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"! 

Life Down Under (Part 27): The Inescapable Prison, The Odd Museum, and The Lunar Eclipse

- November 6-8, 2022, Sunday to Tuesday.

- Hobart might be a small city, but it is one of Australia's most historically-important ones. Hobart is one of the first modern cities built in Australia, and continues to function as a port city. As many early cities in Australia were built by convicts, it isn't surprising that Hobart is home to one of Australia's convict centers. Not just that, but one of the biggest as well.  

- In Hobart, it is a must to visit Port Arthur, one of Australia's most famous convict sites. It lies outside Hobart, but is easily reachable through a day trip from the city. I took a Gray Line bus tour to see Port Arthur and other interesting sites (click here to see where I got my tour). 

- On the way to Port Arthur, we first passed by the town of Richmond to see the Richmond Bridge and the Richmond Gaol (the old spelling of "jail".) Richmond Bridge is the oldest bridge in Australia that is still being used; it was built in the 1820s, around the same year as the Richmond Gaol. The Richmond Gaol, while small, still holds the title for the oldest most intact gaol in Australia today. It was built just a few years before Port Arthur.

Richmond Gaol.

Female confinement; they were taught how to do chores too.

Female cell.

Flagellation area.

I cannot imagine how many people have been inside this cell (as prisoners).

Convict clothing.

Male cells.

Entrance to the gaol museum.

Fat ducks by the bridge.

Richmond Bridge.

- After a short visit to Richmond, we headed towards Port Arthur, where we spent most of the day. Port Arthur was used from 1833 to 1877. Port Arthur lies in a part of Tasmania that's almost an island, making Port Arthur a natural prison. People deemed the worst criminals were sent to Port Arthur. 

View of Port Arthur's penitentiary.

The church ruins.

Government cottage.

- Port Arthur was one of the early prisons to shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. The prison had a "Separate Prison" for those who committed worse crimes. The Separate Prison required convicts to be silent and hooded. Because they were not allowed to communicate and didn't have much light, many became insane. Eventually, convict transport was banned, and those that remained in Port Arthur were either too old or too insane to do manual labor. The convict center shut down in 1877.

The Separate Prison.

Inside the "better" cells of Separate Prison. The worst (which I didn't take a photo of,) was just a very dark room without windows and more isolated from other cells.

Walking in front of the penitentiary.

Isle of the Dead. Part of the visit to Port Arthur is a cruise at Carnarvon Bay. Isle of the Dead is the place where more than a thousand people were buried, from convicts to officials.

Shipyard. Ship-making was one of the contributions of convict labor for a while.

Guard Tower.

View of the hospital, the law courts, and the penitentiary.

- After our visit to Port Arthur, our tour bus had a chance to visit some of Tasmania's coastal wonders. Australia really does have a lot of natural wonders no matter which part of the country you go!

Remarkable Cave. I think people are allowed at times to go to the cave, but the waves were crazy that day.

See the waves. (This cave is really high by the way.)

Maingon Bay Lookout.

Devil's Kitchen.

Tasmans Arch.

- The following day I went around the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens in northern Hobart. It was built in 1818, making it the second oldest after Sydney's. The garden was built in a rather hilly area, so there are high and low parts (a bit like Brisbane's Botanic Gardens in Mt. Coot-tha!)

Near the Chinese Garden.

Huon Pine. These are some of the oldest plants on Earth!

Anniversary Arch; built in 1968 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the gardens.

Flower clock.

Japanese garden.

Australians are really good at making Japanese gardens. None of the Japanese gardens I've seen in Australia disappointed me!

Fountain, built in 1972 to celebrate the bicentenary of French exploration in Tasmania.

One of my favorite places in the garden: the sub-Antarctic plant house. I guess, for now, this is the closest I'll ever be to Antarctica. 

At the convervatory.

Couldn't help myself, I was just too tired.

- I also passed by the Hobart Cenotaph, a war memorial built in 1925. Although it looks close to the Botanic Gardens from the map, it is a bit tricky to reach since they're all on a hill.

Tasman Bridge.

Hobart Cenotaph.

Saw a wild rabbit!

- After visiting the cenotaph, I had a stroll in the city center, thinking that I probably don't have much to do in Hobart. Before going home, I decided to pee in Brooke Street Pier near the CBD. Lo and behold, I found out that there are ferries that depart from Brooke Street Pier to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)! I peed and decided to visit MONA that afternoon. Thankfully the kind lady at the ticket counter allowed me to get on a ferry that was just about to leave! The ferries usually depart every hour, and can take around 20-something minutes to arrive to MONA. I initially did not consider going to MONA - though I heard it was a must-visit - because the museum was too far to reach from the CBD. Public transportation in Hobart isn't the most practical, so I didn't think of visiting. And thankfully, I did!

Leaving Brooke Street Pier.

Even the ferry was artsy!!

Tasman Bridge again.

By the deck.

We have a cow too.

Oh look, an Indian ship!

Mt. Wellington.

MONA!

- MONA opened in 2001, and is owned by David Walsh, a professional gambler. The museum is hard to describe as it blurs the boundaries between old and new art. I find it odd, in a good way. In many instances, both old and new art with some relevance to each other are presented together in one gallery. While the general themes of life (i.e. birth and death) and sex can be seen, the exhibits are generally random. Truly, it does look like an artsy theme park of sorts. The most surprising of all is that I loved the museum! (This is coming from someone who isn't usually interested in contemporary art, in favor of ancient/classical art.)

Oh look, it's my home in Aussie!

This tunnel blasts plenty of weird noises. It was disturbing.

This was a cozy room!

"Untitled" (White Library) by Wildredo Prieto.

This freaked me out too.

One of my favorites in the museum: a cuneiform tile, surrounded by binary codes. I think of this as the relation between the first ever written language of the world, and the current digital language used in coding.

Sidney Nolan's "Snake."

Car or balloon?

Sarcophagus and other items pertaining to death.

These were all in water....complete with an actual living fish.

People can make their own art too. She's good!

Ai Wei Wei's "White House," made from a Qing Dynasty house.

This interesting "truck" just outside the museum.

More artsy stuff by the playgound at the back of the museum!

There was a live band, with one kind of music I like - new age.

- I rode the ferry back to Brooke Street Pier, and had dinner by the pier. Hobart's docks have some of the most amazing seafood floating stalls, and one of them was even in the shape of a whale!

Boarding the ferry on the way back to Brooke Street Pier. 

My whale-shaped seafood stall for the night.

And I ate this at the pier. The scenery was perfect, but I was terrified of the seagulls.

With some desert at the stall beside too!

  - On my last day in Hobart, I visited St. David's Park near Salamanca Place. It was built in 1804 and serves as the first burial ground of Tasmania. This being said, the most important feature of this park is the memorial wall with the tombstones of the first people to be buried in the park. (This actually reminds me of Manila's own Paco Park, which has some parallelisms with St. David Park's history.)

St. David's Park.

Memorial Wall.

The wall is REALLY long!

More memorials.

- I had a peek at Salamanca Square afterwards, which was just behind St. David's Park, before visiting Arthur Circus Park in Battery Point. Now I know what you're thinking, but the word "circus" here doesn't refer to your traveling entertainers with animals and acrobats. Rather, "circus" here just refers to the fact that the area is circular in nature. The area, developed in the 1820s, is still one of the most sought-after properties. Most of the houses are heritage houses as well, dating back to the 1800s.

Salamanca Place.

Parliament House Gardens.

Salamanca Square.

Saw these little hands in a store in Salamanca Square.

Arthur Circus (see the heritage houses in the photo.)

A normal photo of Arthur Circus.

Oh wow!!

- I had lunch in the city before heading back to my hostel to rest, and ride the Hobart Skybus to the airport for my evening flight. Despite flight delay, I was able to see the lunar eclipse from the airport and inside the plane. If I had the worst flight from Melbourne to Tasmania, my flight back to Melbourne was one of the best. Not only did I see the eclipse from the plane, but I also saw the silhouette of Tasmania's northern shores, and saw Melbourne while I was still flying above Tasmania.

Adorable creatures in Hobart International Airport.

Lunar eclipse.

From the airport. (That's not my plane, I flew with JetStar.)

Not the best photo, but just letting you know that I saw the eclipse from the plane. HAHA.

Above my Australian home, Melbourne.

- Tasmania is truly one of Australia's best destinations, no wonder many convicts decided to stay and bring their families to Tasmania. Despite Tasmania's dark past, the island-state now has quirky Hobart, breathtaking Launceston, and the little charming towns in between that are definitely worth visiting!