Sunday in the city...

[khiemtran]

A fine winter's day in Sydney, and we're walking past the Cook+Phillip Pool.



No, the water on top isn't for swimming...


It must be one of the only pools in the world with an ornamental pond over the top. If you look through the windows at the base of the pond, you can see the real pool underneath (you can just make out one of the swimmers in the middle of the photo).



And, speaking of Cook, here's the man himself...



Next, it's off to Ichiban Boshi in the Galeries Victoria for some ramen. Here's the Havaianas Thong (Flip-flop) vending machine in the same building. Step on the footprints to measure your feet, then choose your footwear. I've never seen anyone actually buy anything from this machine, but lots of people taking photos of it (cough). I guess if nothing else it's good advertising.



But our real reason for being in the city is the Australian Museum, here sending out a somewhat mixed message.



Liem's favourite exhibit is this giant touch screen, featuring all sort of deadly Australian creatures. Actually, just saying "Australian" is probably enough. It's that sort of continent. Touch the screen and ripples appear on the water.



But what happens if you touch this part?



Strange... Where did the kids go?



Ever get the feeling there's someone behind you? Life's tough in the arctic antarctic, especially if you're a penguin.



On to the dinosaurs. Liem was keen until he heard the low growling sound effects while we were still in the Australian Survivors section. "Can we go home now? he asked.



Liem and dinosaur to scale...



Security at these museums is terrible! No more shots after this, we were too busy running down the stairs.

Comments

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Great photos! Yes, I looked at the first photo and my first thought was - open air pool! We used to have those here when I was small, but they were too expensive basically to survive against indoor pools that were open all year. And now they've all been pulled down and had supermarkets built on the sites. :(

And my second thought was - what are the red lights indicating on the traffic signals? Is it the signals for the on-coming traffic or for the car that's stopped? I'm used to light being in line with the lane they're directing and hiding the signals to any other direction.

And penguins, yes, they would find it difficult in the Arctic ... being that they live in the Antarctic ... ;)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good catch. Yes, I meant to write Antarctic...

The lights are for oncoming traffic. There's another set of red lights just out of view on the left. It's normal practice here to have lights on both sides of the road and sometimes hanging over the lanes as well.

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see where my knee-jerk reaction is coming from. At a road junction that big over here, there'd be carriageway dividers (raised kerb and often railings to confine pedestrians to the crossing areas) and then the lights on the 'other side of the road' would actually be in the middle of the road but on the other side of my carriageway ... if that makes sense. Otherwise, yes, lights both sides of the road for on-coming traffic. D'oh! :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's funny all the little visual cues we use but don't normally think about. When I first moved to New South Wales, I found I was continually getting confused by the intersections because the visual language was subtly different. I might approach a big intersection expecting that there would be a right turning lane added (so I could safely stay in my lane if I was going straight ahead, only to find myself stuck behind right turners waiting on the lights).

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

And regarding open-air pools, yes, there are still quite common here. The climate helps a bit obviously. My local leisure centre has two outdoor pools (including one Olympic size one where Ian Thorpe used to train) and a huge indoor one. I usually stick to the 25m indoor one though, because the water's warmer and the lap swimming's a bit more sociable. You don't find many people standing around talking between laps in the outdoor pools in the middle of winter...

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, it occurs to me that we do have one locally. It's in Street (home of Clark's shoes and Millfield School) and has survived because the village already has a major indoor swimming pool for serious swimmers and so the outdoor summer-only pool attracts not only the small children who want to splash in the sunshine, but also the teens who just want to laze on the grass and show off adolescent figures. It's basically a turfed beach. :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Oh, so that's where Clark's come from!

Around here there are also ocean pools which are filled (and cleaned) naturally by the sea. Quite cheap to operate, but freezing cold in winter. OTOH, since the sea temperature lags the seasons by a few months, they can sometimes seem warmer than the air above.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Those are some awesome-looking exhibits.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are some very cool things there. We actually went to see the Deep Ocean temporary exhibition, lured by the prospect of a life-sized Giant Squid (Liem: "What if it's as big as the WORLD?"), but that turned out to be a bit underwhelming.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

What if it's as big as the WORLD?

Liem, you have understood. Our world is one giant squid.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Whoa, it was very hard for me to figure out how that second photo worked! Wild!

I *love* the notion of a flip-flop vending machine. Flip-flops are my favorite footwear (... except in winter...)

Boy does that shark have an evil grin--no wonder, with a continuing supply of yummy children.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Whoa, it was very hard for me to figure out how that second photo worked! Wild!

There's something that just seems wrong about swimming under water... Um, hang on...

I've also seen it set up as a wave pool, in the summer, with dozens of screaming kids playing in the artificial waves, while up above people are walking around enjoying the ornamental ponds.