I left some great things at home.

Random stranger who butted in my pic-Aussies are very friendly. lol.

I left good friends and great people, mum, dad, bro, my cousins and gran. I left lecturers and the comm lab where we all squeeze in for our lectures. I left the one who taught me valuable lessons about Foucault, Shelley, film-making, politics, and punctuality. I left a great deal of things. left I left people who makes me feel like a child again. I left my favourite foods and my favourite tv programs.

I left intimate things at home only to come to this new surrounding which is both alien and captivating at the same time. I saw difference, unacceptence, No. Say diversity. I saw things I never would've encountered without stepping out of my little shell. I love watching this new chapter of my life unfold.

There were times I found it hard to relate to people. And I still do. With every shrug I saw and plastic expressions I got, with every mistake I made, being misunderstood, I feel a sting. Still, I love the fact that it won't kill.



I live in a beautiful house, with wonderful people to meet, had emergencies and hype, generous hot chocolate to accompany me during the coldest (and assignment-ridden) spells and cook outs everyday, I meet people from around the world and sat at Fed Square at 9 at night in the cold without extra clothes except a jumper... (Jun is crazy).

I love to see people staring at me blankly when I add a 'la' or 'hantam' in my sentence. I love the moments I had surfing at 20 degrees at Phillip Island, I love the feeling of getting lost while taking a walk, I love it when I force myself to look at strangers in the eye to ask directions, I love the great sense of achievement that swells inside me when I reach my destination the second time, I love hitchhiking off a farm truck when I miss the last bus (this is one of the things that only Gippsland will have). Good or bad, I love it all.

I left what I thought would've been and I gained what I thought I'd never find.

I'll show it to you because it took me a great chunk of me to be here as I am today.

Days of our lives in Gippyland.

Once upon a time in a land far far away (from Melbourne at least), I came to a little town called Churchill-- accompanied by Karina (master chef extraordinaire) and Joyce (chii-sin-sot-sot-lololol). There, we met a compulsive Nuttella addict (Zeming) and a giggly-omgicantstoplaughinglolololol-person (Mei Yii)--There are other interesting people that will be appearing along the way in this blogpost--and we formed a bond that they would cherish forever.

So, together... we conspire to take over the world do stuff to keep ourselves occupied at times we don't need to attend class. Contrary to popular belief, life can still be great fun without a mall in walking distance.

We take turns to cook.

Therefore we eat... YUM.

and Sleep.

My room. :)

My covers. :P

We Party!!

All dressed up.

Flouro Party!

And other parties like that at school. :)


We celebrate birthdays!

Happy b-day, Joyce!

More birthdays...

Andrew Chu's (center far back) 24th at west 27.

Me and Mrs. Chu: Random at Seven.

I tell you we celebrate hell a lot of birthdays.

Najib's 2Xth...? Old poke.

And of course, on the way home from class, We spot cars. Apparently my name is very popular with Australian number plates.

Same carpark. I'm famous.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we play badminton.

Random pic Kari took when we were resting.

On other days, we waste time shopping for food at Morwell or IGA nearby.

And one time, MUGSU organized a surfing trip to Phillip Island (which made me feel like I broke all my bones the next morning).

Getting ready :)

Hitting the waters! :)

Pam and moi

We joined anything with free food/beer/luckydraw/formal.

We attended the Flag Dinner, which is an annual event held every first semester in Gippsland. We ate good food, good entertainment, mingled much and practice our photography...

Flag Dinner :)

And more pictures...

L-R: Mei Yii, Kai, Pamela, moi, Karina, Zeming.

L-R: (top) Ching Yee, Karina, moi, George (bottom) Mei Yii, Joyce and Cody.

Gippsland also taught us how to be narcissistic.

Don't look like it's stopping soon.

And after the event was over, we didn't want the balloons to go to waste. So we inhale helium.

and morph into a chipmunk.
We don't get labeled weird for nothing. :D

and I try to steal the limelight.

HElium is the NEW CRACK!

On some evenings we take walks and enjoy the breeze...

Tree climber Zeming.

Us at a nearby playground we discovered.

Me being a kid again!

and then when we had enough of cold wind, we head back to the our home where it's warm.

Eels Hole Creek.

And when we're home. We model for Mei Yii's photo assignment. :D

And hopefully she gets a HD for this subject coz we're pros!

And we live happily ever after :)

[The End]

Envy me. ;)

This is not an update

http://www.monash.edu.my/advancement/news/Newsline/2009/Jan31IntercampusExchange.html

Shameless publications of thyself.

Amused by Australia

Tullamarine Airport. - 7.30. Look at the sun.

Hi all! For the past 2 weeks, I've been moving up and about in two places, Melbourne and Gippsland. So I'll do Melb first and then Gipps. Cool? Just read even if it's not cool.

First up, Australian Weather Report. When Karina and I arrived in Tullamarine Airport on the 15th, there was no rain, no fire, alot of wind, and alot of sun. Pretty different from back home. With all the news about the fires, I expected Melbourne to be really hot but no. It was 8.00am, 12 degrees. Wtf. And I brought singlets and shorts. Brilliant right? *sarcasm*

For Melbourne, it's normally steaming at noon. SIGH. So if you walk out in a thick wooly top, by eleven-ish, if it's not windy anymore, you'll regret... like moi. *emo one corner*

We were sent to Clayton after that. :P The campus is awesome pawsome! Quick trivia.

1. First timers surely get lost.
2. Don't miss the bus when services ends at 12. (Missed the last bus from Huntingdale train station and me, K and Jun ended up walking in the cold cold cold winds lol..)
3. There's a really nice park near the Clayton Residentials which offers a pretty decent amount of animal species.

Clayton Residentials - Taken Outside my Window. LOL. At about 5/6.00-ish.

Clayton Residentials - Taken outside Kari's window after dinner at eight. She's got a better view. *envy*

Unlike Malaysia, I discovered Australia got longer daytime. It's normally bright at about 7 and only becomes pitch black at 9 at night. So i normally find myself semi-conscious at 8am. Can't really sleep anymore after that. I pretty much adjusted to the time here. It sucks when nobody is on my MSN list unless I stay up. :(

During orientation, I totally fell in love with that place. :) I'll probably try to apply to head there next semester. I travelled a bit around Melbourne city by train. It was a blast.

Tram!

Melbourne Central... Artsy ;)

The State Library (It is HUGE. Free Wifi. Amen)

Us in front of the State Lib - Karina, Joyce and me.

I have goldfish memory. Forgot where I took this from.

The City - Flinders St.

I also got to see Fed Square at Flinder's street.

Fed Square - One of the many Art Centers of Melbourne. (Busker on Right)

Random Busker - The Boxing Chef. :)

Church.

Fed Square embraces all the city's inner tensions:between old and new, between artistic freedom and the constraints of funding and politics. Sitting opposite a cathedral,a pub and a railway station,it is a gathering place for our diverse cultures. Its grounds,according to one historian, are both sacred and secular. - Virtual Tourist

Agreed.

The Park at Fed overlooking the Yarra River

There's alot of Asian shops around Melbourne too. Places to get my daily dose of Maggi, Nong Shim and Lee Kum Kee may be small, shoved at one corner while some are like Hypermarkets.

(korean shop at the left, but i don't think you can see it - noobphotog)

Because of the significant Asian population in Melbourne, they have Asian grocery stores that imports stuff from Korea, Jap, Malaysia, Thai, Viet, everything under one roof! (A really big one in QV opposite Melb Central called Laguna.) When I decide to take a break from Fish And Chips and Sandwiches, I still get to taste home away from home.

The shopping in Melbourne, is great. It's not difficult to find good deals around the city. There's the summer clearance going on. Australia also has a wide variety of thrift shops where you get an item half the price. (Check out, DFO in Southcross and Docklands, at the Victoria Harbour).

Uptill today, I already bought 2 flipflops, 3 pairs of shoes, one bag, one clutch, two penguins (heheh) and a winter jacket. All total up under AUD 200. :D Ok. Conversion it might be a little OMG but you know that if there was no sale, it probably would cost more.

My Penguins which I bought from the Melbourne Zoo out of impulse. I am an Impulsive soft toy shopper.

Sry mum. Couldn't resist the Penguins.

Red Scooter.

The Monash Study Abroad organized an Orientation bash at Red Scooter which was a blast. Good place, decent food. Many people. :O

That's us in a Cheongsam!

The inside.

We ate,we mabuk, we danced... had fun. No pics of the after party (Most of my pics of this event came out really bad) but the event ended pretty late, and there was a 10am bus to catch to Gippsland. My one week in Melbourne was pretty fun and the journey to Gippsland was just as good. I'll be back for sure. (Which i did, twicelol, after unpacking in Gipps, but this chapter will come soon... lol.)

I'm lazy to edit my Zoo pictures. *hint hint* :P

Next up,

Gippsland!
Docklands! (Shopping trip with Gippsland's International Students Association)
Melbourne Zoo!
The craziest yet, Surfing in Phillip Island in 20°C waves!

For a more extensive photo report, see Kari's blog.

G'day.

Internet up. Updating soon.

One week.

Had a BBQ chap go meh family gathering. it was really a good opportunity to see everybody before I take off.

So I ate all I could.

And I savored the taste of home.

And I need to hit the gym


Had a great time today. I don't think my third Aunt reads this blog, but gotta thank her for all the wonderful food. And all my cousins Szelynnpeikaimayyanjann *squishes them all* for being so entertaining. LOL.

I'm almost done packing. All I need to do now is fold my clothes and squish them all inside. I'm afraid I have to leave both kai and jann back home coz I think i've out-stuffed my suitcase. I need a hand luggage to fit in the extras (shoesss omg) and random stuff. I thought I had more than enough time to do it, but I guess... I don't.

Works like a charm.

I own a T610, 1st generation MMS phone with zero-point-00 dunnowarrt megapixel camera that does not want to die. No matter how many times I drop it on the floor, into the puddle, leave it at the public toilet, it always comes back alive and functioning. I have been thankful that it has fulfilled its duties and served me well by keeping me connected to people I love.

But soon, it started to falter. It sent blank messages when I hit reply. The keypad started to have a mind of it's own. A few days after CNY, my phone decided to die on me. I wasn't receiving any messages at all. Whatever that got through came like 2 days later!

It was time.

I opt for an upgrade. ;D

Yesterday, 2.2.09 (woo. go buy 4D), the new gadget arrived.

Note to Sze Lynn: I'm a copy cat.

I now own a Sony Ericsson W595 Walkman Phone in white, that comes with 2 gig memory and a 3.2 megapixel camera which looks something like this.



(Partly coz the Nokia N series slide-phone exceeded my budget and I also have a cousin who owns this so I knew it fulfilled whatever I needed lol.)

I was enthralled at first inserting MP3's, camwhoring and what not. I played games till late but soon I started to dread it a little. I think people will agree with me that there is the downside when changing phones.

I am really lazy to transfer all my contacts into the new phone. I think everyone who has changed a phone go through this. I feel you.

And because I'm a noob and don't know any other quicker way of doing it, I manually key it in back on the phone. I don't know why my contacts can't be saved into my SIM to save me all the trouble. It is just annoying. To save time, I screen through all my contacts to see who i can delete then I realize at least 10 of them I don't even remember who or where I've met them. Over half I haven't contacted in eternity!

But not to be rude, just in case that person contacts us again in the future, we don't delete them and key it in anyway. T_________T

The hardest part is getting the numbers right. I am not good with numbers. I can make careless mistakes and I don't want to end up calling a random putu mayam seller when I mean to call an Auntie in KL!

OH EM GEE!!!

Why can't they make life easier!!!

Stop wasting your resources on war! Stop politicking trivial matters of the country. If you're so smart, make something that will actually bring benefits to the human race! (Maybe a robot/device/method to copy contacts from one phone to another, an example.)

I currently only have about 15 contacts saved in my phone.

If this go on, flip through the classifies tomorrow and you would see. I would pay 10 bucks to have someone key it in for me.

If nobody signs up for that job, flip to the obituaries the next day.

OKAY LAR. LOL. Not so cham la. Just needed an excuse to procrastinate.

Sigh. Back to doing something productive.

Double D.

I Am Looping Cook. X)

Sigh. I am so Mainstream.

Idol Season 8 is funneh.

[don't expect anything beneficial in this post]

Joy.

I get this indescribable burst of joy when I win in Big Two.

Happy Moo Year. :)

Hope everybody had a great Lunar New Year. May the year bring love, good health, good luck, more money and good grades!

Punggol.

Does this Nasi Lemak Joint look familiar to you?


It will be for those who follow stalk Kennysia's blog. After spending an evening with K and S cycling in East Coast Park (very very Enhanced version of Danga Bay. Highly recommended for people into extreme sports or sports in general.), we decided to make a random trip to the other end of Singapore to try out quote unquote "The best Nasi Lemak I've ever tasted (Sia, 2008). LOL.

The shop is situated near Kovan MRT. (Very very helpful Singaporeans gladly gave us directions and Bus instructions. I will be eternally grateful.)

To my surprise, the shop people were a grumpy bunch. Except for the Uncle who calculated my food. He said 'thank you'. But Okay la. Considering it's already 9-ish at night, they were probably exhausted from a day's work.

Well, if you've read Kenny Sia's verdict. Now read mine. X)




It's very packed. It's a no brainer. Nothing attracts more people like good food! We lined up patiently eager to try what they have to offer but sadly we were a tad bit too late. They ran out of Sambal sotong. :(



As you can see it's like Nasi Campur style. They give you the nasi, you take what you think goes well with it.

Well I had this. Stir-fry Brinjal, some Sambal, Fried Chicken, Achar and Otak with the usual cucumber and kacang/ikan bilis. And this cost me SGD $4.80. (Exchange rate 2.35, you do the math) The Drink uncle was really really rude. =.= Boycott.

MUST MUST TRY the Achar (OMG) and Otak (orgasmic), the brinjal is awesome too. As you can see the serving is VERY small but pretty satisfying. But if you were starving, you gotta pay double the amount. Big portions would've been really not helpful. (eq: Lemak + Big portion = Obesity.) You get the drift.

Overall it's pretty different from the Nasi Lemak in Malaysia.

This is a pastiche/hybrid/inauthentic different. It's not everyday you get to eat Nasi Lemak with Luncheon meat (which frikkin ran out after the guy in front of me took it wtfwtfwtf).


My ratings. I would think it deserves an 7. (8-1 for grumpy aunty hurrying me to make up my mind)

Mark my words. I will have my luncheon meat. Dang it.

Kwon Sang Woo's mini-me.

Batteries not included.

Ole.

Random.


See that chest? See those pecs. Don't take your eyes off it.

What i'll be seeing in the months to come. (Source: Pre dep breifing)

Current movie download.



Current Anticipated Reality Show.


Latest Youtube Video which made me laugh 10 mins ago.



What I feel like eating.

Pleasant surprise.

I went to Kajang today. I ran my hands over his sleek metallic body. I noticed every curve, every line. He was just so beautiful! And then I saw the price tag. And for some strange reason, my mind was flooded with thoughts of robbing a bank.

He looks something like this.



PUAHAHAHA =D

New resolutions.

1. I will save RM190,000 by 26
2. I will learn how to drive a stickshift by 25.

In future when I go to Kajang, it won't just be for the Satay. ;)

New Year Resolution 2009

It's time to look back and reflect on what I need to do in 2009.

1. It's time to get cracking.
2. I will not procrastinate.
3. I will have better self control.
3.1 I will grow my own vegetables I will not overspend.
3.2 I will avoid Cheese Cake, Candy and Chips.
3.3 I will exercise more.
3.4 I will not overspill. I will channel my frustrations correctly.
4. I will be a better on the road, I will not get any Saman.
5. I will not lust for Brad Pitt. Newspapers suck but I will read more.
6. I will love Broccoli.
7. I will not get hooked on games on Facebook.
8. I will not change my Blogskin so often.
9. No more assignment late Submission. (Re: Resolution 2)
10. I will be more organized.
11. I will win Sze Kai in Cooking Mama on Wii before 2010

Now that 2008 is over, it's a new beginning! Happy New Year!

What reading the newspaper feels like.

It's like you spend your whole life lusting after Brad Pitt, tearing your hair out in frustration as he dates a whole bunch of obviously unsuitable girlfriends and you keep hoping that one day you might bump into him in the pasta aisle at NTUC and he'll suddenly realize that he's just wasted all his time with Jennifer and Angelina when he could've been perfectly deliriously happy with you. But there comes a day when you realize that you are just wasting your time and that he's never gonna be with you, so why are you even bothering - Saffy

Jason Hahn (2008) "First Person" 8 Days Magazine Issue 949.

Words well said.

The papers, crashing economy, natural disasters, wars, political conflicts... it's too depressing.

Wii Woes.

I lost to a nine year old in boxing today. I lost to them all in Superstar Boogie. And I lost in swimming, ping pong, baseball... My cousin's living room is a stage to see me to crumble.

and my arms hurt.

6 Days.

Twas the night of Christmas...

I found myself back in my own bed in my own home hugging my own plushine after a day long journey back home from Sunny ol' Penang. After a week of consistant eating, nanny-ing, shopping and fooling around, I am back home.

Bye Bye Penang T________________T

(Will post out pics later)

Hang your socks! Happy Christmas all!

Not my time.

I brought my cousins, SL, SP and SK over to SM, SY and miniSJ's place today. Lynette brought her Playstation over. So there was about 8 of us, one PS, 2 PSP's (one turqouise and the other pink), 2 large pizzas. We gathered in front of the TV watching Lynette strut her stuff. Later Lynn took over. Without much guidance, she just played like it was the natural thing to do. Kai and Jann went all around the place but at least they knew where they were walking.

Is there justice in this world?

I cannot walk straight. Stealth is not my forte. I get attacked by laser beams. Mechanical robots and whatever that I'm not supposed to get attacked by. Whether PS or PSP, I just can't.

I was falling of bicycles, playing lego, gator golf, destroying my dolls, occasionally hiding in my own make shift card-board house, which I outgrew pretty fast! Kids these days have Gaming Consoles! Injustice.

I came over to Slynn's place and tried out their new Wii. OMG! HAHA! DAMN FUN!

Bowling.
I lost to a nine year old.

Tennis.
I lost to a nine year old.

Cooking Mama.
Need I say more?

Injustice.

Signing off,

Noob.