Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2008 is coming to an end.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Tired.

Hello 2009 soon.

Facebook me to know more and see pictures.

I'm seeing clients again for Hypnotherapy sessions in Singapore.

=)

Back from Great Ocean Road

Went to Great Ocean Road (GOR) today. Didn't take lotsa photos due to the lack of time. We left Bundoora at 9am and had to leave GOR by 3pm or so as we had to get to box hill to meet the rest of the FOCUS people for dinner. The trip went well and I loved it.

Dinner was fine too and we went to a nearby park thereafter. I watched as the rest played games. And i became a little adventureous by attempting to climb up a lamp-post which i failed badly. I managed to get everyone to play a team-building game of forming a circle to sit on each other's laps and it went great, with everyone sitting for 21 seconds.

Have you ever felt like an outcast? I have. And that feeling's getting into me again. Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for things to work out. But then again, you can only choose 1 or the other. One can't have both. But I'm fearful. If I choose that one and it backfires, I'll lose that one and the other as well. And if I choose the latter, I'll lose the former, in which, I can't bear to loose at this point in time.

1 more week and this shall end, hopefully. Then, I'll crumble as everything comes to an end for 2.5 months. Or it might just continue - for the better or for the worse.

I pray to God. It's been years now that I've been praying for this. But then, I'm not sure when He'll grant this to me. I'm still waiting and putting my trust in Him. That's because I know that he is :-

My Saviour, He can move the mountains, My God is Mighty to save, He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave.

I pray for God to give me the patience and the strength to pull through this time of waiting and have faith in Him.

Goodnight peeps!

Back from Canberra

I'm back from Canberra. Really enjoyed myself there. I came back from SPRTE feeling really enriched and refreshed. And I've also made a new friend. =)

Took lots of photos. Will upload them slowly to facebook.

Time for bed. Will blog again soon.

Heading to Great Ocean Road with my new found friend, Joel, and ZY on Monday. Joel's driving.

Off to Canberra

It's finally the holidays. Ended my clinical attachments of year 1 yesterday and the feeling of saying goodbyes isn't something nice.

I'm using my laptop and my wireless broadband internet, which i brought along, in the waiting area of terminal 4 of melbourne tullamarine airport. Arrived here at 5.30am and the gate only opens at 6.35am. I'm so tired. Didn't catch a wink last night. I'll be heading over to Canberra for a conference. SPRTE - South Pacific Region Training Event. My handheld luggage exceeded by 1.6kgs. Each person's only allowed 7kg of hand carry luggage but mine came up to 8.6kgs.

Anyway, got to go now.

Cya all!

Week after Exams

It's the holidays for some but not for me. I'm having my clinical attachments now for this week and next over at Fred Combridge House over at Northcote. But before that, let me talk about the weekend.

Went over to Myer Christmas Parade in the city on Saturday morning. It was rather exciting. Something like Chingay back in Singapore, just that there are no seats for people to sit and that it's christmas themed. Almost got myself sunburnt after standing in the sun for almost 1.5 hours as I didn't apply sunblock coz I rushed out of the train for fear that I would be late. I ended up being very early - arrived at 9.20am instead of the 9.45am meetup time. Pictures for the Myer Christmas Parade 2008: Album 1, Album 2 & Album 3.

Met up with the rest thereafter a short walk down the road over at Chill On Ice Bar. We had to wear thick jackets and gloves to keep us warm from the cold. 2 door seperated the "outside" from the "inside". The interior was simply amazing. Everything was made out of ice - the tables, chairs, bar table, statues and cups. It was just like a big fridge literally as it was -6 deg inside. Barely 5 minutes into the "freezer", I was already feeling cold and wanted to get out, but I persisted as I didn't want my money to go to waste. Haha... Went over to Hungry Jacks (aka Burger King) for lunch and we went over to Lygon Street. Sam's birthday was a few days back so it was kinda like a late birthday surprise cum treat for him and since he loves ice cream, what better way to celebrate and give him a treat of ice cream on a hot day! Pictures here.

We headed over to Dudley Street thereafter for a theatre dinner. Went to Witches in Britches and it was fun. Doors opened and you were greated by a witch. And you had to make your way through a dark tunnel before getting to the lounge area for pre-drinks. We made our way then to a big hall with dinner tables with a medium sized stage, which was considered small in size for professional theatre, in the center front of the hall. Dinner was served and after dinner, the play started. I had steak for dinner and it wasn't too impressive, just the average, nor is it too bad as well. The play wasn't too bad as well. It was quite professionally done and the casts were good in using the audiences reactions and responses for the show, however, there was room for improvement. It's quite reasonably priced at $63 for a 3 course meal and a play. You'll be disappoint if you're there for a good meal and/or a professional theatre play. However, it's a real good place to just catch up and mingle with friends and for some entainment. I would suggest going there to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays though. And you get to "sabo" (sabotage) your friends. Pictures for Witches in Britches: Album 1 & Album 2.

Fred Combridge house is a 31 bedded aged care facility in 2 levels. The first level is the kitchen as well as the administrative office, meeting room and tea room. Second level is where the residences live - their rooms, dining hall, TV room and garden. It's a nice place, just that it stinks a little in certain places, something which I've got to get used to fast so life will be much better for me. My clinical instructor is someone new to La Trobe and doesn't really know much about LTU's nursing and she's still in the process of learning, however, I find that she's trying her best to help us and to find out things from us, which is good. The place is understaffed and I think the staffs would be happy these 2 weeks (I hope) as we're there to help them. However, it feels to me that they feel threatened by our presence. Not sure if this is due to the fact that wer're Div 1 students (as they're all Div 2 or PCA's) or some other factors.

Time for me to head to bed now. Very tired even though I didn't do much today. It's morning shift for me tomorrow. Davina and her brother as well as Felicia's coming over to my place for dinner tomorrow night. Am going to cook satay chicken, chicken rice, stir fried vegetables as well as red bean soup.

Goodnight people and God bless.

Post exams

The exams finally ended. Woohoo~~~~ 

Went to watch a concert on Friday evening with FOCUS (Fellowship of Overseas Christian University Students) in Vermount by the band Sons of Korah. It was the Myers Christmas Parade on Saturday morning, Chill On Ice Bar in the afternoon and a theatre dinner at Witches in Britches from evening till night. Had a great but tiring day.

Will blog about the events of Saturday again hopefullu by Monday. As for now, it's just a few preview pictures and time for me to get my beauty sleep.

Goodnight peeps!

Plagiarism: An Out-Dated Concept?

The article below was submitted to the Singapore Nursing Journal for publication. It was my very first essay for university and I had to write on something positive on plagiarism - making it from something wrong to right.

PLAGIARISM: AN OUT-DATED CONCEPT?

TAN CHIH HSUEH, EDGAR
NITEC (Nsg), Cert IV (C.H), Dip (MC)
BNsg Student, La Trobe University
Dip (C.H) Student, Academy of Hypnotic Science

310N/215 Bell Street, Preston, VIC 3072, Australia
+61 433353646, +65 96472689
mail@edgarmirantz.com

Abstract

Plagiarism has been viewed by different people and organizations with different viewpoints. This article shall be looking at the positive and the negative side of this issue, give some examples of what constitutes plagiarism and thereafter, giving a viewpoint on plagiarism. Plagiarism is also an ethical issue. Students continue plagiarising as they think that cheating is acceptable as everyone does it. This is due to the many reasons such as the large number of assignments to be completed. The definition of plagiarism should be modified so that students can use the resources of others simply by giving the credit to whom the resources originated from.

Keywords

Plagiarism, Students, Teachers, Ethics.

Introduction

Plagiarism has been viewed by different people and organizations with different viewpoints (Yeo, 2006), some positive and some negative. Universities view plagiarism as a serious issue (LAS-ESL, 2007) but students still continue doing it (Gaberson, 1997). This article shall be looking at the positive and the negative side of this issue, give some examples of plagiarism and thereafter, giving my point of view on plagiarism.

According to Logue (2004), he defines plagiarism as “…the intentional or unintentional use of another’s work or ideas, published or unpublished, without clearly acknowledging the source of that work or idea”. Rephrasing the text could also be constituted as plagiarism. Simply put, it is a form of cheating and can also be a form of stealing (Vogelsang, 1997). In society today, cheating and/or stealing is a punishable act by law and it is enforced by the law of the country. However, in plagiarism, there is a lack of enforcement and there is no black and white as to what the consequences are. To some, plagiarism is unacceptable as it is the same as making a product which is already patented or using someone else's logo which is already trademarked or an infringement of a copyright. However, plagiarism and the infringement of copyright are two different issues. There are laws governing copyrights and trademarks but there are no laws governing plagiarism (Dames, 2007). To others, plagiarism is common amongst students (Brown, 2002). It is acceptable and happens all the time. For example, I remember when I was in primary school, we would always be lending and borrowing each other's work just for the sake of reading and checking to see if our answers were right. This even happens to me when I was studying in a post-secondary institution. In that case, would this be considered then as plagiarism as everyone would have the same thoughts, ideas and answers? Then there is also an issue on self plagiarism whereby if a person were to use his or her own ideas in an article which was published previously and to use it again in the current article, it would be considered plagiarism (Lowe, 2003). Once the original author has wrote the article and has it published, the copyright together with the article, belongs to the publisher (Griffin, 1991). Permission must be granted from the publisher if the original author wanted to use back the same ideas for his next article.

There are many tools out in the commercial market to detect plagiarism (Cross, 2007). One of them is Turnitin. This company has a database of over 40 million of student assignments (Turnitin), articles and assignments for lecturers to detect if the student has plagiarised in their work. The company profits in their annual turnover as educational insitutations need to pay a licence fee to use this program (Turnitin). However, this issue has upset students as it is a form of violating the student's copyright (Smit, 2005) as it does not pay the students for the use of their work and/or assignment. In the United States, students protested against the use of Turnitin and after collecting signatories for a petition, they submitted it to the administration. Thereafter, the university administration eased the mandate a little by requiring only ninth and tenth grade English and social studies students to use Turnitin (Glod, 2006).

The university views plagiarism seriously and even says that “in very serious situations, will stop your study in university” (LAS-ESL, 2007). Plagiarism is also an ethical issue (Davidhizar, 2002). If one were to do something wrong once, what would the possibility of that person not cheating again? For example, in a clinical setting, a nurse does not have time to take the vitals of the patient at 4pm and uses the vitals from the previous day's 4pm vital sign to chart it, what are the chances that the nurse will not commit this offence again? And would this be considered plagiarism as she had copied the work of someone else? In this situation, it would not only involve the nurse but also a third party. The vital signs for that particular day and the day before could be different. If a client was seriously ill and no vital signs were taken, it would cost the client his life! Plagiarism is also a learning issue. Students are able to get a degree by doing all assignments and passing them. However, to what extent do the students know about their subject and how much knowledge of the subject does the student know by the time they graduate from their course?

The university may be inadvertently be promoting plagiarism. For example, during tutorial groups, students are encouraged to voice out their opinions and the tutor writes down the opinions on the board. Isn't that considered plagiarism since the idea was from someone and it is being used by another? Lecturers are also partly to blame (Larkham and Manns, 2002). Assignment topics and question papers are being repeated from time to time. It is not surprising that students are bored and running out of creativity of what there is to write. If they write something which has been written by other students, he would have considered to have plagiarised even though he did not do it. Even lecturers are not able to agree to what constitutes plagiarism in different situations (East, 2006), how else would students even be able to then know?

However, students still continue plagiarising as they think that cheating is acceptable as everyone does it (Brown, 2002). This is due to the many reasons such as the large number of assignments to be completed, that the assignment topics are considered boring or not relevant and having to quote a certain number of references which means that there are at least a certain number of materials to be read, having to bear in mind that the library only has limited number of resources. In addition to the assignment given, students also have to study for their examinations given that what is covered in the lecture is only merely the surface of the subject. If a student were to spend so much time on assignments and studying, this equates to the student having very little or even no time to relax and enjoy themselves. In cases of students with families who have low income, they would have to work part-time to make ends meet (Larkham and Manns, 2002). Access to the internet is easily available and sometimes, they do not even know that they are plagiarising while in the midst of doing so. The internet is such a powerful medium. It has millions of articles and knowledge of many different viewpoints from people all over the world. Many people in the world plagiarise and most of them gets away without being caught. Logue (2004) notes that in a class of 64 third year diploma and 10 degree students, 50% of diploma and 30% of degree students admitted to both intentionally and unintentionally paraphrasing text in their assignments without acknowledging the source. However, if plagiarism is unchecked, the result could be that no new content would be generated and the level of research papers would be reduced.

In the nursing and medical field, there are so many journals in the profession with more and more articles being published. With this trend, nurses are being encouraged to publish and given the stress to contribute articles. Some may have no choice but to plagiarise in order to get good quality articles. Cronin (2003) believes “that authors often are unaware that they are committing the act of plagiarism. Many never learned the “rules” for professional writing while in school.”

From my point of view, the definition of plagiarism should be modified so that students can use the resources of others simply by giving the credit to whom the resources originated from. It saves time and allows people to be able to express themselves freely. There would always be new problems therefore new solutions would have to be found and discovered. People should use the combination of drawing on the experience of the old, come with new ideas and methods to solve the problems. In this way, the old and the new would compliment each other. People should also be honest with their work. There was once this very good doctor who was well respected in his medical practice, had an academic appointment and enjoyed teaching. After he plagiarised from another publication, all his academic credentials and teaching position was lost. No one recalled about all his good things that he had done. For a period of time, he also lost respect from his fellow colleagues. Now, even when he wants to publish original and good articles, he has difficulty in doing so (Griffin, 1991).

Conclusion

Plagiarism can be good, yet harmful if overused. It helps people to save time and lets them focus on other more important matters. However, if everyone does it, there would be no improvements in life. Therefore, it should only be allowed in certain circumstances and that new findings should be used to complement it. A universal definition to what extent of reproducing other's work would constitute plagiarism is also needed. Institutions needs to draw the line to what constitutes plagiarism and what is not. There should also be instances which plagiarism to a certain limit or circumstances is allowed. These again, should be made known clearly. Students should be educated on plagiarism and be warned of the consequences of this issue.

References

Brown, D. (2002). Cheating must be okay - everybody does it!. Nurse Educator, 27(1), 6-8.

Cronin, S. (2003). The problem of plagiarism. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 22(6), 253-54.

Cross, M. (2007). Policing plagiarism. British Medical Journal, 335(7627), 963-964.

Dames, K. (2007). Understanding plagiarism and how it differs from copyright infringement. Computers in Libraries, 27(6), 24.

Davidhizar R. (2002). Duplicate publication, part 1: consideration of the issues. Nurse Author Ed, 12( 3), 1-4.

East, J. (2006). The problem of plagiarism in academic culture. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 2(2), 16-28.

Gaberson KC. (1997). Academic dishonesty among nursing students. Nurse Forum, 32(3), 14-20.

Glod, M. (2006). Score one for mclean high students. Washington Post. Retrieved 27 March 2008 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/03/AR2006100301466.html.

Griffin, G. (1991). Don't plagiarize - even yourself!. Postgraduate Medicine, 89(4), 15.

Larkham, P. and Manns, S. (2002). Plagiarism and its treatment in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 26(4), 339-349.

LAS-ESL. (2007). Plagiarism. Retrieved 24 March 2008 from http://www.latrobe.edu.au/plagiarism/index.html.

Logue, R. (2004). Plagiarism: The internet makes it easy. Nursing Standard, 18(51), 40-44.

Lowe, N. (2003). Publication ethics: copyright and self-plagiarism. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 32(2), 145-146.

Smit, M. (2005). TurnItIn.com - copyright and "fingerprints". Retrieved 31 March 2008 from http://www.mikesmit.com/page.php?id=23.

Turnitin. Reading, writing, research, & originality. [Brochure]. Retrieved 26 March 2008 from http://www.turnitin.com/static/pdf/Turnitin_brochure.pdf.

Turnitin. Pricing – how to buy. Retrieved 26 March 2008 from http://www.turnitin.com/static/price.html.

Vogelsang, J. (1997). Plagiarism - an act of stealing. Journal of Peri Anesthesia Nursing, 12(6), 422-425.

Yeo, S. (2006). Science and engineering students’ beliefs about plagiarism: ‘It’s only an assignment’. Proceedings of the Assessment in Science Teaching and Learning Symposium. The University of Sydney, 139-144.

Last essay for the year / KL Drift; My Special Friend

I've finally handed in my last essay for the year. Yippie! Stayed up the whole night to work on it.

I decided to take a break today after all the essay writing and watched KL Drift. It was something similar to Tokyo Drift, just that it's in Malay with English subtitles and that it was really very touching. It talks about car racing and the strong bond between brotherhood. No matter what happens, you may reject your *brother* or even insult him, he would still not forsake you and stand by you, to protect you. This movie really moved me and I couldn't hold back my tears any longer and began sniffing away, something not many movies can do to me.

This movie suddenly reminded me of something. It is just like our relationship between our Heavenly Father and us. No matter what we do to reject Him, push Him away, deny Him as our Lord, He is always still there for us. Just like in the movie, He would ask us not to do something but we'll still do it, and when we end up even in the brink of death, somehow or rather, He'll just appear out of nowhere and be there to save us at the last minute.

When things don't go our way, we reject Him. We deny Him. We stop acknowledging him as our Lord and Saviour and we turn away from Him. We don't even want to hear, see or have anything to do with Him. There is nothing He can do about it but to leave us aside and just look at us feeling rejected. He can't make us accept Him if we do not want to. All He does is to hope that we will accept Him again.

During misunderstandings and we think that God is to blame, we scold and even test Him. Then, someone else comes to attack us, in this case, a car driven by an enemy, rushes towards us at a very high speed attempting to knock us down. We do not see the car as we are all too distracted by the things we're too involved in or by someone or something else. However, He sees it and pushes us aside and He gets knocked down instead. He took the place for us. That's how good this friend is to us. Sometimes, even after all these has happened, we still get mad at Him and are not thankful for what He has done for us and am not willing to let the past go. We need to be waken up by others, by having our other close friends who has always been by our side watching, shout at us before we get our senses and thoughts back together.

This special friend is none other than God. He is always there with us and will never forsake us. He took our place and died on the cross for us, for our sins. Have we accepted and opened the door in our hearts to set aside a special place for him? We should and perhaps if you are still uncertain about it, take some time off to reflect what we have done to Him and what He has done for us. I'm sure if the things that we have done for Him and what He has done for us are put onto the weighing scale, it would simply tip to the side of Him doing things for us.

Let's be blessed by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Have a good week ahead and Cheers!

edgarmirantz.com on 883 Jia FM

I received a call from 883 Jia FM (A Singapore radio station) on Sunday night. I picked up the phone and was asked about my blog, what I was doing and such. I didn't know that it would be live on air and was caught off-guard. I wasn't even prepared for this and I answered the caller in mandarin which was so very baddd...

Here's the abstract of the interview on 883 Jia FM. Pity I didn't record the second part of it as the DJ said more things about my blog and such after she played the commercial. I should have continued recording it. Oh welll...

Sleep early

It's a Saturday and I'm heading to bed after this post.

Hosted a couple of my friends in my new apartment and went over to Sophia's over at Bell Street, 15 minutes walk away from my place, for dinner. The portion was huge and I'm still so full now.

It's church tomorrow and it's going to be at Festival Hall. We're meeting at 10am over at Melbourne Central and we'll walk over as a group.

I'm going to cook Tau Suan this coming Tuesday for the Glenn College bible study which will be in my apartment. I hope it won't be a disaster.

Cheers and God Bless!

My new home!

It's finally a place where I can truely call home. Room 310 North of Rydges Residences. I hosted a dinner last Saturday for 3 of my friends and a tea reception last Sunday for 17 of my mates from uni. I was glad and a lil surprised that all 17 was able fit in. Had dinner with Martin on Sunday as well.

It's the second last week of uni - week 12. Next week would be the last week of uni, followed by a week of swotvac and thereafter, exams. I'll be having my 2 weeks of clinicals in a home for the aged care 10 minutes away from where I live and will be flying to Canberra for a training event for 5 days and back to Melbourne to pack up and perhaps hang around for a couple of days before I fly back to where I belong. (sings the song, Where I Belong by Kit Chan)

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a job back in Singapore for just 2.5 (or 3) months. I'll be flying thereafter to Bangkok, Thailand for a short trip from the 5th to 12th of January 2009. I bought the tickets late last month for just 4 cents one way excluding taxes. Toto, my fellow faculty mate doing podiatry, is from there and has agreed to bring us (me and my friends) around.

Anyway, back to my new home. I'm living in a room/apartment all by myself. The building has 7 stories and I'm on the 3rd floor. Levels 1 to 3 as well as a wing on 4 are residences and the 3 other wings on level 4 to level 7 are hotel rooms. I'm loving where I'm staying as it has a kitchen (well, just 2 stoves and a mini fridge) and toilet right in my room. It also has a very comfortable couch (which my friend who nearly fell asleep on it), a round glass table and a study table - which the room in the room opposite room doesn't have. The room opposite has a nicer view, but it doesn't come with a study table, which I need it for study - duh!

My wireless broadband sux. MSN's been trying to connect for the past 20 minutes but to no avail. I've been disconnected for quite a couple of times from the net as well and I've complained numerous times to the ISP but nothing has been done. I might consider breaking the contract next month (with 5 more month to go).

Oh, I just realised that it's past 12.30am, which means it's past 9.30pm SGT/HKT. I'll go make a call to pL who's now in HK now for an exchange.

Goodnight everyone and God Bless!

Moved.

I've shifted. My new address with immediate effect is as follows:-

310N/215 Bell Street

Preston, VIC 3072

My contact number is still the same at +61 433353646.

Cheers!

Yawns...

Nothing much to blog about. Back from Bendigo. Twas fun. Was supposed to blog about it on Tuesday evening but I wrote a few sentences and abdonded it. Will continue with it soon, I hope.

I had 4 hour of lectures today. Nicolaas visited me today. How sweet of him. Dinner was good. In fact, I think Scholaris is a much better caterer than Spotless.

I've to conduct a training on the 22nd in greater victoria. And I've no idea how to get there actually. Taking a cab would be very costly - more than $200 one way. I might have to ask if John is willing to fetch me.

One health sociology essay due next Friday and my hypnotherapy semester 2 starts next friday as well and the hypno assignment's also due on that day - I've not started on it yet. 12 questions of minimum of 250 words for each question. And I'm working on the CU video which has to be done by next week. So many datelines. I need 30 hours a day. My sleep pattern's screwed up.

I've only a 1 hour physiology lecture tomorrow from 3 to 4pm. Would be able to wake up late again tomorrow but then again, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to have an uninterrupted sleep or if I would be able to sleep all the way till late. It's a trip to Richmond and Ikea thereafter. I've to scout for cheap lanterns, mooncakes, candles and snow skin pre-mix, if possible. Mid Autumn Festival is on the 14th and SingSoc's celebrating it on the 20th.

Time for bed. You - the one reading this blog now, is blessed by God. Goodnight.

La Trobe University (Bundoora) Open Day

It's been a long week. Spent most of my time today with the Division of Nursing and Midwifery in the open day of the university. It's a nice experience and I managed to interact with lotsa locals wanting to find out more about nursing and/or midwifery. Thereafter, I went to church for the third service at 5.15pm with Nicolaas.

He was so nice as to accompany me knowing that I would be attending the service alone. I liked the service today. It's different as there wasn't a sermon. It's the launch of the 3rd service at 10.45am and also the live acoustic album recording at all three services. I stood and sang my lungs and heart out for nearly an hour (or slightly more). The acoustic rendition of reflector was nice. I can't wait for the album to be out, which would be next year, I guess. I would happily say that my voice is in the album. Haha...

Went to Marcus's thereafter. He called me in the morning and he sounded horrid. I was kinda worried as he was having a fever a few days ago, but recovered yesterday. And it was back again today. Bought dinner for him and accompanied him for a little while and I came home. Whilst at the tram stop, I missed a tram and had to wait for 35 minutes just for the next tram and it was cold. Brrr....

It's the Physiology mid-semester exam on Tuesday and one essay's due next Monday. I hope I can do well in both. Oh well, even if I just pass, I would be glad.

I got to know this guy named Zhi Yang about a week ago. He seems to be quite a nice guy. We've been hanging out almost everyday for a week now. I hope things would turn out fine and not become complicated.

Wish me luck in everything. Cheers and goodnight. I am Blessed. You are too!

2 weeks

It's been almost 2 weeks since I last blogged. I'm just not motivated to, unlike last time. pL's now in Hong Kong for 4 months for an exchange program. He posted the pictures on facebook and it just looks so nice. I wish I could go there one day, either to work or just for a short holiday.

Hypnotherapy lessons has started and I've more assignments due in time to come. The Singapore Students' Society, or also known as SingSoc has been setup in the university and I've be appointed the president of it. I'm going to register the society once I get the bank account opened.

My life has just been rather stale. I'm heading over to Bendigo gtom the 5th to the 7th of September for a weekend homestay program. I'll get to stay in a local's house for a weekend to get the real auzzie experience, which I've more or less gotten when I went over to Davina's place the other time.

Well, I guess it's more of Facebook-ing if you wanna know about my updates as I'm always there. Perhaps, when I get into the mood of blogging again, I shall.

BTW, V's dating this guy, which is much older. I hope that things go well. I don't like seeing people getting hurt.

Ta for now.

National Day Parade & Responsible Serving of Alcohol

It's been a long time since I've last updated my blog. It's the time when I'm just lazy to write again. It's always the time whereby I'll blog just before I go to bed and there's the time when I just can't be bothered to blog at all. Life has been stagnant, nothing much.

Last Friday night, we went over to the IMAX theatre in Melbourne Musuem to watch Dark Knight. The cinema was nice and the movie was nice too. We took the tram home thereafter and there was 2 persons that puked in the trams. Imagine the stench I had to bear for the 35 minutes of the journey. Nick came as well and he stayed over at my place until Sunday.

I celebrated the birthday of Singapore on Saturday evening. I booked one of the rooms in college, which has a piano, a computer and a projector. We only used the computer and projector though. The fellow Singaporeans came together to celebrate National Day and all of us watched the National Day Parade using the live webcast. It was fun and after the parade, we ate and danced. All thanks to Felicia and the rest of the girls and we did the Hwa Chong mass dance. I wished that we had that back when I was in seconday school. It was so much fun and it brought along all the laughters as well.

It was church on Sunday afternoon. Planetshakers would be starting their third service at 10.30am begining 31st August 2008. There would be also a live album recording on that day itself as well in all 3 serivces. I would very much like to be there so that I can be part of the album.

Attended the Responsible Serving of Alcohol course on Monday and I passed the test. I received the certificate on the next day. Now I can work in any licensed establishment which serves or sells alcohol. That's provided I can get a job in the first place. And because of this course, I wasn't able to attend the Monday Night Training by the LTU Christian Union. Nevertheless, I attended the Glenn College bible study on Tuesday night.

It's the hypnotherapy course on Friday and I'm kinda excited by the thought of it. I'll have to wake up early though, at 7am as I've to catch the 7.56am tram to arrive at Clifton Hill by 8am in order to arrive at Elsternwick by 8.53am as my lesson starts at 9am.

Anyway, it's time to head to bed now, else I won't be able to wake up by 7.45am to have breakfast at 8.15am as my lecture starts at 9am.

Goodnight and God Bless.

New Moon

The week passed just as it came. Nothing much exciting. I wish I could turn back time. Perhaps, things would be very much different now. I went to Northland last evening and bought 2 more books of Stephenie Meyer, New Moon and Eclipse. Cost me $60. I pre-ordered her 4th book as well, which is due for release on Monday. I started reading the second book today and shortly after starting, I felt emo and hurt. It was a familar feeling, a feeling which I've experienced just not too long ago.

It's Davina's 21st birthday on Saturday. The group of us are heading over to Wangaratta to celebrate it with her. It's the furthest place which I'll be going to ever since my arrival in Australia. Till date, my furthest is still Ballart, 1.5 hours away from Melbourne. Wangaratta is 3 hours away from Melbourne and 1 hour away from NSW.

I should head to bed now. I've to be up in a couple of hours time. Breakie's at 8.15am and we're departing uni at 10am to catch the 12.13pm V/Line train.

Now, I'm tuning in to myiradio online and with the songs which they're playing, I feel so much like just staying up to listen. All the mandarin songs which are being played now, it's just so soothing.

GC BS

Nothing much for today again. Another boring day. Lectures from 9 to 12 followed by a 3 hour break and another lecture from 3 to 5pm.

Had the Glenn College Bible Study tonight. Studied about Romans. It was good.

Time to sleep. 4 straight hours of lecture tomorrow from noon to 4pm. Argh~~~

Tired.

Another tiring day. Lecture at 8am followed by two 1 hour tute and an hour of lab session.

Wanted to rest but couldn't. Went for talk and in-depth bible study after dinner, which was organized by the La Trobe Christian Union. Went to the library to watch the videos for this week's health assessment module. It's about 3 videos every week which I've to view.

I'm so damn tired now. So tired that I can't even form a proper sentence properly. Think I should go sleep and yes, I would be now.

Goodnight!

Twilight

Woke up early and went to Preston market with the rest. Bought pancake premix and I had the urge to eat pancakes ever since Thursday, after I ate 5 pancakes for breakfast. However, due to the change of plans for the day, I didn't get the chance to make them. Went to the city with Shamay and Minyi as Kat, my classmate wanted to have us at her house for hi-tea.

Her house is very nice. Views of the city from the 34th floor is simply amazing. Her rent's $280 per week though and that exclude meals and bills. I'm currently only paying $270 per week inclusive of meals and bills.

Went over to John and Lionel's house later. They have just shifted in so it's still rather empty. They're staying over at St Albuns, over at Zone 2. At least I have an idea what to get for them in future. Haha...

I've been reading the novel by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight. Chris and Faezah has already finished reading her third book and awaiting for her fourth book releasing next Friday. I'm still not even half done with the first book.

It's been a rather depressing day actually. My mood fluctuated throughout the entire day. From normal to good to bad and good to bad again. Right now, it's not that good actually. Oh well, I shall go offline and go wash up, read a little more of the book and go to sleep.

Goodnight.

Boring Lectures

Second day of the Semester. Nothing much which I can say. As the title for this post says, lectures are boring.

Had bible study at Glenn College and it was a social night tonight. We're going to start on Romans next week. Went to footy sheds thereafter for a while to see what it was like and left after 5 minutes.

Nothing much happening in my life. Just boring. What can I say when you've lessons starting at 8am on Monday and 9am from Tuesday to Friday?

Nitez.

Semester 2 begins

It's the start of Semester 2. Had my very first lecture of the semester at 8am and it ended an hour later. Didn't really do much for the day but just helping Xuet Ying to move things out from her room to Menzies. Well, another person gone from Glenn, making it 5. The twins, XY, Felicia and Nicholas. Things will not the same anymore.

It's parties almost every night over at Glenn. Started last night with the Back to School party and it's The 80's party tonight. Right now, there's people just shouting and screaming along the corridor. And when I opened my door to brush my teeth just now, someone was making out outside my door. How I wish I was that person making out.

Well, it's the second day of semester 2 tomorrow. And it's 3 hours of lectures starting from 9am with a 3 hour break followed by a 2 hour lecture. Goodnight people.

Daylesford/Hepburn Springs

I've a feeling that this month will also be not a very good month. On Sunday, I witnessed another car accident happening right in front of my eyes at the junction outside the university. Indeed I was right.

On Monday morning, after I left my house, I had a feeling that something wasn't going to be right. And again I was right. Was supposed to meet ZQ at Southern Cross station at 7.30am as the train would be departing at 7.49am. I arrived at 7.12am and decided to check out which platform the train was departing from and perhaps grab something for breakie. The queue at Hungry Jacks was very long, extending to the exterior of the store and I called ZQ to see if he wanted breakie as well as it was already 7.25am. He picked up the phone sounding as if he was still asleep. He had overslept. He tried rushing over but couldn't make it in time. I didn't panic but was calm and relaxed (well, a litte). Daryl was supposed to pick us up from the bus stop at Daylesford at 9.50am so I smsed him to tell him about the delay. After Ryan came, we went to the V/Line counter to enquire what time the next train was with a connecting bus to Daylesford. It was at 12.45pm. Instead of waiting so long, we bought a ticket to Ballan instead and Daryl picked us from there.

We arrived at 10.10am and Daryl picked us up shortly and we went to his house to unload our belongings. We went for lunch shortly. Went sight-seeing as well as to a bee farm. Bought 2 bottles of honey. Went to a nearby forest and collected dry sticks, logs and pine cones so we could start a fire in the fireplace in Daryl's home. We stopped by the restaraunt and ordered a take away. We had a filling dinner. 2 different types of pasta, 4 fish flakes, 6 scallops, 4 potato cakes and 3 cakes with red wine. The food wasn't really nice compared to the one I very first ate in Daylesford when I came a couple of months before as it was from a different shop. The fish and chips shop which I wanted to buy from was closed on Mondays. Watched an episode of Will and Grace as well as Sex and the City. I called Chris wishing him a happy birthday. It feels good what someone actually thanks you for something which you've given to them. Wheater a not the person appreciates it is another issue altogether. I seriously hope that he appreciates it too. I slept thereafter. 3 persons sqeezing onto a double bed isn't a very good idea. I felt so cramped up that decided to go to the living room to sleep on the couch instead.

I fell asleep after some time but couldn't really sleep well as it was cold. I was wearing my t-shirt with my jumper and a short pants. I had my other hoodie to cover my exposed legs. At times, I would just wake up due to the cold. At about 8am, I went back to the bed as it was cold. Not long after, we had to wake up. We headed to Daryl's spa as he had to prepare it for his clients who had an appointment for that day. We went over to The Convent for brunch. The Convent used to be a former convent and is currently a art gallery, museum and a place used for functions, events and weddings. There is also a penthouse at the top of the building it is available for visitors to stay. I would really love to spend a night in it during my birthday. Perhaps I would next year if I can afford it. Went over to a chocolate factory thereafter. I bought 2 boxes of chocolate, 1 for myself and 1 for Chris, and a packet of milk chocolate powder for making hot chocolate. I guess he would think that the chocolates would be his birthday present but he's in for something more. We headed back to Daryl's day spa. As it was close to 2pm, I went to select my tutorial bookings. To be horror, all the slots which I planned were taken. I've now 2 hours of tutes on Friday. That means, I'm back to having a 5 day week of school. What luck. ZQ and I decided to have a go at the spa. I chose to have a massage and facial done. It was nice! Simply relaxing and soothing. It was time to head back to Melbourne and we thanked Daryl for hosting us and bringing the both of us around.

While on the coach to the railway station, I had an sms from Chris saying that he couldn't make it to the Sovereign Hill trip as it's on a Friday and he had to enroll for university. I was taken back and was a little uncomfortable then. I suggested if it was fine to go on Saturday instead if I could get Sovereign Hill to push back our reservation but sadly he replied that he had to buy books. I was very very disappointed. I had looked forward so much in going to the trip, planned and put so much effort into this trip and now this has happened! I can't blame him for enrollment if that's the only day as his studies is more important. But buying books? I wanted to pass him the chocolates which I bought for him but he didn't want to meet so I decided to pass it to him tomorrow when we meet to go shopping instead.

It's time for sleep soon. I'm really tired and upset. I'm not even sure if the shopping trip will be cancelled again.

I know that V and I will never be together, but I just hope that V will turn its back against me, which I've a feeling that it will. There are so many things that just crosses my mind. Time will tell if I put things into action and how long I can put up with it.

Shopping Bus

It's just another day of the school holidays. Nothing much happened. Went to Barry's last night and got myself very pissed. Took the last tram home and after I reached home, I didn't even brush my teeth, just changed and knocked off. Couldn't really sleep well though, my head was thumping. Woke up at 10 and went off to LTI office to sign in for my duties. Did morning tea today. Just poured drinks.

Lead the shopping bus to Preston market in the afternoon. No lost sheeps fortunately. Arrived back at uni cat 5pm, rested for a while and Melvin came over to pick me up. We went for dinner at a chinese restaraunt in Preston. The food was quite nice though. Came home and didn't do much. Watched Evan Almighty and the movie was like a modern version of Noah's Ark. It was nice and it somehow touched my heart. One must trust and have faith in Him.

I read V's blog earlier this afternoon. While reading it, images of V expressing and laughing just came flooding into my mind. If V was there, talking to me about those things, the exact way V would express it and be laughing... I miss it. And I realised that V has already brought me much happiness and laughter too. I guess one of the main reasons why I've been rather emo is coz I've not laughed. I'm just hoping and waiting for that day to come again to get my spirits back.

San Churro, not.

Didn't do very much today. Alarm clock rang at 8.45am and I turned it off (thought I actually snoozed it). My phone beeped at 9.03am and that's when I jumped out of bed as I thought it was only 8.50am. Thanks to my dad for sending me a text message. Took a shower and headed to the LTI office to signin. Walked to the Western Lecture Theatres and started helping with the rest who were already there with setting up of the tables and such. There were lots of students.

It was the interactive campus tour in the afternoon and it was nice. Afternoons during winter is not bad actually as it isn't that cold. It was real foggy when I left home in the morning and it was freezing. After the tour, I came home and someone knocked on the door. It was the handyman and he came to change my light. Now my room's very much brighter and it's now white in color unlike last time where it was slightly yellowish.

Headed over to Southern Cross station by bus and tram and fell asleep in the bus. Guess I was pretty tired. In fact, I'm still rather tired now and I shall go sleep after I finish this blog entry. Bought 3 sets of return tickets. 1 for my trip to Daylesford this coming Monday with Ryan, 1 for my friend's clinical attachments at Seymour starting this coming Monday as well and the last set of return tickets for Chris and myself for our Sovereign Hill trip. I seriously hope that we would enjoy the trip and be happy. Met up with Ivan and his partner. We ate at Your Thai, a Thai restaraunt along Swanston Street. I had pineapple fried rice and it was good! I think this is the first time I tasted such nice fried rice in Melbourne. Hung around for a while and Ryan came along. Passed him his V/Line ticket and all 4 of us hung around over at Starbucks. Chatted for a while and we all left and I headed for home, by bus again. Surprisingly, the bus journey took only 40 minutes when I expected it to take an hour.

Reached home, came online, chatted with friends for a little while and now, here I am, blogging after brushing my teeth and ready for bed. It's another day of being a Welcome Festival host again tomorrow from 9.30am to 1.30pm. Not sure what I'll be doing thereafter. It's Barry's at night.

Love Hurts.

Goodnight people.

untitled

Woke up at 10.30am and saw that I had an SMS. Read it and the very first instance, my eyes played a trick on me. I thought it was V who smsed me. I thought to myself if one would be so good and kind to SMS me early in the morning. But it wasn't, just as my 7th sense told me. It was just the driving instructor. He asked if I could have a lesson at 11am instead of 12.15pm. I agreed and went to shower immediately. It was a rather cold and wet day today. It's currently 8 deg in Melbourne. The student before me cancelled the lesson so I took the place instead. And since I had nothing to do, no plans at all for the entire day, I asked if I could do a double lesson and my instructor, Gary agreed. I had my lesson from 11am to 12.30pm instead.

After the lesson, Gary dropped me off at Reservoir station. I took a train and headed down to Melbourne Central to meet up with Ryan. We took a bus to Northland and the journey time was about 50 minutes. Walked around Northland and I ate Subway for lunch. Took another bus back to uni and Ryan was on DC the whole time till we left at about 7pm. He was happy then as he had all the items to occupy himself and what he wanted. We left for the city and we had dinner. Subway again. I like Subway. It's healthy, low in fat and oil and has vegetables. I walked Ryan halfway home and I went to meetup with Chris.

I had planned to meet Chris and go over to Southern Cross station to get the V/Line tickets for myself as well as for my fellow faculty mates for their clinicals but Chris had to rush home. He had been grounded by his dad. And since he really couldn't spare going to get the tickets, I left for home as well. Train inpectors are everywhere. They're real scary.

It's the start of Welcome Festival tomorrow for all the new international students. I'll be involved in helping out and will receive A$20 as an allowance for each day of involvement. I've been assigned for all 3 days this week, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Will be assisting with the sign-up tables during morning tea and lunch as well as leading a group of students for interactive campus tour which we'll walk around the entire uni. My involvement with La Trobe International (LTI) will then end by about 3pm or so. I'll head over to the city thereafter to get the V/Line tickets as well as meet up with someone hopefully. I can't be left alone for long these days as I'll get all emo again. I need people around me and friends.

Watched 881 again just now. I love it. It just brings out the true culture of the getai's (song stage, or street performances during the lunar 7th month to entertain the spirits) in Singapore and the lives of people. It's so very true. And seeing Noris in the show (even though he's just an extra), just reminds me of him performing back home. Memories.

Oh well, time for bed. I've to be up at like 8.45am? Goodnight people and I hope that tomorrow would be a very much better day.

Shoe Rack

Woke up, met up with Martin and went to Ikea. Along the way, I called Nicolaas and he joined us as well. I had Fish and Chips, Sweedish Meatballs and Princess Cake from the Ikea restaurant. It was good, as usual. Bought the bulb for my lamp (40 watts this time), a shoe rack and a bedsheet (a color which was a little off white). All these for A$23.90. Went home thereafter.

My night's been pretty boring. Thought I would be able to meet up with someone, but didn't in the end. Surfed around and such. I'll be going over to Daylesford with Ryan on the 14th, returning on the 15th, which is Chris's birthday. Not sure if he's hosting a party or something, but I'm pretty sure he'll be occupied. I wish I could be like that. I'm really thankful for the people and Glenn and my Kingdom. Those at Glenn found out last minute that it was my birthday on the day itself and planned something for me, and waited for me till I got home to surprise me with a slice of cake (which wasn't very much of a surprise). But still, it was really very very thoughful, sweet and nice of them. The kingdom, celebrated it with me last year with Alex giving me a iPod Nano. Was kinda of a surprise as well. I hope I can throw a BIG party when I'm 25 (but sadly, I'll still be in Melbourne). 30 would be too "old" to throw a big party. Well, perhaps I should be like Dick Lee and really throw a big Gala dinner when I'm 40 in Singapore and fly people very important to me in Australia over to celebrate it as well.

Would be going to Sovereign Hill on the 18th and returning on the 19th. Semester starts on the 21st. I seriously hope that nothing would go wrong for the Sovereign Hill trip and that even during the trip, it would go smoothly and such. I've been having dreams, not very good ones actually, about this particular trip, such as having to cancel it and not getting back my deposit, or quarrelling during the trip or disagreeing with each other during the trip. I really hope and wish that I would be able to fully have fun, relax and enjoy myself as well as to spend time, enjoy and treasure each other's company during the trip and not to take it for granted.

Oh well, it's driving lesson tomorrow and nothing much. Another day with nothing to do.

Goodnight peeps!

A walk to remember

Woke up at about 10.30am, read the sms on my phone, replied and went back to sleep again. The next time I woke up, it was already 3pm.

Decided to take a walk over to Macleod train station today. One of my to-do list is to learn how to walk to/from the train station. Others include buying a pair of jeans, boxers and volleys (shoes), and spending a whole day with V, doing nothing but rotting at home, reading or watching the telly, just enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately, none of these has been fulfilled. After about 1/3 of my journey to the train station, I got lost. I had to backtrack a little. I arrvied the train station and waited for 15 minutes for the train. The frequency for the train on Sundays was 20 minutes. The journey itself took 28 minutes to get to the city. In comparison, the frequency for the tram on Sunday is 12 minutes and the journey to the city's 45 to 50 minutes.

Met up with William and Nicholas. Walked around the city and had dinner over at the Japanese restaraunt at QV mall. Went over to Lygon street for Koko Black thereafter. As usual, I couldn't maange to finish the things I ordered at Koko Black. Headed over to Crown to walk and ended up at the arcade. Played a game of DDR, all thanks to William. I was bad at it. Think I would rather play ParaPara instead. Haha...

I took the train home as I was near the train station and the next train departing was pretty soon, so why not? After arriving back at Macleod station, there was 2 paths and I didn't know which to take, especially when it was so dark. The streets here and so different from back home, more so in the suburbs. In Singapore, everywhere is lighted but in the suburbs here, the street lamps are spread out quite far apart and the lamps are not bright, it seems like those energy saving bulbs sorta. I ended up somewhere else which I didn't know. Walking alone on a cold quiet night and being lost isn't a very good feeling - it's scary. After walking for a little more, I managed to see La Trobe Secondary College. I was a little relieved though. Called the security but they couldn't fetch me from there and asked me to walk a little more to Barnes Way and they could pick me up from there instead. I called Chris hoping that he could help as least by giving me directions, but he wasn't of any help. And to think that he was online. Well, just no effort put in, I guess. I would have at least looked up the map.

Oh well, went over to Martin's for a short while. He had completed his Lego Technics truck and it was very nice, big and heavy. Left his house and went home. It's so nice to be remembered. Was reading pL's blog just now and he mentioned about me. Even though it's not much, just a sentence or so, it meant so much to me.

Time for bed now. I'll be heading over to Ikea tomorrow with Marin. He needs a table while I need a shoe rack. Lunch at Ikea as well. Sweedish meatballs! Hoping that the days, weeks and months ahead would be very much better. V's taking the hazard perception testion tomorrow. Wishing that that V would pass it. I'll be taking it sometime soon as well, I guess. Goodnight peeps!

Puffing Billy, Not

Past few days hasn't been too good, so I shall not talk about it else I get upset again. I really thank and appreciate V for tolerating me and not giving up on me. I'm really grateful for V.

Woke up at 11am today and had my first ever driving lesson in Australia. It went quite smoothly and the instructor was quite good as well. Perhaps I'll call up a few other instructors and try them to see which is the best. But then again, I won't be having much lessons anyway. John and Lionel was already for me at the carpark by the time I ended my lessons. I drove again, this time in John's car all the way to Clifton Hill. Took a train all the way to Belgrave. The journey was so long that I almost got restless. Luckily I had my book with me and I was reading it most of the journey.

Arrived at Belgrave and it was the Puffing Billy that John wanted to bring me to - the surprise. Puffing Billy is "Australia's favourite steam train" and is about a century old. As we approached the platform, the train pulled in and lots of passangers alighted from the train. There was no more service till the dinner service at 7pm. It was not even 4pm, so we decided to just take some photos and head back instead. Then, the dreadful train journey back to the city again.

Went over to Max's house for a while to rest and went over to North Richmond for dinner at the Vietnamese restaraunt which we went to last week. Had fried rice and it wasn't too bad. Better than the one I ate yesterday at the chinese dumpling shop over at Chinatown with Marcus and Ryan. I ordered the wanton soup as well as it was $3.50. Reasonable, i thought. The wanton soup was the first to arrive. To my surprise, it was only a very very small bowl with a few, at most 5 dumplings! I had expected it to be a bigger bowl with more soup! I felt so deceived and cheated. And it wasn't really very nice, just average. Oh well, once bitten twice shy (I hope I got that phrase right).

Initially, I felt like going over to DT's to watch the drag show in the afternoon. However, after dinner, I just felt like taking a tram back to the city, take a stroll over to the tram 86 stop and take the tram back home. And that was what I did. Arrived home and watched the movie Indiana Jones. It was nice and at times, a little creepy. Wished someone was with me watching it though.

Hoping that tomorrow will be a much better day. I need retail therapy... Oh well, I guess it's time for bed now. It's pretty early now. Goodnight people!

Box Hill & Opium Den

Lionel stayed over at my place for the night. And I split up my bed. We went to watch Sex and the City the night before. It was a nice movie, but it was a little draggy at times though.

I'm home again. Went to box hill this afternoon and to opium den at night to watch a drag show. Wasn't too bad, but still liked the one back in Singapore. Perhaps it's just the culture, i guess.

Feeling a lil emo again today. Walked Chris to his house and I walked home. Hoping things will be better soon. Will be going to Sovereign Hill on the 18th instead. Sometimes I'm wondering if I'm being fair to V. Sigh...

Goodnight people and I hope the dark clouds will blow over soon.

Food stolen.

Woke up and headed to the city. It was so cold today. Not because it was cold, but because of the wind. Walked for about 3 hours in the city to different landmarks and places. The final stop was Melbourne Central and after the debriefing, we parted.

Met up with Lionel and we walked around the city aimlessly. Ended up back in Melbourne Central again, and we had Max Brenner's. It's the second time I'm having chocolate in 3 days. That's sinful, but I love it.

I'm still angry and upset over the loss of my food. I ordered online 5 microwave dinner meals costing A$60 in total. I placed them into the fridge on Thursday evening and when I checked the fridge yesterday afternoon, 4 packs were missing and only 1 pack was left! No note was left or anything. And the person didn't only take 1, but 4! I just left a note on the door of the fridge saying, Someone took 4 out of my 5 packs of microwave food! - Edgar. I hope someone would happen.

I might go to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs this weekend instead as I might have to push back the Sovereign Hill trip as something cropped up with Chris. Hopefully everything goes well.

Time for bed. I've the Welcome Festival host training from 9.30am to 4pm. Best of all, it'll be in college at the Davidson room (the one with the piano) so I won't have to brave the wind and walk out of college. Haha... Not sure if lunch would be provided though.. And talking about food, I'm hungry now. Stomach's growling but I've already brushed my teeth.

Koko Black, again + Driving

Went to the Koko Black over at Lygon Street on Saturday afternoon for tea. Wanted to give Nicolaas a treat, but he ended up treating everyone instead. It was real filling. Left to meet John thereafter in the place where he's staying for the next few nights. Took the tram in the wrong direction and ended up in Domain Interchange instead. Wasted 15 minutes of my time. And it was rather cold. Went to Richmond with his friend, Max for dinner and was joined by Lionel. We had Vietnamese food and it was average. Went over to DT's as there was a drag show. I enjoyed it lots. However, I still prefer the shows back home by Kumar, Noris, Chris and Mistevous. Nevertheless, I shouldn't complain and be contented with what I have. Left DT for the Peel thereafter. It was crowded unlike what I saw the past 2 times I went after Barry's on Thurdays. I got myself almost drunk just after a couple of drinks. Perhaps I was feeling rather tired, that's why.

Stayed over at Max's house. Didn't really sleep and was awake by about 9am. Came home to shower and head out again. John allowed me to drive his car and I did just that. After not driving for such a long time, my hands were all over the steering wheel. However, I still remembered the basics and such. Cooked dinner for the entire house - Max, John, Lionel and myself. Chicken rice with beans sprouts. Jellyfish for appitizer. Watched Big Brother and Rove and headed back home.

Am still feeling rather tired, so I'll just go to bed early. It's another day tomorrow. I'll have to be at the city by 1pm as there's the Welcome Festival hosts training for the city tour component. Well, we'll be given A$20 as allowance during the actual day, so it's not too bad.

V is sick. Caught a cold. And surprisingly, after I woke up this morning, I had been sneezing away as well. I think V spread the cold bug to me, but it had been a couple of days since we last met. Could it be? I hope V recovers fast. I don't like seeing people sick, especially someone whom is very close to me. It's another week with something planned for everyday. Not studies this time round so it's good!

Goodnight people.

Footy match

The phone rang at 9.30am. I didn't recognise the number so I ignored it. Back to lala-land. At about noon, the phone rang again. The first one was a number which I didn't recognise as well so I ignored it. The second call was from VAC. I answered that called. I was informed that the interview would have to be pushed back to next week as the volunteer coordinator wouldn't be free this week as she just came back from MC.

Went to the city to meet up with the rest of my uni mates. As they were still at the asian grocery shop, I decided to have my brunch instead. Went over to this shop over at King Street and had a burger and a taco. It was nice. Quite liked it so I intend to go back there again some day to try out the other items in their menu. I really thank V for introducting that place to me and guiding me so patiently over the phone from where I was to the shop. Walked over to DFO at Spencer street thereafter and met up with Faezah, XY, PY, Toto, Nicholas and Felicia (from Menzies). Walked around for about slightly more than an hour. I didn't buy anything - which is something good.

We went to watch a footy match over at the Melbourne Criket Ground and Nicolaas joined us together with the 2 jap girls. The admission ticket to the match cost A$20.30. We were not eligible for concessions as we were international students. The entry gantries were very high tech though. You just have to scan the bar code printed on the ticket which was purchased, and the fare gates would let you in. Saves lots of time as well and you get to keep the full ticket as nothing's being torn out from your ticket. We were at the forth level and it really looked scary as that was almost near to teh top of the building. On a brighter note, the place where we sat was actually the winning team, so it was rather cheerful and it actually made my day. In fact, I would say that today would be one of the better days from the rest of the week.

Went straight home after the match. Watched High School Musical 2 on my laptop and it was great. Tears just flowed out from my eyes towards the ending as it was such a nice show and kinda touching. My friend who's signed on for 10 years with the Navy's regretting it now and wishes to break the bond after 5 years. I seriously hope that he'll be very much all right and not mentally affected as my heart really went out to him as we were chatting.

Things and situations can be the same every year or they can be different. It doesn't take much to make a difference. People can make a difference and they can make one's situation different. It all depends if one is willing to open him or herself up and just go along with the flow, like a river. I believe that I can be the change, but again, if the door's closed, nothing can be done and it'll be the same, year after year.

Goodnight!

Husky end-of-exams party

Woke up, did my laundry and washed my carpet. Was happy with myself.

Nicholas had to babysit his sister, so we decided to meet up another day instead. Supposed to meet William for dinner then but he also bailed out on me. Couldn't be bothered to leave for the city just to go to Marcus's.

I became rather moody and sad again. Watched High School Musical the movie alone. How I wished that there was someone beside me watching with me though. Went to the Eagle's Bar for the Husky party. Didn't know that there was a cover charge of $20, so ended up paying that instead. Had quite a lot of drinks, in fact, I would say, the most number of drinks ever since I came here - coz it was cheap.

This guy came up to chat with me and my friend. We took a photo after his friend suggested it. Damn... Didn't get his contacts from him. Haha...

Cheers. It's time for me to sleep soon. I need to get a life - but how to get it without people is yet another problem. It takes 2 hands to clap.

6 things I fear - Tagged by Nicholas

You get more than 30, I strongly recommend some counseling
If you get more than 20, you’re paranoid
If you get 10-20, you are normal.
If you get 10 or less, you’re fearless.

I Fear…
[ ] the dark
[ ] staying single forever
[ ] being a parent
[ ] being myself in front of others
[ ] open spaces
[ ] closed spaces
[ ] heights
[ ] dogs
[ ] birds
[ ] fish
[X] spiders
[ ] flowers or other plants
[ ] being touched
[ ] fire
[ ] deep water
[X] snakes
[ ] silk
[ ] the ocean
[ ] failure
[ ] success
[ ] lightning
[X] frogs/toads
[ ] my boyfriends/girlfriends dad
[ ] my boyfriends/girlfriends mom
[X] rats
[ ] jumping from high places
[ ] snow
[ ] rain
[ ] wind
[ ] crossing hanging bridges
[ ] death
[ ] heaven (getting in)
[ ] being robbed/mugged
[ ] falling
[ ] clowns
[ ] dolls
[ ] large crowds of people
[ ] men
[ ] women
[ ] having great responsibilities
[ ] doctors, including dentists
[ ] tornadoes
[ ] hurricanes
[ ] incurable diseases
[ ] sharks
[ ] Friday the 13th
[ ] ghosts
[ ] poverty
[ ] Halloween
[ ] school
[ ] trains
[ ] odd numbers
[ ] even numbers
[x] being alone
[ ]becoming blind
[ ] becoming deaf
[ ] growing up
[X] heavy breathing...in your ear....when you thought no one was behind you.
[ ]creepy noises in the night
[ ] not accomplishing my dreams/goals
[ ] needles
[ ] blood
[ ] dinosaurs
[ ] the welcome mat
[ ] high speed
[ ] throwing up
[ ] falling in love (till a certain extend only)

Post it with the subject :
I Fear __ things

I'm gonna tag

- Dunno yet.

Learner Permit

Woke up at 7.30am today to have breakfast with Qing and Shan. It's their last day today at Glenn as well and they would be flying back to Singapore for 2 weeks. While they're back, they've agreed to help take the mooncake mould from my parents so that I could make mooncake during the mid-autumn festival. Went back to sleep thereafter and woke up at noon to head for VicRoads over at University Hill, about 10 minutes away from university.

I got lost. Couldn't find VicRoads. I thought it was inside the university hill mall but it wasn't. Luckily I wasn't late. Sat for the online test and I was so happy and surprised when the customer service officer told me that I had scored a score of 97% for the online test! I took a photograph for the permit card and when I posed, she commented that I had such a big smile. I replied, yes, as all my photos looks similar - with my signature big smile exposing my slightly yellow teeth and cheeks. I had earned my Learner Permit, which was valid till 25th of June, 2018. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the expiry date. Who would actually take 10 years just to get from their L's to P's? Well, perhaps some people would. Now, I need not carry my passport around when I need to get a couple of drinks or when I go pubbing or clubbing.

Met up with Melvin thereafter and we went over to Epping Plaza and Westfield. Walked around and he drove me to Mount Cooper. That's inside Bundoora Park and he was surprised that I've never been there before even though it's just a short walk away from the university. The summit's 137 meters above the sea level. And when we arrived at the summit, there was already a car parked there with a couple inside making out. They were making out so passionately that they didn't even notice that we were there. We left less than 5 minutes after as the sun was not in our favour.

Went over to Marcus's house thereafter as he wanted someone to accompany him as he was bored. We went for dinner and I ate fried rice, two nights in a row. Wasn't too bad. At least better than the one I ate last night. Went over to his house and had a short nap thereafter.

I'm just feeling very emo and depressed tonight. It's caused by many factors, which has been building up inside me. I really feel like going back to Singapore. Doubt anyone would ever understand how I feel and such. Drank 5 big gulps of 40% Vodka directly from the bottle and my throat started burning. Until now, it has the buring sensation. Made a mixture of ribena with pepsi and 3 shots of vodka, but couldn't drink after 1 monthful as my throat hurts.

Stayed online to surf the web and checked for airfares back to Singapore. It would cost me about A$1400 if I would to fly home on the 8th and back on the 16th and about A$1000 if I were to fly home on the 12th and back on the 19th.

Just stoned around and such. The tension and pressure's really building up.

Goodnight.

The [not so] Happening

Woke up at 8am just to have breekie. It's Felicia's very last meal at Glenn. She flew back to Singapore this afternoon and she's already home. Lucky her. Went back to sleep after breekie and woke up close to lunch time to meet up with Melvin. He's a fellow Singaporean and he's leaving for Singapore on Friday to take a short break before coming back to Melbourne and driving up to Canberra to start working.

We went over to a shopping mall over in Chadstone. It was rather big but we managed to cover it within an hour or so. Nothing much special the shopping mall though. Met up with William to watch a movie together with 2 of his other friends. It was only after 20 minutes of advertisments and movie trailers before the movie began. The Happening. Not very happening after all. I was bored from the movie and was glad it ended without a proper ending after 90 minutes. It had a little gore in it and it made me jerk on my seat a couple of times. It also made me scream once which was rather embarassing.

Went for dinner with William and Chris came along after his Japanese class. I was so thankful to Chris for coming over. All along, I felt so much like an outcast as William and his 2 friends were communicating in Bahasa Indonesia most (I would say, 85%) of the time and as my Malay's very poor, I couldn't understand what they were saying. Now I really really know how V feels when I speak to others in Mandarin or in ways or terms that he doesn't understand. For someone like me who understands a little Malay to feel upset, what's more for V who totally doesn't have a slightest idea of what we're saying. I really felt so much comforted when I saw Chris. We walked to the tram stop together with William and I took a tram home together with Chris.

I came home and continued reading the book essential for passing my test tomorrow. I did the practise test online numerous times and at all times, I passed it with a minimum score of 88% and with a highest score of 97%. The last 2 tests I took was 97% as well. I decided to call it a night.

It's Yan Qing and Yan Shan's last meal in Glenn tomorrow. As usual, I'll be having breakfast with them and thereafter, go back to bed. My test for the learners licence's at 1pm and I've no plans thereafter, all thanks to someone whom forgot totally about it until I spoke about it 2 nights ago and that someone was so blur and lost. I had informed that person immediately after I booked the test (about 3 weeks in advance) and that we could go out, shopping or hang around after my test. Apprently, it was forgotten. But then again, the best and closest friend of that someone wants to spend time with that someone, so well, I suppose, I should be more considerate and more forgiving.

The last time I had a change in plans was yesterday, whereby I did something and it caused me to suffered in pain, until now. My legs are still aching from the pain of the cramp I got in the pool yesterday. I hope that whatever that happens tomorrow would not have something negative attached to it.

Oh well, time for bed. Nights people!

Holidays!

Finally finished my very last paper. Came out of the examination hall at 10am, 45 minutes earlier than the ending time. My holidays started there and then, at 10am on a Monday morning! I went back to sleep as I didn't really have a good sleep the night before. I went to sleep at about midnight but I woke up at about 3am and my brain was thinking about all the anatomical terms and thinking about the exam. I even had a nightmare about it. Part of me felt like waking up to continue studying and the other part of me just wanted to get back to sleep as I was physically very tired. I called V instead we chatted for a little, about 20 minutes. Thereafter, I tried going back to sleep but to no avail. The last time I checked the time was about 5+am and I guess that was the time I fell asleep. Was supposed to wake up at 7.30am but woke up only at 7.45am. I wasn't late.

After my exams, I went to post my friend's DVD at the post office. Wanted to get a birthday card for my friend but the gift shop was closed so I'm getting it tomorrow instead. I went back to bed to sleep but not long after, this lady from Dodo internet called and asked me about my account details informing me about the bills and such. It's such a pain in the neck. I couldn't really sleep thereafter. I was supposed to meet Bell for shopping over at Bridge Street, but changed it to another day instead since her friend would be able to make it then. I had no plans at all and I called up almost everyone whom I know not having an exam asking if they wanted to hang out. Either they had plans or were uncontactable. What a good way to being a holiday. I have a feeling that the holidays wouldn't be a good one afterall since it already had a bad start to it. Finally Martin asked if I wanted to go swimming and I gave in. Swam for near 1.5 hours and I had cramps on my leg, which forced me out of the pool thereafter.

Had dinner and went over to Martin's place. He bought a Lego Techinics set and it really reminded me of the days when I was about the age of 15 when I actually bought an expensive Lego Techinics set, assembled them (which took me about 3 full days and lots of sleep deprivation) and gave them to my friend as his birthday present. Martin was fixing the parts while I was searching for the pieces for him to fix. Did it until my eyes went blur. Imagine searching through 1800 Lego pieces for a small piece.

I'm so tired. I really need sleep. Think I will soon after this. Will go read up on the Road to Solo Driving book which Chris lent me as I'm taking the Learner's test on Wednesday. I really hope I pass it as it costs me S$47 (just for the appointment and test fee as I paid it using my credit card).

Goodnight Peeps!

Just married

The phone rang at about 10am. I answered it and went back to sleep. The phone rang again at 2.40pm and I decided after answering the phone that it's time that I woke up even though I was still tired. Went over to Northland shopping center to get 2 DVD's for my former classmate of mine. It's for her friend's birthday on the 27th. Will send out the DVD to her on Monday and hopefully she'll be able to receive it on time and give it to her friend before 11.59pm on Thursday. Was famished so I bought a Subway melt in a wrap along with 2 cookies and a bottle of orange juice. Didn't eat it straight away but went to Safeway. In there, I bought so many things, totaling up to A$43. Most of them, or rather, all of them were food products. It's no wonder I'm putting on weight. And oh, did I tell you that I've gained about 6kgs in about 4 months? That's horrid.

I arrived back at about 5pm in Glenn's dining hall and ate my Subway wrap with the company of Nicholas, Shamay and Xuet Ying. Shamay's really strong. She managed to open the bottle of orange juice when Nicholas and I couldn't. Girl power! As I was rather full, I didn't eat the dinner at Glenn but packed it into my lunch box so that I could eat it for another day instead. Was feeling rather bored and went over to V's house as V couldn't figure out what to wear to go out. When I arrived, V had already had it figured out. Therefore, I just spent the time enjoying V's company with nothing to do.

Went over to Chisholm for a movie of Kate & Leopord and Just Married with Nicolaas, Faezah and 2 other Japanese girls. Nicolaas made Tiramisu without liquor in it so that Faezah could also consume it. It tasted nice as well, even without the liquor. I wished V was there though as I knew that V would have enjoyed it. I hope to learn how to make Tiramisu from Nicolaas so that I would be able to make it one day for V and that someone special if they come along, which I do not know when that is.

Went home at about 1am and started studying. Had a 1 hour 18 minutes teleconversation over Skype Out. I couldn't use my homephone to call him as my international calling card had no more talk time in it. But still, spending A$2 for that conversation and to build the bond as well as to catch up with each other is worth it. It's something which cannot be bought. Went back to studying thereafter. And I just realised that it's bright again. How times flies and it's already close to 8am. And to think that I've to be up at about 12.45pm so that I can shower and prepare myself to go to church. I'm meeting Nicholas at 1.30pm at the moat and I hope I wouldn't be late again. Oh my, only 4 hours of sleep for me now... I really need to go sleep!

It's no wonder no one blogs during this period. Checked all my friend's blogs - Nicholas, Xue Ying, Min Yi, Felicia, Shamay, all no updates.

Goodnight people, or rather, Good morning, as it's already so bright.

2 papers down; 1 to go

Done with 2 papers. I'm left with the Anatomy paper on Monday. I seriously hope that I pass all the papers. I'm confident of passing the Public health paper. However, I have doubts on passing the Physiology paper. The latter's worth 30% of the total marks for the API module. Another 30% of the module's marks would be from the Anatomy paper. And there would be no supplementary exams for those who fails as it weights only 30%. I'm really not sure what would happen if I fail. I know for sure that I'll have to spend the next 6 months doing nothing and retake the modules again in Feb 2009 and continue with my Year 1 Semester 2 in Jul 2009. Whether or not my student visa would be terminated is yet another question mark.

I felt real horrid after my paper. I left for home from the union hall, where the examination was held. I wanted to take a nap but I just couldn't. I was just feeling weighed down and sorrowful. I decided to leave home and be with the company of someone. I just didn't want to be alone. I met up with W for the first time together with V and I could tell that he's a pretty nice guy. Met up with Hansen as well and Anabell was with him. Upon seeing Anabell, I was just so hyped up and my mood totally changed. The unusual side of me, my Singapore side, came up. I was loud and such, at times, even to the extent of being a bitch. I really dunno why. But it's just that I feel that she's someone whom I can really click with and really be myself. Yes, I am someone loud, crazy, bitchy and childish. We're meeting again on Monday after my exam to go over to Bridge Street for some shopping (and to go crazy, of course). She needs a new pair of shoes and as for me, I don't need anything actually.

Went to Barry's with Lulu, Hansen, V and W. W left before we entered as V had to start work early the next morning and was excused. It's was down to the 3 of us. After queuing for a long time, we managed to get in. It was crowded. Think it was the first time I saw Barry's so crowded. I had a drink for the entire night and it was good. In fact, I never like drinking due to the bitter taste of alcohol, but on and off, it's fine with me, I guess. If alcohol wasn't bitter but sweet, I guess I would have gone head over heals with it. Oh wait, I might not. I wouldn't want to do damage to my liver and get myself drunk. I just didn't want to be alone at home at night. I invited Hansen over, but he couldn't as he was already over to his friend's place to bunk over. I asked V instead and V agreed. I went over to V's house to stay over. We had a really long talk and I told V lotsa things. I was real emo last night and told V so many things I would never had told anyone. Thereafter, I felt so much better. I am really thankful and grateful for V. I would say that V is the only person in Australia that I would share everything with and really trust, and I really hope that the trust and faith I have in V would never be broken.

I left V's house about noon. Had canton noodles for lunch and it was nice. Wasted 4 hours and went for a nap. The fire alarm rang sounded again. Fortunately it wasn't from my building but from the block beside me. Barely 45 minutes into my sleep, I was woken up by it. After the firefighters came to reset the alarm, I went back to sleep. Woke up at about 8.30pm. I've missed dinner at Glenn. Decided to just study and such and here I am, blogging, after studying since from about 10pm. I guess it's time to turn in. Am supposed to meet another friend of mine, an ABC (Australian Born Chinese) and we're supposed to go to Knox City Shopping Center. Chris said that it's a very big shopping center, bigger than Northland and Melbourne Central. I'm rather excited but my friend hasn't contacted me as yet. Oh well, think I'll just head down to Northland after I wake up instead. Need to get a DVD for my friend for her friend's birthday, on the 27th of this month, as a present. I hope I can post it on Monday and hopefully, it'll arrive in her mailbox by Thursday (which is the 27th). Still, it'll be late for her friend's birthday. Oh well, no choice.

Time to turn in now. Good morning! =)

Crossroads X3i

Nothing much for today. Mugged the entire night. Had my "lunch" of 1.5 meat loafs at 3am and went back to study. Had breekie at 7.30am and went to sleep at about 9.30am. Couldn't really sleep as my neighbours and such were making noise, singing and laughing away, as usual. Looked at the clock and it was noon, and it was 2, then 3. Forced myself to wake up at 4pm and went online for a while and mugged a little.

After dinner, I met up with the Australia dealer of Crossroads. I purchased a pair of Crossroads X3i in-ear headphones. It sounded good. The low frequency was so much better than my pair of Shure in-ear headphones. However, the hi-mid frequency wasn't that clearly projected. But, it's worth the money as it costs almost half the price of my Shure headphones. When I first heard the sound quality, I thought that it would cost more than my pair of Shure. Amazing.

Anyway, it's my very first exam paper tomorrow, Public Health A. It's made up of 80 multiple choice questions and all I'll have to do is to shade 80 ovals. I really hope that I'll be able to do well for it. I've a little confidence for this subject. However, I do not have the slightest confidence for the next 2 papers, Physiology on Thursday afternoon and Anatomy next Monday morning. It's my well deserved 3 week holiday thereafter. Boy, am I looking forward to 10.45am on Monday whereby my holiday would officially start. Cooking at Chris's house, meeting up with new people I've met online, trip to Daylesford/Herburn Springs (yea, again), Sovereign Hill and my learner's test. I'm looking forward most to the Sovereign Hill trip though.

Oh well, time to sleep now! Off to bed I go! Nighties people!