, with Embracing Infinity. We concluded the night with dinner at the Lemongrass Thai Restaurant. Authentic Thai really is drastically different from its American counterpart. Now if only I had a Dorian tree.

Took a tour of the Biopolis complex here in Singapore, developed by the JTC Corporation. It is a centre for biomedical sciences and Biopolis comprises a seven-building complex linked by skybridges. Many of the buildings are also under the direction of the Agency of Science, Technology and Research, Singapore’s agency for scientific research and development. The entire complex is very high tech, contributing cutting-edge research and development, and the security here is unsurprisingly quite tight.

Arrived in Singapore in the early morning. Uttam picked us up from the airport sometime after and took us to his place to rest. Spent the evening at Boat Quay and had dinner at a dual Indian and Sri Lankan restaurant called Our Village with the folks.

Spent the morning walking around and killing time in the Cathedral Square area. Leaving for Singapore this evening with a transit stop in Sydney, replete with security checkpoints, immigration, and customs. We’ll arrive at our destination around four in the morning tomorrow. We’ll be spending a week there, staying at a friend’s place, and catching up on some hard earned rest.

An amazing trip by train from Christchurch to Greymouth and back again for a full day excursion. The carraige starts in Christchurch and crosses the Canterybury Plains and farmland, where city populations range anywhere from ten to one hundren people, to the gorges and river valleys of the Waimakariri River. It then winds through Southern Alps before descending through lush beech rain forest to the West Coast, finally settling at Greymouth. Some spectacular photographs, and lots of interesting people to meet along the way.

Explored the city of Christchurch today. It’s safe to say that the only reason people even come to this quiet city is because the airport is here. It’s a good hub to explore the rest of New Zealand, but there truly is nothing to see here that makes the city stand out from the crowd. Christchurch is a peculiar mix of restaurants and bars, shops, churches, adult stores, and casinos. Something for everyone, I suppose. To be fair, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens are homely and beautiful and the Canterbury Museum is one of the best that we’ve seen yet. It’s just a short stroll from the Botanic Gardens. The city also offers a free shuttle service that pivots about Cathedral Square, the heart of Christchurch.

It’s our last day in Brisbane. Visited the Queensland Museum and the Queensland Art Gallery. Both are located in South Bank, across the Victoria Bridge, and admission is free. The Art Gallery houses an impressive collection of international and Australian paintings, sculptures, and decorative art. Left for Christchurch, New Zealand in the evening by airport shuttle. Our stay at the Kookaburra Inn has been quite pleasant and we’ll be staying at the Pacific Park Hotel on Bealey Ave. while in Christchurch. The city of Brisbane is very scenic, especially at sunset.

Went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in the early morning and afternoon, and got to see koalas, kangaroos, tasmanian devils, and an assortment of other Australian animals. The koala bears in particular are undeniably cute and you can even hold and cuddle them. Dad and I spent the evening and night touring the city via the public CityCat ferry service. The full ride is about three hours and will take you from Brett’s Wharves in the north all the way to the University of Queensland’s lovely campus.

Dad and I took a walking tour in and around the Central Business District, starting at City Hall. City Hall has a small museum outlining the old and new development projects in the city, as well as some Aboriginal artwork and select political cartoons from their local newspaper. Also spent some time at the Queen St. Mall, which by itself, isn’t very impressive. However, take a walk down literary trail and you’ll find some interesting quotes about Brisbane along the ground. The Myer Centre bus station is also located here. The evening was concluded at the City Botanic Gardens.