germy.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Happy birthday lionel:) Thanks. for everything. :)

Today was a short day of classes..ended at 11 then went to coles with gloria and ollie:) I love those two:) And thank you gloria:) I really don't know what I would do without you here. It was really hot walking out in the sun today..and its particularly annoying cos the hot weather's brought out all the bugs and cockroaches that were hibernating during winter..haha ollie spent good money on cockroach spray today at coles after her cockroach episode last night.

Plus Louisa was telling me as well about the cockroach she found in her room at 1am the other night. She ran to get help but unfortunately I was asleep at that time. (I've been known as the cockroach exterminator of the college ever since I killed 4 huge ones in one night at the start of the year.) In the end she gathered a team of 5 to hunt down the cockroach in her room..but unfortunately it had scuttled away to who knows where..they turned her bed upside down (literally) but it had disappeared..ugh bugs are annoying.

And I realise that the flying insects in sydney just love buzzing about people's faces. I was trying to have a conversation with Mythili the other day but was kind of distracted by the flying objects around our faces. And its kinda worrying knowing they're buzzing around so close to our mouths. I recall this one time I was eating lunch with my mom at the old airport road hawker centre..we were just talking and eating when she suddenly stopped and stuck out her tongue at me. Apparantly a bug had flown into her mouth while she was chewing. (she always chews with her mouth open) again, bugs are annoying.

I can hear mythili playing fur elise on the piano upstairs now:) gonna go applaud her for her hard work on the piece:) she's improved a lot:)

~me~ at 12:36 AM

Thursday, October 27, 2005

A hot day. But not too bad:)

Gerard asked me a weird question in class today. Then again he always is kind of random. Maybe cos we were talking about pregnant women in class. He asked me if I would want to have children next time..Haha yeah I guess every girl thinks about family and children but its a scary thought. Quite excited for my sister of course:) She's gonna make a great mom:) kinda funny to imagine chris as a dad..but I know lucas will be really lucky to have parents like them:)

A friend was talking to me tonight about how she felt like she didn't have anyone to hold on to here in australia. She's an international student like me..guess its just natural to think that way when you're so far from home..and she's even further from home than me. She said she knows she has friends here who care for her and will help her if she has problems, but she wishes she had a friend who would care even without her telling the person she had a problem. Like the person would truly want to know about her how her day went and how she felt about doing everyday things. I guess I understood where she was coming from..here in australia, asking "how's your day?" just becomes a way of saying "hello"..Its like the person doesn't really want to know how your day went, but its just a form of greeting..but I suppose it is a good conversation starter..but its hard to find people who would ask you how's your day and really mean it..

At times I feel antisocial at college cos I feel like I'm putting up a fake front to so many of the people here..Of course there are friends I feel free to be myself around but its just exhuasting being friendly and polite and making small talk all the time. Haha not that I'm unfriendly and inpolite. Just that with people who really know me I feel like I'm more able to put out my thoughts to them without feeling like I'm imposing on them cos I know they really care.

But I know I'm really lucky to have the people in my life. My friends here. My friends back home. My family back home. My friend told me tonight she always imagined herself having a sister. :) Yes its true. Having a sister is a wonderful thing:)

Bernie talked about love tonight in bible study. "Love is the fundamental vocation of being human." Love comes in so many forms. So many that we often confuse one form with another. But yep we were made to love:) and we live to love:) I love the people in my life!:)

Feel better soon:) Good night everyone.

~me~ at 12:01 AM

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Tired.

Not sure if its cos of my lack of sleep for the last few weeks or simply monday blues:) I was supposed to have clinical today at the hospital but my tutor cancelled on us. AGAIN. For the second time in a row. Think the hospital felt bad and felt it imperitive to at least give us a lesson of some sort so we got a replacement tutor, but our class got pushed back to 4-6pm. Oh well but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise cos the replacement tutor is a great teacher:) Very nice guy:)

Anna's next to me now. I've a clear view of her diamond ring on her fourth finger from here. I don't know why but suddenly everyone around me seems to be talking about relationships and marriage. Kiran and angela were discussing previous boyfriends today in prac and Luke and Josh were talking about girlfriends during clinical. And Lyssandra was lamenting to me last night about how she kinda wishes she could get married as well.

Tired. Good night people. :)

~me~ at 12:36 AM

Monday, October 24, 2005

Anna just returned to college and everyone's screaming their congrats and oohing and aahing over her ring:) I'm still kind of in disbelief I guess..but she looks and sounds really happy, so I'm happy for her:)

Anyway, my weekend was relatively mundane..in comparison to Anna's. But I still had fun:) I went to ollie's last night for dinner..she's turning out to be a pretty impressive chef:) Both her and gloria:) Haha we meant to have a mugging session after dinner but ended up watching the pilot episode of house instead. Initiated by Jon:) House was pretty engaging:) I pirated the entire first season from Jon:) I guess this isn't a good time to get addicted to tv..Haha but then again, as gloria said, house is a pretty educational medical drama:)

Had a nice long chat with Ling today..although we live literally right opposite each other, I hardly get to see her over the week..we're both so busy during the week with classes and work..so I'm glad to have caught up with her life today:) Somehow talking to her makes me feel young yet old at the same time. Haha oh and she taught me how to unlock the kitchen door with a spoon. To get food late at night..I should probably teach mythili that little trick. So she won't have to climb through the kitchen window again to get a slice of cheese:) Hmm then again its kind of scary to think that the doors in the college can be opened with spoons.

Had a nice long chat with my elder sister as well:) Kind of excited for her:) But also scared. At her last gynae appointment, the doctor gave her a list of stuff to pack if she suddenly went into labour and had to rush to the hospital. My sister was telling me its exciting to be packing stuff for herself, as well as stuff for her son who's yet to be born yet:) I'll be praying for you dear:)

I miss you.

~me~ at 12:34 AM

Saturday, October 22, 2005

This week suddenly seemed to take off..although this block in general feels a lot slower than the last 8 weeks was..not sure why either..maybe I'm just looking forward to going home more this time around, or perhaps I've got more on my mind.

Finally got around to doing my interview for my communications assignment this week:) went to Prince of Wales Hospital on thurs and friday to talk to this really nice lady who agreed to let me interview her:) Felt kind of bad taking up her time especially since she didn't look like she was feeling too well yesterday afternoon after her dialysis..but she was so sweet about it..thanking ME for talking to her and wishing me luck on my assignment..I really admire the courage and determination of the human race at times. She's had diabetes for 15 years now, and only recently found out she had renal/kidney failure..but she sounded so strong and optimistic, seeing it as just another challenge in life. I wish I were that emotionally strong at times..I gave her a nice little sunflower in thanks:)

So my interview's down but I've still gotta start on the actual writing of the report..sigh. Anyway, the biggest news at college this weekend: anna got ENGAGED. Gosh she's younger than me. I suppose engagements can go on for pretty long but I wouldn't be surprised if they'er the planning the wedding as I speak now. She's only known Jon for 6 months!and he proposed to her on the sydney harbour bridge at sunset yesterday. In mine and Ling's words, "That's so romantically cliched." I definitely wouldn't be ready to marry someone I'd known for 6 months.. How are you ever really sure? I guess everybody has different opinions. Some people can breakup and get together so easily; for others it takes a lot longer and it means a lot more to them. Not to say that anna's relationship with Jon is superficial or anything. I think she really must have been pretty sure to have agreed..she's really smart and nice. I just wonder how it must feel like to be so sure.

Coincidentally, bible study this week was on issues of marriage, love and sex. Haha probably not conincidentally. God knows what's on my mind:) anyway gotta go mug now!happy weekend people:)

~me~ at 11:46 AM

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Ooops sorry its been relatively awhile since my last post..guess my efforts to keep up blogging everyday didn't last too long :) Its a quiet saturday night at creston!but quiet's good for tonight. I'm still feeling kinda sleepy cos I had barely 4 hours sleep last night:) But I guess thats the result of mahjong night at gloria's:)

I attended bible study last night with gloria, ollie and lin min last night..The people there are really NICE:) Most of them still remember me from the few times I went in the beginning of the year and I like the way Ben leads the class..He got me thinking about a few things I already had on my mind but was just too confused about to sort out on my own. I might continue going for the classes..The classes I get from Bernie at creston are good as well but I guess they make me think about things on a different level:) which is good:)

I think my spiritual life has changed somewhat since coming to australia. I don't know how to describe the change exactly. I somehow feel both closer and further to God at the same time. Living at Creston has kind of changed my opinion of religion, but at the same time, I feel a want to find out more about what exactly I believe and trust in. anyway, saw a lot of familiar faces last night but a few new ones as well..and I felt comfortable talking to them. Sometimes I feel as if I put up a front in college and at school. But I guess we show different sides of ourselves to different people..The hard part is finding people you feel comfortable with showing the side that you like the most.

Sorry think I'm a bit short-of-sleep and hence the kind-of incoherent post. Have a nice weekend everyone:)

~me~ at 9:16 PM

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Feeling kinda spaced out now. Maybe cos its been a slow school week so far:)

Was supposed to have clinical yesterday afternoon but my tutor ended up being away on call so I ended up spending an afternoon at coogee instead. The beach looks different in all seasons:) But its somehow pretty in different ways for each season:) Winter was nice cos the beach was quiet and peaceful, and what I remember most was the sound of the waves and the circling seagulls:) Now that spring's here the beach is relatively more crowded with sun-loving aussies, but its nice in that it contributes to the qi4 fen4 of the beach:)

Guess I still haven't exactly gotten back into the routine of doing work..maybe cos scenario groups so far have been more discussion-based and the lectures aren't that bad so far..today's SGS topic was on popular diets..my facilitator's voice was kind of a drone in the background and I was trying hard to concentrate while next to me mike was reading an article on britney speares from a magazine under the table. (with a huge picture of her in some sexy black outfit splashed across the page) sigh. Gerard was chewing on a cucumber on my other side and I was thinking of lunch. Yeah anyway I was pretty spaced out..as you can tell. Do you know that celery is energy-negative? That means you expend more energy eating the celery than the energy that the celery gives you. And chewing gum's energy-negative too if you chew it for long enough:)

Anyway, after SGS I went back to creston for lunch..clare waved at me gaily from outside through the backyard window when I entered the creston foyer. So naturally I waved back then ambled off to my room:) unfortunately she told me later that she had been waving at me frantically to open the backdoor for her cos she was stuck in the backyard; she had gotten locked out of the college when she went out to the backyard earlier. Was wondering how come she was waving around relatively enthusiastically and seemed particularly excited to see me :p Oops sorry clare. Luckily she got rescued not too long later.

Ok think I'm just tired today. anyway going up for dinner now. have a happy week everyone:)

~me~ at 7:42 PM

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Just got off the phone with my family:) Talking to them somehow makes me feel happy, wistful, thoughtful and sad all at the same time..This time last week I was at home packing my suitcase to come back here. But like my mom said, "1 week down, 7 left to go." I remember when I first got here in the beginning of the year, lynn told me (via email) that it wasn’t too healthy to think of home so much. She said I sounded too homesick for my own good. It was best to just appreciate what I have at the moment and to enjoy the life I have here to the fullest. Thanks lynn:) I’ll keep that in mind:)

This is the day to count your blessings. If you have faith, family and friends, you are very wealthy. This is God's message to me today:) A spanish-sounding father held mass today..He gave a really good sermon:) I admire the religious people at creston for their faith. Being able to believe in something so strongly..sometimes it scares me, yet sometimes I marvel at it. Was talking to Mio before mass..haha she is so funny. She's half-japanese-half-thai, and Sunita was asking her about the way japanese greet one another by bowing. Wouldn't it be tiring to have to greet and bow to a whole roomful of people? Haha Mio said that by rights they should bow all the way over (ninety degrees) and yeah it was pretty tiring. But she usually just gives a little bow cos anyway the other person bowing can’t see how far she bows:) ok anyway, I shouldn’t digress.

I would like to dedicate my post today to my favourite pair of twins:) Once upon a time, there lived a pair of twins. They lived next to another one of my favourite people; this funny girl who loved dots and ice cream. They ended up going to RJC, where they met and befriended me. I recall my first few meetings with them occurred during band practice, when we would escape from the freezing cold air conditioning of the band room. At first I was worried that being the blur person I am, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. But I eventually learnt how individualistic they were, albeit they were similar in lovable personality:) Through time, Christmas tree-decorating sessions and popiah parties, I learnt what wonderful people they were. Today we literally live half a world away and half a day apart. Though I now hardly ever get to talk to them or see them, they still remain close to my heart and I continue to pray for them:) Nadine, take care. Nicole, stay strong dear:) You guys will be in my prayers:) Love you both:)

Jing: hey jing!haha was reading your blog the other day..wanted to tag but something wrong with my college computer :P bleah. Oh well. I shall continue to lurk around:)

~me~ at 6:00 PM

whew its been a long day..but a good day:)

This time last night I headed over to Gloria's for mahjong!:)took a short detour to oporto's before that cos jon was hungry. And I stole a bit of melvin's fries:) We drove over to gloria's and had to make do with a bedsheet draped over her rectangular dining table as a makeshift mahjong table. haha we ended up playing until about 4 am. It was mahjong mixed in with pigging out on gloria's supply of junkfood, and just simple fun with gloria, ollie, lin min, melvyn & jon:)

It wasn't so much the mahjong that was fun..of course it was an added bonus:) But I guess mahjong just gives us a chance to meet up and have fun with one another..haha my mom was even kind enough to provide us with chips. anyway, we were pretty dazed by 4am..stayed over at gloria's place (thanks for the hospitality, toothbrush, and sheets gloria:) ) and woke up at 1230pm. Haha we then had to satisfy melvyn's cravings for yum cha..so we piled into his car and headed over to chinatown for a late dim sum lunch:) Very nice Dao Hui:)

We then headed over to this really cool bead shop at Newtown.. Ollie and lin min had been there the previous week and stayed there for 2 hours just choosing beads!Whew. I didn't understand how they could have spent so long but I realised why when I went there with them today..the beads were in huge bowls and they had to painstakingly fish out the matched pairs among zillions of beads:) It was a really nice shop though:) Rows and rows of beads galore:) Plus a lot cheaper than in singapore:) It was quite amusing seeing the girls dig through the many different coloured bowls of mixed beads:) the guys were kinda bored..in the end they were pulled into helping helping the girls to wade through the beads for matching pairs:) I spent half an hour looking for a green fish-shaped bead for gloria:) We ended up staying there until the shop closed!The shopkeepers had to chase us out:)

Melvyn then gave me a ride back to college..after a short stopoff at hungry jacks (aka burger king in singapore). I don't think he ever feels full. Or its probably just guys in general. anyway we stopped at hungry jack's to satisfy his cravings for onion rings:) Think the onion rings taste nicer here somehow..but one big complaint about hungry jacks here is that they HAVE NO MUSHROOM SWISS. so sad. Think its exclusively an asian thing. Or singaporean thing.

anyway, I got back to college just before dinner..spent a while chatting and enjoying tim-tam flavoured ice cream cones with pauline, louisa and mythili:) then migrated to the tv room!Pauline conviced selena (our principal) to let us watch iron chef so we spent the next hour laughing over the commentator's ridiculous attempts at dubbing the japanese show. I've been pretty out of touch with the tv world I realise. Iron chef is ridiculously funny though. Its a cooking competition..but the funny thing is that the chefs and competitors take everything so seriously and they play dramatic music while panning across screen shots of serious expressions of the cooks:) the ingredient of the day was *dramatic music as the host whips a tablecloth off several covered plates*....TOFU. We spent awhile ooing and ahing over the yummy looking dishes..its amazing how many tofu dishes you can come up with.

After that I gave mythili a short impromptu piano lesson on fur elise. She's been wanting to play this piece for a long time now but never thought she'd be able to. But she managed to get through half the piece last night and is now practicing it as I type:) Haha think she'll probably be playing it over and over again for the next week. But I guess the thing about music, or learning anything new is that something always seems harder than it actually is before we've actually attempted it. I would say I'm not that daring when it comes to trying new things, but coming to australia has relatively opened up my mind to change and new ideas. But I guess its only human nature to be afraid of the unknown. Had a long talk with Louisa last night about the living situation next year. It'll be a big change to move out and have to deal with a lot more of our life on our own, but there'll be good parts to living by ourselves as well. But as she was saying, college does make life physically a lot more comfortable. Plus, we'll be staying here for 6 whole years..there'll be plenty of time to move out. Sometimes I think I think too much. If I weren't so sensitive to the people around me or the things people did, I probably would be able to put a blind eye to the things that I'm uncomfortable with in college and just heck care. But I guess the truth is that I am the way I am and maybe God's just telling me its time to live differently. Ah well. Oops sorry for going on so long. Think I need sleep now. Good night:)

~me~ at 1:15 AM

Friday, October 07, 2005

haha lets see how long I can keep up the daily blogging:) so far its 4 days in a row:)

Its a relatively quiet friday night in college. We were trying to decide on a movie to rent but in the end everyone was too lazy to troop down in the cold to the video store:) Haha but I'm going off to gloria's soon for the official first mahjong session since coming back. Olivia actually bought a small square table from IKEA. Just the perfect size for mahjong:) Haha mom: if you're reading this, don't worry we're not crazy mahjong addicts. yet. Just putting your set to good use:) While we're relatively free from work now:)

Hard to believe I've been back for less than a week..but its been a relatively good week:) I feel like my scenario group has bonded a lot more over the last course..I'm still pretty quiet in class but I do feel more comfortable with them now:) At least I know I can look forward to being amused by the exchanges we have in class:) They're really such a smart and nice bunch of people. Will be quite sad to have to change SGS groups next year. I'll miss mike making fun of me esp during practicals involving bacteria (germs). And Gerard's interesting little facts of life. And Angela's cute expressions:)

Oops gloria just called!mahjong time:) see ya guys:) have a good weekend!

~me~ at 11:51 PM

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

woo I'm on a blogging craze.

Haha guess I'm just taking the opportunity to blog while I still have more time on my hands now:) Plus the time before lunch or dinner is never productive. Just remembered something funny gerard told me yesterday during comm tut..do you know why the heart has that particular shape? Apparantly in ancient greek times they used the seed of a particular flower as a condom..and the seed had the shape of the heart as we know now. So they associated that seed with "love" and tada hence the shape of the heart. So technically the heart doesn't refer to love but refers to sex. Haha ok it sounds ridiculous and I don't know how much of it to believe..but its an interesting thought:)

Anyway spent a crazy night yesterday with mythili and louisa on the piano. Those 2 are crazy. and the old piano in the tv room sounds really sad..haha but it was still fun:) At times I still feel kind of antisocial when it comes to the college scene but I'm just glad to have them 2 with me here:)

Ok going for dinner now. Ling says she smells chicken snitzel. She's probably correct..her nose is never wrong:)

~me~ at 7:57 PM

15 minutes to lunchtime.

Its been a good start to the semester so far..current plenary is on dieting and metabolism. kinda interesting so far..not too info-heavy but at the same time not too lack-of-detail:) Just ended communications tutorial on attraction. I think my scenario group is a really interesting group of people..such a variety of colourful personalities. We were shown a tablefull of photos..all pretty artistically taken and asked to choose one that we were attracted to..I chose this photo of an old couple:) not just because it looked sweet..in fact it looked kinda sad cos the old lady looked like she was sick :P but I guess it just called out to me:)

Haha Pei chose a photo of a railway track..leading into the light. Yeah the "light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel" kind of picture..but then how do you know the light at the end of the tunnel's not a train? haha. or how do you know you're not gonna get run over by a train from behind? I guess that's life. You don't know what to expect. You either see the light or get run over by a train. Haha Pei said he liked the symmetry of the photo:)

anyway, like I said its not been a bad start to the start of this semester so far:) not much work yet so I splurged a little last night..had dinner with gloria and ollie at chopsticks, the thai restuarant up at randwick ritz..food was decent but a little on the pricey side..but it was nice just spending some time with them:) I really enjoy time with them but don't get to see them that much during classes..but I suppose its good in a way that I get to meet other people as well:) They were contemplating whether or not to indulge in ice-cream after dinner..we happened to be talking about "signs" during dinner so gloria said she'd eat ice cream if a red car passed by. And at that instance two red cars drove past. Haha so guess that meant a double scoop. I guess I do believe in signs. But I also believe its up to the person, and whether or not he or she wants to conceive in something happening as a sign.

Haha take the simple act of wanting to buy a packet of potato chips. There's only one packet left on the shelf. You can choose to see that as sign that you should buy it, cos you're lucky enough to be able to buy that last packet. Or you could conceive it as you shouldn't buy it, cos that last packet looks kinda dented and squashed and not very attractive. Ok anyway sorry I've blabbered on enough. Time for lunch:)

Oh right and I watched Howl's moving castle last night after dinner. Kinda abstract..but I guess like the issue with signs, you can choose to see it as abstract, or just a simple story of love:) then again love is never exactly simple.

I miss my family. Take care, everyone back home:)

~me~ at 2:15 AM

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Back in sydney.

It feels kinda weird to be back here again..as if the last 2 weeks were a dream..but a really good dream:) The flight back wasn’t too bad..didn’t manage to get a seat next to gloria or louisa..the plane was full and I got seated in between a nice aussie lady and this european guy.. quantas in-flight entertainment is lousy compared to SQ though. The european guy’s tv wasn’t working so I changed seats with him so I got a window seat and a nice view of the sun rising over the sydney horizon:) Didn’t manage to sleep on the plane though..I never sleep well on planes anyway..plus my head was filled with thoughts of home and sydney..

Reached sydney at 530am and got back to creston at 6 plus..Said a few hellos and started unpacking but pauline convinced me that I needed a nap :P Ling stopped by my room to say hi and I made her day when I showed her about the mahjong set my mom had given me to bring to sydney:) haha thanks mom:) Anyway, took a short nap in the afternoon then finally finished packing at dinnertime. Sigh guess its back to college food. Haha but there was ice cream for dessert:)

Things at college are pretty much the same..well I was only gone for 2 weeks but somehow everything that happened before the last 2 weeks seem awhile ago. Fen’s still as whiny as ever, Sunita’s still as chatty and loud as before..haha but I’m really impressed with mythili!Her resolve to be more organized and healthy is coming along great..She’s been working out the gym and eating less junk over the hols:) Haha but the ultimate test is still whether or not she’ll be able to get up on time for class today. Speaking of which, I should go check on her now.

lynn: miss you lots!I'll see ya in snother 2 months:)
nadine: you missed me?you mean you were in singapore? :P aahhh...

~me~ at 10:26 AM

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Thank you for this wonderful week everyone:)

To cn5a: you guys are awesome:) dinner last night was nice:) I really wonder at times what it would have been like to stay in chem engineering with you guys..well I probably would be drowning in tutorials, but I would be glad to see you guys in school everyday:) thanks to weilian for organising the dinner. Thanks to kian and ade for listening to my tales of sydney. Thanks to jb for that interesting exchange. Thanks to qy, weilian, wj, qj, shu hui for sharing that swensens earthquake:)

To Lynn: Lynn! I can still taste the chocolate truffle in my mouth:) and I always feel so happy after talking to you:) even for awhile. Thank you for enlightening me with your thoughts, and thank you for just being there for me:)

To Gary: Thanks for the words of wisdom:) and for the sharing of thoughts:)

To Lionel: thank you for understanding, for the encouragement and the care:) and for being my personal slave that day:)

To my elder sister: Thank you for the lunches, the cooking lessons, for letting me think more about how amazing life and creation is, for encouraging me to pursue my dreams:) I’ll miss just seeing you in the mornings when I wake up, and I’ll miss our talks in the family area:) take care and I’ll be praying for you and lucas:)

To my younger sister: Thanks for the laughs, the interest in my life, and the words of wisdom:) haha sorry I couldn’t help you as much as I would have liked to with differentiation:) good luck for your promos dear:)

To Chris: Thanks for the teasing, the food and the laughs:)

To my mom: Thanks mom for the nagging, the food, for trusting me and the love:)

To my dad: Thanks for loving me:)

Just finished lunch with my family at home:) gotta pack now. then its my sister's baby shower!:) I had a really good trip back home:) bon voyage for now guys:)

~me~ at 3:40 PM