Hello, Geneva: Please met my family #2!

Being Catholics, church services was a thing to do on either on a Saturday or Sunday. And so, we made our way to this church. Interestingly, I had gone to it's smaller version 5 years ago when I was here for the H1N1 response in WHO.

Now, it's gotten phenomenally bigger and for me, much easier to get to as it's just off the #15 Tram line.

As with any kids, Little One needs his toy to be entertained...

This is new. Nice stain glass...

Praying @ Mother Mary.

4 bells baby!!!

Just under 10mins away is UN Palais, the UN HQ for Europe.

Wheeee... Rainbow!!!

"What's that Mummy???"

Towering above.

Look at that long mural...

Nice to have these tram stops with a similarly raised platform so it makes it easy for parents with strollers and disabled to roll on/off.

As they say, all roads lead to Rome; so too does all buses, trains and trams lead to Gare Cornavin or Cornavin Station...

As Little One love Chuggington, it was obvious that we would have to let him see the real deal...
One of the great things over here, is that you can actually just walk up onto the platforms. Of course, there are train conductors onboard to check your tickets, but this is pleasant for us.

Double Decker TGV...

Unlike Malaysians, bright sunny day means time out in the park and not in shopping malls!

Laze around. Enjoy the sun. Time to catch up with friends and family...

This is a mini ice skating ring we thinks and since it's dry, kids play it in with balls... smaller kids like Little One's age group.

Thankfully, he's happy to just run around within it but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be attempting to pick things up and 'taste' them... sigh.

So that means, chasing after him and ensuring he's not putting stuff into his mouth.

There were some kids who let Little One play with them...

"What are you thinking boy?"

This is something you definitely don't see back home...

I wonder whether it cools the building more?

The End.

Melbourne

Possibly the longest set of photos in my blog... EVER!

So here we go... Scenes from in and around the CBD.

The tram stops remind me very much of my time spent in Geneva. Guess everybody does it the same way coz it's the best? :)
One things certain though. Not all stops have times showing when the tram is arriving. Well, you can't beat the Swiss for "clock work precision" right?

The problem with the below shot was that the sun was behind the tall building on the left of the junction, making it really difficult to capture. One of the way out, is a technique called HDR; essentially a minimum of 3 images taken at different exposures and compiled together. Previously, one would have to perform this out of the camera, but nowadays, quite a few SLR's have it built in. So...

Of course, if you have ppl crossing your image taking time... you get... ghosties! :)

On our way in to AU, we stayed at this hotel caled Formule1. The best things is that it's at a very buzy junction, smacked right in the CBD. The bad? Well, like our 2nd stay, it's got an interesting way to go up (as in into the hotel). But I'll discuss that in some other post.

Less yak... more piccies...

Southern Cross Station at the lower right. You'll get to see more of it later.

If you've seen this ad... He will look familiar.

The GPO, which is now a shopping mall. Facade is left untouch. Really good of them to just leave it as it is...

Yes dear. Halloween's just around the corner, but sorry luv... we would have come back by then...

Enjoying them stones...

Old and new, fighting for attention.

The Southern Cross Station. It's big. It's long. And it's in yellow!

Melbourne's historic trams. Feel free to hop in. It's free and it goes in a loop around the CBD.

Wonder what's so holy about this house...

This walkway is below a bunch of tracks that leads to Southern Cross Station.

View from across the river.

"I am taller than you!"

Chopper coming in!

Melbourne has these "rent a bike" stand and they are situated around the CBD. So you could take a bike from here, cycle to another stop with something like this, and park your rental there. It gives a tourist more mobility, that's for sure.

The name of his establishment... it's cute... enlarge the image.

You saw what's inside, this is what's outside of the Aquarium.

Parliament house.

Princess Theatre. And it's Hairspray on show!

Look which birdie came a calling...

Now that's a building one would not see in Malaysia...

Melbourne has these small parks, here and there. And so, it's also got these cute sculptures.

The Windsor Hotel

Parliament at dusk.

Miniature jukebox but it's link to the shops entertainment system. So everybody can listen to what you've selected.

Melbourne from the top as we left to head towards Christchurch. Can you spot the Etihad stadium? You can also spot the mouth of the river Yarra.

It's suburbs.

And we came back from NZ. And it's off to the Royal Arcade!

Enlarge to read why this mall has these 2 statues... and the ring the bell too!

Princess Theater again...

Did I mention that I went for Hairspray? :)

Now, the theater is small. But cute. Not like Malaysia's and Singapore's massive theaters. I sat like 20ft away from the stage, and behind me is just another 4 rows. That's how big it is. But adorable. Why can't it be like this for us? Instead of seeing through bino's!!!

Can you see the reflection?

Melbourne's Casino.

Pity this wasn't open when we were there. Maybe next time.

Reflection #2.

Theme park in St Kilda's. Yes, we took a day pass on the tram and decided to visit St Kilda.

Palais Theatre?

Mcdonald's going green?

The beach at St Kilda's.

To prove that I WAS at St Kilda's.

Would this be where Batman would keep watch? That tower certainly looks like it.. All that's missing is a dark and stormy night with loads of lightning!

Nope. It's not going back to the future...

To prove that I WAS at Melbourne. ha ha

Now... what can this building be???

Scenes from the CBD's shopping streets.

Remember that I said that the GPO was a mall... we took a visit inside. So let's go in, shall we?

GPO obviously was General Post Office. And it WAS Melbourne's main PO for many years.

Relic of the GPO's building frame, now integrated into the shopping mall. Why can't we Malaysians take a leaf from how Melbournians have conserved their heritage? *sigh*

And on that somber note, we reach the end of Melbourne.