Street photography Sydney

Sunset in Pyrmont

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Sydney street photography

Street artist at The Rocks

Street photography Sydney

We are all proud of Opera house. Look what the Carnival Spirit Ship did – It made the Opera house look so tiny.

street photography

2 photos of Australia Coptic Community Protest at Martin Place, Sydney

2013 ANZAC day march in Sydney:

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Street photography Sydney

Bob Brown spoke at No Shoot In National Parks rally

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Maybe there were people who enjoyed Kaldor Public Art Projects: 13 Rooms. Art is such a broad concept and it is so easy to claim to be an artist nowadays. 13 Rooms is an exhibition that brings together 13 artists to present an exhibition of ‘living sculpture’ within 13 purpose-built rooms. It was held at a stunning location: Sydney’s historic Pier 2/3 at Walsh Bay, The Rocks. The purple entrance looked interesting enough. It sounded all good except it was another story when you bring their art into context.

13 Rooms

The good thing about being an artist is that you can be totally free. If viewer don’t like what you’ve presented, it’s always easier to blame the viewers.  13 Rooms exhibition was held from 11th to 23rd of April.

I went to have a look out of curiosity without any high expectation. Still, I had a feeling the exhibition was kind of lazy, depressing and overall, wasn’t that tasteful.




There were 2 performers dressed in identical outfits sitting in the first room with infinite smiles on their faces. I think the visitor between them made the “art” looked more interesting.

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In another room, one male performer was lying in a right tube, talking to himself very loudly. I was too scared to get in the room by myself. 13 rooms-008

Nothing happened much in other rooms either. Someone dressed as a soldier stood still, facing one corner of the wall in one room; someone is painting in another continuously and groups of people marching or sitting in other rooms.

13 rooms liveNevertheless, some visitors made a cute scene outside one room.

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They were looking through a hole at the bottom of the door to see this:

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There were 2 rooms with naked performers too, photos were not allowed. I wasn’t going to anyway – there was nothing worth taking.

Sydney lord Mayor Clover Moore was in this room too watching this live sculpture.

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Sydney Lord Mayor Lover Moore, second from the left.

I saw something similar in London last year – some street performers were sitting with both of their feet up in the air on a major shopping street. Those London performers were all dressed in splendid, golden or silver suits with matching tall hats. The one in 13 Rooms seemed like a much easier performance with no effort on the outfit to please viewers’ eyes.

Walking out of the exhibition area, I saw some screens showing viewers’ impression of the 13 Rooms exhibition. Someone mentioned “sad” which, in my view, was quite appropriate.

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Oh well, at least the view of Sydney’s Walsh Bay never disappoints you:).

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Sydney’s Walsh Bay, photo taken from out side the exhibition rooms.

Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere was on last night, 23 April 2003. Director J.J. Abrams, actors Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban walked on the red carpet at the Star Trek Into Darkness World Australia Premiere, meeting fans and media at Sydney George Street Event Cinemas. The red carpet was laid well before 6pm when the Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere scheduled to start. Sydney Star trek fans queued early for a premium spot to see the stars close up and possible photo opportunities and autographs. Many people passing by stopped to participate in this first world gala red carpet event for this movie.

early fans-001 Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

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fans signs-1 Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

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It was a long wait… Journalists from Sydney media outlets lined up along the red carpet, getting ready to interview the star crew. Some unknown local “celebrities” walked pass the main entrance, but nobody asked any questions or took photos. Trying to a celebrity is really hard gig! Finally, at close to 7pm Karl Urban appeared at the front gate.  He was wearing a midnight blue suit and a dark grey  tie, looking handsome and smart. Maybe because he gave a lot of thought about the questions he was asked, Karl Urban almost always looked down when answering media questions regardless the height of the journalists but eventually I did get a few close images of him looking up.

Stars walking Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

karl urban Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

Karl Urban at Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

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Karl Urban at Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

Direct J.J. Abrams was the second to emerge. He was wearing a smart black suit, styled with a grey shirt and black, silver grey stripped tie. He looked every bit like an extremely intelligent man, listening to media’s questions attentively and appeared very friendly with fans.

Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere director J.J.Abrams

Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere director J.J.Abrams

 

Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere director J.J.Abrams

Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere director J.J.Abrams

Then it was Zachary Quinto. Dressed in a sharp shawl-collar Margiela suit, a blue polka dot shirt and burgundy Calvin Klein bow tie. He looked funkier and the least interested in the crowd around him. Fans screamed. Loudly. It seemed startled Zachary, even Chris Pine looked up from a few steps away.

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Star Trek Zachary Quinto keeping a distance from the fans and media on the red carpet.

Chris Pine is such a sweet heart. He was the last to appear on the red carpet and spending the most time with fans and media. He signed autograph and posed photos with his die hard fans, who have been standing there waiting for nearly the whole day. The most unforgettable was his smile… warm and genuine. Oh I nearly forgot to mention, he’s even more handsome in person. He was wearing a silver grey striped Ermenegildo Zegan suit with a dark blue striped tie and a pair of tan Ralph Lauren shoes.

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Chris Pine signing autograph for fans

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Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere – chris Pine posing for fans

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Chris Pine at Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

Chris Pine at Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

Chris Pine at Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere

The Star Trek Into Darkness Sydney Premiere is also the official world premiere. Why they choose Australia to be the first? Maybe Australia is a lucky country after all:).

INDO – AUS In A Day Celebration is part of Sydney annual Living In Harmony Festival. hurdres of people enjoyed a great day of entertainment showcasing the richness of Indonesia and Australian multiculturalism at Alexandria Town Hall, Sydney on Saturday, April 13, 2013.

I was only there for a few hours but wished I had been there for the whole time. There were fun activities for everybody and of course it always feels wonderful to be around happy and friendly people.

Sydney INDO – AUS In A Day 2013

A music troop prepares to perform

Sydney INDO – AUS In A Day 2013

People dance GANGNAM STYLE.

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Lots of people attended the event dressed up in beautiful, traditional Indonesian costumes in rich colors.

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Sydney is hit by HEAVY rain and wind this weekend. A lot events are canceled because of the severe weather condition. But hey, I’m not complaining, at all.  This gives me a great opportunity to sleep in, stay in, order pizza from Made In Italy and catch up with my blog leisurely. Heaven!

By the way I’ve kind of rekindled my old journalist career and started to shoot various events in Sydney recently. This was the first live event I shot with my new camera -Fiji X-E1, a light weight, mirror-less camera.

A concert featuring 6 acoustic young performers aged between 16 to 24 went live in Martin Place, Sydney on Friday, 12 April 2013. This event forms part of Sydney Youth Week in The City, aiming to promote Sydney’s Young musical talents. The concert started off slowly and the performance less impressive. For a moment I thought it was going to be hard to endure the whole thing but soon this became a rather enjoyable experience. Some talented young musician came to perform on stage and the audience grew bigger and bigger. Below are my favorite performers at the concert:

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Sydney youth week 2013

Audience enjoyed lunch and music:

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Next up, Aus-Indo in one day celebration! Stay tuned.

 

 

 

I woke up in gentle sounds of Christmas music and pancakes, and coffee. It felt like the continuation of  a peaceful dream then I jumped out of bed, fully awake. “What time is it? Have I slept all day? Everyone is here already?”

It was 9am in the morning. Tonight we are  going to having a family Christmas Eve Dinner at our place for the first time.  J walked around the house in complete silence. He had put some nice Christmas songs together and got breakfast ready.

Truth to be told Internet, I was a little nervous … Yesterday I spent the whole day tidying up and scrubbing. Today, there were still so much shopping and cooking to do… Yes yes, Christmas is all about peace and joy.

J looked at my worrying face and touched my hands, ” We are happy, that’s the main thing. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Just like that, I started to breathe normally again. Everything will be OK as long as we are happy…

Here’s to our first, Merry Christmas.

strawberry santas