Despite not being Indian nor practicing Hinduism, I am Malaysian.

And being Malaysian means having ONE Malaysian culture, Deepavali is part of it. It is not surprising how we have fond memories of Deepavali too!

My interracial childhood involved playing, interacting, learning, hanging out & growing up with my pre-school, primary school, high school, college mates & uni mates of Indian descent  felt like it was only yesterday 

When I was a child of five, my next-door neighbour was a jolly Indian boy, whom I called, "thambi". 

I would watch with great interest, when his father decorated their door with garlands of flowers & colourful LED lights as Deepavali approaches.

In high school, several of my closest friends were Indian too.

I remember celebrating this festival of lights with them when they welcomed me into their homes during Deepavali. The food & spices were simply mouthwatering! 

I still enthuse over the kaleidoscope of Kolams beautifully designed on the floor! 

Those brightly coloured rice in distinct, geometrical Rangoli patterns never failed to fascinate me 

Here's to hoping I get to celebrate Deepavali with my Indian friends again this year.

httpv://youtu.be/E9v9ZIIRxw8

A clip on the Classical Indian Dance which I found really interesting! 

For Petronas, it has always been their intention to help promote and inculcate underlying values from the diverse heritage, tradition and cultures that brings all Malaysians together, for all their festive campaigns.

The rest of their festive campaign's key driver 'Be the Light – A Celebration of Culture and Tradition' will feature exhibitions and series of greetings.

The said Deepavali exhibition which will take place at GALERI PETRONAS, inclues a series of cultural activities such as Henna drawings, Classical Indian dances, the Art of Kollam, Indian traditional costumes and more.

If you're up for it, you can see the full list & schedule –  here

httpv://youtu.be/ylIgbqB_WYE

That being said, have a wonderful Deepavali celebration, my Hindu friends & readers! 

தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்க  

May you enjoy this year's festival of lights!

On one of my voyages to Melbourne city during my first week in Australia, I hit up the ever-popular Southbank aka Crown Entertainment Complex.

Heard so much about it prior to my arrival, and now, I'm right in the heart of its vicinity.

The sights are even prettier at night all lit up! 😀

I could still remember being like a little kid lost in the big city on my first day in Melbs.

But thankfully, a few awesome people showed me around…

Aunt Ket included! She brought me ALL around Melb city 

At Melbourne Central.

It had a Metro Train beneath the mall! Wait a sec — I shouldn't be surprised. There's an LRT Train underneath our famed KLCC Twin Towers too.

.

Shopping at FCUK. Gawd I love this brand. Nice play of the acronym too 😛

Always works for me! (Besides the gym, of course)

We kept walking and Aunt Ket wanted to bring me to a picturesque spot on top of Burke Street Mall (or was it still Melbourne Central? I don't recall) to take pretty photos of the city from an aerial view.

And so we went to this rooftop garden!

So pretty! 😀 😀

I also reckon it's a place where heat is conserved at an optimum temperature for the plants.

The moment I stepped inside, I felt so warm! Almost like in Malaysia hehe.

Part of the city on a Saturday afternoon

We just kept exploring the city until evening. 

Oh and, funny how the sun begins to set around 5.30pm in Australia!

And by the time it hits 6.30pm, it'll be dark already

Nawwww horses along the streets of Melbourne!

There were horse carriages around. Just like the olden days.

I didn't ride it for some reason; reckon it probably costs a bomb 

Liquor shop!

Oh sorry, I forgot to warn you about this PG-13 photo,

Too bad you've already seen it! 😛

Shotbuckets on sale! Perfect for parties.

Tried on a coat with busy motifs. Liked it. Didn't like it

Liked it again. Changed my mind. Liked it again. But didn't buy it

Stopped to grab a lunch break!

Continued walking till we reached Southbank.

So pretty, right? T'was a great idea to go just before sunset.

Breathtaking

By the time we crossed the bridge to the other side, we were greeted by lots of buskers!

Some were singing, dancing, painting, juggling and all sorts of different things

Impressive street art!

Sat down inside Crown Entertainment Complex to have dinner

Yes, if you're wondering, that's all I'm having for dinner

Can't help that the Australian currency is triple times that of mine. 

How sad! It sucks always feeling like a pauper overseas. I finally how it feels like to be poor. 

Artsy shot 😀

And before we realized it, it was nightfall

We were just in time for the fire flamethrower show!

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Southbank boasts a display of flames every weekend at a specific time. I think I was there at 8pm? It lasts for about 10 minutes, tops.

Yeah, if you're ever in town, try to catch it with your very own eyes!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WWRLqEgil4

Here's a short snippet of it.

The heat was so intense at some points that you can feel a very mild burning sensation!

Everybody (especially tourists) stopped and watched it in awe

Just a nice silhouette 🙂

Southbank was buzzing with people even late at night!

Now that's what I'm talking about 😉

Lovely sights!

Stopped by the bridge to take picture but was constantly photobombed by drunk boys 

OMG leave me alone! They insisted a picture anyhow. Reminds me of what one of my readers once commented, "You always seem to attract weird men huh" LOL. That made me laugh!!! 

ZOMG! Trying not to ruin my smile.

Ok photo over. You can go now kthxbai

Gave up trying to take a solo picture as they wouldn't leave me alone unless I joined their nightly drunken crusades or left the spot.

Obviously, I politely declined their offer with an awkward smile and chose the latter. We adjourned home soon after. Phew.

Back at Flinders Street Station

So that was my 12 hour day out at the city.

Didn't feel so lost anymore when I went downtown again the following weekend!

Can't wait to go back. Countdown: 55 days! 

This is insane! Out from 9am – 11pm and at least 10 hours of non-stop walking has really taken its toll on me.

I'm maxed out tired to the bone now – resting while transferring photos and blogging this post.

Yeahyeah, I know I should probably hit the sack by now but being me, it is imperative that I blog an immediate snippet before the entire blogpost… because who knows, this might take another million years to be up LOL

I love my new prezzie! An adorable, furry, soft tigga hat to keep my head warm

So anyway! I was at the Melbourne Zoo in Royal Park for almost 5 hours; was impossible to cover every nook and cranny

I reckon it would be safe to say that almost the entire animal kingdom reside within the walls of that zoo

From the smallest of insects…..

…to the biggest of animals!

My whole afternoon was spent exploring the entire zoo hunting down the animals to take photos of.

I swear felt like Dora the Explorer LOL! But the fact that I'm lacking the binoculars and knapsack doesn't come in the way for I think I made up for it with a big-ass DSLR camera and a slingbag 😛 😛

And… the King of the Jungle! (yes, if you're wondering… I was THAT close to Simba here)

It was incredible, better than any zoo I've ever been! Melbourne Zoo is massive and the entire place was an extremely close-to-real-life makeshift rainforest dessert ocean underground grassland antartic tropics aviary all in one.

Unlike many *cough* places *cough* that my fellow Malaysians know….

There are certain zoos in particular who mistreat their animals, cooping them up in tiny cages with restricted space to exercise, not cleaning their already miserable cages and drugging them to ensure their benevolence during photo-opportunities.

Oh and yes, I know I owe everyone a photo of a kangaroo ever since I set foot in Australia

So… ta-daa! 😀 Here it is, shot in the zoo earlier today

Plenty more photos of the glorious (and even the unglorious, ugly, often overlooked) members of the animal kingdom to come! I did, as usual, took truckloads of photos.

And the most tedious part is filtering & batch processing them all. Bleh.

Headed to the Tutankhamun exhibition after that for another 3 hours!

On the right: a bag of Egyptian souvenirs I bought. On the left: a replica of Tutankhamun's skull

Verdict? It was magnificent and we were clearly in awe with everything they had to offer. Everyone was clearly enthused with the displays, footages, ancient relics, hieroglyphs, statues, fragile mummified skeletons,  and the like. More to come, I promise!

If you're an avid lover of Egyptian civilization like I am, you'll be star struck.

And now do you still wonder why I had the Eye of Horus tattooed on my left wrist? 😉