Vivid Sydney 2018

This year is the 10th anniversary of Vivid Sydney and my second year attending. For the past two nights we have been walking around and checking out the light projections and installations in the Sydney CBD and along the waterfront.

Our first stop on Thursday night was the area around Customs House. The installation Chrysalis contained colorful cocoons made of fibre optic cables hanging from trees that had butterflies inside that would flutter based on sounds nearby. Synergy represented a complex superorganism of a tree surrounded by ferns that changed colors.

On Customs House itself were light projections of the May Gibbs' children's books characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as they journeyed through the Australian bush.

Along the waterfront towards the Sydney Opera House were a few installations, including the light sculpture Visible Dynamics and the illuminated cube Fragmented.

In the Royal Botanical Gardens there were a number of fantastic installations. At the start was The Nautilus Forest with its changing colors, the illuminated Hyperweb, inflatable versions of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and wave inspired light bars of He'e nalu.

Light Houses were created with different designs and shapes and changed colors. One of the most moving pieces was Oasis, which paid homage to the memory of children growing up in out of home care and combined audio with illuminated lights in a pond.

Further in the Royal Botanical Gardens were the cute perched birds of Parrot Party and the interactive Aqueous where the colors would change as people stood on different sections of the pathway.

Tonight we headed to Barangaroo for dinner at the Chinese restaurant Lotus and then saw my favorite work of Vivid Sydney, which was the illuminated large scale puppet Marri Dyin (meaning 'Great Woman' in the Eora language) in the piece The Liminal Hour.

There were some good installations around The Rocks, with the different colored light tubes of Peacock, the multi-colored birds of 1000 Cranes, the flying neon kites of Luminous Flight, and the large sculpture Illuminosaurus.

Of course the main draw each year are the light projections on the Sydney Opera House. This year's installation Metamathemagical transformed the sails into a series of kinetic digital sculptures.

In the surrounds of the waterfront there were some playful pieces, including a giant inflated Earth, the rotating pufferfish sculpture Fugu, The Garden of Sweeties which was powered by renewable energy, and the cute Harmony Valley - Rainbow of Peace and Trees of Friendship.

Once again there were large scale light projections on the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia with Virtual Vibration, but they weren't as exciting or dynamic as last year's ones.

Overall I enjoyed the light projections and installations, but was surprised at how empty the streets were of people on both nights. Vivid Sydney is on until Saturday, 16 June 2018.

Biennale Of Sydney- Cockatoo Island

The 21st Biennale of Sydney is currently occurring across multiple sites in Sydney. The theme SUPERPOSTION: Equilibrium & Engagement gives attendees a way to view these pieces and how they reflect current issues in the world. Mary and I took a ferry out to Cockatoo Island today, which is one of the locations for the Biennale. Cockatoo Island is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site that was a former convict prison in the 1800s and then a naval shipyard until its closure in 1991.

Artworks were spread across different precincts on the island. Our first stop was the Industrial Precinct, which contained a few of my favorite works. Austrian artist Martin Walde's piece Timeline explores the passing of time, with a sheet of paper being shot out from a printer up in the rafters every six minutes containing a calendar date that started with the opening of the exhibition and ending in 2071. Each paper floats onto the floor, and some of them have drawings or writing from the artist in addition to the printed date.

The focus of the pieces by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at Cockatoo Island is refugees. Law of the Journey is a 60-metre long raft filled with people that is made out of black rubber. There is also wallpaper made of photos taken while he was filming the documentary Human Flow, as well as four different video works that were made in the past couple years to focus on the refugee crisis.

Scottish artist Anya Gallaccio's piece Beautiful Minds uses a programmed 3D printer loaded with clay to recreate the sedimentary rock formations of Devil's Tower, also known as Bear Lodge Butte in Wyoming.

Thai artist Mit Jai Inn has a few large scale installations with Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode) which involves the use of paint in different forms.

In the Ship Design Precinct were two interesting video installations. Lebanese-Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi's audio-visual piece Bring The Silence depicts video on five different screens of people offering their respects to the Sufi saint Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya at a sacred burial site. The floor of the room was covered in rugs and the scent of rosewater filled the air.

American artist Suzanne Lacy's multi-part audio-visual installation The Circle and the Square is the culmination of the two-year project Shapes of Water - Sounds of Hope in the town of Pendle, Lancashire. Residents came together in a closed down textile mill to sing choral music and do Sufi chanting. The sound of the choir singing rounds filled the room, and there were also individual interviews with local residents that you could listen to.

The Biennale of Sydney is on for a couple more weeks, closing on Monday, 11 June 2018.

Sydney Harbour

No trip to Sydney is complete without a cruise on the Harbour, and thankfully there are an assortment of ferries from Circular Quay to take you to wherever you'd like to go. As I had a mid-afternoon flight back to Melbourne today, Onagh and I did a quick return trip to Darling Harbour to see the sights and landmarks of the city on what turned out to be a gorgeous and warm day.

On the way back to Circular Quay we stopped off at McMahons Point so Onagh could show me around one of the old neighborhoods where she grew up (back then it was more working class than it is today). It was a bit of a hike up to the main street of the village, but we passed by some beautiful jacaranda trees which were still in bloom. After popping into a couple of shops we stopped at Olivo on Blue for a quick bite to eat for lunch. While Onagh had the Sydney rock oysters I ordered the bruschetta with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil and aged balsamic on ciabatta. We also both had a refreshing Aperol Spritz to drink.

After eating it was a quick downhill walk back to the ferry, where I bid farewell to Onagh (who had a later flight) and then headed back to Circular Quay to catch the train to the airport. It was a fantastic four days in Sydney and a great long weekend away.

Sydney- Museum Of Contemporary Art Australia

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is conveniently located in The Rocks near Circular Quay. Outside of the museum they have set up the Cherry Blossom Bar for the summer, which is where Tash, Mary, David, Belinda and I met up on Friday afternoon for pre-show drinks before heading across to the Sydney Opera House to see Crowded House. It's a nice, breezy spot with views of the waterfront and paper lanterns along the branches of cherry blossom trees by the bar. There were a variety of drinks on offer and I went with the Fuji Funk cocktail which had campari, yuzu, lemon juice, gin, vermouth, aloe vera and tonic water. It was quite tasty and refreshing. You can also order food from the Japanese inspired menu, which includes gyoza and bento boxes to share.

Today Belinda and I returned to MCA to check out some of the current exhibitions. Our first stop was Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect With Everything, which is the first exhibition by this Japanese contemporary artist in the Southern Hemisphere. Miyajima's works mainly explores the passage of time through the use of small digital counting devices emitting different colored LEDs that are contained within sculptures and various large scale pieces and immersive environments.

The room-scale installations were my favorite part of the exhibition. The red environment of "Arrow of Time" is about the irreversibility of time and how we need to live in the moment. It contains digital devices hanging at various heights from the ceiling, and there are bean bags around the floor for you to lay down on to stare up at devices as they count down.

The most breathtaking piece though was "Mega Death," which is a giant blue room with each of the digital devices on the three walls representing life on Earth. The counters go off and on at different times, illustrating death and birth. However, it is the unknown factor of when and for how long they will all go off in unison, plunging the room into darkness, that makes the piece so interesting. Despite these mass extinctions, life gradually begins again as the individual counters slowly come back to life.

The other main exhibition that we checked out was for Melbourne artist Louise Hearman, which showcased her paintings and drawings from 1990-2016. Her works featured portraits and some surreal paintings with animals and other objects that made for some unique compositions.

Louise Hearman's exhibition closes on 4 December 2016, while you have until 5 March 2017 to catch Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect With Everything.

Sydney- The Rocks and Barangaroo Reserve

I am in Sydney for a long weekend to attend the Crowded House encore concerts at the Sydney Opera House. While my nights are covered, I have free time to explore the city during the day. I'm staying at the Tank Stream Hotel on Pitt Street, which is a great central location and base for any adventures.

Today I started the morning at The Rocks and had brunch with friends at The Fine Food Store. Belinda, John and I were soon joined by Fran, Sonia and Kelli when I alerted them to the fact that Tim Finn and his wife happened to be sitting behind us in the cafe (don't worry, we left them alone). I had the Belgian waffles with salted chocolate sauce, caramelised bananas, berries, panna cotta gelato and sugar pecan nuts. Unfortunately the waffles were more cakey than doughy as well as dry, which was a massive disappointment. I think others had better luck with their menu choices.

After brunch we bid farewell to John and headed out to wander around The Rocks Markets, which are on each weekend from 10am - 5pm. There were a mix of food stalls and people selling a variety of things. It seems that each time I visit the markets they have increased in size. While I didn't end up buying anything some of the others grabbed items for those back home. We said goodbye to Fran, Sonia and Kelli until the evening, and then went to grab some gelati from Gelatissimo.

Next Belinda and I walked along the waterfront and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, getting some great views of both the bridge and the Sydney Opera House on this beautiful day.

Our walk led us along the Walsh Bay foreshore down Hickson Road and past the former wharves, which are now part of the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct with its numerous theatres. We then came upon the recently opened Barangaroo Reserve, which was a former industrial area that has been turned into a six-hectare headland open space. It has walking and cycling paths and is full of sandstone and native trees and plants. It's a lovely space to walk around and stop at various points to take in the views.

The entire area was a great way to take in the natural beauty of Sydney and its amazing views of the Harbour, especially on a day with such gorgeous weather.

Expat Observations: Melbourne vs Sydney

There is nothing like a good city rivalry to get the blood pumping, and Melbourne vs Sydney is Australia's equivalent of this time-honored tradition. Dan Kelly even wrote a song about it. Each city has its own unique personality and attractions to set it apart from the other. So which one is best?

Sydney is obviously Australia's oldest and best known city. It is a leading tourist destination that draw people from around the world to see landmark attractions like the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge and The Rocks. Sydney also has pretty good weather, fantastic beaches and a laid back surfer vibe. It is the home of rugby league and the entertainment capital of the country. Sydney has the glitz and the glam with its beautiful people and large nightclubs, and reminds me of Los Angeles.

Melbourne is the sporting and cultural capital of Australia, and has been named the world's most livable city by The Economist numerous times. It is the spiritual home of Australian Rules Football (AFL) and hosts the Australian Open (tennis) and Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix each year. Melbourne is a foodie mecca and known for its street art and thriving music scene. While it doesn't have landmark attractions like the Opera House, it is a city where you can wander around and discover hidden gems down the laneways and arcades in the CBD. This can be a good thing as Melbourne is also known for its unpredictable weather, so it's good to be able to duck into a cafe for a bit and wait for the weather to change. Melbourne reminds me of San Francisco as they have a similar vibe.

As you can see, each city has something unique to offer. For me though there is no contest - I chose to live in Melbourne for a reason. However, sometimes it is nice to make a quick visit to the Emerald City.

Footy in Sydney

Since I didn't have any solid plans for today, I joined Tash for the train ride out to ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park for the Sydney v. St Kilda footy match.  I'm a bit embarrassed that this was my first footy game of the year (and not even an Essendon one).  Before it started though there was an AFL International Cup match between South Africa and the USA, which the USA won!

Tash's friend Belinda joined us for the Sydney match.  We were quite amused throughout the game as the big screens were used to explain the footy rules to the crowd as things happened on the field.  I know rugby is the preferred sport outside of Victoria, but this was a bit ridiculous.  The game was close, and although St Kilda led for most of the afternoon, Sydney won in the end (despite their inaccurate kicking). 

Final Score
Sydney Swans: 10.23 (83)
St Kilda Saints: 10.8 (68)

After the game we headed back into the city for a bit before catching the train out to the airport for our flight home.  We spotted a few of the St Kilda players at the airport at Krispy Kreme of all places.  We flew Tiger Airways back to Melbourne and I thought Tash was joking when she said their terminal was in a shed.  Sadly she was telling the truth- it was comical.  You even have to walk back to the main terminal to catch a taxi!  In any case, it was a fun little weekend trip away and a brief preparation for my much longer flights to the States in a couple weeks time.

Bad Fog and Sydney

Tash came and picked me up bright and early this morning to drive to the airport for our flight to Sydney.  However, I knew we would be in a bit of trouble since the fog was so thick.  As suspected our flight was delayed nearly 2 hours due to the "bad fog" (as one announcement called it) at Melbourne airport. We arrived in Sydney around noon and headed into the city to check into our secret deal hotel- The Grace Hotel with its beautiful art deco stylings and central location.

Tash headed off with her friends and I met up with Mel to hang out for the afternoon. We walked down to The Rocks where the weekend market was on and grabbed some gourmet wraps for lunch.  Since the weather was so nice we went to eat along the harbour and chatted for a bit. After lunch we wandered around The Rocks market stalls and grabbed some yummy gelato for dessert.  We then headed back into the city and checked out the Westfield Shopping Centre. Mel took me to this really awesome stationary store in there called Typo. I was good and didn't buy anything. We stopped for afternoon tea at Le Pain Quotidien (where I had an amazing fresh squeezed lemonade) and then said our goodbyes.

After resting for a bit at the hotel and watching the second half of the Essendon v. West Coast match (we lost), Tash and I walked to the harbour. We had dinner at The East Chinese Restaurant, grabbing a table outside along the water with excellent views of the Harbour Bridge.  Their Mongolian lamb dish was very good. After eating we headed for pre-show drinks at the Opera Bar, meeting up with some of Tash's friends before heading inside the Sydney Opera House to see Gotye.

Sydney- Shopping

Yesterday Mel and I took a drive out to the outlet stores at Birkenhead Point for some shopping.  They have three levels in the outlet centre and we went in to most of the stores there.  I have been looking for new sandals and found a great pair in Diana Ferrari.  When I took them to the cash register, the lady said that I got lucky because I picked up one of the mislabeled boxes which had the price $20 cheaper than it should have been- and she sold them to me for that price.  Score!

We found a place in the food court that served Turkish gozleme, so we had that for lunch and it was delicious.  After some more shopping we had run out of stores to go to so we headed back into the city to relax at Mel's place before I had to leave for the airport.  For the second time this trip I was swabbed for explosives at security.  I had a lovely time in Sydney and it was nice to get away for the weekend.  The weather contrast could not be more different as Sydney was hot and Melbourne was rainy and cold when I arrived in the evening.  Now it's time to head back to reality for the start of another work week.

Sydney- Bronte Beach and Fireworks

Yesterday after having brunch at a local cafe Mel and I caught the bus to Bronte Beach.  The weather in Sydney was hot and we went to Bronte because it was less crowded than Bondi would have been.  We started on the beach and took turns going into the water.  The current and waves are really strong so keeping my feet was a bit of a challenge at times.  Even though I was slathered in sunblock I knew it was only a matter of time before I started to get a sunburn, so after a bit we went over to the salt water lap pool on the other side of the beach where there was some shade.  The pool was nice and occasionally a wave would crash over the wall.  We next headed to the grassy park area and lounged for a while, watching the action on the beach.

After a few hours at the beach we went back to Mel's place to shower and clean up.  We then walked down to Darling Harbour for dinner, eating at Asian restaurant Wagamama.  Post dinner we grabbed a spot along the harbour to watch the free fireworks show.  I've never been that close to them before, so it was great to see them explode and fill up the sky.  Since it had been such a long day we caught the train home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Homebake 2008 and Sydney

Friday night Tash and I flew up to Sydney for Homebake, a festival which features all Australian bands. On Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast and then walked to The Domain. There was a brief wait in line before we eventually got into the venue. It was a very hot day- 35/95 degrees! After stopping to buy some bottled water we headed to The Dome stage for our first act of the day, The Holidays. Next up on the stage was Melbourne female duo Dash & Will in their first ever festival appearance. Their set was a lot of fun as they used tennis rackets to lob lollies into the audience and brought out a beach ball for the crowd to toss around.

We then headed to the Main Stage for another Melbourne band I've been wanting to see for a while, Eddy Current Suppression Ring. They played a great set of their old school punk songs, and I really enjoyed hearing "Which Way To Go." After a wander to refill our water bottles, we went back to The Dome stage for my favorites Little Red. They played a high energy set with a mix of old and new songs and had the crowd singing along. I was very happy to hear "Lazy Boy" and it was good to see such a positive response to the boys outside of Melbourne. After retreating to the shade under a tree to cool down a bit we were ready for End of Fashion. Their set was really good and included their first big hit "Oh Yeah" and the single "Fussy" off their latest album.

British India was our next act on the Main Stage. They really had the crowd going with their indie rock tunes. Unfortunately we were right in the sun for their set, so my goal of avoiding sunburn failed (even though I had on sun block). Besides the multiple stages, Homebake also set up a Cinema Pavilion to show a variety of short films. After grabbing some food we headed down to enjoy some films and relax in the dark for an hour and a half. My favorite of all the shorts we saw was "Mankind Is No Island" by Jason van Genderen. It's a really moving and thought provoking film.


When we emerged from the cinema the weather had gotten much cooler, which was a big relief. We headed back to The Dome stage for Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. They mostly played songs from their album together "Rattlin' Bones." They are both great songwriters and musicians, and Kasey was very funny and sweet with her song introductions. "The Devil's Inside My Head" was stomping bluegrass number that had the crowd dancing. When their set finished we made our way through the crowd to the Main Stage for dance act Sneaky Sound System. They played a lot of their hits including "Pictures," "UFO," "I Love It," and "Kansas City." The crowd was totally into it and singing and dancing along.

The headline act of Homebake was Crowded House. Tash and I got as close to the stage as we could. I thought the set was a bit flat in comparison to the other shows earlier in the week. Neil had a bit of a raspy voice and the sound from where we were in the crowd was a bit muddy and hard to hear. Their set list probably needed a few more energetic hits in it considering this was a young festival crowd. The big hits though went down really well and the band were nearly drowned out by the singing of the crowd. I also got to hear "Hole in the River" which hadn't been played in Melbourne. In the encore some idiot threw their flip flop and hit Neil, which really pissed him off. He told the guy if he threw up his other shoe and took off his pants that he might let him stay. Security ended up carting the guy away and the show continued. They finished up the night with "Better Be Home Soon" and had the crowd hold up their lit mobile phones in the air- the modern equivalent of the lighter. All in all it was a fantastic day of music.

Today Tash and I started off with breakfast at a cafe along Cockle Bay Wharf, then had a wander around Darling Harbour. Next we caught a bus to The Rocks and checked out their Sunday market. After ice cream at Circular Quay we walked over to the Opera House as it began to rain. We hid for a bit inside the Opera House and once the weather cleared headed back outside. We spent some time at QVB having coffee, cakes and conversation before heading off to the airport for our flight home.

Sydney

I flew into Sydney on Thursday, December 1st around midday and then hopped onto the Airport Link train for the 12 minute ride into the city (I wish Melbourne had public transport to and from the airport). I got off at Museum Station and walked up the street to the Y Hotel. The Y Hotel is great because it is centrally located and cheap. I stayed there way back in 1996 with the University of California group when I arrived in Australia for the first time. After checking in and unpacking some stuff, I headed out for a walk. First I went up Oxford Street, but they were doing sidewalk construction, so after a few blocks I turned back and headed toward Hyde Park. I walked past the ANZAC War Memorial, and down to the Queen Victoria Building. There are lots of great shops in the QVB, so I wandered around and got some Christmas shopping done. I also checked out the great architecture in this historic building. After a couple of hours it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for the Finn Brothers concert that night.

On Friday I spent the day being a tourist. I walked past St. Mary's Cathedral on the way down to the Sydney Opera House. From there I walked to Circular Quay, and then onto The Rocks. It was incredibly hot and humid (31 degrees C/88 degrees F) and I was dying outside. A breeze did start to kick up in the afternoon, which made it a bit more bearable. I had a delicious chocolate thickshake from the Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream stand to cool down. The Rocks area has lots of shops and restaurants, but I refrained from spending money in them. When I couldn't handle the heat anymore I made the long trek back to the hotel. I walked past the Domain so I could check out the situation for Homebake. That evening there were huge thunderstorms, so I spent the night indoors.

Saturday I was at the Domain enjoying the Homebake Festival (see below). On Sunday I had some time to kill before my flight home so I checked out a Scottish Heritage celebration in Hyde Park, and also looked at the Christmas windows at David Jones. They have animated "The Night Before Christmas" this year. Myer in Melbourne has done The Santa Kid. Animated windows are big for the department stores here. Around 11:30 am I headed to the train station and caught the train back to the airport. The flight to Melbourne was a bit rough because of high winds, but I made it home in one piece. I will post pictures once I get my film developed.