Casuarina Square

As probably mentioned a few times over this blog, people are not that interested in shopping in the Northern Territory. Their main occupation is fishing and after work people do not have many goals: fishing, fishing and fishing. And having a beer. Or several. Casuarina is the largest shopping centre. It can be fairly busy on Saturdays but as the fishing rule also applies to the Ladies here, you never see many of them browsing through the handbag section in the fashion stores.

In the news!

Oh shock! While having my breakie and watching the French news this morning I was shocked to learn that Woolworths was under bankruptcy in the United Kindgom and about to close its 800 stores or so! Unbelievable. There are some institutions you believe will never disappear and then they do... Here, in Australia, Woolworths or 'The Fresh Food People' or Woolies as everyone calls them, still seem to be strong and are hardly put for competition to the exception of Coles. There are not many supermarkets in Darwin but Woolworths definitely sell some convenient, fresh and varied products. Not a surprise I find myself shopping there nearly every day!

Harbour Front

To go to Indonesia from Singapore there are quite a few options depending on where you want to go but the main departure point is the Ferry Terminal at Harbour Front. It is also the terminal for the Asian cruises and houses the city's supposedely biggest shopping mall, VivoCity. The image above is from the rooftop of this shopping mall which also is a nice promenade with a few restaurants like 'Le Marché' and a view over the departing ferries and Sentosa Island.

Swanston Street

I really like those cool autumn days. The sky was beautiful today and the temperature was chilly enough without being intolerable. It is such a relief from hot and humid Singapore. Melbourne seems to be pretty busy at the moment and the streets were reasonably crowded. Above is the city’s main and most famous streets, Swanston Street. It is particularly reknowned for its shopping. It is part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district, which was laid out in 1837 by Robert Hoddle. It is named after Captain Charles Swanston, a Tasmanian banker and prominent member of the Port Phillip Association. Swanston Street passes a number of Melbourne landmarks, including St Paul's Cathedral, Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and the Melbourne Town Hall. Both the University of Melbourne and RMIT University also are on Swanston Street.

Christmas Buzz

Yesterday being a (Muslim) public holiday many people have taken their Friday off as well as their Monday to have a long week-end. This results in heavily congested shopping areas. Walking down Orchard is a nightmare unless you enjoy being surrounded by thousands of people and moving no faster than 500 meters an hour!

Haji Lane

Singapore is not all glam, glitz and order as people want you to believe it is. Some parts of Chinatown or Little India can even be a bit grungy. But the area that possibly epitomises the hip-grunge-arty spirit with an asian twist of the place is Haji Lane. Do not go too early as it is a lane that wakes up quite late in the day. Far from the opulence of Orchard Road, the Arab Quarter shelters what is possibly one of the most interesting and creative corner of Singapore.