Week 1_Exploring Burwood and Strathfield

Dist 3860 GSE Team Mindanao, Phil to Dist 9690 Sydney, Australia

March 9, Wednesday – Arrived at Sydney, Australia, 6:30 am via Qantas Airlines. We were met by Dist. 9690 GSE Chairman Graham Wilson and some members of RC Burwood and RC Strathfield who were our hosts for 4 days. We started the ball rolling that same day. We just said our Hi’s and Hellos to our hosts and we went straight to the Council Office of Burwood,



afterwhich, took sandwiches and sodas for lunch at the park. In the afternoon, we went to the Burwood Community Welfare Services where Lorna got more interests in their domestic violence program. After some rest, we attended the joint meeting of 4 Rotary Clubs, with RC Strathfield as the lead club. Before the formal meeting, we had an orientation with GSE Chair Graham together with our counterpart Team from Taiwan. We also met District Governor Marilyn Mercer and her spouse Dudley. Our respective teams were presented and we did a multi-media presentation. There were PDGs present too in the meeting. (Arleen)

Three Vocational Tours on Second Day. Our second day, as expected, was indeed fruitful. Our first stop was at De Lorenzo production site for hair style products in Silverwater. Together with the Taiwan GSE team, our mind was enriched by the information about the operation of the company that the General Manager himself and other staff of the company shared to us. Our body was nourished by the food they have prepared for lunch. Our team was even more glad as we happened to met four Filipinos working in the company.

From De Lorenzo, we dropped by the Olympic Center for some photo taking and proceeded right away to the Court House of Burwood where we had a chance to witness a judicial hearing and luckily heard the judge laying down his decision on one case. The team couldn’t help but get amazed with the high technology security measures of the court house.

We finally headed to the Bank of Queensland managed and owned by Mr. David Kwong. Our team leader, Arleen and one of the members, Chris had an insightful exchange of ideas in the field of banking and finance with Mr. Kwong. After the long day of highly educational visits to the three vocational areas, we went home to our respective host families with satisfaction. And I should say for the second day, we have filled-in one of our bags of knowledge. (Ben)

March 11 - Friday. At 7AM, all our bags were packed and the team members were all ready. Graciously ushered by Mary, Shirley and Lorice, we all took a train from Strathfield to Circular Quay and boarded a ferry to Taronga Zoo. On our way, we enjoyed the beauty of the Opera House and Harbour Bride which we only saw in postcards. We took a lot of shots and after 15 mins, we reached the fantastic zoo. It is located on the edge of scenic Sydney harbor in a natural bushland setting. It is a home to almost 3, 000 animals. We entered the zoo via sky safari. At around 9.30 AM we met the GSE Taiwan Team along with our tour guide, Ben and immediately started to explore the beautiful place. We all had a great time to encounter several fauna like emus, wallabies, kangaroos, wombat, platypus, bilbies, penquins, woodpecker, tazmanian devil and of course, koalas. We learned that koalas sleep 18 to 20 hours per day. So the group teased one another calling a team member koala when they are sleepy. The elephant and seal shows were too fantastic. We had a whole day of fun and learning; went home in Burwood at around 4pm; took some rest and at 6PM we all proceeded to a Lebanese restaurant (organized by Fuad and Lorice) for a dinner. Everyone enjoyed the generous serving and sumptuous dishes from salads, fruits, meat, seafoods with delicious garlic sauce. After an evening of fellowship, some Rotarians with their spouses went to Jaafar’s place for a cup of coffee/tea. Everyone went home with a smile. (Lorna)

March 12, Saturday. Strathfield “SES”. We were privileged to have been invited to witness Strathfield’s State Emergency Service (SES) Training Exercise. SES is an all-around rescue unit funded by the government but ran entirely by great volunteers. Started in 1955, there are at present 11,000 volunteers, 25 of whom are in-charge of the Strathfield area. Equipped with modern rescue and response equipment, their methods are efficient and assuring, all the while, taking into consideration, each individual victim’s circumstances. Led by the 15-year veteran, Local Controller Darrin Parkin, Strathfield’s SES are off to do great things for the community. This can be liken to our Disaster Coordinating Council and Central 911.

Shopping. We reached Paddy’s Market around 2:30 PM for our souvenir shopping spree. You see, we heard that if we’re shopping around for mementos, we can get better bargains there. And they were right! Keychains, refrigerator magnets, and little stuffed koalas for less than a dollar each! 3 baseball caps for 5$! 3 shirts for $20! Authentic Australian boomerangs for $2! And there’s a lot, lot more to see and buy.

It was very gracious of Lea Sereno, a long time friend of Arleen, to accompany us in Paddy’s, then walked at Hyde Park before hearing the 6 PM Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

After another long walk along the boulevard, we reached Opera House and Harbour Bridge. What a sight, really. Light effects of the place were amazing. We went home around 8:30 PM.

March 13, Sunday. Change-over of hosts. We were brought by our respective hosts to McDonalds at corner Hassall and James Ruse Drive, Rosehill and met up with our host families from Penrith. After some huggings and bye byes, off we drove to Penrith. GSE Chairman Graham was Arleen’s host. (Chris)