Melbourne (27 Jan – 4 Feb 2019)

The trigger for my 2019 Melbourne trip was the staging of the Flying Dutchman by the Melbourne opera. It was extra appealing as I’d yet to experience an opera conducted by Antony Negus of the Longborough opera house on my bucket list.

My companion and host for this event was none other than my dear friend Sam Alfreds and he made the occasion even more special by interviewing me on our experience in producing the Flying Dutchman in Singapore in 2016. Through this, we were able to reconnect with our friends in Melbourne and we had a lovely evening watching the opera and trading our Wagner stories with the current president Susan Cumming, former president Shirley Breese. We crazy Wagner fan girls then gate-crashed the cast party after the opera which enabled us me to take a very precious photograph with the Dutchman himself Darren Jeffrey from UK.

Ahead of the Flying Dutchman, Sam and his friend Chris brought me on a picnic at the Victorian City park to watch La Boheme hosted by the ABC. These outreach programmes enhance the lives of local community and as in Singapore, the mayor made an appearance to speak with his constituents. They had proper chairs for the largely elderly audience while we others picnic’ed on the ground. I was so happy to see Alan Rubinstein and his wife Anne again. They sat just ahead of us and together, we enjoyed the lovely music of Puccini’s La Boheme tucking into a picnic basket prepared by Chris.

Earlier that week, Sam and I made a 3 day visit to the Buxton country, home of Alan and Anne. Theirs was a 50 acre piece of land on the other foothill of the North Western hills. The Bush was dry but softened thankfully by three lakes which they called Dams. it was rather hot with temperatures rising to 40 degrees on some days so long walks were not on the on the cards though we did explore the immediate surroundings of the house. When it got too hot, we stayed indoors with a game of Scrabble, Anne and Alan was such a warm hospitable hosts, housing us comfortable rooms with fantastic views in a lovely house be designed by their son Martin. It was lovely to catch up with Alan whom I traced through a 2009 phone book. We go back a long way back to the ‘90s when Alan was the Vice-President of La Salle College and I was then General Manager of the Esplanade Co. and we many dealings including the staging of a tapestry exhibition by the Victorian tapestry workshop.

Speaking of that, I also had lunch with Sue Walker, the founder director of the tapestry workshop. Lunch was at artsy Lyceum club club for artists and independent women. It was sad that Alan and Anne could not join us at the last minute as their guest’s car had stalled. Sue and I had a lovely catch-up over our retirement activities and mutual artists friends. I loved her dress so much I went to buy a similar dress from Gormon in Swanson Street.

At home with Sam. It was very comfortable. This accountant who sings and plays the organ hosts a weekly programme on 3MBS community radio channel where he spins his selection of arias every week. Gifted with a aesthetic sense, Sam has created a lovely home for himself with plants, lovely cosy spaces and aesthetic corners of his collections of glass which he clusters even with his household appliances. felt so at home there especially as he was considerate enough to leave me to my devices which was principally to hog his large TV watching operas from the Met. Heaven! Thank you, Sam! Ask me anytime and I’ll be over in a split second.