Year 2010...

I had many new experiences in year 2010. This is the first year i study and live abroad. International House, the place i live in Brisbane, has provided me with most of my new and unforgettable experiences together with all my new international friends. Firstly, IH orientation week was great. Played the dirtiest (i threw away my clothes cos’ they were all covered in mud and water) new ‘housies’ game, got a huge bruise on my knees from the sports game though, fire drills that made jump off my bed with the high-pitched alarms, in-house parties with goon (the cheapest alcohol) spilled on the ground and dressing up (i dressed up as a guy for the ‘Switch’ party,LOL!)


This is the first year i went for clubbing. Now i know what people do in clubs. Some really dance, others drink and make out, guys who just go behind girls and start dancing with them etc. Enjoyed the first two times, came back after 3am. However, the visits thereafter were just merely repetitive routines of dance, i didn’t really enjoy it already, so i stop going with my friends.

This year is also the first time i learn how to take care of a drunk friend (like seriously drunk), not once but thrice. Hahahahahha! One fact: People who are drunk always deny that they’re drunk! Some brainless friends still encourage my friend to drink when they know very well that she is already drunk, then i will have to act as the big momma telling them not to let her drink anymore. ERGH! Okay, this is one thing that i know about taking care of a mabuk friend. Force her to drink water like a jar or more (not all at once of course), get ready a big plastic bag cos’ she’ll be puking everything out a while later. I don’t know why but it works =P It’s better that she puke everything out else she would get a bad hangover the next morning.

This year is the first year i had to take care of myself when I’m sick. I have sore throat every now and then but One of the worst was the time when i had fever, flu, headache, all at once a week before my finals. I was really emotionally and physically tired, walao, it was really a bad experience. But luckily i recovered before my first exam. Amituofo!

It’s my first time to experience the four seasons; summer, autumn, winter and spring. I think i like spring with all the pretty flowers and cooling weather( not very cold or hot). Summer is never my fav cos i hate the hot and glaring sunlight. Winter is quite nice but not when you have to sit on the super cold toilet bowls early in the morning or it’s too cold to study at night even with the heater on or you have an 8am class and all you want to do is to be under the warm blanket longer.

This is also the first year I started exercising more regularly. I went to the gym quite often in the first semester(about twice a week) but after i came back from my winter holidays, i didn’t go for a long long time until I started going again in October. Many of my relatives commented that i lose some weight =D Thanks to all the climbing up the stairs to my fourth floor room everyday!

2010 has been a year of me being emo. I cried alot. Hahah! All the homesickness...Whenever i’m stressed, i would feel like crying when i video call with my parents. Problem with studies and friends...luckily i still have a few good Malaysian friends to listen to my problems when I’m down. Not forgetting all the late night chats on msn but i’m always the one who said goodbye first cos i’m sleepy d. Hahahah!

Despite all the sad things that happen this year, I guess there are more of the good ones than the bad. So i would say 2010 has been quite a good year for me. None of the good experiences would be possible without my parents who are willing to spend their hard-earned money for my studies in UQ and my stay in IH. I am really blessed to have them.

2010 is coming to an end in less than 12 hours. This will be my last post of the year!

Dessert @ Three Monkeys Coffee and Tea House

where: 58 Mollison St South Brisbane 4101


It seems this cafe has been here for a long time already. famous for its chai tea(sorry, not a fan of chai) and cakes. went to tried it with 4 of my friends a few months back.
 

Looks yummy right? each slice is about $6plus. fresh cream that comes with each slice is free too. ambiance?yellow lights but quite stuffy inside though.

It's alright but i think Ritz cake house in Penang, Malaysia beats these any time. out of the four slices of cakes, the coffee one at the top left was the best.

 

some IH things

The things i do in my room besides studying and sleeping and facebooking...



I take pictures of clouds using my electric blue Sony camera. the formation of clouds i see through my windows. i'm mesmerised by clouds for some unknown reasons..

i take pictures of almost everything. the Uncle Toby's bars, my night-time biscuits, my favourite Nissin instant noodles( u know, in malaysia i always eat either chicken flavour Cintan Mee or the korean noodles) but here, i got a vast selection of flavours to choose from =). i cook instant noodles in my room. how? hahaha, just pour hot water over it, don't even have to use the stove and pot.

I eat in my room as well. these are the packed lunches i had when i have my 12-2pm lectures. egg sandwiches/ham, cheese and mustard/ pesto chicken and mesclun sandwich with one packet of Arnott's biscuits, a banana/apple/orange and a box of Just Juice drink.



i find these candy wrappings special, which was why i bought the whole packet and collected them. but after taking pictures of it, i threw them away d and i'm sick of Minties d, a result of overeating them. hahaha!

try and guess what these pictures are trying to convey.

no internet connection

After moving out from IH college on nov 24th, I've been staying at my sister's apartment( just the next building) till now. no cable or internet connection so i can only online for a limited time using my che's laptop..

I've been eating alot of home cooked food which means I've been cooking, washing the pots and plates, and do grocery shopping ALOT! of course i do all of these together with my sis =) cooking is fun, grocery shopping too but not the washing up part..hahahaha, but this i-don't-really-fancy chore comes along with the fun cooking, so i don't have much choice. i took quite alot of pictures of all the dishes we made, will blog about it when i get back. I've also compiled some food pictures but I'm no longer keen to blog about them for now.


2010 is coming to an end soon..time really flies this semester as compared to the first semester. Got back my semester results and I'm satisfied. hard work paid off! think i put in more effort this sem than the previous semester. wonders whether can i regain this kind of self-discipline again next year after having a long summer break..hmmm, okay that's kiasu-ism..hahahahha! i will get to celebrate CNY next year, woohoooo! remember this year, i came to Aussie on the night of the first day of CNY, damn sad case de. next year i will be in msia till CNY ends!


most of my friends are now back in their home countries for about 2 weeks already..so my only friend now is my che che, hahahha!


daddy and mummy will be coming over for che's graduation this Thursday! then they will go back msia with me on Sunday night =( but I'm looking forward to all the good food and meeting up with my beloved friends!!


That's all for now! *continues watching Wongfu on YouTube and checking out baking recipes*

the passing of a friend

A few days before my last exam for the semester when I was about to go for dinner, I received a text message from mone that my high school friend, lyn si had passed away. The fact didn’t sink in yet when I was having my meal. But as soon as I went back to my room and checked facebook, I saw the personal message written on lyn si’s wall that she had passed away. Tears started to trickle down my checks. I don’t really know the reason I cry too since I was never close to her at all. However I do follow her blog where she writes about her experiences during her hospital stays. It’s just so sudden, I thought her family was collecting donations to undergo a surgery but I guess human cells are just so unpredictable.


The next morning, the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up was lyn si is gone. I kept thinking where has she gone to? how are the parents coping with the loss of their daughter? After my last paper on Thursday, nov 18th, came back and saw that lyn si’s blog was updated. It’s about her funeral; the family had taken pictures of the whole funeral and of her lying peacefully in the coffin. I cried again when I saw this, guess it’s because I am scared of dying and seeing someone of similar age with me going through this just adds to the fear.

But reading about what death is from http://www.ikedaquotes.org/life_death.html that her parents posted up calmed me down.

Her family believes in Buddhism. And I can see through her blog that Lyn Si is learning more about Buddhism in her last two years. And I guess her parents’ faith in Buddhism make the loss of their precious daughter more bearable.

Lyn si has really inspired me through her optimism and never-give-up attitude in her battle with leukemia. She made me feel that all the problems that I face are nothing compared to hers. May you rest in peace, Lyn Si.