Good Day =) Bad Day=( 25th March 2007

More than a month in Australia. Today can be considered the worst day =( While it may be a good news that Sydney is now just two hours ahead of Singapore, due to Daylight Saving issue, my handphone has chosen to turn its back on me on this particular day. Gone are my messages. Sigh. Gone are my photos. Sigh. Gone are my mp3 songs. Sigh. Gone is my act cute doremon ring tone. Sigh. All gone except the gain in an hour.

Swissotel Sydney- 24th March 2007

Perhaps the highlight for the week will be the Contact Singapore event at the Swissotel. I had this really homely feeling when I stepped into the hotel. It was so Singapore like, thus it was quite comforting. Maybe partly because it has some Singapore connection ( last time it was called Westin Stamford Hotel). WT was really excited when she requested to take a picture with a SQ gal at the lift lobby area. Apparently, all SIA crew memebers stay at either the Swissotel or Hilton when in Sydney. Singapore Airline is really loaded man=))). We were invited to this Brunching session with staff from the Royal Bank of Scotland ( except for one gatecrasher,oops=(() It was pretty enriching as they talked about their experiences at the bank and we talked about ours in Australia.I also had to watch my table manners and stuff. Was sort of uncomfortable, but I had no choice but to uphold the good name of my family. haha. But I felt quite honoured as they only invited 15 people to this session and we were treated to this International Buffet at the JPB Restaurant. The food was so like back home. I lovin it!!!!yum yum tom yum, tom and jerry. But I was brought down back to earth or maybe a few metres underground when I had this interview session with the MAS' HR manager. Initially I thought it was sort of an informal get together session, till he brought me to a coffee house or something and started the whole one-to-one sort of interview. I was like oh man, I did not prepare at all. But since I am already in it, I had no choice but to 'SMOKE" my way through it, something which I am quite good at.haha. They asked some really intensive questions and some testing questions which I feel I could have answered better. Damn!!But overall still not too bad. At least it was a good learning experience right? After the event, I could feel the blood rushing to my head. Impromptu too much. OKOK I will take the effort to prepare the next time round. We had this 'chilling' time at Macquarie Centre coupled with donuts as I do not want to go back and face Ah nei and his irritating CRICKET buddies. I wish the CRICKET World Cup will be cancelled due to whatever reason or something=((((

18th March 2007- Sydney Bridge's 75 th Anniversary

Sunday Morning=<>I accidentally stepped on a small birdy and it let out a sharp cry, with its unforgiving eyes focused on me. I was really guilty over the incident but what was done cannot be undone. Blame it on its mama for not building the nest properly, such that it dropped right in the middle of the pathway. Sorry bird!!!Rest in peace=((((. We took a bus to the city with the aim of walking through the Sydney Harbour Bridge, unregistered. Our enthusiasm paid off as the event officers had an off day and did not check us or anything. YEAH =))) Happy. But the happiness was short-lived as our fast tiring limbs and father toe, sister toe, baby toe all started to protest in pain. It was a tiring but yet meaningful experience, as how often do you get the chance to walk through a motorway? Cool Rite? I went to Padddy's Market to get my weekly groccery. There was this ugly scene whereby a customer and a shop owner were competing to see who has the greatest number of vulgular vocabulary in them. Apparantly the customer wanted to test press the kiwi fruits which were sold for $1 per basket. The shop owner was pissed, and end of story. Nothing much to look forward this coming week except for the weekend's recruitment talk by Royal Bank of Scotland @ Swisshotel, Sydney. Apparantly I was invited to it. Cool eh? Not regarding the talk but rather the food on offer. Oh man, mid term coming and it sux=(((

Greetings- 17th March 2007

Good Day. How u doing=)) To all the people in Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Soochow, USA, Toronto, Taiwan and blah blah blah. Hope everyone is doing fine, and you guys must take care k? I am slowly adapting to the culture of Australia. Afterall, I have already been here for more than a month. Nothing really exciting happened the last few days. Maybe I am reverting back to my nomadic lifestyle. Perhaps the highlight for the week will be tomorrow, whereby the Sydney Harbour Bridge will be celebrating her 75th anniversary. Antiej, WT and I will be joining the estimated 200,000 strong crowd to walk across the bridge. It will be a day full of celebration and fanfare. Something which cannot be missed. So see all of you soon. Oh yah, thanks WT for the clipper. Greatly appreciated and sort of unexpected, knowing your character. But don't worry, it is a good "investment" on your part. =)))

Ra Choi- Movies at Mac- 11th March 2007

Today is my first movie in Sydney. WT, Ann, Ann's friend and I went to catch a movie called Ra Choi. It is basically a film about the story of 4 street kids down on their luck, trying to make a living for themselves. It is an emotional journey where the strength and determination of the human spirit is often the only hope they have in their intertwined lives. It was a meaningful show, not because it won some dunno what AWGIE ( WT said it stands for Australian Weakest smt International smt, of course she is trying too hard to be corny) award for best film in 2005. But rather it depicts the lives of migrants and foreigners living in the so called multicultural Australia. There is the meaning of multiculturalism, national identity , shared values and alienation within society to be learnt from this film. There was also this mingle around session after the film where we talked cock with one of the actors in the film, as well as among ourselves. What a good respite from work=)))

MATHS 135/136- 8th March 2007

I think my Maths lecturer really loves me today. He was pratically mentioning my name to the entire class for the whole duration of the lecture. As he was teaching differential equations involving tangent, he continuously wrote down tan tan tan and more tan on the transparency. LoL. Not funny eh? Might as well since winter is approaching. I now really appreciate Miss Wong and Mr Tsang's guidance in A Maths back in my JC days. While the lecturers may be ok here in Australia, I feel that their tutors are quite crappy, especially those who recently graduated. Oh man, in today's tutorial, one tutor even had to consult one ah thiong student to help him solve the question. Buai3 pai2 seh3 eh=((((((( Looks like I have to put in extra effort to pass these 2 subjects. All right, ranking of Maths Standard: 1. China 2. Hong Kong 3. Singapore 4. Australia. Diao=~

Reflection- 6th March 2007

I am finally on track with regards to the blogging dates. It was tiring having to switch from past tense to present tense in the earlier blog entries. Sorry to all that my blog is like mini Geography essays, all words and no picture. I promise to upload them asap k. Cos apparantly my landlord only allowed me to use 1 GB of internet ( that is so stingy). Quite a sad day because Da-wool had left for Korea earlier in the day. I will miss this good friend of mine for a long time. If you are reading this post, I wish you all the best, perhaps meet you in Singapore soon. Called back home today after a 18 days spell. It was cool to find out that people back home are doing fine. I felt the warmth of my family. I guess it is only when you are away from home, that you will have this feeling, at least for me.

Blue Mountain-4th March 2007

Today, Da-Wool , me and WT (after much persuasion) went to the Blue Mountain to see the famed Three Sisiters. It was a tiring day as Da-Wool's cousin, Ann, called me while I was still in bed to bring her to the Blue Mountain. I manged to coax WT to come along even though she was still very exhausted from the previous night-out. We took a train to Strathfield and then a coach to Katoomba.I taught WT how to use the siva compass,just in case she were to ever get lost in Australia, during the journey. As stubborn as she always is (as in HSBC's case), she refused to believe that my navigation technique was correct) Damm=(((( The entire journey took us 3 hours and we were only there at 3 pm. Oh man, more than half the day gone and we had not even started. We stopped by a french pastery shop to get our packed lunch and then contiuned our walk to the Blue Mountain. We travelled on the railway which descended at an angle of 52 degrees. It was a cool experience as it was the steepest railway path in the world. We then travelled back by the skyway to have a top of the canopy view of the entire Blue Mountain surrounding. Gungho, as we always are ,we trekked for about 4 km before we reached the main 3 Sisters observation point. I was quite impressed by the stamina and determination of the gals. Never once were they complaining about the distance travelled. At the viewing platform, we met a Wales guy by the name of Freddie. He claimed that he knew Ryan Giggs in person. In my mind I was like saying that I know Bill Clinton. I think he is bullshitting. But other than that, he is quite a friendly chap, who is only 18 this year and is already travelling around the world on his own. Great change in the generation man. It started to pour, which is quite rare during summer in Sydney. Da-Wool found her favourite Korean Rice Cake at Blacktown. Seeing the elation on her face, one can tell that she really misses home. When we reached Epping Station, we found out that the last bus home was 1 hour before. Oh gosh, on the streets of Epping, u can see 3 pathetic umbrella carrying souls making their way back through the dark( apparantly the lamp posts were not functioning) and cold night.

Mardi Gras 2007- 3rd March 2007

Sydney Central was in buzzing mood on Saturday due to the Mardi Gras Parade. It was a mass gays and lesbiens gathering along the streets of Sydney. During the parade, you can see people engaging in out of this world act of mischief or rather naughty behaviour, definitely not for the conservatives. Maybe that was why it will never be allowed in Singapore. Da-Wood, a very charismatic South Korean lady, was hot favourite amongst the paraders. She was smooched on at least 5 occasions. To top it up, there was one instance whereby a lady stuck Da-Wood's head into her bare booty boobs.Luckily it did not happen to me, or I will definitely fail exams (TOUCH WOOD). Da-Wool was greatly embrassed by that encounter. Her face turned really red after that. Even the more open-minded ang mohs were left speechless for a moment or so. The parade carried on for about 2.5 hours. It was entertaining at first, but as the time went by, my fast tiring legs ruled over my mind, and the parade became boring. Diao. Maybe that is not my cup of tea, but rather my cup of Chinese medicine.

Add/ Drop Period - Week of 26th February

What more can I say? I will be taking 2 Maths Modules during my exchange stint. It is a real gamble as Maths is never my forte. But if i succeed, all will be smooth for me from then on.So what I can do now is PRAY. Thank you for all your blessings and remember to give THANKS.

Sydney Harbour- 25th February 2007

Siti was my tour guide for the day. First up was lunch at the famous Sydney Fish Market to savour the out of this world's FISH AND CHIPS. In the market, you can see all sort of fresh seafood such as lobster, prawns, oysters, squid, leng heh and blah blah blah. Much as I love to try all of them, I had to settle for just the seafood platter due to budget. But you can really see that Asians really know how to enjoy life there. Eating and chatting in a world of their own. Next up on the agenda was taking the ferry to tour the inner harbour and Manly Beach. Along the way, you can see the famed Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Bridge. There is also the Waston Bay area whereby the residential houses are over A$ 1 million at least. Oh man, when will I ever get to own one????? At Manly Beach, you can see people learning to surf and playing MARBLES. Oh my gosh. It is so primary school!!!! I bought some Australian souvenirs just in case people backhome say that I am heartless. haha. A big thank you to Siti. Even though she was damm tired from her thesis and readings, she still spent the entire day taking me to places she has gone countless times.

Eastwood- 24th February 2007

Today we went to Eastwood, in north-western Sydney, to get our groccery. Eastwood can be considered an Asian Heaven. You can practically find all sort of Chinese products there, and at very affordable prices too. I even managed to find our very own Singapore brand kaya on the shelf in one of the stores. It really reminded me of Home. I really had the sudden urge to be home to where I belong. Oh man, I terribly miss HOME. Sigh. The shopping experience really made me feel like an auntie. Carrying big and small bags around my shoulders. Am really greatful and appreciative to my mama for all she had done for me and the family. We had dinner at a Vietnamnese Restaurant. We ordered stir fried beef noodle and also a plate of broken combination rice ( what a weird name indeed). It was much much better than the one at NTU's Canteen 13. Wondering whether the auntie from Canteen 13 is really from Vietnam or rather from Cambodia.=$ The portion given was large and WT kept making me eat when I really could not take it any longer. Remembering my auntie's word of wisdom about wastage, I cleaned up the whole bowl much to my digestive system's dismay.

Night time visit to the City- 23rd February 2007

During the night we went to the city area, as there was a party organised specially for all international students at the Watershed Bar ( like our Zouk ). During the bus ride, the hot-blooded Americans were already having a party of their own. The scene was rowdy and messy. What was so funny was that instead of following the crowd to the Watershed Bar, WT and I were having our own photoshoot around Darling Harbour area. Long do we realize that we were already detached from the crowd.As such, we decided to venture on our own. First stop was the Star City Casino. The entrance guards were not very convinced that we were of legal age ( maybe we looked young, haha), but they later relented and let us in. It was lavishly decorated and many Asians were there to lose their $$$$$$ ( maybe it was the CNY period). I was like cummon, give your money to me if you do not want them. WT taught me how to play 21 points and stuff. We did not play at all but made a promise to come back just before we leave Sydney to play the 1 cent jackpot. After touring round the casino, we headed down the harbour shopping complex and made an attempt to find the Watershed Bar. We found it but decided against going in as it was packed like sardines and I can't find a single Asian soul. Now you know why I 'liked' the ang mohs so much?haha. Thus we sat at the corner of the bridge and chatted till it was time to catch the last bus home =)))

Orientation Day- 22st February 2007

Today, I finally get to meet Mr Wally, my Exchange Student Adviser at Macquarie. We had this orientation talk by a corny Australian guy whom I think is a student leader. He was practically telling jokes and bringing down the Americans all the time. Oh man. He is trying to outwit me with cold jokes in Australia when it is Summer time. I also get to meet my NTU counterpart whom I will name WT, for the first time, during the BBQ lunch session. Yah, real BBQ under the hotty hot hot summer sun. Retarded man! To say it frankly, I did not really have a good impression of WT prior to the meet up (oops. I hope WT will never encounter my blog). But like I always say, msn and sms and email are so deceiving. I prefer the human contact definitely. So Flora and Rou xin, maybe I was wrong about her. And I am glad my impression of her changed for the better after meeting her. She is not that "dao1" afterall. haha. see how it goes eh, maybe I will HATE her again. lol.

Countrylink to Sydney- 19th February 2007

Upon the request of Sit, I booked my train ride to Sydney on the 19th. It was to be a gruelling 12 hours ride sitting at the same corner. My backside really hurts. Gosh, why am I torturing myself by going on an exchange?Luckily for me, my seat buddy was a very friendly South Korean guy by the name of Choi, who was on his summer school holiday trip.Together with his typical SK mi1 mi1 yan3, we talked about our countries and culture. The journey was less boring and more bearable as a result. We exchanged contacts and oh man, since then I have yet to contact him. Oops! Siti was already at Sydney Central Station waiting for me patiently even thought the ride was delayed for over an hour or so. That is what friends are for , I guess. I parked my luggage as her place as apparantly my landlord who is an ah _ _ _ , will not be home till evening time. We had breakfast at Cougee or Congee Beach and later went to UNSW to have a look see look see. Nothing special, just a normal university. Chey!!

HAPPY CHEENA NEW YEAR- 17th February 2007

Gong Xi Fa Cai. Please bank all my ang paos into my OCBC account number as follows....... haha. Kidding. Yah this is the first day of the lunar new year. Quite tired still, as the previous night, I had to help me auntie clean her "fo2 tang1" and also have to stay up late for the sake of our parents. During the past week or so, I had to follow my auntie's diet and go vegetarian. Oh man, I sort of miss meat, but when I tasted meat again, I almost puked. Not sure why. That night, we went to a friend's house for CNY dinner. Guess what. The table was full of vegetarian food. Some of them were quite delectable, while others can be greatly improved. I chatted with an Australian Scientist, even though half the time i was not sure what he was talking about, as he was talking about physics and stuff.

Melbourne International Airport- 14th February 2007

After the 7.25 hours flight, I am finally in Melbourne. The custom clearance was a big nightmare for me! Gone were the days whereby we go past either the Green or Red Zones to make declaration for whatever nonsense we bring into Australia. Now they have those high tech X-ray machines to scan through every finer detail of your luggage and stuff. So no point wearing Australian colours or tucked in checkered shirt to smoke your way through.I was made to open up my 25 kg luggage as apparantly I had under-declared my American Ginseng. Well, those ang mohs custom officers gave me a verbal warning ( Thank goodness as the fine can be at least A$200, considering my shoe-string budget) . Guess what, they even wished me HAPPY BIRTHDAY. They are not so bad afterall=) Yah rite, my foot!! That is my early birthday present for the day. Great way to start, isn't it?

At the Airport 13rd Feb 2007

My mind was full of mixed emotions during the car journey to the airport. I had that sudden desire not to go for the exchange anymore. I could not bear to leave my family and friends back in Singapore. Alright, maybe it is because I am facing the prospect of doing everything on my own and that sux big time. Independent lifestyle indeed!! Dinner was a torture at the airport. It could be due to the fact that I have no appetite at all. Beyond the departure gate, I was all on my own. FREEDOM!!!! or maybe Pirated Freedom? The answer will be revealed when I return in July.haha

Day of Departure- 13rd February 2007 14 00hr

Well done, it is about 6 hours before my flight to Koala Land and I have yet to finish packing all my stuff. Apparantly my luggage seems to be over 20 kg. It is all that stupid Ah _ _ _ from STA travel ( if you all know me well enough, you should be able to guess what those 3 letters are). Yah, I think he cheated me of 10 kg baggage. I had to even carry my heavy luggage to the gym's weighing machine to have a check of the existing weight. How pathetic! =( I would not be in such a sorry state if I had 30kg instead. Well, there is nothing I can do about it but to suck thumb and squeeze in whatever I can.