In Oz

Taiwan Trip Day 5: 高雄, 台中

2010-06-17T00:34:00.002+10:00

Lots of travelling done today. starting with a 3hour ride from 高雄 to 日夜潭. Did a tour on the lake, then went for lunch, nothing outstanding.

After lunch, we went to 文武庙 opposite the restaurant. After prayers and photo-opps, we bussed down a short distance to 孔雀园, but due to the bad weather the peafowls were not let out in the open.

Next was another looong bus journey, before we reached 逢甲夜市 in 台中. Another disappointment, as we arrived at approx 4pm in the afternoon, so only 60% of the shops were open. Foodwise...I didn't manage to find the only street food that my brother recommended: 章鱼烧. We weren't supposed to eat much anyway, as we had dinner waiting for us later.

Dinner was a vast improvement from all the previous meals. 九菜一汤. Had we not eaten beforehand, dinner would have been much more enjoyable. The restaurant was called 伍角船板, and its owned by a disabled lady who built most of the the interior and exterior decor with salvaged flotsam and jetsam. Impressive stuff.

As the trip nears the end, so does the daily itinerary. Tomorrow, we're making a stop at 深坑豆腐街 before finally stopping at 台北's 故宫博物院, no more long-haul rides!

Taiwan Trip Day 3 & 4: 花莲, 台东, 高雄

2010-06-16T01:27:00.002+10:00

Getting lazy to update the blog, so I'll make this brief.

Day 3:

Went to a place selling 灵芝 products that was run by 原住民, then went to 太鲁阁国家公园 and 长春祠 deep in the mountains.

Next up was 瑞惠牧场, nice place in the countryside, clean air good milk.

Lastly was 温泉 in 台东. What can I say? Lovin' it.

Day 4:

Left 台东 for a fruit stop. Fresh mangoes were in season. Not too sweet, yet so fragrant. Had lunch at 美浓客家村 which was...acceptable.

After lunch, we made our way to 佛光山, then 春秋阁, where we visited the 龙虎塔, 观音大士骑龙 and 玄天上帝神像.

The last stop was at 梦时代购物中心, which was nothing more than a ghost town shopping centre at the outskirts of 高雄. As the tour guide put it aptly, "那里的员工比顾客还多!"

Finally, we hit our first proper 夜市 of the trip: 六合夜市. So much food was ate there, so much disappointment.

Highlights: "七里香" (aka 鸡屁股), "印度拉茶" (aka Teh Tarik)

Lowlights: 排骨酥汤 (oily...and nothing else, meat was good though), 胡椒饼 (maybe it was the wrong place to buy it...not that fantastic), 鳝鱼意面 (yimian in tangy gravy with sliced eel, not that bad actually, but not as good as people make it out to be), "棺材板" (just...eh...)

Time to end it soon, got a long ride up the mountain ahead tomorrow. Itinerary has only 2 items for day 5: 日夜潭 and 逢甲夜市. This can only mean two things: there really IS nothing left to do, or there's a whole lot of travelling to do, and I don't think it's the former...

Taiwan Trip Day 2: 台北, 野柳, 九份, 南天宫, 花莲

2010-06-14T00:32:00.003+10:00

Woke up at 0530 today, just so we could avoid the rush crowd on the HSR. Reached 桃园 HSR station at 0730, and took the 高铁 to 台北, then transferred to the MRT to 中正纪念堂. A few pictures later and we were off in the coach to 野柳.

野柳 was packed with tourists, mostly "陆客" as our tour guide pointed out. The crowds and the rain really put a damper on spirits. Ended up taking a photo of the "女皇头" replica instead of braving the elements all the way to the real one.

We were whisked to 九份老街 for lunch. It being a Sunday, the place was packed with locals. Still, I managed to eat some good grub.

Highlights: 贡丸汤, 椒盐杏鲍菇, 黑猪肉香肠 (综合: Original, black pepper and mentaiko)

Lowlights: 肉圆 (wasn't too bad, but an acquired taste perhaps), 臭豆腐 (same as the previous)

After lunch we went to 南天宫 to see 金身妈祖 and to offer some prayers. Impressive temple.

After that we embarked on a 150min ride through winding mountain roads to 花莲, where we watched a traditional 阿美族 dance performance.

Dinner was a traditional 风味餐, but was forgettable.

Tomorrow: Hotsprings at 台东!

Taiwan Trip Day 1: Changi Airport - 桃园

2010-06-13T00:34:00.002+10:00

First day of week-long Taiwan trip, departed at Changi Airport T3 at 1220, landed at Taoyuan Int'l at 1810.

Took the tour bus to Cai Yan Leader Hotel, dumped our luggage there and headed to the nearby night market for some grub. Way too much grub.

Highlights: 葱抓饼 (with melted cheese and corn in it), 盐酥鸡, Takopachi, Yakult Milk Tea, 卤味

Lowlights: 咸水鸡 (the toughness of the meat, I can handle, but the salt content messed up my gums big time), 大肠包小肠 (it was tasty. but just different from what I expected it to be), 耗煎 (messed up version, gooey and sloppy and the 'Orh' was tiny), 生煎包 (lukewarm and oily).

I'll update whenever I can, which shouldn't be a problem, seeing how hotel internet is FREEEEEEEE. Let's hope tomorrow would bring better food to the table. Here's looking at you, 台北 and 花莲!

Back home?

2010-06-02T23:16:00.007+10:00

And thus ends my brief 10-11month sojourn in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. So much memories, so little time (actually spent making memories), but the paltry bits that actually mattered, they'd last for a pretty long time, I reckon.

This foundation year has taught me that if I really put my mind to it, I can achieve things both in academia and relationships. I learnt not only about other people, but more importantly, more about myself. Things that I didn't know or took for granted, things that I thought were so, all turned out unexpectedly (and for the better). Oh and that I need a better image capturing device, for an integrated camera in a phone really can't cut it, as the following photos demonstrate:

Shots of the Valedictory Ceremony

With Chang Tian

With Gretl

With Cate (Chem Tutor)

With Juanita and Athari

Jumbo Prawn Risotto and '07 Cabernet Sauvignon

Final views of unit 611

Last look at Swanston St

Goodbye 310510

2010-05-31T12:12:00.001+10:00

Fleeting Memories

2010-05-30T18:32:00.003+10:00

Last Day In Oz

2010-05-30T16:50:00.002+10:00

So exams are over, Valedictory is over, post-Valedictory drunken-ness is over... As I look back on the past year, so many memories come flooding into my mind.

Some of the things I'll miss (in the order that they come to my mind as I ad-lib this list):

Early morning practice sessions with Jo in Grattan St at 7.20AM
Topless in my room in sub-20deg weather (and the erratic weather in general)
Singing at the top of my lungs in the shower
KFC Snack Box (with or without the company of friends)
HOI lectures with bubbly Tamar
Cate with her tiriade against MingYu and "Don't worry, we'll get there."
Trying to stay awake in Raymond's math lectures, even though there's no risk of enraging him
Keeping a sharp eye out for the Tram Inspector
DonDon, Hanaichi, UniSquare Cafe
The sirens from the Fire Station opposite my home
Cooking for myself, and deciding what I want and would eat for meals
Drama drama drama lessons
Lincoln Square park
Wandering around in Woolies
Getting to FSC and not minding the long walk there
And finally, lunches at the Dining Hall with pabo and co. (and hanging out with them in general)

I'll miss so much things, wish I could spend more time here, but alas, it's time to move on.

DFO DFO! (and other stuff)

2010-05-23T00:52:00.005+10:00

Main story of the post...DFO!

Crazy cold morning! Luckily it warmed up somewhat later in the morning, when we met at 11am.

Spent a grand total of 6hours at DFO SouthWharf with Aaron, Ayaka, Saaya and Tam, buying apparel for Valedictory (which is in 6 days' time!). Bought a pair of shoes and a tie, not too shabby. Photos of them will be made available when I actually wear them. (Lazy to unbox)

We had lunch at some cafe upstairs

Indian Spice Chai Latte. Tasted like drinking a cinnamon muffin, lightly spiced and milky.

Plate of salad(s), one half was a pasta salad with sundried tomatoes, baby spinach and diced pumpkin, the other was a spinach, tomato, onion, feta salad dressed with balsamic vinegar.

What a meal! We spent 1.5hours at the cafe just talking and eating...and talking.

Another 3hrs spent walking around looking/trying/buying stuff, and that was it...I guess.

~~~

And now, the backlog of photos I've accumulated (yet again)

Spider made its home in the corner of me window

(One of) The Last Dining Hall Meal(s)

Korean Restaurant goodies I had when 大哥and 大嫂 came to Melbourne to take their wedding photos (which I must add look fabulous!)

"Sometimes, even the trivial can inspire."

View out of the Law Library. Have been spending a lot of time there recently, no thanks to the exams. Still, can't believe it's so close to my place, the convienience!

浓雾笼罩，仿入仙境

Early morning fog never fails to enthrall me

Drama exam schedules. Go Jo 18!

自然淘汰 + ホイ

自然淘汰 + バイオロジー

View from another window in the Law Library, this time facing the University Square gardens

~~~

Can't believe that Trinity life is coming to an end. Still rather unwilling to close the book on this story, but endings are always inevitable, it's what you make of it that counts...

2010-05-04T14:06:00.003+10:00

'Tis been a while since I last updated. Been busy with school lately, what with revision and all. So here's some pictures to fill in the gaps.

Gilded highrises

What we get up to in the lab

Monster Moth

Proof that philosophy makes you grow a beard and a messy mop of hair (aka makes you AWESOME)

Can't believe that life in Trinity is finally coming to an end...10 days to the first exam, 24 days to Valedictory, 27 days to the flight home...

Somehow I can't bear to leave Melbourne.

080410 Philip Island Part 2

2010-04-12T23:35:00.007+10:00

[Moar photos! Writeup in the future, in the meantime, feel free to construct your own adventure!]

080410 Philip Island Part 1

2010-04-11T23:08:00.012+10:00

[Imagedump first, story later, I'm tired.]

2010-04-07T22:31:00.004+10:00

Went to the Big Laugh Out at Federation Square on Sunday, free comedy performances = time well spent.

Random image dump!

I think only my mother will get this pic

Tri-hued sky

New packaging for home-brand tissues!

Socrates finally understands why White Chocolate is strictly inferior to regular Chocolate

Aaugh! The glare!!

The last term break is coming to an end... The final push is in sight...

4 weeks of lessons, 2 weeks of Finals, and then some.

Brighton Beach 03/04/10

2010-04-05T21:06:00.009+10:00

Went to Brighton Beach with a bunch of friends on Saturday. What an awesome day it was.

Disclaimer: Regrettably, some pictures at the beach have strange dimensions/colouration. This was due to me trying to take photos in the glaring sun, and unable to properly check the shot taken.

And on with the program!

Met at Melbourne Central at 2pm. The huge timepiece opens up to reveal a pair of fiddling kids and a bunch of birds turning and flapping wings, to the tune of 'Waltzing Matilda'. Quaint.

After waiting for people to turn up and buying some provisions, we took the train to Brighton Beach, reaching the place at like 4pm.

Clear skies, clear seas. Take that, Sentosa!

Cute coloured huts(?) lined up. Prime property by the beach.

Sun in the sky, random guy

Save for floating sea debris and turbulence, the water was crystal clear. Soooo disappointed in Singapore's beaches now. Oh and random jellyfish on the shore.

Friends frolickin' in the water

Suddenly, dogs! (Yes that's my finger, not some monstrous orange mass devouring the helpless dog, who happens to be huge by the way.)

More scenery, more people

Oh look, another person walking their huge dog!

Lonely fisherman

More sun effects

The girls swarmed this cute little guy as he came by with his family. Adorable little tyke probably have never been swarmed by so many Asian girls before in his life, and shortly after the whole lot descended upon him, he was plodding away trying to avoid their prying hands. his parents were pretty cool about it though.

Painted doors on them little houses

Found this one bearing the classic Aussie icon: the Boxing Kangaroo

Soon, darkness descended upon us. Pictured is one of the luxurious beachfront bungalows lining the coast.

Pitch-black darkness of the night sea, without any lights from random kelongs and ships at sea

Went to Sofia at Camberwell for dinner. Good-natured staff and wonderful Italian food. Crazy huge portions for the prices. We had 2 large serves of pasta (Seafood Marinara and Carbonara), one large garlic bread (which was a flat piece of bread baked on a pizza tray, not some wussy dinner roll), and a huge pizza (with anchovies! salt hit ftw).

Gelati for dessert! So many flavours put together into one huge pile. Banana, Orange, Strawberry, Hazelnut, Chocolate, Lemon, Pistachio, Choc-chip Mint, and Coffee. Our frozen dessert somehow took the shape of an Easter Egg, and someone drew a heart on it. Almost couldn't finish it though, hard to do so when everything starts to taste like indescribable sweet slush. People started drawing Obamas on the table with their spoons and the melted cream, for unknown reasons. Didn't take any photos of that, sadly.

Dinner only cost each person $6, what a steal! (We were 11-strong by the way.) The manager even gave us each a chocolate egg just because it was Easter.

I finally reached home at 11:45pm , and that was the end of a tiring but awesome day.

Antipodes 2010

2010-04-01T23:03:00.008+11:00

Here's my waaaaaay overdue post on my weekend at the Greek Festival.

Saturday

Was wandering around the city when I stumbled across this sight:

Schtick carnie atmosphere, with cheap rides and dated games stalls. Perfect.

Korean Potato Twister...

...is no match for Greek Meat Tornado!

Man hawking his bubblegun by creating copious amounts of bubbles. It makes squeaky screeching noises like a rabid pokemon too.

Walking...

Why it's a stage! With a huge screen!

And belly dancers! Gyrating hips ftw

Greek singer segment, singing a song about power of women. They roped in an audience member (in pink) to bellydance too.

Stall about an art school for kids. Gotta love the sailor getup

Chicken and Lamb souvlaki sticks, cold-ish but still awesome tasting

Some re-enactment of the Greek Independence War, it all sounded like Greek to me. *rimshot*

Calamari cone, again, fresh good seafood but slightly marred by the cold weather.

The best carnival game. Of. All. Time. Basically you toss $1 coins at the board, and if your coin stops in a circle on the images of the banknotes, you win the corresponding value ($50 for the one in the middle and $20 for the 4 others). Crazy lucrative I must say, as I stood there watching suckers part with their dollars.

Sunday

Back to the festival again as I had nothing better to do. A lot more people present today than it was the day before. I blame Sundays.

A wild friendly Toga Giant appears! ...And disappears into the crowd.

Scrumptious Paella. Nothing like golden seafood rice to fill the ol' tum.

Brazilian churrascaria (sp?) with its delectable spread of skewered meats...mmm...

There's some competition ongoing at the moment, some dance endurance. The last dancer standing wins 2 tickets to Greece on Qatar airways. (A dude won btw)

Run kid run!

It's the infernal spawn of Chef Boyardee and the Pilsbury Doughboy! The policemen cower before his awesome presence!

He brandishes his nefarious Tongs of Doom!

But wait! The Toga Giant reappears! The clash of the titans commences! (Well actually they just hugged and posed for photos.) They're actually crowd control of sorts, the Toga Giant helped this lost kid find his parents together with the policemen.

Bellydance workshop. Cane on head = ??? The chick was pretty hot though, the one holding the cane in the third pic, not the one on stage, mind you. Oh and I blame the mother in the foreground for overexposure of my images.

So that was my weekend. Nothing like good food and free entertainment to while the time away!

2010-03-28T00:20:00.002+11:00

First day of a 2-week study break, didn't know what to do, so I went walk-about in the city, with an unexpected find!

...but more on that in the next post, I decided to keep it separate from this generic imagedump.

Beautiful sunrise and magenta clouds

lulz @ irony

Crazy ravenous pigeons nomming on a bowl of half-eaten food. They were initially a huge mass on the table, but they migrated to the floor when a chunk of meat fell over.

Tiny spider that was floating around my room in the wind

I presume there was a fire in the top left unit

Stumbled upon a classical music performance after some Freddo's, rousing orchestral music and arias made for aural pleasure

That's all for now, more on the Greek festival tomorrow.

2010-03-24T23:41:00.004+11:00

I have been in Melbourne for 2 months now, enjoying the gradually cooling weather, albeit erratic at times. What better to commemorate the occasion than with a pic dump?

Lulz on the back of a tow truck

Teddy tied to a tree

When chemistry tute goes amok

"I wish I had hands"

Party bus, Friday

Aaaagggghhh the glare!

Rubik's heads

Went to the National Gallery of Victoria for HoI tute again today, viewed modern-ish (18th century-Present) art this time round, and we ended with this 2004 piece by a Japanese artist.

It's basically fibre optics held in place with cable ties on a ladder-frame, and there are mirrors on the ceiling and on the floor, and its just awesome. The illusion of an endless ladder was just...genius! I'll let the pictures do the talking.

J-pop masterclass

2010-03-20T18:25:00.002+11:00

Had a smashing time karaoke-ing with 5 girls yesterday.

Went to a Korean Karaoke Bar, and because we made no reservations, we got a room for an hour in between reservations.

Blitzed through nearly 30 songs in an hour.

Even though I didn't really know the songs they were singing, the atmosphere was electric.

Gotta brush up on my repertoire.

Went to a Starbucks afterwards, and stayed there till closing hours.

What a way to spend a Friday night.

'Tis just so strange, a guy hanging out with a bunch of girls 2-3 years younger, I felt like a chaperone of sorts.

Looking forward to the next session.

Post-HOI Enlightenment

2010-03-12T23:43:00.003+11:00

Knowledge is recognising that the Tomato is a fruit;

Wisdom is knowing it does not go in a fruit salad.

And now, an unrelated advertisement.

a moral dilemma?

2010-03-06T23:45:00.003+11:00

I've done quite a few group works so far

And I come out of them feeling different each time

even though I did almost all the work for all of them

One instance I got stuck with two guys and I came out of it feeling cheated and peeved

In another, I spent my entire afternoon with two girls doing their group's drama script (brainstorming included) for them

Of which I am not a part of

and I came out of it feeling smashtastic

Is this a case of me pandering to my self-interests, thus alleviating feelings of being ripped-off?

If so, is it sad to do pro bono work just because tittays are involved?

Maybe I should not think so much

oh look

Let it Hail

2010-03-06T23:25:00.005+11:00

Survived my very first hailstorm.

It came down hard, and was over in 30mins. Ice the size of marbles to golfballs.

But not before scaring the bejeezus out of me, worrying for the structural integrity of my window.

Made it home just in time before the rain descended

Tiny bit of hail on the floor, before I closed the window

5mins into the storm, visibility was limited to a few metres

Aftermath, a pole wrenched from its base

Rounding off with some ole photos

AUD15 for 4 of these, as compared to SGD1.90 for one

summer days begat hueg dandelions

Amusing Ad

2010-02-26T20:14:00.002+11:00

The Aussie version doesn't have real actors moving, just a collection of irrelevant stills.

耐人寻味

2010-02-26T00:01:00.002+11:00

今日我与几位同学有了一番对话，平凡的很。

但在这段对话中，我发现了自己狭小的视野，对别人无根据的成见、偏见。

对此事件，我是感到万分的惭愧，也领悟到我的局限。

但愿我能够从中得到教训，改进自己，也开始对别人好一点。

2010-02-14T22:31:00.004+11:00

Had the most awesome pasta along Lygon today, fresh pasta really does make a difference in texture. The Italian owner was really funny too, because it was V-day, he went to every table and scattered heart-shaped glitter bits, while playing some cheesy tune on his mobile.

When we got the bill, he passed it to my friend, saying that because it was V-day, the women should foot the bill. He actually slipped in a fake spider just to scare my friend as she opened the folder-ish-board-that-holds-your-reciept. What a whacky guy!

Went for some Freddos after that, lychee gelato was good, but the passionfruit proved to be a tad tart for my liking.

Sorry, but no photos this time round. To make up for it, here's a cute little jingle from an Aussie ad.

I was Twittering away before I crashed into the corner shop.

I was trying to dry my hair;

I was fiddling with my chair;

We were trying to read a map and didn't stop.

Well my pants got soaked;

My water's broke;

I just didn't see the lorry~

What about me?

I never claim;

They get the same as I did.

What about me?~

[Original ver. "What about Me?" by Shannon Noll]

Worst. CNY. Ever.

2010-02-14T00:00:00.000+11:00

o O O

What is Chinese New Year (CNY) to me? Reunion dinners, 初一拜年s and buffet with friends/family in the days that follow.

As you all might have expected, I'm spending CNY2010 all alone in a foreign land. No reunion dinners, no 初一拜年s, no buffet spreads and inviting friends. Zilch.

I thought it might be okay, seeing that I've routinely managed to ~~avoid~~miss the 初一拜年s with extra duties back at PLAB (with some added 'perks' heheheh). It didn't really matter much to me anyway. To me it was the unwanted relatives prodding into personal affairs, unsavoury interactions, seeing the same old tired faces that you'd only encounter a few times each year, the formalities, niceties, the lot. I'm pretty sure most people share the same sentiment, although my relatives are much milder than most extended families out there.

Reunion dinners, however, are a whole different affair. I've never missed a single one (so far) in my 20-odd years of existence. Every single one was a memorable affair, the good, the bad, the 遍地黄金. So, missing this year's is a pretty big thing for me, seeing it's the c-c-combo breaker. Just thinking of the seafood my family's having at 小红楼 makes me yearn for the trip back home, but that's crazy talk. I'm here to do my time.

This is my Darwin.

To end this on a lighter note: (Warning, the following video might induce nausea. People with weak hearts and pregnant women are advised.)

Happy CNY all.

oh paint my skies not blue

2010-02-13T22:52:00.002+11:00

but a dirty magenta hue

2010-02-11T22:30:00.003+11:00

5/2/10

Early morning fog awesomeness

8/2/10

Random hot air balloons in the early morning

Burnin' rubber

9/2/10

I tripped my smoke detector today after my toast got stuck in the toaster and charred. The alarm scared the crap out of me. Prayed hard that there was no activity from the fire station outside my window.

10/2/10

Storm warning, got off class early. Look at the crazy thunderheads.

Nothing happened though. I expected hail. =[

11/2/10

Mad downpour, flash flooding in the city and the like.

Low clouds shrouding the skyscrapers.

Happy Australia Day!

2010-01-26T23:29:00.004+11:00

Happy Australia Day! Yes I like to repeat myself at times!

Being a newcomer to this land Down Under, there's precious little I can write about this fair place other than the peripheral. Stuff like: "How odd it is for summer days to be so cool!" or "How nice are the people here!" (A jogger thanked me when I stepped out of the way. Quaint.)

But then you people probably came to look at shiny new pictures, so I'll just let them do the talking, and then some.

My new place, see how small it is? How it can all fit within the viewfinder? If you recall, my previous one took 3 shots to capture its entirety.

The furniture's positioned differently too, to the left of the stove is the cabinet where I keep my clothes, which I can no longer hang on its exterior due to fumes from cooking.

Various views from my room (Clockwise from top left): Night, 2pm-ish, 2pm-ish, 8-frickin-30pm!!

On my way home from a walk in the city, spied some cute Oz chicks waiting for the tram. Decked in festive gear, flag-capes and funky headbands. Pity I took too long to whip out and ready my camera that by the time I did, traffic had already moved in. If you look closely behind the white car you can still see their heads.

Fireworks! This was around 10pm, and I heard a rumbling noise, which I thought was thunder. When I looked I saw the sky all lit up and I rushed to take pictures, which the haste probably wasn't necessary as the fireworks lasted for a good 10mins or so.

The live tennis match between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal at Rod Laver Arena was stopped during the duration as the fireworks were deemed too distracting. (Nadal dropped out from the match later due to a knee injury, if anyone's interested.)

To top off the festivities,

Happy Australia Day! (I did say I like to repeat myself.)

Prelude

2010-01-22T19:31:00.008+11:00

As I prepare to leave for Australia, I find the cache of photos taken with my handphone, looks like I've got some catching up to do..

Left: Seagulls in the night

Right: Pigeons puffing up in the chill

Rebels without a cause

Room: 80% packed

Room: Default condition

Last I'll see of this view

D407, where I spent 2 seasons in

This dark goopy mass of browns and blacks is from Scissors Cut Curry Rice at Kitchener Rd, a bliss to consume.

Finally, I've received a lot of flak for my foray into facial hair, and on hindsight (plus the aid of photos) I can agree with them, that Hobo-chic is not my thing.

Click at your own risk. You have been warned.

Before: 1 2

After: 1 2

Movember: Day 30

2009-11-30T23:52:00.004+11:00

Been a long long time since I posted pictures, so I shall make up for lost time and dump them all at once!

Lunch@Dining hall: Choice of huge rib/leg/chunk of meat, or a veggie burger, or tacos!

Leftover fried rice with crumbed squid and sunny-side up

Rocher roses! (Ignore the fingernail, yes I know it's freakishly long.)

Bangers and Mash

Lovely lilac blossoms

Remember that developing pine cone I noticed in the last post? It's grown bigger!

Failed attempt at Mapo Tofu. Tofu used was too soft, disintegrated, and used too much bean paste. Mmm...failure tastes so salty and bean-y.

So it has been a wonderous month of facial hair extrusion, so what are the fruits of my labour?

Hairy face. Should I keep the 'stache? I personally don't think so. A lip-tickler's fun and all but it does get in the way sometimes.

Final Remark:

Juxtaposition

2009-11-24T20:50:00.002+11:00

After the FDA clamped down on food safety, the demon barber of fleet street found a new way to dispose of his victims' bodies.

Cold Rice + Mixed veg + Egg + Bratwurst + Crumbled salmon + Heat = Yum

Dessert didn't turn out like the picture... :(

Movember: Day 21

2009-11-22T23:34:00.007+11:00

Went to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) for my HOI tutorial this week, looked at art pieces through the history of Western civilisation, ranging from Greek sculptures to Renaissance art. Was a little rushed, didn't manage to get any photos inside, but I did get two shots of the outside of the Gallery.

The nice water feature outside the imposing walls of the Gallery

Some shots I took of the cityscape whilst in the tram

Later in the day, I did my monologue for my Drama exam, doing an excerpt from Frankenstein the novel. Pity I didn't have the good sense to take a snapshot of my getup as Davy Jones, of Pirates of the Carribean fame. Well I guess you guys will have to use your imaginations for that.

Trusty PAM (Potatoes and Meat), I can always count on you for comfort

Fast-forward to Friday, and my package has arrived! Finally, after days of delays due to a messed up address (my bad), my copy of Win7 has reached my hands...from Singapore. Ugh, if I had known they were shipping from Singapore I'd have them mail it to my address back home instead of all the way over here. Note the skilful (not) removal of my personal details.

See how the thread-like leaves nicely fill the gaps in between the tiles

Saturday, woke up early to meet up for a school excursion to the Da Vinci exhibition...except that I saw no one there. I arrived "just on time" according to the schedule, but I think they went in early and didn't have the decency to phone me to see if I was anywhere near. Bah, waste of $15 bucks, and a good Saturday morning.

Mucked around a bit in the cold weather and took some photos of the cityscape

Can you spot the rowing team in the Yarra river?

I must say Angus beef really tastes good, it makes fast food burgers much more palatable. Pictured here is the Angry Angus from Hungry Jacks (aka BK), so much better than the Grand/Mighty Angus from Maccas, maybe because it has two patties compared to one from Maccas. jloh thinks it's the intrinsic quality of the beef used that makes it so yum. Whatever the case, it's a winner to me.

Spotted a developing pine cone in the pine tree opposite my place. Looks so...green.

As we move into the last week of Movember, it's time for a Mo'update. As you can see, I have grown a visible nose-tickler. Now I wouldn't say it's respectable or anything, but it certainly was an interesting experience. Lets hope something happens within this week that will add body to this mo'.

Movember: Day 16

2009-11-17T23:03:00.003+11:00

Christmas is in the air... So is the summer heat. Pretty decorations all around in town.

Pictured is the road along Burke St.

Saw this busker along the street. Note the sign below "Albert Stone". He's basically playing a living statue, and a pretty convincing one at that. He was offered a drink by this young kid, and the pic is of him taking a sip through a straw he had. at which afterwards he produced a lolly from his sleeve. So cute.

Had a go at making macaroni salad. Had to use the container as I had no space to place them to cool. Boiling the diced vegs on the other side.

Success! Tasted decent, but didn't have enough mayo, sadly.

Overexposed dinner with store-bought chicken and a chilled can of VB.

Weather's so dry, all the grass is dead and dry. Guess this is how the bushfires burn.

No mo' update this week, forgot to take pic of self.

Movember: Day 9

2009-11-10T22:43:00.000+11:00

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I'll rectify this problem now.

...with peektures!

Poster for Movember wrapped around a tree in clear plastic

The Trinity Chapel across the Bulpadock

Bio Lab was dissection of sheep's internal organs!

Sheep's heart, and my artist's interpretation of South America

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the "开心" as the lab tech removed it before I was done with it, so here's a drawing instead

Next was the kidneys! Forgot to take a photo of my kidney drawing this time. Smell of urine was strong (duh), and it actually got through the latex gloves I was wearing. Thank goodness for hand sanitisers and their sweet alcoholic smell.

The kidneys had this really soft consistency to it as I was cutting/handling it, like tau huay. Now I know how my mom must have felt when she was preparing the pig's kidneys for cooking. Tedious.

Day 9 of Movember, my current progress:

Not much, actually...Hopefully there'll be more as the days go by.

Movember: Day 1

2009-11-02T00:37:00.002+11:00

It's November, finally! 6 more weeks and I'm home-bound! (again)

I chanced upon this campaign on TV: Movember

It's a charity event to raise funds for prostate cancer for the guys, just like the pink ribbon project for the ladies. It was started a few years back by a few Aussie blokes who felt that "guy" illnesses like prostate cancer just weren't getting enough attention due to the fact that guys don't talk about such stuff, unlike the ladies.

So what they did was simply to grow a moustache over the month of November, and campaigning of course. It created such a sensation that it has spread to the USA, Europe, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand! Although I've not signed up and pledged anything in any way, I felt that this idea was too novel to pass up.

So here I am, Day 1:

Clean-shaven, cropped for everyone's sake.

Lets just hope I am anywhere close to a sizeable 'stache at the end of the month.

So the weather in Melbourne has been pretty crazy (hot) lately. I've realised that when the sun is up it gets pretty darned warm, but at night it's comfortably cool. The fan's been incredibly helpful in beating the heat, but nothing beats running the air-conditioner. Glad to know that it works, despite it being slightly noisy at times. Hope I'll never reach the point where I have to use it to sleep at night.

Facebook was acting up loads, but has been pretty stable in the past week. When it doesn't work however, my friends list suddenly disappear, and my news feed is all me. Weird. I wonder if it should have a "You have no friends!" message when your friends list is empty, like how Gmail has "Hooray! No spam here!" when you clear your spam box. (I checked.) That would be hilarious. (and sad.)

Some home-style cooking, managed to make 2 dishes this time. Made use of leftover mince meat and preserved "chye sim" hearts to make this sweet-savoury gravy dish, with a side of stir-fried veggies, of course. Bagged mixed vegetables ftw!

2009-10-25T00:24:00.002+11:00

Terrible, terrible essay readings. I am still not able to put together a decent essay plan after reading all the prescribed readings...

To beat the heat: Big powerful fan, strategically positioned under my table for maximum air-flow!

Bacon and lettuce sandwich, with an open egg sandwich for good measure

Korean Beef Stew, kindly shared by my korean friend. Not bad, a tad too sweet, but cleaning up was the worst. Beef fat is just so difficult to rid the smell of.

2009-10-19T23:12:00.005+11:00

Oh god 28 degrees tomorrow.

3 pressing things on my to-do list:

- HOI essay (readings/plan)

- EAP presentation

- Drama monologue memorisation

So, so annoyed by inactivity.

Band-aid + moisture + time = freaky patterns on swollen skin

BLT sandwich (Berliner ham, lettuce and tomato)

Tuna Fritters with spiral pasta. The mayo dip was a bad choice.

I never noticed that either

2009-10-17T00:25:00.002+11:00

Days without clean bill of health: Why bother?

Cold as hell here, rainy weather to thank for that.

Went to the outdoor BBQ event earlier on. Terrible, reeks of poor singaporean planning. Ran out of food less than an hour into the event, as supposed to an "All you can eat" thing happening. The feed wasn't fantastic either, thin sausages in chunky bread, atleast it was healthy with the vegetables provided. Stood in chilly 10deg wind eating our hotdogs. Hummus and foccacia bread was great though, luckily not many people knew that.

Music was a whole other matter altogether. The band was crap, self deluded excuses for "rockstars". Audience was crap, nobody got worked up by the music. Couldn't blame them either, who would bother to rock out to crappy music in freezing weather?

Waste of 10bux.

Inscription on a plaque in front of an ornamental stone bench

Spotted this cute little baby possum near the venue though. It wasn't really me who spotted it, it was this Oz couple that was walking beside me. It's like all of a sudden they started cooing and stuff, and the guy went "Hey Mac, check this out mate!"

Little fella hiding under the gate mechanism

Saw the same critter in the open near the gate as I was going back home. It was all huddled up and shivering in a little ball. Could this be what it meant by "playing possum"?

It wouldn't budge even as I got so close to it. That's dedication!

Oh well, I hope its in a safe place now. It probably lost its mom or something.

2009-10-15T22:30:00.002+11:00

Days without a clean bill of health: 12 days (?)

Unsure whether I'm still ill or just coughing due to the cold dry air. Still getting a bit of phlegm here and there, but it's definitely gone more or less.

Tasty Chicken burritos with capsicum and portobello mushrooms. Nom!

English lesson. Notes for fictitious essay.

This song has been playing in my head ever since I heard it on on an Oz TV advert about Victorian schools' improvement programme.

Suddenly...Bulbasaurs!

2009-10-13T23:05:00.003+11:00

Days without a clean bill of health: 10 days.

So I'm almost there now, just the mornings' cold starts and the dry chilly nights causing me to cough small chunks of phlegm. I'm doing well.

So I was cooking yesterday, when I made this really bone-headed mistake. Spatula with hot gravy on it should go nowhere but the pan.

This was the result

This was the solution

Now normally people use running water, but that's just a waste of a resource Melbourne could make do with more of. Not having a bag of frozen peas or even ice cubes only makes the issue more tricky. Not that I prefer the frozen flesh of a fowl to soothe my burns, just that I've got to make do with what I have, eh?

The result, not the best thing in the world, but tasted pretty darned good I must say.

[P.S. The burn didn't lead to any scarring thankfully. The red mark went away in like 2 hours, or before I realised it, whichever was shorter.]

2009-10-11T22:58:00.001+11:00

Days without a clean bill of health: 8 days.

Lazy lazy weekend, shame on me for squandering it away!

Went to the park nearby for some fresh air, while I had my takeaway lunch and read my HoI essay materials.

Nice trees overhead, providing much-needed shade

Guess what this is? (Hint: It's wide and blue, beyond the clouds)

Dinners of 2 nights: Faux chicken rice and bastardised seafood risotto. Damn does the seafood smell...seafoody.

Oh and I just realised I had this little cut on my thumb that was the cause of this niggling little pain I had there for some time. Apparently I had a small cut there while I was washing my new chef's knife I bought a week back. That's some sharpness, money well spent.

"The first wind of ascension is Forger, burning away impurity. The second wind of ascension is Reaver, slaying the unworthy. The third wind of ascension is Eliminator, clearing the path to victory. The fourth wind of ascension is Anointer, deifying the worthy. The fifth wind of ascension is Exalter, fulfilling Keld's destiny." -Keld Triumphant

2009-10-09T23:20:00.004+11:00

Days without a clean bill of health: 6 days.

Still ill, still going. Need to get my ass studying.

Shrooms growing out of the ground near my place. They look edible.

Brightly coloured hedges blooming in Spring

Dinner: Burritos? Breaded pork cutlet with stir-fried peppers, portobello mushrooms and tomatoes.

2009-10-08T23:56:00.004+11:00

Booyah! 97% for maths, 98% for chem, 90% for lit! This is almost good enough news to take my mind off my whooping cough, emphasis on "almost".

I'm still coughing like an old man with a bad cold, though there's less phlegm now, and it's on-and-off too, getting better as the day progresses then crashing late at night. Wonder if I'll end up like the other Richard and lose a lung to pneumonia?

And dinner, just because I can.

2009-10-07T22:29:00.004+11:00

Uggh, worst luck ever today.

Woke up late (well on the dot of first lesson actually). First time ever to be late for anything since school began. Didn't manage to get any breakfast in the rush. So there I was, hungry and ill, (body) engine cold-starting (never a good thing), I thought it couldn't get any worse.

Second lesson. HoI tutorial. Got sent out of the class, not because I was late, not because I didn't do my homework, but because I was ill. Apparently my tutor had a lung removed after 2 separate incidents of pneumonia, and he wasn't going to take any chances. Hm, the stuff you learn each day.

No lunch for me, baby. Went for this philosophical talk conducted by my HoI tutor and this other fine gent in this exquisitely furnished common room on campus. The topic was "What counts as a good life?", and it really gave me some food for thought. The experience was enriching, even though I couldn't, and wasn't in any shape to participate in the discussion, having to sit in the "outer ring" of seats while the seats infront were scarcely occupied by the handful of people who turned up, 2 tutors and 2 other students. [Note: I was the only Asian in there. Oooh minority...] I could get used to this actually, feeding my mind, not my face.

So I gues that was a sure sign that the bad luck had run its course. Got back my math [practice] exam today. 97%! Lost 3% to stupid little mistakes, but it's all good. And I got my monologue list too. What to choose... Decisions, decisions.

So it was time to prepare dinner, when suddenly, the darkness rears its ugly head again! Okay, so I just burnt my pork chop, no biggie, the meat's still edible.

And with that I leave you with a funny shot that I took earlier this day that adequately expressed my emotions at that time:

[P.S. For those who think that I don't take enough scenery shots, here's some springtime for you.]

Shira Nui Omakase

2009-10-07T21:48:00.006+11:00

So here's the pics of dinner at Shira Nui that I promised.

Starting with a nice tall glass of Kirin Beer. Smooth and sweet-ish.

First Course - Cod. Slightly salty and crunchy, great texture. 4/5

Might I mention that they are really generous with the condiments (pickled ginger and wasabi), and requests were always answered promptly and politely. Their wasabi has a real kick to it, unlike that weak crap that you get from cheapo sushi joints. I suspect their ginger is pickled in-house, a little more on that later, but it was real sweet and did a good job of cleansing the palate.

Second Course - Grilled Salmon. Wonderfully done, cooked but not all the way through, well seasoned. 4.5/5

Third Course - Mackerel, with some sort of seaweed veil. Fishy (as expected of Mackerel) but not too overpowering, in a taste-of-the-sea kind of good. Personally I liked it, but Zitai didn't take well to it as "fishy" wasn't his cup of tea. 3.5/5

Fourth Course - Yakiniku Beef. Oh so so so good. Well marinated beef slices were so darned tender I couldn't believe it was beef actually. Raving good. 4.5/5

Zitai and his parents didn't eat beef, so they had an alternate dish for them: Unagi flambé. Looks really good, but I think the yakiniku beef was still a better choice.

Fifth Course - Arc clam. Crunchy, slightly briny, definitely a shellfish when I ate one (forgot to take a photo before digging in). Didn't come across as great to me, probably due to the high from the last dish. 3/5

Sixth Course - Tuna Steak. Now we're talking. Another one that scored high in our books. Tuna seared on the outside and tender on the inside. Only slightly more tender than the beef, so you know how good it is. 4.5/5

Seventh Course - Japanese Pike. What can I say? They know what people like most: pyrotechnics. Another fishy one, but not as bad as the mackerel. 3.5/5

Eighth Course - Marinated King Fish. How quaint! A local fish in a sushi place! The chef mentioned that he particularly liked using king fish amongst the other local species (ie. barramundi, flake), but he mentioned that the texture of king fish has been lacklustre lately. Still, it was nicely executed. 4/5

Ninth Course - Grilled Oysters in Japanese Mayo. The supposed "highlight" of the meal, it kinda fell short despite the hype surrounding it. It was drowned in too much mayo, resulting in me tasting nothing more than just the mayo itself. I could pick out the oyster swimming amidst the mayo, but I couldn't taste it at all. Not much to say taste-wise, but texture wise it was good, soft slippery oyster that wasn't overdone. 3.5/5

Dessert: Black Sesame Crème Brûlée. By recommendation of Zitai, I got this dessert. The crème brûlée was great, burnt sugar on the top didn't taste, well, burnt. The crème within was creamy and rich with black sesame flavour. The fruit salad with ice cream that accompanied it was not too shabby either. The melon ice cream (I think) was not too sweet and the fruits were fresh. 4/5

So that concludes my dinner outing at Shira Nui. If anyone's interested in the address of this place, you can contact me, or you could just Google it like everyone else.

(P.S. I can't help but think of that old Oz bloke that was sitting beside me, having omakase too. Throughout the dinner service, he was constantly nicking small lumps of wasabi with a chopstick and eating it, as though he were taking wasabi "hits".)

Happy Birthday to Me.

2009-10-07T00:37:00.002+11:00

So I am 21 years of age today. The big Two-One, Key to the world, of legal age of consent (wait that's 18), endowed with voting rights, et cetera.

A dear friend of mine mentioned that his 21st was akin to a transformation, a metamorphosis of some kind, where he sees the world in a new light on the very morning he woke up. The skies were clear and everything was good. No such epiphanies from me unfortunately. Being 21 is just like any other day for me, except reminding you that time waits for no man, and your body's mechanisms continue to unwind like the intricate workings of a swiss timepiece; or that entropy would only continue to increase without any hopes of reversal, short of a Cosmic AC intervening of course.

No whacked out beer binges and wet T-shirt parties for my special day unfortunately. Today was spent in a foreign land in quiet contemplation, far from my friends and family. Alas, even that was denied from me, for I was lured from my abode with promise of food and company, and I was not disappointed at all.

I joined Zitai and his parents and his friend, who drove us to Shira Nui in Glen Waverly for some omakase which was oh-so-delish. For those who do not know what's "omakase", I have kindly linked the wiki article for you lazy bastards who can't be bothered to google it. It is like a degustation menu of sorts, where there's no fixed menu, and the chef prepares whatever's fresh/available for the day, and you eat what you are served. Thankfully they were all superb. What about pictures you say? Well I did take photos of the 9-course meal, but I'll only process/upload them tomorrow as I've gotten home late and there's school early tomorrow.

So to all you well-wishers out there, I thank you once again, and I bid ye adieu.

2009-10-04T14:09:00.001+11:00

Just woke up from a nap, a crazy feverish nap. Super disoriented now, something to do with my ears I guess, had troubles trying to "pop" my ears when we were descending. Ended up with a stuffed left ear and a sore right ear. Terrible terrible thing to go through, hope that this is the last of it.

Why Art > Photographs

2009-10-03T16:07:00.001+10:00

Drawings present perfect ideals that can't exist in reality and photos present reality, which is imperfect. When you see a photo, you see all the good things and the bad things, in other words you see the reality in them. However, reality doesn't have to exist in drawings, so you'll only see good things.

Mid-Autumn Prelude

2009-10-03T02:16:00.002+10:00

According to Sin Min Daily (021009), Chinese astrologists predict that the Moon would be at its brightest in this century on Saturday night (031009). A pity A380s don't come equipped with sunroofs for passengers to go star/moon-gazing at night. Which means I will be missing out on experiencing a rare natural phenomenon, instead worrying about not getting DVT and piles on a 7-hour long flight.

Thus ends my brief sojourn back home. Much good (and poor) food tasted, familiar faces met, batteries recharged and engines are raring to go. So I'm headed back for Melbourne in less than 24 hours' time, and as I pack up my stuff, hoping not to leave out/forget anything, I came up with this list of things about here and there.

10 Things I will miss about Singapore:

- Familiarity

- Friends and Family are here

- Good (cheap) food

- Not so good (but still cheap) food

- Shampoo does not have the consistency of honey/maple syrup

- Nice big kitchen with an arsenal of cookware and a well-stocked pantry

- 22" Widescreen Monitor

- Fast broadband internet

- Did I mention cheap food?

- Ability to loiter outside late at night without safety concerns

10 Things I look forward to in Melbourne:

- Awesome cool weather

- Clean(er), fresh(er) air

- Absence of noise pollution (I'm looking at you, area upgrading works and your crazy drill-when-the-sun-shines works)

- Ability to have better control over my diet (no more binging till the tum's sick)

- Meeting my foreign friends again

- Studies giving me a sense of purpose to move on

- Superior television programming on free-to-air

- Return to a life with some semblance of regularity

- Vegemite...not!

- Oft mentioned greener grass on the other side

(P.S. A very pleasant Mid-Autumn Festival to all who celebrate it! Remember to wash down that calorie-laden mooncake with some fine Chinese tea, preferably xiang pian or pu-erh. To this, I leave you with a classic voice doing a cover of a classic song by another classic voice that was originally a classical Chinese poem.)

2009-09-30T00:06:00.002+10:00

So I've been back in Singapore for not less than 10 days, and not one update! Lazy lazy, but what does it matter? Anyone who reads this blog is probably within an hour's travel anyway. Been embarking on a food trail of my own, crossing off foods from my "to-eat" checklist, resulting in many aches in the tum. Gotta rein in my voracious appetite before I destroy my guts by overeating.

As you may have noticed there's now a tagbox to the right, due to popular demand. It has replaced the largely useless "Weather" gadget that always defaults to New York, NY. Do I even care if it's rain or sunshine ten thousand miles away? And even if I did give a hoot I'd expect it to be in degrees CELSIUS thank you, to hell with the Empirical System! Get on with the times you yanks, everyone else is using Metric nowadays!

So anyway, after a little "home-improvement", I got about thinking of the direction my blog should take. Should it remain as-is, nothing more than a page of photos depicting my everyday life (most, if not all about food, namely what I ate), everyday; or should I let this be a place where I collect my epiphanies and reflections on issues, like many of the other blogs out there?

This is the part where I take it to the polls, so please vote on my tagbox, and indulge in the fresh-out-of-the-box smell!

2009-09-18T07:41:00.004+10:00

[This post was supposed to be up last night, but my netbook decided to BSOD on me midway though the post, and the modem decided to work only the next morning, so here it is now.]

14/09/09

Random scenery shots of the park near my place. Went there to chill after Math paper.

Wood chippings + compost

Dinner: Japanese curry. The potatoes turned out mushy and had disintegrated, which led to me adding more water, which resulted in too much leftover gravy. It was all good though, the pork was delish.

15/09/09

Went to one of the cliques' homes after Literature exam. Realised that I totally cannot click with any of them. Consoled myself with some Lord of the Fries. Mexican sauce was terrible.

Lunch: Ghetto curry ramen, jap curry over instant noodles

Dinner: This crazy milk drink that I bought was crazy thick, reads what it does.

16/09/09

Breakfast: French toast

So I was flying back soon, and I still had 2 serves of beef mince left in my freezer. What better way to deal with it than: Meatballs!

Grating parmesan while chatting on msn

Serves 10 = 16 recieved

Sizzle ye beauties!

Oh so delish, crisp on the outside, moist on the inside. Was a tad bit too salty though, didn't factor in the salt from the parmesan.

Lunch: Green pepper fried rice with meatballs

The scenery I see every night.

17/09/09

Breakfast: Pork chop with rice. Best breakfast ever! Meat marinated for 2+ days (unintentional), nicely caramelised onions, perfect eggs, bliss.

More signs of Spring!

Absoloutely right

Lunch: Mixed rice from some thai takeaway near my place. Waste of money and stomach space. From left: Sweet stewed pork, sambal fishballs, worst thai green curry ever.

Went to watch Grease the musical at night. Oh so good, though it was difficult to fit into John Travolta's shoes. Female lead was hawt though with the tights in the last scene. Left me with a skip in my step and tunes in my head afterwards.

2009-09-13T22:30:00.004+10:00

Lazy lazy lazy, exams coming up, then it's home-bound!

10/09/09

Wah sian my room is damn 夕照 la..

Dinner: Chicken and spinach fried rice, lots of spinach... Tasted a bit weird.

11/09/09

Breakfast: Spinach cheese omelette

Lunch: Curry chicken don at Don Tojo. (actually it's just teriyaki chicken don with copious amounts of curry gravy, yum) Cheap and good.

Heh, Tham theatre (actually it's Latham theatre, pronounced Lat-ham)

Dinner: Cheapass pizza from Dominos. Thank goodness for student discounts!

12/09/09

Crazy hot (and windy) day, as you can see the wind/wind gusts above. The temperature went on to peak at 29.4deg, which led me to wonder if we had skipped Spring altogether and hit Summer instead. As I went out for lunch, I realised it was the first time I didn't need (or rather, didn't bother) to go out wearing a jacket.

Lunch: Seafood Hor Fun at Dessert House, with Iced 鸳鸯 (Coffee-Tea mix). Expensive, but worth every cent for authentic 'zhi char' here in Ozland.

Weather's killing me, with hot winds lapping at my cheeks, so what better way to beat the heat than with a few lashings of awesome gelati from Il Freddo Dolce!

Decided to go adventurous, got me a 'cinnamon and pear' and 'baileys'. The Irish cream tasted like, well, what it's supposed to taste like. Cinnamon and pear on the other hand was rather pleasant, strong cinnamon flavour with chunks of soft pear. Though it could be less cloyingly sweet as a whole.

Oh did I mention that the lift in my building was down on Friday night? Well, shit tends to happen when it would have the most impact. So the stairwell saw more action for the entire weekend than it would ever have in a year.

As I have a math exam (and exams in general) coming up next week, I decided to hit the books. What I didn't know was how hard I hit them. So I got started on past year papers, and as I did it got into more of a positive-feedback look where I finished one and I'd be spurred to start on the next one. So as I did, I lost track of time, and at the end of a 5hr math marathon I finally realised that I've ran out of past year papers to do. Perhaps that double-caffeine concoction I had for lunch had something to do with this bizzare behaviour?

Pictured is a messed-up (and still is) thumb after 5hrs of math.

13/09/09

Seeing as how I done all my math work in one sitting and still managed to get up before noon (11am), I decided to reward myself with one of them Mighty Angus burgers that I keep seeing on the telly. (If I see that faux-waiter fella in the ad one more time...RAGE)

Lunch: Mighty Angus meal. Doesn't look pretty (which burger churned out from McD's does IRL?) but tastes pretty darned good, even though it was a little cold, being a takeaway, and the patty slightly dry. Still, slab of angus beef with cheese, onions and bacon is some atery-clogging tasty goodness.

Dinner: Creamy chicken mushroom pasta. Made using mushrooms, chicken, spaghetti and sour cream. Serve hot, as the cream starts to clot as time passes.

(P.S. Did I mention that the weather's back to normal now? Down to the 17s in the day and 12s at night.)

2009-09-09T23:31:00.002+10:00

08/09/09

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese sandwich

Dinner: Canned vegetable soup with beef mince and diced potatoes

09/09/09

Lunch: Leftover soup/stew on rice with chicken bought from Union House

Went for the Karaoke event, the food was eaten by jokers who came, ate, and left. Hungry now. The karaoke itself was great though. Did this song, and after so many years finally understood how funky/gay this song was through its lyrics.

Weekend update

2009-09-07T21:29:00.003+10:00

So yeah it has been an unproductive weekend, so sue me.

04/09/09

Breakfast: Egg with salami toast

Dinner: Mixed rice from 阿凡提快餐, some funky corner store opposite QV. Beansprouts tasted awful, just like anywhere else in Aussie, egg w/ tomato was good, stewed beef brisket was good. 6.5/10

The sight that greeted me when I went out for dinner. Crack in the clouds revealed a huge moon, partially occluded.

05/09/09

I don't know what happened on Saturday, but I did complete Season one of House M.D.

06/09/09

Breakfast: Buttered bread sticks with canned tuna

Lunch: Grilled fish and chips at Queen Vic market, they were out of the fried ones.

Dinner: Garlic and chilli chicken breast with mushrooms and broccoli

07/09/09

Breakfast: Ham and egg sandwich

Dinner: I went back in time and got my dinner from Sunday. No, really.

2009-09-04T00:10:00.003+10:00

More signs of spring! My residence in the background.

Dinner: Chicken chop with veg stir fry and egg, very delish.

2009-09-02T23:35:00.004+10:00

It's Springtime! Life is literally oozing out of the dendritic branches of the barren trees!

Brilliant flowering buds ready to burst forth with extravagant displays of vitae!

Carnie food at a festival going on at Union House. Pictured is beef bulgogi and fried rice cakes on a skewer. Crazy good korean red chili paste on the rice cakes, a pity they turned almost inedible when they turned cold and hard in the breeze.

Drama lessons ended extraordinarily early today, only taking up 30mins, as we were 'treated' to the plays enacted by the February batch doing their drama term exams. Dismal attempts at garnering humor with poorly executed humor and weak scripts meant that this meant more to us as a way to get out of class early than an educational insight into what's in store for us.

Pictured here is how the sun shines directly into my face through my window in the afternoon sun. Usually, by the time I get home from school (1730ish), the sun would've set below the buildings, sparing me a blindingly painful fate.

Dinner: Leftover sphagetti bolognaise sauce with chicken and veg added. Note slice of cheese hidden in the rice to simulate a "baked rice" meal.

2009-09-01T22:49:00.002+10:00

First day of Spring! Meh feels like the same as any ol' day. The barren trees are finally sprouting leaves though..

Dinner: Spaghetti bolognaise, with beef mince and sausage, not bad for my 2nd try, a tad bit too watery though, no idea how I got so much fluid in there too, and the cornstarch trick didn't really work as well as I expected..

2009-08-31T23:17:00.002+10:00

Bio presentation today. Didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Little satisfaction to see the other 2 squirm under their un-preparedness, deer in the headlights style. Vindication ftw.

HOI lecture today was done by another person today, a Dr Jonathan Barlow. Eccentric fella, but great at reining in the lecture group, probably the smoothest and quietest (relatively) lecture I've ever had since the start of school. And my notes this time were one of the most comprehensive on the topic of the day: Stoic Philosophy. That's some deep and awesome stuff, and thanks to Alexander the Great who united the Ancient Western world, Europe (Greece), Africa (Egypt) and Asia (Persia), and allowed such a wonderful school of thought flourish. A great guy, even though he was a flaming homosexual.

Dinner: Leftovers of yesterday's thai style chicken, with a sunny side up on top to give it more "zhi char" points

2009-08-30T23:43:00.002+10:00

Relaxing day today, did my bio, math homework and my practical writeups.

Took a trip down to Queen Vic market in the afternoon for my weekly protein supply.

Lunch: Chicken vindaloo(sp?) and salad from the curry shop at the foodcourt. Wasn't stellar, but atleast it was nice. The curry was pleasant and not too spicy/bland.

Got myself two beef dim sims, well known in Ozland. They're actually just giant fried siew mais, but they were pretty good. (The first one was, the second one had spent a little too much time at the bottom of the deep fryer)

Dinner: Thai-style chicken and indomee! Did the chicken from scratch, batter fry and combining with peppers and onions, zhi char style. I think I need a better batter recipe, as the batter didn't really bind properly to the chicken thigh chunks. (If anyone's interested, I used one egg to like 6-7 teaspoons of cornflour)

P.S. Cleaning chicken meat of fats is really exhausting.

2009-08-29T23:40:00.002+10:00

Breakfast: Breakfast burrito! Success this time! Scrambled eggs, salami and cheese. Seems like too much bread:filling ratio tho.

Spent the whole day at a karaoke bar competition, totally bombed.

Dinner: Remnants of yesterday's PAM

2009-08-29T00:03:00.002+10:00

Fuud brog updates~

Breakfast: Breakfast wraps! Sausage and cheese wrapped in flatbread

Went to Dining hall for lunch with friends. So "hua suan" la, $5.80 for a hot savoury pie, browned spuds and free access to soup pot and salad bar!! Satiation.

Dinner: PAM (Potato and Meat, namely beef sausages) and toasted flatbread. Realised it was too late to cook rice after I was done with the PAM, couldn't wait, so I just whacked the bread. 2 birds with 1 stone!

2009-08-27T23:31:00.003+10:00

Nothing much happened today, I only have this pic to account for:

Dinner: Takeout from Noorsiah's Kitchen. Beef curry, chicken drumstick and sambal stringbean tofu.

2009-08-27T00:21:00.002+10:00

Did a mime for a mock drama exam today, acted as a burglar cracking a safe. Got an average score but good critique. The others' performances ranged from the dull (doing everyday stuff at home like waking up, washing up, cooking etc) to the ingenious (earthquake) to the overly complicated (guy drives car knocks down pedastrian abandons car gets caught in rain slips and falls splills contents of bag gets mugged by a thug), and all that under 2 minutes per performer! Well that's the last we'll see of mime for now, moving on to monologues next week.

Dinner: Egg fried rice consisting kailan, baby spinach, mushrooms, chicken and beef sausage. Messy but nommy.

2009-08-25T23:18:00.003+10:00

Lunch: Ultra decadent breakfast burritos!

Flatbread - Cheese - Strassburg ham - Baby spinach leaves -> sunny-side up egg -> beef sausage

Left: First attempt, heating the bread after cooking the meats. Note broken yolk. Fail =[

Right: Cross-section. Try to make out the different layers!

Left: Second attempt. Gave up on trying to roll it since it would just be a mess like the first time, ate it with utensils this time.

Right: Looks so nice, like hors d'ouvere

Went to the Old Arts building for usual Literature lecture. Used the toilets there, and their toilets are full of sensible graffiti. Mind you, this is an arts building.

Little dialogue/deduction on the right cubicle wall.

And on the left...the entire script of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. I kid you not, the entire wall was covered in the script.

Dinner: Poor-man's dinner to counteract the indulgent lunch. Canned tuna (sweet chili flavour) on rice with kailan and wasabi furikake.

I might add that there was a stormfront approaching Melbourne at approx 1700 250809, as such the lecturer let us off half an hour early so we could commute home before the storm hits and public transports shut down. Free time off whoop!

However, at time of posting, there hasn't been any indication of the deadly 120kmh winds that were predicted to hit the city, only a very chilly downpour that lasted less than an hour and a sharp drop in the temperature, pushing the min temp limits.

2009-08-24T23:06:00.002+10:00

Today is Fish day! Namely Salmon!

Lunch: Mega burrito with wholemeal flatbread, salmon fillets, baby spinach leaves and lined with mash and some mayo. M-m-m-Monster Burrito!

Started to burst leaks at the bottom halfway through, so I gave up and just ate it like any civilised person would, with a fork and knife.

Decided to do something with the leftover mash from yesterday, and what better way to post-process already processed spuds than to make potato cakes! Used cornflour because I didn't have regular flour.

First batch of potato cakes turned out crispy and nice, but a tad too difficult to flip and tended to break easily. Tasted like lumpy rosti.

So I added an egg to the rest (bad move) and a few more teaspoons of cornflour, then gave it a good working over before cooking it.

The potato cakes turned out...like pancakes. Eggy pancakes. Oh well, atleast they still taste good, but they gave me "木薯糕" vibes, smell and texture wise.

The star of the show! The last of the salmon fillet! A little small though. Look at how fresh and pink the flesh is! And that's after I froze and thawed it out!

Dinner: S&P Salmon Fillet with potato cakes and wilted baby spinach salad. Threw the spinach leaves in the hot pan after the fish was done, tossed it around to soak up the remaining oils in the pan and wilt it a little. Mmm delish! Though the fish was a little overdone on the outside, but the inside was perfect like last time! Perhaps I was using too high a heat, and seared the outside a little too much.

2009-08-23T23:40:00.002+10:00

Went marketing at Queen Vic again today, grabbed some beef sausages and a slab of Atlantic Tasmanian Salmon fillet.

Dinner: Soy and garlic infused salmon fillet with potato mash and chinese broccoli. I must say the kailan wasn't the best idea to go with the fish, but maybe it's because I didn't cook it long enough, only wilted it slightly. The mashed potato was a tad too lumpy too, didn't have a potato masher at hand.

The salmon turned out perfect! Seared on the outside but moist on the inside! Oh so good, makes me hungry just thinking of it.

2009-08-22T23:28:00.003+10:00

Miss a day, huge backlog. Lesson to be learned: Be consistent.

210809

Breakfast: French toast using the 2 ends of the loaf.

Lunch: Curry Chicken Don at Don Don.

Awesome bar counter at Don Don, such a variety of liquors on display/sale! Noteworthy was the bottle of Absinthe Blue.

The EAP class had a surprise for Neralie (our EAP tutor) after class: a birthday cake! She had her 50th last weekend, and let us off early from class (last class on Friday). So the others felt they had to do something, so this week they bought a (strawberry cheese) cake for her. She was pleasantly surprised (who wouldn't be? everybody loves cake), and we sang her a (belated) birthday song, cut the cake, hung around and chatted for like half an hour. And all was well.

Dinner: Random stir-fry, consisting broccoli, carrot, mushroom and chicken strips.

Went to Zitai's place for a little sinful indulgence. Here's Miu Miu (his cat) occupying my (warmed) seat while I went to get a drink. Charming.

220809

Breakfast: Toast with Salami and a sunny-side-up.

Went shopping/walkabouts in the afternoon. Took a tram all the way down to Federation Square stop to get me some Lord of the Fries! Here pictured with Vietnamese (chilli mayo) sauce on it. Not too shabby, mayo wasn't too overpowering and had a subtle eggy hint to it, like it was handmade.

There was this band playing in the middle of the compound where I got my fries. They were making awesome music and drew a huge crowd. The violins were good.

Saw this misshapen pikachu outside EB games as I was walking up Swanston to QV. The two girls pictured gave it a huge hug after I took the shot. So cute la.

Swarming pigeons in a clearing. A little kid tried to kick/chase/scream at/scare them but failed ultimately.

Dinner: Yesterday's leftovers, fried-rice style. Left it cooking a wee bit too long, egg had gone from fluffy to dry.

2009-08-20T23:28:00.002+10:00

Ok I realise I've been having a lot of take-away lately. Hopefully I can get out of my rut and back to cooking my own meals soon!

Lunch: Union House chinese, chicken stir fry (trace amounts of chicken) and sweet&sour pork (sans sweet&sour).

Dinner: Pad Thai from Ying Thai (plus puny chicken wing leftover from the whole chicken).

Pad Thai was so-so, not very worth it, but the ingredients were fresh, at least.

Not pictured: Awesome Lemon Sorbet and Freddo's Surprise from Il Dolce Freddo.

2009-08-20T00:50:00.002+10:00

Whoops, missed another post again!

18/08/09

Put together a stir fry with the last of the chicken breast, with onions, green peppers and broccoli. Yum Lunch.

Dinner: Lunch part 2 with a fried egg on top.

19/08/00

Breakfast: Toast with salami scrambled eggs

Lunch: Sinful indulgence heh.

Dinner: Grabbed a quick takeaway at Minang. Nasi Padang with mixed noodles, mixed veg and lamb rendang. Veg was squeaky and raw-ish, characteristic of veg here.

Went for the mahjong tournament afterwards, didn't do well at all, didn't manage to move to the next round. Oh well, atleast I had fun, and managed to dick around freely. Going again tomorrow to spectate on the finals, and perhaps get some pad thai and freddo's gelato! Nom.

2009-08-17T23:22:00.002+10:00

Breakfast: Super disaster noodle. Too much noodle + too little soup + one egg = squishy mass.

Lunch at Noorsiah's with Sgeans. Awkward, and chicken was little lackluster this time, in terms of size and taste.

Dinner: Pasta Carbonara. Chicken breast meat from the whole chicken, together with sliced mushroom caps and the last of my swiss cheese = nommy.

2009-08-17T01:28:00.002+10:00

I'm exhausted from writing the previous post so I'll keep it short.

Breakfast part 1 & 2: Chicken, Mushroom & Cheese omelette on toast.

Lunch: Part 2 of Chicken Rice.

Went to Zitai's place for dinner. He had his japanese friend over, and we made squid and (smoked) salmon sushi, hot soba and tempura. Very nom.

There's Something About The Game™

2009-08-17T00:22:00.005+10:00

I actually intended for this to be a stub in my daily post, but it soon got out of hand and progressed from stub -> paragraph -> WallOfText +999dmg. To add to the irony of me writing this after I've written the stuff below, but having it up here instead, here's what I realised: 1) I think waaaay too much for my own good, and 2) I need an editor to proofread my rants. 3) I've been reeeeal mindful of my language on this blog, only because my mom reads it.

~~~

Watched There's Something About Mary on TV, and it made me realise two things:

1) It was actually Ben Stiller who was the male lead, not Jim Carrey. Jim was in Me, Myself and Irene. In what way I made the connection I have no idea. (P.S. Cameron Diaz was/is still hot.)

2) The movie is actually a sad and scary parody of real life. It's happening everywhere, in schools, at workplaces, etc. Whenever there's vested interest in a girl, even a remotely attractive one, all sensibilities fly out of the window. Enter The Game™.

Guys are reduced to mere animals fuelled by instinct and desire, presenting themselves as the perfect candidate to their target of affection. And they will do anything, to the point of downplaying, lying about and ruining other peoples' (presumably male) lives. Just like in the movie, they go to great lengths to improve their image, to impress the female subject, till they aren't themselves anymore.

This bothers me especially because I'm a stickler for intellectual discourse. Sure I enjoy the occasional burp/fart/potty joke, especially in the company of many fine men, but the conversations are mostly of a certain calibre. Throw an even somewhat acceptable girl into the mix and suddenly everyone starts tripping over themselves trying to make their presence known at all cost. And no one will be able to say they won't behave like that, unless of course you're a poof, in which case I'll kindly direct you to the back door, good sir.

I know because I see it happening all around me, and I only made such observations starting from my JC days. It's a jungle out there, males preening themselves and exhibit their physique in a bid to secure their positions at the top of the pile. The girls only serve to excerbate the situation further, by playing along with their little mind games which just takes The Game™ to a whole new level. You screw up? BAM! You lose! Down the ladder! Next!

Now this annoyed me to no end, but unfortunately being one of many hypercharged vessels of hormones, there's no choice but to be a player. It was an unescapable reality. It made you do stupid things infront of people, especially the ones that mattered. Warps and contorts you into being someone you aren't. Stuttering, hesitation, hem & haw-ing, "Y'know...", periods of awkward silence, all point to signs of inadequacy, you're falling behind buddy.

Especially worse so for those who knew they didn't even stand a fighting chance in The Game™, but primitive programming for successful propogation of own genes dictated that they had to do it, against all rationality. Ever watched Animal Planet, or one of them animal documentaries? There will come a scene where a runt or weak male will challeng the α-male, only to have its ass whooped and sent away with its proverbial tail between its legs. It was just especially sad to see them try and fail even though they knew they had no fighting chance, save a miracle.

Luckily, a short 2 years led to a brief respite of another 2. All was well and everyone enjoyed their time away from The Game™ being a dominant factor that dictated their everyday behavior. (Of course, that was replaced with another, namely submitting to power.)

All things must come to an end, so they say. Released from our shackles of mandatory service, we are unleashed into the wild again, but this time, with more experience tucked under our arms and less hormones coursing through our veins. I find myself in a foreign land, only to see the same ol', same ol' once again, The Game™. I hate it, and I am resisting the call to arms here, but I still can't help but partake in such tomfoolery. It's coded in my genes, and its only purpose is to ensure its survival through the passage of time. Which is why I'm back playing ball, only now I choose whom to play with.

tl;dr, I'm doing stupid things, behaving like a fool, but I can't help it because I'm programmed to do so, and you're programmed to make me exhibit such behavior. It's the reason why I loathe human interactions in general, because, to quote Plato in Phaedo, "The body fills us with loves and desires and fears and a lot of nonsense, so that we never get a chance to think about anything. Wars and fights...are due only to the body and its desires..."

Of course I could be over-generalising and you don't agree with my point of view, but it's a free world out there (I'm not in Singapore at the moment, suckas!) and I'm entitled to my flawed(?) opinion. You can disagree and say you've never seen The Game™ in action at all, in which I have only three words for you, "Get a Life".

Damn my gonads for making me less of a(n) (intelligent) human.

2009-08-16T01:06:00.002+10:00

The last of them sausages, and what did they go with...?

These, of course! Pikelets (ie. little pancakes) were going for cheap, so I decided to give them a try.

Breakfast: Pikelets and sausages. Not too shabby tasting, easy to prepare too, just pop them in the toaster and they come out nice and crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, yum!

Went to have lunch with Zitai and his friends at some Malaysian food place. I had KL Laksa, which was just a fancy name for Curry chicken vermicelli with 5 tiny slices of char siew. Not bad char siew though, just that it was waaaaaaaaay overpriced, as is the case with any other south-east asian food in Australia. (For example, with the same price I paid for a bowl of that laksa, I could have bought a bowl of laksa, a plate of char siew rice, and still have leftover change for a drink!)

Went to my favourite haunt afterwards, Woolworths QV! I swear it's the place I spend the most time in, besides home and school. Got my milk, my whole chicken, sweet chili sauce and 2 2L bottles of fruit juice (on sale!).

Spent the whole afternoon slaving at my dinky countertop shredding and dicing vegetables for my coleslaw. Didn't folllow the actual recipe at all, and used dijonnaise instead of mustard AND mayo. To keep in the fridge for 2-3 days, supposedly makes it taste better. It better, because it was smelling pretty funky by the time I was done mixing it in the tub. (Now I know mixing bowls are so darned huge for a reason.)

Dinner: Homemade chicken rice! Okay so I cheated a little. Actually I cheated on everything except the kailan (chinese broccoli). Rice was from a premade sauce, chicken was a cooked whole chicken from Woolworths, but damn did it taste good! Steamed the kailan over the rice in the cooker, splash of soy and sesame oil, and instant yum! Sweet chili sauce was just, well, gravy.

2009-08-14T22:49:00.002+10:00

Hmm I realise my blog has been more about food than anything lately. (If anything else at all) Oh well, a lack of things to rant about can only mean one of two things: 1) Everything's fine and dandy; b) I can't be bothered. Either way, no news is good news!

Breakfast: Eggs n Sausages. Only 2 more to go! Can't believe it's taking me 2 weeks to finish a kilo of sausages.

Soul-draining lessons later, (esp. EAP, that shit literally causes your brain to ooze out of your orfices, and not because the lesson's boring, but the company is just...ugh) I head to Woolworths for some grocery shopping. Ended up grabbing everything except the thing I went down for: Milk. Oh well, at least I grabbed a jar of carbonara sauce that was reduced-price. (because it was expiring on the 20th) Just as well, something to go with the batch of spaghetti that I had leftover from the day before.

Dinner part un and deux: Spaghetti Carbonara with chicken tenderloin and shaved swiss cheese.

Look at them strands of golden goodness!!

Double Post!

2009-08-13T23:53:00.003+10:00

Okay so I knew I forgot to do something yesterday...So here's a double load of photos instead.

12/08/09

Lunch: Takeaway from Union House. $6 Mixed Rice [Beef Stir-fry and Chicken & Tofu gravy] Filling but ain't the best lunch for the price.

Dinner with Zitai at some new Malaysian/Singaporean chinese place opposite his place, called "Chai" 采.

Left: My Chicken Hor Fun. Not bad, noodles of right consistency, crunchy 'tau geh', flavoursome sauce. Pity portion was slightly lacking.

Right: Zitai's Herbal Chicken Soup. Normal-ish chicken soup with some greens and chinese herbs. For his sore throat. Tasted a little bland to me, but probably good for a sick person like him.

My dessert of Red Bean Soup, hot. Perfect for a cold wet winter day.

13/08/09

Lunch: Takeaway from Noorsiah's Kitchen. $6.50 for 3 items of Nasi Padang. [Fried Chicken drumstick, beef rendang, sambal tofu & string beans] Sooooooo much more worth it than Union House, at 50c more. Chicken was super nommy, rendang was slightly bland, and the string beans was "squeaky", as is any other string bean variety I can find here. Will definitely frequent this place more.

Pasta for dinner! Look at this perfect spaghetti spiral!

Dinner: Spaghetti with tinned tuna (tomato and basil). Really really lackluster. Should have just gone with Indomee. =[

Picture post #4

2009-08-12T01:03:00.003+10:00

It's super late and I'm damn sleepy so I'll keep it short.

Breakfast: Grilled Cheese Toast with Sunny-side-up.

Lunch: Went to Minang for some cheap Nasi Padang with some friends. Yum.

Started to rain (like for real, not light drizzle) on my way to literature lecture. Thankfully I was wearing my water-resistant windbreaker, but the rain still seeped through in some parts. Powerful hand-driers in the toilets solved the wet T-shirt problem.

Dinner: Random Fried Rice. The last of the chye sim (which was super ugly with holes and yellow patches on some leaves), diced chicken tenderloin and sausages, topped off with an egg scrambled in.

I realise that I've been whacking the chili flakes like no tomorrow. I bought this like a little more than a month ago, and now it's all gone! The spiciness really makes things more appetising, though the aftereffects might just burn a hole in your gut (hyperbole).

Picture post #3

2009-08-10T22:22:00.002+10:00

Breakfast: Toast with Minestone soup (canned).

Lunch: 2nd half of Minestrone soup with stir fried veg.

Dinner: Jap Curry (Chicken) rounds 1 and 1.5.

Lab tmr! Pics of people in labsuits to come! (possibly)

2009-08-10T01:00:00.002+10:00

First of all: Happy National Day, Singapore.

Brekkie of...well I'm sure you can see what's on the plate. Need to use a bigger plate next time.

Had a craving for Red Rooster after whacking math and House the whole morning. Doesn't taste half bad actually, the Quarter chicken (yes there's a chicken thigh buried under those chips) was nice and moist, like KFC original recipe chicken, sans '11 sekret spices' (its actually more like 5 nowadays, like cornflour msg etc). And I realise that over here, they use chicken salt instead of regular salt for their chips, same as the local KFC. Coleslaw was rather decent, but still couldn't beat LJS coleslaw in terms of taste.

Presenting notable hoot of the day from Woolworths: A lid! No more ill-fitting lids and splatter!

Went to the NDP event at night. Met up with Jia Yuan and Kiyoko outside the building, and queued in the cold for like 10mins, and another 10mins inside for registration.

As you can see, SO MANY PEOPLE LA! Really people-mountain-people-sea.

Bumped into another familiar face there: Richard Lu! He's a 2nd-year biomed student at UniMelb, doing Genetics. He's there doing volunteer photography and crowd control. Tried to get a shot of him, but he kept moving around, so I guess this would have to suffice.

Met Qizhao too, he was there with his Monash people.

Dinner was buffet-line style, with stuff like chicken rice, chap chye, char kway teow and beef rendang. Food wasn't fantastic, but it tasted really good due to the separation of this from my daily diet.

After dinner, we were all (literally) herded towards the lecture theatre, where the telecast of NDP was to be screened. Waited for another 15mins, probably due to some technical issues with the equipment. And as you can see the queue was super long again.

And this was my ultimate fail attempt at zi-pai-ing. Too close to my face and Kiyoko kept dodging the camera (camera-shy). Well the others were crap so I didn't bother with wasting my bandwidth uploading them.

So who was this elusive girl who appeared blurry on the above image, and what was she doing at the NDP event? She's a Japanese student at RMIT doing International Studies, and she lives in my building, room 509. Her family came over from Tokyo to Singapore when she was just a wee kid, and she spent most of her education years in SAS (Singapore American School). So yeah that was just a little info I gleaned from talking to her, too much and I'd be bordering on creepiness.

So yes, we watched the (wayang) parade, cringed at the bad attempts to inject "energy" and "conflict" into the event, sang the songs, stood up for the pledge/anthem, did various other stuffs. For just that moment, I actually felt good. T'was something about the atmosphere...