Hello Brisbane!

I’ve been enjoying the sights of Brisbane, capital city of Queensland, Australia. This was quite the unexpected blogger trip, courtesy of the kind folks from Windows Live Hotmail & Microsoft (Asia-Pacific). I’ve never really planned to travel Down Under until now and the reason I will tell you in my next post:)

My first meal of the day upon arriving was at The Coffee Club: eggs benedict with smoked salmon and extra chipolata sausages. Throw in coffee and cake combo and my total bill went up to AUD$26. It’s not cheap to travel in Oz but I must say their cakes and other desserts look really good (hello Donna Hay!)

So far I can say… the weather has been most amazing! Mild temperatures during the day (which makes people walk down in sandals and tube tops)… then a bit chilly in the evenings… a perfect combination I must say!

I’ve ridden the ferry which cruised the river and gave me some spectacular views. And among the other tourist things I did: ate yummy steak pie, cuddled a koala at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (the largest in the world!), and fed a kangaroo.

The first day I spent shopping at the huge Direct Factory Outlet mall in Brisbane since it was just beside Novotel, our hotel. Bought stuff from RipCurl, Nine West, Billabong and other brands. They were still expensive even at half off, but I figure they would still come out cheaper than if I bought them in Manila. Erase that, am just a shopping freak! LOL

I especially loved the selections at TYPO, an Australian chain that sells notebooks, school stuff and other curiosities. I bought a framed artwork with a design of matroushka dolls in them, and I really liked this journal too. What say you? 😀

The al fresco cafe culture in Brisbane. Life here looks very laidback.