Fremantle Town Hall and Scots Presbyterian Church

On the day I went to watch the sunset, I decided to walk around Fremantle a bit before heading to the beach. I was also at Fremantle at around 3:30pm, so that gave me about 2 and a half hours to explore. So I did!

The first place I passed was the Fremantle Markets of course. The Fremantle Markets are open every weekend, and were established in the 1890s. It has a really interesting facade, and two parts. One part is more for the artsy stuff, and another part is more for food. I've been to the Markets a number of times, and bought a couple of bracelets and charms from there.

Was standing at the back of the Markets, so I took a picture of the trading hours :) I've posted some pics of the Markets and its vicinity in my post "Extras from Photo Outings". 

Passed by the Scots Presbyterian Church along the way, and went in when I heard some gorgeous piano music. The Scots Presbyterian Church was built in 1890, and was conceptualised by Rev. Hanlin from Scotland. It's now a heritage listed site along South Terrace, Fremantle.

The cloud formation was absolutely amazing that day, and formed a great backdrop for the church.

The church's interior was simple, but very cosy. It gave a welcoming atmosphere, and together with the lovely piano music, I felt as if I was in heaven. It was extremely peaceful, and I really wanted to stay longer. But my main agenda was to head to the beach to watch the sunset...so I decided to head off. I'll definitely come back again for a second look - and to enjoy the peacefulness.

I still can't figure out who was playing the piano - as there were a number of people surrounding him. He was pretty good though! One thing on my bucket list - to play piano in a church. I've never tried it before. Maybe a bit of Mozart or Bach would be most appropriate :)

My next destination was the Fremantle Town Hall. Here's the plaque on one of the tiles.

And here's a view of the street from the main entrance of the town hall...and the town hall from the street. The town hall was opened in 1887 (building commenced in 1885) and has a number of Corinthian pillars, and a really impressive facade, including a clock tower.

Statue of John Curtin - the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. He was widely recognised as one of the greatest Prime Ministers of Australia. He led Australia during World War II. This sculpture was unveiled in 2005.

Spotted members of the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) leaving the premises. So I assumed that the town hall would be open for a while more. Being curious...I decided to wander in.

I was totally captivated by the gorgeous interior! There was a transparent ceiling letting natural light in, and the interior was just...grand. I couldn't help but take more pictures of this whole area. It's my very first time into the Fremantle Town Hall - and I wanted to have as many good pics as possible, before it closed. I wonder when I'd be able to enter the town hall again.

Part of the clock tower could also be seen from the transparent roof.

Best part? Well - there was an antique grand piano at the corner. It was rather battered...but hey, it's a piano! There were people around, so I didn't want to touch the piano. It looked too precious anyway. I was certainly tempted though! Anyway - I satisfied my piano cravings later on in the common room in the student village.

I ended up wandering into the concert hall - the entrance was just near the grand piano! If I'm not wrong, the WASO actually performed here. This is one of the most gorgeous concert halls ever!

Headed to Fremantle Prison for some serious, black-and-white pics. More to that in our next post :)

I had serious chocolate cravings by the time I got out of Fremantle Prison (damn, why did the cafe have to close so early???). So I walked into my favourite chocolate lounge - Theobroma. :) I didn't want to overload myself with too much sugar (as I was going to have dinner with my mates!), so I ordered a small cup of dark hot chocolate. Delicious!

I couldn't help but take pics of the hot choc too - and I also noticed that there'll always be some chocolate spilling from the side of the cup. I wonder if it's deliberate - everytime I go to Theobroma I'd notice this. Well - I licked it off before even dipping my spoon into the chocolate!

Walked down the Cappuccino strip shortly after. And then rushed through the Reserve (a couple of pics down) to get to Bather's Beach to watch the sunset.

And that's it for now! The next post will be on the walk to Fremantle Prison. A lot of black-and-white pics there. It's been a while since I have been to Fremantle Prison - the last time I went was in 2012, when I walked the Convict Trail (Fremantle Prison and Fremantle Arts Centre). I probably won't go back into Fremantle Prison for a while...since I've been in there once.

Anyway - do stay tuned for the next post!

Extras from Photo Outings...

Here's a post that I call "Extras from Photo Outings" as it involves the pics I've taken either before or after the events I have covered.

Disclaimer - there'll be quite a few food photos involved!

Extras from Fremantle Street Arts Festival:

I was craving for chocolate (anything chocolate!!!!) after Day 2 of the Fremantle Street Arts Festival. So I went over to my favourite chocolate lounge - Theobroma for a snack. Well - I was also hungry...so the cake and the dark hot chocolate definitely helped a lot! I was really high on sugar after that though. And oh - I went to Theobroma again about a week after the Street Arts Festival with a really good friend of mine. 

The days have been getting shorter and shorter as winter fast approaches. By about 6pm, it is already sunset. Funny thing is - Western Australia actually doesn't have daylight savings! But Victoria has.

Because it gets dark early, it makes it kinda easier for me to take night shots...or twilight shots, I should say. So I took some of these pics as I was waiting for my friend to come over.

I had always wanted to watch a sunset on the beach in Fremantle. But I was a little too late this time. By the time I headed towards the reserve, the sun had already set! What we had left was the remnants.

Doesn't matter - late sunsets are gorgeous too! Oh - and the skies were clear! So all the colours of the sunset were very obvious. Good for pictures of course :)

One day I'm going to watch the whole sunset by the beach. It's gonna be such a magical feeling. Of course, I'll be watching the sunset by myself for now. But IF I end up meeting someone special, then I'd watch the sunset with him. But for NOW...I will be watching sunsets myself. Boyfriends can wait. I've got to tackle my Masters first!

Passed by Cicerello's. I've been to Cicerello's so many times...and each time I go, I never fail to order my prawn pasta. It's my favourite!

Extras from Government House visit:

In the earlier part of this post - I mentioned something about clear skies. Well - here we go. Clear blue skies on the way to one of my photo outings :) Oh and in case you were wondering - these were taken while I was waiting for the bus. Buses are so slow during weekends! You literally have to time your trip and make sure you get to the bus stop early...if not you'll miss the bus and will have to wait for at least 30 minutes for the next one. So laid back eh??

The other day I was cruising down the Kwinana Freeway on my way back from the Government House open day visit. And I wanted to try out my new phone camera (since I was told the camera was good!). So I did...and this was what I got! I should say it's pretty decent.

Tried out the Panorama function at Murdoch Station. I really like this function - it gives a broad perspective (literally!) of everything.

And finally...Extras from Uni Life:

Uni life is really, really tough. My seniors (who are mostly a year above me) mentioned repeatedly that Masters is a very tough course, and that we should be prepared. My clinic supervisor explicitly told us that he's not going to let us have a laissez-faire approach to placements. My workload is epic. I am working two jobs to sustain my living allowances and fight for a scholarship. I need to get very good marks in order to maintain my standing and reputation. To sum everything up - uni life for me has reached its peak, in terms of toughness! I should say that my undergrad years weren't as bad - even though I was taking 6 subjects per semester and practicing loads of piano. It is very hard to maintain my sanity. I have exploded way too many times. I have had so much pent-up frustration, that at one point, I just cracked and spilled all the crap out. I have difficulties sleeping...and I sleep in the wrong places. I find it damn hard to sleep early because I am always paranoid that I have not finished my work!

And to add on to the ranting above, I usually fail to have a decent meal during weekdays. The only time I can have something decent is during weekends. So I usually make something good close to the weekends, and during weekends, I indulge.

Here's something I made during one of the weekends! Stir-fried mushroom with white rice, and English breakfast tea. I cannot survive without tea!

Because I've got quite a weak stomach, I've to ensure that I eat something so that I won't get gastric pains. I've heard horror stories about gastric pains...and I don't want to get them!

So whenever I am in need of something, I usually get some chocolate to tie me through, before I finally get the time to eat something proper. I have chocolate in the lab when I am working on music...and it helps me concentrate better (because I don't think of food all the time). And I eat chocolate in class - my lecturers are fine with us eating in class anyway!

I've been such a crazy Ferrero Rocher person lately. Recently I had some Ferreros and my flatmate made this wonderful duck sculpture out of the wrapper! We got the inspiration from Facebook - she posted a pic of different Ferrero wrapper sculptures on my page and I was really fascinated by it.

Ending off with a self-motivating quote for myself. It literally translates as:

"Hang on in there and don't give up. Just keep going! YOU CAN DO IT."

So that's it for today! I'll be posting more stuff up soon!