It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas ... and Hanukkah ... in My Hometown?

Christmas Tree in King George Square Brisbane 

Chanukah (Hanukkah)
in Brisbane 2021

Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

My kitchen wall calendar and City Hall

I had to go into the Brisbane CBD last Monday (November 29th) to get my birth certificate and nearly had to put on my sunglasses, even inside the shopping malls:-)

My walk route from Southbank to the CBD and back

Walking through the Brisbane Arcade brings back childhood memories of visiting the tea room that used the be in here with my grandmother from my mother's side of the family, where you would get your teacup read at the end of your visit.

Maybe that's why I mainly drink coffee now, so no one can read my tea mail:-)  

Brisbane Arcade

Brisbane Arcade

How time flies? 

I remembered these stairs in the Brisbane Arcade that I used to climb with my childhood legs and my grandmother, both long gone now.

Tiffany & Co. Brisbane - Queens Plaza

There was no Tiffany & Co in the CBD when I was a child, or even a young man, not that I ever did breakfast in the city that much back then anyway.

But I'm amazed not having been in the CBD for a while just what is in here now, and what's not anymore.

My destination on Monday was Level 32, 180 Brisbane to get my birth certificate from the government department of 'Births, Deaths and Marriages' since my birth extract seems to be a useless piece of paper these days when trying to prove who you are.

And since I've never had a passport to prove who I am, I had to now get my birth certificate to prove who I am now.

I've always known the government department as being called 'Births, Deaths and Marriages', but apparently it is now called 'Births, deaths, marriages and divorces' ... which seems appropriate for the times we now live in I guess:-)

I have my marriage and divorce certificates, but they are as valuable as the vow my ex-wife swore at the altar all those years ago:-P 

180 Brisbane

Tiffany-twisted?

180 Brisbane

I like how this building looks like a ship ... which reminds me of the Titanic for some reason:-)

180 Brisbane

Once I had my birth certificate I headed for the cafe in the lobby of 180 Brisbane and grabbed a Salmon Bagel and a black coffee and took a window seat above the stairway to heaven and looked out on the city I grew up in as a kid, but hardly recognize now, after infrequent visits into the CBD.

The last time I had a real good walk around the CBD was in November, 2018, when the city seemed to be closed for some reason.   

Being a Disgruntled Tourist in My Hometown?

Looking down from my table in the cafe:-)

Remembering DNA (Douglas Noel Adams) 20 Years Later?

I could even see the Brisbane City Hall clock:-)

Brisbane School of Arts

All the World's a stage?!

Shingle Inn City Hall

Closed?!

Bread & Circuses and Let Them Eat Cake?

The 2nd Level of the Brisbane City Hall 

Read out on the opening of City Hall

The flag of Brisbane

I tried to go to the top of the City Hall clock tower, but after walking around the building and up all the steps I was told the clock tower is shut on Mondays! 

I was told I could come back tomorrow, and it would be open ... but why would I want to drive in and pay another $17 to park at Southbank and walk across in pouring rain?

And why is it run like a Fish & Chip shop, with Mondays closed?

Kangaroos showing their nuts?-)

I then walked back over the bridge and visited the art gallery and saw the snowman in the fridge. 

And the creepy Visitation statue:-)

The Visitation 1926, cast 1958

The Visitation?

The Brisbane River on
 180 Brisbane:-)

Uploaded on my birthday ...
and Bruce's?

The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves and Others in Our Lives?

And the stories the weather bureau tell us about Christmas Day:-)