Monday 12 October 2015

OUR NEW YEAR'S EVE AND SPECTACULAR FIREWORKS IN SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

My husband surprised me with an enchanting birthday gift last December 2014.  A trip to Sydney, Australia, followed by a trip to Singapore and Malaysia. I love to travel, a passion I share with my husband.  I know this is a delayed post but it's something I very much wanted to share in my blog. We flew first to Sydney to see the New Year's eve fireworks and stayed for a week exploring amazing Sydney. The weather in Sydney was summery and sunny in January with the weather turning very pleasant in the evenings.

Sydney is known as the New year's eve capital of the world with the world's largest and technologically advanced, visually incredible display of fireworks. The famous Sydney fireworks was held above the Harbour Bridge and Opera house. Sydney has an excellent network of transport system with trains, buses and, ferry you can use to commute anywhere.   After breakfast, we took a train from near our hotel to Circular Quay and then took a ferry to McMahons vantage point. We reached at 11 am and managed to find a spot amid thousands of people all seated so close to each other. A lot of people were camping in their tents with food and water from the previous day and even two days earlier to get the best spot possible in advance. There are various vantage points you can choose to be at. Apart from that,  fireworks can be enjoyed on special cruises with New year's eve dinner. Opera house celebrates new year's eve with a dinner as well and you can watch the fireworks .  A family was so kind enough to have us share with them a great spot right where we had the perfect view of the Harbor bridge and Opera house, above which the fireworks takes place. Food, water and make shift toilets were arranged at every vantage point for the public. McMahons is a vast beautiful place to take walks every now instead of remaining seated for hours on end. Photographers and tourists come from all across the world to Sydney to see the fireworks. 

Being surrounded by a sea of people, children and the grand scenic beauty, there was not a moment of boredom nor did we realize time fly by. At 9 pm there was a small display of fireworks for children. And then at midnight was the much awaited breath taking display of spectacular fireworks that lit up the sky. The continuous burst of plethora of colors and designs created such magic for the 1.5 million people witnessing it and to the entire world though various media.  We were awe struck and I was so excited that we got to experience the most magnificent fireworks in person. I can't thank my husband enough for this fabulous experience. Sydney celebrates new year's eve a day before rest of the world! The city council spends 7.2 million AU dollars on the fireworks each year. 

If you love travelling, how about visiting Australia? New year is just two months away and it's worth visiting Sydney and experience a spectacular new year's eve fire works followed by exploring all the interesting places during the rest of your holiday. Be sure to come back to my blog to check about all the places to visit in Sydney. If you plan on visiting around new year's eve, be sure to book your hotels and flight by end of October or early November. Other wise it's difficult to get hotel rooms and prices would sky rocket too. Should you require a visitors visa, approach the VFS office to get information on application, fees and documents to submit. Usually you should get an e-visa within 10 to 15 days after applying. We got our e-visa within a week. 









































Sunday 11 October 2015

PICTURES FROM BUBBLE SHOW AND MAGIC SHOW AT 360 MALL



During the Eid holidays, there was an entertaining magic show and bubble show for children at the 360 mall. I think it was fun watching not just the Bubble man and magician but the little children who were so captivated, amused and excited. 






RETURN TO BLOGGING AFTER NINE MONTHS OF SILENCE





Where do I start? Nine months feels like a long time to be away from blogging. I had a bad fall in January and dislocated the ulnar bone in my  right wrist. I'll keep it short and restrain from  boring my readers with too many details of my traumatic hand surgery. The failed surgery on my right wrist rendered it partially handicapped with a stiff wrist and nearly stiff fingers. With intensive physiotheraphy,  I can move my right hand a little bit with lots of limitations as my wrist is still stiff with the ulnar bone set in a dislocated position. 

As much as I love blogging and photography I couldn't do either for all these months. I can type with my left hand though and quite comfortably after a little practise. Since a few days, I can actually raise my right hand just high enough to press the shutter button on my camera. And I am super excited about that.  Little developments and small progress makes me forget my limitations and I focus on what I can do rather than what I can't.  After any trauma or suffering it's amazing how the human spirit is endowed with this miraculous power to adapt, to adjust and move on even though it might seem impossible at first. 

I am ready now to pursue my zen, my meditation, my joy of photography and hope to share them on my blog.