Melbourne, Australia

An "Asienated" Australia


Emma, ​​Juliet and Jimmy
Three Taiwanese friends and colleagues at one of Melbourne's university residences.
Megalopole Dynamics
Boat and tram pass by Melbourne's CBD (Central Business District) at dusk.
massive crossing
Pedestrians cross the road in front of Flinders Station, Melbourne's main rail interface.
trip for three
Asian friends share one of the carriages that travel through Melbourne city centre.
party off
Couple outside Luna Park in Melbourne.
hyperbolic chess
Passersby stop to follow a game of chess in a city street.
British Heritage
Friends from a college in the city laugh at colleagues who are about to arrive.
different heights
A Melbourne skyscraper, in stark contrast to the church opposite and the outer homes of the CBD (Central Business District).
Recycling Architecture
Summit of Melbourne Central Shopping Central.
The other library function
Residents enjoy the comfort of the lawn in front of the city library.
women vs men
Underground bathrooms with a classic look.
Grid panorama
Central Business District seen from inside the Yarra building, part of Federation Square.
Scott, American acrobat
A street performer juggles apples near the Yarra building in Fed Square.
urban symbiosis
An outdoor cafe, housed behind St. Paul's Church, one of Melbourne's most iconic.
Luna Park
Facade of Melbourne's Luna Park in St Kilda.
tribune tower
Top of one of the city's neo-gothic skyscrapers.
city ​​of arcades
Passersby pass through one of Melbourne's many arcades, occupied by bars and restaurants.
imminent photo
Visitor prepares to photograph the facade of the city's museum.
colonial supremacy
Australian and Aboriginal flags fly atop the Melbourne Museum building.
Paris to Aussie Fashion
A replica of the Eiffel Tower at Melbourne's Arts Center.
Cultural capital aussie, Melbourne is also frequently voted the best quality of life city in the world. Nearly a million eastern emigrants took advantage of this immaculate welcome.

Australia, and Melbourne in particular, have become destinations of choice for learning the English language.

Aware of the urgency of this and other opportunities, endowed with scholarships and subsidies from their states, young Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Japanese and Koreans flock to the south of the country.

Athey adapt among compatriots and live their new ozzie lives to the full.

Western visitors like us start to wonder at the abundance of Asians on the Big Island. Over time, they get used to the unexpected ethnic deviation. Some are inspired by it.

As we enter the futuristic Federation Square, Scott, an American acrobat touring Oceania, performs.

He kicks off his comedic juggling act with a snide: “Hi everyone, it's wonderful to be back in Australasia. Speaking of Asia, I can see that you Chinese are also multiplying well here!”.

A street performer juggles apples near the Yarra building in Fed Square.

It's not just the Chinese. Well counted, Asians in general are already over 800.000, 20% of Melbourne's population.

On any given weekday, Federation Square displays its kind of eruption of steel, glass and abstract geometry. It works as a privileged meeting point and promotes the city's great ethnic diversity.

Central Business District seen from inside the Yarra building, part of Federation Square.

The River Yarra's River and Social Frontier

It is right next to it that we find its river vein, the Yarra River that establishes another symbolic landmark of the colonization of Australia.

The Yarra was important to the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong aborigines who knew it as the river that “flows forever”.

Today, as the riverside lamps warm up the twilight, the terraces on its promenade fill with people who have recently been freed from their jobs.

As we enjoyed for almost an hour on end, determined rowing teams make the rounds of the Yarra, in the good manner of Oxford or Cambridge.

Victoria Town Planning

Rowers train on the Yarra River.

The river also divides competitive Melbourne geographically and socially.

“Crossing the river” is an expression that locals often resort to and reflects the rift that exists between the working-class zones of the north bank – Fitz Roy, Collingwood, Carlton and Brunswick and the aristocrats of the south – Saint Kilda and Prahan .

Real like those of other metropolises, the rivalry has dramatic repercussions. Some inhabitants of these neighborhoods spend months without visiting the other side.

Mia and Tony

Trolley stops at a downtown stop.

The Almond-eyed Immigrants from the Gold Fever of Vitoria

Those who arrived with Asian origin, these, for the most part try to prosper in the more distant suburbs.

They fight for success, with greater concentration in the southeast of the city and, some of them, business from China in Chinatown, formed in 1850, at the beginning of the emigration to the big island caused by the Victoria's gold rush.

Around that time, along with the almond-eyed miners, investors arrived in brothels, opium parlors, boarding houses and herbalists. Today, as in so many others around the world, the neighborhood is dominated by countless restaurants with roasted ducks hanging outside.

It retains a semi-saloon atmosphere for the sterility standards of the sophisticated center of Melbourne.

Sophisticated Garden Spaces on Both Sides of Rio

During the day, the adjacent green spaces of Birrarung Marr and the Alexandra and Queen Victoria Gardens are authentic playgrounds in which Melbourne photosynthesises.

Then, as night falls, the SouthBank Promenade comes alive in style.

When the oarsmen move away and no boat plows the waters of the Yarra, the water mirror recovers. It offers us the colorful reflection of Flinders Station and its influential Business District.

rowing in oceania

Combination of buildings with different architectures from the center of Melbourne, illuminated at dusk.

In the heart of Australia's financial stand, the Eureka Tower, four other of the six tallest buildings in the nation, stands out.

And also five of its biggest companies in terms of market capitalization:

ANZ bank, BHP Billiton (the world's number one mining company) and competitor Rio Tinto, National Bank of Australia and telecommunications company Telstra.

A Melbourne skyscraper, in stark contrast to the church opposite and the outer homes of the CBD (Central Business District).

A Quality of Life that Few Other Cities Offer

Not all Melbornians made the fortunes of the owners and top managers of these companies.

Still, most have seen and see a kind of Australian Dream come true.

Villas with carefully landscaped or cultivated backyards and, here and there, close to the “promised” acre (about a thousand square meters) occupy large extensions of the surroundings and define another delightful urban landscape.

The quality of life they provide, made up of successive outdoor moments – reading, barbecues, sports, etc. – is enviable. All this just over an hour from Great Ocean Road and the majestic coastline of the south of the Big Island.

By ferry or plane, also the world apart from Tassie, the other big island in Australia

Contributes to Melbourne being frequently ranked among the five most welcoming cities in the world.

Passersby stop to follow a game of chess in a city street.

The Easy Integration of Thousands of Asian Newcomers

Asian migrants enjoy hospitality as much as they can. Newly-settled people with immeasurable ambitions for academic and business success tend to fall in love with the city's eclectic atmosphere.

We stroll along Swanston Street and pass Victoria's imposing State Library.

If it weren't for the Victorian architecture, we would be fooled into thinking that we were in some new square in Hong Kong or Taipei.

Such is the number of oriental teenagers enjoying the favorable weather in the front garden.

Residents enjoy the comfort of the lawn in front of the city library.

Inside, the setting repeats itself in the majestic reading rooms of La Trobe and Dome.

Later, when we tried to photograph someone with an unmistakably Aussie look in another part of the city, we despaired and ended up approaching young Asians as well.

Shy but willful.

British Heritage II

A couple from Shanghai settled and visibly comfortable in Melbourne.

Mia and Tony are a slender and elegant couple, proud of their modern imagery.

Having arrived from Shanghai, they had been living in the capital of Victoria for some time. His English was still somewhat limited.

Emma, ​​Juliet and Jimmy, three Taiwanese friends returning from university. They also expressed themselves in the Aussie language with much more ease.

Emma

Three Taiwanese friends and colleagues at one of Melbourne's university residences.

They had shared plans to settle down and form families there. “Australia is Australia, confesses Juliet. And Melbourne is a very special Australia. They must have already noticed!”.

Lack of Consensus on Australia's Openness to Immigration

The “asianation” of the big island and Melbourne, in particular, has mixed reactions, rarely indifference.

It is common to hear from older inhabitants the speech of the Old Aussie Homeland in which the entire population was in solidarity and did not suffer from the individualism and ethnic compartmentalization that many consider to undermine, today, the historical soul of the nation.

Flinders Station

Three students in typical British high school uniforms.

Opinions like those of journalist George Megalogenis have also become famous: “the Australian navel contemplation on whether the mining boom has ended or simply declined makes us ignore the most important aspect: our future in Asia is that of the best immigration nation… But to prove it, we need more Chinese and Indians who want to settle across the country. Not less."

Asian friends share one of the carriages that travel through Melbourne city centre.

Even at the sporting level, Australia has needed the Asians to overcome its geological desolation and geographic loneliness. Perth, for example, is considered the most isolated large city on Earth.

Since 1950 it has repeatedly required the FIFA included in the Asian Football Confederation.

Universal football, not the Australian football Melbourne has some of its best teams and biggest stadium.

In 2005, the request was granted.

Little Havana, USA

Little Havana of the Nonconformists

Over the decades and until today, thousands of Cubans have crossed the Florida Straits in search of the land of freedom and opportunity. With the US a mere 145 km away, many have gone no further. His Little Havana in Miami is today the most emblematic neighborhood of the Cuban diaspora.
Sydney, Australia

From the Exile of Criminals to an Exemplary City

The first of the Australian colonies was built by exiled inmates. Today, Sydney's Aussies boast former convicts of their family tree and pride themselves on the cosmopolitan prosperity of the megalopolis they inhabit.
Great Ocean Road, Australia

Ocean Out, along the Great Australian South

One of the favorite escapes of the Australian state of Victoria, via B100 unveils a sublime coastline that the ocean has shaped. We only needed a few kilometers to understand why it was named The Great Ocean Road.
Viti levu, Fiji

The Unlikely Sharing of Viti Levu Island

In the heart of the South Pacific, a large community of Indian descendants recruited by former British settlers and the Melanesian indigenous population have long divided the chief island of Fiji.
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Perth, Australia

The Oceania Cowboys

Texas is on the other side of the world, but there is no shortage of cowboys in the country of koalas and kangaroos. Outback rodeos recreate the original version and 8 seconds lasts no less in the Australian Western.
Perth, Australia

Australia Day: In Honor of the Foundation, Mourning for Invasion

26/1 is a controversial date in Australia. While British settlers celebrate it with barbecues and lots of beer, Aborigines celebrate the fact that they haven't been completely wiped out.
Red Center, Australia

Australia's Broken Heart

The Red Center is home to some of Australia's must-see natural landmarks. We are impressed by the grandeur of the scenarios but also by the renewed incompatibility of its two civilizations.
Oslo, Norway

A Overcapitalized Capital

One of Norway's problems has been deciding how to invest the billions of euros from its record-breaking sovereign wealth fund. But even immoderate resources don't save Oslo from its social inconsistencies.
Waikiki, OahuHawaii

The Japanese Invasion of Hawaii

Decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor and from the capitulation in World War II, the Japanese returned to Hawaii armed with millions of dollars. Waikiki, his favorite target, insists on surrendering.
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions
Safari
NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2nd - Chame to Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Bertie in jalopy, Napier, New Zealand
Architecture & Design
Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Adventure
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
Newar celebration, Bhaktapur, Nepal
Ceremonies and Festivities
Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nepalese Masks of Life

The Newar Indigenous People of the Kathmandu Valley attach great importance to the Hindu and Buddhist religiosity that unites them with each other and with the Earth. Accordingly, he blesses their rites of passage with newar dances of men masked as deities. Even if repeated long ago from birth to reincarnation, these ancestral dances do not elude modernity and begin to see an end.
Hué, Communist City, Imperial Vietnam, Imperial Communism
Cities
Hue, Vietnam

The Red Heritage of Imperial Vietnam

It suffered the worst hardships of the Vietnam War and was despised by the Vietcong due to the feudal past. The national-communist flags fly over its walls but Hué regains its splendor.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Meal
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Indigenous Crowned
Culture
Pueblos del Sur, Venezuela

Behind the Venezuela Andes. Fiesta Time.

In 1619, the authorities of Mérida dictated the settlement of the surrounding territory. The order resulted in 19 remote villages that we found dedicated to commemorations with caretos and local pauliteiros.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Homer, Alaska, Kachemak Bay
Traveling
Anchorage to Homer, USA

Journey to the End of the Alaskan Road

If Anchorage became the great city of the 49th US state, Homer, 350km away, is its most famous dead end. Veterans of these parts consider this strange tongue of land sacred ground. They also venerate the fact that, from there, they cannot continue anywhere.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Ethnic
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Canoe fishermen, Volta River, Ghana
History
Volta, Ghana

A Tour around Volta

In colonial times, the great African region of the Volta was German, British and French. Today, the area east of this majestic West African river and the lake on which it spreads forms a province of the same name. It is a mountainous, lush and breathtaking corner of Ghana.
Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, coral reef
Islands
Viti levu, Fiji

Islands on the edge of Islands

A substantial part of Fiji preserves the agricultural expansions of the British colonial era. In the north and off the large island of Viti Levu, we also came across plantations that have only been named for a long time.
Horses under a snow, Iceland Never Ending Snow Island Fire
Winter White
Husavik a Myvatn, Iceland

Endless Snow on the Island of Fire

When, in mid-May, Iceland already enjoys some sun warmth but the cold and snow persist, the inhabitants give in to an intriguing summer anxiety.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Armenian Church, Sevanavank Peninsula, Lake Sevan, Armenia
Nature
lake sevan, Armenia

The Bittersweet Caucasus Lake

Enclosed between mountains at 1900 meters high, considered a natural and historical treasure of Armenia, Lake Sevan has never been treated as such. The level and quality of its water has deteriorated for decades and a recent invasion of algae drains the life that subsists in it.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Traveler above Jökursarlón icy lagoon, Iceland
Natural Parks
Jökursarlón Lagoon, Vatnajökull Glacier, Iceland

The Faltering of Europe's King Glacier

Only in Greenland and Antarctica are glaciers comparable to Vatnajökull, the supreme glacier of the old continent. And yet, even this colossus that gives more meaning to the term ice land is surrendering to the relentless siege of global warming.
Tiredness in shades of green
UNESCO World Heritage
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Characters
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Montezuma and Malpais, Costa Rica's best beaches, Catarata
Beaches
Montezuma, Costa Rica

Back to the Tropical Arms of Montezuma

It's been 18 years since we were dazzled by this one of Costa Rica's blessed coastlines. Just two months ago, we found him again. As cozy as we had known it.
shadow vs light
Religion
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
Tombola, street bingo-Campeche, Mexico
Society
Campeche, Mexico

200 Years of Playing with Luck

At the end of the XNUMXth century, the peasants surrendered to a game introduced to cool the fever of cash cards. Today, played almost only for Abuelites, lottery little more than a fun place.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
Wildlife
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
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