Stalking the Queen

It has been 2 weeks since the Queen left after the CHOGM event.
I went "stalking the Queen" by checking out the place she stayed in Perth.

Today happens to be the open-house for the Perth Government House. Its functions similar to the Istana back in Singapore where official government meetings are held, foreign delegates are hosted, and most importantly, its the place where the royal family stays when they visit Perth.

Its an old-looking building situated in the city.

Not as big and grand as the Istana

The Govt House is traditionally decorated, with various portraits of past Kings and Queens hung everywhere.
This is a pic of Queen Elizabeth II when she was younger.


Pic of another queen, prob a few generations back...

The grand ballroom:
The Drawing room(aka living room):
Grand Dining Room with all the china laid out for a royal dinner.
Look closely, each cutlery/utensil has the royal crown emblem. Specially made in England.
A recent pic of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband during their visit 2 weeks ago.
Governor's Study room:
with a cute ladder in front of the bookshelf
Official Secretary's Office:


The bedrooms upstairs are not open for visiting... pity...
There are 2 rooms: the Executive Suite, and a normal room, on opposite ends of the corridor. During the recent visit, the Queen requested IN ADVANCE to downgrade to the normal smaller room, cos the Executive Suite faced a busy road. She said that the noise from the traffic would disturb her sleep. So smart. This is her 4th or 5th time she stayed here, btw.


Outside a governor's house, we would expect to see royal guards securing the place.
For instance, we can see YOUNG (abt 18 year old) NSFs outside the Istana:

Over here, this is what I saw:



Nope, this is not some sort of elderly scheme where they re-hire retirees to do security jobs. Its actually an exhibition to showcase the military uniforms in Australia. All these uniforms you see above are from the 1960s, as early as WW1
They even have the medic nurses' uniform



A mini Change-of-Guard ceremony @ Government House:

vs

A real Change-of-Guard ceremony outside the Istana (held on the first sunday of the month)

Some sort of traditional/aboriginal dance performance

This KANGAROO PAW flower is native to WA:

The Queen and I

Queen Elizabeth II has been the figurehead of the Commonwealth since 1952.
Lets now examine her aging process. Her DOB was 21/4/1926 btw.
Her pic on the Australian coin has been updated a couple of time over the years.
Her pic on the 1980 coin reveals a younger woman, prob in her 40s, with a slender but strong-looking neck.

In 1985 coin pic, she changed her crown, put on ear-rings, and has slightly curlier hair. She seems to have put on a bit of weight.
The 2006 coin pic shows the most drastic change for her aging. Her face is also rounder, and she is wearing yet another crown.

Everybody loves the old lady. The CHOGM (Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting) event provided a great opportunity for her fans to meet her in person.

In this "Big Aussie Barbeque" event where the would be present, thousands of fans(me included) gathered from all over WA.

This was what I thought I would see:
The Queen in her royal horse carriage or open-air vehicle, driving down the streets, and waving at her fans... She will be wearing her classic hat which matches with her blouse...
(pics taken from various newspapers)

We waited and waited....for her arrival.
Streets were condoned off, police patrolling, fences erected...

Damn it!
She did not bring her own carriage to Perth!
Instead, she arrived in a black rental vehicle.... disappointment...
Perhaps her security team felt that the UV rays in Perth was too strong for an old lady like her, thus no open-carriage vehicle.

Either way, she still got off the car and greeted her fans...
She still looks very healthy for an 85 year old lady.
Walked around the area for abt 15min, waved at her fans, and made her speech.

This Big Aussie BBQ event was actually held at the Esplanade and Langley Park. With over 100 BBQ pits, each hotdog cost $2 and each bottle of drinks cost $1. Proceeds will be donated to charity.

CHOGM Protest

CHOGM (Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting) is a biennial event where representatives of Commonwealth countries (Singapore included) come together. The last time it was held in Singapore was in 1971. This year, its in Perth!

Naturally, when important pple come together, and the media's spotlight is on, the protesters will come out to get themselves heard. What a golden opportunity right?

Its interesting to witness such protest, as I dont get to see such things back at home.

Right here in the city centre, hundreds of pple gather. Of which, prob 70% are pple like me, just watching and joining in the fun.

Many of them take the stage to give short speeches of what they are unhappy about. The mike is passed around and every protester only has abt 2 minutes. The funniest thing is, there is no common theme. Protester A can be talking about human rights, 2 minutes later, Protester B takes over the mike and talks about environmental conservation. Another minute later, Protester C talks about housing policies......
In short, EVERYONE IS PROTESTING ABOUT EVERYTHING

We have the gay/human rights gang

We have the free-the-refugees and anti-custody pple:

We also have the environmentalist:



We even have the communist party:

and other "literature"

As this is a peaceful protest, the police are just standing at a corner observing...