Out from my mother’s love and care,
Feeling lost, lonely, empty and bare,
I battled across the ragging southern sea,
And grew to learn what’s expected of me.

New climates, currencies, cues, and cultures,
And fighting temptations and shopping lures,
I picked it up as fast as I could,
Please take down all the [sale] sign if you would.

Being thrown in this daunting varsity world,
It’s not fancy nail painting, or having my hair nicely curled,
I struggle to come up with the best essay,
Yet my lecturer tells of it as if it is sap sap sui.

I miss going to the movies, and mamak sessions,
And enjoy the excitement of being late for lessons,
I guess you’ll never know the true meaning of miss,
Until you step out from your zone of bliss.

Satisfied as I am, to have friends who love and care for me,
No matter who, or when, or where he or she may be.
Just being online to give me e-hugs and kisses,
Reminding me to ‘go back faster’ with uncountable misses.

I hope my stay in this foreign land,
Would go fine, and according to the way it is planned.
Thanks to the One who is the creator of all creation,
I can have the opportunity for a scholarly graduation.

-lesson learnt-

There’s always a first time to everything, n I had a lot of 1st times these days.

And since the experience is still fresh in my head, I shall delay no more.

I attended evening service this week cuz mandy was serving as keyboardist, and I followed her. So after service, we headed to a restaurant called Bo journo with duane(he so happen to come by so he stayed for the service and dinner too). So after dinner, he went his own way and we went our way. So as mandy was driving she accidentally miss a turn, n we got a little lost. Then after finding our sense of direction, we needed to like, make a u-turn to get back on track. So after the traffic light, she took a turn, n we went on happily, planing to watch some FRIENDS b4 bed.

Suddenly! I saw this car flashing at us from behind. I tot our back lights weren’t working or something, but then there were red and blue flashing lights also, and I went ‘oh shoot…’ I think that turn was a huge mistake. The cops were following close, but no siren… I asked mandy to pull aside anyhow. So she did, n a lady stepped out from the flashy car and the trembling mandy wined down the window. The 1st thing I saw was the gun nicely placed in the case, slung around her waist. Though she wasn’t in her uniform, it was obvious that she was a cop. She asked for license and stuff, then she got back to her male partner in the car. Though she was very nice and all, but we were so scared man!!! Praying so hard that its gonna b ok.

I was jz worried if they’d give us a fine. Then it’ll b tuff for us to fish up that money… mandy was jz scared that uncle Jason would chop her head off and put it in the beef stew for tmr’s dinner. All I cud do then was to say positive stuff to comfort her, but it wasn’t working.

Finally the lady came back n told us that the u-turn was illegal, so as I thought, and same goes to all other traffic lights. With or without a [no u-turn] sign, it is still NO U-TURN!!! And for crying out loud, y on earth are the police working on a Sunday evening where there’s the closing ceremony of the commonwealth games to watch tonite?!

Anywayz, God had mercy on us, she jz gave us a warning letter, and no fine (which she told us in the most as-a-matter-of-fact-way that it costs AD180++ for a ticket!!!!)
This totally killed the mood for everything…so no FRIENDS tonite.

It was indeed my 1st experience of being stopped by a police when I’m in a moving vehicle. I think mandy’s not gonna drive again in a long long time, and I’m gonna hv this phobia of u-turns again.

mobile phone, cell phone, hand phone, telepon bimbit

It was a normal morning, normal tute, class went on fine….until!!!

I realized I didn’t bring my hand phone to uni!!!! My world went topsy-turvy, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t feel my feet! Why was the room getting smaller?! The sky is falling!

Hehhe, not that bad la, jz that I felt bare and stripped empty the whole day (well, not until I went back home and reunited with my mobile phone =)

Usually I seldom use my hp in uni, but today I needed to call my aunt to let her know I’ll b taking the bus home after class. And, borrowing a hp from my friend will not b of much use, cuz I cant remember any numbers except for my own! But then again, I may be forgetful, but I’m smart also, hehehe. I managed to get home in one piece.

Its hard to explain how badly I need my phone now, but my friend Terrence had put me in the test. He said he’d give me sweets, bak kut teh with tea and/or choc coated with white choc and mint fillings inside, to trade with me not having my hp for four days. My answer was still a no. cant la…I was hpless for more than 7 hours today, n I already felt lost. Four days is impossible.

Anywayz, I made a new friend today, called Cleo. She’s a full blood Greek but born in Australia and raised here. Chun eh? She’s so nice. Showed me some database stuff n we had lunch together. God really is a provider. Though I still dun have a close friend who I can always hang out with in uni, but I’m happy with what I hv now. Its starting to get better, now that I’m used to the super single lifestyle. Go places alone, minding my own business.

Well, I must say I’ve met more Asians here than ang mos. ‘met’ as in get to know, n ‘will really see u around next time’. Most ang mos are jz plain class mates. Ntg more than that. In one of my classes, I mix with 3 guys who r my team mates: the super tall Bernard, and car freaks Alan and Loc. They’re born in aus, but parents are from Asia. Then in another class, Linda is a pretty good companion, then there’s Cleo, and in my other classes, there’s Damien(msian), meiji, snowy, Tracy, Minnie (from hong kong), winnie(Korean), sze(from china), sullay(my lecturer from Africa, grew up in USA and worked in msia for shell and HELP), kat, sarah, jacqie(aussies). There’s more but I cant remember their names and I jz smile when I walk pass them.

And then, there’s OCF! Ppl like Jane, jade, boon pin, Ruby, Elaine, Christina, Christine, Ming n hui chi, Adrian, Eleanor and Melanie, Abel, Gillian, ayumi, hui yin…. And Samuel! The only magillian (other than me) from OCF. Magillian= students from magill campus.

And randomly, I’ve met Kok leong, Eemun (msians), Arriff, Surya (s’poreans), Fuji(Japanese! Doing a course on piloting!!!), from an international student thingy. Then I met Melissa ,Mark tan(terry berry’s friend), and melissa’s friends when I went to paradise church. A lot of them either from FGA or from subang/pj.

Lastly, Kate, Anaka, Will and Jackson are the few who I talked to in church. These are the true ang mos. Hehhe….

Look how God is blessing me with nice ppl to hang around with. I’m so grateful that I had this chance to know ppl from all around the globe. And I’m very sure that the list will be expanding day by day.

So now u see… I cant live without my hp, cuz it connects me with the ppl around me, and with those who is very very far from me. I miss all of u!!!!

zhang zi yi

A girl’s weakness—shopping.
In 2 days time, I bought 2 skirts and a nice white top. Dun ask me how much it cost me, cuz I can argue that its on pretty good sale.
Ntg much happened to me except for that this week… so boring hor? Well, actually its not that bad la, I had fun, jz not the kind of fun which I can put it in words.

I went to paradise church ydy. and no, i didnt see guy sebastian. I went to the one in the city. Guy sebastian goes to the main one which has like 2000 plus members. anywayz, on my way out to catch a bus, a branch hit my head, leaving a scratch above my eyebrow.... well, i was looking down, thinking of something, and walking quite fast cuz it was rather cold. suddenly, kpish! the branch came out from no where and the sharp parts jz went thru my skin. ouch! but it wasnt like i bang into a tiang cuz the branch was flexible also la. but still! hurt so bad. good thing it didnt go straight to my eye. u know sometimes its smaler cuts that hurt compared to huge wounds? yeah, its like that. so... lesson learnt-- dun ever look down when walking fast.

Oh ya, last Friday Duane told me I look like zi yi… I think so too! Hahaha, but still I’m special in my own ways n so is she. I jz watched house of flying daggers last nite. It was soooooo nice! I love the way they change the role of the characters in such a short time. Walau… both the guys fought from autumn to winter for ziyi…. Phuiyo…. Sumore she can faint for so long, n not die there. But it was good, super chun show.

Ok, back to the topic, other than Duane, a lot of the others told me I look like zhang ziyi too! Ok, lets see if I remember or not : Joshua hum, Duane, Tim, Tim’s cousin Jade, Joshua’s friends, my church (TMLC) pastor, my pastor’s friend, Jason lee(TMLC), uncle meng chee, Sandra, sandra’s friends, liz, joahua wong(I think), oh ya, and this website which links who u look like by configuring ur pic… n a lot more which I forgot… ehehhe

I love ziyi’s acting skills, especially showing the expression of torture, and being in love. She’s good. And she’s soooo lucky she get to act with takeshi! Anywayz, its an honour to look like the pretty superstar! Truly an honour!

barbi craze

One thing u must not do to me when I get back to msia: that is to take me to a bbq party or anything close to bbq. Thx

Its not that I dun like the bbq idea, its jz that aussies cant live without it and its eating me up. Well, not literally…I’m the one who’s eating bbq up, but the bbq practice is too much…. The gov here supports it too. Every single park here must have AT LEAST two bbq pits. And its those that runs with gas. Very seldom u get the charcoal thingy with metal bars on top of greasy stones. They have hot plates and grills… every house must have a bbq set, equipped with all types of chun skewers, scrapers, those long sharp forks, easy squeeze bbq sauce and meat!

So every outing, the 1st thing that comes in mind, is bbq. And they call it barbi.
“ei mate(oi dude), we got some free time to bucker off(very bored la), wat say u, we go get some bitches and some droughts(get babes and beers), and go chill at my crib for barbi(and come to my house for bbq).”

Well, its not making me sick yet. No cancer signs yet… but I hv a feeling I’m gonna barbi a lot this year, so no barbi for me pls… I need a break.
welcome to the world of carbon and oil!
thats the chun pit i was saying. i think there's a tong of gas underneath. "press button till light appears. heat will turn off automatically"

Techno Science Jargon

to all u science freaks out there, here's something u shud know before u bury ur head in ur omega encyclopedia.

Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton
Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 bananosecond
Weight an evangelist carries with God: 1 billigram
Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon
1000 aches: 1 kilohurtz
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower
1 million microphones: 1 megaphone
2000 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds (work on it....)
52 cards: 1 decacards
3 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 I.V. League
--------------------------------------
Well spotted correction sent in from Ianman:
>1 million microphones: 1 megaphone
Actually, 1 million microphones = 1 phone. 1 million phones = 1 megaphone. 1000 microphones = 1 milliphone. 1000 milliphones = 1 phone. 1000 phones = 1 kilophone. 1000 kilophone = 1 megaphone. 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 = 1 (American) trillion. Therefore 1 million million (American trillion) microphones = 1 megaphone

now it all makes sense rite?

output

One week passed super fast. 2 weeks of uni gone. Now I’m used to walking around alone, having a sandwich and an apple for lunch, sleeping in the library, and waiting for the bus stop with the very big earphone in my ears. (oh ya btw, thx shua for the earphone, I think my ears are getting bigger for it, and its working fine, like got dynamic bass boost, jz that when the wind blows, I can hear the “fwoop fwoop” sound synchronizing with the music)

Since I’ve no output in the college, I allow things to go in my brain. I observe, think and analyse a lot. I can’t help but compare things. Its kinda getting out of hand, but I’ll be sick of this soon, and there wont b any ‘oh, u don’t get this in msia’ or ‘ msians wont do this… no way..’ kinda thing.
B4 the skill of comparison fades away, I better do wat I hv to do: hv some output done.

Magill is the most beautiful campus in South Australia, I dare say. Creeks, no high rise buildings(highest floor is the 4th floor with the 1st floor built slightly below the ground, hahah), chun class rooms, classy auditoriums, swimming pool, gymnasium, IBM computers everywhere, reading space under trees, bar, cafeteria, toilet papers in every single toilet cubicle, student’s kitchen with fridge and microwave oven… the list goes on. It’s not in the city, so the life style here is rather slow and calm. A lot of girls, very few boys (boohhooo).

Now, aussie fashion for most female youths: lalat sun glasses, very fair skin with heavy eye make-up, broad shoulders filled with freckles, tank top(tube), ultra short denim skirts, two bags (dun ask me why), lighted cigarette in between fingers, a bottle of coke on the other hand, and flip-flops (thongs, slippers). And I find it amusing how they fit themselves in that tank top, still having the ability to breath. They usually are bigger and the portion spreads out to every direction of the feminine body parts (ifuknowwatimean…). No offence to anyone, as I’m pretty jakun, coming all the way from a place where they name their clothes after a cage, and cheer leaders dun look like cheerleaders….

Fashion for guys: 1- polo tshirt with collar folded up, cool shades, 3quarter khaki pants, guy slippers, and a hot chick by the side.
2- round neck tshirt, surfer’s pants, flip-flops with coke in hand. (I dunno y but most guys here are rather fit and built up)

Hahha, I think I’m going too far…. Well, it’s not like that actually. Ppl here are very individual, jz that that’s the basic thing u can easily spot on ppl in the streets.

Oh ya, one thing I noticed too. The auto doors in campus can’t detect me…. I’ve to move back abit, look up at the black thingy, then only the door opens… cis cis…

Well, that’s about it… no more comparing. Learn to accept and live with it.
I love Australia!!!

The Fringe

Adelaide Fringe—a festival help once in two years(lately I think they changed it to an annual thingy). It’s a major event happening now since 24th Feb till 19th March. Things will be held everywhere in the city. Movies, stand up comedies, basking, talent performances, etc etc. so far I’ve seen dancing sky (twice), the jazz musical garden, the stand up comedy(which I found the jokes pretty good, but most of them are about sex, n they used the F word a lot—I think ppl here take it easily with that), and basker along rundle mall juggling chainsaws that were turned on.
This was taken at the botanical garden during the jazz musical. I love the lady’s vocals, and the keyboardist, bassist, and drummer…. I love jazz. I fell asleep under the tree and had a sun burn. Ppl jz go there with their picnic sets, and start enjoying jazz with their family. I went with Mandy n her bf(Duane) and his family. (look wat a good spot light i was....) check out the double bass. its jz a stick. its called a stick guitar. hahha, chun man....
After that we went to Elders park for the Dancing Sky(which I’ve already seen the nite b4 with dai yee n uncle Jason but we didn’t get good seats). We reached the park at 5-ish, and waited for the show that starts at 9. (the crowd)The park was filled with picnic sets at about 8, and the aussies said they’ve never seen so many ppl in Adelaide b4. I tot it was normal cuz I’ve seen larger crowds than this. But really, it was a nice site when ppl will jz come n sit down in such a civilized manner. The when the show started, everyone’s mouth jz hung open. It was a performance by ppl from torino, and they hung ppl in the sky and they’d dance in mid air. They had a story behind it but no one quite catch the flow of it though.
Performances here are great! Ppl will start doing funny things like do a head stand in the bank, or crawl in a bus, or sing soprano in the streets…. They call it art. In msia, they call it insanity.
these are round rubber balls in the sky with human beings dancing AROUND it, also in the sky... this was also in the sky!(cant take nicer pix cuz they're moving n its quite high up)
this was not in the sky, but on the river, with a girl, dancing INSIDE the ball

Our technological purgatory

hey guys, jz something i wanna share. this article "Global Village of the Damned" by kevin ridolfi was one of my assignments i had to read up, n i came across this very interesting passage:

"Microsoft, IBM, AOL and their cohorts like to trumpet the "global village" that computers and the Internet have brought about. Despite their bold headlines and quick-cut video clips, this global village remains the Atlantis of the computer-age. In a village, everyone would find a way to communicate in order to survive, in order to live. We aren't communicating or coming closer as a world; we're sitting alone -- in our underwear, pale and eating Ring Dings -- in front of a gently humming computer, looking at pictures of the world, attempting to communicate with nameless, faceless strangers who are doing the exact same thing. That's not a village; that's solitary confinement."

the whole article was in that tone, nicely stabbing the users of the internet in sarcastic ways.... interesting....

sink or swim

One week of uni generally gave me an overlook of my whole year’s life story. The week didn’t go as I expected it to be, but its not as bad as the life story of Oliver Twist. 1st few days were lonely n all, but its all because of the sudden change of my ‘title’ as a college student, to a university student. It’s the survival of the fittest, eat or be eaten.

The way they teach here are very different (maybe it jz applies for wat course I’m doing). They challenge ur initial believe and thought, shake it then leave u hanging with an unstable mind. “go la, think for urselves mate”. If u do not hold tight to wat u believe in, u’re walking in the lion’s den. If u hold too tight to ur believe, u’re swimming in the ocean with a limited oxygen tank. (hahah, wat a metaphor…)

Its all in the mind. They are so darn good in playing with ur thoughts. And ‘they’ I refer to the course syllabus, and the lecturers that play along with it. Another ‘they’ which gives me more pressure, are course mates that I’d hv to compete with. They’ve been thrown in the wild since young, being shaken all their lives, and taught to challenge and be challenged; and here comes this protected species who is ‘0’ in survival skills. So fragile, so brittle. So as the flimsy newbie, I shall swim (or at least float) and not sink. And that takes a lot of extra effort in the rat race. Scary rite? But that’s how it is, and how it shall be. For as long as money rules the stock exchange and the boss holds ur pay check, that’s how the story shall go.

Well, I’m also glad that I was thrown in this situation. Very very blessed indeed. Its not the deep end yet, so I’m given the chance to learn. And to start off with, my course is beginning to be very interesting. The lecturer asked us to watch tv and read magazines. Its so cool. I pay them to make myself be indulged in entertainment. “PLEASE go watch films of all sort, various tv series, look in the diverse cultures of different ppl….” I like that. Anyhow, there’s also a ‘but’ in this… we gotta really watch and analyze wat made the person do that, and wats the purpose or hidden message of the act, bla bla bla. Which can be very difficult sometimes.

I’m very fortunate to start this course this year, cuz Adelaide is all pumped up for this festival called Adelaide Fringe 06. Being the festival state of Australia, this event is super major. Performers fly in from every corner of the world to present live shows thru out the whole month. Certain shows are charged, but most of the acts are scattered all around the city, where u can tip them however u like. Some talented ppl perform along the famous Rundle Mall, and I think it’s called basking. Very chun shows…

On the whole, I’m really excited bout this new challenge. It is gonna b tremendously thorny but one thing is for sure. God is on my side no matter wat, so I’m not scared, nyehehe!

missing home

i'm sitting at the lib now, thinking of wat to do for the next 2 hours b4 my next class starts. i'm so lonely now... n i know the main reason for this.

its cuz i was so UNlonely back there, so its very different here. i also notice ppl here walk alone. they wander around uni in singular form (unless they r in a very loud gang where they looking like beeaches n going oh mi gawd this n oh sh*t that)others r jz like me... all alone and so dull.haih... i think i'll get over this very soon. so dun worry. i jz need an outlet now. jz RITE NOW. so blogging is the only way to shut me up for awhile(msn tak boleh guna kat lib)

so anywayz, i went for a tute (short for tutorial) jz now, n realized i gotta do alot of tv watching, n magazine readings, bla bla. the course is very very aussie-fied. its like the lecturer asked us wat we think about 'big brother' or 'the castle', which are australian shows. n i was like.. darn... all i know is croc hunter who goes geooooorgiuuss n i dun even know his name... erwin something rite? well, i was rite that time. horny asked me to prepare myself for studies, n i said i shud watch more tv... i shud hv. but i didnt. so now i know that my course is all about taking 'entertaintment' seriously.

and also, i'm begining to talk like an oz. or else they jz wont listen to me. i had to say 'noy' instead of 'no'. i had to say 'yeah' instead of 'yes'. i had to say 'no worries' instead of 'u're welcome' etc etc.

tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, i'm now officially missing home. really.... no more being a tourist here... i'm supposed to BE a citizen of aus, n learn the culture skin deep to b able to live here... or else *khhh*slit throat sound*

well, things r gonna get better. i'll b going for a camp next month. hope i'll meet loadsa locals so i can catch the culture. other than that, i attend ocf which is helping me stay afloat, but its not really gonna take me anywhere. its my effort to paddle to shore. i met heaps of asians there who i assume were as lonely as i am b4. so i'm in the same boat as them.

and also my family. dai yee (my aunt)is really giving me alot of support. plus, she's passing down her cooking skills bit by bit, hehehe..
uncle jason, who's strict about most things, n i'm scared of him (which is healthy in a way that i know who's in authority). this is the healthy preassure that i shud get, n he's putting the rite amount of pressure on me, so i'm greatful for that too.
and lastly, mandy. she's been a doll. a wonderful roomie n great cousin. she now has to take care of me, heheh, being a newbie n all. she helped me so much that i dare not think about how i'd b if she didnt study here.

i guess i shud go study now... get my mind off missing home, n look forward to brighter things.... like... assignments?

something short to say?

Am I THAT short till its soooo obvious…? Well, I was ok with my height n all when I was in msia. Maybe cuz most Asians are physically small, n others/I dun quite notice….let alone compare….but here… in ang mo land… everyone is built to b big n tall.

Well, all along, my uncle wud b the one who wud b ejeking me bout my height. ‘jez, hang the clothes.. oh wait r u tall enuf??’, ‘oh poor thing, u cant see the food in the microwave from where u r!’, or ‘can u reach the button? I think u need a chair’… there r more… haih… well, I got used to that (I had to). But it makes me feel so weak and useless. I cud hear myself saying “oh help me! I cant reach the door knob from where I am! Help me!” with this irritating chipmunk voice.

And last nite, this ang mo family was here for dinner, n they had a daughter who’s 19 this year. She’s very sweet n nice, but my uncle was like ‘wah, u 2 same age?!?!? That’s a lot of difference, come come, stand together and we see properly’

And I was like, oh no… not again. But I had to play along. They were guests. So I stood there n I was starring at her boobs if I looked straight. And then! Someone said bring the camera! And crap… they had to go that far. So I stood there with my monkey smile feeling so small n puny.

Then her father jokingly said I shud sue Australian government… for building sidewalks too close to my ass. HAHAHA was wat I cuz say….

I used to b ok even when ppl said something bout my height last time, but lately, I cud feel the need of getting extra inches for my legs, or stretch my body abit….

Intimidated…. subdued…short…

final tour blog

Something left undone… my blog about Adelaide tour. It was the 3rd day in Adelaide, n it was my mom’s bday, and last day of cny. A special day indeed. Jz wanna blog bout it b4 I 4get where I’ve been in ade.

I got up early that day cuz mandy made me walk to Linear Park with her. It was a park near the house, n I think I seriously need to stay fit if I keep eating cheese n bread almost everyday. N so I walked, n walked, n felt that it was like a never ending park. Apparently this park stretches all the way with the Torrens river to the city! Chi sin… anyways, that walk took us 45 mins, came back to the smell of bacon n ham… they were having the bbq set up in the backyard n we had crispy bacon n eggs and sausages ….n Cant remember wat else…

After that we went to uncle michael’s hse to go for the tour together with his whole family. We stopped at Summer Town to pluck apples from an orchard (dunno who the owner was, heheh, but the apples were not ripe, so cant take any back)

Then we went to Uraidla. A place where the building were super old fashion. So retro…. Awesome. we walked in a market place where they sold cool stuff, like lemon grass oil, ‘ham’ bags, oat chewy with honey and raisins…. Weird combination rite? Anyways, we then went to this fair where they had it in conjunction to All British Day. It was a big field, filled with old vintage cars from Britain. Really cool. Dad was drooling all the way. We spotted datuk’s car (datuk is my grandfather, n his car is the Austin something something… which he’s still using it)

After getting burnt with hot cars, we went to Hahndorf—the German town in Adelaide. We had lunch in the park there, then we walked around that chun town. It was jz one main road, with 2 rows of german shops along it. There was this shop which sold kangaroo scrotums and lots of funny stuff, like funny readable t-shirts, funny cup holders…

Later, we got to visit a chocolate factory in Woodside, called Melba’s choc. It was rather old and used up, but the chocs were fine as it was. There were piles and piles of chocs in that place. We bought some marshmallows for bbq in the evening.

Yeap, more bbq…. After dinner, we had a lou sang thing together with uncle michael’s family. We brought the lou sang set from msia, hehe… (memang true Chinese ppl) then we had a cut cake ceremony for mom. I think this was her best birthday party with her family. I cud see that she was overjoyed.

thats it, no more entries bout my tours. cuz parents n sis left.... missing them alot now

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I’ve been watching a lot of FRIENDS lately. Main reason cuz I’m dead bored, another is cuz I wanna watch every single episode of it n I dowana miss out any in between, so I started watching it from season one all the up till 10(all thx to horny, I can do that now). It IS arguably the best comedy sitcom every created. And so, as I was having my really cheesy bfast this morning, I realized something bout the show.

It starts off with 6 young adults (mainly Rachael Green), who comes out of their mama’s protection, and fights with the cruel world where they can be individuals of their own. They need to establish financial stability (without the help of dad’s credit card), have a house of their own, find a life partner (except for Joey), and live happily ever after. So they come across loads of trials, face it, get across it, then another trial comes up. That has been going on for 10 seasons, until one day…

They’ve found their money, house and lifetime partner, to live happily ever after. And that’s where Joey Tribbiani is left behind. He has no soul mate, that’s y he has to start a new show, without his friends, to continue living his incomplete life. So… is that wat the media is trying to say to the commoners who follow this sitcom closely? That life starts when u’re finally facing the world for urself, desperately searching for the elements that ends life, and be done with it? I think its quite clear so.

Anyhow, to spice up the whole sitcom, they place 6 of such characters together, to make the fighting-the-malicious-world part easier. FRIENDS. That’s the main thing of the whole story. Without each other, they would hv jz been eaten by the vicious peace-enemies in the most spiteful way.

That’s how stuff goes. U need friends to b by u all the time to allow u to stay sane. So I do agree with the script writers. Jz that I’m not agreeing that life starts in ur early 30s. But then again, they cant put the whole life thingy in a 10-series thing, or it’ll turn out to b an infinite seasoned show if they started when each 6 of them were born.

So, my point is… ermm, there’s no point. I’m jz saying that I like this show cuz it portrays the parts n parcels of reality that we, I mean… I, am gonna face in the future, n it teaches me that whatever I’m gonna b, I must not eliminate the word FRIENDS in my dictionary.

genting trip

Finally, a day of rest for me, n I shall quickly use this time to blog about my genting trip! Hehe, I can see tim clapping his hands d…

Ya, so I went to genting with tim on city day. Hahah, it was KL day n I ran away from it. But close enuf, I saw twin tower up in genting, indoors sumore. Hhaha, it’s the ticketing booth where we got our indoor n outdoor theme park tix.

I’ve not been to genting for umpteen years, n was very excited bout it. I think the last time I went up was when I was 9, n that’s was also when my dad swore not to go up again(no idea y- n I dun think he gambled then). So tim was supposed to go for this family trip with his parents, but asked me to tag along cuz he’ll b alone when his parents wanna go pak tor. And so, my journey began when they came n pick me up, n we went to this place near bentong for lunch. N we had 2 guess the price of the food… tim’s mom was the closest… haih, me no good at guessing wan…

So when we got up to the hill, it was drizzling, n we prayed hard that it wont affect our rides… but then, there’s always indoor theme park! His parents dropped us in front of the entrance, n we got in, desperately searching for the toilet, haha (yes it was a long n winding way up). Then we tried to look for the entrance of the themepark. Well, we got lost n almost entered the casino! But, we had no interest in that n continued searching. The sign boards were very misleading n it wasted a lot of our time. Finally we asked our way thru, bought the tix, n eagerly eyed for a ride to hop on. But then!!! We cant find the line to the rides that were whooshing above our heads! Being lost for the 2nd time, I graded genting 3 out of 10… very disappointing. The place was like a shopping mall with ppl screaming on top of ur heads n u cant find the place where u can do so too….But not to fear, tim n I had something better than rides!!! A 5 mega pixel camera!! Hahah. We finally found a very very long line to queue up in (it was short compared to the others) n we snapped a lot of pix. I think others found us quite ulu… from then on, we cud be classified as cam whores!!! (that’s wat tim describes it)

So anywayz, I was proud of myself… cuz I’m tall enuf for every ride! Woohooo. Soon, we ventured out to the outdoor rides. N we saw this ride, with no line!! N we were like, yay, lets go for that! But mana tau, u gotta pay for that ride… which explains the queue less ride… but I wish I paid for it n had a super screaming time, up there in the fog. It was still drizzling but it didn’t stop us from having fun. We queued up for cork screw, n we were the last in the queue, cuz they were closing it up for inspection. We were contemplating whether to go or back out. But heck yea we went for it, even though we re all wet in the rain, but it was still worth it. I think it was the most syok-a-linggam ride cuz we didn’t hv the chance to go for the solero thingy n also the haunted house(in doors) which I heard were very good. But anyways, we experienced the 4D motion master, cork screw, the euro something something n another one which I 4got… oh!! The mines something something, ahahah. I basically jz spent the whole time queuing up with tim n saying how short the ride was.

When the sun went down n our energy was low, it was time to leave the-oh-so commercialized ‘theme park’. Tim’s mom bought dinner in this Chinese restaurant on the way down hill. It was goooood~

Well, I had a super fun day with tim. It was like a farewell thingy b4 I leave msia. Thx tim!!! Will never 4get this day of fun!!!

street day

I jz came back from the state library, and I noticed a lot of things today.
There were plenty of drinking fountains in the streets or in buildings, all for public use. N its clean, thank God.
Another thing that u see in the streets are traffic lights. N every traffic light, there must b one for humans too. It’s the same as wat u get in msia, jz that over here, ppl FOLLOW the signs! Other than that, streets here r very user friendly, especially for those on wheelchairs or mothers with prams. They hv special lanes for wheelers.
Well, I kinda sound very ulu rite now, but that’s wat I see in the difference between home n here.
Anywayz, I was early today, the library wasn’t open when I got there, so I waited outside (many ppl were early also). And so I sat on this bench(which u can find a lot of them on the roadsides) and then this young feller sat next to me. He was reading something, n I was doing my own stuff, then after awhile, he stood up, went one side, n took out his cigarette, n puffed. I mean, ppl here r so considerate! Not to say that ppl back in msia are not. Jz something that I get to experience here n not back home, know wat I mean?
ok, i better stop here b4 ppl start calling me n scolding me from msia.

aussie home

Since joshua requested, I shall blog about my new home in Adelaide. Its located at the north east of Adelaide, about 15 mins drive from the city. But for me, I’ve to take the bus from the street outside (bus stop 41) to Paradise interchange, then another bus to the city/ to magil(my campus). Kinda mah fan, but then the busses here r not as rusty n old as th those citylinks u get in kl, n they r quite on time.
So anyways, this is the garden in front of the house. The second window is the window to my room which I share with my cousin, mandy. Ppl here seldom do stuff in the front porch. The activities are all at the back yard. When u drive along houses at nite, u’ll see that its very very dark n quiet even at 9pm. The thing is, they hv their very famous aussie barbi(bbq) at the back yard- n they mostly do stuff in the evenings. So this is a small part of the back yard, with the shed far back, n my aunt, uncle n sis playing cricket. It’s a very famous sport here, something like badminton back home. this is another small part of the back yard, me n my sis roasting marshmallow with Jeremy, the 3rd son of uncle Michael n auntie ivy. Aunt ivy is uncle jason’s sister. Uncle Jason is my aunt’s husband. My aunt is my mom’s eldest sister. Hahha, confused yet? Its not that far la. So anywayz, uncle Michael has 3 sons, Christopher, Joshua, and Jeremy. They stay near by, so family outings are usually with them.
This is the living room, taken from the kitchen. The fireplace has no fire, its jz the very important heater there (with no chimney). This is another angle of the living room, Christopher was watching cricket.
and another angle of the hall. i'm looking at the new cricket set my uncle bought for my sis. this is the outside part of the back porch, we keep shoes in the white cupboard near my dad.
and finally,
my aunt having wine with my parents n sis outside. thats her car(peanut eye merc, hoohooo~)
oh ya!, n my room... kinda messy... n thats wat u get if u put 2 girls together.
well, thats it for my aussie home for 3 years!

legal wine day!... not

11/2/06
We declared this day the wine day for us, hehe. We had a slow drive to Barossa Valley, Adelaide in uncle Michael’s 7 seater car. We had to go up the hills to reach the valley where they grow grapes n make wine. I was so excited that I got to try out Australia’s freshly bottles wine! But then….
The 1st vinery we went to was Jacob’s Creek. It was a slightly modern one, cuz the building was rather new n looks techy. After looking around the monuments n stuff, we went to the testing bar where ppl can test al sorts f wine made in that vinery. The rule was simple, u gotta b above 18 to try. So I happily stood there with dad n aunt, hoping that the lady behind the bar gave me a glass, then she asked me my age. I said I’m 19 this year, n she said she needs some ID… I was like… wat?! U don’t believe me do u?! n then… I said I didn’t hv any form of id with me. She said she jz cant believe me, even if my dad n aunt was there to prove it! Sheesh… so fine! I made my dad buy the good wine, n I’ll drink it at home… where age doesn’t matter. (my aunt and I in front of the grapes)

Then we headed off to Peter Lehmann’s vinery, which was an older looking one. Its not old as in busuk n rosak. It has the ancient aura which brought the feel of being in the British Empire time… I guess. The ‘adults’ tried out the wine there, then we laid a rug on the grass area outside, n played some uno n Frisbee.

We had lunch in a bakery in Tanunda. Then drove to Seppeltsfield vinery. This was the founder of Barossa Valley, n they say it was there for more than 100 years. This one is rather commercialized, but its nice also. It’s much much bigger n they hv gigantic wine bins (dunno wat u call that).

After having enuf of wine, we drove to William’s Town where Barossa dam was located. It was a rather normal looking dam, jz that it had one cool feature. If u go to one end of the dam n whisper near the dam’s wall, the person at this end can hear exactly wat u whispered. N guess wat my dad did… he farted at the other side of the wall, n my sis heard n smelt it!!! Wat a way to communicate… so thus, its called the Whispering Wall.

After that, we went to Mengler’s lookout where we cud see almost the whole of Adelaide! Then to Gumeracha for the largest rocking horse in the world. Mandy, Charmaine n I climbed all the way up to the head. The ladders in the horse were steep man!!! Scary… I was like shaking when climbing down.
After a good day of touring, I tot we cud at least rest alittle, but I didn’t hv the chance. We went home to wash up, then off to TeaThree Plaza, which was the ‘nearest’ shopping complex to my aunt’s hse. Had dinner at Primo Restaurant. And phuiyo!! The waitresses were sexay!! N strong! The plates we so heavy, n they cud carry so many with their 2 bare hands.
And so… who said Adelaide is a dead town? I think is great! Jz that u gotta bring ur photo id with u if u think u look young~

all was said n done in sydney

3rd day in Sydney!!! Seems like a never ending story eh? Relax, it will end… I jz wanna blog it down b4 I 4get bout the places of interest I’ve been to.

So, I got up early, had the normal buffet bfast in the hotel(I still say avillion pd has the BEST hotel bfast ever!). then we set off to Blue Mountains to get to Echo Park in Katoomba(the valley of falling waters) and look at the 3 mountains, called the 3 sisters. Legend has it that 3 sisters were turned into mountains by this bomoh guy in their tribe, no idea y… it took us 2 hours to get there!! Imagine traveling for 2 hours jz to look at 3 rocks…. But I tell u… it’s really breath-taking!
Then we went to this place called scenic world also near katoomba (aka godoomba/kedumba). Had a wonderful time experiencing the nature walks, went on the steepest railway, saw how they mined the place, n had a ride on a chun cable car. One funny thing happened there. I went to the toilet with my mom b4 leaving the place. When I came out from the cubicle, I saw this very cute Japanese guy in front of me! Yeaps… GUY!! He was like…shocked, n so was I! then he was like… oh! Sorry sorry! Then all I did was laugh n say its ok. My mom said it makes no difference if he used it cuz he looks like a girl in a way. Hahah…
Then we had lunch at a park in Tanunda. Had the best chicken wrap ever!!! Then another hour drive to Featherdale Wildlife Park. Ntg much to see actually… jz a few lazing kangaroos, sleeping koalas and other very slow moving animals… then we stopped by the Olympic stadium on our way back. Cool structure of the museum… they use solar energy there.
It was Thursday n apparently its late nite shopping time for the aussies. So I tot ‘good, get to see some shops open at nite!’ Mana tau… they were closing when we went to central plaza(the foot of Sydney tower) at 8.30pm… darn.. n we belum makan! All shops were closing d. so we had a quick bite in the Myer’s food court(which was also closing by then). Myer is like jaya jusco in msia(jz a little classier). After dinner, we walked thru Queen Victoria Building which was a really classy shopping mall with all the expensive Gucci n Prada shops all closed(not that I wanna buy stuff from those shops… jz that its so weird… all nicely closed at 9pm) and they call this late nite shopping! Tsk tsk…

4th day… wasn’t so much of an adventure. We packed up n left the hustle n bustle of Sydney, n flew to Adelaide in the afternoon. It was such a change… I mean, from the very bz city to this small little airport. Apparently that terminal is the old one, for domestic flights only, so abit ulu. The new one is for international flights which I jz went ydy to send my parents off. Its nice n all, but I didn’t quite pay attention to the building cuz I was feeling sad that I’ve to b away from my parents n sis for a long long time…

Anyways, sydney is a chun place. But its not for me. Maybe if I work there n hv a luxurious house, good income n nice car, then I dun mind. But if u ask me to start a family there or start living there with minimal cash for expenses.. no way. Its too much for me. Oh ya, another thing I noticed, is that cars here r super cheap! Really… I see nuns driving branded cars. And also the number plates here r cute. Saw num plates with –ribena-, -C Jesus-, -hottie-….its also something that can b done easily, not like the ones in msia with all the red tape n money to bribe those agents…

Well, that’s all for sydney tours. More to come for Adelaide adventures n experiences, hehe.

it's a beautiful day!

Ok, 2nd day in Sydney!

We had a half day city tour with uncle Sam. Started off with Bondai beach. nope, din see no naked ppl there… I think they hv this special area at the other end for naked ppl. then we saw this bunch of Japanese high skool students. The guys had clips on their hair!!! Weird… thats me in bondai beach-- the sand is further down...after the cars

Then to The Gap(beautiful gulf with a nice view of the horizon) then to Mrs Macquarie’s chair (a look-over to the harbour bridge and Sydney opera hse). Was so frustrated with my camera… didn’t work when we had nice shots to take, n it functioned so well when we were in the dull area… darn it!

We passed King’s Cross(the red light district), stopped at Syd opera hse. Peed at the clean public toilet, which by the way, all the public stuff r clean. The building was so unique, though we didn’t get to go in, I got to touch the white tiles that form the roof. Then we passed The Rocks area(where all the rich folks plant their territory).

We also walked to Darling Harbour, which has a nice walkway which is soooooo nice to stroll on. I tried the mcD vanilla icecream. Really, it was much milkier than the ones in msia. We had lunch in the hotel room(saved some money on Korean cup noodles), then we set off to the Sydney Aquarium(the largest in the southern hemisphere apparently). We had the VIP pass, so got to see this man feed the sharks! Awesome… (thats---> the man, feeding sharks)

For dinner, we had it with uncle Joe, who took us to East Ocean Restaurant in china town (felt like I was in Hong Kong when I got in there). We had roasted pigeon! And pippies (that’s wat aussies call lala’s). had a good chat with uncle Joe there. He told us he once had 9 bowls of rice when he was in msia! My dad saw it with his own eyes, eating those grains! He’s mad…

2nd day was getting much more interesting. Not like the 1st day which was all boring n tiring… blekh! Mom n dad kept complimenting how clean the streets were, how efficient the traffic was, how nice the weather was, how nice the building were…. Kept comparing it with msian stuff. Even now in Adelaide! They’re still doing that. I think maybe cuz there’s a lot of walking done here, so they hv a lot of chance to stroll, observe and compare.

Well, so much for now. Peace out~