Brisbane.Darwin.Food.Glorious.Food.( My Maiden Australia 2011 Backpack part 9)

Click all photos to enlarge

Domestic airport

train to city

central station


I stayed here. Base Backpackers. Just across from the central station. Its very convenient to anywhere.
Sampai Brisbane, baru aku tahu betapa dekatnye Gold Coast dari bandar Brisbane.
Naik MRT dorang 90min je. Tapi aku tak gi la pasal aku nak gi Lone Pine Sanctuary, tapi ni aku dah tahu ni senang, pasal Air-Asia ada LCCT gi Gold Coast, Jetstar lak Changi gi Brisbane dan pasal Air Asia lagi murah so ok la naik MRT dorang je la senang. Contoh cam ada tiket murah giler, so kita bleh gi Gold Coast then sampai sana kalo pandai susun budget boleh pergi banyak tempat. Ni cakap terbuang je la, yo-yo-oh je angan2 mat jenin gitu. Lagipun MRT dorang kerusi kusyen siak.
(Now I understand better why I heard some people from Singapore go see Metallica at Brisbane. Hmmmnnnn...) For me, I do check out on the airports and... I think Brisbane airport is comfortable enough to fall asleep too :-)

Memalukan, aku tak tau pakai lift ni, naik tangga, tapi lepas tu aku study orang lain pakai, baru aku cuba sendiri.

Question to all who stumble to this blog and actually read this line - Do you know how to operate this more traditional elevator?

Compared to Melbourne and Sydney, Brisbane is a bit similar to Perth ( as this is the 4 places I had travelled to see Iron Maiden ), but I notice Brisbane has a more bustling and bigger shopping area.

Aku jalan kaki pusing bandar ni ikut Brisbane River. Ada la pelan2 jalan dalam tiga jam empat jam. Penat jugak dan takut, pasal aku tak tahu aku sampai balik ke tak atau jalan makin jauh.
Malam2 lak tu tembus kat Kebun Bunga dia, aku dah terbayang macam2 orang jahat, hantu, macam2 la, tapi pasal kat tepi tu Sungai Brisbane jadi aku masih relak jugak. Dan malam2 buta pun masih kadang2 terserempak orang jogging.


The river color is still not clear, still has the color of mud due to the huge flooding in Queensland.













I didnt take this huge ferris wheel, or eye of brisbane or whats its called, but it looks very nice from below.

I like this photo very much..

I just keep on walking and crossing bridges etc, as long as I see the river, I know I wont be that lost.. It took me to near 4 hours of walking, very enjoyable walk, but it do get creepy when I was in the Botanical Gardens at night.

Motivational poster? Floods can Flood Off! . I like it.


Then you come back to the city center with all the tall buildings which are mostly empty of any humans as its already night and also it being Sunday...



A nice street art piece of a man using a handphone.

There it is, Brisbane Bridge, I was intending to climb it, but I dont have the time and the cash haha. Its about half the price of the Sydney Bridge Climb by the way.


They have this sort of riverside dining and drinking spot ala boat quay and clarke quay.





This is how some of the Brisbane residents go to work or run their errands. By boat. Similar to us taking a bus.
Last aku nak cakap, antara paling penting makanan.

Aku kira selenger jugak la, pasal semua aku buat research dan plan, tapi makan aku tak, aku mungkin ingat ni macam kat Perth dulu, siap jumpa nasik padang lagik. So aku sampai kat Melbourne, ok jugak aku jumpa makanan halal senang, those doner kebab yang siap ada tanda halal.

Tapi kat Sydney aku macam kejong sikit, kedai2 kebab takde sign halal. Aku macam fikiran ni boleh makan ke tak? So aku kat Oxford St Sydney tu aku jumpa kedai Istanbul Kebab ni, aku tanya halal ke tak? so dia tanya aku orang islam ke? aku cakap ah-ah. Terus dia cam bingit dia cakap terang2 dia orang Turkey, mesti la halal. Pasal dia cakap orang Turkey kan Islam ramai, dia cakap.

Aku cakap balik, aku tak tengok sapa jual, kalo kedai melayu pun jenis nak cepat kaya guna barang tak halal atau was-was sumber dia, pun takkan kita nak support. So aku cakap la, kalo masakan Jepun ke cina ke, kalo ada sijil halal aku makan la tanpa was-was. Terus dia cakap "eh mana boleh? kan jepun kan bukan Islam? ", jadi pekedai ni konsep dia lain sikit ngan cara pemikiran aku, tapi whatever la kan, dia pun baik ngan aku dan aku enjoy makan2 kat kedai dia selama aku kat Sydney.

Kat Brisbane aku suka pergi kat food court dia kat mall mall kat tempat shopping district dia. Insyallah korang akan jumpa la kedai2 yang halal dan jugak kedai2 aku tak was-was iaitu kedai jenis full vegetarian nye.

Tapi korang nengok la harga...ni aku kasi contoh...fruit mixed, buah2 potong taruk kat cawan gitu kecik nye size dah $AUS5. Giler babi mahal dia haha.
Aku budget aku dapat kontrol tapi banyak kena cover kat makanan.
Balik kerja kawan aku cakap aku gemuk. Dia cakap " eh apa ko dah makan kat Australia ah? " haha. Siol betul.

Balik aku pilih untuk landing kat Singapore, bukan Kuala Lumpur pasal aku nak terus gi kerja.. so aku ambik Jetstar. So ok la, aku beli awal aku dapat tiket harga ok la, tapi kena stopover kat Darwin. Darwin ni tempat buaya eh? wooo aku suka aku suka... Tapi dua jam je, airport pun jenis airport kampung je...

This is the final photo I took of Australia haha. When the plane left Darwin after a stopover and change of plane.
So... I would never thought all these possible before. Its quite an experience. An eye opener. Insyallah ada rezeki boleh tengok negeri orang lagi... tapi aku try to squeeze Maiden inside la.