The Chronosapien

Day 03 - 5 Songs to have in a deserted island

2011-07-21T00:02:00.000+08:00

For me to only have 5 songs on a deserted island, I would have to listen to the same songs over and over and not get bored. Either that, or it gives me motivation everytime I hear it. =)

1) The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars

I can never get bored of this song. =P

There was one time I looped this song over and over while doing my assignment for 3 hours straight! And yeah, I did actually get my assignment done, contradicting the theme of the song I was listening to when I did it. XP

2) I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

This is also another song which I can't get bored of. Most times I can't really catch the lyrics, so for some songs I only like the catchy tune. But for this song, it has both a catchy tune and good lyrics! Not to mention Jason Mraz just does wonders with his voice. =D

3) Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift

Just because the attitude of this song is like "So what?" So what if you don't love me? So what if I'm stuck on a deserted island? This song would definitely keep me going, surviving everything God has ~~to throw at~~ planned for me. =)

4) 少年 - 曹格 & 光良

FYI, I'm not banana, I listen to Mandarin and Cantonese songs too! =p

For those who can't read Mandarin, this song portrays the unchanging principle of a young man despite the world which is trying to change him. Alone on a deserted island, this song will remind me to be strong willed and also give me some motivation to go through each day. =)

5) God is Good - Don Moen

Need I say more? This is one of the upbeat worship songs that I like the most and almost always keeps me in high spirit! Don't get me wrong, it's not that the slow songs are not good, but at the end of it they make me emo, and in addition to that, I'm all alone on a deserted island! We don't want that now, do we? =)

Cheers to 30-Day Blogging Challenge. =)

Day 02- Inspiration

2011-07-20T00:44:00.001+08:00

I can be inspired by practically anything I see in daily life. Be it the people on the street, the pigeons flying about or even buildings. It's probably how I would see and relate things differently from most people. Try playing Taboo with me and you'll know what I mean. =)

Back to the topic, I find that people inspires me the most... Especially people, whom despite their disability, performs better in life compared to most people without disabilities...

1) My deceased cousin
My cousin was borned with a disease that degenerates his muscles. At birth, even doctors gave him a maximum lifespan of only 30yrs old. I actually wrote a post about him after his funeral, so I'll just post the link here.
Inevitable

2) The people in this video
Two dancers, he without arm, she without leg.

3) Ordinary people doing extraordinary deeds. Nuff' said.

Most of all, I'm always inspired by the people around me. My family, friends, relatives. Sometimes I have to look past the appearances to really appreciate what they're doing. And sad to say, I only learnt how to do that in recent years. At least, now that I can 'see' it, I can learn to appreciate it even more, especially when it goes unspoken. =)

Cheers to 30-Day Blogging Challenge. =)

Day 01- Guilty Pleasure

2011-07-19T00:24:00.001+08:00

Hmm... Guilty pleasure? I guess for me it would be gluttony. I used to just eat whenever I don't have anything else to do at home, which explains why junk food will never last a week in my house. =p

I used to eat till the brim at buffets until I literally cannot walk. And when I can, I would go grab more food, lol. And the cycle repeats until it is time to leave. =p

But officially, I guess KFC would be my guilty pleasure. Everytime I have their chicken, I would first peel off the crispy skin, revealing all the oil beneath it that starts to drip onto the plate. Even seeing and knowing all the unhealthy effects it would bring to my body, I can still chuck it into my mouth and savour every bite! =p

But their chicken is only second best, the best thing they have to offer is still their CHEESY WEDGES!! Even after they started charging RM1 for extra cheese, I'd still go for it coz it's definitely worth it!! You know how unevenly spread the cheese is on the wedges when it is served? I would make sure that each one is well coated with cheese before eating it. And even after, I would finish every last bit of cheese left in the box. =p

Guilty I felt, but the pleasure was overwhelming!! =D

Cheers to 30-day Blogging Challenge. =)

A reason to blog: The 30-Day Blogging Challenge

2011-07-18T21:41:00.002+08:00

Recently, I've been having all these random thoughts and didn't really know where to put them. I thought of putting it on my blog, but then again, they're just random thoughts...

So now, thanks to this 30-Day Blogging Challenge started by Christina, I've decided to blog again.

Day 01- Guilty pleasure

Day 02- Something that inspires you

Day 03- The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why

Day 04- What you imagine paradise to be like

Day 05- A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life

Day 06- Earliest thing you can remember

Day 07- Favorite cover of your favorite song

Day 08- Someone you think would make a good president

Day 09- Five things you want to see change

Day 10- A dream you had this past week described in detail

Day 11- Favorite picture ever taken of yourself

Day 12- Your favorite musical artist’s life story

Day 13- A memory that never fails to make you laugh

Day 14- Best mashup you’ve ever heard

Day 15- A moment, phrase, or song that has changed your life the most

Day 16- Something that you want to do within the next five years

Day 17- What you want to remembered for

Day 18- A picture that makes you feel

Day 19- A passage from a book that has touched you

Day 20- A band that you immediately liked and the song that made you like them

Day 21- Your favorite medium of art

Day 22- Someone you would give your life up for without question

Day 23- Most awkward first impression you feel you’ve ever given

Day 24- Something you did as a child that other people remember you for

Day 25- Something you would do if no one stopped you or if you knew you wouldn’t fail

Day 26- Your definition of love

Day 27- Your definition of the meaning of life

Day 28- A moment you remember being completely happy in and a description of why you believe you were. What is your definition of happiness?

Day 29- What you live for

Day 30- Ways you believe you have grown over the past thirty days

Hopefully, I won't bore you guys with the boring thoughts that come out of my head. =p

If I do, you can read their posts too! ^^
Charmain
Carmen
Lindley
Brandon
Melanie

Cheers. =)

The Ex that I never knew

2011-03-09T02:30:00.002+08:00

This brings me back to my form 6 days at S.M.K. Sultan Abdul Samad, PJ.

I had taken part in a few clubs and each club was to send a representative to this 3-day-2-night camp called "Kem Integrasi" held and sponsored by the school. Being a scout, I loved camps and missed it dearly since I finished my SPM. But all the clubs that I was part of had already chosen their 'scape-goat' and at the same time, I was afraid to express my interest to join. Maybe it was peer pressure since everyone didn't want to go, I didn't wanna be the odd one out.

However, there was one club, whose members only counted a handful, who hadn't chosen anyone. Desperately trying to get it without drawing attention, I kinda 'lured' them into choosing me as their scape-goat. Mission accomplished! =D

I was thrilled to be able to join camps once again. I happily brought all my old scouting equipment 'back to life' not to mention my camping spirit! =D

As the camp began, we were split into groups. In my group, I was one of the 2 upper sixes in the group which meant that we, as the eldest, should lead the group. But the other person was a small, petite girl who has absolutely no clue. On top of that, I was also one of the only 2 guys in the group! The more reason I should be the group leader, right?

Nope, not for me at least.

I gently pushed all responsibilities to the other guy to be the leader. Why you ask? I had low self-esteem and wasn't confident in my own leadership, if I had any that is. I was also afraid to bear responsibilities because in previous camps, I tend to screw up stuff, big and small.

The guy seems to be okay with his position and I can tell that he tries really hard to make up for his inexperience. He's better than me in the sense that he actually tries. So I guess my decision wasn't all that bad. =)

Although I broke free from being the leader, it didn't mean that I just sat there and watch him die. With the most experience in camping, I would feel bad if I didn't give him some advice when he needed it the most. In a way, I was leading the group through his hands.

As of most camps, they'll have teambuilding activities as well as bonding sessions. And through all of those, 1 of the girls fell for me. As in, had a crush, oh you get it, right?

I only realised it after the camp when she started sms-ing me on random occasions, and really often too. At that point of time, I didn't quite had the feelings she would like me to have, and even if I did, I wouldn't have had the guts to start a relationship. I was full of doubts. "Should I start this?" "Would I be a good boyfriend?" "Would I be able to develop feelings for her over time?"

All sorts of questions came into my mind. But yet, there was still no definite answer. Logically, at my current state, I should take whatever I can get. But my conscience told me that if I accept her and end up hurting her, then I shouldn't start this at all. But the other side also told me that I will not get another chance like this anytime soon, so if I give up without trying, I would've failed before it even began.

So I chose to let it be. To maintain the status quo. But if she were to ask me out, I guess I would be up for it? No, it didn't happen, that's why I'm still guessing.

Soon, the smses started to die off, just as fast as it began. And so did my chance of loving someone with all my heart.

And now, I kinda regret that I didn't try. To be loved is a blessing, and to love back is the choice of accepting that blessing. I regretted not to had made the right choice. But if I don't fall down, I wouldn't know where to pick myself up, now would I?

What's done is done and there's no point crying over spilt milk. All I can do now is to appreciate the people who love me and to love 'em back. And if I ever get a second chance, I promise that I'll do everything that I can to make it work. Nema (=

Cheers.

Of Pork and Wine

2010-12-10T11:19:00.000+08:00

Tonight was supposed to be just like every other night where I go for futsal or cell. But this time, a family friend came all the way from Australia to visit and was planning meet up over dinner. Since I haven't seen him for a few years, I decided to join them. At that time, I had no idea where we were eating, mind you.

I only found out on the way there that we were gonna eat at Vintry in Bukit Damansara, a place famous for its pork dishes and variety of good wine. I've been there before and the food is great!

"Well, at least my stomach will be satisfied", I thought to myself as I disliked joining my father and his friends in their drinking sessions.

There were 12 of us, occupying 3 tables. So most dishes was ordered in sets of 3. Wine was also served and consumed together with the barbecued pork, it was like pork heaven!

After a few dishes and a few glasses of wine, I was feeling quite satisfied already. Then came the pork ribs! And they even cleaned up one side of the rib so we could hold it at one end and eat from the other!

By now, I was already quite high (not sure from the wine or the pork). But I liked that feeling of being semi-conscious. It was rather relaxing especially after a good meal. All this, combined with a dimly lit orange lighting and good music (oldies), it was like a massaging all my senses at once!! *melts*

I've never felt so relaxed and also, I was actually entertained by their (the adults) conversation! Now that was a first... Maybe it's a hint that now I'm also an adult? =P

Initially, I was having doubts about joining them for dinner (and drinks) but after all that, I didn't regret for not going to cell or futsal. (sorry guys =P)

I don't really like drinking, especially when everyone is drinking for the sake of getting really high/drunk.

But I'd prefer drinking slowly to relax and just enjoy the company of fellow friends.

A good night out for me would be good conversation and good company, that's all. =)

Cheers

Internship

2010-11-20T01:59:00.002+08:00

Yes people, I'm currently doing my internship at Jess Technology, which is very closely-related to my course.

Basically, they deal with things in the manufacturing industry like production lines and factories which is exactly what is taught in Mechatronics Engineering!

Initially, I had another offer near Sunway, but after the interview at Jess, I totally fell in love with this company and what they do. So I rejected the previous offer since Jess offered the job me on the spot. Of course, I accepted it right away. =P

As of now, I've officially completed my first week and I've learnt SO MANY things!! Most which I'll never learn through the university or studying!

The technical manager (Wooi) whom I'm working under is so awesome, I can't even imagine what the company would do without him! Just give him 5minutes with any circuit, and he can figure out how it works and what it does already!

Haha anyways.... So far he's taught me some circuit testing and repairing techniques, also how to build a battery charger!

Ok this might sound dull to you, but batteries are total dumbasses!!

That's why good chargers are designed to be intelligent so that it will not damage the battery through overcharging.

Up till now, I never knew how chargers could affect a battery's lifetime and quality.

Rule of thumb: good batteries are important, but good chargers are CRUCIAL!

Now I know why my HTC charger costs a bomb and also how it works to increase my battery lifespan.

FYI, I found a Battery University which specializes in battery research. Check it out!

And since the battery charger that I designed needs a programmable PIC chip, Wooi is willing to buy a PIC development kit worth RM500+ for me to "play with"!

I went like "wow!" but actually, his true goal was for me to learn all the programming stuff, then teach it to him. But who cares, I've got a cool toy to play with anyways!! XD

The office hour is actually 8.30am-6pm Mon-Fri which is longer than most offices but I don't really feel the urge to go home when working here. I actually feel quite comfortable staying in the office a little longer just to do the things I like. =)

All in all, I'm kinda enjoying this internship experience which I thought I would be doing lots of work, getting under-paid and learning nothing.

Cheers

Backache...

2010-11-14T19:04:00.001+08:00

... just wasted my RM50 for WLS and another RM78 to see a doctor and get medication.

Note to self:
Never EVER play basketball AND badminton on the same day.

Cheers

GroupsMore

2010-10-30T01:42:00.013+08:00

Okay, so recently I'm having exams so I didn't do anything worth blogging about.

But this one sounds interesting so here I go! =P

Imagine this, you go to a fish market to buy some salmon. But because salmon is so expensive, you try to save cost by buying in bulk.

But then you realise that if you buy too much, the last of it wouldn't be fresh or you might not even finish it. It would also defeat the purpose of saving cost as you are paying more in advance. However, regardless of the amount you purchase, the stall will continue to sell their fish at market price to the other customers.

So you figured that if you gather all the customers to buy as a group, all of you could enjoy the discounted price and only buy the portion you need.

But if everyone does that, won't the owner suffer some losses?
The answer is yes, and no.

Yes, they would be losing in terms of profit due to the reduced price of their stock.

No, because they are also able to finish selling their current stock earlier and bring in new stock.

In business terms, it means a higher turnover rate which is a good thing. Especially when it comes to products that can only be kept for a while before it loses its value. (such as meat and vegetables)

They would also gain in terms of permanent customers which means better business in the future!

It's a WIN-WIN situation!

So, a group of young people assembled themselves and created GroupsMore! It means buying in Groups to get More discounts!
(or somewhere along those lines :p)

Every week, they'll come up with a new deal that they themselves would buy and share. That way, they'll know if others would do the same.

Since you'll only get the discount when you buy in groups, there is a minimum purchase before the deal is on. Once the target is reached within the given time period, the deal is automatically on. But if the target is not reached in time (which rarely happens), the buyers will be fully refunded within 7days.

Personally, I think their deals are the best and I myself have bought and shared many deals.

For example, I've bought and recommended the discount for ice-skating at Pyramid Ice (RM6). I referred it to my friend and she bought 20 of those for a club event!

Recently, I also bought the RM1 Gelare ice-cream voucher. Since it was only RM1, I was a little greedy and bought 30! =P

(Who wants to go e@Curve for ice-cream? On me! =D)

Deals I plan to buy:

Half price for futsal in very new and nice court!
RM60/10=RM6/hr per person! =D

Huge burger for only RM12.50! =D

RM1 burger! That's cheaper than Ramlee burgers! =D

Worth every penny! Half price? Count me in!! =D

So what are you waiting for?

JOIN NOW!!

If you can't clink on the link, copy and paste the following:
http://malaysia.youthsays.com/sekszewei/student-groupsmore

P/S: Use my referral link, I'll get a measly 20cents for it but it's better than nothing, right? =)

It's YOUR RIGHT to vote

2010-10-25T23:03:00.007+08:00

Previously, as in before I registered as a voter, I was constantly nagged by my mum to register.

She'll go like "Eh, there's a booth in SS2 to register, go do it" or "Eh have you registered to vote yet?"

Being me, I felt that it was too troublesome to go all the way to SS2 just to register.

(Notice that I used "all the way" when it's only a 10-minute drive) =P

But on one fine day, while I was with friends, we walked past a registration booth and this time, my friend pestered me and his girlfriend to register.
Of course, he's already a registered voter.

You know the feeling when you won't do something by yourself, but when you have friends doing it with you, you'll have no problem at all?

So I finally registered myself as a voter and hence, the purpose of this post.

Sure, you can say that you'll do it, but when it comes down to it, you're only waiting for someone who's done it or someone to do it with you.

So I strongly suggest that you gather a few friends and register as a group. Then no one would feel awkward but rather, your other friends would feel the pressure to register as well.

"How to know if I'm qualified to register as a voter?"

You...

1) are a Malaysian citizen

2) are aged 21 or above (after your 21st birthday)

3) live in an election area (basically any district, town or city)

"What do I bring when registering as a voter?"

You need to bring...

1) Yourself

2) Your Malaysian IC (Identification Card)
(or other official documents for that matter)

"Where do I go to register again?"

Just go to the nearest...

1) State Election Office
2) Post Office
3) Mobile Registration booths in public places

"Oh no! What's with all these forms?!"

It won't take you more than 5 minutes! =D

You only need to fill in the basic stuff like address, IC no., birthdate, etc.

"Now that I've done it, how do I know if I'm really registered?"

Check your registration status at:
CHECKING ELECTORAL ROLL

"Woohoo! I'm officially registered! What now?"

Malaysia's next General Election will be held in 2013 or before 2013.

Sources:
Wikipedia: Next Malaysian general election
PilihanRaya.com.my: Election Tips for Voters

Cheers,
Sze Wei

Opportunities

2010-10-08T02:12:00.000+08:00

... won't come knocking at your front door asking you to take it.

Even if it does, it's your choice whether to take it or not.

I believe I have found it because I was looking for it and I've decided to grab it.

Sidenote: Am I the only one who thinks that life's not worth living if it ain't lived in your own way?

Cheers

Hooray!.... Boo~~~

2010-09-24T22:07:00.003+08:00

I've always believed that good and bad things come in pairs.

If something good happens to you, something equally bad will happen too, sooner or later. (and vice versa)

It's kinda like Karma, but more towards yin-yang balance-of-nature sort of thing.

So today, something happened that made me really happy!!

It kinda started from yesterday so I'll start from there.

So yesterday, a Thursday, would normally be my project day since I have no other class than the lab allocated for my project. I'm working on 2 stations: Storing Station and Handling Station.

Basically the storing station's program was done and I did half the program of the Handling Station.

As for the other half, my groupmate Kar Ann was doing it. And when he was done, he tested it but there was a bug.

At first I thought he programmed it wrongly so I checked and re-checked. Ok no problem! But the bug was still there!

Fine... Then I checked the wiring, tested every single sensor, manually tested the valves, and EVERYTHING WAS FINE!! But the BUG IS STILL THERE!! WHY?!?!

We were both scratching our heads so hard, I could almost dig my brain out!

And by 5pm, I realised that we spent the WHOLE DAY, JUST TRYING TO SOLVE THIS!!

On top of that, it was raining heavily and I was stuck in the jam for more than an hour before reaching home.

My brain was practically dead by then so I slept right after dinner. (not good for health, I know)

Now back to today, I had a tutorial till 12pm, then I headed to the lab and continued debugging.

After 2 hours, I realised that I wrote the entire program from scratch and THE BUG WAS STILL THERE!!

Just when I was about to give up, Vincent, who also used the same hardware, realised that an LED WAS ON which was supposed to be off.

So I spent the next hour finding the manual for it in the lab computers, the webdrive and Google!! When I finally found it, it says that there was a "forced value".

Then I went back to my program to check for the bug. After 15-freaking-minutes of clicking, looking for this "forced value", EUREKA!! I FOUND IT!!

I freaking DELETED the "forced value" and the LED turned off!!

I tested the program again and IT WAS WORKING!!! MUAHAHAHAHAH!!! XD

I was so happy that I started dancing around the lab like a clown LOL!

I even wanted to hug Vincent for his sharp observation.

So that's for my "Hooray!"

After I was done saving and backing-up my program, I quickly left as it was raining AGAIN and it was already 5pm. Traffic jam!!

I parked my car deep in the "jungle" so I didn't want to walk through all the dirt and mud. So I used the sidewalk by the road.

While I was distracted trying to avoid the small puddles of water, *SPLASH!*

An driver sped past me and 'coincidentally' there was a HUGE puddle of water on the road right where I was walking!

My jeans were soaked and I still had to walk to my car!! *@#4&^%@$*

I was like fine, since I'm in a good mood I shall let this pass.

But apart from the horrible traffic jam, I found out that I have ANOTHER TEST TOMORROW!!

Wwwwwwait, THERE'S MORE!

I needed to study for the test and my sister invited her friends over to play Mahjong, so now I can't concentrate on studying!!

On top of that, this test is not part of my course, it's an INSURANCE TEST!! So I didn't study this for the past 10weeks and I'm so gonna DIEEEEEEE!!!!!

I'm so tired today and I just wanna sleep...

Boo~~~

FML

2010-08-24T20:45:00.002+08:00

Recently a bunch of my friends stumbled upon this website called fmylife.com.

There are tons and tons of incidents in there that'll make the people say "F*** MY LIFE!" and the readers get a good laugh out of it. I'm sure that in every moment, there is someone going through their fml moment.

Here's mine:
My lecturer have a habit of uploading his lecture slides at the very last moment before his lecture starts, like 1 hour before. So I always had to rush to the printers to print the slides before lecture starts.

One day, as usual, I only realised that the slides were uploaded 5minutes before the lecture. So I headed up to the computer labs at level 4 to print them. I was kinda in a rush so I quickly sat down before a computer and logged in. As my right arm reached out for the mouse, it was nowhere to be found! "Grrrr, nevermind, I'll try the next computer", I said to myself.

So I moved on, and this time, the mouse was there. After logging in, I grabbed the mouse in an attempt to open the student drive. But the cursor hardly moved! Only then I realised that it was moving, but one pixel at a time! With no time to waste, I quickly logged off and moved to the next computer. "I couldn't be that unlucky", I thought to myself.

This time, I moved the mouse to make sure that it was functioning, and it was. I hastily typed in my username and password, and waited patiently. After loading for 2 whole minutes, an error message popped out saying that I can't log in! I was on the verge of insanity already!

Frustrated as I was, I was determined to print the slides. So I picked the one in which a student just left. Surely this time, the computer would be fully functioning, and it was. I quickly scrolled through to find the right slides and sent them to the lab printer.

By then, I was already 10minutes late for the lecture. So I logged off and hurried to collect my printouts. As I stared at the printer, I said to myself "FML!" and went straight to class without any notes. The printer was out of ink!

Melaka Trip (Short)

2010-07-17T18:11:00.000+08:00

Hi, I can't believe I'm finally updating my blog after SOOOOO long.

The post about The Mystery was kinda like a filler post. I got the idea from one of the many weird dreams I have when I'm half asleep. (a.k.a. day-dreaming)

Back to the trip. Jwen and Bad, a couple friend of mine, wanted to spend the holiday somewhere interesting. There was Penang, Langkawi, Ipoh, and even Sarawak! Then we decided that Melaka was the practical choice since accommodation will be free. I have relatives living in Melaka and my cousin just happen to have an abandoned bungalow. No, not those creepy, ghost-like houses. It's actually quite a nice place, just that the management couldn't rent it out.

On top of that, Jwen had a friend in Melaka named Sam. Sam is not from Melaka but he stayed there long enough to know where the good stuff are. So the five of us, including Sam's girlfriend, spent most of the three days together. Sam would take us to some famous Nyonya restaurant called "Donald's & Lily's" and also to eat the famous chicken rice ball. We would've eaten the famous Satay Celup, but someone among us was allergic to pork. (Funny, huh?)

Then when we were not eating, we went to Malaysia's largest Jusco (apparently) to watch Despicable Me. While waiting for the movie to begin, we also went to "ting ting"! Lol... it means the arcade according to Jwen and Sam.

All in all, the Melaka trip was all about eating. Too bad there wasn't enough time to try all the good food before we left. Jwen had to leave early on the last day because he had church practice to attend.

After reaching home at about 9pm, I unpacked my stuff, and took a nap on my bed. But when I woke up, it was 8am in the morning! Even I didn't realise how tired I was... =P

This is just a brief post about my trip. Photos will be up as soon as my sista (who took my camera @#$%^&) comes back from Miri.

Cheers

Mystery

2010-05-11T17:32:00.002+08:00

It was after our major exam, and we were overjoyed as though something heavy had been lifted off our shoulders. We recalled that we had previously talked about spending our holiday at Pangkor island. The beautiful beaches and crystal clear water ought to give us a break from the busy city life we come from.

"Okay okay, so let's talk about our Pangkor trip", said Qi Liang. "We're going on the 25th, right?" asked Kok Joo. And so hours went by as we were chatting online while planning every detail of our trip. "I wanna play volleyball! Oh, oh, and I wanna ride the banana boat!" And the list went on as Yiqing was raving about all the activities she wanted to try.

There was about 2 weeks before our trip. Feeling as free as a bird out of a cage, we went out for movies, bowling, pool, karaoke, and everything you could think of. Of course, our brain needed some recovery from the trauma the exams caused.

The gang consisted of Min-Yi, Qi Liang, Kok Joo, Yiqing, Tow Jin, Jason Lee, Derek Chai and also Uncle Lim! We were all enjoying our holidays so much, that our plans for the future almost didn't matter. Well, at least it was so for the most of us.

Time flies when you're having fun. In just a blink of an eye, the day for our trip was already here! We were all packed up and couldn't wait to get to the island. While waiting for the ferry, I was enjoying the breeze of the beach. It was very soothing and I felt a comfortable sensation. As if waking up from a dream, I realised that I was already on the ferry! I felt a little weird as I don't remember boarding it. But at the same time, I was more excited that we're on our way to our holiday island!

However, the ride to the island was rather peculiar. We were seated inside and there were no windows nor a tour guide which was stated in the brochure. Anyhow, we were just fine on our own as some of us have been to Pangkor Island. After playing a few rounds of cards, we had arrived at our destination! Or so we thought...

When we exited the cabin, the driver was no where to be found. We assumed that he had to go and ignored it as we were all too excited to get wet. That's right, we were already wet before we even unpacked!

As we settled into our rooms, Kok Joo revealed that he felt something weird about the island. He said that Pangkor island wasn't quite what he remembered it to be. On top of that, he saw someone who resembled his father on the island! But after a quick call, he confirmed that his father still back in KL.

Giving no thought to Kok Joo's weird encounter, we went on with our plans and tried every ride that was available! Namely, the banana boat, jet-skiing, wind-surfing and many more! We also had a four-on-four volleyball match and a sandcastle building competition! We were having so much fun!

Eventually, our sunlight for the day had ran out. So we all reluctantly dragged our tired but satisfied selves back to our rooms. After cleaning up, we walked to the nearby town to have some seafood dinner! As expected, seafood tastes best when eaten fresh! In fact, the food was so good, we stuffed ourselves to the rim! We had planned some beach walking before retiring to bed but we were so full, that our bodies preferred to roll than walk!

Sticking to our plan, we then 'rolled' ourselves to the beach. When we gazed above us, the night sky was so beautiful that it took our minds off our stomachs. The sky was glittering with stars as though the gods had sprinkled pixie dust on them. Mesmerized by the sheer elegance of the night sky, I just realised that I was separated from the group.

I looked around to see where I was, but something bizarre caught my eye. "Penguins?!" I thought to myself. "What on earth are penguins doing in the middle of a tropical country?!"

Still dumbfounded by the idea, I had to find my way back as I was very tired and it was late. Then, I spotted a small village, located on the other side of a wooden bridge spanning across a trench. I carefully walked past the penguins as they were doing their stuff. While crossing the bridge, I realised that the trench was so deep, that I couldn't see the bottom of it. Putting that aside, I entered the village hoping to find someone to lead me back. At that moment, I saw someone familiar. It was Uncle Lim!

I went to him asking where the others were, but he said, "What are you doing outside your tent?" "You should be resting at this hour!" He said as he grabbed my arm. I was very confused but tired as well so I followed him as he took me to a campsite filled with dome tents. I was lead to 'my' tent, and he left. By then, I was too tired to think or walk anymore and I slept on till morning.

When I woke up, I was surprised that all my stuff were already in my tent! "They must've planned this as a surprise", I thought. Feeling anxious to unfold the their plan, I washed up and got ready for the beach activities. As I was about to head towards the village, Derek called out to me, "Sze Wei! Come quickly! They're here!"

I went with him and eventually reunited with the gang. However, they were all running towards the edge of the village as though Kelly Clarkson was here to give a concert. "This must be part of their mischievous plan", I thought as I followed them. "Hey, that's me! It's me!", Yiqing pointed, "Me too!", followed by Tow Jin, and the same went for the rest of the gang. When I lifted my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw... It was really them!

As though looking through a mirror, they were looking at exact duplicates of themselves! When I took a closer look, 'I' was there too! "Oh... My... God!"

to be continued

My job rawks =)

2010-01-27T15:19:00.002+08:00

Short Talk: I'm blogging at work =p

Let's start from the beginning...

I was looking for engineering internships because Monash requires their engineering graduates to have at least 12weeks practice. So I searched Jobstreet and found a few internships with some well-established companies like DiGi or Mercedes-Benz.

I applied for 4-5 internships but never got any reply except for 1 which was rejected. So I waited and waited, and before I knew it, Christmas was over.

My patience ran out and I was wasting too much time. So I started applying for normal jobs again using Jobstreet. I even applied for some telemarketing job which I swore never to do again. That was how desperate I was...

A few days after I applied, I got a call from a telemarketing company requesting for an interview. I remember that the pay was quite good and they were marketing IT products, which was just my cup of tea. So I promised to attend the interview 2days later.

On the next day, I received another call and the caller says that he is "Eu Jin" from Carlist. At first, I thought that my friend Eu Jin was trying to prank me coz their voices were similar.

Then I realised that it was an actual internship that I applied for 3weeks ago. He liked my resume so much, that he skipped the interview and asked me to start work the following week. I immediately canceled my interview for the telemarketing job and luckily for me, he called in just in time.

I was quite happy that I got the job coz I could earn money, learn stuff and complete my coursework at the same time.

On the weekend before I started work, I tried looking for their office at Damansara Perdana but somehow I was lead to the condominium upstairs. I was too confused to look anymore so I went home.

When I finally started work, one of the staff took me to the office for the first time. I was a little shocked to find that the office was actually a condo unit. On top of that, almost everyone in the office are just about my age!! I felt a little 'culture shock' like how I first arrived in Australia, but this was more 'shocking'. =p

After working for a week, I realised that this job had nothing to do with my course. But at the same time, I found that I enjoyed the work coz it wasn't as stress as any of my previous jobs and the pay was good for an intern. The people are also very nice and friendly, and since we work in a condo, we have weekly badminton matches!

I would refer to my colleagues as friends rather than co-workers because they are much more of a friend whom I can talk to than co-workers whom I only work with. Even my boss is quite young and friendly. He even wanted to treat us to a movie but it was canceled due to unforeseen reasons.

Even as an intern, I have my own name card!!

How cool is that? =p

Oops, I've been going on and on about how nice my job is, that I forgot to tell you what we actually do! LOL...

Carlist.my is basically a website that advertises for used cars in Malaysia. And the best thing, is that it's COMPLETELY FREE!! =D

So, most people would ask what is the source of our income? That's easy. We earn from the advertising space rented out to companies who put their ads on Carlist.my .

As an intern, we have 3 main 'roles' as I would call it.

1) Used Car Dealers (UCD)
This means that we drive out in teams of 2 to find used car dealers to get their cars advertised on our website. The 2 of us would photograph of the cars as well as get the relevant information such as Year, Price, Make, Model, etc.

2) Individual Car Sellers (ICS)
The answer is no, we don't go around asking random people if they wanna sell their old car. One would search for car sellers at Mudah.my (or other websites) and call them to ask if we could advertise their car(s) on our website.

3) Data Entry
To me, this role is the easiest because there is no sun-bathing or outbound calling involved. One would only have to organised the photos taken the day before and input the data into the server.

Today, I did data entry and I finished my work early. Which explains why I could post this entry. =)

So, since I'm enjoying my job so much, how long and I staying?

Unfortunately, I'm only working for as long as my holidays last. Which is the last week of February since I'll be starting uni again in the first week of March.

Well, good things never last forever...

Hopefully I will be able to find an engineering internship which is as fun as this one during the my next summer holidays.

Gotta get back to 'work' now, over and out. =)

A bad day for futsal

2010-01-24T02:46:00.004+08:00

I was going to futsal just like any Friday, and I felt the sudden urge to put on my gloves and save a few shots.

So they shot a few balls, and I caught a few too...

Then I felt over-confident and my left arm ended up in the wrong position at the wrong time then boom! I can't feel my fingers for like 5 seconds...

It was all over. I couldn't play the goalkeeper for the rest of the night.

Then for the rest of the night, I was pressing/rubbing my fingers until I realise the source of pain was my pinky. I kept rubbing it hoping to lessen the bruise but it was painful as ever.

But that was not the worst part yet.

It started to rain... Normally, it wouldn't affect us except for some wet spots in the field.

But this was no normal rain. It was a STORM!! It was like some higher being was pouring barrels of water for 2 hours straight!!

But water was not the only thing coming from the sky. Lightning was striking like nobody's business. And finally, about 30minutes into the match, it hit the the field's fusebox and BAM! BLACKOUT!!

DAMN!! Just when I was starting to warm up... After a while, the power was back on and so the game continued. But just after 10minutes, some stray lightning bolt hit the fusebox again. =_="

They offered for us to switch to another court, and so we moved. Yet again, the power went out. This time, both the fuseboxes were kinda fried, and couldn't stay on for more than 5minutes. We could even smell some burning smell... =/

The power was turned on a few times before we eventually gave up and head to Ming Tian to eat.

Sigh... Talk about a stroke of bad luck... =(

I'm still alive!

2010-01-10T13:00:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: My father just started a blog and I'm his full-time editor now. =/

Okay... So I was a little busy... Or maybe VERY busy...

Some updates since my last post:

1. I reached home safely on the 1st of Dec 2009.

2. The boxes I sent from Australia arrived 8days later by cargo.

3. It was a pain in the a** to collect the boxes from LCCT.
(took me 3hours excluding the trip!)

4. I was chilling in December while looking for an internship at jobstreet.

5. I spent my Christmas at my aunt's house and ate Turkey! =)

6. Watched Avatar twice, Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Hunter and some movies on my laptop.

7. Spent my new year's eve in 1 Utama with friends.

8. First time I saw fireworks misfire. Thank goodness no one got hurt.

9. I gave up on getting an internship and applied for normal jobs.

10. I got an interview for a telemarketing job which I swore not to do again. I almost went for that interview. But I got a call from one of the internships I applied for 1 day before the interview. So I canceled the interview and went for the internship instead.

11. Now working at Damansara Perdana under carlist.my as an intern. This has almost NOTHING to do with engineering. But I like the environment, the people and the pay. So I'll be staying until uni starts again. =)

12. My laptop is very slow all of a sudden and everything I do now takes 3times longer than usual. I'm tried to update windows but failed to solve the problem. I'll try system restore before considering reformating it to Windows 7.
(Win7 is good according to my cousin, but lots of problems according to my friend.)

13. My dog eats like a pig, sleeps like a pig, and is turning into a pig!

14. Did I mention that my dog is anti-social? It growls if any other dog tries to play with it, and has absolutely no interest in anyone or anything other than food.

Next week will be a busy week for me.

Mon-Fri: work.
Friday night: futsal.
Saturday night: Brandon's Birthday
Sunday morning: Hangover. GG

Btw, Tiger beer at SIDS (TTDI) are on happy hour all night, every night, for Jan n Feb.

Hope you guys are having fun for the new year too^^

Cheers,
Sze Wei.

I'm going home!

2009-12-01T05:59:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I miss my dog. =p

Finally!! After 10months in Australia, I'm finally going home!

Not that I don't like Melbourne, but this is my first time being so far away from home for so long! I admit that I love Melbourne and used to think that I won't miss home, but my inner self got the best of me.

During my exam period, I had dreams that I was back in Malaysia. My dreams were so realistic that I would wonder: "When did I fly back?" "How am I flying back to Australia for my exams?" "Where's my dog?!"

Other times I would just wake up thinking I was in the same room back in Malaysia until I open my eyes. Truth is, my mind says that I'm not homesick, but my heart is telling me I miss home very badly.

My air ticket was initially the 19th of December. But since I didn't have any plans for the summer, my mum said she didn't mind paying to change my air ticket to an earlier date. Yet again, my mind was indifferent, but my heart was screaming from joy!

But before I head back, I wish to do something no one has done before.

Something no one would think of doing.

Something no one thought would be possible.

Something that I myself find quite challenging.

(Of course, this is not something illegal)

I'm planning on bringing ice cream back to Malaysia!!

Yes, you read correctly, I-C-E C-R-E-A-M !!!

Obviously, it is no ordinary ice cream, but home-made ice cream from Il Dolce Freddo, Lygon St.

I can bet that right now, everyone who returned to Malaysia is craving for this ice cream.

It'll be challenging, but I hope that my engineering knowledge can pull me through.

Anyways I have to check out soon, so see you guys back in Malaysia!! =D

Cheers

Technology + Reality = SixthSense

2009-11-30T09:08:00.004+08:00

Remember those high-tech futuristic shows we watch in the movies, where one could just use his bare hands to interact with computers?

Well I'm very glad to say that this technology is not as far away in the future as you think.

Watch this:

Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of 'SixthSense' technology

You know what's the best thing? This technology is not at all expensive! =D

How I wish I had one of those, then all those iPhone users out there can kiss my ass! xD

Got bored and read my e-mail

2009-11-05T16:50:00.004+08:00

Sometimes I hate reading my e-mail if it's full of forwarded mail and some takes up more time to read than others.

But I'm glad I read this e-mail because it made my day!! =D

I hope it would help my fellow exam candidates to release stress as well. =)

Be Positive Like This Boy

A beautiful Madam was having trouble with one of her students in 1st Grade class. Madam asked,'Boy. what is your problem?'

Boy answered, 'I'm too smart for the first-grade. My sister is in the third-grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the 4th Grade!'

Madam had enough. She took the Boy to the principal's office. While the Boy waited in the outer office, madam explained to the principal what the situation was.

The principal told Madam he would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the first-grade and behave.She agreed.

The Boy was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test.

Principal: 'What is 3 x 3?'
Boy.: '9'.

Principal: 'What is 6 x 6?'
Boy.: '36'.

And so it went with every question the principal thought a 4th grade should know. The principal looks at Madam and tells her, 'I think Boy can go to the 4th grade.'

Madam says to the principal, 'I have some of my own questions. Can I ask him ?'

The principal and Boy both agreed.

Madam asks, 'What does a cow have four of that I have only two of'?

(Note: Try guessing before highlighting the answer)

Boy, after a moment 'Legs.'

Madam: 'What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?'

Boy: 'Pockets.'

Madam: What starts with a C and ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin whitish liquid?

Boy: 'Coconut'

Madam: What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft And sticky?

The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer, Boy was taking charge.

Boy: 'Bubblegum'

Madam: What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?

The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer..

Boy: 'Shake hands'

Madam: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I get wet before you do.

Boy: 'Tent'

Madam: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me when you're bored. The best man always has me first.

The Principal was looking restless, a bit tense and took one large Patiala Vodka peg.

Boy: 'Wedding Ring'

Madam: I come in many sizes. When I'm not well, I drip. When you blow me, you feel good.

Boy: 'Nose'

Madam: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates. I come with a quiver.

Boy: 'Arrow'

Madam: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' that means lot of heat and excitement?

Boy: 'Fire truck'

Madam: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' & if u don't get it, u have to use ur hand.

Boy: 'Fork'

Madam: What is it that all men have one of it's longer on some men than on others, the pope doesn't use his and a man gives it to his wife after they're married?

Boy: 'SURNAME.'

Madam: What part of the man has no bone but has muscles, has lots of veins, like pumping, & is responsible for making love ?

Boy: 'HEART.'

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and said to the teacher,

'Send this Boy to IIM AHMEDABAD (Indian Institute Of Managment)
I got the last ten questions wrong myself!'

Hope you had a good laugh like I did!! =D

Back to old sheets

2009-11-04T22:15:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I ate 2 packs of chips instead of dinner. I'm killing myself in the long term :O

Back to the old MRS sheets...

I'll be moving out soon, not anywhere far, but just to the next hall. (Hopefully Roberts)

Apparently they'll be doing maintenance work for Farrer Hall (where I live now), Deakin Hall and Howitt Hall. Only Roberts and Richardson will be opened for summer. And yes, I'm staying for summer. (partially)

First I gotta pack my things to start moving, and I have loads of stuff!! A fridge for example. It's not very big but it's gonna take 1 trip alone to bring it there...

Hopefully I would've mailed enough stuff back to Malaysia to lighten my load. =p

Back to studies... Exam period =(

Shopping... Wee~~~

2009-10-26T17:40:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: I have yet to touch a single book yet everyone's mugging their ass off for the exams.

I just got myself a $20 Coles gift card!! Woohoo!! =D

Since I'm no longer cooking anymore, I guess there's only 1 thing I can spend it on - junkfood!! Lol!

How did I get my hands on this you say?
Simply by answering questions... TONS of questions!!

Basically I just joined a few online survey websites and they'll send me surveys based on my profile and I just have to take 10-30mins to answer it.

The longer the survey, the more it pays. Once, I even got free maggi noodles (5pk) to taste and answer a survey based on my opinion.

I myself have been involved in market research since before I came to Australia. So I know for sure which are the screening questions, and which are the real questions.

When answering screening questions, you may or may not qualify for the survey. For example, you may not qualify for a tobacco survey if you don't smoke. But then again, they might want opinions from non-smokers as well.

Initially, I was considering group discussions or interviews but I guess I'm not flexible in terms of time and transport. For those, they pay cash, which was kinda what I was hoping when I first joined the online surveys. But gift vouchers are just as good since I buy groceries from Coles all the time.

I just didn't think that it would take so long just to squeeze that $20 out of them. I did get a $10 voucher from another company, but didn't bother to blog about it.

By now you should be wondering which websites I used.

Google these:

1) Market View
(Wide variety of products to claim including vouchers)
2) Valued Opinions
(Only gift vouchers)

These are the 2 websites that sends me the most surveys (almost everyday).
The key to getting the reward is "early bird gets the worm".

Sometimes you might get a message saying "quota full" or something like that. It means they've reached their quota for that category of people.

I guess it's time I started studying... =(

Shopping tomorrow!! Woohoo!!

No... study... SHOPPING!!

Over and out.

Love jewelry? Wanna support breast cancer?

2009-10-22T23:59:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: It's 3am and I haven't been studying... GG

Most girls love jewelry but all girls have the risk of getting breast cancer. So what can you do about it?

You can support the breast cancer foundations by donating all your money to it. Lol jk.

This time, you can win USD200 worth of jewelry AND support breast cancer!! How good is that?

OMG I just sounded like the guy on channel ten trying to advertise some gadget.

Although I'm not such a fan of jewelry, nor do I have the ability to appreciate them, but charity is my middle name right? xD

Anyways, I'll leave it to you girls to do your stuff. =p

Pink Ribbon Day is around the corner (26th Oct Monday) so do your part to support it! =)

1) Copy and paste on of these cool badges on your blog.

2) Follow the instructions on this website.

Yeah yeah... I know I'm quite lazy.
But if you win, you get to use the $200 voucher to get one of these nice lil promise rings.

Aww.... ain't that sweet? So what are you waiting for? Go for it! =D

Even if you're a guy, get it for your girlfriend. I'm sure she will love it. =D

(I would if I had a girlfriend =p)

Cheers.

Tis the season to be ill

2009-10-11T21:14:00.003+08:00

I went down with a flu on Friday and currently I'm still recovering. But I still don't get why I'm having this flu.

Is it because I stopped drinking manuka honey?

Is it because I stopped taking propolis?

Is it because I stopped taking horseradish supplements?

Is it because I drank some alcohol the night before?

Is it because I ate junk food for dinner the night before?

Or is it because I've been sleeping at odd hours?

Maybe it's all of those added up together to cause this.

Since I came to Australia, I've been fit as a fiddle. Up till only last month, I drank manuka honey with propolis often, ate my supplements everyday, ate proper dinner everyday, slept well and hardly drink any alcohol.

But recently, my horseradish pills ran out and I was lazy to buy more. My manuka honey also ran out. I still have enough propolis but I had no reason to take my propolis without manuka honey. And due to the holidays, my sleeping hours had been distorted to the extent that sometimes I stay up for more than 24hours like a zombie.

On Thursday, I went to Clayton town specifically to buy alcohol. I wanted to try Bailey's Irish Cream since I heard many good comments about it. But at Coles, they had a 2 for $60 deal so I picked another bottle of Smirnoff Vodka. Also, both the Smith and Red Rock Deli potato chips were on offer so I swept a few packs into my basket.

When I reached home, it was dinner time but I was eager to try the alcohol. So I drank some while eating the chips. I drank 2 small cups of each bottle of alcohol I bought. (diluted of course)By the time I finished the whole pack of chips, I was already full so I skipped dinner.

When the next morning came, I found myself with a blocked nose, a sore throat and a slight fever. I even slept at 3am that night. Serves me right for living such an unhealthy lifestyle. =/

For these 3 days, I had absolutely no appetite, my body felt weak and I had a constant battle with the overflowing mucus. Even when I didn't feel hungry, I knew I had to eat something. But even after having a meal, I felt no different from before I ate. I felt like I wasn't full nor hungry, and even after eating, I felt the same!!

I also noticed that the amount of feces was wayyy less than the amount I ate. I knew something was wrong. Sometimes my stomach even made me feel funny and I had to lie on my bed when this happens. The feeling sucks coz I'm already weak and this makes me weaker.

But after eating double dose of vitamins and echinacea, as well as taking propolis regularly, I'm starting to recover.

It's a good thing too because the next day would be Monday and my class starts at 8am. X_X

Laser Tag experience

2009-09-27T23:30:00.003+08:00

My clock reads 1.00am.

It was 4 hours since I had my dinner.

It was 5 hours since I woke up.

It was 15 hours since I slept.

It was 16 hours since I came back.

It was 18 hours since laser tag ended.

It was 25 hours since it started.

And that's the story of my first laser tag experience.

The end.

Joking!! LOL!!

If you had trouble counting, it went from 12am till 7am on Sunday morning. When Jia Yeng first asked me, I thought she had a typo. She said "12-7am" and I was like "am?". But I still agreed to it since I wanted to try laser tag for quite some time now.

Tai came with us as well. The place was called DarkZone at Box Hill. Since the last bus was about 9pm, we had to go there early to have dinner then wait till 12am.

This was organised by Jia Yeng's lab partner, Alex. He also invited lots of his friends from South East Flats. So there were more than 30 of us altogether. In some games, everyone will play but in other games half will be playing and the other half can kill time at the free arcade.

To be honest, laser tag has its own characteristics that makes it interesting but I was constantly comparing it with paintball. So I wasn't that excited to have killed a person and have him walk right past me and shoot me in the back once he was alive again.

The thing is, once a person is tagged, they only need to wait about 10seconds before they are re-activated and able to kill again. There was this mode where the dead time was just 3seconds and everyone went crazy!! If you killed a person, you have to keep an eye out or just keep shooting him even when he's dead so he doesn't get the chance to backstab you.

It was fun until my eyelids started to drop, so I bought a can of RedBull. But I had to finish the entire can in 10seconds because the next game started shortly afterwards. It kept my mind going but my body was beginning to ache.

After the whole thing ended at 7am, we checked the bus schedule and the first bus on a Sunday morning was 8.50am. So we walked around town and found a nice chinese restaurant to have breakfast. By that time, Jia Yeng was practically dead tired and was found sleeping on the table even after her meal was served.

Eventually, we boarded the bus home and as for the rest of the story, you can read from the top again. =)

Enjoy!! =D

Juwita Concert

2009-09-19T23:22:00.002+08:00

I just came back from the Juwita Suwito concert and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I've only recently heard about her when Tse Han invited me to the event. Then I started listening to her songs and found that her voice is really good!! One of my favourite songs so far is "Breathe Again". But then again, I've only heard 3 of her songs. =p

Tse Han was part of the organising committee as well as playing the violin in the live orchestra. Yes you heard me, a LIVE ORCHESTRA!! My first time seeing an orchestra live!! EVER!!

Alarice Thio was the opening act for the concert and she was quite good as well! With just a guitar, a drum and her voice, it was amazing how good it sounded! Her songs are quite good as well. I particularly liked the one she described to be easy-going and similar to Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat songs. If I could only remember the title... =/

Apart from my favourite song, Juwita even performed her new single live for the first time, "Stand", which was really good!! She also sang "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus which was absolutely beautiful.

Basically I like her voice which is really powerful and steady. And I wouldn't expect less from the mentor of Malaysian Idol season 1 and 2. Check out her website.

Throughout the concert, I kept trying to concentrate on the singer, thus, practicing my mindfulness. Nevertheless, I can't help noticing the conductor of the live orchestra. In fact, it was more interesting than the singer coz his body movements had more emotion and feeling compared to the singer. LOL

Oh I forgot to mention that I went there with Qi Liang and Wai Wai, then bumped into E-Lyn and Weng Yu there...

Only 1 photo taken before my camera's battery died. T_T

After the concert, we went to Koko Black for some drinks. When I said I haven't tried it before, they all went like "you've been in Melbourne for 7 months now and you haven't tried Koko Black?!" Well yeah, I've heard of it but never actually tried it. Not a big deal to me though.

It was supposed to be better than Max Brenner but when I feel that their Belgian Hot Chocolate was just okay. THEN they tell me that Koko Black is famous for their iced chocolate. Lame =_=

By the time we finished chatting, it was already 11pm and I had a train and a bus to catch. I was supposed to leave at 10.30pm to be safe, but I guess I was enjoying the company of my secondary school friends. I managed to get on the last bus from Huntingdale, which I now know is 12.10am on Saturdays.

Lets all pray I can keep a promise to myself and go for a jog/exercise tomorrow morning...

Nothing much happens...

2009-09-18T18:59:00.002+08:00

As most of my loyal readers ~~would have~~ must have noticed, I've been a lazy bum with updates for almost a month now...

The fact is... MY LIFE IS BORING!!

Nothing much happens to me anymore, and there isn't much to talk about.

Well today I went to a bhuddist talk and realised how short my attention span became. I could hardly concentrate on what the nun was talking about and yet she's talking about mindfulness. Which means concentrating on what you're doing when you're doing it. Something that my mum always reminded me about.

I also meditate very much less often now that I'm in Australia since my mum was also the reason I meditate. And now it proves that meditation can actually increase my attention span. By concentrating on my breathing and ignoring my other thoughts, I use it to focus my attention on 1 single thing, my breathe. And that's how I used to train my mind to be mindful.

Nowadays I'm like a zombie, playing DotA till late at night and skipping all my morning lectures sometimes. It's like I'm wide awake but still feel the urge to continue lying on my bed till I fall asleep again and occasionally have a short dream.

Things aren't used to be what it was. But I guess it will soon be when I return to Malaysia. My diet, my activities, my studies... A change of habits would be good, but I don't think I can make that change in such a short period.

For me, it's always been "new environment, new habits". But once I went back to my old environment, all my old habits would return as well.

During the first semester when I came to Australia, I was actually motivated, excited, and very happy to be overseas and living independently. But when I got used to it, it felt a little boring with no siblings to fight with, or parents to nag at you.

So for this semester I'm feeling very very lazy to do anything at all. This would probably be one of the few updates you will see in the coming months. That's unless I decide to change for the better.

Cheers and thanks for reading. =)

Updates!!

2009-08-20T13:00:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: Oops, I did it again. Click Here.

I haven't updated in a while... And I have lots to share! =D

1) Floor Function (The letter 'C')

Basically they couldn't make up their mind on what the theme should be so they told us to be whatever character that starts with the letter 'C'! =)

e.g. Captain Hook, Casper, etc.

Forgot what Dean was... =p

Ry is a communist!! LOL!!

Then there's Cannibal, Chemist and Chlamydia?

Eddy the cat!

Helena the cannibal!! Rawr~~

Drinking game!! =)

Group photo!~

2) Reunion with OBS-mates!

I used to go camping very often when I was younger. One in particular was Outwardbound School (OBS).

It's the type of school that teaches you skills and virtues you won't learn anywhere else. And that is why I went there 3 times when I was 12, 14 and 15yrs old. =)

This was the last one I attended, Youth Adventure Camp 2003. (YAC55)

Those were the days...

We spend 10 whole days together on expeditions, for every meal and every activity... =)

A little reunion with Su Ann and Nicholas last Saturday. =)

Btw, I was still having a little fever that day. =p

3) Jian Hung's Birthday at Crown.

Despite having a fever, I still attended his birthday and paid $26 for a buffet. lol

More photos at Facebook.

That's all for now.

Cheers! =)

6 Cans : A new record!!

2009-08-12T12:55:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: I've gained some weight instead of losing some which I initially planned to.

Today, MESS (Monash Engineering Students' Society) organised their 3rd barbeque since the beginning of the semester! And it's only week 4 btw.

The first two was just the usual sausages and patty. But this time it was kebab!! Oh how I missed the kebab I had back in Malaysia...

During the last BBQ, I managed to smuggle 4 cans of SOLO (lemonade soft drink) from event. (cheapskate lol)

Normally, there would be not much of a queue and anyone could practically just cut in, grab a bread and go for the sausages. But this time, since the bread for wrapping had to be cooked first, everyone had to queue up just to grab the wrap.

Which meant that it was less chaotic and I would have less chance to go behind to grab the drinks. However, I managed to smuggle 6 cans this time!!

And I didn't even have to go from behind lol. I just asked for a drink in 10-minute intervals and there you have it, 6 cans!! XD

I just felt bored and didn't feel like watching my recorded lectures so I thought of something useless to write lol.

Mt Buller Day Trip Part 3

2009-08-07T21:14:00.004+08:00

Food for thought: If you intend to procrastinate, can you first procrastinate in procrastinating?

Continued from Part 2...

Before the trip, I was asking my friends about the cost of a ski trip, namely, the equipment rental. According to them, it is cheaper to rent from the foot of Mt Buller and bring it up there than to get it when we're up there. But it all depends on the organisers and I was quite sure that we were gonna rent the equipment at the top.

But as I woke up from my beauty sleep, we found ourselves at exactly where my friend said to rent the equipment!

First of all, it was already cheaper to rent there than at the top. In addition, as tertiary students we are offered a special discount. And on top of all that, we got an additional discount for riding their bus! How nice!

Despite the price cut, the equipment rental and ski lift pass wasn't all that cheap.

$39 - Skis, Boots & Poles
$9 - Goggles
$15 - Gloves
$18 - Pants
$77 - Lift pass & Beginners Lesson

Total = $167 (+$50 for transport & entry)

As you can see, the amount I paid for this DAY TRIP was a lot!! Even when we tried to get there as early as possible, every scheduled event was about half an hour late.

The bus was scheduled to leave at 6am, but it only left Monash Caulfield at 6.30am.

We were given 30minutes to get our equipment and lift pass, but it took us an hour.

Which meant that we reached Mt Buller about an hour later than scheduled. And this means 1 hour less to learn how to ski!!

After getting all the equipment, we reached Mt Buller at about 12pm and was set to leave at 4pm! ONLY 4 HOURS to get up there and ski!! Wtf...

As everyone took their bags of equipment and took off, I took mine and started changing into them. So did Jacky, my ski-mate. That's because her friends opted for the toboggan instead of skiing.

At first, we were suffering because the boots weigh at least 3kg each and it was too bulky to walk conveniently. But as Jacky got used to it, my legs were still killing me and I had to loosen the buckles or my legs would literally die.

We were short of time, so we quickly boarded the free shuttle bus to the skiing area. But after the 10-minute bus ride, Jacky forgot that she left our lift passes on the bus! So we had to make another journey back to the bus to get them, which further reduced our time for skiing.

Lucky for us, the bus driver was still there and he was nice enough to unlock the bus for her to get the passes. So there goes another 30minutes or so for getting the passes. When we got back up, we went to pancake parlor to meet with the rest. Apparently they were having some lunch.

Then, we all went to the ski lift area. For some reason, we got separated and I needed someone to look after my bag. So I was looking for Ching Yoong and gang while Jacky was waiting for me.

Before I found them, I saw lockers! So I quickly stepped into the long queue to rent a locker. I was already short on money and renting the locker would render me financially disabled. To make matters worse, the locker I rented was broken! So they returned my money and suggested a few other places for lockers.

By that time, Jacky had already left on the lift since there wasn't much time for her as well.

So I hurried back up to the ski lift area and tried to put on my skis. It didn't fit! It was then that I realised everything in my bag was of smaller size! Which meant that previously, I told them to label the wrong bag!! X_X

At first, the skis could be easily adjusted to fit, but the boots were so tight, that my feet would die if I buckled it up. So I rented a walking boots and intended to just play with the snow since I was up here.

But Ching Yoong and gang had already left via shuttle bus back down! So after renting the boots for 15minutes, I returned it and even the employee felt sad for me.

By that time, it was already 3pm and I gave up on skiing. I wore the killer boots again and carried the skis back down to the bus.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel all that sad when I thought about how I spent $200+ and didn't get to ski. Maybe it's one of my mental defence mechanisms that prevent me from being overly sad. Or I was too sad that my emotions were numb.

Whichever it was, I still had a good time with the gang. They were funny and quite open-minded lol.

Lesson learnt: The next time I go skiiing, I'd make sure that I secure my own equipment personally and also the trip would also be at least 3 days. =)

At least now I cannot say that I've haven't seen snow before. But I just didn't get the chance to play with it, or on it for that matter.

Overall, the ski trip was a mess. But as Jacky would say, "it's a nice story to tell".

And there ya go, the story of my failed ski trip.

But to me, it wasn't a complete failure...

Coz I would say "what matters is not the activity, but the company" and the trip wouldn't be as much fun without them. =)

***I couldn't get in touch with Jacky and that's why this post was delayed and still without any photos.***

Mt Buller Day Trip Part 2

2009-08-01T21:56:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: Just when I thought I won't be addicted to it anymore... I played 5 DotA games in a row!! OMG...

Continued from Part 1...

It was Friday, the day before my trip.

I had already planned out my schedule:
-Pack my stuff after dinner.
-Prepare food for the trip.
-Sleep before 10pm.
-Wake up at 3am.
-Eat breakfast.
-Walk to Clayton Station at 4am.
-Withdraw money.
-Take the first train to Caulfield.

That was the plan. But there were sacrifices...

On the previous Friday, Lip Boon and Aun Shiang came to halls to watch a movie. Namely, 'The Knowing' by Nicholas Cage. But due to certain reasons, I had to run back and forth to my room just to watch the movie.
(like getting an adapter for the laptop's power cable)

By the time everything was set to go, it was almost 12am. On that same night, I was supposed to meet up with other friends to surprise Wai Chien on the midnight of her birthday.

So they had no choice but to wait for me before starting the movie. In the mean time, they entertained themselves with Pictionary.

Although it wasn't much of a surprise, but everything went well and she was definitely too happy to describe that night.

I left early remembering that Lip Boon, Aun Shiang and Li Jun were waiting for me. And so the 2-hour movie began. By the time it reached the second part of the movie, the file was corrupted!

So we postponed it to the next Friday, also the day before my ski trip.

Which brings us back to the sacrifice part. I told Aun Shiang to keep that night free to continue our movie and maybe watch another. Her friend even invited her to watch a musical but she declined it.

But I had to sleep early that night, so the movie night either had to be early, or be cancelled. The latter was the case because Lip Boon couldn't make it back to Clayton. Which means Aun Shiang sacrificed her musical for nothing!!
OMG I feel so bad now... =(

Other than that, I was telling everyone that I was going for OCF that night, which was also made not possible due to my afore-mentioned plan.

So for all the sacrifices that I made, this ski trip better be worth everything I put into it.

As planned, I managed pack my stuff and prepare the food but slept at about 10.30pm. And because of my extremely annoying alarm, I woke up at 3am sharp.

I bathed, washed up, changed my clothes and went to the kitchen for breakfast. I ate cereal for breakfast but I knew it wouldn't be enough to last me till lunch so I stuff a few snacks into my bag.

Then, at 4am, I cycled to the bus loop and locked the bicycle there since it was a shared bicycle. From that point, I walked about 20-25minutes to Clayton Station, withdrew some extra cash and waited for the 4.58am train.

When I reached the Caulfield campus, I was really surprised to see Wai Chien, Pey Chin, Alexis, Victoria and Rachel! Apart from that, Ching Yoong and her friends joined in as well! Sneaky!! =p

So I wasn't as lonely as I thought I would be when I registered for the trip.

"This trip just keep getting better and better." I said to myself.

Me and Jacky, Hendra in the back

During the 5-hour bus ride, I got to know Ching Yoong and gang better than when we first met. Thus, making more friends to play with when I get up there. =D

Little did I know, that this was already the climax of my trip.
The rest of it didn't go well at all.

And just to make it clearer,

Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

Mt Buller Day Trip Part 1

2009-08-01T20:45:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: I can't believe I mistaken Jacky for someone I met at BISDS.

As I mentioned before, I was planning to go on a ski trip organised by Malaysians at Caulfield.

I'll start from the beginning...

I found out about the trip through e-mail on Tuesday and it was on the coming Saturday! I was very excited because I thought this was my last chance to go skiing. At the same time, I was afraid that I wouldn't be financially capable for it.

On the next day, I had only 2 lectures in the morning and the rest of the day was free. So I took the shuttle bus to the Caulfield campus. Since I've only been there for exams, I spent 1 hour just looking for their booth while carrying my groceries everywhere I went.

But when I found it, I hesitated. I didn't know whether or not I could cope financially with this expensive trip. Lucky for me, my secondary school friend, Aik Sern was part of the organising team. He told me that I can take my to consider and he would help me if I wanted to join the trip.

So I went home, opened up my financial statement for July and started calculating.

"I could join the trip but I'd be broke after that." I thought.

But after seeking permission, I was allowed to use the emergency funds my parents gave me. So far, I think I owe a few people a lot of money and I had no choice. I just have to survive till August 21st, and all the problems can be solved with money wouldn't be a problem no more.

Although I will have to cut corners in terms of food, but it will be worth the sacrifice for such an enriching experience at the snowy mountain.

Now that I've made up my mind, I just have to call Aik Sern to register. But to my surprise, the trip was postponed to the week after due to lack of participants.

To be honest, I was indifferent. That's because the timing wasn't the issue, the money was.

But that also meant that I could find myself a messenger to register on my behalf instead of going there personally. I asked among my friends at halls but most of them couldn't make it before the booth closes.

When I asked Jian Hung and his housemates, Ching Yoong was willing to do it! So I cycled to their house one night to pass her the money and my details.

Assuming that registration was settled, I went on to see if anyone at Caulfield could accommodate me for just one night. That's because we have to meet at Caulfield at 5am and the buses don't run that early.

The first and also the last person I asked was Brandon.
And the answer was 'no'.

Although he's living on-campus, but the apartment is rented out by private owners to Monash then rented to students. And oddly enough, the owners strictly forbid overnight guests.

The alternate solution was for me to take the train. Which meant that I have to walk to the nearest train station since there were no buses. Perhaps a good morning walk could prepare me for the trip. Hahahaha =p

Just when I thought everything was settled, someone from the organising committee texted me to ask if I was still interested in the trip. I was like 'WTF?!'

Apparently, I was put on the waiting list because when Ching Yoong wanted to register on my behalf, it was already full. But thank God they hired another bus to accommodate the extra amount of people.

So on the next day, I was registered by Ching Yoong and all set to go!

Checklist:
Registration (Checked!)
Finance (Checked!)
Getting to Caulfield (Checked!)

With everything in place, I was ready to go skiing for the first time in my life!

P/S: Part 2 will come as soon as I get the photos.

A new semester, a new start?

2009-07-26T11:31:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: I've been having weird dreams lately that involves tar from the road being inside my body and it's giving me the shivers every time I think about it.

Week 1 has passed and I swore that I would change my bad habits of procrastinating, sleeping in lectures and not skipping lectures as well. But somehow all of those happened in the first week itself!!

I'm so angry at myself!!! :@

Firstly, my lecturer for Digital Systems is the same person from Programming last semester!! You can't imagine how much more effective he is compared to a sleeping pill.

Then on Thursday, I accidentally turned off my alarm instead of snoozing it and I missed my 9am lecture!! Luckily I still made it for the 10am one.

Then I was supposed to finish my tutorials and exercises before the weekend, but it's not done yet and today is already Sunday!!

This morning, I was still lazying around, procrastinating and stuff. But when I came back from the gym, I suddenly felt more energized than ever! So I could probably even start on my assignment! =)

Yes yes, I know, first week and I have assignments already... T_T

Okay time for a recap of my holidays!

First on the list, Tasmania Trip!!

My camera was still under repair back then so I grabbed these photos off Facebook.

The people who went included Riorn, Julian, Erwin, Me, YiJun, Wai Chien, Pey Chin, Victoria and Alexis.

Farms like this one are abundant in Tasmania and they're just totally awesome!

And I got to touch a real kangaroo for the first time! =D

Just 2 days after I came back from Tasmania, I was out again to Winter Camp at Mt Morton! This place was even colder than Tasmania!! =O

My awesome cell during winter camp! =)

Then on one fine and lovely day, Boon asked me out to Victoria Market at the city. After walking the market, we were supposed to go for some Star Wars convention, but was diverted to the Melbourne Museum.

After a few photos at the park outside the museum, we went on a photo frenzy and started making a photographic drama!! LOL!!

Here's some clue on what we were making:

Full story at Brandon's Blog.

And that's how my holidays went. If I wasn't out somewhere, then I would be at home waking up late, watching 'How I Met Your Mother' and skipping meals.

'How I Met Your Mother' is basically a father, telling his children how he met their mother, which is also his current wife.

But the thing is, he starts from the very beginning, and he tells every single little thing that happens before he met his true love.

As of now, I've finished up to season 4!! And he haven't even began the story of how he met his wife!! Not even a clue about how the wife looks like either.

Oh I'm begging for season 5 to be released earlier... T_T

On a separate note, I've never been skiing before and now is the best time! I know that I'll never get another chance coz I'll only be here for a year. So Thank God there was a ~~second~~ ~~third~~ fourth chance for me.

Malaysians at Caulfield are organising a day trip to Mt Buller on Saturday 1st August and the transport + entry fee is only $50. But there's the rent for equipment which is around $100 and the ski lift costs $50 per day.

Which means I'll be spending around $200 for this trip, something that I could not afford at a time like now unless I call my parents for some extra money. =(

But I really really really wanna go!!

Well, let's hope for the best.

Enjoy!! =D

Lazy days...

2009-07-15T10:20:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I'm glad that the travel grant reached early!! Thanks Monash!! =D

As the holidays progress, I get lazier each day. I feel like if no one is asking me out the next day, I would probably sleep at 4am and wake up at 2pm the next afternoon.

But I'm not that sad la... Min-Yi and his housemates asked me out 3 days in a row!

On Saturday, we went to Knox City! It was only my first time being there and it felt like The Curve, Ikano and Cineleisure combined into one!! The biggest mall I've visited apart from Chadstone...

Anyways we just went there to walk around, girls did their window shopping as usual, then we went to the Hog's Breathe Cafe for some famous steak!! If you're not willing to spend at least $20, don't go there, seriously.

But if you are, the steak there is really nice!! It was my first time trying REAL steak. So I didn't know how cook I wanted it and I said 'well done' which was a bad choice because the meat turned out to be so hard to chew!! =X

Next time, I'm telling them 'medium-well' which was just the right texture because I tried Min-Yi's one. =)

Then while at the bus stop, we took this nice photo:

I still don't have my camera so I stole this from facebook. =p

Then on Sunday, I went to Melbourne Central for a karaoke session with Min-Yi and his housemates. Nothing much to say, except that I had a great time!! =D

It was my first time going to the karaoke with friends. Usually it's with my family or with my father's colleagues.

Other than singing the songs I like, I also found out how deprived I was of chinese songs. So in exchange for the movies I'm giving to Vivien, she's giving me some of her nicest chinese songs!! =D

Oops, I need to go for another outing in the city now, going to watch Harry Potter today!! =D

Tata~~

One Gold Bar and Seven Days...

2009-06-28T21:55:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I'm finally going to try on the long johns my mum sent me!! Eshhh, it's so tight!!

My last exam was only a few days ago and I felt like I've done so many things already!!

I stocked up on food and junk food, watched movies all night, went out with friends, went out with more friends, watched Transformers (totally awesome!!) and much much more...

But now I'm only a few hours away from meeting up with some friends and going to the airport. Yes, I'll be heading off to Tasmania for a 3-day-2-night stay there.

Too bad my camera is still being repaired so I might need some time to gather the photos before posting it on my blog.

Right now, I'm halfway packing and I'm surprisingly blur on what to pack...

This is considering that I've been to so many camps back when I was active in Scouting and OBS. (OutwardBound School)

I would've known exactly what to pack and what not to. What happened to all that knowledge? =/

I hope it's hidden somewhere in my brain and that I just have to find it. It would be a shame if all those knowledge just slipped away... T_T

I'll be updating on what I've done in the past few days when I come back but right now, I need to think about what to pack!! X_X

In the mean time, I have this riddle for you guys to solve!

If you wanna answer it, please do it in the comments below this post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An owner of a shop recently employed a worker who was to be paid ONE gold bar per week.

However, the worker does not trust the shop owner and demanded that he be paid on a daily basis.

Up to the seventh day, the worker must have received a total of ONE gold bar ONLY.

He must also receive only ONE day's pay per day ONLY.

So how does the owner pay his worker EQUALLY over 7 days?

The gold bar can be CUT TWICE in any orientation required to solve this problem.

P/S: This is NOT a lame nor trick question. This is totally logical and could be done in reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy!! =D

Another Inspiring Video

2009-06-23T15:29:00.010+08:00

Short Talk: I'm like... so dead for Thursday's paper... on the other hand, I'll be free after that!! =D

Hey guys! How's everybody doing? Good I hope! =D

Me? Not bad, but not good as well. =/

Haven't updated in a while due to exams...

Haven't really been studying also...

Anyways, I saw this video on facebook, decided to put it in my MSN, and now since I don't have much to talk about, here it is for everyone...

Extraordinary Pantene Commercial

Seriously, it was so inspiring that I ~~cried~~ shed a few tears... =)

Enjoy!! =D

Fillers!! My dumb online quiz

2009-06-19T13:42:00.003+08:00

Short-Talk: Exams are so near yet I don't feel stress enough to start studying... (Yes I've NOT been studying!)

More often than not, retarded questions like this one pops up in my online quiz for programming.

Being confused, some people did not tick all the boxes and lost some retarded marks...

And what does eating sandwich got to do with programming =_="

Enjoy!! =D

Exam Motivation: Be a deaf frog

2009-06-15T13:26:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: There were some pros and cons in extending my stay in Australia. For example, hopes of seeing my friends and family were suddenly pulled further away from me.

I was lazying around for too long.

I wake up at about 12-1pm every AFTERNOON, have my lunch, then continue to FB, watch Numb3rs, read blogs and YouTube.

So while I was watching my dad prepare his speech via Skype, I found some motivation to study and it was in my email!

It was the way that my dad said it that made it so much more inspiring than just reading it.
Thanks dad. (If he ever finds this)

So the story goes...

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began....

Honestly: No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.

You heard statements such as:

"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"

"They will NEVER make it to the top."

or:

"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one....

Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher...

The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up....

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher....

This one wouldn't give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower.

Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?

It turned out....

That the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:

Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic....

because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have.

Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!

Therefore:
ALWAYS be....
POSITIVE!

And above all:
Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!

Always think:
God and I can do this!

And you shall make it.

Just like the tiny frog did.

Imagine you as a tiny frog, and the tower as your exams.

Now flip open your books with this new inspiration and study away! =D

Enjoy!! =D

It's Winter!! Who killed the heater??

2009-06-10T12:22:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: Today's the day before my first exam. I woke up late, went shopping and started blogging here... How productive...

Yesterday was the coldest night I've experienced yet!!

On top of that, I went jogging at 7pm in my shorts!! Lol...

I don't know why I did it but I just felt like doing it... =p

So there I was, wearing a long sleeve shirt inside and a short sleeve on the outside, jogging my way around the campus...

Of course, when Jia Yeng told me her hands went numb after jogging, I reminded myself to wear gloves, and a beanie too! =)

I met Matt as I was passing by the tennis court. He was making his way back from the library I suppose...

So I jogged and I jogged, and I got pretty tired that I had to walk. At that point, I was near the west gate of the campus.

So I thought: "Why not drop by Min-Yi's house for a visit?" =)

And so I did. I tried to drag him to jog together, but the force was strong in him.

After 5 minutes of gruesome negotiation, I only managed to get him to WALK me to OUTSIDE of the west gate. Then he went back to his house. =(

But I did get something else too.
Remember Min-Yi's birthday surprise?

Qi Liang gave us 2 cook books to be shared among us both.

Since that day, both books were kept by him.

But when I dropped by his house, he handed 1 of them to me.
Which was...
"Just 4 Ingredients"!!

I thought it would be easy to prepare the foods in there but they assume that you already have all the basic kitchenware such as a food processor, an oven, etc.

I don't have an ovenproof casserole OR a food processor. =/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I came back to my room after jogging, it was colder than usual. I thought it was because of the weather since it was raining.

It was until I put my legs on the built-in heater while studying, I realised that it was cold!!

So I tried turning the knob back and forth but it didn't work.

I called Jia Yeng and her heater was also dead.
And it was the same for the rest of my floormates.

Luckily I still had my trusty fan heater!!

It kept my room warm enough that I don't need to wear my jacket indoors.
(Yes, the weather is that cold when it rains)

But the MRS (Monash Residential Services) were quite efficient when it comes to maintainence.

This morning I saw a team of plumbers (about 4 of them) walking down the corridor of my floor.

FYI, our heaters run on hot water from the pipes.

That's why they'll never be enough to warm the entire room. Especially mine since it's larger compared to my other floormates.

So far, the heaters are still dead and the weather is still freezingly cold!

I normally use my heater at low heat settings but now I had to switch to high heat just to keep my room above 20°C.

That's about it for the day before exam...

Wish me luck!! =)

Enjoy!! =D

International Food Banquet

2009-06-09T09:16:00.002+08:00

Short Talk: My extension for the exchange program just got approved!! Woohoo!! Now I don't need to take an early trip back to Malaysia. =D

I have to admit, when Lisa told me the theme for our second floor function, I was impressed!

I, for one, love eating and this function was just too good to be true. As if the food from other countries wasn't enough, I was gonna make Nasi Lemak!!

Yes, I'll say it again, I'm making Nasi Lemak! Here! In Australia!
Hahahahaha =D

Most of the ingredients weren't hard to prepare. Such as fried anchovies, fried peanuts, cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs, and rice. But the sambal, which was the main ingredient, was too difficult to prepare and so I bought the ready-made version!

One thing about Melbourne is that they always have a ready-made version of everything. For example, pasta sauce, garlic bread, marinated sausages/meat, and even mixed salad which you can eat straight away!

Since I'm not the only Malaysian who's preparing Malaysian cuisine, I teamed up with Jia Yeng. She provided and prepared the anchovies while I made the rice.

Speaking of the rice, coconut milk and pandan leaves were the essential ingredients to make Nasi Lemak. I figured that it would be next to impossible to get these in Australia.

BUT!! I actually found both ingredients!! Thanks to a certain Hong Kong grocery at Clayton town. =)

After washing the 3cups of rice, I added about 3/4 cups of coconut milk.

Varun preparing his spicy fried fish. =)

Oops, I accidentally chopped Jia Yeng into half! =p

Jack and Lisa preparing their own stuff.

Lisa preparing some vege dish. (She's vegetarian)

Jack mincing the chicken for his dish.

It was so crowded that I went upstairs to prepare this! =D

Jia Yeng peeling the eggs but we didn't boil it long enough. =/

So she boiled the eggs once more. =)

Jack's chicken dumplings!! =D (raw)

I still have no idea why Jemma is painting her nails here.

Rahul whipping up some fried rice. (Jack in the background)

Jack frying his dumplings to perfection.

And it's really golden to perfection. =D

Nothing much, just cutting the cucumbers. =)

Anthony and his heavenly chicken curry!! =D

Jack's perfect dumplings! =D

Ry preparing his cocktail. =)

And he made pancakes too!! Chocolate ones!! =D

Apparently these are what the Dutch eat. =p

Home-made chinese dumplings! =D

What's a floor function without beer?
This is Varun's home-brewed beer! (made with love =p)

Varun's fried fish from India! This stuff is good I tell ya.

Varun and Rahul's fried rice! (Mild and Spicy)

English crumpets by Jemma from the UK!! =D

Lisa's dish just came fresh from the oven!! =)

Vege Pasties... from The Motherland?? Lol...

I think Cheri made this... PB&J Sandwich! =)

My completed Nasi Lemak!! It was orgasmic! =D
(I can't believe I used that word lol)

Alex with her American-Mexican dish! =)

More of a snack actually, the 7-Layer Mexican Dip!! =D

Anthony's chicken curry can really put you at the top of the world! =p
(Indyeah!! ROFL)

Tarun requested that I cut out Jemma coz she spoils the photo... lol

Let the feast begin!! Woohooo!! =D
(Me and my shaky hands grr...)

The indians... (Not trying to be racist here ok!)

From left: Hayley, Ry and Lisa enjoying the food. =)

Jack and Ridwaan in the background. =p

The chicken curry was too spicy for Jemma so Dean took out his fan to cool her down lol =p

Tom was complementing on how good the chicken curry was. =)

Hayley's potatoes were a little late but still tasty!! =D

Drinking game!! As usual... =P

That's about it for now.

Enjoy!! =D

Back to studies!! First paper this Thursday!!

Omgosh I'm sooo not ready!! X_X

Just chilling...

2009-06-06T13:43:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: I have yet to get a reply from Monash regarding my extension of the exchange program. So my ass might get kicked back to Malaysia. Lets hope for the best.

One day, after visiting the gym, I felt tired not only physically but mentally as well.

But all this while I've always enjoyed my walk back to the halls because of the cool weather and the greenery surrounding the path I'm walking.

This time, I decided to take a little detour to the lake and just enjoy the the nice scenery.

As I sat down, I was suddenly surrounded by all the birds there which includes this goose

and this what-do-you-call-it:

When I took the photo most of them went back to the lake already.

There were ducks, pigeons, the goose and the what-do-you-call-it.

The reason being that residents usually bring their expired bread to feed them. So every person who hangs around there will find themselves surrounded by them.

Tried to take a shot with some nice lens flare.

Attempt #1
FAILED.

Attempt #2
A little better I guess, but still not as nice as Gzhang's one.
(Finally found the photo after an hour-long search. *sigh*)

Then I gave up and just took a shot at the beautiful scenery.

Next post will be about my floor function.
(Yes, another floor function =D )

Enjoy!! =D

道理

2009-06-04T15:25:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: My extension of the exchange program is not found!! I may have to leave Australia after this semester if this doesn't work out.

Got this from an e-mail...

But rather than sending it out, I posted it here coz I'm not sure if who knows mandarin and who doesn't.

你会如何决择呢??
你开着一辆车。
在一个暴风雨的晚上。
你经过一个车站。
有三个人正在焦急的等公共汽车。

一个是快要临死的老人，他需要马上去医院。

一个是医生，他曾救过你的命，你做梦都想报答他。

还有一个女人/男人，她/他是你做梦都想嫁/娶的人，也许错过就没有了。

但你的车只能在坐下一个人，你会如何选择？

我不知道这是不是一个对你性格的测试, 因为每一个回答都有他自己的原因。

老人快要死了，你首先应该先救他。

你也想让那个医生上车，因为他救过你，这是个好机会报答他。

还有就是你的梦中情人。错过了这个机会。你可能永远不能遇到一个让

你这么心动的人了。

在200个应征者中，只有一个人被雇佣了，他并没有解释他的理由，他只是说了以下的话：

'给医生车钥匙，让他带着老人去医院，而我则留下来陪我的梦中情人一起等公车!'

每个人都认为以上的回答是最好的，但没有一个人一开始就想到。

小哲理：
是否是因为我们从未想过要放弃我们手中已经拥有的优势（车钥匙）?

有时，如果我们能放弃一些我们的固执，狭隘，和一些优势的话，我们可能会得到更多。
________________________________________

【和尚与屠夫】
从前有一个和尚跟一个屠夫是好朋友。和尚天天早上要起来念经，而屠夫天天要起来杀猪。

为了不耽误他们早上的工作，是他们约定早上互相叫对方起床。

多年以后，和尚与屠夫相继去世了。屠夫去上天堂了，而和尚却下地狱了。

Why?

因为屠夫天天作善事，叫和尚起来念经，相反地，和尚天天叫屠夫起来杀生……

小哲理：
你所认为的事情以及你所做的东西你一直认为是对的，但有时后却不一定是对的。

<做每样事情时,不妨站在其他人的角度看一看,想一想吧!>

【皮鞋的来历】
很久很久以前，人类都还赤着双脚走路。

有一位国王到某个偏远的乡间旅行，因为路面崎岖不平，有很多碎石头，刺得他的脚又痛又麻。

回到王宫后，他下了一道命令，要将国内的所有道路都铺上一层牛皮。他认为这样做，不只是为自己，还可造福他的人民，让大家走路时不再受刺痛之苦。

但即使杀尽国内所有的牛，也筹措不到足够的皮革，而所花费的金钱、动用的人力，更不知凡几。

虽然根本做不到，甚至还相当愚蠢，但因为是国王的命令，大家也只能摇头叹息。

一位聪明的仆人大胆向国王提出建言：「国王啊！为什么您要劳师动众，牺牲那么多头牛，花费那么多金钱呢？

您何不只用两小片牛皮包住您的脚呢？」国王听了很惊讶，但也当下领悟，于是立刻收回成命，改采这个建议。

据说，这就是「皮鞋」的由来。

小哲理：
想改变世界，很难；要改变自己，则较为容易。

与其改变全世界，不如先改变自己--「将自己的双脚包起来」。

改变自己的某些观念和作法，以抵御外来的侵袭。

当自己改变后，眼中的世界自然也就跟着改变了。

如果你希望看到世界改变，那么第一个必须改变的就是自己!!

不要时常埋怨,不要时常感到不满,不要时常有很多怨恨,不要时常问为什么挨骂的又是我呢??

不要问上天 / 社会 /家庭 / 老板给于我们什么东西,问一问自己到底给于/付出于什么东西给于他们呢??

不要尝试叫环境适应你而是我们要学会适应环境^^

我们要学会改变的就是自己,一起迎合美好的一切!!

「心若改变，态度就会改变；态度改变，习惯就改变；习惯改变，人生就会改变。」

Study Mode: On

2009-05-31T13:18:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: Got a pair of free passes to watch 'My Year Without Sex' but found out after I went to Hoyts that they only screen at certain cinemas only...

I moved my furniture again! Now my bed is back to facing the door but my table is now facing the window.

At least when I get bored doing assignments or studying I can just lift up my head and start stalking ppl. =p

I have 2 more assignments (mechanics and design) to be submitted even 1 week before the exam!!

The worst part is, I'm nowhere near completion!! Argh why am I still blogging here...

Thank god I had help from Jia Yeng for my mechanics assignment.
Thanks Jia Yeng! =D

Boy, I hate mechanics...

Just so you know, I won't be online until my last exam which is 25th June. Even if I do, it'll be something important and I'll be off as soon as I'm done.

If there's anything important, e-mail me coz I'll only be checking that.
(Only my friends will know my e-mail)

Everything else such as MSN, Facebook and my blog will be off-limits until 25th June.

Thanks for reading and see you after my exams! =D

P/S: Expect the unexpected. =)

Cycling no more! Boo hoo...

2009-05-26T23:26:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: I burst a hole in my budget already and I'm still spending on junk food...

This morning I skipped 2 lectures and a tutorial just to finish my electronics report before I attend the lab at 2pm.

Then Jia Wei called me for a group discussion and I rushed to the library on a bicycle and reached at around 1.30pm. After a few words I had to go to the other building for my lab already.

Started at 2pm, ended at 5pm.

Then when I wanted to cycle back, I realised that the bicycle key wasn't hooked onto my room keys!! It was gone!!

When I recalled, I forgot to pull it out of the lock after I cycled to the library!! OMGosh!! Both the bicycle and the key are gone.

Actually it's no big deal since the key was for the shared bike system and I didn't have to pay a cent for it. But now, instead of the 5minutes to uni on a bike, I'd have to take 15minutes to walk!

More exercise perhaps?

***EDIT: Shoot! Jia Wei told me I have to pay for the key and the 2 lights that I lost T_T

Rain + windy + sleepy

2009-05-25T15:38:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: As usual, I was supposed to watch a few recorded lectures but ended up watching my cantonese drama. But thank god the drama has reached its end.

Today's weather was not really cold, but more of cloudy and windy.

I pushed myself to wake up for the 9am lecture which I slept through the past week. Met Jack in the kitchen and he was also going for a 9am lecture but for him, there was a test so he must attend it. =/

As usual, I went to the bicycle shed to look for a bicycle that I could cycle to uni. Nowadays when I see a bicycle, I would squeeze both its tires to check for air, test both its brakes and also turn a pedal a few rounds just to make sure everything was working.

After all, Darrel, a friend of mine, was thrown off his bike while he trying to slow down on a slope. The reason? The rear brakes wasn't functioning and in the end he injured himself so badly that he needed an X-ray at the Monash Medical Centre near Clayton.

Of course, when we can't learn from our own mistakes, we learn from others' mistakes. So recently, I tend to carry along my helmet when I leave my room. And even if I couldn't find a functioning bike, I'll still carry it to uni since I was lazy to go back up and most of the time, I'm already late.

Today, I was lucky to find one that was working. But the seat was extremely loose. I couldn't even rest my butt on it because it would slide down easily. That's why I carry a spanner and a few allen-keys in my bag. So I could tighten up a few loose nuts and bolts. =P

Normally I would wear my gloves while cycling but today's weather was moderate, without those chilly winds that go into your bones. =)

I reached the lecture hall earlier than usual today, so I decided to take a short nap before the lecturer arrived. I thought that I would wake up by the time he came, but when I opened my eyes he had already started teaching!! OMG I accidentally went into deep sleep. =/

But like it or not, I could never keep myself awake for the entire 1 hour lecture, ever! My friend even said that I fell asleep so fast and I agree. I won't even know when my eyelids failed me followed by my ears then my brain. It's like they would say "F*ck it, we're going to sleep".

So, after my 1-hour ~~nap~~ lecture, I went to the campus centre to see if I could get some work done. I saw the election booths and tried to avoid it by walking faster but was soon sighted and approached by the campaigners. "Blah blah blah, vote for him, vote for her, blah blah blah"

Ok fine, I'll vote for whoever, just let me go already. =(

Deja vu, my name is not on the list, AGAIN! This time the guy at the booth gave me a form to register as a voter so I could vote. Since he went through all that trouble for me, I may as well vote. Unlike the last time when I just walked away without giving a damn.

Since there was a 3-hour break, I tried to see the doctor at the campus clinic as a drop-in but was asked to come back an hour later. Then I went to the electronics tutorial although I was allocated in Tuesday's class just to pass the time.

After the tute, I head back to the clinic at 12pm, and was told to sit and wait, for 1 hour! My next class was at 1pm and it was supposed to be my lunch break. But what to do, if they call my name and I'm not there, I won't be able to make another appointment. As usual, I couldn't keep myself from sleeping in that boring situation. *ZzZzZz*

I think you should feel bored about now, its alright to stop reading from here onwards. =p

The doctor said that there was some tube connecting my ears and my nose which was stuck, causing my ears to excrete some fluids which explain why I always hear an echo in my right ear. Surprisingly, he said my left ear was worst than my right. o.O

Was prescribed some nasal spray but didn't feel like buying it coz this month's budget was blown, AGAIN! And plus last month's overbudget, I won't be able to afford a holiday during winter. =(

So I finally typed out and sent my resume and cover letter. I found this job as a tutor for Maths and English at Glen Waverley weeks ago but was procrastinating. I hope I could get this job, since I couldn't find a better, nearer, fun-er job. =/

Exams are coming and I'm looking for a job wtf.

After lecture at 5pm, I chose walking over cycling so I could enjoy the windy evening and listen to my favourite songs from my iPod.

I have lots of work to do, but I don't know why I still feel alright not doing them, and blogging without guilt. I know I have to change this somehow. One way is to push myself. And sometimes when I don't push hard enough, the devil takes over and I'm a goner.

So far so good. I managed to push myself to wake up in the morning and I finished the simulations for my electronics project! Woohoo!! But I wonder if it works in reality though. =/

This was a week's worth of work plus extra guidance from my beloved tutor, Joshua Khoo, who is also my cell-mate at OCF, which explains how I took the advantage to ask him tons of stuff during a recent gathering at his house. =p

Off to dinner now...

Enjoy!! =D

Living with ONE friend is hard, but 30?

2009-05-21T18:23:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: Visibility this morning was about 100m. At the same time, there was a university strike... Now it's the lecturer's turn to skip lectures =)

I've been wanting to post this up a long time ago, but totally forgot about it. So call me Mr. Forgetful.

I'm a little lazy now so I'll let the photos do the talking...

Enjoy! =D

Don't want you around anymore...

2009-05-18T20:24:00.004+08:00

What if:
-you disliked a person so much, that you hated him...
-you hated him yet he was always around...
-you tried forgiving him but just couldn't take it anymore...
-you tried hinting him to go away but he just doesn't get it...
-you had to tell him in the face: "GO AWAY" to get rid of him...

The balloon was on the verge of bursting, and I gave it another breathe...

Birthday Gifts and Eat-outs

2009-05-08T10:40:00.010+08:00

Short-Talk: Feeling relaxed while walking back from uni. Cool weather, peaceful surroundings, and good music in my ears. Haven't felt so calm in years...

Alrighty, I guess after ~~a few days~~ almost a week of ~~procrastination~~ busying, I decided to take a little time out from practicing guitar to blog! Yay! =p

Pre-Birthday Gift!

I got this from OCF Guys/Girls Night and it was totally random but I treat it as my first birthday gift =)

It even has my name on it! =D

Gift + Eat-out with Zeming + Mei Yii!

Zeming called me out on the Sunday before my birthday to celebrate coz she's only here during the weekends.
Same goes with Mei Yii.
(FYI she studies in Gippsland, 3hours from here)

We ate at Glen Waverley where she generously treated me to a nice lunch at a classy restaurant.

Thankssssss Zeming!! =D

And she also gave me a bottle of wine =)

Can you read the words she wrote on it?

Sze Wei, Happy 21st B'day!

Gippy People

P/S: Drink responsibly [I will :)]

Eat-Out @ Nando's

After my pleasant surprise, Boon, Chieh Ai, VeeKay and I went to Nando's to eat!

Boon was so excited that
he wanted to wank (note his left hand)
and also make funny faces =)

I was so hungry that
I could eat that quarter chicken whole! Lol =p

Let the feast begin!
**BEFORE**

**AFTER**

The culprit! xD

Midnight Wishes

After Nando's, like it or not, I had to get back to studying.

So basically I was in my room throughout the night mugging my ass off.

After I was done, I needed to pee before I go to bed.

When I opened my door, I found this!! =D
Another pleasant surprise from my floormate! =p

Who else would come all the way to my room and place that there? =p

(Click image to enlarge)
I'll let you guess who JY is... =)

Brandon's Dual Birthday Combo Celebration!

It was a combined celebration of Edmund and my birthday which falls on 7th and 5th May respectively.

He planned this out a week ago and I'm glad that it worked out.
*ihatelastminuteplanning*

The plan was to eat in Chadstone's Shopping Centre then watch a movie.

There were so many of us, that we needed to combine 5-6 tables into a line!!

This was how it looked like.

My side of the table. =)

The cake.

The birthday boys.

The birthday boys + organizer.

Before heading back, the girls wanted to take this photo outside WoolWorths.
(P/S: To Brandon, it's Wool-Worths not Wools-Worths. =p)

I think this post is pretty long already.

But you guys can head on to Facebook to see the remaining photos:

DU Reunion 2009 (Melbourne)

Enjoy!! =D

Birthday Surprise!

2009-05-07T22:38:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: Person A and person B were at the hallway outside my room.
Me: *Burrrrrrrrrrrrrp*
A: Hey B! Did you just burp?!
B: No I didn't...
A: Oh okay, nevermind then.
Lols.

May 4th, Monday
Had a video chat with my family back home till about 12+ midnight.

After that, I was trying very hard to understand BJT's in electronics since I had to do a lab the next day.

In the end, I read the lecture notes until I felt so sleepy that my brain just shut down.

Since I couldn't get anything more into my brain, I may as well sleep early and hope for the best.

May 5th, Tuesday
It was a VERY stressful Tuesday, unlike any other, because I still didn't understand a thing about BJT's or how to make them work. So if this lab blows up in my face, serves me right.

My 1-hour lecture started at 8am and I happily slept through it.

Not because I was sleepy, but because this lecturer is a professional hypnotist who could put practically anyone to sleep when he talks. Wtf right?

I was planning to find a nice spot in the campus centre to sleep then I bumped into Sue Ann and we had a nice chat which kinda woke me up.

After she left, I went to the computer room to run some simulations for my lab. But I had to leave before I could finish to attend my electronics tutorial and hopefully learn something from it.

Even after my lecturer explained it, I still didn't get anything!!
*SUPER FRUSTRATED*

Despite my frustration, it was my birthday and my mum told me to treat myself to a good lunch. But the campus centre ain't exactly a place for good food.

So I bought myself a peri chicken, chicken burger and flat white, all which I always wanted to try.

As I sat down to eat, I imagined my family sitting on the same table eating together. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I suddenly realised how homesick I was since being here 2 months ago.

But I quickly wiped my tears so that I don't attract any unnecessary attention.

But no matter how homesick I felt at that moment, I had to put it all away because I still had simulations to run for my lab within that 1-hour lunch break before the lab begins.

After the lab, I was so thankful that although I didn't complete it, but I didn't fail it either although I expected the latter. But that still doesn't change the fact that I know so little about BJT's. *Study!*

Lab ended at 5pm, I reached home at 6pm and Boon came by at 6.30pm. He wanted to call a few friends to eat at Nando's in celebration of my birthday.

He came, used my laptop to download stuff, then we quickly rushed to Nando's.

Little did I know...

They were waiting!!

So when I walked by and saw a big bunch of ppl, I was stunned.

My focus was entirely on the birthday cake, trying to savor the moment.

But Boon seized the opportunity and...

took his first shot!!

Yes, that was only the first!!

There were more!! (including BBQ sauce)

I was standing there in awe while they sang me a birthday song.

It was something that I will never forget...

It was really really REALLY nice of them to do this for me.

I was touched because no one ever took so much effort to surprise me on my birthday!!

In fact, I never had a surprise party before and was wishing someone would do it for me one day.

As always, I was my birthday wish was the same every single year.

And I would like to thank everyone who made it this happen:
Chieh Ai, Benjamin, Veekay, YiJun, Edmund, Kane (who came later), Danny (Farrer Hall-mate) and especially the mastermind behind the whole thing, Lip Boon!!

(sorry if I left anyone out)

I really appreciate it guys,

THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!! =D

Enjoy!! =D

Birthday Peek!

2009-05-05T22:53:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I belanja-ed myself to some tasty food at the campus centre which I always wanted to try: Burgers, Peri chicken and Flat White. Common stuff for some people, but I was happy. =)

All you have to know about my birthday at this point is...
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I had a blast!!

A few on the face and one at the back. =p

Too tired now to blog about the whole thing...

But stay tuned for my next update! =D

Enjoy!! =D

Floor Function: Spice Girls!

2009-05-03T12:43:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I'm getting lazier by the day when it should be the other way around. My exams start on 11th July and ends on 25th July.

Farrer Hall a.k.a Party Hall somehow has this unwritten rule that says 'Everyone in Farrer must party!'. That's why every floor elects a floor representative to organize their own floor function! =)

But what's a function without a theme? It took us a while but we finally decided that it was Spice Girls! =D

The original Spice Girls:
Baby Spice, Sporty Spice, Ginger Spice, Scary Spice, Posh Spice

However, we need not dress as one of the spice girls. Instead, we could create our own version such as Nature Spice, Sexy Spice, Dr.Spice, basically any you can think of! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just 15minutes before the function, Jia Yeng messaged me and asked if she should wear traditional Chinese Cheong Sam or track suit.

I strongly suggested the Cheong Sam and can you guess why?
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Coz I wore traditional chinese too! =D

Jia Yeng: Oh no! I got conned! X_X

Me: You look weird.
Jack: I'm supposed to look weird.

Dr.Spice =)

Dean Denny, the genius who gave me the name 'Sezy'.

Lisa! The person who organized the whole function!

Thanks alot! =D

Hayley!

I think she was Dutch Lady or something... Lol =p

Eddie! My RA (Resident Advisor)

Haven't seen her for a month already...

Jack and Jemma

Jemma the cowgirl! =D

Sean!

The skeleton that rose from the grave... =O

Everyone was having fun. =)

Varun, the brewmaster joined us with his Indian Vodka! =p

JB and Ry sitting along the sidelines...

Varun preparing for the drinking game. =)

It was fun,

but I had to leave after I took this shot.

I went for a cell gathering at Glen Waverley.
And it was in that gathering that I found out Joshua, who's in my cell, is my Analogue Electronics tutor!!
Holy @#$%

I shall not comment on this any further.

I also got to know about Guys'/Girls' Night on Friday.
The girls were supposed to make some pastry and Gwen needed help making her muffins. So Ian and I went to her house to help make the muffins and Valerie joined us later.

By the time we were done, it was already 2.30am and we were all exhausted. Nevertheless, it was worth the effort because the muffins were delicious!

Haha.... Didn't expect much from my first time baking muffins! =p

Will blog about it as soon as I get the photos.

Enjoy!! =D

Unite For Hunger And Hope

2009-04-29T14:38:00.006+08:00

Short Talk: Walking to campus while its raining heavily at 6°C is not fun!

Can you remember the last time you were so hungry, that your legs were shivering, your stomach was growling, and you couldn't lift a finger to save your life?

On top of that, you have no means of getting anything edible let alone food.

You don't have such an experience, do you? Don't worry, the same goes for me too.

But you see, we are lucky ones who have at least one meal in a day, clothes to wear and a roof above our heads.

As of today, there are at least
500million people living in "absolute poverty"
and because of that,
15million children die of hunger every year.

But how can you help?

Believe it or not, you can help these people by

CLICKING EVERYDAY!!

OR

PLAYING THIS GAME!!

This is a vocab game and trust me, it's very easy to get it right even if you get it wrong the first time! =p

You can even brush up on your vocab!

For example, I learnt stuff like:
hullabaloo = uproar
perverted = depraved

This is my donation for tonight...

What's yours? =)

For more info, visit:
http://www.food-force.com/
http://www.thehungersite.com/
http://www.wfp.org/

Event link:
http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/unite-for-hunger-and-hope

Gotta get back to studying... =p

Enjoy! =D

Time to burst the bubble: My haircut!

2009-04-25T18:13:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: I ate a whole box of Arnott's Shapes for dinner... Yum! =)

Could you recall my dragonball hair?

Now its still like dragonball...

Just without the 'dragon'... xD

Let's see what I can tell you through the photos! =)

Pre-cut photo =)

The equipment =)

The process

Need to cut the back of my head... but how?

Use mirror see the back...

See the side...

*snips snips*

See the back again...

Not satisfactory... *GRR*

So I asked my neighbour for help...

Back

Top

Left

Right

I think most of you can guess how I look like right now...

TADAA!!

Nice?

Maybe too lengzai... some of my friends can't recognise me adi...

Boon was waiting outside for me to open Farrer's door.
He was watching a game at the MRS sports field so his back was facing the door.

Me: *opens the Farrer's door* Come la.

Boon: *looked back*
*stared a while*
*turned back*

Me: *raised my voice* Woi Boon! Come in la!

Boon: *surprise look* Eh sorry sorry, I thought you were some japanese...

Japanese wtf...

So now that you've seen my photo, don't pretend you don't recognise me if you bump into me on the streets! Lol...

Enjoy!! =D

My Name, My Identity

2009-04-24T10:52:00.002+08:00

Short Talk: OMG its gonna be pouring these few days... And just when I had some free time to go out...

My name, as anyone could've guess from my blog link, is Sek Sze Wei.

Since young, I've been called Sexy coz if you pronounce my name real fast, you'll get something like 'Sex-see wei'. Obviously, the 'wei' was redundant and carries no meaning so they truncated it and went on teasing me as 'Sexy'.

Back then, I was young and naive. So I was very sensitive towards this issue and was emotionally disturbed everytime someone called me 'sexy'. Fortunately for me, my primary education was in a chinese school whereby the teachers call me by my mandarin name, 石思伟.

Even so, I was often referred to as 'sexy' in front of my friends.

But after years and years of being called that way, I kinda got used to it and couldn't be bothered.

Most of my close friends call me 'Sze Wei'. But if I was introduced to someone by them, they would most probably stick to 'sexy', for the ease of remembering and also to seize the opportunity to tease me once in a while. =p

I didn't mind. Because:

"What other people call you does not define you.
It's your own words and actions that does."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

However, in Australia, most of the locals find it difficult to remember or even pronounce chinese names.

So, most Asians I knew either found a way to shorten their name, or picked their favourite english name.

Before I departed to Australia, I gave a lot of thought to what name I wanted to be called too.

I had several conditions though, which was:
1. It had to start with the letter 'S'.
(Don't ask why)
2. It had to be unique, i.e. no one else is using it.
(at least uncommonly used)
3. It had to somehow originate from me, and symbolizes me.
(e.g. my name, personality, habits, etc.)

I had considered a few such as Samuel, Steven, Shawn, and even Sonic!!

Out of Samuel, Steven and Shawn, I favoured Steven because it sounded cool, nobody I knew was using it, and it was a legitimate english name.

The only downside was it had nothing to do with me! Somehow I just couldn't relate that name to me.

The alternative was Sonic, my internet screen name since I was 13yrs old. Although it sounds cool and it could relate to me because I used it as my email, but it sounded a little stupid when someone actually called me that. After all, its literal meaning was the speed of sound.

Even after I arrived in Australia, I would introduce myself as 'Sze Wei' pronounced as 'zee-wei'. Naturally, the locals would go "Zee-what?" Then I would tell them "just call me sexy". But everytime I say that, lots of people have different ideas of what I was trying to portray.

Also, my RA (resident advisor) pasted everyone's first name on their room doors. It's easy when when their names are like Dean Denny whereby she would write "Dean".

But for my name, it was "Sze Wei Sek". So she quickly assumed that 'Sze' was my first name and 'Wei' was my middle name and pasted a large "SZE" on my room door. I was like 'wtf =.='.

So I pasted my own version of it on top of hers. Which was:

But this was contradictory since my friends would call me 'Sze Wei', new friends call me 'Sexy', and now I'm writing 'Sek' on my door.

There was even this scenario:

You know how girls like to call out to their girlfriends saying "Hey, sexy!"?

You could probably guess what happened next but I'm still gonna say it.

One afternoon, I was walking back to my room and I happen to pass the girls' rooms at the "right" moment.

One of them went "Hey, sexy!" and almost instantly, I said "Yes?".

Immediately after I said that, there was total silence. Their chattering had suddenly stopped. When I realised what an awkward position I had put myself in, I quickly ran to my room and locked the door!

A few seconds later I could hear them bursting into laughter and there was no doubt that they were laughing at me! *face turns red*

But then I realised how funny I was and even started laughing at myself!! ROFL!!

Another scenario:
My floor-rep. (Lisa) was referring to me in a conversation, she went like "His name is Sek? or Sexy? or Sze Wei? Do you recall anything?"

These scenarios went on for 2 months since I've been here already.

Today, Lisa was visiting my room telling me about the floor function. At the same time, I was told that she had trouble with which name she should use to call me.

While she was about to leave, I decided in a heartbeat that she should call me "SEZY".

So she was went "Alright, I kinda like that name, Sezy!"

Then from that moment, it was official, I shall now be called

SEZY!! =D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How did I come up with this name you ask?

Well, the glory goes to...

Dean Denny!! One of my favourite floormates! =D

The first day we met:

Dean: "Hey my name is Dean Denny but you can call me Dean."
Me: "Oh... My name is sexy."
Dean: "What?! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Like, your real name is actually 'sexy'?!"
Me: "Not really, its actually 'seck-zee-wei' but if you say it fast it'll sound like 'sexy'."
Dean: "Cool..."

*few seconds later*

Dean: "Hey do you mind if I call you 'sezy'? Coz I don't wanna let the girls think... erm..."
Me: "Yeah I get it... Sure, whatever you find convenient!"

And since that faithful day, he's been calling me "sezy". But all this while, he was the only one who uses it.

I still don't know why I hadn't thought about this earlier...

"Sezy" was just the perfect name!

1. It started with the letter 'S'.
2. It is not used by anyone! I'm 100% sure about this fact. =)
3. It is a shortened version of my name! From 'sek-zee' to 'sezy'!
4. If you googled the word 'sezy' you'll find 2 things:

Definition of 'sezy' :
It's kinda like sexy, but much much more brilliant. All the cool kids are yousing it! heck yeah!
This red font is so sezy ;)
(It's not in the English dictionary though =p)

Photo description of 'sezy' :

Yes, that's Jessica Alba! Lol!!
But they were refering to the black suit! xD

So from now on, I shall introduce myself to the locals as Sezy!!
But for Asians I guess I'll stick to Sze Wei. =p

I even updated the sticker on my door! =D

SEZY PWNS!!!

Enjoy!! =D

Warman Project 2009

2009-04-23T22:22:00.005+08:00

Short Talk: I have tons and tons of movies + TV series that I haven't touched since I came to Australia... I wonder how I spend all my free time...

First of all, the Warman Project is part of my design subject and we were given the task of designing 2 devices, to carry a baton from one end of the track to the other.

However, at least one of the devices must be fully mechanical. i.e. not using electric motors and batteries. So the first thing that comes to mind is like a rubberband or spring to store energy.

My group, comprising of (Low) Jia Wei, Kok Wee, Eugene and I, bought a small toy car with a pullback mechanism with a string attached, so we pull the string instead of pulling the car back to store energy.

As for the 2nd device, we bought this:

But since it couldn't be used as our second device directly, we took it apart and rebuilt it using the caterpillar tracks.

Overall, these are our two devices:

The 2 pipes act as the baton cradle.

Top view:

See that little hole on the second device (right) ?

It is actually a switch (normally-open) that starts the motor when the baton falls on it.

Side view:

See the little black thing sticking out on the left?

It's actually the switch (normally-closed) to stop the motor once it hits the barrier at the end zone.

This is our first device which is fully mechanical:

Like I said, we bought a toy car and added the wooden frame to mount the baton cradle (pipe).

This is the simple yet effective pullback mechanism:

Because the front wheels kept falling off, I super-glued it and consequently it was stuck!! It wouldn't move at all because I applied too much glue and the axel was glued to the car!

Luckily for me I managed to get it rolling again without destroying the car or else my group mates would kill me!

As for the track, it looks like this:

We used our first device to carry the baton across the shorter section and stops when it hits the second device. As it hits, the impact causes the baton to fall on the baton cradle of the second device.

Thus, it starts the motors of the second device. The second device then races to the end zone and when it finally reaches, the switch at the front will hit the barrier causing the motors to stop.

Sounds simple?

We had several problems though:
1) The second device, using caterpillar tracks, will only move straight if the weight is even on both sides.

Which means we need to put the actual baton on the device and adjust the counterweights. But when we got there, it was stolen!! T_T

So we were forced to use the fake baton, although same in size, but 3 times the weight of a real baton for testing.

2) On competition day itself, our second device did not start although the baton fell on the switch. Which meant it the wires were not connected properly and thus wasted our first run.

After tightening the connections, I used blue tack to keep it in place, which I reckon was better than masking tape.

Each team were only allowed 2 runs and the next run was our last and only hope.

Anxiously waiting for our turn...

My heart was pounding while watching the team before us in fear that our device would fail again...

Finally its our turn!!

Eugene setting the first device and me setting the second device.

This was how it went:

It was an overall SUCCESS!!
Although our device almost flew off the tracks, we did not suffer any penalties!
(hopefully)

Here are our simple but proud devices!!

Finally, after 5 weeks of intensive labour, I get a break...

It won't be long before the next assignment, but I guess it's enough for me to rest... =)

Enjoy!! =D

Sneak Peek!

2009-04-22T23:05:00.004+08:00

Short Talk: I scratched my leg against the corner of my metal bed frame while trying to leap across my bed... Ouch!

This is how I look right now...

Before, I looked like Dragonball... Seriously... =p

Gotta go back to mugging eventhough its 1am in the morning... *grr*

In the mean time,
Enjoy!! =D

Boss Stewie, I love your art!

2009-04-21T14:22:00.007+08:00

Short-Talk: I screwed my test today and by now the lecturer should be wondering why there is a hole in my paper... ROFL!

I was doing the usual blog-hopping among my friends' blog but I started to feel a little bored so I clicked on a few blogs in the 'Famous Bloggers' list in one of their blogs.

I was reading about KennySia's trip to Wales, his email from Perth, Malaysian Dream Girl... Omg the conversations so farnee!! =p

Then I went on to cheeserland, her fashion tips was... interesting... *blek*
But besides that I got to know a little about Fremantle, which is located in Australia. Might visit one day. =)

Next, was *fourfeetnine*. I believe she was 4ft9in tall when she started blogging. =p
I didn't exactly have a greatest idea when it comes to naming my blog too. xP

For her blog, the interesting part, to me, is not her looks, nor her life's stories, but it's actually the way she tells it that makes it so interesting... =)

FYI: Her boyfriend is Timothy Tiah, Nuffnang's Co-founder.

So... eventually, I ended up reading at Timothy Tiah too. His latest post, was about his secondary school report card, but there was a link to this:
Boss Stewie's Scout Log Book.

Since I was a scout too, I thought it'd be interesting to know how scouting in Penang was like. I was reading... viewing photos of his drawings...

I started giggling a lil when I saw his impression on Penang Island.

Then I saw a familiar face... Mongli and Baloo from Jungle Book!! And so I thought: 'This is gonna get interesting...'

Starting from the Jaguar that looked like a black dog;
The elephant that looks like a grey dough with 3 legs;
The snake that looks like a worn-out whip;
The monkey which I could only make out the tail;

I was already LOL-ing the whole way through these photos but it wasn't even the climax yet!

*Jeng jeng jeng JENG!!*

The tiger!! OMFG I couldn't even make out its legs, head, ears or whatever he drew!! This drawing was practically KILLING ME!!

I laughed SO HARD, SO LOUD, and for SO LONG that my neighbour might think I was going crazy!! XD

I only started blogging about it after I settled down but it still tickles my funny bone everytime I think about it! Hahahaha...

Only one message to Timothy Tiah:
You have potential for a different kind of abstract art, so
DON'T GIVE UP!!

I'm still ROFL-ing wtf... XD

Graduation (Friends Forever)

2009-04-20T15:52:00.007+08:00

Short Talk: I was walking home from campus, and my iPod randomly played this song. So I got that 'weird feeling' again...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember singing this song when I was Form 3 during Scout camp. Back then, the chorus really touched my heart from the inside...

Now, I always get a 'weird feeling' whenever I hear this song. Perhaps that was how I felt being with my friends back then.

We were all very close, like a family. Back then, every Saturday morning, I would always choose to attend my Scout meetings over going to the market with my mum.

I know some of you might go like

'Wtf?

Marching under the hot sun,
push-ups on the hot tar pavement,
hard work,
scoldings and punishments

OVER

shopping and breakfast with your mum?!'

Somehow my friends made me feel more family-ish when I was with them. And it doesn't matter what we were doing, even if it was punishment, as long as we were doing it together.

Another thing was, no matter who made a mistake, as long as someone did, the whole patrol/troop was punished. It was to teach us to look out for each other, to remind each other not to make mistakes. That also symbolized our Scouting Spirit of Togetherness.

That was the Scouting Spirit instilled in me up till today :

Live together, die together.

That's how we roll...

DragonBall!! Fuyoh!!

2009-04-19T10:41:00.001+08:00

Short Talk: I spent the last 3 days pondering upon the same question and its the friggin' last question before my assignment is done!! *Grr*

I don't see a difference...

Do you? xP

Seriously need to cut my hair...

But its so expensive to visit a salon...

What to do...

Cut myself lor...

You'll see the results very soon...

Enjoy!! =D

Comedy Festival + DU Reunion

2009-04-18T13:08:00.006+08:00

Short Talk: I'm not emo, I'm not emo, I'm not emo, I'M NOT EMO!!

Comedy Festival: Nina Conti

DU Reunion at Big Mama (Korean Restaurant)

The guys from left: Me, Min-Yi, Qi Liang, Aik Sern, Wei Cheng (behind)

Left side from front:
Me, Min-Yi, Qi Liang, Aik Sern, Winnie's bf

Right side from front:
Wei Cheng, Seok Mei, Winnie, Juliana, See Weng

Uploaded the photos in original size...
There ya go... Seokie! =)

Enjoy!! =D

Dragon Illusion

2009-04-17T21:38:00.002+08:00

How cool is this? =p

Wayyyy cool I tell ya...

Especially when it's sitting in MY ROOM!! (:

Enjoy!! =D

A true friend... I wished... And I still do...

2009-04-16T19:27:00.003+08:00

If you asked me what I've been wishing for my birthday for the past 10 years, it would be

A TRUE FRIEND.

This song totally expresses my current mood.

Dione Warwick - That's what friends are for

And I never thought I'd feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned
I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try to feel
The way we do today
And then if you can remember

Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Well, you came and opened me
And now there's so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you

Whoa, and then for the times when we're apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
These words are comin' from my heart
And then if you can remember, oh

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
Oh, that's what friends are for

Whoa... oh... oh... keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, oh, for sure
'Cause I tell you that's what friends are for
For good times and for bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for (That's what friends are for)

On me, for sure
That's what friends are for
Keep smilin', keep shinin'

This is the second time that this song appeared on my blog.

I will never get sick of this song.

I'll be waiting,
My true friend.

So that's what "friends" are for...

2009-04-16T17:39:00.006+08:00

Short Talk: I just tried to kill myself by showering in this freezing weather.

I have friends, and I had "friends".

My friends were the ones that stood by me no matter what.

My "friends" on the other hand, can play a rather big joke on me without telling me the truth, ever!! You may think this is funny but I don't. There are times for jokes and times to be serious. And when I'm serious, you better be serious too.

I often make mistakes and offend others although most times I didn't mean it. I'm just not the type of person who has very high EQ or knows the situation just by looking at it.

My friends would often hint me or even tell me what I was doing wrong and I would try my best to change.

From the moment I met "them", I tried my best to get close to them, to be their friend. But due to my natural tendancy to somehow piss people off, "they" would sometimes stab me with words. And because I treated "them" as my friends, those words went right through my heart, without mercy. And who knows how many backstabs I've received already?

To be ignored by a friend is the worst feeling ever!! When you know you're the only one who's being left out, the only one whom nobody would talk to, the only one whom the truth is never to be told, how does that make you feel?

I had a savior. The savior was the one who couldn't resist how my "friends" treated me and told me everything I was doing wrong. The savior has taught me lots by doing so and I was very grateful to the savior. The savior gained my utmost trust.

My friends would always give me useful advice when I had a problem.

My "friends" would offer something of the opposite eventhough it was concerning my future. And I trusted "them" because I was pretty sure that "they" knew what consequences it would bring. But I just can't believe that the savior just played along, treating it as a joke of some sort, of which again, I took VERY SERIOUSLY.

Although I may seem like a person to be fooled around, to play pranks on, and always smiling despite being offended on purpose, but I do not take friendship as a joke. When I treat someone sincerely, with all my heart I hope that he/she will do the same.

The little things that "you" do, no matter how small or how insignificant it might be, will always be the main indicator of how sincere "you" are to me. It's not that I'm not forgiving, but it's just the way "you" make me feel when I'm around "you".

"You" do not treat me as a toy to express your "humour" and I'm not someone "you" can just make fun of. I will not always be the one who "fills in" for your trips JUST to reduce the shared cost. I will not be the one to be invited ONLY as a last resort and to "fill in" the gaps. If "you" were truly sincere, I hope that you show it.

Despite all this shit, I'm still faithfully awaiting for the one True Friend to appear in my life.

Once, a very good friend of mine made me feel like I'm just another guy he met on the streets. So I wrote this poem. This is how seriously I take friendship.

I know I've had my shortcomings, I know I've made a lot of mistakes, and I know I do not deserve to be "your" friend anymore. And if "you" were really so desperate to bury me in deep shit, I shall leave for the greater good.

After all, a zero is always better than a negative.

If I was the negative in "your" eyes, I'd rather leave and be the zero.

And if "you" are going to put a negative in my life because of that, I'd rather leave and start again from zero.

I gave "you" my trust and "you" threw it away.

Trust, is hard to earn, and once lost, is not easily regained.

Thanks for everything and goodbye.

***Disclaimer: I did not mention any names in this post so if you think that person is you, think otherwise. Only the people who were involved knows its them.***

Bolster deprivation

2009-04-10T20:45:00.002+08:00

Short Talk: Mount Dandenong has the best steak pies ever!! Another craving into my list... =p

Ah, just one of the many things that Malaysians complain about when they start to get used to life here in Australia.

One thing about the Australians is that they don't usually sleep with bolsters!

Almost every Malaysian friend I have here in Australia has been deprived of a bolster and some even got desperate and bought an extra pillow!

So... The story goes...

My friend, lets call him John, was trying to buy a bolster from a local shopping mall.

He searched almost every major supermarket and finally gave up. So he asked one of the sales assistants (SA) for some answers.

John : Excuse me, but where can I buy a bolster?

SA : 'Bolster'? What's a 'bolster'?

John : Erm... It's something you hug with you when you sleep at night.

SA : Oh I see... Do you mean girls?

I laughed like nobody's business after hearing that from my friend!!! ROFL!!

And he was a little pissed because it was a long day looking for a bolster so he went like -_________-""

But later on, we found out that Australians calls it a 'body pillow'. But it was so expensive compared to a pillow so I just bought an extra pillow! Hehe...

Btw that's the extra pillow I bought. =p

I even changed the bedsheet and finally took out my quilt altogether!!

Now my bed is so comfortable that every morning I'll snooze my alarm for 1 hour before waking up. =p

Enjoy!! =D

Voucher-hopping

2009-04-06T21:26:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: Daylight savings has ended in Australia and I slept through my extra hour. Now Australia is only 2 hours ahead of Malaysia. =)

Australians do pub-hopping.

Malaysians do voucher-hopping instead. =p

Yeah I know it somehow doesn't sound right but I can't think of any good ones...

It all happened on Friday, when Lip Boon decided to come over to the Halls of Residence to watch 'Marley and Me' using our projectors. =)

Previously, I gave Aun Shiang (Boon's friend) a bunch of vouchers for free or discounted food at Subway, Coldrock, McDonalds, Wendy's, Pretzel World and more. So she wanted to return the favor by driving us to Subway to use the vouchers for dinner.

But it was a waste that I already ate my dinner before Boon called me. So I only bought a drink while they had a 6-inch Sub each. While chatting, we looked through the vouchers and the other shops were just 5 minutes away!

*forgot to take photos while at Subway*

So we spontaneously drove to ColdRock for some ice-cream!!

Our Ice-creams! =D

From left: Aun Shiang, Lip Boon and Me =)

Lip Boon covering Aun Shiang's mouth... Lol...

Cool reflected image! =D

The Panda restaurant... =p

Boon trying to feed his beloved cousins... =)
(His nick is pandalim)

I had to put my precious camera on the rubbish bin for this shot. T_T

Next stop! Mc Donalds!!

Lip Boon felt paiseh because they had to give him a free burger and fries in exchange for the voucher, so he bought another large fries... Haha...

After McD we went back to Halls to watch 'Marley and Me'...

SUPER GOOD movie for DOG OWNERS!!
(I'm gonna get my first dog soon! Will blog about it later on)

It was funny and touching at the same time... So for those who haven't watched this movie yet, by all means go watch it! =D

I'm supposed to be preparing for tomorrow's lab. =p

P/S: I just got my new guitar!! =D

Yamaha C40 =)

Enjoy!! =D

I was pranked! I think...

2009-04-01T20:50:00.006+08:00

Short Talk: I'm supposed to be busy doing some programming but decided to blog about this since I was so excited. =p

Woohoo!!! I was pranked today!! Yes I'm actually happy that I got pranked lol...

I never got pranked during April Fools' or for that matter, never in my life!! Maybe its because of my cautious nature and always being careful to avoid pranks. =p

Today is April's Fool day and I was attending my lectures and classes like any other day! There was no tricks or pranks on the lecturer nor the tutors...

SO BORING!! I was expecting something that would at least keep us awake early in the morning and a good laugh ought to do it. But... NOTHING!!

I was beginning to wonder if Australians actually play pranks on each other during April Fools'.

So my WHOLE DAY almost ended without a prank. Not to myself or not any that I witnessed.

As usual, I always bath in the night after which I won't go out anymore.

Here's the fun part,
I thought I was pranked but I wasn't??

So there I was, bathing...

The bathroom at my floor is totally concealed, as in, no windows or even gaps so the bathroom lights had to be lit even during the day. Without it, it's total darkness...

And that's exactly what happened to me. Someone came in and turned off the lights while I was bathing!! I wasn't afraid of the darkness though. I was more paranoid that if I go out in my towel, someone would eventually be waiting to prank me.

But I was somewhat happy!! Someone actually pranked me!! Hahahaha!

Having no choice, I wrapped myself in my towel, still drenched and stuff... And as I exit my cubicle, which was at the far end, I looked into the other 2 cubicles as I walk pass it to see if anyone was waiting... Eventually, I turned on the lights and no one was there... Relieved, but disappointed... =p

So I continued bathing, whistling, singing...

Then someone came in again but this time, I heard the shower in the other cubicle so I thought he/she was bathing too. But after about 1 minute, he/she switched the lights off again!

This time I was even more excited!! Lol!

I thought: 'This time someone would actually be out there waiting to prank me! *giggles*'

But I took my own sweet time... Bathing a little, whistling as I bath... I was trying to make him/her wait! Haha... I don't know how, but after I was done, I dried myself and got dressed in total darkness... Lol...

Feeling very anxious, I walked out of my cubicle and again gazing into the other cubicles scanning for signs of a prank... Yet, I was disappointed again... No one was out there...

Although no one completed the prank, but I was still really happy... Coz

I was pranked for the first time in my life!! :D

DON'T CLICK ON THIS LINK

Enjoy!! =D

Note to self

2009-03-28T07:06:00.006+08:00

Ever since I came to Australia, I was starting to like drinking and I think I'll go overboard if the opportunity presents itself.

But after reading an article at The Star, I'm starting to realise how important it is to drink responsibly, as stated by MRS (Monash Residential Services) in their booklet, Responsible enjoyment and consumption of alchohol.

After all, I won't wanna end up like them:
Baby dies, drunk parents forgot to feed him

This is also a friendly message to my fellow friends to be responsible drinkers.

And even if you don't drink,

DON'T FORGET TO FEED THE BABY!!

Enjoy! =D

Matthew's 19th Birthday

2009-03-26T19:29:00.003+08:00

Short Talk: So I decided not to blog about drinking after all... lol =)
You can still see the photos at Facebook though. :)

OMG did I just say 19th? Yes he's only 19 this year and undertaking his 2nd year in Bachelor of Business. Apparently, he started his primary education at the age of 6, and took SAM as his pre-U studies. Figure the rest out yourself. =)

Matthew is the one who's walking like a 'King of the day'! =D

We were planning to eat Nando's at first but we already ate there for Jia Wei's birthday. Btw he's not Lee Jia Wei in case any DU-rians are reading my blog. So the whole bunch of them told me they were going to Glen Waverley (Asian town) to eat.

See his excited face as we head to the bus stop =)

As usual, they didn't plan for a specific place to eat. And as usual again, we just walked down the street and entered a random restaurant with decent prices. Oh but later on I found out that Joshua and Matthew ate there before... Paiseh... haha =p

A little blur... But it's the only group photo I have... =/

Ok I'm not gonna use 'as usual' again... lol

As always, the portions served here in Australia are EXTREMELY LARGE!!

See how Adrian was struggling just to finish a normal rice and vege dish?

On top of that, they ordered some rice with lots of cheese. Imagine the amount of cheese we get on a large pizza at Pizza Hut in Malaysia. Then put all those cheese into a single dish. Finish it if you can... Lol... =)

Mae Eve actually managed to finish the whole dish! Considering all the rice, meat, mushroom and cheese in that dish, even I couldn't finish it unless I was starving for 3 days. =p

Eve's plate was as big as Matthew's.
Matthew shared. Eve ate alone. 'Nuff said.

From left: Boon Seng, Jia Chen, Me =)

After everyone was almost done eating, we sang a birthday song for Matthew. We sang as though the restaurant was own by us but luckily people here don't really give us that weird 'wtf' look. Some of them even smiled! =D

The birthday song was not the most embarassing moment yet. We even 'forced' Matthew to give a speech standing up!! Lol... =)

A quick snapshot while Matthew was giving his speech! =D

All in all it was an enjoyable night out with the gang. Although I was supposed to be absent together with Kok Wee and Jia Wei to discuss our project, but it was all worth it. =)

Tomorrow is Friday night and Boon invited me to his place for house warming. Oh we'll really heat up the place... With booze, that is... Lol... =p

He was drunk. Negaraku was played.
Can't wait for tomorrow night! xD

Till tomorrow night, enjoy!! =D

Broken!!

2009-03-23T14:23:00.003+08:00

The photo speaks for itself:

Solution?

Hope this works coz this sunglasses was one of my farewell gifts before taking off to Australia.

For now, enjoy!! =D

Espresso: You failed me

2009-03-18T19:46:00.002+08:00

Short Talk: I bought a new Digital Camera bag and the strap that came with it don't seem to fit...

Shortly after classes began, I started to rely on espresso to keep me awake. But today it finally failed me. I slept throughout the 1-hour lecture and only woke up when the next lecturer entered.

This was how it began:

Yesterday was St.Patrick's day (duno celebrate what) and we had a BBQ dinner at the courtyard. After the dinner, the gang decided to go drink at St. John's Bar in the campus centre! That's really the first time we went out, JUST TO DRINK! =p

So we walked about 15 minutes to the campus centre despite the chilly weather and piercing cold winds. When we arrived, the bar was packed with students and there was hardly enough space to walk. Consequently, it took us at least 10minutes before it was our turn to buy beer.

At first, it was just drinking and chatting so we all felt a little bored. On top of that, Jia Chen forgot to bring his deck of poker cards. Then Daryl asked me "eh got any drinking games to play ah?". At first I didn't know any games that don't require a deck of cards.

But like a sudden flash, I remembered the game I played in OBS (OutwardBound School) called "Big fish, small fish". The loser had to finish a cup of water placed at the center of the circle. So we simply applied that game to beer! =D

After numerous rounds, we finally finished all our beer. We were talking about going back. Yes, we were 'just talking' because everyone seemed reluctant to leave. So Daryl took the initiative to buy us a second round of beer! And here we go again! =D

Oops, I was supposed to be talking about coffee right? Sorry got kinda excited when it comes to drinking. =p

*Skips drinking session*

So... We walked back to the Halls at around 10pm coz everyone needed to study. That includes me! After I bathed I started working on my programming questions for the next day, which is today, coz I wanted to follow the gang to Chadstone at 4pm.

My class ends at 4pm but if I get everything done at home, I could go there just to do the completion quiz and leave. Only 3 questions, 2 of them were relatively easy because we need not write a program from scratch. For the last one, it took me all night and I only completed half the question!! So I slept at around 3am.

The next morning, I had to wake up at 7.30am for my 9am lecture. But I snoozed my alarm clock till 8am before I finally woke up!!
Read: I'm too smart to be waken up by your average alarm clock.

It takes me 10-15minutes to walk to campus but I usually get ready 30minutes before classes start. So I took a quick shower and head to the kitchen for breakfast. There was no time for me to eat let alone make my espresso. I rushed to the campus and managed to be 10minutes ahead so I bought a cup of espresso from the campus centre.

Thinking that it was enough to keep me awake despite having less than 5 hours of sleep, I attended my analogue electronics lecture. The subject itself was interesting to me, and the lecturer was not monotonous nor did he make the content sound dry.

YET!! I managed to sleep through the ENTIRE lecture!!

Amazing... Yes I'm amazed too! How did all these positive factors still generate a negative outcome?? Sometimes I wonder how my body works... Sometimes it's 12degrees and I'm still good without a jacket, sometimes it's 18degrees yet I'll be shivering with my jacket on.

But one thing's for sure, I'll never be able to control the bad habit I have for sleeping in lectures... Not even the thickest coffee can keep me awake anymore... I wonder if I could stay awake longer if I ate the coffee... Lol... =p

Enjoy!! =D

New Digital Camera!!

2009-03-15T08:59:00.001+08:00

Short Talk: Whoever took STPM 2008 should read this:

The Star: Students’ online application for public varsity tampered with

If anyone had read my MSN, they should know that I intended to buy a new digital camera.

After hours of online research, I've short-listed a few cameras which I was gonna check at the shop. At the shop, I realised that most of the cameras on my list are outdated. As in, they're not in production anymore!! OMG how dumb of me...

Anyways I just tried any camera within my budget which was $200-$300. Basically I looked at the lens, the quality using zoom, image stability with shaky hands, face detection, user-friendly interface, and any other added features.

If you've noticed, I don't look at how many megapixels the camera has. I even compared a 12MP Nikon Coolpix with a 10MP Sony Cybershot and the photo quality really depends on the lens and the camera itself.

My online research was mostly based on Sony Cybershot, Canon IXUS, Canon Powershot and Nikon Coolpix as these were the brands that I had always known. But none of these cameras that were in the shop gave me a satisfactory photo. Some started to blur as I zoomed further, some had image stabilizer (IS) but was not good as the photo was blur when I tried a shaky shot.

Then I came across Panasonic Lumix FS3. I overlooked this camera due to its price which was $199. I'm the kind of person who believes in quality for every penny's worth. But I tried it out anyways. To my surprise, this camera passed every single test I threw at it!

(Click to enlarge)

It gave me sharp images even at maximum zoom, it could detect multiple faces, it was simple to use with the Intelligent Auto which does all the work for you, and it even gave me nice and sharp images with shaky hands. Even after it passed all the tests, I was still doubtful and went to another shop to get second opinions.

Unfortunately, when I reached the other shop, no one was there to service me so I looked merely at the prices and it was around $280 in that shop. So I figured the previous shop had a better deal with $25 rebate for a memory card. =)

So I head back to the previous shop and purchased the camera together with a 4GB SD flash memory card for $203. The memory card was worth $29 so I had to top up $4 but it was worth it.

Taken using my SE C702 (Click to enlarge)

Enough talk, lets see what this baby can do! =D

First, I tried to zoom with good light conditions:

This photo was taken using maximum optical zoom.

This was the actual distance between me and the switch.
(Yes I know my table is messy =p)

This photo was taken at maximum possible zoom (19.1X)

Zooming out gradually...

Zooming out a little more...

Without any zoom... See how far that was?

Okay I admit it wasn't that sharp if you enlarged the photo but it's good enough for me. =)

Next, we try the Intelligent Auto mode:

This is how the courtyard looks like from my room.

I did a little zooming and it automatically changed the scene to 'Night Scene'.

Not much of a change except the contrast levels but it should be good enough for normal use. =)

This camera is like the perfect camera for me because:
1. It's cheap (Yes money does come first)
2. Focusing and recharging the flash is fast enough for me.
3. The images are clear and sharp in most lit conditions.
4. The interface is EXTREMELY user-friendly.
5. Everything I need and ONLY what I need is in this camera.

I don't need those fancy dials with like 8 or 9 modes where I only use auto and video. This is also the best thing about this camera:

I paid for only what I use.

That is also what I always aim for when I shop for gadgets. I won't want to buy something that has 100 features in it yet I only use a few regularly. It also means that I'm not fully utilizing the gadget and therefore wasting my money.

Overall, I'm EXTREMELY satisfied with this camera.

So here I go snapping away!!

I snapped this using maximum zoom. It's a little blur because I was behind the transparent glass of the shop.

OMG Fiona is sooooo gonna kill me for this!! xD

Enjoy! =D

Expresso: The wake-up pill...

2009-03-12T21:11:00.005+08:00

Short talk: Horse bites off mans testicle (ROFL)

It's only Week 2 of my semester and I'm already falling asleep during lectures.

It's really NOT because the lecturer is boring, NOT because the topic is dry, and NOT because I'm not interested...

In fact, I kinda like the subjects that I'm taking...

It's just... I can't seem to keep my eyes open nor my brain awake to listen to the lecture!! It started since Form 6 when I was losing concentration during class. Then I started to fall asleep in PA and maths class. I even slept whenever the teacher wasn't around. Not because I was sleepy or tired, but because I enjoyed the comfy-ness of sleeping... Lol...

Then when I arrived in uni, this bad habit got the best of me when I was sleeping in most of the maths lecture and scored badly in the exams.

Now, even when I'm in Australia, with new environment and all, I STILL fall asleep during lectures!! And to tell the truth, it is not at my will to stay awake or not!! My eyes will automatically shut itself and my brain will go to 'Sleep Mode'. Only after 10seconds when I realised that I'm asleep, then I wake up for a brief moment. This process repeats at least 10 times for a 1-hour lecture.

I figured that I need something to keep me awake. So I tried listening to music in one ear, and listening to the lecturer using the other. Initially, it kinda worked because I wasn't feeling the least drowsy eventhough the lecturer was talking monotonously. BUT, it only worked once. When I tried this method the 2nd and 3rd time, I fell asleep anyway.

So my other option was coffee. One jolly day, I arrived early at campus so I went to the campus center to grab some coffee. The names of the coffee here are somewhat 'special' and you won't understand them unless you try them all. e.g. Long Black, Short Black, Flat White, Expresso, etc.

I was looking for the cheapest option so I took the Expresso. When they served it, I was like "Is this a joke?" The cup was even smaller than the shot glasses and the coffee in it was even less. At that time, I didn't give a damn as long as it could keep me awake so I drank the whole cup. It was actually very, very, VERY thick coffee where the amount of caffeine in this small cup was equivalent to the normal cups.

I went to my lecture feeling TOTALLY AWAKE!! Omg it was a miracle!! I was kept awake the whole day (4 hours worth of lectures) by a small up of Expresso!! =D

I swore I was gonna drink that everyday before lectures. Since it was cheaper to make my own coffee, I wanted to buy the Nescafe Expresso I saw in the supermarket. But a closer look revealed that the coffee inside the jar was not fully powdered and had large grains. I had no idea how to make an expresso and according to a friend, that type of coffee was meant to be made using a coffee machine. =p

Luckily I was smart enough to think before I buy, which is very important here in Australia since almost everything here is more expensive.

Since I don't have any coffee, I continued buying Expresso's from the Campus Centre almost before every lecture (or in between breaks). I tried buying a long black, which is basically a regular cup of coffee without sugar or milk, but that wasn't enough to keep me awake for 2 hours consecutive lectures. To be frank, it only lasted about 1 hour.

So expresso is kinda like my wake-up pill for now until I buy my own 3in1 coffee and hopefully that will be enough to keep me awake.

Sidenote: It was a friend's birthday on Tuesday so I bought beer and we drank it at the courtyard. At the same time, the whole bunch of us were listening to his ghost stories and the girls were scared half to death! =p

Me posing with the beer... Technically it was alcoholic cider, which my friends refered to as "Apple juice with gas". But it was still a 5% alcohol drink so I did get a little dizzy.

Enjoy!! =D

Underwear thieves!!

2009-03-08T08:46:00.003+08:00

As the title states, someone actually stole my underwear!!

And this all happened a week ago on Sunday when I was doing my laundry...

It was a Sunday and I got left out because all my 'friends' went to the city without telling me a thing. So since I had nothing better to do on that Sunday afternoon, I did my laundry.

After washing, I put it in the dryer and set the timer to 150minutes. (Trust me anything below that won't do the job) Then I went about doing my own stuff until I forgot about my laundry.

After about 4 hours of putting my laundry to dry, I noticed that someone took my clothes out from the dryer and placed it on the rack. And my clothes wasn't even dried yet... So out of frustration, I took out the person's clothes out of the dryer and placed mine in again. And I left it there until I remembered it again at around 1am. (I know I'm very forgetful, thank you)

This time, it was completely dried and the sleepy me collected it and put it in my room while I went down to the common room to watch Man U vs Tottenham. While watching, I was so tired that I gradually fell asleep on the chair. So I went back up to my room after half-time ended.

On the next morning, it was the first day of classes and I had to fold my clothes before preparing to attend lecture. While doing that, I realised that all my underwear went MISSING!! I searched my laundry and found only one pair of underwear left out of the five that I washed. The weird thing is... My underwear was the ONLY thing that went missing!! All my clothes were still there!!

I tried to stay calm and thought about how it could've gone missing. I searched the laundry room, through every washing machine and dryer, but there was no sign of my underwear anywhere. I even searched my room and wardrobe for the possibility that I forgot to put them in the laundry. But I still couldn't find them.

I kept this incident to myself for a few days hoping that someone mistakenly took my underwear and would return it soon. I was hoping and praying hard, while searching the laundry room every single day.

Finally, a few days had passed and my underwear had not appeared yet. So I had to reveal this embarassing secret as I ask my floormates if they had seen my underwear. I couldn't care less about the shame as long as I got my underwear back. Still, I had to live with all the laughter and jokes yet I am unable to locate my underwear, which puts me at a double loss.

At this point, I had to assume that they are lost (or stolen) and I had to get new ones.

On Friday, I went shopping at Glen Waverley for some groceries and also my underwear. Luckily for me, I found the 3pack underwear which was on promotion and spent a little less on what I could've avoided by just being a little more mindful.

My mum always says "Be mindful, say in your mind, I'm washing my clothes now, I'm putting it in the dryer now, I'm drying my clothes now, another 20 more minutes and I have to collect them."

I always try, but I don't always succeed. My forgetfulness probably arose because most of the time, I don't really think when I do something. The action somehow got through without any processing using the brain. You may say that this is absent-minded, but surprisingly I can do pretty conplicated stuff without thinking...

For instance, while watching a movie at home, I felt the need to munch on something. So I cycled out to the petrol station to grab a packet of chips. Then I came back home and continued watching my movie while eating my chips.

At the end of the movie, I don't remember myself buying any chips, so I thought I had eaten my sister's chips. Eventually, I bought another packet to replace the one I had eaten. At the end of the day, I only remember the incident when my sister insisted that she had already eaten her packet of chips.

I really have to get rid of this habit while in Australia because I have no one to depend on but myself. Apart from my underwear, I had already lost a roll of toilet paper, my table cloth and I almost lost my watch at the beach too.

I hope I can be more mindful for the days to come, or there will be lots more that I will lose.

Till then,
Enjoy!! =D