Life Down Under (Part 28): Melbourne, It's Been Good!

- November 9-20, 2022, Wednesday to Sunday.

- After a fantastic journey to the island-state of Tasmania, it has started to sink in that my days in Melbourne are numbered. (It sounds ominous, but allow me to be dramatic.) Because of who I am as a person, I spent the remaining days visiting the places I haven't, doing a ton of errands, and trying my best to meet up as many people as I could (I wasn't able to meet everyone, but if you're one of those I should've met but didn't, do know that I tried huhu.)

- I started my "countdown" by finally watching The Phantom of the Opera at the State Theatre in the Arts Precinct. As expected, it was a wonderful show! I avoided watching Phantom on stage for so long simply because I was sick and tired of it for a while (I saw the 2004 movie, talked about it in school, everyone talking about it as if it was the only musical that existed, you get the point.)

State Theatre.

The theatre itself looks perfect for Phantom!

I was bored.

Of course I had to! (And yes, the mask was expensive but I really wanted one huhu.)

Inside!

The chandelier.

After the show!

Yarra at night.

- The following day I visited The Lume Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) (Tram 12, 29, or 160 to MCEC / Casino / or Clarendon stop). Opened in 2021, the Lume is the Southern Hemisphere's "first permanent digital arts experience" (according to its website here). It is a mix of a large-scale audio-visual presentation, an immersive experience, and an art workshop. The Lume features a different artist/set of artists after a certain time. When I went, they were featuring Money and his impressionist artist friends, as well as impressionist music.  

Entrance.

This was at the mezzanine level.

I think this is one of Monet's many water lily paintings.

An immersive experience, pretend you're part of Monet's water lily paintings.

Yes, I maximized my time there.

With Renoir's ladies.

Inside the main hall at the Lume.

Gold.

Feeling the cold of Monet's "The Magpie."

"The Water Lily Pond."

Apparently Monet had around 250 of these water lily paintings.

There was an area where people can learn how to make a simplified version of Monet's water lily pond with the Japanese bridge.

A small museum.

- After visiting the Lume I headed to the Museum of Chinese Australian History (also known as the Chinese Museum) (closest tram is Tram 86 or 96 to Russell Street / Bourke Street, then walk up to Cohen Place near Little Bourke Street). The museum has existed since 1985, but was renovated in 2010. Although small, the museum was comprehensive and it exceeded my expectations a lot. My favorite part of the museum was seeing the Millennium Dragon, the world's largest processional dragon in the world!

Museum entrance.

Qing-Dynasty garb.

Jade burial suit.

Of course, a terracotta warrior!

A peek into Melbourne's Gold-Rush-Era Chinese life.

A walk through the "streets."

Chinese opera.

The Millennium Dragon!!

- Just a short walk from the Chinese Museum is the Old Melbourne Gaol (Tram 12, 20, 35, 39 to Russell Street / La Trobe Street stop is the closest). The gaol (or "jail" in its modern spelling) was used from 1845 to 1924. The main mauseum/jail was not too big but definitely one of the creepiest I've ever visited. The actual area of the whole prison is big, but some buildings either don't exist anymore, or were repurposed by RMIT University.

It has this lingering....coldness that made me feel uneasy.

A prison cell.

Many of these cells also feature a famous prisoner in the gaol.

Gallow.

The upper levels gave a more unsettling feeling since there were less/no people.

At the courtyard.

- To shrug off the creepiness of the prison, I spent that evening and the following days meeting up with more people. The most special person I met that weekend was none other than Santa Claus! Myer Bourke Street opened Santaland to allow people to have a chance to meet and greet Santa Claus. Pre-bookings were highly encouraged, although they also took in walk-in customers. I made sure to dress up for Santa of course! Also, I think the last time I "met Santa" was when I was....5 maybe?....so it was nice to "see Santa again" this year!

Inside the "train ride" to see Santa.

I dressed as a good boy. (See my propeller hat?)

The "train" to see Santa. (The train doesn't actually move.)

- The day after my Santa visit, I also had a short visit to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGC) just so I can visit the Great Hall at the ground floor. I realized that I wasn't able to visit the Great Hall during my first visit to NGV in July. The Great Hall is known for its stained-glass ceilings. The hall serves as the museums' function hall, so there are times when museum visitors wouldn't be able to enter the hall. The museum staff told me that the hall is often used during weekends and evenings, so the best time to visit it is during weekday mornings.   

The Great Hall's ceiling.

It was a miracle I had the hall empty for a short while. There were lots of visitors that morning!

- On my last full day in Melbourne, I decided to go back to Footscray just so I can eat. I love how multicultural Footscray was and I wasn't able to maximize my time during my first visit there. I took the train to Footscray from Southern Cross Station and was in Footscray in 10 minutes. I had traditional Ethiopian food at Taste of Ethiopia at Nicholson Street, and later had Vietnamese food at Sapa Hills at Hopkins Street. I did walk around between meals, even getting myself another Ethiopian shirt while I was at it.

Wakanda Forever!

With my key wot (beef stew), injera, and Ethiopian coffee set. (I shared this with a colleague by the way.) 

Ethiopian coffee likes giving people the whole experience! Apart from the coffee in the pot, there is sugar, a bowl of popcorn as a snack, and the most surprising of all (at least to me as it was my fist time,) a pot with hot coal meant to burn incense.  

Ethiopian coffee anyone?

- I arrived in Manila on the 20th of November, after a stressful airport experience concerning my overweight luggage. How can you pack 4 months of your life in a single suitcase anyway? The overweight luggage charges were worth the money since I knew that I'd be taking home everything I had to. 

A final look at my room, my home for 4 months.

Mabuhay!

- 4 months in Australia was the longest time that I was away from home. I was glad that my academic work has allowed me to have this (sponsored!) once in a life opportunity. As much as it appears to be a 4-month vacation, it was not. A lot of hard work and frustrations were involved in my everyday non-touring life. (Of course I wouldn't show you photos of me looking miserable in front of a computer, right?) I was also happy to meet new people, and catch up with old friends from the Philippines. I guess this was a good "revenge travel" experience after the long lockdowns due to the pandemic. It will take a while to recover from this journey, but I just hope that life will get better from here. I really hope to visit Australia again one day, but for now, thank you Australia, and "cheers"!