Sort-of-hiatus

Those pictures from Fifteen will just have to come a little later.

I'm leaving for Tasmania early in the morning, and I'll be away for 5 days, and with all the blog entries this month coming from only one corner of the world, this blog is declared officially on a break. After Tassie, I'm going off straight for OCF Convention, which is 6 days, so there probably won't be any updates until after 6 December then. I might update when I come back from Tasmania.

I miss you guys so much. As I've said, my current ticket is for a 5.15 p.m. flight on 23rd December, but I've been trying to change it to an earlier date (results are negative so far). So hope and pray that I can really get an earlier flight! I really don't want to be stuck here that long.

And I really mean it when I say I miss all of you. I've been feeling quite homesick lately, and I'm sure some of you will know that it's not at all a nice feeling to carry around all the time.

I know we throw around the word 'miss' a lot, in the sense of yearning and longing and sentimentality, but I don't think I've meant that word so much as I do right now.

Fifteen

Fifteen!!

Went to Fifteen today with Esther, Marianne, Melvin and Kingsley (from my cell group). Fifteen is the chain of restaurants that's opened by Jamie Oliver, and he was in Melbourne earlier in August/September to promote it. We were lucky to get a reservation; the restaurant is almost fully booked out till next year January, but we managed to get a slot for lunchtime today when I called last week to make the reservation.

Melvin took lots of pictures, and once I get those from him, I'll post a few up; the food's good, but oh my gosh, the bill! O_O Fine dining is one thing I definitely won't do very often, and although it wasn't entirely perfect, I enjoyed the food, and the experience was great. (On a side note, I can't believe how much I've been spending on food.)

The interior's nice, although the ambience wasn't as relaxed and as peaceful as we expected, but seeing that the restaurant was full of patrons, I guess we can't really expect that. The deco is really beautiful; even the bathrooms had really unique designs. It was an open concept, so we could see the chefs and all. A few of my friends recognized the chefs, since they have been featured on television on one of Jamie Oliver's shows. I confess I don't know watch Jamie Oliver very much. Or watch much TV, for that matter.

This post will be very boring without pictures, so I'll try to get them soon, to liven up the blog a little. Will elaborate more then!

Two Weeks Away From Summer, A Winter's Day in Late Spring

..hm, that sounds like a good title for a novel, actually... a-hem. Anyway!

I'm finally done with all my exams! Had my practical this morning, kind of like a recital - it was "okay". There were, inevitably, mistakes. But for goodness' sake, why must the examiners' faces be so stiff and expressionless? I could hear them conversing while I was playing, and that didn't help. Are they saying, "Hm, that sounds good", or "How the heck did this girl pass the auditions?"

I want my results NOW, and I want to read the comments they wrote. I was nervous when I started playing, but loosened up into the second and third pieces. =(

Called Qantas again today, and still no positive answer. Sigh. At this point, I pretty much want a date, anytime earlier than 23rd Dec. I was talking to my mom, and she told me that flights from S'pore to Brunei are all fully booked from Christmas Day onwards, so if I can't get an earlier flight, I don't think I might be able to stay in S'pore for long... (sorry, Sherissa, Holly, and everyone else whom I was planning to meet up there!!)

The 23rd Dec flight that I'm currently holding leaves Melbourne at 5.15 pm, so by the time I get to S'pore, it'll be close to midnight, and once I arrive there, I need to buy a ticket ASAP to Brunei - yeah, that's another dilemma, I don't have a ticket to Brunei yet, and if the flights are fully booked again, I'll be damned. It looks like I just might have to forgo staying in S'pore for a few days if things continue this way.

Top on my list for now is the search for a new accommodation... but that probably won't interest any of you in the least. Just trivial - no, really important, actually - things that I have to get settled before I leave. Maybe it is good that I'm leaving late, since I still have so many things to do.

As the post title describes today's weather - it is COLD. The max was forecasted to be 14 degrees. It's almost hard to believe that it'll be summer in two weeks' time (technically, that is). Hail and snow were predicted yesterday (probably in the suburbs and at higher altitudes).

I can't believe it... exams over and done with... sigh. Home seems so close, yet so far away...

Now that I have all this free time, apart from doing the need-to-be-done-things-before-I-leave, I think I might look for a part-time job to while the time away (and earn some money - I've been spending too much. Not on shopping, but it's all been on food!).

And (this might be horrifying to all Friends fans out there), I've just recently borrowed seasons 1-3 of Friends. I've never ever seen a single episode before ("No way!"), and got hooked on it about a month ago ("What, after the series has ended??"), around season 4 ("OMG!"). Yeah, I know, it's hard to pick up from there, since some of the jokes are running..

But I can say that I'm officially hooked on it now. =D ("Welcome to the dark light!")

Dilemma

I've visited their office once, called Qantas thrice already, and each time leads to a disappointment.

I'm trying to get a change of flight date. When my dad originally bought this ticket back in Feb (which was very last minute), he had to put down a specific date for the return date, and not knowing when exams would end, or when the semester ends, etc., so he put down 23rd December as a safe option. The idea is that I'll change it later.

I ought to have called like, MONTHS before and change the date. I didn't expect the whole month of December to be fully booked. (Okay, fine, I know that it would be, but I'm still in stage 1: denial.)

I refuse to stay here till 23rd December (see what I mean about denial?). If I hadn't confirmed going to Tasmania from 25th to 30th November with a bunch of friends, I would have backed out, but it's too late, because the flights have been booked, the tickets bought, accommodations booked, etc. I had planned to go for OCF Convention (1st to 6th December) afterwards, and fly to S'pore on the 8th, probably staying there for a few days, before flying back to Brunei.

The plan sound-ed good.

Sigh. I've decided that I'll skip Convention, and call like, everyday. Maybe twice a day. Or every hour! I want to go home. Hoping for a flight between the 1st to 12th December. I'm not going to be stuck here with the annoying flies for summer.

I absolutely refuse.

Freedom... sort-of.

It's over!!

Sort of.

I had my music history paper today, which wasn't too bad (thank God for that!). Most of what I studied came out (phew!). But I had been stressing over this subject the most, since there was so much to read, remember and understand.

Now for my Aural exam on the 13th, and final practical exam on the 15th...

This might be a bit late in coming, but happy belated birthday to both Fei and Sherissa! Meant to send an SMS to both of you, but in the midst of cramming and stress, I think you'd both understand. Lol. Hope you had a great one!

Hm... what else.

Melbourne Cup (the so-called "race that stops a nation") was held today, which is this huge horse-racing event. And yeah, almost the whole of Victoria gets a holiday, because of that - horse-racing. Most of the shops were closed, or open for half-a-day only. Like all horse-racing events, (from what I heard) the ladies all dress up, the men dress in suits and stuff as well, so it's partly a formal affair. Of course, there are the weird costumed people, too. And what's a horse-racing event without that money-throwing extra (betting). But anyway, I definitely want to attend Melbourne Cup in one of the next few years! (Not to bet lah - I know nuts about horse-racing!) It'll be cool to experience it. But apparently, it usually clashes with exam periods...

Therefore, while most of the public are enjoying their day off either at home or at Flemington (Melbourne Cup venue), suffering students like us sit inside the exam hall.

What else...


Gah. This blog has been feeling extremely one-sided recently. =P (hint, hint)

The library is my new home

It's almost 1 a.m. and I'm still in the library, studying. Or trying my best to study, anyway. (Opening hours have been extended till 3 a.m. during exam/mugging/cramming period.)


I'm ready to die... lol.

(The fact that I find that point amusing doesn't help the situation either.)