A weekend well spent.

So many things to do, so little time.

Finals are coming up so soon but I have no mood to study because I can't wait to go home and keep thinking bout going home! How now brown cow?

Pray pray that I get the mood =)

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I just came home after being in the city for 2 days. Currently overdose of public transport (tram + train) I still feel the sway as though I'm still on the tram/train. Gah.

Anyway, I went to the city during the weekend and stayed over at Grace's house so that we girls have more time to spend together before we officially start our exam-stressing period. Despite that the word "exam" kept appearing in our conversations/thoughts. we still managed to have great fun. Unfortunately Miss Grace's exam is sooner than ours so she was divided between going out with us, and studying for her exam. And 3 of us spent our night at her place studying too! Which is good, at least I did something productive during the weekend =)

We also managed to have video call with Shari cupcake who is currently in UK. She and Suan are also going back to Malaysia in July and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM!!! =D =D =D

This trip was mostly spent exploring food that people in Melbourne say are must-tries. And so we tried Grill'd burger and chips, Ying Thai (damn awesome all of us have been there so many times), and Max Brenner for the first day. We were so full after Max Brenner and so we decided to call it a day on food. All were awesome, omg. That explains why my face is so round now Just gotta stop stuffing myself with junks and snacks irrelevantly. ha!


Hello Grace! =D



Chocolate Souffle. So rich, so gooddddd.



Lau Sekkoln with the hug mug.



This is my hug mug.


Then second day, we spent the morning studying too (a bit), and decided to try Mackers here. A friend mentioned that we should try all the bacon burgers here because we don't have them in Malaysia cos they're pork. Which is true and I am always curious how diffferent the Mackers will be here in Australia than the ones back home in Malaysia. Well nothing much in particular that they are different, only that they have extra bacon in their burger, and the cheese here seems more high class than in Malaysia. haha.

On the way out we decided to take some pictures cos the scenery outside Grace's house was so beautifully autumn =D


This is outside Grace's house. Victorian stlye. So beautiful.
















Chicken Bacon Deluxe was nice but I still prefer Spicy Chicken Mcdeluxe =)


And then Ee Ann and I went to visit the State Library. Seriously, this magnificent library is so amazing it still amazes me. It is so huge I felt so small in it and I almost got lost in there. It looks so ancient. so Harry Potter-ish and also National Treasure-ish (the scene in the library where part of the clue for the treasure was hidden and Nicholas Cage had to go there and find).

Mind you, the pictures below are only showing one hall (the La Trobe Reading Hall), and there are many other halls as well! But I liked La Trobe most cos it's the most ancient =)













And since we brought our notes, we decided to stay there for 2 hours to study. I liked the atmosphere. The studious silence was amazing and it felt really like a library (a majestic one). However though, in such an ancient atmosphere, it feels a bit odd to hear people turning on their laptops with the windows startup music, handphones ringing etc. I mean, seeing them using laptops in this ancient environment, is odd enough. It's like ancient yet modern? =/





Studious me studying :P





At night, my housemates and I had this monthly dinner outing. And this time, we went to Vege Bar at Brunswick street. To get there, we had to walk through a kinda dark street which apparently was very notorious. 5 of us were so scared we quickly marched through that dark street with a pepper spray in Sarah Poh's hands ready to spray whoever that comes near us. It was just funny how we walked so fast and 5 of us walking side by side... LOL.

And we finally reached Vege Bar. Food was good, especially the Funghi Pizza. Unique ambiance. After that we explored the shops along that street. They sell really unique collectible stuff but I must say, also, that that place was kinda scary cos some shops sell weird stuff and have weird deco as well. It really felt like an adventure. Thrilling yet fun. Haha.

Then 5 of us each got a drink and gathered in Sarah's room for bonding session. It felt really nice that 5 of us finally properly sat down together with drinks (and snacks after that) and talked to each other bout random stuff. We slept exceptionally late that night but it was really nice. =) Pictures of these up soon. I haven't got them from Janice yet =)

Missing them already. Sigh, there's exams to face before it is home sweet home. Depressing, just like a stone, a burden, in my heart until the exams are over.

Oh, Navjit is baking marble cheesecake for us tonight! Let's hope it's not a disaster
Oh I forgot to mention that the other day's Mediterranean dinner was a success it was SO GOOD. =D



Recipe recipe..



Ah, I'm so proud of these pants sewn by Grandma. my housemates would have probably gotten so sick of me admiring my pants all the time. =P









Dinner! lovesssss. =D




Anyway, gotta study now, take care. =)

Random thought.

The difference between walking and traveling in a car is that by walking, you get to observe more of your surroundings; But by car, you will be able to reach your destination sooner and consume less energy.

It is a trade off between observing the beauty of nature (and traffic in my case cos it's a highway in front of my house in Aus) and time & convenience no?

But nevertheless, I miss being chauffeured in a car. =)

27 May 2010

I saw a black blackkkk crow on my way home after a long day at uni today. And while walking, I realized that the birds here in Australia (or is it only Melbourne) are exceptionally fat! Even the sea gulls are fat, mind you.

I remember Navjit mentioned to me before that the birds here have more rights than humans. i.e: A person once got sent back to his home country and not allowed in Australia just cause he kicked a bird? But is that also why they are so well fed that they became so big? hmm. I wonder.

And did I mention that it is Autumn now? Red leaves, golden leaves, brown leaves, they are everywhere. Fallen leaves... just like blanket on my feet as I walked through the pathway in front of my house here.

And they even covered most part of the grass in front of our house! No doubt, this sight gives a nice, autumnish feel but, it makes our house look really messy and unkept as well! I did see someone sort of cleaning the public pathways this morning as I walked to uni (not sure if he was actually cleaning cos it looked more like he was holding a machine to blow the leaves away?) but, will there be anyone to clean our house compound?

Sometimes Aussie's weather can be so beautiful. With autumn-coloured leaves on the trees, sunny weather, and people sitting on the grass enjoying the sun... Oh how I love this scene. If only I could paint this all down but unfortunately my painting skills are limited as some of you can see from my self-painted canvas painting and those of you who know that don't needa raise this issue up to me cos I know that thank you haha.

But no matter how beautiful the weather is, you always know that, just in the very next moment, the sky could just turn gray suddenly with strong wind that would literally blow you away, oh and lets add in some drizzles to the picture as well. I know some of you could so imagine what I am describing here. =)

This situation can so be related to life. Just as one is feeling so happy and lucky with one's life, in the very next moment, a downfall could just happen in a sudden. That's life for you, my dear folks. It is very scary as there are uncertainties like this but, I have to admit that without these uncertainties, life would be a bore, it would be so dull and uncolourful.

On an unrelated note, Sarah and I went for pastry at Caulfield Plaza today. And that was only when I realized that I missed pastry! But too bad it is just so expensive here. Otherwise I would eat more! And and! Sarah, Becca and I the homies momies are making Mediterranean dinner today! I am excited of course (more of how the dish would turn out let's hope it's not a disaster.) NO IT WILL NOT BE A DISASTER. IT CANNOT BE.

Alright, I better stop here as it is getting too wordy again. I don't know why I just keep feeling like writing a whole list of thoughts and happenings here lately. It may be partly cause I finally let mom know about my blog lately (felt awkward to let her know before), so perhaps she could see how her daughter's doing, surviving without her family in this foreign country, and how she's maturing (in terms of being independent and being able to think for herself).

A friend told me that my blog is lack of pictures and has too much words and that my blog will look more enticing and exciting if I include more pictures? Well that, haha let's just say in posts like this, I wouldn't know which pictures are suitable to be put in and which part of the post I should include it in? But I will try to include more pictures next time! Maybe I should really start taking more pictures. =D

It is now Week 12, next week is Week 13, which is the final week of classes for this semester, which means that exam is soooon! Sigh, time flies, and this is so scary.

Alright I'm hungry. I'll probably go grab some snacks now. Bye guys! =)

Random updates.

Studying overseas makes me miss home wayyyy more than I usually do. It especially makes me miss my family more.

I miss the food, the weather (it's too cold here sometimes), the atmosphere, the convenience, the chillaxness, and most importantly, mom and dad, and my siblings back home.

All I wanna say is that, I miss my family. Thanks for providing me a pillar of strength. You don't know how relieved and eased I feel after talking to you, mom, after a longggg day of stress and worries and depressions at uni. Yes, it helps a lot just by talking to you and hearing your voice.

And I know my mom will definitely be reading this (since she's already known bout this blog now) so I'm not gonna make it sound so cheesie but, I love you mom! =) *tight tight hugs*
I really miss hugging her from behind all of a sudden when she's busy at the kitchen. heh. =')

The weather is so good here in Melbourne today. Finally I see the sun! I can't remember when was time I last saw it since it's been raining so much lately, that I get all wet by the time I reach uni after walking under the rain for 15 minutes or so.

Just random rants for today. Chaddy's got mall-wide sale today but I refused to go cos I wanna be a good girl and study at home.

Hey the daling girls! It's bout time that we should meet up again, soon!

Sigh, exams are in a few weeks' time. =( My heart sunk when I thought of it. Back to the books, goodbye folks. Will blog again soon. Till then, take care!

The reason why I'm going home =)

Well as most of you know, I am currently studying in Australia now.

And by now I guess it should be quite safe for me to say that I will be going back to Malaysia for good in July.

I came here as an Intercampus Exchange student from Malaysia, expecting to go home in July to complete my course. Although, I did think of transferring to Australia (and subsequently graduate here) all along before I decided to choose to go on exchange instead, but in the end I chose to Exchange rather than Transfer cos I thought there'd be more flexibility and more options for me in deciding whether I actually wanna stay in Aus for a year. Besides, I was told by the staffs back then that I could extend my Exchange to Transfer if I wish to stay in Aus to complete my course after the duration of my Exchange.

Well many people told me to transfer to Aus and complete my studies here (Especially relatives who pressured me to do so as they have this mindset that studying in Aus is better than in Malaysia). So that was what I did and I just tried to apply and see the outcome. But little did I know that they had this stupid policy that not all campuses apply. The only campus that I wanted to go to does not allow me to transfer c os of some policy thing.

But the campus that would actually allow me to transfer does not offer the major that I am currently doing and I may be required to study for 1 extra semester in order to take up all the units for the major that they offer. Well in a nutshell, I am doing Accounting and Banking & Finance major but the campus only offers Accounting and Macroeconomics & Finance which is different.

So for those of you who had been previously wondering why my application wasn't quite successful, I hope this enlightens you =)

I would just say that a university with 6 campuses in Australia (not mentioning name here) just complicates things as the application of their policies aren't consistent at all.

But anyway, it means home sweet home soon! As I've always mentioned, I miss home. Especially my parents I miss them extremely much. And the convenience of having car to chauffeur me around rather than walking everyday to uni under the rain (bad weather), having mom to cook for me than cooking myself and doing chores on my own.... and so on.

I sometimes even wonder how I'm gonna survive the coming Winter when Autumn is already too cold for me to take!

And and! The good thing bout going back to Malaysia to complete my studies is that most of my friends are also currently on exchange and all will be going back to Malaysia next semester too! So yeah, I have friends to graduate with in Malaysia, rather than having like only 1 or 2 friends in Aus.

So that pretty much explains my mixed feelings (in previous post) as well. I do miss Aussie no doubt, but I did have my fair share of fun. What I'll miss most is of course, my housemates here who, also, will be going back to Malaysia soon! (Can't wait for that reunion).

PS: I actually hope that you girls can attend my graduation =P We'll see how yeah! =)

On a random note, Janice randomly mentioned that day in lecture that she wants to go to Sunway Pyramid (as though Sunway Pyramid was reachable by car from where we are now) =| But it was funnayyyy... Soon, Janice, sooon!! =D

Ok this post is starting to get too wordy. Bye guys!

Mixed feelings =/

Reflections of Passion by Yanni was playing on my playlist. A soothing and refreshing one I would say. A very beautiful piece of artwork by him.

Then it was Cheung Chi Lam's 祝君好. This is a very emo song. And, considering that I had mixed feelings before and also currently (emo + not emo i'm also not very sure), I don't know why but I totally felt that song like never before. From the musical instrument in the background to CCL's voice and emotions that're attached to it.

Ok. Point is, I think I am leaving Australia and Monash Caulfield in few weeks to a month's time. I have mixed feelings. Part of me wants to go back very badly. As in seriously. I miss home, I miss mom and dad, I miss the convenience of having everything back home, I miss my piano, I miss the fooooood (oh glorious Malaysian food), you get the gist laa... I. just. miss. home.

But, on the other hand, I miss Caulfield campus too. It is, no doubt, very troublesome to live alone, having to walk miles and miles to uni (it is just 15 minutes away but sometimes it feels like ages to walk there you see), not much entertainment here, having to cook almost everyday and sometimes i run outta ideas of stuff to cook = sien, and so on. However, though, I miss this place because firstly, many manyyyy thanks to my housemates for making my stay here in Caulfield a very beautiful and memorable one.

Before I came over, I was seriously very worried that I will have a hard time staying with people I did not know (although I heard of Sarah Poh and met Janice before). Turns out, they're bunch of fun people to be with! I wouldn't wanna change anything for this experience of staying with awesome housemates like them =) and, Sarah Poh the femes girl that I heard of isn't that scary afterall. She's as nice as an angel (I have to say this cos I know she'll read this. HAHA. =P

And, I would also miss the study environment here to a certain extent. Studying in a huge campus like Caulfield, and having one of the best lecturers I've ever met before woots. and he's a french. french = sexayyy A very bergaya lecturer that stands in a very gaya-ish way and ends his lectures with quotes. fuhhh i tell youuu. But, that's not the point. Point is, he's good cos of the way he teaches. He makes sure we know our stuff and relates to the real world as well.

Besides him, there's also another very angelic tutor who looks very very much like Mr Bean (a taller version) and is also somewhat cute (as in adorable cute, mind you) at the same time. He helped us alot in our very tough assignment and I couldn't thank him more. I have never appreciated someone's help so much before (in studies wise heh.)

As much as I wanna go home, I think I sort of fell in love with this place by now. hmm, or maybe, I just miss my experience here =) But seriously, the thing that I will miss the most, would be sharing house with my housemates - Sarah, Becca, Janice and Navjit. Thank you Sarah and Becca for always being the one staying home with me while Navjit goes clubbing, and Janice goes library (I am not sure to study or to youtube =P). Especially Sarah, somehow I don't know why both of us are always the ones staying home chilling at kitchen together with laptops. haha.. good ol' fun times huh.

Well, i think this post is veryyy long already. I don't know what's the main point of this blog post but it is just what I feel currently. Mixed feelings bout going home haha. I would say it's a 55% wanna go home, 45% wanna stay back thing. or could be a 60-40 instead? xD

Well, if you were wondering, these are how my housemates look like
=)