sydney update

Before you all start cursing at my summer part 2 post on its lengthiness ... which i know it will be.... I figured I'll give u all a break from that first and give updates with my Sydney life first....

Wednesday 25th March - Labcoat pubcrawl

sea of labcoats

This was an event for all the students from the Faculty of Health Science. Basically we met up at The Rocks with our labcoat... and go from pub to pub, mingle around and drink and boogie. It started at 7 but I only went there at 9 something. So only went to two pubs .. which was enough for me. Got to the first bar which was Brooklyn's Bar and was given a beer right away and had to scull it. I hate beer and to scull one was the worst feeling ever. And it didn't help with having another person buying me another beer! ARghh!!

Rip!! some ppl were going around ripping other's lab coat. here's an example of one. Thank goodness that didn't happen to me. I swear i'll kick that fella's balls if he ripped mine. U gta buy another one man!

Next was Jackson's and there... I had two jaggerbombs.. ohhh the canadians love their jaggerbombs and beer i tell u!! Jaggerbomb is good!!!

Canadian.. Australian.. Canadian.. and they call me the kiwi

And then also had a tequila and that was brutal. No salt to start with and no lime to end it. Second worst feeling after the beer. And to wash all those .. it was a sweet vodka and sprite. yum yum.... so yeaa... lots of drinking that night for someone who doesn't drink. All the calories! ARghhh!!! I didn't get drunk, no hangover. Still went to class the next morning where most people were having hangovers and some didn't turn up. Lolx!

my no longer white lab coat. but it makes one heck of a good souvenir. bet u don't have lab coats like mine!!!!

Friday 27th - a meet up with a long time friend

Met up with Su Yi for dinner after class. Had german food at Lowenbrau, The Rocks. Su Yi is my primary school friend since std 2 till std 6. I knew she was in Australia but didn't know which part. But thanks to Facebook (i'm telling u, facebook is the bomb!), I managed to contact her. German food was good. The line was long to get in but thank goodness she made booking. The atmosphere was great with live music and the waitress in very cute uniform.

Live music

Mango beer. As much as I hate beer, this was the best beer ever!! Love it!!

Veal with spatzle...some sort of noodle basically and with cheese! good stuff!

the typical german food. mixed sausages with sauerkrat and mash

We got there at 7.15 and only left at 9.30. That's how long we chatted for and catching up with the lost years. We haven't met since end of 2004. We weren't best friends back then and didn't really keep in touch after primary. It was just the yearly primary school reunion where we meet up. And so, it surprizes me with how much we had to talk about and how easy it was to talk to her. It was a good dinner.

And it did not end there. She took me to the famous, much talked about Max Brenner for dessert. That I tell u.... was the bomb!!!! Seriously... it made me a very happy person and I'm telling u that you should come visit me in Sydney now now! Esp to u chocolate lovers.... and to Swannie, u gta come man here man!!!!!!!

choc nut brownie drizzled with chocolate sauce

my italian thick chocolate drink. This... this is da bomb! i can just drink this everyday man!!

We were there till almost 12. Still so much to talk about, recalling the primary school days ... the fierce form teacher we have.. how she hated chinese and somehow always getting picked on.. how we cheated during "ting xie" and ejaan(chinese n malay version of spelling) and how we disturb other people.

To top it off, she got me the contact of the sports coordinator for the msian club at uni of sydney and it was just all up to me on making the effort.

And so.. as I was on my way home.. I was contemplating on whether I should pick my phone up and start to text. Part of me couldn't be bothered and wants to just focus on my studies. Part of me couldn't take it anymore and was dying for some sports. And ..... the hand gave in. The itchy hands in need for some balls (ok fine this sounds dodgy but i'm saying netball la!!!!) and so the itchy hands picked up the phone and texted to ask for details. Ahhh! I felt like a first yr again where i texted Celest to ask about joining UMSA as I wasn't in the main campus. Good to feel young again.

Outcome: I'll be playing netball this Sunday!!! Woohoooo!!!! Wonder how it will be like. Not too sure if i'll enjoy it like I used to. Wonder if I can click with them. As you all know, i'm not that easy and i can be just very lazy to start a conversation and socialise. We'll see if I am in the mood to put in the effort. I know I should but yea.... we'll see.....

My february summer (part 1)

My February Summer (bits and pieces on special events) Part 1

Waiheke Trip (28th January)
This was a trip all planned by Ivan and I did not need to do anything! Before this, he was asking if I wanted to go Waiheke and I said yupzz..sure... but I didn't think it would be on a weekday when I had work. But at midnight on the 28th (yes, surprisingly I was still awake though I have to wake up at 5), he wished me happy 5 months. And that's when it came to me... he wanted this trip for our 5 months. Awwwwwwww..... sorry but I'm pretty bad at remembering all these la....

Finished work that day at noon and rushed to catch the train as the ferry to Waiheke was leaving soon. We never had any trips together alone before so this was the first time. Well, ok, apart from all the runnings we do together la...haha!

Anyway, my train was a wee bit late but we managed to catch the ferry on time. Had McDs on the ferry and some rendang too! He went dinner the night before with his friend and had leftovers from KK. Yum!!!

Rented our kayak and our journey to no man's land begin. It was called turtle island I think but i call it no man's land. There wasn't anyone there except the two of us. Initially we wanted a one person kayak as it felt more worth it but the man suggested us to go for the double kayak. Lucky for the double kayak because I think if it were single, I'd probably capsized as the waves were pretty rough and it was a sit-on kayak and not a sea kayak. From where we were, we could see the vineyards from far and many tiny beaches that you wouldn't be able to see if not on a kayak.

We hung around no man's land for quite awhile, took photos (not boasting but.. Mr.Monkey have very irresistable abs that my Canon camera couldn't resist.. lolx!) and soaked our legs in the water. It would have been a nicer place if it was sand and not filled with oyster shells! Got cut by some shells and I actually still have the cut on my hands right this very moment.

As we headed back, the sea was rougher, it got windier and I was tired. We returned the kayak and it was already 4 something. Made our way to Oneroa beach. Since we didn't have a car, we didn't have a bike, I didn't want to pay for bus..... hence.. we walked. The first time I came to Waiheke was my second year in NZ and I biked around Waiheke and I can very well remember the road from the wharf to the town is rather long. And so.. with walking... it was longer! I really wanted to give up as I was exhausted but thank goodness for the Honey Soy chicken chips. I was eating and eating and it kept me going. On our way down to Oneroa beach, we saw some really unique chairs made from tree trunks. I wonder if they were on sale. They looked pretty cool i must say.

We walked around the beach, sat down and just enjoyed the scenery. Not a very WOW beach but hey..anything with the significant other is the best moment right? The best picture of the trip I must say.. is this... Hehehe....

Reached the city around 7-ish and had dinner at Daikoku and then I caught my last train back home and crashed in bed.

And there.... there u go.... a 7 hours trip very well worth it. Thank you so much!!!!

My 21st birthday (it didn't go on for one day.. i felt like i celebrated my bday for a few days!)
Either you get drunk on your 21st or you cry on your 21st because of all the heart-touching speeches by family and friends. You either spend on drinks and go out partying with a group of friends or you spend on hiring a venue, making lovely invitation cards and have close family and friends with you. For me, I did it the Sher Mayne way along with Caris, my high school friend. Money was spent on party packs and some food. Wasn't much compared to what we've heard how much others spent and venue hiring was FOC! My way was the kiddy's way. With lots of food and kiddy games.

7th feb
The planning was rather worrying but in the end, it turned out well. Throughout the preparation, I was sort of regretting of having this big party because I'm exhausted with work and worrying over my preparation for Sydney. Plus the planning of this.... even more things to do. Caris was in Malaysia and came back 2 days before the party. We did massive shopping the day before the party, did the party packs and baked peanut cookies. At night wanted to go for lantern fest but when I reached city, there was no parking so I went home. Picked up a helper from city and did my own lantern festival. Quote my helper:" babi you ask me to go lantern festival with you and now i'm here preparing for your lantern festival". Hahahaha!!

my helper :p

so yea.. there we were... boiling chicken for chicken sandwiches, cutting pineapples, cucumbers and sausages and poking them through toothpicks throughout the night. Managed to finisi the cocktail sausages and then headed to bed around 1-ish.

Next morning, my other half came at 8 to help. Caris came later on. So with 3 helpers... we finished everything by noon. Made kuih bingka, wan tan mee, chicken sandwiches. It was a hot afternoon, so hot that swannie fell asleep on the couch, caris went to sylvia park to chill out, i went to my room and nap and only ivan was awake watch the rugby.

swannie cutting the kuih

caris cooking the noodles

Party was at 3 at the beach at st.helier's. I don't want to go much in detail as I still hv heaps more events to write about. Realized I'm being very long winded, telling grandma story. So basically we played games, we ate... I got caked, egged and floured... and creamed, and pickled .. and whatever crap audrey put in her mixture.

It all happened when Ivan was holding the birthday cake and everyone was singing the birthday song and suddenly.. WHACK!!!!! swan with her chocolate cake.. right into my face. and then eggs started coming out of nowhere, all flying at me. I knew there was gna be a sabo but at that very moment... i just forgotten it all after playing the games.

so yeaa... soaked in the water and washed it all off and went for second round. So yea.. we played more, ran around, eat more and ................... a girl came up to us...... "does this phone belong to any of u?" jeng jeng jeng..... my jaw dropped.... fudge.... my phone.... arghhh!!!! basically it was in my pocket when they were singing the song and yea.. totally forgotten abt it when i got sabo-ed and i went into the water after that.... sighh...there goes my phone. being soaked in the sea water for more than an hour.. sighh...... luckily it was the end of the party anyway and all the games were already played. Talking about it now still cuts me because that phone was very important to me. tho it was only with me for a year.. it had lots of memories and lots of messages in it. it was with me for the year it all started. messages that he sent that would make me smile from the very beginning of last yr.... now, they're all gone. i used to look at then when i'm alone or just feeling down. but yea... all gone now.... sigh.... i got a new phone with insurance...a newer model .. k 770i but... it's not as good as the old one.. lots of features missing... guess i need to update it but no time! can't type chinese characters, can't send animated pictures as sms.... and i can't even send contacts!!! zzzzz....

anywayzzzzzzzz..... enuff bout the phone... so yea.. got back home.. showered... got out of shower, smell myself and got back in the shower again. bottomline, i stinked!! in the mean time, i had a very wonderful person to put back the table, wiped it and did most of the cleaning by the time i got out of the shower. thank you!!!! he even laid out all my presents on the table so i can open. So yea...after all the cleaning ... i sat down by the table.... being a happy girl (despite the phone incident), i opened all my presents!!! Got really cool presents. but i have to say.. the kathmandu hydration pack was the best la..... hahahaha!! thanks all!!!

Went to sleep after that as i've work the next morning. Thanks all for coming to my birthday and thanks for all the presents!!! Despite all the preps and stress, I really enjoyed my birthday and appreciated all of ur presence. Meant a lot to me.. thank u!!!! And also big big thanks to swan and ivan for helping me out on the day. And to caris, for having this joint party with me and making it happen!!!

8th feb
Final day of lantern fest. After work, I went to the city as it was the last day of lantern fest and I had to see it myself. I never been to lantern fest and walked around and be a normal person. the past two years, I've been cookings satays and selling them. So anyway, before heading to albert park, a few came over to eat my birthday cake that was meant to be eaten the day before. But since it was at the beach and i got sabo-ed and the incident...... we ate the cake on sunday. it was GOOD cake i tell u. Tiramisu cake from Gateau. yummy!!! On saturday i saw yin bringing the cake to the beach so i assumed it was them who bought the cake and didn't even bother to ask. After lantern fest, I thanked them and little did i know... it was the monkey that bought the cake for me!!! He even asked me on Saturday do i know who got the cake..... and i straight away said... must be they all share the cake and buy it for me la... lolx!!! so paisehhh!!!!! and yes...felt a lil bit bad....He ordered the cake and ask shaun to pick it up. Awwwww.. thanks laaaa.... as days go by... i'm starting to realize that this fella is really a gentleman and so sweet!! the things he do just sweeps me off my feet ... did not know he can be so sweet.. ahhh! i need to play my part too!!!! pressure pressure!!!

He's helped me so much with my birthday preparation... he bought me a birthday cake and not telling me... i would have thought that's already enough as a birthday present.. i already thought it was the best gift ever just by having him... but... he still got me a birthday present..... an adidas pants that was similar to what i got him for christmas.... so similar that when i first saw it, i was thinking why in the world he returned me his pants!

11th feb.. the real day
Ahhh!! When i finally turned 21. Work that morning was great. It was rather busy and I was pretty much occupied and hence... i didn't need to make any phone calls!!! Boss found out it was my birthday and bought me chocolates :) Met Ivan after work, went to insurance company to lodge the claim for my phone and then met my parents up for lunch. Had lunch at nyonya at howick. Hainanese chicken, kampung tofu and sago with gula melaka!! Yummm yummm.. i was very satisfied. hehehehe... Later on, went to swim at lloyd elsmoore before going back and prepare for dinner. there was a lot of people since it was just when school was over but still... it was still good. Reason: i beat ivan! wahahaha!!!! if there's one thing i can be better than him, it must be swimming. lolx!! so yeaa.. felt good. lolx!!! Dinner was with my family and some family friends at star cafe.

After dinner... i had the best birthday cake ever made specially for me by uncle justin. Durian cake!!!! the previous year he made me durian cake as well. This year, it was durian cake but this time, it wasn't the frozen durian in packets. It was frozen durian bought still in its shell!!!! Omg!!! the smell was so strong and the taste was like.... ahhh!!!! heavenly yummy!!!

not only it tasted good.. it looked so good too!!!

And so... this was it.... all the events that happened that built up to the 11 of February. Basically it felt like my birthday was not only on the 11th but before that as well. Haha!! And it did not end here.... there are still events that happened after that.... Part two of my summer will be up soon!! This post has been sitting in my Drafts for a very long time now and I thought I put it up!! I don't expect you to read to the very end of this but well done if you made it to here.

As I said before, a blog is for me to recall all the special events that happened so 10 years down the road, I can reflect on what I was doing. Hehehehe.....

1st month in sydney

1 month

I've been here for a month now. I apologize for the lack of updates. I owe you guys a proper post. A long one...Hehehe....

So let's start with my first week. Mum and dad were here so that made things a heck lot easier. I arrived on Sunday night and had to go to the Uni the next day. My campus isn't the main campus. It is the Cumberland Campus (haha! reminds me of Cumberland Hall back in Dunedin where we stayed for Bersatu Games!) situated at Lidcombe, facing a cemetry. The drive to the campus was LONG! I slept in the car and the traffic was just horrible. The lanes here are narrower and there's way more cars.

Reached the uni and went to enrol for my classes and got my student card. Orientation for all the Masters student in Health Science were going on since that morning so I joined in. Had a small scavenger hunt/campus tour and I got myself a Health Science dri-fit polo shirt and lots of easter eggs. Mum and dad picked me up at 4 and then it was home time. Tuesday was suppose to go for orientation as well but the traffic was bad so I decided to just go around the uni myself and use the computers. Decided to be independent and said I'll find my way back.

This... is when the journey all started. To begin with, I did not have a map. I just had the instruction from Pyrmont bridge to Refinery Drive (where my cousin stays) written down. The walk from Cumberland Campus to Lidcombe station was pretty straightforward. Just a straight road so I got there pretty easy. It was a hot afternoon and was sweating by the time I reached the station. It's a 2.2km walk.

Caught the train to Town Hall. When I got off Town Hall station ... I realized I was so silly! I didn't find the direction from Town Hall to Pyrmont bridge. And so, I just followed my instinct. It led me there and I was so proud of myself. Walked along pyrmont bridge, enjoying the view of Darling Harbour. Came to the end of it, it got a wee bit tricky but I was confident and jsut followed the written instructions.

Pyrmont bridge. The bridge I walked on everyday.

And so I walk and walk.... walked passed cafe, saw new buildings ... saw the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre ... So cool.. took a pic of it.. didn't even know it existed! saw more cafes ... saw UTS being pretty close .... and then... wait a minute.... I never seen all these before when my dad drove along Harris Street! By then I was already walking for 30 mins.... Bugger!!!! I was walking towards the wrong direction!!! I read the map wrongly on google maps and wrote turn left instead of turn right!!! Omg!!! This means i have to walk 30 mins back to the starting point plus a further 15 mins to get home!!! I was so tempted to ring dad up but I decided to be independent!!. and so...... I walked back.... another 45 mins.... Man.... and to make things worst, the blister from the half marathon was still there, I was wearing jandals... Sighhhhh.... Ohh well.. ppl learn from mistakes... On the brighter side, I won't get lost anymore, I saw the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, I got a tan and I got a good workout. Not bad afterall I guess. Haha!

The next 3 days were orientation just for the Physiotherapy students. It was crazy. We had lectures, we had labs. From 9 till 4 for those 3 days. No joke. Basically, uni started then for us. I was shocked and exhausted by the end of that week. Mum and dad left on Saturday and that was when I finally got my phone and my internet.

Speaking about my phone... it's a pretty good plan. I pay $19 a month, I get a new phone and get to keep it (it's the Red Sony Ericsson G502). It's a 2 year contract which is just PERFECT. I get $70 a month to text/call any numbers in the world and another $70 to call people on my same network. The internet isn't too good tho. $29 a month with a 3gb limit. Ohh wellzzzz....

2nd week here is my 1st week of uni. And it was..... like hell. I was overwhelmed. 6 papers, 27 hours of face to face classes a week. By the end of that week.. I was like.. "omg! what have i gotten myself into". The amount of information thrown at us for the very first week was just too much to digest. The amount of work they expected us to do was just over the roof. Wednesday was the longest day ever where I had lectures from 8-6, with an hour of lunch break. So basically, it was 10 hours at the uni, of which 9 hours were attending lectures and labs. That is pretty much how my Wednesday is. I termed it, Hell Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday I start at 8, finish by 3. Thursday and Friday I start at 10. For this first 6 weeks, Thursday I finish at 12, Friday I finish at 5. And after that 6 weeks, Thursday I finish at 3 and Friday I start at 3. So basically, Thursdays and Fridays are pretty sweet but Mon till Wed are the exhausting days. It takes me 1.5 hours to get to uni (walk 30 mins, train 30 mins, walk 30 mins). And so, when class starts at 8, I gotta get up at 6. And at the end of the day, I get home around 7 as I stay back at the library to do my readings because there's just too many books to buy!! I already bought 3 books and that's not even half of them.

books i boughts + books i borrowed all currenly on my shelf

2nd week of uni wasn't at bad as the 1st week. Sure there were more things to do but a few of my coursemates and I split up our readings and share our notes around so that it lightens the work load. Not by a lot but at least it does help a bit. More information to take in and I guess I am to the point at which ignorance started to kick in and I just couldn't be bothered worrying anymore. I didn't feel as overwhelmed as first week and the days just flew by. As long as I survived Wednesday every week, I'd be sweet.

At the end of 2nd week, I went for an hour jog on Saturday morning to clear my head and felt great after that. As my cousin's place is just facing the wharf, hence my jogging route consist of jogging along the wharf, from Pyrmont all the way to King Street Wharf and back. It was a slow jog but it felt good. There's no sports I can play now. Uni is just too hectic to find time to find a team and play sports. And even if I do, there isn't transport. I looked up places for indoor netball and well..... it's not easy for a person without a car to get there. And so, I shall just wait till I get back to NZ for some netball.

3rd week of uni went by pretty quick as well. Felt like the 2nd week too except on Wednesday, it was a different story. Usually after lunch on Wed, we will have 2 hours lecture, 1 hour lab, then 2 hour lab. But this wed, it was 3 hours of lecture and followed by 2 hours of lab. It was CRAZY. That 3 hours of lecture just killed me. And I think it was the same for the most of us. To add on, it was Neuroanatomy. I hate neuro.. A LOT! I have mental block on it. Last year, I had a neuroscience paper and seriously, I passed that paper just by memorising past paper answers. If it wasn't for past papers, I'd failed and not graduate. I thought I was done with neuroscience... I thought I was done with all those stupid pathways of the brain. But.. I thought wrong. Still have to do it over here. Just in case I become a Physio who works with stroke patients. But yeaaa... after that 3 hours of lecture, I came out feeling like I've been hit by a car. I felt like as if I didn't know what just happened and suffered from a concussion. The first 1.5 hour went pretty alright, I was writing notes down as well as understanding it. Quite proud of myself actually. But come to the 2nd half.... when all the pathways started appearing... WHAMMM!!! I had no idea what the lecturer was talking about, I had no idea what I was writing. I was just copying the slides and nothing seemed to make sense.

But..... it was comforting in a way to know that most of us felt like that as well. Hehehehehe.... When we came out of the lecture hall, everyone's face was blank and pale. Everyone got hit. haha! Quite a funny expression to watch. And to attend 2 more hours of lab after that..... unbelievable!! i just wanted to go home!!! But anyhow.. I still survived it. We survived Hell Wednesday once again!!

Dr.Chan? Hahahaha... i wish. My new toy I bought from E-bay. Not bad. they even carved my name on it too!!

And so.. that's uni life for me. Two years of this. Just two years. Just have to hang in there. I can do it. Two years of hard work and then it's done!!

As with friends, I've made a couple of Canadian friends. Yes, ever since my trip to Canada, I can't seem to escape them. Last year majority of my lecturers were Canadians. And now, here I am... mixing with a bunch of Canadians and me being the only one from NZ. But, they are a friendly bunch of people. At times it can be intimidating as they're all so hardworking and they seem to know a lot. All of them have graduated few years back, worked and are now back to study. It's good in a sense that I feel guilty if they said they studied and I didn't. It actually makes me want to study. And ... I'm the youngest amongst them. There is people my age in the course but yea.. I was introduced to them during Orientation and so... those are the people I hang out with. It's good tho... makes me feel young ... well, i always do feel young anyway!! Ignorance is Bliss as I love to say. Stay away from the younger ones and hang out with the oldies to feel young. Or shall I say, Living in Denial. Teeheee...

Went for one of the girl's 25th birthday party on Friday night actually and it was just good to relax and hang out and shared our views and feelings about the course. We deserved it after 3 gruelling, overwhelmed weeks to start the term. We came to know that everyone's all in the same boat, all feeling the same and we're not alone. All we can do is to help each other and eventually will get through this. I am blessed to find people like that. People who are not selfish and are willing to help one another out. In primary school and college years, I've came across many "kiasu" people. Sad to say this but yes... they're mostly Asians. Always so competitive. With the sportsci friends I made, I felt blessed then. And now here.... it's good again to find people like that.

We realized the class numbers this week has fallen. We noticed some people weren't showing up at lectures and tutorials. Maybe they just took a week off. We'll see next week. But yea.. it could be a possibility that they decided to drop it after being thrown with so much surprises. Every week we go through, we shall pat ourself on the back as we made it through another week.

During orientation week, the course coordinator told us that 250 people applied to the course, 105 were accepted. 50 international applicants, 19 got it. And hence... that's another thing that shall keep me going. Those are the numbers I always remind myself.... that I'm one damn lucky bugger to get accepted and I better not screw it up.

Now the group of friends I'm lacking are msian friends. That, will be a tough one. It's hard not being in main campus and to join a msian club and to meet msians. I've already did my self discovery during my 3 years in undergrad uni where I realized the people I feel most comfortable to be around with are definitely still have to be Msians. But yeaa... nothing too major la... It's only two years anyway. It's just another opportunity to diversify I guess.. haha! Besides, there's yu sheng and lucas over here so that isn't too bad. Still, it's been ages since we met up and lots of have changed along the years. It'll take time to get to know each other again perhaps.

Uni... friends... now.... family. I've got two cousins over here. One whom I stay with and the other, I see once in awhile. The cousin I stay with is 12 years older than me. I haven't seen her for ages and it's just great to see her again and to stay with her. She was the one who taught me to read when I was a lil brat. She was the one who was forced to watch my favourite cartoon, Beauty and the Beast, with me every morning before I go off to kindy. That was how she spent her summer holidays back then. haha! And now, many years down the track, she is taking care of me again. I don't pay rent and I hardly pay for groceries. She's a doctor and works in the hospital and her shifts are occasionally day shifts, sometimes evening and sometimes night. She eats very healthy and I have no choice but to eat what she cooks as well. Can't be picky over here. In saying that, I have already eaten brocolli for so many days as well as capsicums for god knows how many times already!! She usually steams fish and they are mostly salmon. Good stuff man!! Ocassionally she'll cook up some special dish she takes out from the many recipe books she owns. I've cooked a couple of times as well and that's when there's no brocolli, no capsicum. There will be meat!! Ahahaha!! Ohh!!! I ate eggplants too!! I hate hate eggplants but yea.. I had to eat that too. Moreso, I was the one that cooked it. I had no idea how to cook eggplants but that was the only "vege" in the fridge that particular night and since I am cooking for my cousin as well, I figured there must be some veges too. And so... I cooked it. I chopped it up and fried it with egg as I thought the egg will kill whatever yucky taste it has and so I can eat it. It turned out pretty alright but still... not a dish I would love. lolx!

pretty pretty cupcakes! my cousin made over 80 cupcakes for her friend's wedding. how nice of her!!!!!!

So yeaa.. staying with my cousin is awesome. She's like the nicest person ever and very polite. Everytime after I cook, after I do the dishes, after I do the laundry, she's always so thankful and always saying that I didn't need to do them. She always has this very cheerful polite tone when she speaks and always makes me feel so warm and nice. Awesome cousin I have!!! And a cool place too! Loving the place I'm staying now. Mum asked me if I wanted to move to a place closer to my campus and not worry about the money as the travelling is very time consuming. But yeaa... I am very comfortable over here and it's so close to the city. Even if there's a place for free that's closer to campus, I wouldn't want to move. This is the closest thing I can get to home for now and I wouldn't want to trade it off.

my comfy comfy room ..arrangement so similar to my room in akl... hehehe....

this is one of the few things hanging on my wall beside my bed. Project SM by my other half. Thanks swannie!!! I love it so much and it's now hanging on my wall so I can see it every morning when I wake up!

And so, this is Sydney for me for now. Sure I do miss home, family and friends but this is life. I am coping better now and am going to make the best out of these two years and bring all these life experiences back with me. These experiences are priceless and I am going to make the best out of it!

Good night and well done for making to to the very bottom of this post. Still have so many overdue summer posts!!!!!

picking myself up

Getting there.. slowly but surely...

today for once.... i did not sort of dozed off in class.. yes, the past one week... i never fail to doze off in at least one lecture/tutorial everyday. i had no idea why i didn't doze off today judging i only had 4 hours of sleep last night.

tomorrow is hell wednesday.. taking a short break from studying now.. procrastination.. that's the word.. haha!! i just realized i find it hard to get my mind around these two words... i'm very SLOW....contralateral.. ipsilateral.. man i hate these fancy words when u can just say "same side" and "opposite side".... left n right is already hard for me...

i had some thoughts last night..... and i'm slowly pulling myself together....

this first year is definitely going to be the hardest. i'm actually looking forward for next year as it will be mostly placements and more hands on. but for now, i need to get the techniques and theories right which i'm really bad at for now. don't know my anatomy well at all. it is going to be the hardest because it's a new environment, i will have to form a new method of studying and i need to be strong. somehow, i just have to pick myself up and march forward. there's no point regretting coming here. i have been having thoughts on how i should have just stayed at auckland and go to AUT. it'll be a long 4 yrs but at least i will be in a familiar environment and it will be more relaxed as there's a longer time frame to cram all these stuff in my head.

But as i said, there's no turning back. i've made the decision months back, i have wished so hard for this opportunity. i got it now, my wish was granted and i should make full use of it. for my dream to come true, it is now all up to me. i've been given the key to my future, now i just have to find the lock in the next two years, stick the key in and open it up.

On a different note ....

More money came into my Bring Back Sher Mayne for Graduation fund!!!! Thank you to all of you who contributed!! thank you thank you!!!! really really appreciate it!

And now... back to the spinal column

not strong afterall

Not that strong afterall...

I've been here for two weeks already. Been very busy the moment I set foot here and lots of things were being thrown at me, right into my face. I do consider myself lucky, for already having a place to stay and not needing to pay rent. It's a pretty posh apartment I must say and I am thankful for that. I kept telling myself it would have been harder if I did not have a roof to stay under, and that I should stop complaining, chin up and just be strong.

First week of uni has already thrown me to the very bottom of the hole. And I have no idea when will i be able to climb out of it. I wake up at 6 on Mondays and Wednesdays and get back at 7.30. Thursdays and Fridays I sleep in till 8 and get back at 6.30pm. One day, I will walk at least 4.4km. On the days I choose to stinge on bus fare, I would walk 8.8km to save $1.80. I have been doing that since Wednesday. In total, I walked 35km this week. Good exercise I must say but I'm exhausted.

But this kind of exhaustion can disappear just by sleeping it off. I woke up this morning and I felt better. The brain exhaustion however worries me as I just have so much to revise. It is always there every single day and it just keeps piling up as the days go by. But... it is tolerable. I told myself 2 years of hard work and I'll finally get what I want. I just have to pull through this. Another exhaustion I guess is the heart. This I did not realize it was there till today. Sure I know I miss NZ, I miss the people and I knew it was normal.

Today is Saturday. I slept in till 9.30 and then went out for walk with my cousin after that. Felt good. Afternoon, called my mum and wished her happy birthday and talked to dad too. Started to miss home more. Chat with Ivan and then read some notes. Tried to update my phone but failed. At night, was suppose to meet up with Lucas and Yu Sheng, my ex-swimming friends, but Yu Sheng couldn't make it. Hence, I ended up being by myself, cooking my dinner and watching Mamma Mia on DVD, trying to kill away the loneliness. Trying to ignore the fact that I'm alone on a Saturday night. It was a happy movie but I found my eyes being watery.

My mind wasn't on the movie. I realized I miss home a lot. I thought of all the things I will be doing if I am in auckland right now. Going out for dinner and having yummy cake, listening to all the aunties and uncles talking. I thought of all the good companies I have back there. The weekly sports to look forward to every week. And here.. here I am. Pretty much alone apart for two swimming friends who I haven't met for years and have their own things to do, my cousin, and a few course mates but not not that close. There's nothing much to look forward to in the weekend or any particular day of the week. No sports that I can do. I looked up social netball at the uni's website but it's a lot of money. I want to just play and not pay. I am paying enough already for this course. I went searching for the Msian club at uni online but the site wasn't updated. I need friends. Friends that I will feel comfortable around with. Not to be picky but I just feel more comfortable around Malaysians. My uni is not the main campus. No clubs to sign up to. I have no idea how to get to main campus. Even if I do, the mode of transport is not going to be straightforward like just catching one bus or just a train ride away. Sydney is damn freaking big! And even if there's a way, I just simply don't have the time. The timetable is jam packed everyday, no time for travelling between two campuses like back in Auckland.

In Auckland, I can just hop onto the shuttle bus, go to main campus, study there, have lunch, and then come back to Tamaki for classes. Here, there's no way doing that. Cumberland campus is just so isolated. The campus is freaking opposite a cemetry for goodness sake!!! *sigh*

Two years... And I'm only here for two weeks so far. Aim far, look towards the future. Just suffer for two more years and I'm done.

I want to say I'm well now but I'm not. But I eventually will be. It's just one of those down days I suppose.

I can't upload much photos for now. Only 1.2 gb left for the next 3 weeks.

So here's just a few - my room, the balcony, the lounge... it's what i call posh and why i consider myself darn lucky to stay here...

A year ago, this was the date where everyone got sabo-ed when supposedly, the birthday person should be the only one to get it all. This was what I wrote : "Besides having all the ingredients on Ivan.... I got caked and floured ...jeremy got pie-ed ... sharvin got creamed ... Uda got splashed. I guess in the end, we were all victims too. Haha!! I smelt like puke after that. Smelt worst than my birthday sabo. Everyone were attacking each other. Haha!!"

Well, I do have to say, this day might very well be one of the things that brought two monkeys closer. Who knows? We started planning other sabos together and being mischevious monkeys, we backstabbed each other too. The month of March was the month with the most sabo last year. His birthday, Pei Lyn's bike trip sabo, Vanessa's sabo. All three were very very messy.

Whereas for this year... I can very well tell you if you get sabo-ed, it's not me, ok? Though I do wish I can be there ....

I wish I can be there
Throwing eggs at you
Sprinkling flour
Pouring milk
All over you

I wish I can be there
To buy you a cake
To watch you open your presents
To have dinner with you
To pay for your meal

I wish I can be there
When the clock strikes 12
To be the first to wish you
With a birthday hug
A birthday kiss

I wish I can be there
To hold your hands
To see your smile
To see you laugh
To feel your warmth

I wish I can be there... with you on this special day.

So since I can't be there .... Happy Birthday Ivan!!

It was great knowing you the past two years. And the past one year to get to know you better was great. And now, knowing that you're mine and I'm yours is just the greatest gift of all and I feel so lucky to have you. Thanks for all the wonderful memories and for the great company during summer before I leave.

And now.... here's another birthday gift from me to you. Nothing flash as it's my first time doing this.