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Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
Sydney 2013 : Day 3 - Of Art & Nasi Lemak
29th September 2013
What's this? Art and Nasi Lemak for a blog title? Yes, it's a day of appreciating two extremes - Australian art and Malaysian Nasi Lemak.
Today we are going to tone things down a bit, i.e. take a breather after yesterday's hectic day of cycling and fireworks. We will be visiting the New South Wales Art Gallery, it's a fairly large gallery so we should be spending a fair bit of time there. In the evening we popped in to visit a cousin sister at Parramatta.
Having had breakfast at our apartment, we headed for Chinatown. On the way, passing by the Thai section, we saw these Buddhist devotees paying respect to some Thai monks who had come over from Thailand for a visit. Sitting or kneeling on mats and praying along that opened corridor they gave their devotion and respect.
Off Hay Street, a Chinese arch (of a design like those at the entry to towns in China) acts as the entrance into one of the alleys in Chinatown. On the arch was a saying "Within The Four Seas All Men Are Brothers" - it's a appropriate one by Confucius, a call for equality and unity.
How appropriate this saying is seeing that we had earlier just witnessed some Thais praying just a short distance away. Cosmopolitan Sydney these day seems to be made up of people from all over the world - Caucasians, Chinese, Thai, Indians, etc. In this melting port of cultures, it will be interesting to see how the society here will develop in the future.
Across the road, Paddy's Market at the ground floor of Market City is like a huge bazaar filled with many stalls selling all sorts of goods from clothing, souvenir items, phones, etc. A tip for shoppers here - things are much cheaper here, so if you do want to shop for some souvenirs and nice T-shirts, this would be the place.
The bus that took us up to the art gallery dropped us a fair distance away. The half kilometre walk to our destination was interesting too. We passed by the grand looking St. Mary's Cathedral, its many spires pointing skywards.
At the Domain Park (which is an extension of the Royal Botanic Gardens), a sign-board encourages visitors to walk & picnic on the grass, hug the trees and talk to the birds. It's a very sound advice to immerse oneself and be part of nature.
The Art Gallery Of New South Wales
The walk through the park has tickled our aesthetic side and primed us for art viewing.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales was established more than a century ago in 1871 (click here for opening hours). Entry for most sections of the Museum is free and photography is allowed (no flash though). So click away just like I did, taking as many photos as I possibly could for later more in depth viewing and appreciation.
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"Waiting"
- oil on canvas by Gordon Coutts (c1895) |
It's viewing time!
The museum is divided into several sections, each dedicated to a particular art style or art era. The above is a painting from the section "19th Century Australian Art".
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"Warath"
- oil on wood by Lucein Henry (1887) |
Paintings from this era ranges from potraits to still life to...
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"Patterdale Farm"
- oil on canvas by John Glover (c1840) |
... to sceneries of the Australian country side.
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"Allegory Of The Sack Of Rome"
- painted large plate by Franceso Xanto Avelli (1530) |
Ceramic ware from Europe
From the section of European Paintings from the 20th century.
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"The Frozen Pond"
- oil on canvas by Dame Laura Knight (c1918) |
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"Canadian Soldier"
- oil on canvas by Augustus John (1918) |
From the Statues and Porcelain Section :
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"An Athlete Wrestling With A Python"
- white marble statue by Lord Leighton Frederic (1888-91) |
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"The Spanish Lovers"
- hard-paste porcelain statues by Meissen (c1740-41) |
From the Aboriginal Art Section :
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"Seven Sisters"
- polymer paint on canvas by Mrs. Kunmanara Kawiny (2010)
|
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"Maku Inmaku Pakini"
- polymer on canvas by Ngupulya Pumani (2012) |
From the Asian Galleries :
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| 18th Century Bencharong Ware Bowl |
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Temple Guardian Lion
- sandstone statue from Cambodia Angkor region (Koh Ker era) |
From the Modern Art Section :
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"Careening"
- oil on canvas by Tristram Hillier (1939) |
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"RES"
- oil on wood by Hilarie Mais (2010) |
I admired much, much more than these sample of artwork than I have put here (... see more at Art Gallery Of New South Wales blog). The curators must have thought me one crazy fellow, taking photos of almost all paintings, statues, etc. and also their labels!
_______________________________________________________________________
Coming out from the gallery; the view of the large, green shady trees brought us down to earth again. Viewing those artwork tend to send one's mind to another surreal plane. The trees were a message of "Welcome back!"
At the nearby Hyde Park, a man was expounding his views in a loud strong voice. He talked on and on, and never seem to tire. A sign in front courteously stated "Everyone is entitled to my opinion". Out of some decorum, I listened for a while; he was talking about local issues which I could not make much headway off. Soon I left, wishing in my heart that he will be granted what he was so vocally fighting for.
NASI LEMAK TIME!
After a short rest back at the apartment, we were ready to venture out again. We took a couple of buses to head for North Parramatta - that's where my cousin Theresa is staying. At Parramatta we were a bit disorientated, fortunately there are maps at the bus stops which helped us get our directions right again. Phew.....
Walking towards my cousin's place, we got our first close up look of Sydney's suburbs. The streets are wide, clean and lined with trees. The neighbourhood was surprisingly serene and quite; perhaps it's because today's a Sunday.
Theresa was most glad to see us, it has been ages since I saw her. And Guess what she's cooking for us for dinner - Nasi Lemak!
Though just three days away from home, we were a bit home-sick for Malaysian food and Theresa's Nasi Lemak is a most welcomed meal.
The four of us (Theresa, her husband Patrick, Lynne & me) sat down, said our grace and dug in into this delicious meal of deep-fried tamarind prawns, curry chicken, stir-fried kangkong and sambal cuttlefish. Hallelujah!
For desserts we had blood oranges. This is the first time we are having them, the blood red colour may seem a turn off, but really they are sweeter than the normal oranges. Let's hope we don't turn into blood-sucking vampires after this, heh! heh!
Also for desserts were these mulberries - another first for us too. These sweet little treats can never be found in Malaysian stores.
It's a fitting end to a quiet day, a nice meal with good company.
Till tomorrow then, Selamat Malam.
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What's this? Art and Nasi Lemak for a blog title? Yes, it's a day of appreciating two extremes - Australian art and Malaysian Nasi Lemak.
Having had breakfast at our apartment, we headed for Chinatown. On the way, passing by the Thai section, we saw these Buddhist devotees paying respect to some Thai monks who had come over from Thailand for a visit. Sitting or kneeling on mats and praying along that opened corridor they gave their devotion and respect.
Off Hay Street, a Chinese arch (of a design like those at the entry to towns in China) acts as the entrance into one of the alleys in Chinatown. On the arch was a saying "Within The Four Seas All Men Are Brothers" - it's a appropriate one by Confucius, a call for equality and unity.
Across the road, Paddy's Market at the ground floor of Market City is like a huge bazaar filled with many stalls selling all sorts of goods from clothing, souvenir items, phones, etc. A tip for shoppers here - things are much cheaper here, so if you do want to shop for some souvenirs and nice T-shirts, this would be the place.
The bus that took us up to the art gallery dropped us a fair distance away. The half kilometre walk to our destination was interesting too. We passed by the grand looking St. Mary's Cathedral, its many spires pointing skywards.
At the Domain Park (which is an extension of the Royal Botanic Gardens), a sign-board encourages visitors to walk & picnic on the grass, hug the trees and talk to the birds. It's a very sound advice to immerse oneself and be part of nature.
The walk through the park has tickled our aesthetic side and primed us for art viewing.
Coming out from the gallery; the view of the large, green shady trees brought us down to earth again. Viewing those artwork tend to send one's mind to another surreal plane. The trees were a message of "Welcome back!"
At the nearby Hyde Park, a man was expounding his views in a loud strong voice. He talked on and on, and never seem to tire. A sign in front courteously stated "Everyone is entitled to my opinion". Out of some decorum, I listened for a while; he was talking about local issues which I could not make much headway off. Soon I left, wishing in my heart that he will be granted what he was so vocally fighting for.
After a short rest back at the apartment, we were ready to venture out again. We took a couple of buses to head for North Parramatta - that's where my cousin Theresa is staying. At Parramatta we were a bit disorientated, fortunately there are maps at the bus stops which helped us get our directions right again. Phew.....
Walking towards my cousin's place, we got our first close up look of Sydney's suburbs. The streets are wide, clean and lined with trees. The neighbourhood was surprisingly serene and quite; perhaps it's because today's a Sunday.
Theresa was most glad to see us, it has been ages since I saw her. And Guess what she's cooking for us for dinner - Nasi Lemak!
The four of us (Theresa, her husband Patrick, Lynne & me) sat down, said our grace and dug in into this delicious meal of deep-fried tamarind prawns, curry chicken, stir-fried kangkong and sambal cuttlefish. Hallelujah! 
For desserts we had blood oranges. This is the first time we are having them, the blood red colour may seem a turn off, but really they are sweeter than the normal oranges. Let's hope we don't turn into blood-sucking vampires after this, heh! heh!
Also for desserts were these mulberries - another first for us too. These sweet little treats can never be found in Malaysian stores.
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