what man can dream is what man can achieve

What's with Facebook?

2010-07-06T13:39:00.002+08:00

Natalie>Chris: Chris !!! I’m glad that I got to bond with you and the rest!

As I scrolled down on my Facebook homepage, the post above caught my eye. I stopped scrolling for a second to look at it more closely. When I saw that there are 7 comments on it, I swiftly mouse over on the ‘View all 7 comments’ link and clicked it.

Chris : YEAH! We should do that more often!

Alex: What a fun bonding night! And the part where Natalie screams was so funny!! Haha!

After the second comment, I looked away immediately with disgust. Why they didn’t call me to go along together? Why don’t I belong to a group of friends? Am I not your friend? ARGH!!!!

With anger I scrolled down further, ignoring all those posts that are related to Facebook games and photos. I can’t help but to wonder why some people love to post something that are not important and to me it’s just all about seeking attention. One post reflects this:

Diana: I may be old fashioned, waiting for the right guy with flowers to come instead of approaching men but who cares?

To me this is a statement that shows the desperateness of a girl trying to sell everyone the ultimate reason why she is still single. Bullshit. Trying to prove myself that this girl is definitely desperate, I clicked on her profile to look at her previous wall posts. And true enough below are some wall posts that she wrote:

Diana: To make a guy smile any woman can do that, but to make a woman smile only THE RIGHT ONE can do that.

Diana: When I don’t talk, call or text you doesn’t mean I don’t think about you.

Diana: Bitch! The next time you wanna accuse someone a boyfriend stealer, PLEASE look at yourself and ask your STUPID boyfriend why he flirted with me first!

I just don’t get it. What’s the purpose of FACEBOOK anyway? Is it a place where you promote yourself and to gain sympathy? Why do people keep updating their wall post with silly stuffs? Sometimes I really wonder whether Facebook is still the social networking website where you keep in touch with friends without those annoying Facebook games and adverts.

Oh. Talking about friends, I clicked on ‘Profile’ and move the mouse cursor on top of the ‘See all friends’ link. I didn’t clicked on it straight away but my eyes lingered on the number that is shown beside the link. 671. 671 Facebook friends. That is a big number don’t you think? And it’s a big number of lies. Numbers that merely shows how many people I know, seen before, heard of, talk to and even those that I didn’t know. In reality, there are not many of whom I can really call friends.

With doubts on my mind trying to figure out what friends really mean I checked the dictionary that was pre-installed on my laptop;

Friend:

Noun

1. A person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations. –used in polite address to an acquaintance or stranger

2. A familiar or helpful thing.

3. A person who supports a particular cause or organization

4. (in battle) an ally

5. A member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.

Why do you address an acquaintance or a stranger as a friend? Hmmm this is so weird. And so I checked the dictionary again for both the word acquaintance and stranger;

Acquaintance:

Noun

1. The fact or state or being acquainted.

2. A person one knows slightly.

Stranger:

Noun

1. A person whom one does not know –a person who does not know, or is not known in, a particular place.

2. (stranger to) a person entirely unaccustomed to (a feeling, experience, or situation).

3. A person who is not a member of the House of Commons.

Both of these words are not even close in meaning to a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. Then why do I still have 671 so called friends on FACEBOOK? In fact, there are some “friends” that I am not in talking terms but are still on my friends list. Honestly, I don’t know what to do now? Do I remove them from my friends list or to block them from viewing my profile but still keeping them on my friends list? Or do I shut my Facebook account forever?

Being on Facebook really makes me think a lot. Questions like why do I even have a Facebook account? Why do people want to be on Facebook but then restrict anyone from viewing their profile? Apart from that, why there are some that put false information on their profile. Now concerning on profile information, why do some people exploit all these for their own benefits? Why some people waste their time so much on Facebook? What’s with Facebook anyway?

All these questions make my mind go crazy!! It’s as if I am trying to answer the question: who came first? The egg or the chicken?

Tired from figuring the answers to my questions I logged out from Facebook and shut my laptop down. Then, I off the lights and tucked myself underneath the warm blanket and close my eyes.

***********************3 days later*****************************

I logged into my Facebook account and as usual scroll down on my homepage to see recent updates of my “friends”.

Chris>Natalie: hey Natalie! You free this weekend? Let’s call the gang out together and have another awesome bonding night!! :P

Diane: there are only 3 things I love most : myself, myself and MYSELF! If you can’t accept it then please go to hell!

Alex: oh what a good game by the Germans tonight! With that unexpectedly good control of the game they brought England down 4 nail. GOOD job!

Looking at those wall posts I can’t help but to smile. To smile at the bonding of friends. To smile for the silly desperate girl. To smile at how a guy reports on a football match on Facebook as if he is the official broadcaster.

I can’t stop smiling. I have been thinking a lot for the past three days and now I know what I should do. I clicked on “My Profile” and mouse the cursor over the “view all friends” link and clicked on it. Then I opened each and every single friend’s profile that I have on a new tab. All 671 of them. Today is going to be a very long day I told myself as I start to type: “Hey you! It’s been awhile now! How are you? How’s life going on? Keep in touch ya! :D” on Alex’s wall which happened to be the first on my friends list. And I was still smiling.

***************************************************************

This story above is only a fiction.

Tired

2010-07-03T09:38:00.002+08:00

Sorry for not updating for the past few days. I've been busy. Went out with my friends around the city ,sightseeing and enjoyed each others company. It's like we were out the whole day and when I finally get home I am tired thus to the bed I go and doze off.

Been spending quite a lot lately and as I foresee it I will spend more in the coming weeks. But I'll just go with the flow and probably save more when the semester starts.

Today I'm supposed to go out with my friends again but then I don't feel like going out everyday and have less time to do my own things. Plus I am tired of walking. So I'm going to skip this day and try to accomplish few things.
1. Reformat my laptop
2. Play guitar
3. Head off to gym
4. Study some Japanese

I really have lots to do in so little time. Haha. Stress. Anyway till here then and my stomach is grumbling because I haven't fed him. Gotta go and make something to eat now!

Sore ja!

G-Y-M

2010-06-28T17:57:00.003+08:00

Today has been a productive day as well I suppose. Woke up quite early today since I slept at p.m. yesterday night. Haha. Anyway today I met up with Ming Chai and brought him to buy his own first guitar. YEAH FIRST OWN GUITAR! He wanted to learn for a very long time already and today his dream came true :D He bought one which cost A$250 together with the bag. I bought a bag too for A$15 as I don't want to wait till next week.Then we went back to his house where I taught him some basic stuff. Went back home today and guess what happened after that? I managed to accomplish my other desires for the holidays apart from getting a guitar.

I WENT TO THE GYM!

Yes you heard me right, I went to the gym today with my roommate, Ah Beng. I paid A$70 for the one month pass. Just for this holiday and if things go well I might continue it. Gosh I am so tired now, I didn't do much but seriously I am so freaking tired. After writing this I will probably off to sleep . I have to go to the gym tomorrow morning at 11 for an appointment with the gym staff to create a suitable work out program for me.

Some of my friends from Sydney will be coming down tomorrow. Guess more outings and trips to the city starting tomorrow :D Cant wait to spend more money!! LOL that was sarcasm.

Oh and I bought vitamin C and B complex as well. I think I do need them since I always feel weak and my coughing still doesn't heal yet.

Anyway till here then folks!!
Mata ne!
As you can see I am updating on events ( stuff I did today rather than pouring my heart out). Well I'm tired now so maybe next time.

Happy day and my new guitar!

2010-06-28T06:59:00.005+08:00

Yesterday was one of the happiest day in my life. I met up with 2 of my friends ; Jia Xian and Boon Kent. Jia Xian came all the way from Tasmania with his friends and Boon Kent lives in Melbourne but he studies in Monash Uni which is kinda far away from the city. But we met up and had a great time together plus i did a random thing yesterday.

So I met up with Jia Xian around 10 and then we walked around the city a bit , stopped a while and have hot chocolate while waiting for Boon Kent to come. When he arrived, the three of us went to Lygon Street for lunch. We ate in a Thai restaurant and I really love the green curry. I think I have a thing for green curry now. Next stop we went to the famous Freddo's which sells gelato ( Italian ice cream). And after our lunch, we headed back to the city and wandered around.

Then i mentioned that I will be buying a guitar soon and Boon Kent suggested to me why don't we go to a guitar shop and just look through the guitars. And so we went. I looked around and it was quite a big store , lots of guitars in it. But I was a little shocked because it was quite pricey. The good ones I mean. So i went to the counter and asked for a little assistance on which guitar should I choose . The salesperson asked me wats my budget i said around A$500 and he showed me a Yamaha one. I personally don't like it that much and I asked him what if i increase my budget to say around A$700 ? And he brought this beautiful baby Maton acoustic guitar. I love it. It sounded better than the Yamaha one and it is an Australian timber handmade. I love the feel of the timber. It just feel good. and the next thing I know I'm at the counter paying for this guitar. So random right? They had a sale anyway yesterday and it was the last day so I told myself why not? The guitar price was originally A$799 but after the discount I got it for A$740 plus the capo. Apparently the one I bought was the last one because a lot of people bought this brand. And they ran out of guitar bags as well. Well I just need to buy one next week then. But I am so happy that I bought it.

Anyway after I bought the guitar we went to have something light to eat. After that I decided to put my guitar at home while my friends stayed in the city. When I reached home I was pretty tired and so reluctantly I called my friends and told them that I can't join them for dinner. I felt bad but I was really tired. Weak.

Anyhow I did enjoy my day yesterday and I have accomplished one of my desires for this holiday which is to buy a guitar. But that leaves me penniless to accomplish my other desires T.T well let's see how it goes. I probably not be going to gym after all.

Maton brand Acoustic guitar

She is so fine.

Ain't she pretty?Awww

My capo

Anyway till here then. I'll try to make this a productive day as well :D See ya!

Exams done, now what?

2010-06-26T23:48:00.004+08:00

Hi guys! I'm back and I am free from my exams!! YEAY! I wouldn't say that for the past one month I have been studying very hard for my exams. Been slacking around a lot and after the exams I go "Damn, I could do better in those exams".Everyone would say that too don't you think? Well i don't want to keep on talking what has already been done. Let bygones be bygones yeah?

Before this I have been wanting this freedom from exams so much, anticipating joy and happiness but now those feelings are not materializing, not to the extent that I hoped for that is. I wonder why? I have 3 weeks holidays and there are so many things I want to do in a short time. Typical me. I've always wanting to do or have so much but in the end nothing get's done. I'm just greedy!

You want to know what plans I have for my holidays? Well I want to buy a guitar and let my fingers run wild strumming the strings producing sounds that are melodic to me ( maybe not to you and I don't care :D). I plan to go to the gym and some dancing classes as well to get fit and make my body flexible. I haven't been exercising properly after I gave up basketball. Apparently, my leg muscles are still weak, well, my whole body feel weak and I freaking don't like the feeling of being weak. Hopefully i will have the strength and willpower to accomplish this. Okay next on my list is to learn more on Photoshop and web design. I've been wanting to learn all these like ages ago and I never really get the time to learn properly and improve. I always blame that there is not enough time. I realize that but WHY? Why do I say that? Beats me. Then I want to go and explore Melbourne also, probably with some friends. That would be nice. You know , there is definitely something wrong with me. Definitely. I've been here like close to 5 months already and I haven't really been around much. Compared to my friends, they have been and explore to many places, know stuffs more than I do about Melbourne ,nice places to go and eat and stuff but ME? I'm still stuck in this city where every day that comes seems to be the first day that I stepped on this land : a foreign tourist. LOST AND DUMB. Oh and believe it or not I also want to cook. Yeah , cooking. I want to eat nice stuff as well T.T My diet foe the whole time I'm here has not been great I admit and it might have affected me in a way. Probably coupled with the effect of not exercising, these two might be the reason to why my body feel weak. Apart from those mentioned above, I would also want to study more on Japanese and watch,listen or read anything related to Japan like J-Drama , J-Pop and Anime. I think I have lots more to list down but then I wouldn't want to bore you reading this so let's move on.

As you can see so much I want to do in a short period of time. I doubt I would be able to do them all. Maybe some or maybe just one or two. No one knows.

I realized that whenever I am blogging, 99% of the time my posts will all be on events that I have been and rarely on how I feel. Normally, people blog about their feelings and pour their heart out as if the blog is diary. Well there are many kinds of blogs out there and deals with different areas such as food, politics , sports, tutorials and a lot more. So blogging does not necessarily have to be the medium to express oneself. OKAY, now you are lost with what I'm trying to put forth. Funny, because I think I am lost as well. Haha. I don't know how to put it but I just wonder why I don't express myself in my blog? Why only events? As I ponder on it longer I came with lots of theories. Probably I recorded more events on the blog because I know I would forget them someday and so this blog acts as a safe that keep hold of all my memories. Well, not all actually as I have not put up other events that have happened in my life and I regret it now. There are some that I just couldn't post it up or some that I find is not worthy of posting. Now I know that every little things count. The reason why I don't express myself out may be because that I'm not that kind of person who expresses himself out? As a person, I think I keep things to myself most of the times. I don't tell much stuff to my mom even when I was a kid. I wonder why too? Do I regret not sharing? HELL YEAH! But then, maybe this is who I am and I want to change it. Besides, I might be afraid of hurting others in my posts or afraid that others will know and stuff. It's complicated and I'm trying to express myself now. Believe me this is a hard feat for myself.

I have lots more to tell , share and complain and trust me I can go on and on without stopping.
I want to go on but I think that's enough for today. Cheers!
I want to be a better person.

Mei Ling's Birthday!

2010-06-14T21:02:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday I went out with a bunch of people to celebrate Mei Ling's birthday. There were all together 5 of us; me, Michael, Chang Yuan, Mei Ling and Mei. All of us are the members of the Melbourne University Japanese Club. All of us met up around 7 and we went to a place where a bar is on the rooftop. It was a really nice place, good use of rooftop space.

The atmosphere on the rooftop

We ate pizzas...lots of pizzas haha

After dinner photoshoot! From left: Mei Ling, me and Chang Yuan.

Another photoshoot. From left : Mei, Chang Yuan, Michael and Mei Ling.

Some random photo.

So after dinner it was like 15 minutes to 9 p.m. and we were wondering what to do. Suddenly some one shouted " KARAOKE!!!" and everyone agreed. So we went to the famous K-Box in the city and was disappointed to find out that the price was $250 for a room, which means $50 per person. So freaking expensive. Disappointed but still have the desire to sing we went to China town to search for cheap karaoke place and we found one : $15 per person.

The China Town big sign.

In the karaoke room, Mei Ling and Mei.

Mei and me.

But then we were again disappointed when we found out that only old songs were available after we paid. But then we still sang anyway. Michael and Chang Yuan sang old Japanese songs and me who don't know anything sang English classics haha. But we had fun anyway. The next time I am going to karaoke I will go to K box but only on days that are cheap. :D

Came back home around midnight because Chang Yuan wanted to watch the World Cup. I don't watch football sorry.

Anyway till here then.

Should I go to the gym?

Grasp your English well, mate!

2010-06-12T01:28:00.003+08:00

Suddenly I have the urge to blog and it's like 3.30 a.m. in the morning. I've been reading ; not only my lectures but on other articles and blogs as well. Most of them dwells on Photoshop and photography. I still have a keen interest for them and will pursue it further given the time and materials. Besides, I have been reading some of my friend's blog and I particularly liked posts that are posted by Nadira Jeannot. Her grasp on the English language never fail to amaze and inspire me. I have to admit that my English level is not that high, really. In fact it has been deteriorating like how business sales that are plummeting towards the zero sales is illustrated in a graph. See, I can't even provide a more accurate and understandable analogy. Pathetic.

But, I'm not going to kill myself because of this. I mean, there are always rooms for improvements right? So, might as well take this as an inspiration to write and converse better in English. Heck, I'm in an English speaking country and I should be on par with the natives.

Grasping English.

My photo manipulation skills sucks. This picture is definitely amateurish even to a person who does not know what photography or photoshop is about.

Anyway, I'm sleepy now. Till here then!!!

Cough Cough go away!

2010-06-09T17:28:00.006+08:00

Hey folks! I'm back but I'm back with a sickness! I have been coughing so bad for these past few days that throat is sore. Besides, I can't sleep properly at night because I will be coughing like nobody business at night. Not only my room is dusty it is also stuffy, especially when the heater is on. Why is it stuffy when the heater is on , I hear you ask?

Well it has something to do with convection. When the heater heats up the air in the room,this causes the hot air to rise and cold air to fall. This proves to be a problem to me when I am sleeping on the upper part of the bunker. It is so annoying when I am sleeping and I am forced to wake up suddenly in the night with my stuffed and blocked nose.

Perhaps it's time to find a new decent place to live in. I have thought about this for some time already but I just couldn't find any cheap places yet. Accommodation in Melbourne, well it's everywhere in the world actually, is fairly expensive. See how it goes.

Been doing Latin dancing for a while now and I am selected to perform during production. This is good news although I still suck at it. But I didn't managed to get in to the modern dance piece. Sad. I was hoping to get into that one really.

Just before the semester end, I attended a 飲み会(nomikai) which is a just like a hang out party before exam and I met few new friends there which I shall mention here so that I will not forget : Blythe, Jun Xing and Clarinna. There were few more guys that I have met but after the party we never talk again except for the three names I've mentioned. It's nice to meet new and interesting people.

Oh and I have a desire to go to JAPAN!! Maybe next year during winter holidays!!!ARGH money money money! But I will go there one day!

I had my Japanese exam last Tuesday and it was pretty easy. I love Japanese. Lots more to learn to be fluent. I have 2 more exams on the 24th and 25th and should start studying now.
I've been relaxing too much now I think.

Besides that, I have been chatting to a good friend, Siew Mei and currently is going through a change of phase in her life and I want to let not only her know but everyone else who is reading this that life is all about going through inevitable stages or phases. A piece of advice, just remember to buckle up and wear your helmet as you drive ahead!!!

That's all for now! Cheers! And below is an ugly picture of mine!! LOL!

exams coming

2010-05-25T09:31:00.003+08:00

HI folks!
Exams in next month and i havent started studying yet. i have one more last assignment and then can study d yeah!!! oh ya today i am having another speaking test. this one will be harder, i speak out whatever script that i have memorised and there will be a Q and A session with sensee. so yeah.
btw, for the last speaking test i got full marks. :D well its just memorising only.
anyway till here then!
oh ya i love dancing!!!!!!!

Lemon Cheese Cake recipe

2010-05-03T18:23:00.009+08:00

I'm back for another update! Yeay! In my few last posts I did mentioned that I baked a lemon cheesecake with my housemates right? So this post is basically about the BAKE A CHEESE CAKE DAY! XD

Firstly, we searched for the recipe in the internet and came to a website : Baked Lemon Cheesecake form www.bestrecipes.com.au. You guys can check it out as well but below are the ingredients and the method of baking the lemon cheesecake.

******************

INGREDIENTS

250 g plain sweet biscuit crumbs
125 g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup of caster sugar
3 x 250 g packets cream cheese, softened
3 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 of cup of lemon juice

METHOD

1. Lightly grease a 22 cm spring form tin.
2. Combine biscuits and butter in a bowl.
3. Using a glass, press crumb mixture evenly over base and side of tin.
4. Refrigerate biscuit crust for an hour.
5. Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until pale and thick.
6. Add cheese, rind and lemon juice. Beat until mixture is smooth and creamy.
7. Pour mixture into a prepared tin and bake in moderate oven for about 45 minutes.
8. Cool in oven with door ajar, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
9. Decorate with cream or strawberries if desired.

RECIPE NOTES

Beating the eggs and cheese can take a very long time - sometimes 10 minutes or more. Please be patient, as the mixture become more pale, the lighter textured the cheesecake will be. The low fat variety of cheesecake works equally well with no loss of flavour. I bake the cheesecake at 160C in a non fan- forced electric oven.

***************

Well there you have it ; the recipe and the method. You guys must try it out!!!!
Anyway below are pictures that we took during the baking process. I'm sharing the fun with you guys!

Me and Michael . Michael was beating the biscuits in a plastic bag. All the ingredients were on the table.

This is Michael and Alice. A lovely couple from England. They are traveling in Australia and will leave soon in July.

"I'm gonna crush you all biscuits!", shouts Michael.

Alice was beating the egg.

ARGHHHHHH!!!

Michael then transferred some biscuits to me to be further crushed. It's like working in a factory haha because of the labour division.

Me crushing the biscuits further.

Then I added melted butter in eat and mix them both together.

The biscuit crust. It was refrigerate for an hour as instructed.

The leftover biscuit crumbs.

In the mean time, Michael is grating the lemon for the rind.

Alice was lixing the butter, caster sugar and cream cheese with the electric mixer. We took turns to mix it.

An hour later it was time to pour the mixture on the crust.

I also want to pour!!!!

" Hey, what about me? " asked Alice. And so we let her pour as well XD haha

The cheesecake then was put into the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes and left for cooling, it was then refrigerate overnight.

The final product. Beautiful ain't it? XD

Well that's all for now. Till next time then!
Ja, mata!

I'm the BEST!

2010-04-21T22:20:00.008+08:00

This picture was taken during the Night Market last month where there is a booth that take free pictures of you and I just received mine two days ago. I would say it's a very good picture. I like it! There were blackboards available to write things down and I don't really know what to write so my hands just scribbled : " I'm the BEST!". Haha lame right but yeah that's what I did.

Photography is so amazing.
I'm impressed how beautiful this picture came out.

Anyway....
Last Tuesday I had a Japanese speaking test where I have to introduce myself to the examiner for about 1 minute. My introduction lasts less than 1 minute I think! Anyway below are my script that I prepared earlier and memorized it.

こんにちわ、先生。
Konnichiwa, sensei.
Good afternoon, teacher.

じこしょうかいさせていただきます。
Jikoshookai sasete itadakimasu.
Allow me to introduce myself.

私の名前はダニエルです。
Watashi no namae wa danieru desu.
My name is Daniel.

マレエーシア人です。
Mareeshia-jin desu.
I'm Malaysian.

しゅうしんはイポです。
Shussin wa ipo desu.
My hometown is in Ipoh.

２０さいです。
Hatachi desu.
I'm 20 years old.

８月に生まれでした。
Hachi gatsu ni umare deshita.
I was born in August.

学生です。
Gakusei desu.
I'm a student.

メルボルン大学の１年生です。
Meruborun daigaku no ichi nen sei desu.
I'm a first year in Melbourne university.

せんこうはけんちく学です。
Senkou wa kenchikugaku desu.
My course is architecture.

いま、日本語とけんちく学のクラスをとっています。
Ima, nihongo to kenchikugaku no kurasu o totte imasu.
Currently, I am taking Japanese language and architecture classes.

そして、英語と少し日本語を話します。
Soshite, eigo to sukoshi nihongo o hanashimasu.
And then, I can speak English and a little bit of japanese.

どうぞよろしく。
Doozo yoroshiku.
Pleased to meet you.

Well that's basically about it. Just a short update. Currently is being bombarded with lots of assignments, but I'll manage.

Last weekend I helped out to be a volunteer for a sports event. I became a linesman for tennis and the score keeper for basketball. Woke up at 4 am because have to reach there by 7 and the journey to that port complex is like 1 hour away from my place. I've witnessed a basketball player broke his arm on the court and some others injured as well. It's gross to look at the broken arm but that's the fact when you are playing sports. Injury happens when you want to win.

Well till here then.
Ja ne!

Japanese Club Dinner 2

2010-04-09T16:44:00.005+08:00

Well, here are some pictures i grabbed in Facebook from my friend's profile. Her pictures quality is definitely better than my Iphone. Enjoy!

This is the entree :D

Yakitori..haha finally i can post it up

Vegetables tenpura

Main course : salmon steak

Dessert : chocolate cake

Me, Jordyn and Mei

Great people at my table, Jordyn's face was blocked by Mei's

A group photo in POLAROID! haha courtesy of Mei Ling, the girl in green shirt.
She kept it , scanned it and posted it on Facebook.

Japanese Club dinner!

2010-04-08T20:55:00.002+08:00

So I went to the dinner today and it was awesome! Again, I did not take a lot of photos mainly for one reason : I was busy chatting with my newly made friends and I totally almost forgot to take pictures. But I did took some.

This is how the interior looks like. Small but cosy.

This is the entree .

This is the main course, salmon steak. Before the main course, I had Yakitori and vegetable tenpura but I totally forgot to take pictures. Well....

This is the dessert. Chocolate cake. Yummy!

My new made friends, Jordyn a local and Mei from Japan.

Well honestly, After eating all that I am still hungry. Haha.
But then what makes this dinner an awesome one is I get to met new people and socialize. I realized tonight that I really love talking and meeting new people. To talk with someone and meeting new people just brightens up my day and my life actually.
So, I am looking forward to make as many friends as I can when I'm here.
Wish me luck!!!

I guess till here now. Sorry lack of photos.

Cheers!

Happy Easter

2010-04-02T20:43:00.006+08:00

Hey guys!! I’m back for another update. I know I know it’s been like a month and a half or so I’m in Melbourne but I was so busy with assignments and uni stuffs. I didn’t even have the time go sight seeing and taking pictures.

Well, since I have a week off due to Easter probably I might take some pictures :D I planned to catch up with my studies as well. For the past few weeks, I have concentrated more on some and neglected the rest so yeah gotta catch up!!!

Anyway my life here is basically OK. I mean everyday is almost the same routine : wake up, breakfast, go uni , lunch, lectures end in the evening, go home, basketball, dinner, online, study a bit, assignment, sleep and the cycles go on. Not so interesting huh?

Well last 2 weeks there was a Night Market in my Uni. Basically it’s where most of the clubs opened stalls and sell foods just like pasar malam. There were performances as well. I just took a few pictures only but yeah you can get the idea.

Oh ya! Did I mention before that Melbourne is full of ASIANS people? LOL

Recently, which was last Wednesday, I sprained my precious knee again playing basketball. I am so pissed. I have been playing for a few weeks already and was in a team to play in a basketball competition which will begin next 2 weeks and everything was fine. Seriously, my knee were stronger than the last time I sprained my knee and I thought by continuing playing I could strengthen it more. However, I get surprises all the time when I least expects it, especially when I am going to play in a competition. The last time I sprained was also before an inter-college competition that I was supposed to play. Argh!!!!

Fine! Anyway I went to seek medical help and I got a reservation on Thursday to see the doctor. In Australia, you have to book your time even when you want to see a doctor and I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or not.

Today, I went to Nioka Bush Camp in South Morang which is around 25km away from the city up north. I went there with my group mates from my Natural Environments subjects to do a detailed site visit which was to take soil samples, observe vegetation that grows, water sample and stuffs like that. It was fun plus the scenery was beautiful because it’s a park and is in the suburb. Mandy prepared a light lunch for the group and we had a small picnic there before we went home. I am happy to be able to have a picnic under the trees.

This coming Thursday night I will have dinner at a Japanese restaurant that is organized by the Japanese Club. Well the dinner basically encompasses a starter, entrée, main course and dessert all cost $40. It’s kinda expensive but why not once in a while and I get the chance to hang out a little bit. Probably going to take some pictures and upload it here :D

Well I guess till here then. Take care!

Playing with wooden blocks! So fun!

2010-03-14T13:08:00.005+08:00

Last friday I get to play with wooden blocks. Just like Lego. We were required to build a shelter for an elephant which is a balloon. I had so much fun during that tutorial session. But the sad thing is we need to make a poster about the structure that we made. I roughly did the poster but it looks very plain. Below are some pictures of the shelter my group made.

click on the poster for larger view

Life is so busy now with heaps of assignments to do. A lot to read as well.
Argh!!!! but I think i can manage.
Anyway just a little update. Gotta continue my work.

Ja, mata!

HAILSTORM IN MELBOURNE!!!!

2010-03-06T12:18:00.004+08:00

Today I went to my first dancing class and it was good. The studio was quite far from my place and I need to took a tram there. It's a half an hour ride or so. The studio was enormous and a lot of people turned up as well. However, they were mostly girls. The ratio of guys to girls I would say is 10 to 1??? LOL.

Anyway, after my class ended I waited for the tram to go back home and the weather was cloudy and windy. It was going to rain soon. Ten minutes later, I hopped on the tram and sat down. Few minutes later I heard a thundering sound hitting the tram. And I saw small white balls gushing down from the sky. It took me a few seconds later to realize that it was raining but not any kind of rain, IT WAS FREAKING ICE! The ice falls slowly at first but getting heavier and heavier. Ices were hitting against the tram windows that I was afraid it might just break any minute.

I was in awe. It was my first time experiencing this. The rain was so heavy that flood occurs in the city. I attempted to take pictures but as I was in the tram, the pictures I took turn out not so nice and blur due to the fog. Oh ya, I forgot to mention that the visibility rate was totally zero. It was so heavy that you can't see anything ahead.

This is what I took from the tram. The nicest among all. Can you see the small white ices on the road?

And here a picture i grabbed from facebook. Someone posted it up and hell yeah, from this picture alone you can understand what I meant right? It's like 2012.

Oh by the way, the correct term I should use is hail storm. I am so amazed!!!!!!
Anyway till here then!
Ice age is coming folks! Be ready!

Tropfest festival

2010-02-28T11:16:00.009+08:00

Last Sunday, me and Ginger were lucky to be able to watch Tropfest Festival at Federation Square. It is a short film festival where each film must be less than 7 minutes. There are altogether 16 awesome and beautifully done short film that were displayed. I truly enjoyed myself there despite the fact that I was almost freeze to death as the weather was cold plus strong cold gush of wind. Me and Ginger did not brought along our jackets as we thought i would be very hot and we also though that the event starts at 5.30 p.m. but it only starts at 7.30 p.m.

however, when we arrived there were already a lot of people sitting and "baking" themselves under the sun and I would assume that the reason they did that was to get a good seat. It's an open air/ outdoor thingy you know? But we managed to stay alive until 10 p.m.

Below are some pictures that were taken that day. Be warned that there are not many pictures though.

Antic tram

As we walked towards Federation Square we passed by this huge building. not sure whether it's a cathedral or something but it's beautiful.

Castle-like

Notice the variation of architecture style in this street? There are old and new ones.

A building on Federation Square

And this was the big television that we watched the short films with.

As I mentioned earlier, we were there early so we went for a stroll around the area. Before the short film festival started, there was a sustainability and environmental fair at Federation Square. All stalls and booths were closing up when we arrived.

I saw this lovely and beautiful scarecrows on display

Thsi is the famous Yarra River

Taking a stroll along the river bank

A unique tree

A building over the river and which I don't know the name but it looks like the Eiffel Tower ain't it?

A picture showing how crowded it was that day.

Oh ya! Have you ever see the sun eats a building before?
If you haven't today is your lucky day as i have some pictures to illustrate that. :D

Tada!!! HAHA!

The building was blocking the sun and the glaring effect was as if the sun corrodes some part of the building as it goes down.

Scenic picture.

Oh no the building is almost gone now.

Another beautiful picture of a sunset.

During the commercial or toilet break I like to call it.

Full of lights (life).

Perfect!!

**********

I have joined the Malaysians of Melbourne University(MoMU), Apple club( for architecture students), Japanese club and Flare ( a dance club). I was considering to join a choir as well but I'm afraid I will be very busy hence I did not. Maybe next year.

It is autumn now and it will be very very cold too. BRrrrrrrr!

Going to start my first lecture and can't wait.

Till here then!

My new home

2010-02-20T08:46:00.015+08:00

Hi guys, I'm back with another update and this time I'm going to show you the house I'm currently living in. Remember on the last post that my house is behind the house with the three windows as the picture shown below? Well if you notice, there is a pathway right next to that house and if you walk straight onto that pathway, you will be able to see my house.

There, this is my house. Quite small right?
A close up of my house. Notice how simple it is? I am living in the last room with two windows.

Ya this is my room from outside.

Okay, so let's the journey to my house begin. This is the front door and the only door. There is no back door in this house.

Once you enter the door what you can see .

As you walk ahead further you will notice there is a room on your right. This is room number 8. I am not sure who lives in this room though as well as some other rooms. Haha

And to your left there will be another 2 rooms. Rooms number 1 and 2 respectively.

When you move a few steps to the left away from the wall that blocks the way after you came in through that door, you can see room 3 .

As you walk on, two refridgerator will be on your right but they will be gone soon anyway. I heard from one of my housemates that they will be transported elsewhere.

Moving on, room 4 will be on your left while room 7 will be on your right. Jae von and Siew Wuen stay in room 4 while Ainin and Hui Ying sleeps in room 7. They are just opposite from each other.

Beside room 7 is room 6 which is occupied by a couple.

The kitchen is just straight ahead as you can see form the above picture. It's quite cram but all the utilities are here.

If you walk further up into the kitchen, you can see tha my room is on the right hand side. Room number 5. :d Tada! Finally you have reached my room. So easy right?

This is how the kitchen looks like. Complete facilities to cook.

Another two fridges. Currently I am keeping my foods in the smaller one that has a television on top of it.

The washing machine and the dryer.

Beside the washing machine there is an opening which leads to the washroom . The boy's toilet and the boy's shower is separated.

The sink and the girl's toilet and shower room.

Well, basically that is all I can show you in my house. What do you think? Nice? Small?

Anyway, on another note, Poh Hui's mom brought us, the boys and girls for dinner after My Academic Advice Day in university last Thursday,18th Feb. We went and eat at a Thai restaurant named Ying Thai.

The restaurant in bright green colour.

The boys sat at one table while the girls and Poh Hui's mom sat behind us.

We happily looking through the menu.

This is what I had ordered, I forgot what it's called but it's a seafood curry. Yummy!

Below are just some random photos I took with my phone. I have yet to take lots of pictures but it's ok since I have three years here :D

The arches in th eOld Arts building. Like those in Harry Potter's movies right?

The street nearby my house.

A park somewhere. I forget where I took this.

The blue sky of Melbourne.

Flowers that is found just along the pathway to my house.

Can you spot the flowers that i took in the picture earlier? By the way this is the back road after you passed my house and walk straight ahead. If you get what I mean.

This is the largest cemetery that we stumbled upon when we have our tour.

Well I guess till here then. Hope you all had a nice time venturing to my new home. Haha. To blog about this post took me hours plus the editing of pictures, uploading the pictures to Blogger and writing the post itself.
Oh ya I'll be taking Japanese as my breadth subject now. And it's confirmed now! ^^
Sayounara!

An update from Melbourne

2010-02-16T14:29:00.009+08:00

Okay, let me start with my journey on the flight. Honestly, although it's my first time siting on an airplane I did not took a lot of pictures. I myself don't know why maybe I was just lazy. The 8 hours long ride was great and occasionally bumpy . I spent my time watching Paranormal Activity on plane and some other movies. I slept a little while only as I found it hard to sleep on the plane, plus the coldness.

A historic moment, it should be noted down in the History book

Me and Calvin

Those siting the same row with me ( me, Calvin, Ainin and Po Hui)
We( th JPA scholars) did not sit together in the plane. Most of us were separated and the plane was full as well. I assumed many people is going back to Melbourne or going to Melbourne for their Chinese New Year holidays.

A picture of the inside of the plane

The mini television

Another picture inside the plane

I reached Melbourne at 8.30a.m. local time and I was excited. After getting down from the plane, I passed the immigration , grab m luggage and passed the customs. Afterward, I gathered with the rest who have applied the airport pickup in the uni website. Then a bus came along and dropped us to our destination.

Me in Melbourne airport

The amount of people waiting for their pickups

Chan smiling gracefully after stepping fot on Melbourne

Well the place I am currently staying is behind this house with three windows. Calvin and Jun Hao( Jun Kai's brother) are living in this three windowed house, as well as my senior Choon Seong.

Wanna see my room? I'm sharing a room with Ah Beng. It's quite small but it should be fine. I sleep on top of the bunker. It has two windows.

My striking red mattress

The cupboard that we are sharing

And finally this is my table. Haha. Messy ain't it? Don't complain :D

And today we ( the boys only) went to the bank in the morning to settle our banking accounts. Then we went to Melbourne Uni to look around. The uni is certainly a big place and lots of beautiful architecture can be found in it. Around 1 p.m. we all walked to the Queen Victoria's Market to look for some fruits. Apparently it closes at 2 today, and by the time we got there there were about to close. Is it cheap? Well, I don't know because I have nothing to compare to. but I bought three pack of strawberries for $4. It was supposed to be $2 per packs but few minutes before closing they decided to clear off the strawberries. Poor Ginger because the seller dropped the price few minutes after he bought his, so he bought two packs for $4. Besides, I also bought peaches worth $2 form two different stalls. However, sad to say the condition of the peaches were not so good. It looks like that they are going to be rotten any minute. sigh. There are tem more of them in my fridges. Guess I have to finish them off tomorrow during breakfast and lunch.
Anyway below are some pictures that I took in the Uni.

A wall sculpture in the Wilson Hall. Fascinating

The architecture in Wilson Hall

I found these majestic chairs outside the Wilson Hall. We dared not sit on them though :(

A sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike which means Victory and she i soften called as Winged Goddess of Victory. And only today I found out the meaning of Nike which is a popular sport brand around the world.

A different angle of this beautiful goddess.

As i said earlier, there are a lot of beautiful architecture around the uni and this is one of them.
Simply magnificent right?

This is the Building of Commerce where people in Uni refer it as the "Cow Building" due to the spots on the building which resembles those on cows. However, I find it does not look like cow in any part at all because the spots are in white whereas the spots on cow are black against a white background.

I haven't took much picture and I am so sorry. Ginger has been snapping a lot and I will take the pictures from him soon and I will try to upload them to my blog and Facebook as well. Tomorrow we will hunt for mobiles phone packages. I guess till here then.

*P.S: All the pictures above have been edited using Photoshop cs4

I have reached Melbourne!

2010-02-15T18:13:00.000+08:00

Hey folks! I have finally reached Australia after a long 8 hour flight. Not going to say much right now cause I'm so freaking tired. Just to inform you all :p

All the best and Happy Chinese New Year!

Confirmed date of flying :14th FEB!

2010-02-10T17:47:00.005+08:00

Hey guys, just want to inform you all that I'll be flying to Melbourne on the 14th. Yes, it's confirmed already. Night flight. Departure time is 2135 hours and I will be arriving in Melbourne airport at 0815 hours Melbourne time.

I'm about to start a new, exciting chapter of my life and I am looking forward to it! Oh ya remember i told you all that I wanted to take up Japanese when I'm in uni? I don't think i would anymore because if I take up Japanese then I have to study it for 3 years straight. Not that I don't want to study Japanese, I really want to but I would also would love to study other subjects other than language. Besides, I can learn Japanese on my own and that is what I have been doing for the past week.

I went through several websites and I even downloaded a very good program to learn Japanese : Rosetta Stone. Go and check it out if you want to learn any languages. Here is the link for the program :http://www.egydown.com/2219-rosetta-stone.html However, the languages CD will have to be downloaded separately. Here is the link for torrent download for Japanese :http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4847360/Rosetta_Stone_V3_-_Japanese_%28L1__L2__L3%29_%28ISO%29
If you are interested with other languages you can just search for it by just typing Rosetta Stone ( your language) download in Google.

This is a very good program!

The good thing about learning language by yourself is that you can learn and move forward at your own pace. Isn't that great! But of course one need to practice a lot to be fluent in it. So i will be joining the Japanese Club in my uni. :D

Hmmm what about my packing? Well, my mom has helped me packed most of the things and now just left a bit more things. We will finalize it on Friday. The reason why my mom helped me pack was because basically I am not a good packer haha. She can fit in more things in the luggage bag compared when I do the packing. By the way thanks mom!

I am flying on the first day of Chinese New Year and it's kind of sad you know, I can't meet up with my school mates for the last time before I fly because everyone will only be back only around Friday. Last time me and my friends even planned to visit my friends house for Chinese New Year but then... Well it's ok then. What to do. Maybe next time then. I'm sure we will have the chance to see each other again!

Anyway till here then folks! Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's in advance! I think I won't be able to wish you guys on that day. Anyway keep visiting my blog and get to know my updates. I will try my very best to update at least once a week over there. Take care!

The Liar In Your Life

2010-02-08T21:17:00.003+08:00

Have you encountered people who lie to you in your daily life? I am sure that you will recall experiences of where someone lied to you, subsequently struck an emotional or financial impact on you. Whenever we are asked about the event of being lied to or being deceived, we would vividly recall those that gave an emotional or financial impact on us. This is a fact. This is because most often these memories or events leave a deep scar in our lives. For example, you would remember the guy who ran away with your cash when you fall into his trap of investing in a fraud scheme better.

However, lies and deceit do not take only in that kind of form. In fact, all humans yes all humans, you and me alike lie and deceive all the time. It’s just that we don’t notice it. Now, it may strike your mind and wonder why do we all lie? Well, some experts believe that lying and deceit shown by humans are an evolutionary form of deception used by animals that brings benefit to themselves such as how possum plays dead when in danger, how tigers have stripes that matches the grasses to hide effectively during hunting as well as how some butterflies have big eyes pattern on their wings to scare off their predators. We, humans have been said to evolve and bring this form of deceit to a higher level compared to animals.

The first sign of deceit in humans is when babies fake cries or laughing to get attention. As they grow older, their form of deceit and lies often evolve into more complex form in which may also be used to manipulate or hide truths.

A research has been done where a five-year-old child was playing a game where he has to guess what toy is behind a friendly woman’s back who sat behind him. The first one was easy as the child knew it was a toy truck when he heard the sound of fire engine. The second sound was a recorded voice saying “To infinity and beyond!” and the child knew that this is the motto of Disney’s Buzz Lightyear. The sound of the third toy, though, left the child stumped. He couldn’t figure out what toy was it. Just as he was about to give up, the friendly woman said she need to go to the toilet and warned the boy not to peek what toy is behind his back. Guess what happened? The boy couldn’t resist the temptation and turned around to find that is it a Barney doll. As he heard the doorknob rattling he quickly turned around. When the woman asked him whether he had figured it out what the toy was, he happily blurted out that it was a Barney doll. He denied when she asked him whether he’d peeked.

This experiment was repeated with other children and most of them gave the same results. This shows that children already know how to lie in their early years.

Hence, the question here is not to know why we lie since it is innate in us but instead focuses more on how do we benefit from lying and how will it affect ourselves and the people around us.

What do we get when we lie or deceive others or in some case ourselves? Interestingly, the reason to why we deceive or tell lies varies between each individual, commonly to get away with something (mistakes, wrong doings, etc...) and to not hurt other feelings or what we call white lies (something we all do quite often in a day!) We can see how these two separate reasons can overlap; to get away with a mistake IS to not hurt the feelings the person we did mistake to. Hence, there is usually no one solitary reason to why we did it. In fact, to some lying is like a hobby to them, something they enjoy doing or in other words, they gain pleasure by deceiving people.

Apart from that, there are some who would not only deceive the rest around them but also themselves. This group of people deliberately tries to be someone else other than them. For example, a person may believe that he is a policeman where in reality he is not. He may then wear a uniform and carry a gun walking down the streets trying to be a policeman he thinks he is. This person is what we call the impersonator. There are many cases around the world where we often hear someone was caught impersonating someone other than themselves.

Lying and deceiving both are something that should be looked into further and to understand why does it comes in a package when we are born. Perhaps you should sit back and try to recall whether is there any day at all that gone by without you saying a lie? I guess the answer would be none!

Till here then folks!

All information was taken from The Liar In Your Life by Robert Feldman. This is a very good book, very insightful. It covers the topic with thorough explanation and real world examples.

Sorry to bother you all with such a long post. Hope you all enjoyed it ! :P

Summary of my 4th trip to Kay-Elle

2010-02-07T13:10:00.000+08:00

I’m back from KL already. Missed me? Haha. I did my Grads card on the day I arrived. It was a prompt process and my card was ready in just five minutes. After that I went straight to BU. Nothing much happened on Thursday .

On Friday, I had dinner with Woei Song, Ginger, Ah Beng, Siao Fern and Chia Venn in Chilli’s, One Utama. After our dinner we went around helping Ginger searched for his pair of jeans. Then later at night around 10 we went for yum cha session with two of our juniors, Jia jun and Dao Zhen. We chatted and have fun till it was almost 12 and subsequently said our goodbyes as we were all very tired.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and bought breads and Oreo’s in 7 Eleven shop for breakfast. We then took a cab to Kelana Jaya where we took the LRT to Masjid Jamek before changing to StarLrt( not sure whether I’m correct with the name)and headed straight to PWTC where the hotel that the briefing will be held is just opposite the PWTC stop.

The briefing was nothing much, basically the same like any other briefings except this time HSBC bank representative gave a so not persuading talk to persuade us to apply for their services. However, I managed to make new friends or seniors I would say, who were the student volunteers for the briefing.

After the briefing me and my friends took the Starlrt again to Masjid Jamek where we have our lunch before we parted ways. They were going to Puduraya to buy their bus ticket while I need to be in KL Sentral to wait for my train which will be leaving at 6 pm. I reached Kl Sentral around 2 something and imagine me waiting for hours there. I’d bought a newspaper but I was so sleepy that I kep closing my eyes. I forced myself not to sleep for it would be dangerous for me( theft ,robbery or kidnapping). Hence, I made many trips to the toilet to freshen up, bought ice-cream and fruits. Besides, I also walk around just to stay awake and I managed to hold on to my drowsiness till I was on the train. And I slept through the journey when I was in the train :P

I safely reached home around 9 pm. I guess till here then! Have a great day!

Trips to Kay-Elle

2010-02-03T12:25:00.003+08:00

Hey guys, it’s been some time since my last update. Honestly, I have been very busy completing forms, packing, buying stuffs and etc. that a student who will be studying overseas will be. I have been to KL thrice last week.

First journey was to attend the JPA briefing in my college last Tuesday. I got my 3 months allowances as well as a blazer (I paid RM400 for it). Besides that, the JPA officer’s gave a little talk on what to bring and what not, what to do there, what are our responsibilities as Malaysian students overseas and more. They also gave us a tentative date of when we will be flying. Mine would be probably on the 14^th. Ya you guessed it right, it’s on Chinese New Year. =.=

Anyway, the next trip was on last Friday. I t was a sudden decision made by my mom early in the morning. Our destination: Putrajaya. The main reason we went there was to hand in my passport as well as my E-visa. These two items were actually needed to be handed in during the JPA briefing but my E-visa wasn’t ready by then and since they wouldn’t accept a passport without the E-visa I need to send in both by hand to their department. (You can’t post passport by mail now don’t you?)

The most recent trip was on last Sunday where my parents and I went to KLCC to attend my university briefing. Ginger, Po hui, Nadira, Izzat, Nana and Jia Wern were there as well. The briefing was ok and quite enjoyable especially when the Malaysians students who are currently studying in Uni of Melbourne gave their speech. And after the briefing and the student speech, we ( the students who would enroll to the uni this coming sem) were divided into groups of the same course. So our course falls under the Land and Environment. The group consisted of all KBU students (names I mentioned above) and another 1 boy and 2 girls. However, both of them are not going to study in year 1. Two of them are doing year 3 while another girl will be doing year 2 as a transfer credit program. We then have a Q and A session with 2 seniors. It was incredibly fun. And I get to know new people too. Oh and by the way, I joined the Malaysians of Melbourne University club before I even stepped my foot in the university. You can go to their blog if you want to read more on them and their past events: http://momumomu.blogspot.com/

I need to remind you that all the trips above were all a day trip, so imagine the tiredness of me and my parents driving long distance without resting. Thanks to my mom especially for she drove me twice to KL last week.

And guess what? I’ll be going to KL again tomorrow by train this time to settle my application for Grad card by MAS airlines so that I can get an extra 10kg for my luggage limit instead of 20kg. Furthermore, I will have to attend the IDP briefing this coming Saturday as well (my agent that settles my application to study in Australia).

So many briefing right? Although some of them might tell the same things but I guess different briefing have their own benefits. It’s good to at least get some information, in this case briefings, before going to Australia so we would be exposed to what should we do and what should we not.

Another thing on a random note, I want to take up Japanese as my breadth subjects in Uni of Melbourne :P

Till here then!

Sayonara!

Accommodation found!

2010-01-19T14:47:00.003+08:00

These few days i was busy finding accommodation in Melbourne.Thank God i got a help from my senior, Choon Seong. It makes my job a little easier. I'll be staying with Ah Beng as it's a twin sharing room.

The room is not that big from the picture i saw but well as long as i have a place to stay temporarily then it would be fine. I need to rent the room for at least 2 months. After that i can go and find other accommodation if I want.

Besides my senior's offer, i did find other room to rent just in case. there are some good offer out there but i guess the time is not right yet. My mom's advice was that in the early stage it is better to live together with bunch of friends. Safer that way.

I am now packing my stuff little by little. Bought few necessary things such as adapter.
I don't think i'm going to bring my guitar over. Speaking of guitar, it's been so long since I make songs and do a cover.( hey i just realized that this paragraph rhymes! Haha read again and see whether you notice it. lol looks like i still am in the song making industry!)

Anyway, I need to use my brain soon to study and everything. Hopefully my brain can function again.*Squeezing my brain juice!* LOL.
Till here then!
Cheers!

I'm going to Melbourne!

2010-01-14T12:53:00.002+08:00

I am so proud to say i got Uni of Melbourne!!!
yeah!
finally the days of long wait has gone!
Melbourne here i come!

well i was hoping for sydney actually but i didn't pass their ter cut off point so i got my second choice.
but i;m still equally happy and excited!

Medical Checkup 2

2010-01-09T00:16:00.002+08:00

Well, last Thursday i went to the hospital again to ask whether my medical report can be ready earlier and sadly, what i got was " i'm sorry , sir. We can't help u.".

haihz. Looks like i have to wait until the 18th.
I should have went to a private hospital instead.
my bad.
It's partly my fault as well.

anyway, recent news that i read was about the attacks on 4 churches by the muslims.
it's sad you know to have this kind of thing happening in Malaysia.
I get what the muslims are trying to prove and what they are fighting for but i still believe that what they did or what some particular group of people did was wrong.
i mean ,"ATTACK THE CHURCH"?
Come on!

what will happen to our unity? economy? safety? and the list goes on.
where is the portrayal of peace that Islam teaches?
Is burning down churches going to bring peace and put off the fire on this issue?
NO! it is just like putting oil on fire!
sigh!

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20100108/tap-as-malaysia-allah-ban-2nd-ld-writeth-b3c65ae.html
click on the link to read the news.

anyway, just a point of my view.
take care!

Did my medical check up

2010-01-06T00:18:00.006+08:00

I did my medical checkup for JPA last Monday. Woke up early to send my father towork since i needed the car.
I reached the hospital around 8 and to my dismay, the medical check up section only opens at 10. *sigh*
So i went back home, ate and rested awhile before going to the hospital again.

when i reached there, I had to filled some forms and paid a fee. RM 165. I remembered the last time I did it, it costs me RM 100 only.
Well.
So i had to do eye , urine, blood, drug, and , mantoux ( for detecting TB) test as well as X ray. well i have to admit I'm a little afraid with needles. The thought of a needle poking through my skin is just scary =.=
anyway, it was not that bad when i did the blood test. I don't really feel any pain when the needle was poked into my arm. i only feel a little pain when my blood was being sucked out. It must be the pressure I guess.There was this chinese uncle who was in front of me and when the doctor did the whole procedure on him his whole body was shivering. real shivering! woah. But it was a little funny I would say.

Actually I had always wanted to donate my blood before but as I said i was afraid. if I had the chance to donate in the future, I would.

I would need to wait for my medical check up results and it would only be available on the 18th or so they said. At first, the hospital gave me 25th as the date to collect my results and i was like WHAT! so late. i negotiated and finally they managed to give me an earlier date (18th of Jan) which i don't think is early. I'm not going chronologically with my story here. i;m sorry. The hospital told me the date to collect my results already after i filled my forms earlier as i have mentioned.

So after that, as i was doing my medical check up i had this idea came to me. So i rushed to the guy at the counter and told him that JPA just called and i need to be in KL on the 13th and is it possible for me to get my results at an earlier date and guess what? He insisted that it would not be possible, he was afraid that the blood test would not be ready by then. Fine.

When i came home, I found out from my friend that he did his medical check up in public hospital too and that his results would be ready within a week. I was shocked . This Thursday i'll be going to the hospital again and i will check and see whether it is ready or not. Or At least i could get it at an earlier date.

******

Anyway, after my medical check up i went and fetch my father from work and i went to Jucso with Lau kong, David and his girlfriend. we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. That movie was nice and funny as well.

went home for dinner after that before going out again with them for some game of dota. reached home at 1 and slept till the next morning. :P

till here then!

Happy new year!

2009-12-31T21:32:00.002+08:00

in a few hours time it will be 2010.
2009 has been a very pleasant year and a memorable one for me.
life in college, i will definitely miss it.
may 2010 will be better .
i hope to learn more and gain more knowledge and skills in the future.
i hope to be a better person as well.
well i think that's all.
:P

happy new year everyone!

YEAY! I CAN FLY TO AUSSIE!

2009-12-29T20:00:00.003+08:00

i am lost in words.
i am totally excited and happy.
this is because my TER score is 93.7!!!!
hahaha
although it's quite low i admit but i'm grateful because i can already fly!!!
so so so so excited!!!
first time in my life i feel so excited like this!
hehe
till here then
just wanna share the good news!

Mom's and Caryn's birthday

2009-12-29T02:07:00.004+08:00

On the 28th of December, both my mom and younger sister celebrates their birthday.
this year my family and I celebrated by going to Sushi King for lunch.
it's been awhile since we ate at Sushi King so my mom said why not?
we enjoyed ourselves pretty much today.
took lots of pictures there as well.

what did i gave to my mom and sister you ask?
well i did a photo or a card whatever you want to call it by using photoshop for my mom.
and i bought a 4gb KIngston pendrive for my sis.
that pendrive i bought it some time ago during PC Fair in KL.

below is the picture i made for my mom.
i combined an empty polaroid picture, red rose, my mom's picture , some words and tadaa!!!
:D

click the image if you want a larger view.

till here then.
Happy Birthday MOM!

Merry Christmas! ( i know i'm a little bit late ==)

2009-12-27T22:31:00.002+08:00

this photo was not that nice. i'm sorry.
it was a rushing job. anyway merry christmas and happy new year!
bye 2009!

Christmas is over!

2009-12-27T20:41:00.007+08:00

Well let's see what have i done for this few days ; played Dota, played Dota, read my book, eat, played Dota, sleep, and played Dota.

Nothing much going on really. Did some photo manipulation in Photoshop. Let me show you some of them :D

from this to....

this~!

from this to...

this!

from this great picture to..

this spectacular one!

oh yeah i have finished the book i was reading. yay!
the book title is "The Art of Conversation" by Catherine Blyth.
The book is not bad.
however, it is filled with many vocabularies that are so new to me, so many that i stopped searching the meaning in a dictionary. instead i would just guess the meaning that would make the words i don't know to make sense in a particular sentence.
i gotta read more books to improve my language as mine is not good enough.

Celebrated Christmas with my schoolmates in Clement house. We certainly enjoyed ourselves since we have not seen each other for a very long time especially Chien Young and Jia Xian who just came back from Aussie for the summer holidays. i'll try to get the pictures from Clement and will upload it sometime.

oh ya my sister is going to National Service this jan.
And my brother is going to enter form 1.
till here then!

Awesome AVATAR!

2009-12-22T21:28:00.004+08:00

today i went and watched avatar with my siblings and little cousin brother.
this movie is awesome!
three hour long with awesome cgi effect as well as breathtaking scenery throughout the movie.
this is one hell of a movie.

just awesome..
till here then!

pasar malam

2009-12-21T20:36:00.004+08:00

i just came eback form pasar malam(night market) nearby my house. this reminds me of how long i have not been to a night market for one and a half years already.

it is still full of people. full of fluorescence light illuminating the stalls as well as the dark path for people to walk on.
Pasar malam is something you can never find especially in western countries.
it can be found.
maybe in any Asian nation,
but certainly in Malaysia,
be proud!

till here then.

life is just like jumping in the air, enjoy it before you touch the ground

2009-12-20T21:18:00.001+08:00

karaoke

2009-12-19T18:18:00.002+08:00

i just came back from karaoke-ing with jia xian, lau kong , david and his girlfriend. we sang three hour straight.

nothing much. till here then.

Desirata

2009-12-17T20:12:00.002+08:00

hey i have a nice poem to share with you guys. thanks to sarah ch'ng for sharing with me.

Desiderata

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Procrastination

2009-12-15T13:51:00.000+08:00

It’s been a few weeks of my holidays and I haven’t actually done something quite useful. I mean at first I had this urge and desire to learn photoshop and web design, but then after a while I’d stopped for no good reason.

Is it me who loves procrastinating? Is it who I am that always left things done halfway?

Heck I even wanted to start learning photography but it’s all just talk and nothing has been done!

Don’t even mention the slightest craving I had in video making, drawing , baking cheese cakes , improving my guitar skills and all other small small stuffs that fascinates me but had yet to be crystalized out tangibly.

I’m pretty sure you would be wondering what am I doing right now?

Well just to let you know I’m reading a book and I don’t care whether what obstacles might arise, I am determined to finish this book . no matter how long it takes!

Well I guess till here then!

*I’m sorry I sounded like I’m scolding whoever that are reading this but in fact i’m just scolding myself. Sorry I mean no harm.

Sprained knee again!

2009-12-13T14:03:00.000+08:00

I’ve sprained my knee again yesterday. I’m feeling darn sad right now and it hurts still. I can’t walk properly because it’s already swollen. This is the third time after the first incident early june this year.

I guess it takes three falls to make me realize that I really can’t play anymore. When I sprained my knee for the second time, I’ve been doubting whether I would be able to continue playing this favourite sports of mine or not. Then being only human, I do not want to stop playing. Not now. Not this fast. So after I thought my knee had healed which clearly has been deceiving me all the time, I played again. But I’m kinda proud because this time I lasted longer on the court. I played a game and just injured myself on the second game compared to the second injury.

Finally, I think I might not want to continue this gamble anymore. I know my limits now. My knee is not strong to withstand my weight when I land after jumping.

You know it’s kinda sad because I can’t do anything extreme anymore. I can’t be a sporty person anymore.

I was thinking of taking up dancing maybe in Aussie but then with my knee injury I can’t as well.

Well, things already happened and life gotta move on right? Maybe it is not my path or destiny to play basketball any longer. Till here then.

Biro Tata Negara (BTN)

2009-12-12T21:43:00.003+08:00

We are all the same. We are all humans and that’s the fact. We all have a pair of eyes, a nose, a mouth, a pair of hands as well as a pair of legs. In fact, we do not differ a lot in any way. Why can’t we be united? Why are there still wars and conflicts going on?

Well that are some of the questions that I wonder after I had attended the Biro Tata Negara(BTN) camp during the last whole week from 7^th to the 10^th of December in Kem Bina Negara, Ulu Sepri Negeri Sembilan. Let me make a summary of the four days when my friends and I were there.

On the first day, all of us embarked at 8 and we reached the destination one and a half hour later. The moment we stepped down, we registered and a leader was chosen. We had two lectures on Malaysian history that morning. During that night we basically just relaxed and played some get-to-know-each-other game. One of those was looking straight into the eyes of your partner of the same sex and afterwards telling them that their eyes are beautiful. It was such an embarrassing moment for all of us. We also need to massage our partner as well.

The second day, most of us woke up early for morning prayers and then did a physical test in the hall. After breakfast we were divided into groups. There were 8 groups altogether. The rest of the day was spent by getting to know each and everyone as well as the facilitators of each group. In the evening the guys went abseiling while the girls played “poison ball”. I love abseiling that I tried twice!!! IT WAS SO FUN! After dinner we palyed anoher game called ‘ Angkasa Lepas’ . this game was based on the movie 2012. There were only 8 people left on earth while the rest have already been transferred to Marikh. Hence, a decision has to be made since the only spaceship left for some reason can only accomodates 5 persons. We spent that night figuring out who is the one that are able to fly or not. This game taught us a lot especially on the issue that all humans have the right to live.

The next morning, which is Wednesady, we woke up early again for prayers. And then we had a 2 km run required for the physical test.it was one hell of a run! I started running with big steps eventually trying my best to catch my breath and not stopped. My steps were getting smaller and I finished the run in 13 min 40 sec. oh ya, you wouldn’t believe who was the first in that run! It’s a girl from penang. Bubbly and fast. She finished in 8 min and 17 sec. so guys, you better be careful with this one. She bites! I was just joking, she was in fact very friendly.

By the way there are around 6 people who were not from our college that joined us during the camp. And she was one of them, Sarah Sulaiman Ch’ng who will study biomedicine in melbourne uni next feb. I’ve made another new friend as well and he was in the same dorm with me : Marcus Ma. A nice guy from BU4 and will further his studies in engineering at the Australian National Unversity(ANU).

Anyway back to the topic, after the run, we, in our own groups were literally running aorund between 5 stations where we were exposed more to Malaysia for example, the judiciary system, the Majlis Raja-raja as well as those regarding with citizenship. That lasted until evening. That evening, it’s the girls turn to try abseiling while us, the guys stayed in the hall and learnt how to dance a tradisional malay dance which I have forgotten the name. I’m sorry,but what I know is that we really enjoyed that one hour of dancing. We were divided into two big groups and we competed to see which groups is the best. My group won !!! everyone dancing in the same tempo, same steps and with the same enthusiasm. It was really a nice experience. And that night we did quizzes which lead to a very memorable moment of where everyone built the Malaysian flag together and sang Jalur Gemilang. I would say that was the peak of camp. We went back to our dorms tired but happy.

The final day, after morning prayers we had brakfast and got ready for our test. The test tested us on our understanding about Malaysia, it wasn’t hard at all. After the test, certs were given and we went back home after lunch!!!!

Overall, it was a nice experience joining this camp. Eventhough, me myself as well the rest have heard lots of statements that claims BTN is a harsh place and all their mission was to brainwash the citizens. Well, luckily, my camp wasn’t like that and as a person who had experienced it, I suggest that you should not judge something based on what you heard until you actually experienced it.

I guess till here then!! If you guys wanna know more about the camp just drop a comment will ya!!