Freedom!

yea i finish my exams ler!
finally can relax ler.. even though im not sure about my results.. hmm abit scare cos i tink got some didn't do too well...
hmm but dun tink liao la.. since over ler...

Recently i heard about Australia's road system. Besides the usual vehicles classification, there is a classification of vehicle here called moped. And this is what I saw:

A moped is defined as a motorbike with a motor of 50 millilitres (ml) capacity or less and with a manufacturers top rated speed of 50 kilometres per hour (km/h).

What it means is that this moped refers to a scooter with an engine capacity of 50cc or less and can only travel at a top speed of 50km/h.

A CAR or motorbike licence is required to ride a moped on roads or road-related areas.

and therefore, i want to announce that... *ahem*...

I WAN TO GET A MOPED!

hahah yea I'm so happy and excited!! Can ride bike leh!! Even though only can go 50km/hr but I'm very happy ler~~! Then got many advantages.. think I write in point form.. cos too many good points liao (muhahaha)

1. Don't need to own a bike licence! I can buy and play with it anytime!
2. Its a scooter! very style!
3. Can ownself paint and design! my very own!
4. It is very fuel efficient.. 1 liter of petrol can go max around 75km lidat!
5. One time pump until full tank also oni around $5-6 lidat
6. No more hour long bus waits!
7. Finish grocery shopping jus throw everything into the scooter and can go off liao!
8. Can order fast foods from a drive through!
9. Now learn liao next time go back sg wan to get test bike licence also easy!

How i wish now can jus go out and buy.. but then going back sg ler.. tink go ask my parents first.. if they allow then shiok! haha got extra fundings to buy my scooter. If dun allow.. DUN CARE! I STILL BUY! LOL.

Haiya... so happy.. tink tonite cannot slp again liao~~

I'm back! (but only for a short while)

Halo!
so sorry for being MIA for the pass few mths!
getting lazy ler... partly becos loading pictures on blogger is such a chore!
also got alot of assignment~ haha haven't been so stressed in such a long while ler..

Firstly, everyone, I'm doing fine!
I'm in the mids of exam and the huge materials i have too squash into my tiny brain is much more then i can handle.. nevertheless, I'll try my best.

Haven't been out much for fun and games but I've developed a huge craving for sg de food!
oh the thought of it... I'm hungry ler la!

First and foremost, i wan to miss my POPIAH. Especially the yishun 925 one. Auntie might have drugged it.
Also not forgetting NYP FJ de yaun wei chao fun, original FRIED RICE. It has been through hard times with me, basically because everytime i think of it i have to go through a hard time.
Every time think of NYP FJ, of cos also mus tink of the BAN MIAN! Good job ban mian.. and f those morons that took over NYP FJ! It will be a craving i will never be able to satisfy.. *sad*
I also wan to miss BAK CHOR MEE... the bak chor that rolls on my desperate tongue.
Also, i must miss HAINANIS CHICKEN RICE... esp the rice... the oil rice.... ar my stomach~~
Not forgetting also is my zup chai tiam's SWEET AND SOUR PORK(Which I know how to make!), POTATO DISH and the EGG TOFU DISH. I apologise to potato dish and egg tofu dish for not knowing their offical dish name. However, do not be sad. I miss you just as much.
Last but not least, before she pull my ear, I would also like to miss my GF.. even though so far apart, she have been with me through thick and thin.
MY BELOVED FRIENDS, thanks for going chalet without me (lol). Nvm i still miss you all.
Offically wish kh ws and coming xt's bird days.. happy bird day.
If there is any sg food that i forget to miss, im sorry, i miss you too.

okie go back study for exam liao, on an empty stomach...

The longest day

Today was the opening day of the Gold Coast Show Day. I was being invited by my brother's friend Matthew to join him for the event. The GC show day is a 3 day event that displays a huge range of animals to flowers to homemade bread and cakes. I believe prior to to this event, there were many competitions held at gold coast and the winning pieces are put on display for the GC show day. These "pieces" range from fruits grown by farmers to handmade carpets to chicken and other livestock.
It just so happened that this annual event was held near my place and so I gladly agreed to join~
At the very start, we headed to where all the animals are. There is a huge range of livestock like lambs, goats, pigs and boars~

Stallion

Bull on the left and cow on the right

Bull~ the skin lao lao de~ hahaha

Mooo~~

Moo moo chi chao

Moo moo bu yao chi chao liao

Moo moo he shui

He shui! moooo~~~~

This is where all the main bulk of animals are

Goat sheep ducks and chickens~ living happily together

Very cute!

Turkey! The beak of the turkey quite er xin neh
it's not hard like normal bird beaks
its soft and lao4 lao3 de~

The kid was struggling to get the chicken on top of the haystack
he didn't manage to and the chicken was struggling all the time~ Very funny!

chicks for sale!

Boar!

Pig and piglet line up!

LlamaFunny bird~~ haha I think too much feather it cant see at all

Duckling! very cute la!!

_____________________________________________________________

Ai ya dun write liao! loading pictures on Blogger is such a chore!!

Sorry for the late update!

Random Thoughts

Just came back from an exam today. It was the Mid-Semester exam for my Statistics course. And I did well! =D At least I hope so.. There were some questions that I was unsure of but generally it should be alright.
Its been a long time since I have had an exam neh~ To sit in front of the paper with my pencil and calculator sure brings back memories of the large large badminton hall of NYP.
Anyway I was going through a lesson on arguments just yesterday and I was showed a video clip of what is not an argument. It's really hilarious and everyone should take a look.


Enjoy!

Shocked!

This afternoon, I made a trip to australia fair. Part of my shopping list was to buy contact lens as i only got 2 pairs when I came (proudly sponsored by dardardar) and I was already on my second pair. So I went to an optical shop thinking that I could just get a pair or two off the shelf. The first time I asked her, what she told me was :" Yes we do sell them but you will need prescription to buy them." I got a little shocked and confused so I simply thank her and left the shop.
I continued wandering around but my mind was thinking all about it. Medicine need prescription I understand but why do you need prescription for contact lens? Will I die from overdose of contact lens? Hmm so after awhile I went back to the shop and asked her how I could get the prescription and if there are shops that I could just buy them off the shelf. She explained that I could get them from an optician after inspecting my eyes and I had to go through trials before i could offically buy them off the stores. All in all they would cost around A$160++ and I had to go through this process to buy them from any other stores. I explained that I am already wearing them and I have used them for a long time but she said that they needed to certify that I am suitable for it before they could sell them to me.. Hmm what weird law~ lol
So guys, you have been forwarned.. Don't every think that you could come to Australia and just buy your contact lens!

So you think you can dance..dance.. dance.....

They are showing the most recent "So You Think You Can Dance" season here in Australia. It just ended in the US not long ago and it's a little delayed here in Australia but the season is coming to an end too. Yesterday was like the top 8 dancers already.
I hope you guys know what I am talking about because previous seasons has been shown in Singapore before, though I'm not sure about this season.
I have been catching the show very frequently and what I like about this show is that there are dance routines that even though you have no idea about it, it still feels somehow close to your heart.
Hmm tink i dun blabber too much la~ haha say so much you all also donno wad i saying.
Here are 2 good dance routines that i really like~
enjoy!

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8XMUtan54
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn7MyiO-GRE

Restrictions, Restrictions, Restrictions...

After staying here for so long, I'm beginning to run into a few problems.
The way I do things seem to run against many restrictions. I got a notice last week saying that I have exceeded the electricity usage by 1kWh.. it isn't much but I was so sad when I received it. I was living a life of high consumption. I wasn't as clean and green as I thought I was. The first notice was just a warning so it wasn't so bad. After that i started to be more conscience about power usage, turning off lights when I don't need them and less television, less cooking time etc..
However, yesterday, I got hit by yet another warning. Technically speaking there wasn't any warning. The night before, while I was using the computer, I was experiencing weird network problems. Before I knew it, i was totally disconnected from the Internet. I then spend the rest of the night trying to pinpoint and rectify the problem but they all seem to point towards the server. With no other options, i went to bed hoping that it would recover by the next day.
When i woke up the next day, i turn on the computer hoping so hard that it would work.. but no it didn't. I was devastated~~ There was no way i could live with no Internet. I then approach the land lord for help and then, I was struck by another sad truth.. I "exceed the usage by way too much". However, he restarted my connection and thank god I got back my Internet.
That leaves me with one final limit. Water usage limit. With the droughts hitting hard on Australia, there was a water restriction place on national level. These strict restrictions includes no washing of cars with water hose and many strange others. Back in my place, we are not allowed to wash dishes under running tap and to use the dish washing machine only when full, running on "economy" (which isn't very clean). The last restriction however, was the killer. NO SHOWERING OF MORE THEN 4MINS A DAY!! Sia la! Only 4 minutes I sure exceed de la~~~ T.T I'm just waiting for the warning only lo~~ Only Dunqi can meet this kind of timing~~ lol
Living alone and managing my bills have made me realise how xing fu i was back in Singapore. Mama pay all the bill I got nothing to worry about. Happy on the light, happy on the water. Internet 24/7. Those happy days are over. *sigh*

School

School has started for about a month now.. I've started to go into groups too~ People here are really interesting. One example is the group that i went into. It's like a discussion group that we have to form and they just happen to be around and so we just happened to become a group. The first time we got together, we exchanged names and emails. However, they were so fast I didn't really got any one of their names. Just today, I had my second stats tutorial (yes the module that i flunk in poly). I went into my group and one of my team mates greeted me with "Hey mate! How you cracking?". lol, i didn't know sheet about what he meant. I then learned that how you cracking means how are you doing. They were laughing like mad heh. They then started chatting in such fast aussie english that all I could do was smile at them. My mind was racing to keep up with them and I didn't really know what they were saying. Thankfully they are really nice people and they talk alot so I don't really have to. >.<
There was this other class where I had to do a debate with 4 other of my team mates. I'm beginning to have doubts about how well I will do because firstly, unlike them, I have never done debating in my life and secondly, I'll be debating against fast speaking aussies. >.<
Life here is tough T.T

Food For Thought

Being here alone in Australia have force me to take on many responsibilities that I didn't used to have. Not at home, not at army. One of such would be cooking. The basic instinct derived from hunger have forced me into becoming a part time chef. While buying out is an option, it isn't healthy in the first place and it doesn't give you a sense of achievement like cooking does. Moreover, I only have fast food around my area and sometimes, these food just doesn't give you the feeling of fulfillment.

I've been here for a month already and over this period of time, I've cooked an impressive range of dishes from the Japanese udon to the western steak. The signature style of my cooking usually is the really bad presentation of my dishes. However hard I've tried, they just somehow looking not too appetising. Hee. Thankfully, the taste wasn't bad usually... with some exceptions.

Fried rice! My craving for it turned out to be a blessing afterall.

Chicken somen with mixed veg.

I'm leading a healthy lifestyle!

Beef steak with rice and japanese curry. Yummy!

With all that said, I think it would be great fun to try whipping up some dishes sometimes and it really is an experience that I think would be good for everyone. After all, you wouldn't want to step into a life of marriage and eat out every single meal with your spouses would you? The inability to cook would be a sad reason for a fat tummy isn't it?

Every since school started and my brother leaving for Singapore, I've blogged much lesser then before. Partly was due to studies, which I have been trying hard to cope with. All these strange new theories and concepts where all thrown at me within these weeks and juggling with life and studies, all in aussie english, have kept me busy all the while. Also, ever since my brother have left, I was short of a tour guide. My budget also prevented me from becoming a long term tourist. Lastly, what seemed interesting in the beginning have slowly became dreadful chores. With the lack of topics in life, this stale life is becoming hard to blog about. I will however keep this place as updated as possible.

Play You Part

The other day I was watching TV when I saw my University's advertisment.
I really love it and i think it's really good.
I was watching it over and over again and again.

Play Your Part In The World
Where I live, everybody belongs
Everybody thinks
Everybody challenges the norm.
Where I live, there are no passports
There are no boundries.
Solutions are shared, as are our ideas.
Where I live, we all look different
But we are bound by a desire to change
A desire to make the world better.
So where do I live?
The same place as you.

So proud to be part of my uni.

p.s. Anyone knows if i can save the video my anyway from the site?

Was walking home the other day from a lecture that ended at 1730hrs. Hmm and I always thought that the sky turns dark sooner in Australia. However, every time I bring up my comment about the brightness to my brother, he would give me replies like: "Aiya you think too much la~~" hmm~~~
Anyways, 5:30s should be considered early evening in my opinion, still bright bright and sun still in sight.. But then..
Does this look like 5:30 to you? I'm not mistaken.. the sky turns dark sooner in Australia.. at least in winter anyway..

Palazzo Versace

We had buffet to celebrate the graduation of my brother and one other friend and the dinner was held at Palazzo Versace Hotel. Girls, if you don't know what this place is is about, shame on you.. It's the hotel from the leading international fashion house Versace, founded by the late Gianni Versace. *0*
Yes thats right. It's the first and only Versace hotel, located at the Gold Coast, around 5km from my place. The hotel had a dim classy orange lighting throughout. Service is so good it's a little 夸张 lo.. really live up to its 5 little stars. One more thing special about the hotel, you can find the Versace face logo almost everywhere, on vases, doors, sofas and on and on..

Heres how it looks like.
p.s. pictures are a little blur due to poor lighting

Lobby

Super big chandelier

The cushion on the sofa.
Very hard to see but it's the Versace logo at the center

Every table at the lobby has candles

Versace logo on the glass vase

Toilet

Even the left and the right water tap has the Versace face on it!

Others

Versace boutique in Versace hotel.. hmm...

Carpark!
The little square holes that forms the face will change colour de.

Alright let me get on with the food. Upon reaching the podium, we were greeted by this amazing guy with this amazing service. Very simple yet professional short chat with us on the way of bring us to the table. Simply the best service i have ever seen so far, ever. Even place the cloth ting that is suppose to be on you lap, on your lap. Next, he informed us of the service waitress who was providing our table services. She soon came over, had a short chat about the occasion we where celebrating before we starting on our feast. The spread was really good too. Oysters, sushi, sashimi, roasted beef and many more. Even the deserts alone can make a meal. Never take a lot of pictures for the food, cos like very pai sae la~ haha at the lobby take so many like very sua ku liao~~

Dessert! Looks good!

Top-of-the-line coffee/tea free flow

The candle stand also got the face!

After the long fulfilling meal, we were suddenly given a pleasant surprise from the waitresses~ simply thoughtful!

Well that very much concludes my fulfilling dinner. Btw for those who are wandering, the standard price for the buffet is A$73 per pax. It's not hard to understand why the service is so tok kong.

First Day of School

Yesterday was my first day of school, and I attended 2 lectures. At 10am in the morning, I had the End of Life Studies lesson. Unlike the business degrees (which consists of a huge amount of China, Taiwan & Hong Kong students), the other programs had very little percentage of international student, and the percentage of Asian students was even lesser.
It's a 3 hour lesson all the way to 1pm, and so, there was a break time in between. It was during that time that a guy named Alvin came and introduce himself. He is like the only other Asian in the lecture and to my fucking surprise, he is from Singapore! You have no idea how happy I was. I started complaining to him how sick I got of speaking English and how much i wanted to find someone to speak to in Singlish. Seriously, I've never speak so much English in my entire life. You go up the bus, the bus driver talks to you in English. You go to your seat and the bunch of school kids behind you kao pei kao bu in English. You reach home, sit down, on the TV, and the news reporter reports the news in English. It's not that i did not expect it, but I didn't expect that speaking English can be like eating an oily buffet. ~.~
At afternoon, I had my first psychology lecture named Introduction To Psychological Sciences and Society. Over in this lesson, I was introduced to a long and on going debate on where the mind is. Where is the the mind? There is no doubt that the brain does the thinking but is the brain the only organ that does thought processing? Some ancient scholars believed that the heart is the mind and now, they might be right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sudmW97FZA0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky6eEiVbgMg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei6FmA6-N14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY5SiWHDInQ

This is a four part video,very interesting but they contain some explicit images on medical procedures which may be disturbing to Peiqing. Peiqing if you are reading this, don't watch it! wait for Dunqi to tell you!

It just so happened that today is also my brother's graduation ceremony but the timing clash with my psychology lecture. After a long mental struggle, I've later decided to go for the lecture instead. I joined him later for a dinner celebration, Which i will cont' on my next post.

To Be Continued... (muahahaha)

Roommates

Hmm.. If i haven't remember wrongly, i used to mention that i have 2 indian room mates right? Well, they arrived 2 days ago and my place like changed a little~~ -.-
Firstly, without a doubt, my place became significantly lively. As i currently sleep in the living room, what used to be my room also became a meeting room for them. They each have their own room and the living room connects the rooms together.
Next was that, like my brother, they don't have the habit to sleep early. Unlike them, I started sleeping at around 11pm after coming to Australia.
With my room being their meeting room and they not have the habit of sleeping early, I too was forced to sleep late. Therefore, these 2 days have been very tiring for me.
They smoke alot too! They like smoke faster then when i was smoking at Bintan? But they are really very impressive when it comes to smoking la haha. In Singapore, they got sell ang hun, which is all the tobacco weed in a packet and it comes with gum paper. So to smoke these ang hun you have to wrap the tobacco weed using the gum paper. No filter, but its a cheaper alternative to the costly cigarettes. well they smoke that too, but... lets look at some pictures... LOL

Normal gum paper, used to wrap the tobacco..
Winfield brand tobacco weeds.
ang hun filter!
wah!
Ang hun wrapping tool?! Wah wah!!!

I'm really impressed. Ang hun in singapore is like the cheap and less healthy way of smoking. And you have to wrap the tobacco yourself so if you are not good at it, chances are the fire will extinguish every now and then when you smoke. Well thats not the case here. With that red little tool, all you have to do is put the paper, throw in the tobacco, close the ting and there you have it! perfect cigarettes! want filter? just throw in the filer! Simple as that!
But my room mates, they don't only smoke this. They have like a wide variety of choices for packed cigarettes too.
Like in Singapore, Australia tax heavily on cigarettes too, costing A$10++ per pack too. There are also collectible pictures of clogged arteries and such on them too. Being back recently from India, my room mates brought in 2 rows of Dunhill cigarettes... Hmm kind of reminds me of some one I know back in singapore... hmm... LOL

Back to the main topic. Yesterday night at around 5, they started chatting in the living room. by 6, they cooked a variety of food and snacks. At 7, they began drink, joining other aussies from other apartments to chat and drink outside. Around 9, they were back with 2 more indian friends. They live nearby and often hang out together. By 10, you could tell that they are a little drank liao. At around 11, one of their friends left. 11:30, They started to try convincing their other friend to go party at surfers paradise ( the orchard road of gold coast i mention the last time) By 12, their unwilling friend got dragged into going club by my drank room mates. LOL.
And so they left, 12am in the morning to club.

Now I'm up and after clearing up some of the damages, here is what i got..

One basin full of dirty dishes and..

3 bags full of crap.

Lets hope they become more tidy in the future.