Opera in Vienna

VIENNA OPERA, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

like what Nic says:" eh u do set-design one leh....how can miss this kind of thing...." hahaha!!! so when in Vienna, apart from seeping coffee at a café, a visit to the Viena State Opera is a must i guess....Anyway, this neo-classical building is like a architecture-ism rojak. Supposedly, together with its Neo-classical concept, there is also, Romanesque, Baroque, and Renaissance influences. Apparently it was heavily criticized during its construction phase. So much so that one of its 2 original architects, Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and the other August Sicard von Sicardsburg died shortly later. None lived to see the opening of their creation. However, Gottfried Semper was responsible for its final look after its rebuilt after wwII.(RMB Gottfried Semper, most of us Archi. peops heard erwin sprouting his name on the first History & Theory of Modern Archi. lecture in year 1. we never heard of and could hardly spell it then)

Theater here is diff from in S'pore...theres actually such things as standing tickets for poor or cheapo peops. and minus the fact that you stand the entire show, its like S$7 and its just behind the stalls. and if like me(after intermission), you could get a space to stand at the very barrier between the stall seats and the stall standing area, the view is as good as sitting in a back row of the stall..hahaha!!!! Anyway, the opera was l'Elisir d'Amore in Italian(of course...). Didn't understand much but think it was something like:
girl like boy, boy like girl, girl somehow choses some other guy, boy does something enormously sacrificial, girl is touch, girl dumps other guy for boy, other guy got motherly screwed.
as for the set, extremely impressive and realistic surface renderings and details on stage elements, but same set through out entire play with only 2 changes in lighting. Maybe it didn't need a changing set or lighting...i wouldn't know.

All in all i would say it was a 2 hour well spent minus the fact that 1/3 of my vertical vision was obstructed by a balding Austrian head before intermission and that my back was scream "&@#^*#@$" after the show...hahah!!!

Giant Ice Sculptures

DSC04178, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

Innsbruck, Austria.....The new Nordpark Cable Rail Stations by Zaha. Hadid. Consisting of the Congress Station, Loewenhaus Station, Alpenzoo Station and the Hungerberg Station, this cable rail line brings skiers from the center of Innsbruck to the mountains north of Innsbruck....aboves are the photos of the terminal station,Hungerberg Station. Like the usual works from Hadid, they scream for your attention with their highly sculptural and dynamic form. However, in this case, though they stand out distinctively, they still remain harmonious with their picturesque surroundings. Like giant ice sculptures amidst the Austrian mountain-scape.

A Twin??

DSC0263, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

As Promised!!!...hahahaha...

Bye Lund

DSC02749, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

This is me, and this very moment checking out hand luggage limit and directions to hostels online...why do i have my christmas hat on?? long story, and its all thanks to my crazy corridor mates who have interestingly come to see me pack...hahahaha!!!
thanks guys for being such wonderful corridormates...though its only been 4 months and i haven't spent much time with you guys, but those time that we did, they were wonderful....so Ruth, thanks for being such a great big sis;

Antonis, you're the only greek i know and because of you i think all greeks are nice people now;

Xavier, will always remember us being pissed drunk and hung-over after all our parties and nights out, congrats for turning a asian into a alcoholic..hahaha!!!;

Lindsay, no more stoning OKAY??....;

Fatimah, keep smiling, keep laughing and stay high, and away for alcoholic Xavier of course;

Martin, stay consistent on your expresso intake yar...hahaha!!!....

and to the rest of of Vildanden 26A, keeping partying hard and take care. hope to see you guys in the near future and of course, know that if you're anywhere around Singapore or Malaysia, give me a buzz......HEJ DA!!!!

Bye fellow NUS-sians

avril me and shiping, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

fellow NUS Exchange Student....last few parties before heading back to sing-land

Pre-Christmas

christmas, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

A Pre-Christmas party at my Corridor 2 weeks ago...over here, every slight excuse for a party is blown up to full scale...hahaha!!!

Final stretch....

s, originally uploaded by cloudberrie.

down to 2 weeks left in Sverige...and i've a feeling this 3 computer screens gonna be seeing a lot of me just like they have for the last one week...at less until my subimissions ove..heres a intro to my current 3 closest friend...Lapbie's my trusty itune playing, photoshoping Ibook is always there to keep me awake with random songs; Leftie's usually tuned onto 3D Studio Max which i've tried to learn, some what unsuccessfully last week, and Rightie's my Archicad/Internet/anything-and-everything-else companion...........Leftie and Rightie are 'conjointed' twins of the computer world....hahahahaha!!!