Brighton to St Kilda Walk

Today was a beautiful crisp clear winter's day in Melbourne, so instead of picking up an offer of a shift at work, I spent the afternoon on the beach instead. Specifically, I took the metro train down to Brighton, and then slowly walked up to St Kilda, taking a good four hours to do so.

This is the first time I'd actually had a good look at the iconic bathing boxes in Brighton. They're actually very cute and colourful, and there were a surprising number of tourists around taking pictures of them.

Other than that, it was actually quite unusual to be walking up to St Kilda from the south. It's more typical to come into St Kilda from the north, from the city side. At least for tourists and for inner city people like myself. So some of the views from just south of St Kilda were interesting. Both in terms of seeing St Kilda itself from a different angle, as well seeing the distant city skyline with a different foreground.

Here's a selection of pics from the afternoon:

Brighton Graffiti

Brighton Bathing Boxes I

Sea Birds and Melbourne

Brighton Bathing Boxes II

Brighton Bathing Boxes III

Brighton Bathing Boxes IV

Bayside Track

Jetty 

North Brighton Beach

City from Elwood

St Kilda Marina and Melbourne

Luna Park

Balaclava Station

Winter Sunset in St Kilda

I took a little late afternoon / sunset photo walk in St Kilda yesterday.

After almost two weeks overseas with just my smartphone, I missed playing with my proper camera. Not that I regretted taking it on the trip - I didn't want to carry around something so valuable, and didn't want the trip to turn into one big photography expedition! But still, it was nice to go out on a little local photography excursion again.

It was a crisp and cool winter afternoon. The air was very clear and fresh because it rained overnight. And there were still some scattered clouds around that made for an interesting sunset.

Singapore/Malaysia Trip

So I just got back from a 10 day trip to Singapore and Malaysia...

The initial impetus for the trip was a friends-of-the-family wedding in Singapore, but then I used the opportunity to take a whirlwind tour around Peninsular Malaysia as well. It was a bit rushed really, but a good taste of the country.

I essentially had two days in each place: Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and then Singapore again for two more days, before flying back. Other than the flights to and from Singapore, all the rest was done by bus, which was interesting - as well as a bit of an adventure!

Unlike my previous two overseas trips, this one did not involve meeting up with any significant online friends. So other than for the first two days of the wedding, and then meeting up with an old friend in Kuala Lumpur, it was a relatively socially uneventful solo trip. Mostly just breezing through places and getting a taste of them - quite literally! The food was one of the highlights of the whole experience!

Anyway, here is a selection of photos from the trip:

Cat statues in Singapore

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Rooftops of Malacca

"Don't mess with Melaka"

Malacca River

Malaysian Countryside I

George Town, Penang

Mainland Penang Coast

Malaysian Countryside II

Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur

Monkey at Batu Caves

Residential high rises in Kuala Lumpur

Sultan Mosque, Singapore

Singapore Skyline