Pictures of the park along Yarra River. ran around the royal botanic gardens and along the yarra river this morning. Found out we're not allowed to run inside the Royal Botanic Garden so sorry, no pictures of it. It was a very sunny and super windy day! was gonna get blown away man. hahaha nah, im not that light.







Saw the protest against the war on Lebanon and Palestine outside the state library again. it's just a peaceful protest. there're group of ppl setting up tables and selling newspapers from the "Green Left" and badges, flags and banners. They propagade such protests in schools! We had a girl who came to make a short announcement beofre lecture, encouraging more White students to participate in the protest as a sign that Australia, and not just Middle Eastern people are against the war. they have booths giving out flyers and selling anti-war paraphanelia in school too.

Bought lots of food at vic mart, and walked around the non-foodstuff section too. it's like a pasar malam. they sell pretty decent stuff there. clothes and all. good place for shopping actually. but it was SUPER WINDY and COLD and i was just wearing running shorts!

later i went to Planet Shakers church. man, Ernz, you'll love it. it's kinda like the Hill Songs of Melbourne. They are a large band which travels around the world performing in different churches. The auditorium is huge, 3 stories. There are like abt 20 ppl on the stage, singing or playing in the rock or symphonic band, all together. they've got a large projection screen too. Everyone was like jumping and waving their hands in the air and screaming...it's like a youth service i think. yep, i think it's good that the church is moving with time. it doesn't always have to be traditional and old fashion, it can be lively and fun to attract youngsters. somehow, it reminded me of City Harvest church back in Singapore, where they're "popularised" by their music. oh they screened a video clip of their announcements entitled "City News", reminded me of MTV! Seriously. maybe better than MTV in terms of graphics and all. haha.

but what i didn't like, was the offering. it reminds me of FCBC in Singapore, which they're kinda affliated to. well, they like to preach about giving offering and all..i was thinking "if you want the money, just say it!"

anyway, the preacher was damn scary. she was VERY AGGRESSIVE! it made me extremely skeptical and against the message because i felt like it was a brainwashing session, stirring up emotions. i was doubting and thinking of counter-reasons and arguments for the things she said..She was constantly shouting, stamping her foot and repeating words like "PROPHESY!(X5)" or "break the words of the devil!" "BREAK IT! BREAK IT BREAK IT BREAK IT BREAK IT!!!!!" and she'll speak of how negative words are the actions of the devil and the enemy. I mean...it really feels weird. And i feel like it's as though we're segregating, differentiating ourselves from non-Christians coz we think we're on moral high ground, or superior just coz we're Christians? I was feeling really uncomfortable. i'm well aware that i do not like charismatic practices so yea, this was just bad. i kinda wanted to leave halfway. some people like it coz they think it's powerful. but i think it's so pressurizing and makes me feel like i'm in a radical cult. It doesn't feel personal at all. Oh yes, and the congregation gets very worked up. They'll stand up and clap, cheer, shout "YEAH!" "THAT'S RIGHT" "YES" during the message...But the message was not bad. it was essentially about the power of God's word and how we should rely on, and speak his word.

After sermon, we walked 40mins IN THE RAIN & STRONG WIND to college square, Jonathan's apartment. Together with Aaron, his friend from the US, and Melvin, the 4 of us cooked dinner! Teriyaki Chicken noodles. It was delicious! but i was famished man. we ate at like 930pm coz service ended pretty late.


It was fun. we were all washing stuff or cooking or chopping ingredients...fun! and his place is BIG! it's a 1 room apartment more like 2 room actually. it's a twin share but he hasn't got a roommate at the moment so it's huge. a study room, dinning table, sofas and all. hmm but well i'm fine with my small room :)

Friday is considered my weekend alr coz i've got no sch! haha. had swimming trg this morning. it was focussing on drills. You know i realise, the training here is in frequent bite sized chunks. Each session, the intensity is there, but the mileage isn't high. More focussed on technique and quality. And btw, the coaches here are all qualified with like level 2 and above i think. And the athletes are so fast i am totally embarrassed to say im a national triathlete. Due to my patriotic spirit, i will not disgrace my country by making it known that our standard is so low. haha. Last night we ran hills. I just did 4x500m hill. the hill isnt steep, but for unknown reasons, my heartrate goes really high, probably coz i'm trying not lag too far behind such as to trigger a major search for me in the park just in case they thought i'd been eaten by the pavement. i chatted with many of the people there, great!

you know i think it's very humbling to be here. as in over here, i'm nobody. it's starting from scratch, building up your reputation all over again. back home i'll say i'm a national triathlete. but here, it doesn't mean anything, especially when you're not as fast as them. It allows you to give the people around you the kinda impression you'll want. but actually, i kinda like the way i am already, so i'm not really trying to change anything. i used to distinguish myself by my eloquence, strong points of views and persuasiveness. over here, the Australians tend to be outspoken too, and the difference in accents sometimes i think i don't sound right. haha. but of course, i won't be intimidated coz it's not just about speaking up, it's about making sense and talking substance.

This afternoon, i cycled with Wille down St Kilda, along the coast. Perfect! It is so beautiful! really, the feeling is like...you'll drive a vintage Mustang down the winding coast and stop by a cliff overlooking the sea. haha it's a out and back route, no going in loops! haha and it's rolling hills and REALLY REALLY strong headwind on the way back. Headwnd + uphills just don't go well! haha i was getting dropped by Wille on every uphill. i was really pushing damn hard, and had to focus coz otherwise i might be moving backwards!


an empty carpark where we stopped for me to take some photos, and to eat Wille's energy gel (thanks! i was tired and hungry!). there's the road we cycle along.

view from the carpark. the sea is so deep blue it's beautiful. tis the kinda scenery we see along the cycling route. pretty, ain't it?
heh. tt's me in my winter cycling attire. new arm warmers and full finger gloves. i feel so happy. no more shivering in the cold, and even better, no more cold hands!! i swear i'm gonna wear those gloves out to town! hahaha. well it wasn't that cold today coz we cycled in the mid afternoon. but the headwind was just insane!

This is the carpark at the 30km turning point. We stopped so Wille could adjust his seatpost and eat. It's like a yatch bay. in front of this row of cars is a row of yatches and boats parked there. lots of them. it's just such and peaceful and laid back feeling. like you and your dad go for a sail on a sunny windy sunday afternoon...ya know.

oh on one stretch of the road near Kathy Watt Bikeshop, there was "WATT" printed on the surface. Apparantly, it's coz this was the Commonwealth Games timetrial route for cycling. She must be the champ or pride of Aust then! haha.

yep cycling through the city is a nightmare. There's like so many traffic lights, tram tracks, pedestrians, cyclists and all...man! I was getting worried man. Anyway, i didn't have lunch coz i wasn't hungry before(bad bad decision not to eat), so i got home and stuffed myself with sandwiches!!! completely famished and tired!

went for cell group at Swanston church of Christ in the evening. It was fun as usual. Met alot of people. And laughed so much, more than i've ever laughed in sometime. haha. There was this one game, which was to come up with a group cheer. our group was damn retarded!! our cheer went like this: all of us squat down, then we vibrate upwards like we're some growing beansprout having muscle spasms, and say "ahhhhhhhh" shakily as we 'grow' then when we reach standing position we shout "group cheer!" then we wriggle back down. haha it was so hilarious i almost died!!! hahaha. Everyone was shocked at our nonsense cheer. initially it was just "group cheer" then Jonathan's good idea to say "ahhhhhhhhhh" like in a shaky voice, and our leader, he did it in the most idiotic way and was vibrating his head, it was crazily funny. so we came up with those embarrassing and retarded actions. haha it was crazy. i laughed like mad the whole time!!

oh yes, then there was this scavenger hunt. we had to find a nail clipper with 5 toe nails, a Bible and a rainbow coloured sock. I suggested simply drawing it out so we just drew the items on servettes. Melvin was so excited he rushed up to hand it in and everyone was staring at us like we're one mad group. hahaha.

yep, we had supper at chinatown after that. food was alright, but it was a long wait! haha. it's really nice to hang out with these people. they're soooo funny. haha.

AMAZING DISCOVERY ON (elaine's) ANIMAL PLANET

woke up at 5.45am to go for swimming training with the triathlon squad this morning. It was soooooo cold on my way there i was chattering and shivering! Anyway, i swam in Wille's lane which is just absurd. they're too fast. The mileage is quite little! they did 4km and i did 3.5km today. haven't swam in almost 3 weeks so was just trying to stay afloat! haha. But still, i kinda think it's too little actually, although it was hard during the main set. It was enjoyable though, the general atmosphere was very relax and fun, people chatting amongst each other and with the coach. Also, the coach doesn't shout out timings. We look at the timer on the wall and start on our own. well, i felt fresh and happy after the session. headed home for some breakfast. boy was i hungry!

i fell asleep while doing some reading. DID YOU KNOW, THAT HUMANS GO INTO HIBERNATION TOO? When the weather is too cold, like over here, humans slip unconsciously into winter hibernation. Hence we have to beware of the evil evil activities which distract us from wakefulness (such as reading our textbooks), and hypnotise us subtly into long deep slumber. WARNING: hibernating animals (including humans) are very difficult to awaken. Which was why I had to use all my mental power to drag myself outta bed for lecture at 11am. Even when awakened from hibernation, they require at least an hour to reach a state of alertness. This explains why i was so blur i brought the Professional Writing subject reader for Psychology lecture.

After school i went to Smith Street with Melvin. Apparantly there are many sports brands' factory outlets there. It took us almost half an hr to get there. Over here, I walk everywhere, even if it is 40mins away. coz taking the tram just doesn't seem economical. Smith Street, like most of the other streets here, gives this deserted, old empty feeling. Empty cars parked along the roads..empty shophouses..alleys with garages spray painted with graffitti...There's a wide mix of shops around, from butchers to Australian local designers' stores to furniture shops, chemists, coffee joints and pubs all next to each other.

First stop was this huge shop which sold mainly basic cotton clothes. I bought a cotton trackpants, a long sleeve top and a 3/4 tights for training. The girls here wear trackpants, the cotton kind, and those zip up sweaters to the track then they wear a long sleeve top and a t-shirt outside, with tights to run. looks v old sch. haha. Now, all i need is a cotton hoodie and i'm aussie!! hahaha. yea but that's just practical. when i wear my dri-fit tee and running shorts to run, it's really pretty cold. so yea. heh.

We saw this custom crumpler shop!!! It's really cool. you can customise your own crumpler there. you can design on the cover and bring to the shop where they will sew it up for you. or you can pick from some of their designs. they were sewing the bags right there in the shop! cool!!! some of the designs are really elaborate and nice!!! oh man...you can only do this in New York and Melb! cool!

Further down the street were all the factory outlets!! Adidas, Nike, Converse, Brooks, etc etc. We were late so many of the shops were closing alr =( Anyway i picked up 2 pairs of socks from Nike. $4 a pair only. haha. actually the stuff are not that cheap, only selected items. Well but it was fun anyway. I'm on the lookout for a zip up hoodie. heh. i need a winter jacket too.

Yup, got back then i went for a 30min jog in town. Suddenly i heard someone call out my name. my oh my...Jasmine Tan! My sec 1&2 classmate! haha unbelievable, what a small world! haha apparantly she heard i was here from some other girl from our batch whom i only know by name. cool.

as usual, cooked fusilli beef bolognese for dinner. cooked extra for tmr's lunch and dinner as well. I also made sandwiches in the fridge already; stocking up on food for hibernation. oh yes, everyday i have pineapples &/or mini mandrin oranges &/or kiwi. they are soooo yummy. i shall have to stock my fridge full of fruits!!

woke up feeling very cold and tired today. didn't switch on the heater last night coz i'm trying to cut down my electricity bill. haha. had 2 lectures today. Global politics and Intro to social, developmental and clinical psychology 1. Lots of reading to do. I was quite lost during psychology coz i have no idea who Piaget, Skinner, Bandura, etc are! So many theories and models and names to familiarise myself with. for starters, i shall be hardworking and research online later. hahaha.

rushed home to have lunch, my chicken veg rice, which is what i'm having now for dinner actually. i had to postpone Melvin's shopping at Smith St and Ikea and dinner coz i am BROKE!! Spent 200 bucks buying my texts and subject readers. Waiting for dad to transfer some money over. Till then, i shall stick to my denim jacket (no new warm winter jacket) and eat precooked food. haha. Thanks for all the encouragement! Once i attain Iron Chef status, i shall return and cook for you all! hahaha.

Pretty much slept until training.

YES TRAINING. i trained with Tony today, the long dist running coach. They are all so fast! but tony says there are some girls who aren't here today and they are around my standard and slighly faster, so it'll get better. Btw, almost all the ppl in the athletics club are Australians.

Warm up was 3 rounds on the track (heartrate of 180bpm for me) and stretching. I felt more like i was doing pilates. haha the guy who led stretching seemed like some pro stretcher. hahaha.

We ran to Princess Park which is 5-10min jog away. It is basically an oval shaped park, with the running track of about 3plus km on the parameter. Flat gravel surface. we did some strides and drills and time for 3-6 reps of 1.6km. well, yes, you guessed it, i did 3 and was already dying. You don't overheat in the cold which feels good but it's too cold now. My legs felt stiff and my muscles very tight. My hands were frozen and my nose running. Sounds pathetic, not to mention, my WHOLE BODY was aching from yest's sprints. haha.

The people are all friendly and nice. i spoke to Alison, who's a 5th year medicine student and Cam, a science teaching student. The ppl in this group dabble into triathlons too. I dunno why Tony calls it "drifting to the dark side". I see it as "discovering the light" haha. maybe i should brainwash them into migrating to the "dark side".

Oh tmr morn i shall have to drag myself outta bed at 6am to go swim with the swim squad. how exciting, cept it'll be cold. Oh i heard the sat morning rides go at an average of 45kmh! That's just madness. especially when the winds are so strong. I might not survive...haha oh wells. wille says many cyclists cycle along that route so i can always latch onto another pack should i get dropped. comforting. haha.

ok time to bathe, yes Hansel i am gonna bathe. haha but actually i dun stink coz i hardly sweat. i even rewear my running attire many times! hahaha.

i am a master chef!

First day of sch today. had 2 lectures. cross cultural communication and professional writing. they sound really interesting and i'm so excited. BUT it sounds like a lot of work too, esp PW. Yep, and i've gotta do lotsa reading up! yes n i shd subscribe to the newspapers - The Age, Australian and Herald Sun. otherwise i shall have to accustom myself to hanging out in the library...

btw, it is crowded in uni now that semester has started. See some couples around sch and on the streets. i am so envious coz my bf isn't here with me! (hehe this is just to sweet talk you Clement, so you'll continue reading my blog and i can save my money calling you! =P)

I went to the supermarket twice after school! coz i forgot some stuff. Damn, the supermarket at Lygon is 15mins walk away. Once again, i overloaded my poor arms with too many groceries! but i've become stronger i can feel it! hahahaa.

I went to train with the uni athletics team. Spoke to the head coach. today i trained with the mid dist group. they're mainly 400m, 400 hurdles and 800m runners. Tomorrow i'll train with Tony, the cross country coach. Hopefully it'll be good stuff. Anyway today we did some exercises and drills and the main set was just 8x100m. I was thinking "WHAT?!? TT'S ALL?!" but yea, i was so wrong. i was damn tired after just 3. Haven't done speed work in ages. Anyway, we had a handicap system. "3, 2, 1, GO". I go on 3, another girl goes on 2, Sam (this 1.8m tall lady) goes on 1, and 2 guys go on GO. Yep and guess what? i Still finish last. ok just behind the girl who went on 2. Darn, i'm bad with names. Yep, my legs are wobbly now. They are so gonna ache tmr. when wille comes back i can start swimming and cycling with the tri club. fabulous. but im worried i cant keep up and will be an ass.

Went by LingZhi's apartment and collected the present from Yingming. Thank you so much! it is jsut what i need. a long sleeve running top! haha. yay.

Got back here and did some cooking. i am v efficient. i finished cooking and eating in an hr. hahahaha.


Chicken, tomatoes, broccolli and carrots. Ahhh...smells terrific! I'm hungry!!


OOOOooo...tastes as good as it looks! hahaha. See, i cooked so much which i kept in tupperwares in the fridge. The next 2 days' dinner. heh. so smart rite. I've already decided. When this runs out, i will cook a whole lot of fusilli beef bolognese. yes, yes, snails. ok enough. dun gross me out with that thought. Next i shall cook fried rice with sausages, eggs and fish cake. Fabulous menu for the rest of the week. Btw, my cooking is so healthy coz i put so little oil that the frying pan is now burnt. The sides only actually, and i can't scrub the damn black chao ta shit off! and, i also use reduced salt soy sauce, reduced sodium salt, the lowest fat garlic and ginger paste. Oh why paste, you might ask, and not the normal garlic n giner from the market? that's coz i just threw away some DISGUSTING MOULD INFESTED ginger and garlic which i bought last week. I thought these dried stuff can be kept forever! I i opened the shelve to find, to my horror, leaves growing out of my garlic, and beansprouts in my carrots! weird, i never bought leaves or beansporuts...yes, and fur on the ginger. sick. just sick.

yes time to bathe b4 my skin starts rotting. heh. ciao.

It's weird. No matter how early i sleep, i still wake up as late! Darn. Rode on my trainer this morning before doing some housework. When im sweaty and smelly, i feel a lil less grossed out CLEANING THE TOILET. EEEEKS. Washed the toilet bowl, wiped the kitchen and toilet floor and the bathroom sink. Oh btw, my toilet bowl water is dark blue coz i added some Harpic active blue freshner into the cistern. It's some foaming clean thingy. Hopefully, i hafta clean the toilet bowl less often. haha.

Spoke to a new neighbour, Gabrielle, this afternoon, before rushing down to Queen Victoria Market. As the stalls were closing and desperate to sell off all their meats, I had pretty good bargains. Not that i know what i was doing actually. haha. I bought minced beef, skinless chicken breast fillets, turkey breast, pineapple and kiwi. oh yes, there're fruits for tonite.

Did some laundry when i came back. Am i an idiot or what?! Nono, i'm just too used to the China style so i poured my washing powder together with the clothes. Later i realised there's a compartment at the top for you to pour the powder in. hehe. I didn't bother to use the dryer, which costs 3 bucks. Just hung the clothes up to dry in my room.

Oh i brisk walked home from vic mart so i cld make myself some lunch. Was so hungry i dismissed the thought of cooking and opted for the SANDWICH instead. had a turkey ham with lettuce sandwich. Erm you know, the bread expired 4 days ago. haha but it's a waste to throw half the enormous loaf away so i've been eating it the past few days. No mould, i swear. Decided to have some Home Brand canned sardines too. Btw, Home Brand is more powerful than Watsons Brand. They have everything from tissue paper to diet cola to milk to canned food, rice, peanuts, bread, you name it. And it's cheap too coz it's local produce. Actually it reminds me of the No Frills brand. Anyway, opening that can of sardines was tantamount to opening a can of worms! nono that sounds wrong. Opening Pandora's Box. whatever. First, the stupid can cover sprayed my white shirt with red tomato sauce so i had to handwash it immediately since my laundry was already washing downstairs. Second, when i put it into the microwave, it splattered all over so i had to clean the damn thing. Thrid, it wasn't fantastic. Rubbish. Total rubbish lunch.

Well it started raining real heavily so i had to stay home. Cooked pasta for dinner.


Minced beef and bolognese sauce sizzling in the pan...ahh...


My first successful meal! Fusilli bolognese! yay. OMG, SO DELICIOUS!!!

hehe and that only took me 15mins. ha! now im much more confident of my culinary skills! So how about Steak Au Poivre with Portabello Sauce or Sesame Salmon with Wasabi Sauce tmr? hahaha. I should really be reading recipe books.

Aw shucks. time to wash the dishes.

Went for an 11 km run this morning. I ran down Swanston Street to the Yarra River. Ran on the sand path by the river. It's really scenic. I shd've brought my camera! I saw a large group of cyclists on a grass field near the Olympic stadium so i ran over and spoke to Matthew, an Australian cyclist. Apparantly it was some orienteering activity. Chatted with him about triathlon and cycling. He asked if i'd run in the Botanic Gardens. Cathy Freeman and some Commonwealth 5k and 10k medalist and some other national athletes train there. Cool, he showed me the way and off to the park i was! haha. It's 3.6km a loop, with lots of up and downs. Road and gravel paths. Really beautiful. Kinda like S'pore's botanic gardens but much bigger and nicer! they have lots of different coloured trees and flowers, lush greenery, thick smooth grass...ahhh great for a picnic in the morning, baking in the sun. And of coz, perfect for running. It was about 15 degrees, cool and sunny.

Oh they have like a youth park/skate park there too. Next to the river. It was packed with teenagers skateboarding. Many teens haning around outside the Melb Arts Centre too. Saw quite a few goth looking teens, haha dressed weirdly, pretending they're from another planet...I saw a guy with his hair gelled into 3 cones, almost half a metre high! What, trying to make up for lost height? or perhaps trying to catch some pigeons midair. haha. btw, there are many pigeons in the city, especially outside the state library.


That's the Flinders Station, just across the road from the Melb Arts Centre. That's where the visitors' centre is too.

Ohoh on my way back, i saw a protest! It was outside the state library. Some protest about the war between Isrealis and Palistinians. The people were handing out fliers and newspapers and waving flags. the flags were white with 2 red lines on the top and bottom, and a green tree in the middle. There was also a lorry with speakers and loudhailers and messages about stopping the war or sth. There were police trying to keep the people off the tram tracks. But yea, it was peaceful. Many middle eastern ppl were there. Oh maybe the pigeons were staging a protest too. haha!

Anyway, what a shitty afternoon. I went to the supermarket to get some groceries. And at the cashier, guess what! I didn't have enough money, and my local ATM card wasn't working, I couldn't use my credit card, and the bank was closed! How embarrassing! I had to go home without my bags of groceries. Checked the letter, I'm so silly i forgot to activate my ATM card. Was too excited n just ripped it outta the letter and into my wallet. sighs. Was trying to figure out a way to get money this weekend so i can go to vic mart tmr...too taxing, i fell aslp.

Cheryl called to asked me out for dinner with some guys. We met at Crown (where the casino is). It took me 40mins to walk there from my place! The river is so beautiful at night. Oh, Clement doesn't like reading my blog =( so maybe if i said the river was so beautiful i wish he were here to stroll down the river with me, he'd like reading it. haha. Right Clement?


Along the Yarra River at night.

I saw the fireballs too. It's like coming from the top of lamposts. Every few hundred metres there'd be like 5 lamposts blowing fire every hour. They kinda look like atmoic bombs, with the illuminated mushroom shaped fire balls. We had dinner at Grecco, an European Grill Restaurant which is pretty famous. Boy is it ex! I had grilled swordfish. Didn't like it too much, especially when it came with a sidedish of tomato and onion salad. Anyway we wanted to club or sth but decided to meet Zach at his apartment first.


The guys i had dinner with. Hong from m'sia, Guan Liang frm S'pore and Jonathan from California. Cheryl was sitting next to me.

Didn't club in the end coz some of us were tired. the rest went down to Max Brenners for some dessert, while the rest of my frens walked me home. How nice =)

did more riding on my trainer to start off the day! overslept so i cancelled my breakfast and shopping trip with Melvin. haha.

Went for the "Amazing Race" organised by the OCF. We started from Vic Mart and walked/ran all the way to Crown!

We ran down Chinatown and had to sing a stanza of gong xi gong xi gong xi ni to the shop owner. haha. then we ran to state library and posed as one of the statues there. After that, we took a city circle tram, which is free, to the Supreme Court.


Supreme Court. Nice isn't it? We were supposed to play scissors papers stone with strangers as part of the game. haha.

Then we ran to a flower shop and I had to give it to a stranger on the street and said "Have a nice day, God bless you!" haha. the guy was v surprised and said we were really good people. haha. they're so nice. I bet if you did that in S'pore, the person will prob be so shy or not accept it or act stupid. The ppl are so friendly and gracious here. haha. I was pretty worried coz the guy didn't look too friendly initially.

The game was good coz we went to Flinders and Crown, and i've yet to explore those areas. It's really nice there, by the Yarra River. Reminds me of Raffles Place and Clarke Quay, but nicer. There were these women drawing with chalk on the pavement. Really pretty pictures! I took a picture so i gave a donation into their pail. Such talented artists. Perhaps they haven't got enough money to get a proper degree or diploma in art and design, and hence without that piece of paper they are nothing in society. or perhaps they're doing this out of passion, how some buskers ard town do it for the love of performing and music. There are many of them ard town. And many ppl stand around to watch n listen.


From a bridge over Yarra River.

We ran into the arcade in Crown. There are cinemas, restaurants, pubs and all the entertainment stuff there. Apparantly at night they shoot fireballs into the night sky every hour. Heard it's really a pretty sight, illuminating the night. Must see that some day. Oh yes, and so i've decided i shall run down to Flinders and St Kilda. It's scenic there but very windy! Ran all over town until i was kinda tired. But it paid off coz we WON! haha.


Ticket machine in the tram. I finally took a tram! I usually just walk coz the trams are pretty ex. I paid 3.20 for a 2 hr pass. Since it was after 6, the pass lasts till 2am. We took the tram from State Library to College Square.

We had worship and some introductory videos and speeches by the OCF. I met Sara there! What a coincidence! She's really nice and laughs alot. haha great! She wants to bring me shopping for my winter jacket and clothes. She love shopping man so shopping will be good. haha. Was supposed to go to a jazz bar in town with her and some friends after dinner but i was WAYYYYYYYYY TOO COLD!!!!! Man...it was a warm afternoon but it was so cold at night i was shivering and chattering non-stop!!!

While we were walking to La Porchetta, an italian restaurant, Diego, the guy from Peru whom i met at the OCF welcome dinner last night took off his overcoat and lent it to me. That helped so much! It was really warm and nice.

Had a foccacia pizza thingy for dinner. It's kinda like a sandwich. nono, like 2 pizzas stuck together. It's in a round pizza pan. There is a foccacia base and cover and in the middle is tomatoes, cheese and ham. It was alright. But the chicken pizza we shared was YUMMY. Pretty economical with large portions. I packed my left over foccacia for breakfast tmr.

Everyone asks how i met Melvin, if i knew him from before coz we get along really well. He's damn funny, somewhat effeminate. haha. Actually, we met at Melb airport. I noticed him at Changi Airport coz he checked-in in the counter next to me with a wooden paddle. He noticed me coz i had a big bike box. We met at Melb airport waiting for TOGO services to send us back. Yep, we've been hanging out. I met Jason at the clubs and societies fair in sch and he got me to join the OCF and invited me to dinner. So i told Melvin and he came with me. It turns out, Jason was his army mate. What a small world...

Thur 20/7

Rode on my trainer for 45mins then went for a 15min jog. rode moderately, felt great to be back in the saddle.

Went to town to shop for a winter jacket. Winter sales everywhere. but they seem to be selling more spring stuff. not much of the warm winter coats. anyway i bought a knitted long sleeve half jacket. warm and nice. couldn't find warm jackets but i got my shoe rack. Lugged a shoe rack and a drawer shelf home from town. To save me the hassle of having to assemble the shoe rack, I deteriorated to the unglamorous hell carrying those bulky nonsense home clumsily. Yep, the shelve couldnt get into the wardrobe. Have to go back to return it tmr. ARGH.

Went to Jason's house for the Overseas Christian Foundation welcome dinner. His living room is HUGE. 3 times the size of my entire room. His place is in town, a 3 room apartment. They cooked food for us. Delicious chicken stuffed with ham and lemon, risotto, fried onions, mash potatoes, cesear salad, lamb leg. OOOOOOoooooooooooooooh yummmmmmmmmmm.

There were about 30 ppl there. Many s'poreans and m'sians but i managed to speak to ppl from HK, Kenya, Peru, China and Japan. Pretty cool. They're all really nice ppl. Great bunch to hang out with. In the end we played some ice breaker games. Fun. Was really busy chatting with ppl and all. it was good. I'm gonna join them for "Amazing Race" in town tmr. haha.

Oh yes! I spoke to one of the girls who cooked n learnt how to make MASH POTATOES. hahaha. so complicated...must wrap onion drenched in lemon juice in foil and bake for 1 hr before adding it to the mashed potatoes. Mix with butter, milk, dried oreganoes, salt and pepper. woah.

ok tour de france is on....man...i wanna ride like that!!! grrrr....

This mornin woke up early so decided to take some photos of THE ALLEY on my way to sch. Let me warn you. The following pictures are unsuitable for those with heart conditions and those afraid of DARK CREEPY ALLEYS.




The lobby area. There's a "living room" with 2 sofas and a rug. nice and cosy?



The view once you step out the glass door. What a contrast! But no worries, it's locked and there's alarm system.



Walk down. Construction site on the left, abandoned/empty warehouse like place on the right. At the end, turn left.



That's the view if you turn right at the end of the above road.

Fine. So you think it's not scary is it? Now switch off the lights. NO? So you thinking i'm a scaredy cat? Next time i shall take a night video of THE ALLEY. But rest assured I will get some bodyguards with me before attempting such a live threatening task.

The sports club fair was a disappointment. So few sports were represented. I gathered sports people just can't be bothered, can they? haha. anyway, triathlon and running wasn't there! DARN, but i emailed them through their websites already, so no worries. oh i joined the Surfriders club. They organise 2 weekend camps a semester to nearby beaches, at abt 40 to 60 bucks each. Comes with wetsuits and surfboards and they will teach the beginners how to surf. Sounds fun doesn't it? My first step to becoming that surfer babe(and to look out for beach hunks). hehe.

Had lunch with Melvin in town at a Vietnamnese restaurant. Spoke to some Singaporeans sharing our table. The food was GOOD. 7 bucks for a small bowl of beef noodles. Shopped around. Bumped into Kash and Pravin in town. So we shopped around the supermarket. We decided to have dinner at Kash's place. The guys'd cook. haha.

I picked up my bike trainer at SHM cycle. 250 bucks and it looks decent. The bike shop was BIG and stocked with everything man...lotsa nice jerseys and tights...haha. anyway, i lugged that 10kg bike trainer home, together with some groceries. OMG, not again! Why don't i ever learn! I had to stop every 500m, put my right foot on the wall, so my leg is perpedicular to the wall, so i could rest the big box on my thigh coz my arm muscles were threatening to cramp up n drop my 250 bucks onto the dirty sidewalk! What good exercise. My arms were shaking after that!

Tidied my room and fixed up my bike trainer. all done and pretty but really cramp on the trainer.

Headed to Kash's place at Nelson House apartments on Cardigan Street. WOW his place is so nice! 1) It is located near all the cafes, restaurants, shops, etc. 2) it looks like a hotel! 3) it is big 4) it is at the rd junction. no weirdo alleys. Fine, it's $70 more per week. so i just shut up.

The guys cooked while i stood at the side and watched, ocassionally holding the pot cover or a plate, feeling useless. Good thing they allowed me to wipe dry the dishes at the end. Otherwise, i'll really be useless. They cooked chicken with carrots and tomatoes. YUMMY! we had that with beef stew(pre heated from yest's leftovers), rice and some pasta. Tasted so good. I had instant noodles for dinner last nite. Btw, i think i've got diarrhoea from my mash potatoes. haha. been to the toilet non-stop last nite and this morn.

Then Kash and i talked and watched tv until 10.30 before he sent me home. It was so cold I was chattering! Man...i've really gotta get that winter jacket!!! and i dun care if nobody here wears gloves. I dun wanna be picking up my iced up fingers (which have fallen off) from the side walk!

Oh yes which reminds me, I went for a 10km jog yest evening and i got lost! darn. haha. the cold has marred my internal compass. haha. but i got back fine anyway. just my limbs felt itchy. frost bitten. coz i wore t shirt and shorts.

Met up with the APSC bunch. Yilin, Evan, Aaron, xue yuan, val and I.


Breakfast with Yingming at Ghim Moh Market. We had Char Kway Teow, Yam cake, Chee Cheong Fun, Abam, Soya bean...Slept only 3 hrs after Zouk and woke up late to meet him.


Clement and i @ Zouk

THE FAREWELLS

Gim Yong (DRUNK), Zhong Wen, Hansel (about to get DRUNK), LiQuan and me @ Zouk






Val, Jie and me @ Zouk





Jansen, Ben and me!




Supper at chomp chomp with Wen Rui and Clement. I had egg beancurd with grass jelly, tang yuan and nata de coco. yum.



Dinner at Chomp Chomp with Clement. We had bbq stingray, satay, hokkien mee, popiah, otah, carrot cake, oyster omelette and sugar cane with pineapple juice. YUMMY!



Hansel, Gim Yong (retarded) and Zhong Wen. Had lunch with them, val and Mich



In town with the guys. Lan, Derrick, Yee How, Eugene and Weixun (RJC 2S16A'05)




At Nick's shop with Uncle Robs, Yingming, Joe and Wille

1st day of orientation!

Hah! i jumped outta bed and went down to the SHA office to pick up my internet cable and complain about my broken chair. Off to sch for the International Students Briefing. Sat next to Johanna from Sweden, and another guy, ZQ, from Singapore, who was from Trinity College. Yep, the 3 of us hung out a lil after that.

While i don't like the fact that there are many Singaporeans, there are many people from all over the globe! There're students from Mauritius, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand, Macau, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, M'sia, HK, China, Kenya, Botswanna, US, Germany, UK, Egypt, Japan, S. Korea, etc.

We toured the sch in small groups. I got to speak to some exchange students from the US. Texas and New York and I cant remember...oh. Chatsu, this Sri Lankan girl who was studying in the US did a research on Singapore for some project i think. Our economy, political scene and society. She asked if we really had the SDU, that dating agency thingy. haha. And she asked about how I found Singapore and our political scene. haha.

I had lunch with ZQ. 5.80 bucks for an unimpressive packet of pasta. i should be able to cook better than that! haha. It was colder than yest so i decided to come back to nap first, before the Faculty Session at 3.30pm.

Jumped outta bed at 3.15pm, got lost around campus and finally made it to the briefing. Just the usual. but i met the other international students doing Media and Communications as well. Many Singaporeans but i sat next to a South Korean girl. Can't remember her name. Darn, i need an organiser!!!!!!! yep. Walked outta campus with Kash, a good looking Singaporean Indian from ACJC, Yielin, a Singaporean Chinese-Indian and some others.

ohohoh!! The guy who came to talk to us from the Melbourne Arts Students Society is quite good looking. Aussie i think. -swoon- i'm joining MASS. hahaha. just kidding. they have some interesting activities and bbq. heh.

I intend to join the uni triathlon club, middle distance running club (the tri club trains running with the running club so i've gotta join that too) and the debating club. I've always wanted to resume my debating. just didn't have the time in JC. It seems i'll be pretty free here with abt 12 hrs of contact time a week. But yea, i saw the assignments bit. Quite many long essays to write. Anyway you've gotta pay for EVERYTHING here. To use some facilities you must join the students union, which is NOT FREE, and you gotta pay to use the facilities, and to join the clubs, and to race, and everything la.

oh yes, this morning on my way out, i met my neighbour! She's Joyce, 4th Honours year student at uni melb. She was previously studying at NJC. She's really nice. She came by my room to chat with me in the evening, and showed me the laundry and the garbage disposal area. Once again, i think the laundry and garbage area is very scary. It's in the carpark. Some garage like dark area. Mayve i'll just fling my garbage out the window. hahaha. coz not. Oh She drives around Melb. Which reminds me, i've gotta go sign up for my driving theory at Vic Roads.

Oh yes, i need to learn how to surf too!! tt's how exciting man. hahaha. i'll be a surfer chick/babe! heh.

I picked up a cycling map from the uni bike shop today. they didnt sell trainers. anyway i might venture out onto the roads with my map before Wille comes back.

Ahh ok dinner. The planned dinner menu was baked beans, sausages and mashed potatoes. But the latter was a disaster. The only thing which required cooking. haha. First, i forgot the butter. I added salt, pepper, milk (too much) and an egg since it didnt look too appeitsing. Oh. since the egg wasn't even half cooked even after i dumped it in the pot of water, I put the egg, which i cracked into the bowl of mash potatoes into the microwave. The egg still didnt cook. Lesson no. 1, eggs dun cook in the microwave. or do they? Who cares. I just mixed the almost raw egg into the potatoes. haha oh, halfway boiling the potatoes i was wondering if they were really potatoes. haha coz they're yellow and took so long to soften. Anyway, it tasted WEIRD. Sick actually. So i mixed the baked beans in. Even worse. I was contemplating mixing some chilli in, but that would be just down garbage-pig-food. haha. i threw it away and settled for pineapples instead. haha. i love raw food.

It's already 11pm!!! Right guys, due to time constraints, i guess i won't be bathing today. hehe. i promise i'll bathe tmr morn! haha. haiya time passes so quickly eh. i dun like it that the day time is so short. I wanna RUN and CYCLE and SWIM!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok nights guys, i miss you all back home! =)

My first 3 days Down Under

Fri 14 July

well. can't believe i'm finally here! time flies man...sigh. at the airport i thought i wouldn't cry. coz we were sitting happily at starbucks. Thanks for coming to send me off guys! Wille, Yingming, Lulu, Pearlyn, Zhongwen, Gim Yong, Hansel, Dexter, Jess, Lan, Theody and bf, my family and of coz CLEMENT. haha. i only started crying coz val cried first. sigh. heartache.










The plane journey was HORRENDOUS. Firstly, i was sandwiched in between 2 big n fat guys. Secondly, i had no water. Thirdly, my eyeballs felt like they were gonna get washed out in my river of tears, my head was hurting and i was sad. Thank you YM for ur 1.5 packets of tissue. I used 3 out of 6.5 packets of tissue in my bag. Well prepared. Fourthly, I only slept about 2 hrs on the plane. Help.

Anyway I was feeling dumb and blur after crying. And my visual range was halved as my puffed up eye lids were blocking my view. anyway, there were so many empty belts but the luggages from 3 flights had to come out on the same belt! It was really difficult spotting my luggage and even more difficult lugging that 27 kilos off the belt. Thank God for helpful guys. Oh yes. i declared my food stuff. Darn some guy came around and took my po chai pills. I shouldn't have taken it outta my bag! argh. I shall have to brace myself for food poisoning and stomache.

Got to my apartment. It's in some weirdo alley. Good thing Joey and Ling Zhi came to meet me. Joey watched my bags while LZ accompanied me to pick up my keys. I like my apartment. It's not as small as how some ppl would have me believe. haha. it's only 6 mths old and it's really nicely furnished.

I followed Joey and LZ to the uni campus and settled some stuff and walked around abit, before heading the Melbourne Central to get some groceries. Most important - bed sheets so i could rush home and sleep. Slept like 5 hours in the last 2 nights combined. i was so tired and jet lagged my shoulders were aching from carry an empty bag. hahaha. we bought some groceries and my bed sheets and got home and slept until night, nevermind the growling stomach.

had cereal and a slice of bread for dinner and then watched Full House. Damn, i dunno if i should thank you or scold you, Jie, for uploading Full House. It's good coz i've got nth to do, but i watched 4 episodes until 4am!!

Sat 15 July

I've pretty much got 5 hours of daylight a day coz i woke up at noon! nth much, walked down to queen victoria market IN THE RAIN to grab some groceries. Btw, I wish to highlight my superior navigation skills by proclaiming that i walked to Queen Vic Mart without such as a mere glance at a map. hahaha. It's quite cool. There's a one storey place which sells meat and seafood. The stalls all have glass covered display fridges in front of them. So no primitive tables covered in crushed ice and fishes buried inside. Anyway, I tried calling home to check if the meat had to be put in the freezer coz mine is the size of the ice tray. haha. Anyway I just asked the butcher. The meat steaks and salmons looked delicious. I wanted to get them but figured i shouldn't be so ambitious. For starters, I got sausages and ham. Then i got some veg. Oh yes, i'm an idiot. I asked the guy where the potatoes were when i was just standing in front of them. and i asked if they were already skinned coz they're yellow. But apparently, they're some thin skinned yellow potatoes which taste like normal potatoes which i found out later.

I dun even have oil and all so i can't cook anyway. I watched 7 episodes of Full House! OMG, i'm turning into a freak. Anyways, dinner was sandwich. Dun you look down on my sandwich. It's about 6cm tall coz it has lettuce, ham and pineapple. ooh yummy. Yup, oh yes, i shouldnt have decided to eat a sausage. It was a Cheese Pork Kranause (however it's spelt and pronounced). They didnt look cooked so i chucked it into the microwave and pressed "Chicken Pcs." It was the only meat button anyway. oh and it was automatically set to 10mins. but dun u think im an idiot. I know it isnt supposed to be so long. Anyway, after just 2 mins the skin burst. So i cut it up and put it back. Unfortch, it was looking dried up so i just took it out to eat. tasted horrible. I reckon Cheese Pork Kranause just aren't my thing.

Oh ya, halfway through my show, there was this loud ringing sound. for a moment i thought it was the smoke alarm. then i sprang outta bed thinking "someone's at the door!" how come i never realised i had a door bell...then i noticed the sound was coming from the wall. oh haha. there's a telephone on the wall. Joey and LZ called to get my Aust hp no. heh. i'm damn BLUR!

Sunday, 16/7

AGAIN! I woke up at noon. Hate it. Half the day's already gone. Anyway I was in a pretty good mood so i went to take a walk around town. Man...this place has ALOT of people from different countries. Went to Safeway and Big W to pick up some stuff. Walked about a hundred rounds coz i didn't know where everything was. I stubornly insisted on buying everything i needed, which was available there. And i almost couldnt make it home. Had to stop every 500m to give my hands a break. Before you think all that years of training has gone to waste, it is NOT my arm muscles but my HANDS which were getting cut by the plastic bags. Oh yes and i walked the wrong way back and had to make a detour. And how awefully embarassing. One of my plastic bags broke near my apartment and my canned food rolled onto the pavement. My eyeballs spun 360 degrees before darting left and right - ok just one fella standing at the side- I sprang onto the pavement to retrieve those stupid cans trying to run away. in the most unglamorous fashion, i stuffed everything into another bag, hugged them and scurried back to my apartment.

Got my room nice and organised then I went out for a 30min run! It felt really refreshing! oh yes, i'd love to run more but i've got phlegm clogged throat and mucus clogged nose. Just not used to the weather yet. Anyway I ran towards north melbourne, until the royal children's hospital. What better way to familiarise oneself with a new environment than to take a jog! i also ran around the Bali Memorial which is just across the road from my apartment. Ahh...the joys of running.

Had dinner with Joey, LZ and her cousin at Lygon street, aka "Little Italy". I had pizza at Papa Gino's. We walked into a bookstore and I saw "The Gaytimes" hahaha no offense. Just interesting. Then there was "Homosexuals" and some magazine for lesbians. hmmhmm...

headed to Safeway and bought MORE GROCERIES. Now my place feels more like a home. With the shelves filled. haha. ya i fried an egg this afternoon. Had an egg, lettuce and sausage sandwich for lunch. Normal pork sausage. yep, they walked me home coz it's too dangerous. That alley scares me man. I'm not going out after 5 unless someone walks me out and back. Clement was saying I should hold a torchlight in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. the metal kind. haha.

Pictures of my room


The bed and study area. Kinda messy FOR NOW.




The kitchen. Bathroom's on the right.



The bathroom, pictured in the mirror.