STUDENT SHOUT OUTS PA MORE

Feeling inspired and proud at this week's Australia Awards Welcome/Farewell Celebration and at the University of Sydney International Sponsorships Completion Ceremony. 👏Shouts to all the Pinoy scholars and students...

halos bumigay ang stage sa dami ng ating skolar (at haba ng picture taking) 😆

...shouts to our kababayans selected to be the keynote speakers...

naiyak ako

...and shouts to all who rocked Filipiniana onstage 

including the U.P. Sablay!

You all have a great future ahead of you! (heck, you've already inspired me to attempt pic collage) Mabuhay!!!

MELBOURNE LEGACY

Since it was only a school break and not an office holiday, I had to leave the LLDD-Hyphen-L and LLDD-Baby and head right back to work at the start of the week. I thought they'd be despondent about the arrangement, what with me heading back to sunny swinging Sydney while they had to go about what was left of wintry Melbourne.  

Hah. No sooner had I gotten back home than the LLDD-Hyphen-L started posting a steady stream of pics showing her group having more fun in Melbourne than when I was still there, and FAR more fun than anything I was currently doing in Sydney on my own.  They went on a zoofari...   

...joined a science and arts workshop...

...and social media smackdowned me in that uber-instagram playground Brighton Beach Houses

Hmp. Itsura nyo. You may have gone to a Melbourne zoo, but I'm a Sydney party animal! I'm going out and it's gonna be lit!  

(goes to a mall moviehouse and watches matinee of "Skyscraper")

(goes home in time to catch "Westworld" replay)

(falls asleep on couch)

MELBOURNE IDENTITY

It's winter school break here in New South Wales and it overlaps with winter school break in Victoria and the LLDD-Baby gets to visit her cousin in Melbourne and I get to tag along for the weekend and size up Sydney's arch-rival! What fun!

My initial takeaway: Melbourne is far bigger and more cosmopolitan than I thought. Its CBD is more sprawling, its skyscrapers are skyscrapier, and its inner-city tram is more extensive (and free!). Plus, it has all of the major sports and sporting facilities, and makes a claim for cooler bars, edgier galleries, and hipper hipsters.

BUT! It's flatter, colder and wetter; I didn't see anything that matched the sheer beauty of Sydney's Opera House, Harbour and Harbour Bridge trinity; and, Melbourne...where your beaches at?

But really, it's foolish and pointless to actively search for and identify Melbourne's and Sydney's pros and cons. Like my man JB's knife v. rolled-up magazine debate, it's best for everyone to just stand back, let the scene play out, and enjoy the show.

and then plan multiple return sequels