Month: December 2017

The time is passing so fast. Tomorrow is the new year eve. The major new year celebration in Brisbane is the new year fireworks display, and there are two sessions.

The first is at 8:30 pm, this is more suitable for the families with young children. It will be end at 8.45pm. For children, it is not too late.

The main session will be at 0:00 pm on New Year’s Day, 2018 and I believe it will be more exciting than the one at  8:30. As for Southbank and Eagle Street, both are the vantage points for watching the fireworks. In fact, Mount Cootha can see the firework. It is even more awesome to see the fireworks across the Brisbane River from the higher ground. It has a different experience than the riverside.

According to the Translink website, all public transport in Brisbane City is free from New Year’s Eve, 8:45 pm to January 1,5:30 am. This is good  for everyone to see the fireworks. There are also food trucks at the SouthBank, you can enjoy some street food with the fireworks too!

Every year, a lot of people will line up in front of the major department stores on 26/12 very early. They wish to get the best deal on the boxing day sales. However, during the recent years, you do not need to wait until 26/12. You can place orders on the Christmas day. Yesterday, I received the newsletters from UNIQLO and Target regarding their online stores are ready for Boxing Day Sales. Moreover, according to my experiences in previous years, almost all major shopping centers will be full of people on the Boxing day, even that will be very hard to get a parking spot. In contrast, shopping online is easier. You need to click a few buttons and make payment. Then you just need to wait for the delivery at home. That is more comfortable. Thus, that is worth to check out the websites of the major stores, whether they have already started the boxing day sales.

When I went to Sunnybank Hills Shoppingtown last week, I found out that the food court was reopened after months of renovations. The food court has expanded, the old Asian supermarket in the upper level has become a part of the food court now, so I feel there is more space! And there is a new installation of some glass windows, it can let in the natural light, that made the area fresher. Also, after the renovations, it has some more modern outfits, and some tables even have some power points, these are for customers to use laptops. However, most of the food outlets have not opened yet. Only an Aussie style lunch shop and Subway are open for business.

That is about 9 sleeps to Christmas.The Christmas celebration in Brisbane city and Southbank is full on now.
Firstly, you really need to visit the giant Christmas tree in the King George Square. At night, the decorations on the tree will be on. Every night, there are some Christmas animations projected on the wall of a town hall.

Secondly, from today to 24/12, every night, 7 pm, Queen Street Mall has Christmas Parade. There were a lot of performers dressed as Christmas figures such as Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men.

Also, Southbank is another hub of Christmas celebrations.

Every day until 23rd December, Southbank has Christmas Village which is a kind of Christmas Street Market. Also, in Southbank beach, there is an outdoor cinema. There will be two movies at 6 pm and 8 pm. For the detailed schedule, please go to their website for further details.

Lastly, it will be fireworks at 7.45pm in Southbank from 20 to 23 rd.

Christmas is coming. This is the time to visit the winners of 4KQ Christmas Lights. Every year, there are some Brisbane Families convert their garden into a kind of Christmas Theme Park. They placed a lot of Christmas lights in their gardens and some Christmas related decors too.
A few years ago, I went to the winner of South Residential for that year. That was marvelous. Th

ey placed 1:1 Size of Santa’s sleigh in their garden. The visitors could sit on that and took some photo. I believe this year winners will be marvelous too. In our southside, the winners are in Algester and Drewvale. I think I will go to one of them. All winners’ garden will be opened from 6 pm to 10 pm every night until 24th December. For full addresses of winners’ home, please go to visit the 4QK website.

Although my birthday does not arrive yet, I had my birthday cake in IKEA last night. This is because I am a member of IKEA family which is a customer loyalty membership. They send a coupon to have a slice of cake in IKEA free of charge. So yesterday, I used this coupon when I had my dinner in IKEA. Moreover, every Thursday and Friday night, IKEA will offer $2 Fish & Chips for IKEA Family Membership. Of course, I had that last night. That is enjoyable and value for money dinner.