the jig is up

FINALLY! I can now blog like a normal person. After weeks of lying to everyone, then surprising them, I can now tell everyone else I'M BACK!

Actually i've been back since the 12th, but a few days after that my mom and sister dragged me to the Philippines for holiday. Manila for 2 days, then Boracay for 4. Thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some minor setbacks. Boracay definitely has the best beach i've ever seen... Clear blue waters, powdery sand, CLEAN. I finally went snorkelling for the first time in my life. Bought an underwater camera and camwhored with Aresha for however long we could stay submerged. 

The water was so salty we kept floating up to the surface. But still so fucking gorgeous! 

I'm now browner than usual. The locals we befriended at a nearby reggae bar were almost too nice to us. We were there every night and made new friends every time. And on Boracay, the browner the better :D wish I could've stayed longer. 

Had a lot of hilarious moments... With Ya Boy Dineezy references, coral scrabble, Morales Senor the drunkard, and much much more..

Well now i'm back proper, and haven't really been up to much. I actually miss Australia! Or maybe just the cold. When I walked out of the airport I felt like I stepped into an oven. 

Met the boys a couple of times already. What was supposed to be ghosthunting turned into sitting at Blooie's, prank calling and making fun of the minority a the table (Najib and Paul). The prank calls were unbelievable... "Yeah just take down this number (Like U Hotline), and by the way this is Bob Dylan you're talking to.." HAHAHAHA

I tried prank calling Bryan pretending to be a lovesick girl who's had too many but I blanked out halfway and he heard the rest whispering in the background. Tonight I think we're watching a movie? I don't know, but I really need to catch up on my movies. Gonna download some asian horror movies and take it back with me and have a horror movie marathon with the rest.

I have several things I need to bring back to melb with me. The list now very recently includes a 40cm high wooden statue of a guy with a drum on his head for my apartment. Also - My ps2, logitech speakers, stationery (LOTS!), puma trainers, several pairs of heels, and AAAAH I WILL CONTINUE THIS LATER

coming to the end of another chapter

The exams are over, pretty much half the year flew by and I hardly realized it, even after all the lazing around with time crawling by. Before you know it, i'll be done with pre-vet and going into full-fledged vet science, learning about anatomy and husbandry (amongst other things).

Just for tonight, I have my heater on full-blast, enjoying the heat for once. I miss my friends, I don't know what to do anymore. In semester 2 I have a camping trip in the works though :D

Thankfully I have Bidina and Geetha.. We had a stupid about of fun today, saying the pledge and singing the national anthem, drank Kilkenny Cream and rosé wine, taking the tram to the wrong side of St. Kilda, only catching The Final Eclipse's last TWO SONGS. We win at life.

But it was so nice to see Jai, Ephraim, Sanjay, Dom and Gerard again! They never fail to amuse... and they're so much fun to talk to. Never realised how much I missed Jai and Ephraim! They really brighten up my life here.

Well, things have settled, nothing to worry about anymore (except money, as always).

And we don't know just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess

reminisce

Everytime I hear this song, I get goosebumps. I always used to play this in the car awhile driving, along with the rest of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I wish I was back home. Getting into the car, going to meet the boys, going for our next adventure.

I want adventures here too.

Tomorrow is the start of the exams. Thursday marks the end. Wat? Yes. I have a 3 day exam period, as opposed to having exams stretched for weeeeeks. Am not really complaining, it'll be as painful as taking off a plaster. Shut your eyes, flinch, and its over.

If things go badly, i'll drown my sorrows in booze at the Espy. If things go well, i'll celebrate with booze at the Espy. Because it's The Final Eclipse's first residency gig! Perfect timing. The hangover that will follow however, will have the worst timing ever.

Never mind, nothing like more free booze the next day to cure a hangover.

Today, I learned that....

Tiramisu did NOT originate from Thailand. It came from Italy.

And the blind-deaf Helen Keller did not invent Penicillin.

Yeah.

selit selit

I miss the boys so much. This is one very good reason why.



Which was fine. And then...



Everytime I see it I die laughing too much.

all hell is breakin' loose

I absolutely love this video. ZOMBIE RAAAVE!



Breakdancing skeletons losing their arms halfway. Hahaha.

Anyway, this is London E, and i'm going to see him tomorrow at The Espy! Free! Yay! Gonna drink at Ting's house first. Ahh, my first DNB gig here in Melbourne. And since I studied on the last day of school when everyone else with a social life is out partying now, i'm going to enjoy myself guilt-free tomorrow, until Sunday comes around and I again realise i'm running out of revision-time.

But The Espy really is a cool place. During Easter Sanjeev showed me the place.. It's like a derelict theatre building with a huge open concept with several rooms all done up in different themes.. And the character of the building still remains - peeling wallpaper, wooden beams and floor, booth seats etc. Very very nice place.

Rest assured (or not), I am not dead. Time has begun to vegetate at home (not like I wasn't doing that already) and study. I've got a lot to cover, and so little time. Thank the moon, stars, milkyway, etc that i've already made it in. All I need to do now is pass.

My bed, even though you can't really see it, is pimpin'. Backside tore when I bought those covers but i'm so happy with them. Chinese emperor style sheets. Complete with a new double-sized comforter. I was using a comforter meant for a single bed, plus the shittiest mf-ing pillows in existance for the past 3 months. Courtesy of the million hours I spent in an orange vest, freezing my butt off at various tram stops around Melbourne I can actually afford things now!

Autumn's ending and winter's rolling in.. Am getting the hang of the cold, temperatures of 17 degrees are normal t-shirt weather now when it's sunny. I'm getting used to dressing appropriately... But I miss wearing shorts and dresses. Whenever the sun's out you'll see me sprawled somewhere on the grass basking like a.... lizard.

white flag

Because I am genius.

I'm just going to listen to Weezer, maybe play air guitar in my underwear, and curl into a ball and maybe die.

brought to you by....

My brand spankin' new phone! Phone plans here get you way better phones.

Nokia 6500 sliiiide.



Stylo ah! Anyway....

Here's the promised update. With photos! I know I have my D80 here but I don't exactly carry it everywhere... So my 3.2mp phone camera will have to do.

As some of you may or may not know, I got a temporary job as a tram person counter. Pays ridiculously well (think $18/hr), shifts are 3 hours each. It's an unbearable 3 hours. Doing shifts alone makes me bored out of my mind. Made worse by the cold. I have to pad up like a retard, and on top of that wear my bright orange vest. On the bright side I get to see random places around Melbourne.

First day on the job... My shift was at a tram stop in the middle of nowhere (or so it looked). It was so ulu the tram tracks looked more like train tracks. Had to wake up at 5.45am to get there on time.



On the other side though..



The CBD! Where everyone was going. And where home was :(



Yes I really was that cold. I was wearing gloves too. The expression of course is nothing new. My vest has a cigarette burn because Ting used the for the last survey. Hahaha.

I myself have been chain smoking courtesy of the boredom. I plan to quit. At some point.

The next day I had an evening shift... This is what it looks like at 3.45pm at Federation Square. It looks like 6pm! The days are getting shorter and shorter.



See some banners in the background? It had something to do with logging in some other part of Australia. There were girls singing something about a possum riot. It was quite catchy actually, better than the Sri Lanka protest that happened there about 2 hours later. Unfortunately they didn't hold up any trams.

Day 3...



I finally accept that it's autumn. Ephraim says it's winter but I doubt it. Hate the shitty weather. Next week looks like it's gonna be sunny for a change so tram counting won't be so depressing.

Okay less about the job and more about happier shinier things;



Pancakes fail. But I got it right after this. And after getting pancake batter all over the stove... and my pants.



The Horn in Collingwood! Lovely place, great ambience and a fantastic resident band, The Black Jesus Experience. The drummer was damn cute. They had Ethiopian themed food and beers imported from Africa, how cool is that.



Bad photo... This place is called Seamstress on Lonsdale Street. You may or may not be able to see all the kiddy sized cheongsams hanging from the ceiling.




Right outside my apartment entrance is Carlton Gardens. On a Sunday a few weeks back I took advantage of the lovely sun and read a book while listening to Jack Johnson, and ate some strawberries and hazelnut chocolate spread. After awhile I stopped reading and just people-watched. In the 2 hours I was there, I saw 2 couples getting their wedding photos done. I'll have more photos of this place up soon.

More recently I met up with Deb and Hongqi (from TPJC Student Council) for some Thai and dessert after. We went to Laurent Patisserie which was in some lorong along Bourke Street. ALL the desserts looked fantastic. And it wasn't that expensive. I had creme brulee for $5.50.




Raspberry puree on top, vanilla creamy thing on the bottom :D

Most of the time I have lunch in school alone, so if the weather's nice I sit (or sleep) on one of the many lawns around campus. But most of the time i'm at Union Lawn.





Zzz. Was baking in the sun.



Hug mug at Max Brenner's! Had coffee with Ephraim before meeting 2nd newfound white friend Andrew for dinner. It was some coconut cream chocolate thing and it tasted larvely.

I've been here... what, 3 months already? And i've made 2 white friends. School's full of them, most of them irritate me so to actually befriend someone is pretty amazing. Andrew's been in most of my chem tutorials and ALL my chem practicals yet never spoke to him till very recently. Unlike most ozzies he's quite witty and makes for good nonsensical conversation. Now all I need to do is teach him Singlish *rubs hands together* mwahaha.

Anyway, sorry to disappoint, that is all for my big Melbourne update. I know it's not much. But i'll definitely do a proper one once I get paid. Cos i'll be buying some big pimpin' bed sheets! At that rate i'll never wanna get out of bed.

I am definitely the ultimate domesticated goddess already. I planned out my meals and bought so much food today. Found my samabal oelek (will do round 3 of mee goreng mamak), bought a taco making kit, some blue brie cheese and crispbread (SO YUMMY) amongst other things. Strawberries and apples. In an attempt to snack healthy again. It failed miserably the last time, and the past few weeks has seen me putting on a couple of kilos.

Despite that i'm making some creamy chicken pasta today (the way Aresha made 'em) before heading to Federation Square for another African Drumming gig. Wish me luck :D

LeftRightLeftRightLeft

Download your free copy of Coldplay's live album!

Remember that time they played live? Oh wait that was 2 months ago.

Big update over the weekend, I promise. :D

Thank you for hanging on.

xx

mr ambulance driver

Oh you probably would've guessed it already, we didn't get the apartment. Ohwell.

My mom once said I've got good control over my emotions and that'd make me a good doctor. Well, let's see how that holds true in the next few weeks.

Okay anyway. Let's talk about the weather.

Even the news said it's fucked up! It's not supposed to be this cold yet.. Just on my birthday it was like 32 degrees.. And beginning of last week it was about 25-26 degrees. Now it's 14 degrees in the day?! And last night was 3 degrees. Eesh.

Erich the Neighbour took me out for drinks and that kept me warm, even walking back in 6 degrees was alright. We went to a lovely little sake bar, then a place called Seamstress, both of which were on Lonsdale Street. The bars here are so nice! With the themes and all.

Back to the weather. I've gone to Big W thrice in three days to check if they'd stocked more cheapo heaters for cheapskates like me. Nada. I don't want to buy a $60 heater... I don't need THAT much heat. Turns out I can actually tolerate quite a lot of cold despite my skinnyness. I just need to eat proper meals. And wrap myself in a few blankets like a cocoon when I sleep. Waking up in the morning is the HARDEST thing. Oh and getting out of the shower too.

;

Was checking how much my readership has died due to the lack of updates when I saw... THIS..



Sigh. Time to move!

I'm having a series of serious life-suck moments this week. BUT!

THE FLAMING LIPS ARE COMING TO MELBOURNE! END OF JULY! $80 ONLY :D:D:D:D



I can't wait. Not at all. I can just see myself screaming... "SHE USES TAAAAAAANGERINESSS!"

One of my favourite bands of all time. I never thought this day would come. I can strike them off my "Bands To See Before I Die, Or Before They Disappear Into Obscurity" list.

I like airplanes,
I like to travel,
I like the morning,
I like the wind,
I like to dream,
I like the sea;

Easter break where have you gone... Despite having to go back to school today I stayed up last night with a friend watching Black Books(now officially my favourite show, Aresha you'll love it) and Flight of the Conchords till about 4am.

Woke up at 7.45am, 8am, 8.30am, left my friend's house at 9.15am, didn't bother rushing to get ready for school by 10am, skipped the new intro Physics lecture (but I was reading the lecture notes outside the theatre anyway), went for and aced my Bio mid sem test at 11am in 10 minutes, had a huge ass $4 chicken calzone for lunch and napped on the Union Lawn in the sun at 1pm, and stoned for the rest of the day.

Grah, I need a nap.

650 Swanston Street, Carlton.......

Carlton fire house... The Metropolitan Fire Brigade converted to an apartment complex. It has so much character. In the stairwells you can see the actual fire poles. It's such a beautiful building, and it really stands out amongst all the modern apartments on Swanston Street.

It took a lot of effort hassling people to apply with me today. Thank god for Geetha, she's been my lifesaver since I got here. So here it is.....



And this is exactly 2 minutes from school. It has a secure entrance too!

Each apartment has a huge length balcony that spans across all 3 bedrooms. Only 1 bedroom has balcony access (photo below) but I think that was meant to be the living room. But whatever. Whoever gets the room with balcony access doesn't get a built in wardrobe. A pretty fair trade off!

Shit. I hate making plans before even getting an apartment. But I just can't help it. I like this place better than 56 Leicester Street! I just had to ask the existing tenants why they were leaving... And selling off every last bit of furniture. Turns out they had purchased a place. But they did look a bit sad to leave. I can't blame them.



Today was spent running all over the place getting things ready and done. Did a bit of studying for Bio, which seems pointless because I know pretty much all of it already (thank you A Levels) so we just talked about everything under the sun, losing track of time and finally rushing to make it to the property office by 5.30pm before it closes. We barely made it, but getting the application in the day of the inspection is always a plus.

Met Ephraim at Melbourne Central afterwards. He was gonna cook me dinner! Wooo free food... But in exchange for sleeping in the living room yet again. He made some pretty good carbonara after complaining about the lack of crockery in my kitchen for about 45 minutes. Smoked 3 cigarettes within an hour, making up for not smoking the past 3 days. I don't know why but everytime we end up on my balcony, we talk about really deep things. Its strange. But it's good to have thought-provoking conversation sometimes.

So he's gone out and will be back later, and i'm just gonna chill at home and enjoy the remaining 2 days of my Easter Break. I won't be going for DNB tomorrow cos Ting pangseh-ed me for electro but it's cool.. I get to save the $25 for London Elektricity who's playing at The Espy in May! Checked the place out yesterday.. It was so damn cool. Chilled out at the beach too. I found a dead jellyfish and I felt sad for it. So I drew a cartoon jellyfish in the sand in memory of it.

I have lovely hands. Did you know that?

star-stealing girl

But the Easter break has been treating me well. I've made some really great friends. Gerard and Ephraim took refuge last night in my living room after being stranded in the city, ill-informed about the train and tram schedules.

We stayed up till 4am, smoking, watching them take over all my housemate's instruments (I hope she doesn't get mad), watching ads on tv about premature ejaculation treatments. Had nice vibes last night... The kind I used to have hanging out with Raushan, Dan, Vishal and the rest of the boys at Changi Village/Changi Beach/Simpang Bedok or in the car towards our latest adventure..

Had lunch with Sanjeev today! Was so nice to kick back and talk cock with another Singaporean. He showed me the Brunswick area which was actually pretty nice. But according to Jaishri it's all dodgy at night. Had some rainbow Italian gelato which was great in today's weather. I have a feeling it's the last warm day we'll have cos it's already autumn.

Met Geetha afterwards and bought more things to get the apartment more organised. I HATE mess. I hate how the toiletries are strewn over the counter in the bathroom (holder for toothbrushes, hanging storage for toiletries), I hate the mess of jackets I had in my wardrobe (hangers), and in the kitchen (another holder) but they were things sorely overdue. But anyway, I bought them all from the Reject Shop so it cost me next to nothing, until of course they were all added up. :O

I just realized I am screwed for winter because I don't have any woolly clothes or anything close to that. Oh noes.

I want to buy a ladder so I can get to the roof from my balcony. I'd love to lie on the roof, cos even in the city the stars are so nice.

risky business

It's my holidays! Finally. After 6 weeks of boring lectures and tutorials. Then again i'd just sit at home and do nothing anyway. On the upside there's The Two Towers on TV tomorrow night.

Had dinner at Erich the Neighbour's yesterday. Tacos! And it was so simple to make. Just need a blender though :/

His house had no TV. Just a really empty living room. Turns out his TV was the wall, using a projector. He left a message for a friend who owns a restaurant on Lygon Street trying to set me up for a job! Hopefully that comes through cos i've applied for a million jobs and none have called me back. Applied to every single fast food joint, retail outlet, gelati shop, you name it, i've applied for it. And i've branched out even further than the CBD, in St Kilda and Port Melbourne.

But so far things have been nice. Quiet. All I need is a job. Because job = money = social life. I meant to ration my cigarettes for the next week till Meijuan comes back with a birthday present (hehe) but from the looks of it i'll force myself to take a break for a few days.

Things aren't too terrible, am gonna visit Roti the Ferret later at Southbank. Camberwell again on Sunday! I have so little clothes its ridiculous.

a day in the life of me?

Today I made Mee Goreng. Or at least tried to. FAIL for not boiling the god damn noodles first. Also I need seafood. But it's just too expensive.

It didn't taste terrible, it was actually nice. Just didn't taste like the Mee Goreng I was craving. Oh well.

In attempt to clean up the kitchen a bit more, and also to alleviate my extreme boredom, I folded almost all the plastic bags under the sink into little triangles so it'd be easier to put them away and they'd take up less space.

I should've taken those triangles and pieced together a nice giant 'L' so I can stick it on my door.

$10 purple hobo dress

Took this when I was running around Bourke St with Joy, Meijuan and Mickey as they were shopping. The grafitti filled lorongs really make the city nice and colourful.

On my birthday it was a max of 33 degrees, and about 24 degrees at night. It felt almost EXACTLY like Singapore. Subsequently the weather's been chilly, and next week spells no more hot sunny days. Need to invest in more leggings + thicker jackets!

Tomorrow i'm going to cook mee goreng mamak. Am super excited. Still got a lot of chicken rice left over from last week (yes I cooked it) so it'd be good to have some variety. Kangkong tomorrow too.

I'm gonna try my hand at baked apples tonight. Maple syrup and hazelnut chocolate spread! Don't you wish I was your housemate? :D

what? oh... i'm 20.

It was small and lovely, and had all the people that mattered.

I was hellbent on not celebrating, but being invited to someone else's birthday surprise on your own birthday isn't the most pleasant feeling. Neither was imposing on someone else's surprise. But being some of the nicest people i've gotten to know here so far, they included me in everything. Sanjay even bought me a cake!

Ephraim dropped by after school to keep me company as I got rejected by Gelati shops on Lygon Street for jobs. And bought me wine later! He meant to take me out for food but i'd already eaten, oh well. The thought always counts. But we ended up talking for a ridiculous amount of time we almost forgot to leave on time to get to Jaishri's place for her surprise.

Got there, surprise was a success! And they brought out 2 cakes so I got a mini surprise too!

And I got to meet the singer from The Final Eclipse (previously The Suns). Sanjeev, a really funny fella I could mat-trash talk with while we played some strange game involving a tennis ball and 6 people in squares.

Reached home at about 2am with a smile on my face.