Travelogue - Sydney

 "I like to be on the edge of possible" - remarked Jorn Utzon, who designed perhaps the most iconic landmark of Australia - The Sydney Opera House. Opera House is a wonderful testament to another of Utzon's quotes - The architect's gift to society is to bring joy to the people from the surroundings he creates." . True to that, just like other global landmarks, the Opera House brings in various groups of artists round the year and bring tremendous joy to the people.  

Harbour Bridge from Opera House

 Indeed, the Opera House and the associated stories made me think about the limitations of traditional assessment models of urban infrastructure. Apparently the initial estimate of Opera house was $7 Million (back in 1959) and it took about $102 million by the time it completed. All Government officials would have been shit-scared to approve such a project and approve the cost escalations of about 14 times. How can someone foresee such a success and value add to the city's overall economy and culture and take such a decision ?  Interestingly, the Opera House recouped its investments in about 2 years post completion and today, its overall  social value to the Australian economy is assessed to be about $11+ billion  over the past decade, with the immediate surroundings generating about $1.2 billion annually.  

Inside of Opera House

This unique trait of being able to foresee such a futuristic business potential was evident in this place called 'Scenic World' in Blue Mountains area outside of Sydney. A company acquired a closed coal mine , made good facilities and converted into a great tourist environment which houses world's steepest railway ride as well. 

Sydney is perhaps the most thriving metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere with a dynamic business and cultural scene. The city has become a magnet of talent across the world with many of my talented friends relocating here for better careers. Sydney is currently one of the most expensive cities in the world to live.  Newer suburbs are getting established as the city is expanding. Inspite of the large and growing urban sprawl, the public infrastructure investments are really stellar. You can safely drink tap water from anywhere, and there's large well connected urban transit network. 

Lara - Tendulkar Gate @ SCG

The state of New South Wales, in which Sydney is situated is famous for the Merino Wool as well with sprawling grasslands which are dotted with sheep, which is indeed a beautiful sight , The state seems to be spending a lot on clean energy, ecological conservation and agriculture.  

The city holds a special place in the hearts of Cricket lovers.  Two iconic players of our lifetime Brian Lara & Sachin Tendulkar have had their major career highlights here. Lara named his

Don's cricketing gear @SCG

 daughter 'Sydney' and Sachin has apparently remarked that SCG is Sachin Cricket Ground !.  SCG has honored both legends with a special 'Lara -Tendulkar Gate' as well.  Many stories of lucky charm / superstition are abound at SCG dressing rooms with many legendary players preferring to sit only at certain places 

Sydney left a feeling of incompleteness in me. Maybe its the story of Utzon, who couldn't see his best creative design after the completion of construction.. Maybe that I missed seeing the Bondi Beach...Maybe that I spent only limited days here.. Something makes me think that I'll be back here again later !  

  

Read my Travelogues

Melbourne,  Taipei, Doha, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi,  Barcelona, Silicon Valley,  Siem Reap, 

New York, Washington DC,  Amsterdam, Brussels, Osaka,  Hiroshima,  Cyprus, Budapest , Rome, 

Bali,  Hamburg, Berlin,  Prague, Cairo,  Alexandria,  Hallstatt,   Salzburg, Vienna,  Dachau,  St Petersburg,  Moscow, Istanbul,  Seychelles, Vizag

Travelogue - Melbourne

"Melbourne & Sydney are sisters, but Sydney is the prettier one ..So she's always been more overtly beautiful, she's got the Harbour, the bridge, she's got Bondi, the good weather – but because of that she's never had to really work on her personality. So her bars, her restaurants, her coffee – not great. But she's so overtly beautiful that people will keep going back anyway"

Melbourne Street Art -1

"Melbourne is the less overtly attractive sister, she's still beautiful but in her own subtle way. So we don't have the Harbour, we have a body of water, and it's pretty at night and sunset but you've gotta look a little bit harder to appreciate it, so we've had to work on our personality,

"So we have the best coffee, the best restaurants, rooftop bars, festivals – we're even fun when it rains... Because we can't fall back on our looks – we're not the overtly attractive sister here – so we've had to get such a good personality, and we earn our crowds."

==> Courtesy Sarah Davidson, a Melbourne based influencer

"

Melbourne Street Art 2

First time in Aus, we landed at Melbourne and spent 4 nights finding out the essence of the city. And truly as Sarah mentioned, Melbourne charmed us really into it.  For a country with not so much history unlike the European ( Read Budapest , Rome , Berlin, )  or US cities (New York, Washington DC,) ,  Melbourne has beautifully woven threads out of its ~170 year past into the modern civilizations.  A free spirit like NY thrives in Melbourne. That manifests itself in various forms of street arts and cafe's which has become a rallying point for various bands and even celebrities like  Taylor Swift & bands such as ACDC.  Indeed, the city shows us how elements of modern culture can be developed out of such esoteric interests and can become a unifying force towards larger causes such as child rights, climate impact, inequality etc.  

Melbourne Street Art 3

Music and street art forms the heart and soul of the city.   It has its share of controversial characters such as Ned Kelly (a Robinhood for some, a murderer for others) in the wake of gold rush and colonial era.  Indeed it made me think - the roots of economic growth is Aus is the gold rush in the 1850's . Africa also had a mineral rush post that. Why did Australia evolve into a first world developed country (inspite of a steep Geographic penalty which makes trade with most parts of the world very expensive from a logistics perspective ) , whereas Africa is still languishing as a third world country.  I think the answers has got a lot of do with how settler / colonial institutions evolved and possibly a climate encouraging large scale migration and settlements. The education system also seems to encourage critical thinking and developing an ability to form their own perspectives in children (Read about how Australian classrooms teaches about Ned Kelly - without putting any preconceived notions, students are encouraged to dissect the facts and form their own opinions ).   

Great Ocean Road

Wallabies at Moonlit Sanctuary

Koala petting at Moonlit Sanctuary

Two hours drive from the city, you get to this wonderful place called Philip Island, which is a bio-diversity hotspot like Galapagos. Natural penguin colonies, Koala's, wallabies, kangaroos - this is a place where systematic interventions of a proactive Government has kept the ecological balance.  For eg, Govt bought out the houses and lands of private settlers in areas important to wild life. Govt adopted to a wide variety of measures to remove foxes from the island including hunting when it threatened the natural habitat of penguins and wallabies. Indeed it shows u how wild life conservation should be done, scientifically preserving the ecological balance - a far cry from many environmentalists in India, who oppose any such measures .  Incidentally, inspite of Kangaroo being the national animal of Australia, scientifically they have indulged in culling Kangaroos when the population became too much to threaten the habitats.   Imagine something like that being proposed in India ! . 

Another touristy sight in the vicinity of Melbourne is the Great Ocean Road - which was conceived as a project to provide employment for soldiers returning after first world war.  Indeed, Aus is a large country with less population - a drive along the road took us into many small settlements, replete with all modern amenities . 

A deep respect for the aboriginal origins permeate the Australian way of life with deep respects highlighted to them wherever appropriate - perhaps symbolized as an atonement to the atrocities committed on them. 

Shane Warne - has been honored by a statue outside MCG, his home. Many legends such as Dennis Lillee, Don Bradman also find a place there.  

Shane Warne Statue outside MCG

One thing which we did in this trip vis-a-vis other trips was to meet and connect with a lot of our college-mates and other friends, who have migrated here. Conversations with them gave a lot of insights into the Australian way of life, challenges and opportunities.  Most of our Uber drivers were also people who are studying in Australia.  Conversations with them gave a pretty optimistic view of their outlook and the future of Australia.  When you trace back the history, you see that mass migration to Australia and Argentina  started in 1850's. Australia emerged as a winner. I think it is all about conscious choices and policies that Governments implemented.  It is relevant in this era as well as countries such as Australia , Canada , Europe and US  (practically the entire developed world) has implemented targeted human capital attraction policies centered around highly valued skills.  Unlike 1800's and 1900's, human capital is the new oil / gold in 2000's and Australia seems to be rightly placed to capture that dividend !

Read my Travelogues

Taipei, Doha, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi,  Barcelona, Silicon Valley,  Siem Reap, New York, Washington DC,  Amsterdam, Brussels,  Osaka,  Hiroshima,  Cyprus, Budapest , Rome, Bali, Hamburg, Berlin,  Prague, Cairo,  Alexandria,  Hallstatt,   Salzburg, Vienna,  Dachau,  St Petersburg,  Moscow, Istanbul,  Seychelles, Vizag

Travelogue - Taipei

 "He is not a God. He is just a human. He had his fair share of mistakes and successes" - Remarked our guide Tony about Chiang Kai Shek, when I asked about the criticisms exhibited against him in the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall and museum in Taipei.  

Chiang Kai Shek with Gandhiji

For long I had wondered how two regions separated by a narrow strait , has common cultural ancestries could evolve into totally different systems. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall was the answer to that. It is hard to imagine some museums inside China criticizing Mao /Deng so openly. Given all the openness of Japan and sporadic apologies of some politicians, they are yet to acknowledge publicly about its atrocities in Nanking and elsewhere during the war.   Chiang Kai Shek museum describes his role in defeating Japan in WWII as well as details on how his actions in the post-war Taiwan contributed to the murder of many citizens.  

Criticisms against Chiang Kai Shek
in his memorial hall

Tony continued..  " In Taiwan we follow three tenets for democracy.. 1. Party is always below law, 2. Freedom to criticize anyone 3. No matter how good you are, you only have two terms to rule "   . This is in sharp contrast to what's there in China. 

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

It is indeed an economic miracle that a country with practically very little mineral wealth developed into a global economic powerhouse in such a short period of time following the war. Chiang Kai Shek memorial museum threw light into that as well. Three economic policies - Land reforms which involved redistribution into small parcels, Compulsory education which improved the human capital, focus on improving women employment - were the cornerstones of it.  Particularly, pro-women employment policies  resulted in formation  of many village based MSME's and improved the household savings rate. This boosted secondary and tertiary industries in state.  

China's sustained  diplomatic isolation campaigns prevented Taiwan from entering into trade agreements with many countries, thereby limiting its reach of consumer based industries. Hence, quite a lot of firms in Taiwan like TSMC ( the global leader in semiconductor fabs ) focus on B2B sector.

Din Tai Fung Cuisine

Taiwan is roughly the size of Kerala , quite mountainous (70% of area ) vis-a-vis Kerala (54%) . Long tunnels through mountains have developed Taiwan road network extensively - Something that I wish to see in Kerala.  

 Fresh water rivers in abundance has been a catalyst to the semi conductor industry as well. Population is cramped into a few urban clusters like Taipei, Kaohsiung , Taichung, Tainan & Hsinchu.  Taipei is an urban marvel with the iconic Taipei 101 tower being the main landmark. State of the art urban transit systems and urban parks give a very comfortable life-style to the citizens.  Standard of education is quite high. 

Queen's head volcanic formation at
Yehliu Geo Park

Another unique thing about Taipei is the presence of 7-11 convenience stores in every corner of the the city. Apparently, after Seoul, Taipei has the highest concentration of 7-11 stores. This is perhaps in stark contrast with the evolving retail landscape in India, which is dominated by large supermarkets in malls. I think the urban transit systems is the major reason for the evolution of the same. If you live in a city where you have to drive for anything and everything, chances of you splitting up your regular grocery purchase in multiple visits to small neighborhood stores are limited. You would rather do a bulk shopping in a mall where you can park and shop in one go.  Given the extensive MRT & bus system in Taipei which most people rely on, buying things from 7-11 stores whenever you walk home from MRT seem to be the most logical thing.  It was indeed a heartening sight to see small kids aged about 7 -  9 years going to school in MRT's without the supervision of anyone.  Indeed, Taipei reaffirmed by belief that efficient mass rapid transport systems are the way to reinvent urban life in India.  

Taroko Gorge

We took day trips from Taipei to these places 

- Beitou & Yangmighshan National Park - A mini Yellow-Stone as per travelers who have been to both places. Sulphur fumes coming out of dormant volcanos and hotsprings make it a unique eco-system unlike what is seen elsewhere

- Taroko Gorge - World's largest marble gorge. About couple of hours drive from Taipei, this is also an ecological marvel with many geologic formations and stunning views. 

- Yehliu National Park - Again unique volcanic formations 

- Jiufen  -  An ancient goldmine town made famous by movies of Japanese director Miyazaki. Quite similar to many European ancient villages . Reminded me of Hallstatt, though not that beautiful 

All these places require long walks and hikes. Infact, Taiwan is known as a hikers paradise.

A few tips to travelers 

- If you have Indian passport, and have a US / Schengen visa, you can get an online entry permit

- Unlike typical tourist destinations, there are not many currency exchange houses in cities. You can change currencies in airport / banks ( they work only during regular office hours ) / Taipei 101.  Taiwan does not seem to have focused much on tourism as a sector

Sulphur Fumes from volcanic area

- Plan your city commute by MRT. It is super efficient and connected to most places of interest

- Special Thanks to Shitha for helping us with many suggestions and also taking us into Din Tai Fung - the famous Taiwanese Michellin star restaurant. 

  Read my Travelogues

Taipei, Doha, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi,  Barcelona, Silicon Valley,  Siem Reap, New York, Washington DC,  Amsterdam, Brussels,  Osaka,  Hiroshima,  Cyprus, Budapest , Rome, Bali, Hamburg, Berlin,  Prague, Cairo,  Alexandria,  Hallstatt,   Salzburg, Vienna,  Dachau,  St Petersburg,  Moscow, Istanbul,  Seychelles, Vizag