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Illuminate Adelaide, FIFA Fan Fest, and a string quartet.

A month ago, I got an early hour from work because I was done with my tasks. It was a Friday and I have been interning full-time for the past two weeks, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to treat myself with a night out. 

I left work with a pep in my step thinking I got to the beat rush hour, but I was wrong – looks like everyone else got an early hour too as we crammed ourselves in the tram. If you want to know how crammed it was, search up one of those videos of people commuting in Japan during rush hour. You’ll probably find one of people literally squeezing themselves into the train. Yeah, that was pretty much what it was like on the tram that evening. 

Thank goodness my office was only two tram stops away from Rundle Mall. When I arrived, my stomach was already grumbling in hunger, so dinner was the first order of business. I walked down Currie Street to my favourite Indonesian restaurant, Pondok Daun. Thankfully, the place wasn’t as packed as the tram which meant I got to dine-in. I ordered my usual fried chicken with crispy flakes and coconut rice. 

After dinner, as I was walking down King William Road, light showers began to pour down the city. Determined to check out Festival Plaza’s FIFA Fan Festival, I braced the rain (whilst also internally rolling my eyes at myself for not bringing along an umbrella). When I got there, it was Spain against another country (I cannot recall now). There weren’t many people yet, so I got to peacefully walk around the festival. 

Now, I’m not a big sports fan, so watching the game for 10 mins was enough for me before I made my way back to King William Road. It was almost 6pm by then which meant the installations for Illuminate Adelaide will light up soon. This, I’m excited for. 

In my four years here, this was the first time I had ever done the City Lights trail and as I was walking along the trail, I wondered why I hadn’t done this sooner. The first installation I saw was the Ephemeral Droplets by Atelier Sisu – it was mesmerising! Then I walked further up North Terrace and stumbled upon three of Amanda Parer’s giant bunnies (very fitting for the year of the rabbit, hey?). I really liked them, they looked peaceful among the bright lights and city traffic.   

I made my way further up North Terrace, ticking off as many installations I could find. By the end of it, I was on East Terrace and stumbled into a giant inflatable dome. It was an installation called Architects of Air: Arborialis, a maze of colourful lights and ambient spaces. I felt like I was in outer space. 

When I was back on Earth, I left the installation and walked along East End. I weaved my way through the crowds and made it back to Rundle Mall, where I got a cool cup of bubble tea and sat down by the structures in front of Myer Centre to enjoy a string quartet playing an array of classical music and movie soundtracks. 

Nights like these I am reminded of how wonderful Adelaide is.