South Gate and the Shrine of Remembrance.

The next day was all bright and sunny! I miss the sun sometimes. I remember when I was in Alaska and when the sun was out (very rarely though), I would stand under the sun with my eyes closed and palms up, as if to soak in as much of the sunlight I can get. (But the same can't be said when I come back to Singapore... Shade please!)

Took a train to Flinder's Street to have lunch with Ruzi. But first we dropped by the Melbourne Visitors' Centre in Federation Square to check out the promotional pamphlets on tours to the Great Ocean Road.

Beside Ruzi's workplace; nice fine-dining area:

Melbourne's General Post Office (GPO). Its actually a really swanky shopping centre!

Pictures of nearby streets, Elizabeth Street:

Once again, Bourke Street:

Flinder's Station clock tower:

SouthGate Shopping Mall at the Southbank (across the Yarra River):

Pedestrian bridge across the Yarra River:

Eureka Skydeck 88 (the highest viewing deck in the Southern Hemisphere; and has the world's first and only Edge Experience)

Glimpse of Melbourne Central from Yarra River:

You can see Flinder's on the left and St Paul's Cathedral on the right:

This is the Arts Centre:

Continuing southeast along St Kilda road:

Is it just me or in this picture, she bears some resemblance to Victoria Beckham? I think its just me:

The Shrine of Remembrance:

Built in 1934 in remembrance of the 114,000 men and women of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918, the inspiration for the external outline came from one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - the mausoleum at Harlicarnassus to Mausolus, King of Caria in South West Asia Minor.*
*http://www.shrine.org.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1

They were lowering the Australian flag (they were closed by the time we hiked up to the shrine... sheesh, just our luck...).

I like visiting memorial shrines and mausoleums. There is always some air of sombreness derived not only from the architectural designs and (most often) classical ornaments, but also from the monumentality of the urban planning (Washington DC is a perfect example of monumental urban planning for shrines and other governmental buildings).

But of course, there will always be people who are insensitive to the reverence and sensitivity of a place like this. The first guy in the foreground took his top off to pose for a picture, and the three guys behind him (thinking it would be hilarious to 'crash' the guy's picture) did likewise...

The three topless guys did more climbing on the columns to pose for more pictures later before they were reprimanded by the guard there... Like seriously, fooling around in a war memorial? Have you no respect?

The ornaments on the side buttresses:

A tribute statue:

So... we met up with Ruzi after her work, and Miin too. And we later had dinner at this really awesome Italian place along St Kilda Road...

That's it for now!