Random update

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival '07, held last April.
A projection of the logo on the concrete ground outside Melbourne Town Hall,
taken after watching Jason Byrne's stand-up act with friends.

I just recently finished watching this Taiwanese serial drama my sister 'ordered' me to watch when I was home back in January. It's called "Green Forest, My Home", and consists of 15 episodes.

Okay, I didn't exactly watch the entire thing - for some reason, the episode 13 which I downloaded have on my hard drive couldn't play, so that was one episode of long-windedness, convoluted plot gone. I barely missed much (since the 'next episode preview' always spoil the events for you already). Halfway through episode 14, I couldn't take it anymore and skipped through it. I skimmed through episode 15 as well, going straight to the final 10 minutes of the show.

Which was really too bad, because the show started off quite interesting (for me), but by episode 10, I was starting to lose interest and my impatience to see the hero and heroine get together was still far from resolved. Add in the 'must-have-plot-twist' of someone about to die from some disease towards the end of the show, and the story dragged on even more.

I think that sums up the show.


The weekend is here! And next week is the final week of the semester before Swot Vac starts (a one-week study break. I have yet to learn why it's called swot vac. Is it derived from some Aussie or American slang?) Exams begin 4th June, and after looking at my exam timetables, I found out that I end extremely early this time - I'll be a free rabbit after 3 p.m. on 6th June. But that also means that all my exams are compacted into that 3-day period. And yes, contrary to popular belief, Music students do have exams, as do Art.


On a totally unrelated matter, Beethoven's Third Symphony, 'Eroica', is still an astounding and majestic composition, even after a hundred listens to it. I implore you guys to have a listen, especially the first movement!

Command and Conquer

Another one of the dog.

I'm leaving sooner than expected - will be flying to S'pore on Wednesday and staying there till Friday. My mom's coming as well. By Saturday morning, I would have arrived in Melbourne.

Having been cooped up at home, today served as a reminder why I hardly step outside: I took the dog - or rather, the dog pulled me - to the perimeters of the house, where the 'jungle' is. It was an immediate onslaught of mosquito warfare, like the kind where the commander orders his army to show absolutely no mercy to the enemy. I am left with at least 5 mosquito bites on my legs and a couple on my arms. I killed a few out of the dozens that must have came after me the moment I stepped into the grasses.

Two I killed quite by accident - you know how you sometimes scratch that itchy spot, only to realize you've kind of - killed the mosquito as well. I killed a few more by slapping around on my legs (and one I caught on my toe)...


I've forgotten how satisfying it feels to kill the maddening pests. The little joys of life.

Home

I have been cooped up at home ever since coming back. My mom went to Kuching, and will be back on Saturday or Sunday, I think. I've become the second driver after her (not that I'm complaining). I can't believe how many activities my sister is doing: dance, violin, piano, JIS orchestra, etc. etc. (And I hardly see her practicing either! No, I'm not criticizing you... merely stating the fact. =P) Anyway, I can't believe how much driving my mom does in a day.

The PR thing is done with, and all that's left for me to do is to get my purple IC done, and from now on, I no longer have to apply for social passes every time I come back to Brunei.

A random picture of the dog taken in January.

Okay. Back to essays.


P/S. Sherissa (thought I'd reply your comment here, too lazy to go back to the previous post): Lol. After doing essays for the past one year and with the essays I have this semester, I think I'd much prefer having tests.

In 24 hours...

...I shall have arrived in Brunei.

Yeap, just in case there are still anyone reading this blog at all. I'll be catching the midnight flight out to S'pore, and the first flight out to Brunei. I'll be home on Saturday, and will stay about a week - all this to finish up the long process of obtaining my PR, and making my red (purple? pink? whatever colour it is now) IC. Apparently it has to be done ASAP, so my mom called me once she received the letter from the government. I'm thrilled to be flying home, but it's smack right in the middle of a busy period where 10%, 30% and 50% assignments and essays are dued.

I'm staying up late right now to finish up my research on my Shakespeare essay; I have my music history essay to plough through during the week I'll be back in Brunei - I have to apply for extensions on all my assignments (to be able to hand them in later than the original due date) which means I have to see my lecturer and tutor tomorrow morning.

I have to buy my plane ticket (yes, you've got that right - I don't have my ticket yet) first thing in the morning; I only received the news just now in the evening, so everything's pretty harried and I'm trying to get everything done as fast as humanly possible.

I have to find out if I need to apply for a 10-day leave from uni; I'll be missing lectures (which I really don't want to miss). I need to reschedule my piano lesson with my teacher.

I need time...!

But looking forward to home (even if not everyone's there).

This is going to be a loooong night.

Miss Saigon - the aftermath, and many more

It's been ages since I've updated! And it's been centuries since Jerry updated, for that matter. But here's a very delayed review of Miss Saigon. (I think I may have been slightly biased, since I already love it. Oh, all right - very biased.)


I couldn't help but cry at the end of it. Tears rolled down my cheeks when Kim shot herself and slumped to the floor. Silence reigned in the theatre as everyone's attention was transfixed on the tragic and poignant scene unfolding before our eyes. Chris runs to her - he embraces her and carries her in his arms as she whispers one last time, "How did in one night ... did ... we come ... so far..." The refrain of Sun and Moon swells into a crescendo and the last notes lingered in the silence - wow. The End.

Miss Saigon was - no - is awesome. There is no other word for it. After hearing and knowing about it for years now, I finally have my chance to catch it in the theatre, albeit not at the West End or at Broadway (and it's ended its runs at both locations already). However, the leading cast were absolutely splendid in their performances, especially Leo Valdez in his critically-acclaimed performance as the Engineer, who brought much comedic relief and "spunkiness" to the musical.

I love, love, love the songs. The music - oh, it's simply glorious.

Laurie Cadevida shone as Kim, and sounds almost as good as Lea Salonga, who took on the original role on the London West End. Chris was played by an Australian lead, David Harris, who put on an equally stellar performance. But Leo Valdez, in his energetic and uplifting performance, was undoubtedly the star, and pretty much stole the limelight most of the time.

We managed to get a few pictures with Chris (David Harris) and John (Juan Jackson)!!! *insert groupie squeal here* The pictures are still with my housemate, haven't gotten it from her. (Yes, I was that fanatic to have wanted pictures with them.) Kim (Cadevida) came out through the side door as well after the performance, but in the rush to pose with Chris and John, we missed her, and she went off in the other direction. ("Noooo!!") We (oh, okay - at my insistence) hung around for a bit to see if Leo Valdez would come out as well (to get his autograph and picture would have been huge pluses, since he's an internationally-renowned performer), but he didn't, so we left.


Anyway, it was a great musical, and I really would love to see it a second time (except for that one material possession we are always in dire need of - money!). Anyway, I have Phantom of the Opera to look forward to in early September.

Speaking of events, I'll be going for quite a few in the coming weeks. There's the Comedy Festival, and I just bought the tickets for the Jason Byrne stand-up which is on this coming Tuesday, and on Friday, I'll be going for A Night in Fantasia 2007 - the Symphonic Games Edition, which I'm very much looking forward to. And there's the much-anticipated world famous Cirque du Soleil - Varekai, in early May which I'll be going for as well! (Second row seats, A reserve - beat that!! =P)



Anyway, just to liven up the blog, and though it's been weeks over already, here are a few firework pictures from the Moomba Water Festival held last March.

Miss Saigon!

I can-not wait for tonight.

"Tonight, tonight..." Haha, okay, that's totally the wrong song from the wrong musical, but I'm so excited!

In addition to Miss Saigon, I'll also be going for Phantom of the Opera in early September.

Meanwhile, the Grand Prix was held in Melbourne a few days back, the FINA World Swimming Championships is still going on; Melbourne Comedy Festival is going to be on next month, I think - and with the Moomba Water Festival just over recently, it really is a month of madness. The newspapers call it "March Madness".

I've got a lot of pictures from the Moomba, but will upload them when I have time.

I know I haven't been updating lately - but will try my best! Melbourne is - well, Melbourne.

Week 4 already...! Where did the days go?



On an entirely different note, I made a new friend yesterday!

It might not seem a big a deal, on the surface - I mean, people meet people everyday, you make new friends now and then, but I guess for me, it's harder especially in uni. When we were younger, we had no qualms about talking to that kid sitting over there who's missing his or her two front teeth. Kids don't really care about appearances and vanity. They accept you for who you are.

I guess it just seemed really great that I'm finally able to talk, as in really, talk to someone for once in one of my classes - and being the only Asian in a Lit class full of Caucasians - well, it's not easy sometimes. Especially since you get to see these people probably for only one semester, and then you might never see them again.

It's only when you grow older that you realize so many things. And then you find out that even after all those years of learning and schooling, you still know so little.

There and Back Again

After finding out that a few other people were also upgraded to Raffles Class, and seeing that the Raffles Class cabin was almost full upon boarding the plane, my excitement kind of diminished as the novelty of being able to ride in the Raffles Class on SIA wore off.

Of course, prior to my departure, I just had to take the opportunity to visit:

I was told by my dad's friend to drop by the lounge. Which I did. It was a little awkward as I was literally surrounded by rich and well-dressed business people; most were middle-aged and older.

After having a go at the free internet at the lounge, I thought I would look for an empty seat (it was surprisingly crowded) and read the papers. I had the 'luck' to have an elderly English gentleman sit across me who started giving out anecdotes and his philosophies on life, society and the world. I shall not bother to reproduce the conversation here. But he certainly is one rich man - "I have thousands, millions, and I started from nothing."

For once, it was nice to breeze through the 'First Class/Business Class' queue rather than the 'Economy Class' queue. The life of the rich!

The seats were certainly very spacious and a lot more comfortable. I suppose one downside to this is that I will not be looking forward to going back to economy class. Lol. I don't think I've had a better sleep on any other flight thus far, despite only being able to manage about two (out of seven) hours.

I felt like a noob when I found out that the TV set was in the left hand-rest of the chairs; you have to pull it out and adjust its position as you like. The table was similarly tucked away neatly in the right hand-rest.

The food was so-so, despite the fact that Raffles Class passengers have their own special menu. I never expect airplane food to taste good anyway. Beverages on the menu included wine. And no, I didn't order wine.

In-flight entertainment was pretty good. Most of the movies which were available included the recent Oscar nominees.

Melbourne is freaking hot and it hasn't rained. (I miss the rain already!) First day, and I'm already melting. I am not looking forward to getting back to books and studying after two months of bumming around at home.

I despise losing 3 hours each time I come back.

Will be going furniture shopping for my new apartment tomorrow. Something to look forward to! I'll post up pictures when I can.

Ciao!

Of Flights, Business Classes, and $500

Yeah, I know this blog has been dead for too long, but here's a quick update.

First, sorry to Jerome for not being able to make it that night! Guess you didn't shoot the plane down after all since I arrived in Singapore safely. Lol. And sorry to Albert, Kang and Chiew Hui - things were just too hectic on the last day and I had to settle a lot of last minute things, so I couldn't make it to your houses. Thanks for the invites!

I'm currently in Changi Airport. And I've been upgraded to Business Class! Especially for a 7-hour flight, this is welcome news. Haha. I thought I was late to the airport, since my flight was a 9 p.m. flight, but I arrived at the airport with my dad and his friend only at 8. SIA has this overbooking policy, and the 9 p.m. flight was very full, so I was shifted to the 11.40 p.m. flight, along with an upgrade, plus a reimbursement of $500.

I didn't spend any of that $500 even after roaming around the shops for quite a while. I would love to take pictures, but I'm not sure if picture-taking is prohibited in airports, but rather than getting accosted by security, I'd rather play it safe. =P

I miss you guys already, but I might be back in April to do my red IC..

I'll be so looking forward to sitting and enjoying the Raffles Class on SIA - I feel extremely 'sakai', since this will be entirely new for me, and well, you know me - every single new thing, also must point and shout and get excited over! I'm in the lounge specially for first class and business class ticket holders, and it's... so.. I think I'm the most immature and youngest looking person around, since practically everyone I see are business people and old men and ladies. I get free food and drinks I think. I feel small. Lol. It's like... ahh, so this is how the rich really live! I want to be rich too!

Mm.

Anyway, have a great CNY...!

Here's an extremely late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeting to this blog.

Yeah, I know it's dead. But even I thought it'll be a change from seeing the same post every time I visit the site.


On other matters, apartment matters are finally settled - thank God for His providence! At least now I can look forward to going back to Melbourne without any feelings of trepidation about where I will be staying after my contract ends.

It's been great seeing everyone, and I mean, everyone.

Um.

I honestly don't know what to say anymore. And it's late anyway. So...

Oh yeah...! Really happy you called, Ern! It was really a pleasant surprise - and I assure you, you do not want to hear me dying on the phone.

Even if you might laugh at my shrieks of, "I told you so, Ern!!" before my life literally ends in your ears. =P

(What happened was that I was approaching a petrol station - my mom wanted to fill up the tank, and I didn't want to risk an explosion. I mean, you sure don't want to see MY name in that article headlined, "Tragic explosion at petrol station - hand with phone found miles away" or something silly like that.

Okay, fine, I know I'm over-reacting. Haha. I'll probably just end up deaf and without a left hand, in the worst case scenario. ...Right?)


So...

Jerry!!! It's YOUR turn.

Okay, everything's finally sort of confirmed.

I'll be back to Brunei on Monday... my brother and sister are flying to S'pore tomorrow, and they'll meet me at the airport, or something like that; we'll be staying at a hotel, just us three siblings (woots, sibling bonding time? I'm very certain that they coming to S'pore is not just a case of "We miss Jie Jie"; come on, one's 16, and the other's 18 - they definitely have their own agendas =P. Yes, Karen. I know you'll be going on a shopping spree for two days.)

That aside, wow, finally! I'll be landing in Singapore late Saturday night; scheduled landing time is 9.30 p.m. I'll probably reach the hotel by 10.30 p.m. at the latest, and I'll see if I'm up to meeting you, Sherissa, and everyone else who I'd want to catch up with in S'pore. (I'll SMS you when I get there.)

And yeah, I could probably meet up with you too, Tiong, if you're reading this at all. (Even though you're still coming back to Brunei anyway, but heeey, at least you can be the first person to actually see me "officially" after... what, almost 10 months =P.)

I'll be leaving on Sunday night (with my siblings), catching the 11 p.m. flight to Brunei. So I'll be arriving back in Brunei officially early Monday morning. That means I have the entire Sunday in S'pore. Yay, spending Christmas Eve there.

Can't wait to catch you all! The next two days are full-on and busy for me as I settle last-minute things. Accommodation is almost settled. There's still many things to consider and do about next year. But anyway. I don't think I'll be posting as often during the next two months, so yeah.

See you all soon!! Take care, everyone.

The water lily lake, Royal Botanical Gardens, Tasmania (Day 1)

6 more days!! By this time next week, I think I'll already be back in Brunei. (I really hope so!) I don't think I'll stop over in S'pore for too long - once I land there, I'll be buying the earliest possible ticket out to Brunei. But I'll definitely stop over in S'pore for a few days on my way back to Melbourne in February next year.

Hm... Haven't been doing much... I've been watching quite a few movies recently though!

I watched The Prestige last Tuesday, and I enjoyed it, despite having to sit in the front row (bought the tickets too late!). Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman were stellar in their performances, and the movie is engaging, with all the twists and turns. I caught Charlotte's Web the week before as well, and it was very faithful to E.B. White's novel, so thumbs-up for that - plus, it has beautiful music scored by Danny Elfman (who has worked with Tim Burton on many of his films including Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, etc. - he did the soundtrack for the first two Spiderman movies as well). It's not amazingly good, but it's a feel-good, family movie with cute animals that talk. I loved the book when I had read it some years back, and am glad with the movie adaptation.

One adaptation which failed, failed, failed was Eragon. It was a major, major disappointment. I contend that the film and book are two different media, and you can't always expect a totally faithful adaptation (especially not if it's in the fantasy genre, with tons of details that are impossible to fit in a movie) but still, for a movie which was only one and a half hours, they could have made it a 2-hour long movie. They could have done at least a bit more with that extra half hour, adding and fleshing out more details... I have too many gripes that I don't even want to get into it here, but I know that I'm definitely not catching the sequel (which was implied in the ending, and if they will do it). Anyhow, a sequel seems almost impossible, especially considering all the details and characters they left out from the book, some of which are essential to the plot in the second part. Not that the book itself was great great - it's a fun read, but unoriginal and derivative. If you haven't seen it - well, don't waste your money. I didn't have this many complaints watching Harry Potter or LOTR, despite the screenwriters throwing out many scenes from the books, but at least the main story was still there.

And while I'm still on the subject - why adapt Eragon, when there are so many better fantasy books out there!! (I'd like to see David Eddings' Belgariad series adapted, for one.)

I started watching Grey's Anatomy a week ago, and I'm hooked. I'm still watching Friends, and going on strong - on season 6 now, although I had to skip to it from season 4, 'cause no one has season 5.. someone lend me season 5! Lol.

Oh my gosh, I'm turning into a lazy TV freak.

I only just realized that there is a Warner Bros. store at Crown (a casino, hotel, movie, shopping, food, entertainment complex), and I love all the things they were selling there - brings back memories of the cartoons we used to watch when we were younger. There were movie memorabilia on sale, including animation cels and signed posters, etc., all selling for thousands. I would love to own at least one of those authentic items. There was a whole section of Simpsons merchandise - speaking of which, I can't wait for the movie next year! And oh, the final Harry Potter book will be out next year too, as well as the 5th movie (Order of the Phoenix, which happens to be my least favourite in the series actually). Spiderman 3 will be out next year too.

Okay, I'm rambling now, and I should stop. I have nothing better to talk about now anyway.

Hope you're doing well, Jerry. (When am I seeing a post from you??)

Looking forward to catching up with you all in Brunei soon...!

Home is where the heart is

Sigh.

11 more days. My entire family's in Sibu right now. Sibu might not be a very exciting holiday destination, but I haven't seen my grandparents and relatives in almost 2 years now. I always feel much more at home in Sibu than in Ipoh, language barrier being one of the reasons.

It's nice to know that you're still alive, Jerry.

Victoria has been having a spate of bushfires, and the city is again covered in smog today, from all the smokes from the fires. The weather's extremely eccentric. It can be extremely hot and dry one day, and the next day, it's winter again. Gah. I want normalcy ...

I want home.

A Quick Update

The last few weeks have been crazy, and literally a whirlwind of activities. Tasmania was beautiful, and I've got lots of amazing scenic pictures - looking at the pictures, it's almost hard to believe that I had been there. The second last day in Tassie was spent hiking Cradle Mountain, and I think we took on more than we bargained for; it was only after we finished this particular crossing that we realized it was actually one of the 'steep and difficult' climbs.

Anyway. That might not make much sense. I can't be bothered to make myself sound coherent at this moment.

Straight after Tasmania was the OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship) Convention - it was great to see all the OCF-ers coming in from all the other Australian states, and so Convention was another 6 straight days of sermons, bible studies, workshops, worship sessions, etc.

I came back with a cold, and my voice has transformed, so yeah.

I still can't change my flight. All December flights are fully booked. My dad suggested upgrading to Business class, but I called Qantas, and it'll cost me a freaking $6000+ just for a stupid upgrade. And to upgrade to a different class, but still in Economy, will cost me $1350. Buying a single ticket back to S'pore will cost me $1250, and if I wait till 23rd December with my current ticket, it'll cost me nothing.

Okay, my frustration with that over and done with, I realize that I'm not feeling that frustrated over this whole flight thing. I guess I don't really mind staying till that long - okay, fine, I DO mind, to a certain extent. My family's going back to Sibu next week, for one week. I'm still here!! I haven't seen my relatives and grandparents in almost 2 years...! There's not much to do in Sibu, but still...!

And even after coming back from Convention, I'm still bushed. On the same day I came back, I went out at night again to the night market at Victoria Markets - it's an event which only happens every Wednesday in summer, so it was my first time. The next day, had dinner with Joan, who was on exchange for the past semester from the States, and she left today. After dinner, a bunch of us chilled at a friend's place, just playing cards the whole night. Tonight, had dinner again with Esther, who's graduated, and is leaving at the end of the month. Tomorrow, I think I'm going shopping.

A few friends are organizing an early Christmas party for us left in Melbourne, so it's not that bad, really, staying on for so long... and with a couple of movie outings planned for the next week, and just random things to do, I guess it's not that bad. And not to mention, I have yet to settle my accommodations for next year.

This post is turning out to sound rather messy and convoluted. I doubt anyone understood that whole ramble of text I just typed out. Ah well, never mind.

Seeing people leave Melbourne one by one for home makes me wish I was leaving on a plane for home too. This is the longest I've ever been away for home. I know it may not sound like a big deal - some people probably never go back at all, or they might have stayed longer than 2 years, but there's still no place like home.

On the other hand, not everyone will be there when I go back... Gosh, Ern, I have no idea when I might see you again. =( And I know there will be changes to face when I go back as well. But that's part of life, and it's inevitable.

Anyway, hope you all are doing great. Sigh... two more weeks.

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.)

The One with the Haircut

Tomorrow is last day of semester!

We get a one week study break!

I still have so much to do!



I got a haircut yesterday ($20 for a cut-wash-blow, which is actually quite reasonable considering that Melbourne is a very expensive place to get haircuts).

The hairdresser chopped cut off almost all the lengths of my hair which had been permed.

My hair!!

My hair...!!

I couldn't see a thing while the hairdresser was mutilating cutting my hair, so what I saw through my blurred vision was just the black blob which was my hair, and the brown which somewhat resembled my face. (It doesn't sound that bad - the hairdresser, I mean. Neither is my vision. Oh fine. Yes, my vision is bad.)

So when she was done, and I put on my glasses, I was ... left speechless. I didn't know what to say. It wasn't that it's bad - it's just ... my hair... I've lived with this crazy hair for 19 years now, you'd think I'll be used to its wavy, thick, puffy texture by now.

I could rectify the damage new hair by straightening it again when I go back, but I refuse to let go through the whole straightening process again. (That, and I've had my hair straightened 4 times already!!) I rather sit through a perm, which is less painful.


Yeah, I'll be whining for the next two weeks. When I had my hair permed, and cut, and got a fringe last December, you ought to be glad you weren't with me for the subsequent two weeks. I think I drove everyone around me nuts. Literally. Especially my hairdresser aunt, since she was the one who did my hair.

But anyway, getting haircuts - anything which has to do with my hair being cut/straightened/permed, always sees me complaining and moaning about it for the next week or so, until I get used to it and accept the fact that I can't, well, uncut my hair.

And I made the decision to get a haircut anyway (so I shouldn't be complaining, really). But nooo... I ought to have waited... waited till I returned to Brunei....

My hair....