Pictorial

All talk and no pictures makes joss a dull tweety. Here are some random pics.

Blue skies; on my way to Singapore.

Window seats rule!

Sunrise; on my way back to Auckland.

Spectacular sunrise on the horizon.

Ahh! My eyes!

It's a sunshiny day...

Frost on the windows.

All set.

Pork chops @ Happy Corner, Chch.

Moooooooooon; Dunedin.

For some odd reason, I haven't got any pictures of PEOPLE in my camera. Pictures taken in Kch are still with my friends, so I'll post them up "soon".

Back in uni

Semester 2 of uni seems more interesting already.

I'm taking 4 papers this sem: Biochem 111, Biology 115, MANV (management and innovation 101) and Music 110 (musicianship skills).

First ever lecture was MANV101. The commerce paper that all applied science students are forced to take to get into second year. The paper that according to my sources, many had either failed or quit half way through coz it was just too hard. Sheesh, what an encouragement. The paper that only less than 40 students turned out this morning, partly due to the fact that it is 8am on a Monday morning, and coz it was the worldcup final.

Yeah yeah, congrats Italy. Germany still rules. Bleh.

Anyway, had a pretty interesting MUSI 110 lecture. Not really a lecture too coz only about 100 students are enrolled for that paper. No long written exams, all practical and dictations only! woohoo! haha. Finally I get to do a paper I really want to do, not for the sake of my degree, but to really improve my musicianship (or lack of) skills. First thing I realised when more students started coming into the lecture hall was that most of them were dressed like typical rockers, i.e. long unkempt hair, really unique/weird dress sense, black fingernails etc. Haha, I think me being normal made me the odd one out. The lecturer with a funny American accent taught us about intervals. Heh. Quite fun in that we get to relate the intervals to beginning of famous songs, eg minor 6th can be found in the beginning of "The Entertainer". Looking forward to more music lectures!

Biochem was boring, even more so than I had expected. Same boring biochem lecturer again. Sigh. He still looks like the Superman played by Christopher Reeve cross with an extra performer in a Charlie Chaplin show to me. OOh, and "Phillip Tien" is back! Eveready with his red vest and exceptional note taking and questioning skills. Poor guy, getting bullied by other under-achieving Health Science students.

Registered and paid for trip to Queenstown during September term break! Didn't sign up for ski lessons though, coz there isn't enough time to learn how to ski, especially since I really suck in ice skating already. Really want to try either sky-diving or bungee-jumping though. =)

No labs this week! =D

Gone going

After 2 whole weeks of acting like a spoilt princess NOT totally slacking around in Kuching, it's finally time to get back to reality. The harsh reality: featuring more studies, horrid results, and extra fat to put on during the rest of winter. I can hardly wait.

I can't believe Dad still asks me to stay behind, quit my studies and help out in his business even after 1 year I've been studying. Was he only joking or was he seriously thinking I'd even consider that option? Mehhh.

Didn't get to hang out much this time I'm back. Shhhheriously. Aunty Mag, Aunty Eleanor and Uncle Chris invited me, bunny, and Marina for a farewell dinner thingy. Quite a weird way to spend my last night here in Kuching this time. hehe. But in a way, the little gathering made me realise again how fast we "little ones" are growing up, each of us going on to study in different places, learning new things and gathering new experiences, then sooner or later coming back to where we started off, then the whole cycle repeats itself again. Heh.

Watched Superman last night, and gosh did we cause quite a commotion in the cineplex. Apparently, the girl working that day messed up our seats and ended up giving the exact same seating to two different people. Sheesh. After a bit of confusion, we could finally sit down and enjoy the movie. All 2 3/4 hours of the movie. The plot isn't exactly interesting coz everyone knows that the hero always win and the bad guy always loses, however it did seem funny to me that in spite of all those fights and drama Superman went through, his hair somehow managed to stay the way it is all the time- neatly combed with extra strong-hold gel and a curly fringe that really caught my attention throughout the whole movie. Deb must be real sick of me saying to her "Did you see his curly bit of fringe?" all the time. But seriously, I find it quite amusing and cute in a way. Dunno lah.

Late late. Need beauty sleep before enduring a 10 hour sleepless flight tomorrow. Tata to those in Kuching, hope to see you all again soon!

Inevitable changes

Apart from the hot and humid weather, all's good in Kuching. =)

I finally got to play keyboard in church again, not even complaining that I spent more than 5 hours practising and playing during the weekend. Sunday worship led by bunny was better than the practice earlier in the morning, but everyone knew we could still perform better as a team. Anyway, I was really glad to be part of a familiar music team once again. And the feeling and syokness you get while jamming to a good song or even an unknown melody- indescribable.

Been helping out at mum's stationery shop quite a bit lately, but not full time though. At the same time, also trying to catch up with lost times and old friends you can always rely on. What's weird this time was the feeling I got when hanging out with old primary and secondary friends. Everyone's basically still the same, except for new hairdos, new relationships, new cars. And then I realised what had changed: ME. I no longer enjoy having those conversations where people gossip and mock others using sarcastic tones anymore. Here's an example. We were having a gathering one day when a friend of mind was on the phone trying to convince another friend to come along.

"Come lah XXX... why dun wan ler? Aiyo mai ane lah... How can u do that to us? Everyone is waiting for u wor.. aiyoyo... it wouldn't be the same without u mar.. yealoe..haiyo quick come liao.. if you dun come in 5 mins then u know ar... hmm... quick!!!" etc etc etc.

Get what I mean? And that useless conversation went on for another 10 minutes. I tried telling her to stop coaxing the other friend since she made it really clear she wouldn't be able to make it. So all I'm saying is: What's the point?! And then I thought again: Was that me? Had I been like that before? Pushy, selfish, and inconsiderate? No offense to that good friend, but sadly I can say that I no longer knew her like I used to. And even when my other friend and I invited her for a yumcha session in the afternoon, her response was: "Dun wan lah. Too hot." After that, I just coudn't be bothered meeting up with my group of secondary school friends anymore. Why can't they be more sporting and enthusiastic like the youths in SFEC? *sad sad*

I found out my chemistry final exam result. Not good at all. Too embarrassing to post it up here. Gah. Not even trying to imagine what my biology and psychology results might be. Even my mum went HAR?! SURE ONOT? when I told her my chem result. Lesson learnt: study earlier and harder next time, like they always say.

5 days again before I leave for KL-Auckland-Christchurch-Dunedin. It's weird saying this, but I MISS THE COLD WEATHER.

updates

23 June 2006, Changi S'pore.

Long haul flights are EVIL.

Singaporeans. *sigh* A backpacker motel in NZ with great view and customer service costs about NZ15. A transit hotel in Changi Airport with common shower facility and horrible customer service (unless you're a Caucasian) costs $125 per night.

I hate myself a little for saying this, but I like NZ so much more compared to Singapore and Malaysia. Sure, there will be racism, cold winter days and expensive prices in NZ.

Looking at the other side of things, racism only exists in 0.001% of the population (usually drunkards) while most of them who don't share the same skin colour treat you even better and are friendlier than those who share the same surname as you.

As for winter, cold weather doesn't seem that bad when you can shop and wear cool winter jackets you wouldn't get caught dead wearing in Malaysia. As far as I know, heaters are man's greatest invention. Cool friends and hot chocolate also help you get by those cold nights. Also, without winter, summer wouldn't be appreciated as much. No winter, no spring (the best season of all)!

Sure, things might be a tad bit expensive there. But a student with no degree can earn an average of $10.00 per hour, so do your maths. That's why I'm planning to stay there over the summer and earn some money.

But perhaps the main reason I chose to study there was because of the freedom it offered. People never judge you irrationally, you can basically walk the streets of Dunedin wearing pajamas or diapers and people will just look at you once and walk on.

I love how the city is just a 10 minute walk from where I live, and that I can just take a walk/jog/run around a park or the botanical gardens minutes away any time of the day, any day of the week. I love how people seem to mind more of their own business yet care so much for a stranger or friend during the right moment. I love how you can just start chatting to any stranger on the street and end up talking to that person for hours without judging or being judged. I love that there are over 10 nationalities in my church, and how I can hug and be hugged anytime without getting a weird look. Above all, I just love how somehow everything seemed much more simpler, out in the open, and sincere.

I don't care what some people say about "unpatriotic" people who leave their home country to live in another country because of the better pay or future. Don't make a judgement when you don't even know what it's like to be in someone else's shoes.

I'm not saying that I'm going to live in NZ permanently yet, but recent events had certainly made me think a lot about the future that I want to choose for myself.

***

25 June 2006, HOME (Kch)

Home at last.

Reached Kuching aroud 3pm, got my new sim card, and went straight to church for music practice. Syokkk. After that, went yumcha with Deb, Agfa, and Stef at aha! I thought I heard wrongly when the girls say they wanna go to a place called aha!, but oh well, there's even another new cafe called bla bla bla. -.-''' What happened after that was so typical of us four. We decided to head home early (at around 11pm), but when we got to the car, Deb realised that she'd left the headlights on. *slaps forehead* After countless attempts to revive the engine, Deb managed to drag her dad who was watching the Germany vs Sweden match there to help us. Eventually we got home half past midnite. Totally embarrassing yet memorable. hehe!

It's good to be back at SFEC, but I loathe church politics. Can't we all just get along, forgive and forget?! Anyway, youth meeting was replaced by a hip hop dance lesson given by John aka bunny. Totally hilarious and refreshing, but had to leave early to attend a farewell lunch for Agnes who's leaving for KL this Friday. Seems like everyone's leaving sooner or later. Meh.

Speaking of which, I'll be in KL for the next 3 days shopping! =)