When I first moved to Brisbane 23 years ago, I was at an age where I had just been taught the difference between the countryside and the city. I was born in Singapore and landing in Brisbane was like stepping back in time. I remember gazing out at the patchy grass landing strip from the plane and wondering where the hell the airport was.
When I realised it was the tiny shack next to the runway, confusion addled my 10 year old brain as I had been told we were moving to a city, but surely this was the country? As we drove from the airport to our new home this thought was compounded as I looked in shock at all the wooden houses on stilts.
This memory seems to be a common one for most of the people who moved here in their youth. And yet for all of its country town character, Brisbane still knew how to have glamour in the evenings.
Two landmarks that stand out in so many memories are the Lennons hotel and Cloudland.
These two places seem to be imbued with a majesty straight out of a Hollywood classic film. They were places where everyone used to dress up in gowns and dinner suits.
One of the great things about this project is getting a sense of all the things that people really loved about the city. In a lot of ways,the atmosphere and personality of the place hasn't changed too much.
But what definately seems to have changed is this sense of glamour.
As much as the super clubs in the valley may have tried and the various hipster enclaves with bearded beer experts that keep popping up to attest to the new, the sense of glamour is still amiss.
It could be an opportunity for the launch to try and recreate it.
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