Education - For society or for me?

You know how you just finished a lecture on inequalities and you go, damn. there is inequalities EVERYWHERE. Yeah, I always end up with that thought.

And then I always think of it from the perspective of a Singaporean. Last week's lecture was on education inequalities - on whether education was a form of inequality.

I would have argued that the compulsory education up to secondary school in Singapore was a good indicator that it was not a form of inequality. It was equalizing all of us. But then I think through the kind of education that I went through - endless tuition, piles of homework from school AND tuition, supplementary classes in school AND supplementary classes from tuition for year end exams.

And I start to wonder, it is a norm for me and my siblings to get tuition, and we don't appreciate it. It isn't because we are rich; the average in Singapore can afford it, the poor can't, but I have seen many parents slog their guts out to earn money for their child to go tuition. Maybe the poorer students would appreciate the extra help at tuition more, but I knew I wasn't one of them. Tuition turned to be a norm because we (parents, not us) are so afraid of losing out. You see smart children getting constant band 1s (85% and above if i remember correctly) in tuition . Heck, i even had a student in my tuition class who was going for a primary 5 tuition class when he was only in primary 3 or 4.

SERIOUSLY?

Remind me again what tuition is for.

Do we argue that the education system is flawed? What we have created now is Elitism, where the smart might be made up those who just had more resources than others. And so why do we fight that way? I've heard so many stories on how students are selfish and won't share how to solve a problem because this would give them some form of advantage. Why so selfish, you ask. I ask, why that bell curve? Instead of creating a cohesive learning environment, we created a competitive environment where each individual goes "everything for self (society)".

Everyone fights for what the society wants - "Business and banking will take you far, son," says father. And son goes on to business and banking. Note that I didn't use daughter in my example. "Oh business requires a lot of traveling, not good for girls. If you do go in, just do HR". I'm stereotyping. I admit, not every parent does this, but this is what majority of the society is made up of. Well, you do see more and more girls in the education system in Singapore since it is mostly based on credit. But the direction? - Business Business Business. "So why are you taking business?" - "because my parent asked me to, because my friend is taking it." "Well, what about what you want?" "I don't know."

It's not easy to get into business though, you usually see the best going in there. And who are they made up of?

As if competition is not enough with the locals, foreigners join in. Honestly, I've worked with a few in my group assignments. They are either slacking off, or their standard of English is totally off. Standards of English can be improved, but you wonder sometimes. How did they manage to get into your course with THAT standard of English. I won't even hide the shock - no make that horror instead - if they told me they were a scholar. And you thought a minimum of C6 was required for an entry to a business course (or any course for that matter) in the Polytechnic.

Opportunities.

Who gets them? Or maybe I should frame it this way - Who has the better capacity to gain the opportunity? Resources are so important in today's context. It has been proven again and again in research that the rich would have better access to resources, and their opportunities for future success are much higher. And so, may I ask, whose interests is it in favor of for accepting foreign students (Please, don't use the word talent)?

Still equal?

Think again.

Books for Life - I'm a Nerd :)

Did I mention that I have been reading quite alot lately? I read quite a lot of books that I have read before, like Cleo, The Time of My Life, The Book of Tomorrow, etc. And yeap, I also read a few new books.

I finished The Way We Were by Elizabeth Noble. I found this book rather heart wrenching at the end, because unlike many other romance books, this book doesn't have a happy ending. :( But it was realistic that way. Ending it happy would result in so many others feeling unhappy. And something that I gained from this book by Melissa

"You've got to stop painting yourself as some kind of victim. You're a volunteer. You're making victims of everyone else... Your life has been what you've let it be."

Well, I re-read The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. At the end of that book, I found that there was actually a sequel for this book. *gasps* I JUST HAD TO READ THE SEQUEL. haha. "you can't read like 3 chapters and leave yourself hanging there right?" - so i got the pdf book. and i finished it in a day. "while my assignments were like piling" I KNOW. i should kill myself sometimes - always shirking that way. eeps. BUT ANYWAY, that book was really good. and i think it really shows the importance of the efforts that one puts in into a relationship, not just today and tomorrow, or 1-2 years down the marriage, but through the whole marriage, for life. And slowly, just slowly, you start to realise, that if a person loves you enough, 'not romantic enough' is just an excuse, an excuse for the lack of trying.

and guess what i'm doing now. going back to Running Man and laughing till my (non-existent) abs ache at the episodes. ah well. i can study tomorrow. "Shoot me now"

Busy as a Bee!

I was supposed to come up with new year resolutions for 2013.
But i guess it's a little late to come up with a list now that i am already a quarter into the year.
No!
I did not procrastinate.
All I did was do the things that I was supposed to do daily and poof!
Time flies.

It is easter break next week!
That means a week free from school!
I should start behaving like a year 3 student and do my work properly.
Because it is this period of time when we start chionging right?
But i feel so sluggish.
I don't want to do anything at all.

I blame the lack of sleep sometimes.
I get up at like 730AM everyday but i refuse to think that it is a normal waking hour because everyone stares at me with the 'WHAT?! HOW DO YOU WAKE UP THAT EARLY EVERYDAY?!'
I blame everyone for making me think that I should slouch around till idk 10am?
I feel myself getting lazy.

I think I am kind of overloading myself with all the different modules i am taking this sem.
They require too much thinking.
I don't exactly like thinking.
Well, I do like thinking sometimes, like when I am alone and all.
But the thinking level they require is like at level 100 when I think my brain activity level currently supports up to say 50% only. Each time I do my readings I have to read the sentence over and over because the whole structure doesn't seem to make sense to me. I can't tell if i am the only one having this problem.
But i guess its just me. No other Soci student is complaining much.
I would like to console myself by telling myself that they just don't do the readings.

Well, a dreamer can hope.

Talking about dreams.
I haven't been having much dreams for quite some time.
BUT EVERYTIME I TALK ABOUT NOT HAVING DREAMS I START DREAMING ABOUT THEM.
Most of the dreams aren't that pleasant I might add.

Occasionally i get ridiculous dreams but they are all realistic dreams, not totally illogical. I once made an illogical dream, and i woke up because i knew it was a dream.

Something got me thinking a little yesterday. I walked past a sec school friend. He was smoking, something totally different from what I pictured him to be while we were in sec school. He was athletic, and he just somehow screams 'go healthy' to me.
Then i started to think if it was the friends that he mix with over here and if it was peer pressure. And then i wondered if he is now totally different from who i thought he was. And then i scolded myself for passing such a judgment. He was just smoking. it wasn't that big an issue. Well, not that big in Australia. Okay, not that big anywhere i guess. Smoking doesn't really change a person.
And then i started thinking about how some people would say 'I would NEVER smoke. I would rather DIE than smoke' but are now smoking anyway. Have they forgotten what they said? What changed along the way?
And then I started thinking about one of my friends who told me he smoked in the past, like social smoking, as a sort of blend in and be cool thing, but stopped when the phase passed and i wonder if people who did not stop then ever stop. Will the phase ever be over?

My thoughts are so everywhere.
But yeah, i got to start my brain moving.
It isn't moving enough.
So many thoughts, but no links.
I ALWAYS MISS THE LINKS.
:(

Irritants.

i think my life is getting more stale than ever.
Well, apart from the weekends haha.
We had an American theme Housewarming last saturday! :)

Anyway, this isn't my point of today's entry. My point is actually a question.

Do you ever meet people who irritate the heck out of you but you refuse to say much because you feel that you should maintain a certain level of friendliness to him/her?

I seem to meet these people all the time and they annoy the heck out of me.

Don't mistake my silence for tolerance. I'm a generally peace-loving person, but seriously, I have zero tolerance towards people who push their luck too far in my face.

How nice it would be if there were no irritating people in this world. However, there is apparently no equality in this world. As such, there is a need for the poor to recognize the rich, just as there is a need for the presence of irritants for one to appreciate the goodness of the nice. I know this has no relevance but I'm taking soci this sem, i need to justify myself coming to blog because uni students are apparently not allowed a life. Another social convention that we can do away with. Who came about and imposed all these social rules? -Yes i diverted. I have this tendency.

Back to my point. I really can't stand these kind of people anymore. I really want to just go up to them and tell them to grow up and leave me alone because i find them so annoying. Why do I have to be polite to them?! I try to rationalize and I came to this conclusion (from a psychological perspective).

It has to be a form of survival instinct! In order to increase the chances of survival, an individual will try his/her best to avoid all forms of confrontation (reduce chances of being murdered :O) and try to conform as much as possible (blend in as much as possible). (I just had to theorize all these hahaha)

Yes, that was just me bullshitting. I didn't answer my question at all. There is so much that is left to be unsaid; because if there was anyone that I had to speak to about this, it would be the person(s) in question(s). Going around badmouthing them would just make things too tiring for me. Because, what do you know? The world is small. The stories sometimes get back to the people themselves.

Back to School

School has started for a week already!
I can hardly believe it has started when it barely ended (thanks to summer term haha)

Well, at least i know for sure now that i will be graduating by the end of this year! :)
Sho happpppyyyyy. :)

I'm worried though. I don't want to commit to a route yet. I can't stand it when people ask me what I intend to do after this. It's such a pain. I have to go into another round of explaining why I am not committing to a particular route. OH AND THAT DISDAIN on people's faces when they realize that I have not made a decision yet.

Oh get over it annoying people.

I will not answer any more of such questions if you aren't genuinely interested but just want some juicy gossip. it isnt that juicy anyway.

Time

Time passes fast sometimes. Time passes fast when you have things to do, when you are enjoying yourself - somewhat.

I'm kind of enjoying this solitude moment, where time seems to slow down. I could get used to this, I think.

And I just have to share this hahaha.
Well, I just came across this really funny lullaby. Well, it's not funny when you sing it, you would think it has a calming effect. Wait till you read the lyrics...

'Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop,When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,And down will come baby, cradle and all.'

Well, I wouldn't have really paid attention to the lyrics of this lullaby - AT ALL.

Now that I've typed it out, you will stop wondering why babies WON'T stop crying when you sing them lullabies like this already?

I pretty much got the answer. If I were the baby, I would cry too. I mean, putting me on the tree? And not on a secure bough (branch) at that so I would fall when it breaks?!

Pretty sure this was invented by a mother who clearly got enough...

Haha. This is what I heard yesterday. It was so hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing.

Anyway, Sat was so cool. I went to the government house in Melb!!! OMG I SO WANNA STAY IN THERE. It's so pish posh! And you see those old European stuffs here and there. And there is Queen Elizabeth's signature!! alright I should stop acting like an idiot just because she has the same name as me. There are tons of Elizabeths out there.

But it's just so cool.

Did I mention I've never been to the government house in Singapore? Such a shame. Can ANYBODY go with me? It's so annoying. Whenever I mention it people will look at me as if I'm crazy and yeah... I end up not going. But seriously!!! I think it would be a grand looking house too you know. :(

Alright I should stop rambling.
I really wanna see fireworks though.
:(

*Sigh.. if only i can get this amount of words out for my report as fast as for my blog...
psht.

Fresh Start - the smell of solitude.

Been spending a week plus over in Melbourne already.

It's crazy. I'm in school almost everyday - well actually i think everyday because i really need to sap on the internet from school HAHAHA. "don't wanna get an internet plan when things aren't cfmed"
Weekend comes and poof, its busy once again going for inspections after inspections.

Week starts and I have to do readings and prepare for tutorials and lectures.

Next week is going to be really fast track and I wouldn't even know what hits me i think. "freaking out a little with the amount of extra readings that i have to do for a summer intensive subject."

But oh well!

I'm pretty much settling down into my own personal space (:

Settling Down

Flew back on the night of 4th Jan.
Not the best flight I would have.
"Seems that bad luck ALWAYS befalls me whenever I am alone"
Then things would happen to make things back as it should be or even better :)

I got a centre aisle seat, and diagonally in front of me was an empty seat by the window because someone puked in the previous flight and the people wanted to move because it wasn't cleaned properly.
le sigh..
I'm not complaining but I wished she did not actually mention it or spray something so that I started to smell it for awhile and make myself feel a little sick too.

Anyway, I couldn't really stand the people sitting in front of me. If I had that many kids in future I would kill myself if they were so irritating and rude. They were quite noisy from the start of the flight - fine, I could live with that. Just when I was going to doze off into lala land, they had to spill (i would like to think) water - COLD WATER on my feet. I don't know what they were doing but I know it was an accident. Still, an apology wouldn't be too much, wouldn't it?

Throughout my whole flight I just had this stomach twisting feeling, like I knew something wasn't going to go well, and it really was true!! :(

No starbus when I arrived. With no Aust number because I decided to cancel mine, I tried to use my SG number to call. While they left me waiting there for ages and so, I decided to take SkyBus. Well SkyBus only sends one to Southern Cross Station. Supposedly smart me thought I could just take a tram back with a 2-hour pass. Smart me could not compete with the transport system in Australia, which decided to change the system to only accept Myki cards from 29 December 2012. I couldn't believe my luck when I read that flag at the tram station. Deciding to save on that money instead, I walked home. See! Doing this saved me $3 in the end.

I headed to town later in the morning since I arrived at like 8AM at my apartment. With just one thing in my mind - getting the Crazy John prepaid so that I would be able to contact my parents and boyfriend, and friends too. Told to wait 30 min before I could insert the SIM card in, I waited, thinking that all will be fine. And so I bought a few grocery stuffs while waiting. When I tried to put the SIM card in, it could not be read!!! I went back to the shop and asked for help. The salesgirl told me that my phone must be locked. She was not going to refund me. "I wasn't even going to ask for a refund but whatever". She didn't know where to get my phone unlocked. In a state of trauma now, I didn't know what to do and I just subconsciously walked into Vodafone across the road. The guy was so nice! He told me he knew one nearby who could do unlocking of phones and directed me there. After speaking to the girl at the shop, I was beyond distraught to realize that I had to leave my phone there for 2 days. Then the change for the better came. She asked me which carrier was my phone locked to. I said Singapore. She said that was quite impossible because Singapore phones are rarely locked. She let me try out 2 of her SIM cards (SO NICE!!!) and when they both could work she told me it was probably a faulty SIM card. And so, I went back to Crazy Johns AGAIN. The guy helped me do a SIM swap and told me to put the SIM card in after 30 minutes and that the problem might take about 2 hours to be solved. Patient me waited for like 2 over hours at home because my frozen food could not stay in the open for too long. When 2 hours came and there was still no service, I went back down again. He tried and told me it couldn't be done. Thereafter, he said reception could be poor there and I should go out and try. After half hour of trying and an encounter with a begger, I went back in and said it could not be done too. Resigned to fate, I left after he told me to come back on Monday so they could request a refund for me when the manager was there. GUESS WHAT I DID. Yes, I refused to think it was my phone's problem and walked straight into Vodafone as if with some newborn purpose. Imagine my happiness when the salesperson heard my plight and inserted his own microsim into my phone. I have never been happier seeing the whatsapp messages in my phone. I spent over 30minutes in the shop and I left happy with a new plan (postpaid at that). There were no registration charges (YAY!) and although there was lesser data than what I could get with Crazy John, I am GLAD that everything turned out fine in the end.

Monday came and i went down to the shop again. The manager was busy :( and I was waiting there for awhile. The nice guy that helped me before told me she would take some time and told me to get some lunch before coming back. I decided to walk around a bit before going back again. When i went back the second time it was finally settled and my stomach was not that twisted anymore! (JOYYY )

Well, that twisted feeling could be due to my worry about not being able to finish moving by the time I am supposed to move out too. HAHA.

All's better now! :)

In SG :)

10 November 2012

Could not resist blogging since I am so so so bored in the plane. There is like another 3 hours. That means that I have endured a good part of the journey already. :( I have absolutely nothing to do. I thought I would have something to do but I realized that I do not have much. My handcarry bag is so heavy because of idk what. But it was very heavy. :( I won’t forget that my knees were SOOOOO tired because I stood there for a good part of the time so still that I did not move. To top everything off, I was standing in the queue for about 2 hours. I cleared the check-in only 2 ½ hours later. (and that was after I had done a web check-in. Can you imagine how long more I would have to stand in the queue?! I really got to thank my lucky stars for getting me to do the web check-in. Needless to say, my flight was delayed by an hour. I was honestly expecting it to be delayed even longer. By the time I cleared the check-in all I wanted to do was sit down and have my bagel. I didn’t even want to shop anymore.

*there goes last minute shopping*

Seriously, I was so tired that I didn’t even mind sitting at Hudsons Coffee & eating ALONE. I just wanted to SIT DOWN. Alright it might help that the café was quite empty. Hahaha. But I was really very tired. I kept complaining to Melvin and Sherman who happened to message me.

I think someone up there is training me to be more patient because I would probably have to queue this way in sg. *thinks about the supermarkets in sg* - a great reason to miss Melbourne. But seriously? Do it when I have someone to entertain me please! Not when I am alone and feel awkward and refuse to make any friends! :( then I went to check twitter and woohoo! My predicament was featured in the papers. Okay not really papers, but The Age reported it on their online paper. Apparently the system crashed for Virgin Airways (I think only domestic), JetStar (GRRRR), & Tiger Airways (no surprise for me – I am biased against Tiger for a reason; I was a very unhappy customer of theirs.) And so, it has to happen on the day that I decided to fly back home. Melvin’s exact words “You very heng ah” – what kind of boyfriend is this!

At least I am on the plane now and my flight is not cancelled. Gracious me, I think I would be so stunned, then scared, then upset, then I will start crying!

*such a bad experience for first time flying alone* - oh but think of the good side

- They did not bother to check my weight. I think they did but they did not say anything. Whahaha!

- They did not tear my ticket at all! Which means I still have an intact ticket yay!

- They were SOOOO polite and kept apologizing! i hate repetitive apologies, but when they are sincere it’s just so different! Then again, I’m biased towards JetStar :) If the same thing happened with Tiger Airways, I bet I would be sulking at them. Then again, I don’t ever throw tantrums when I am alone because I hate attention so I might not. “possibilities of cursing inwardly is another thing”

And everyone was like so nice. No one made a fit or anything like that. They were all patiently waiting. While I was waiting, I was thinking about what would happen if it happened in Singapore. Within half an hour I bet there would be complaints already. That might just be my stereotype formed. Putting things in another perspective, would the people here react differently if this happened in Singapore? Or would they conform to the society’s culture and do what Singaporeans typically do? Damn, stop thinking about psychology already.

I got the aisle seat! Thanks to web check-in, I can select my own seat HAHAHA! Have I listed enough benefits for people to do a web check-in? it is so convenient, takes up less than 10 minutes of your time, and can save up to 30-1hour or even more of waiting at the airport, leaving you ample time to do some last minute shopping, unless you are suay like me, who had a flight on the day when the system crashed. Even in such circumstances, you are in the priority queue because you did the web check-in! usually they open 1 counter for this queue I think, but today they opened 2! And since web check-in can be done like 48 hours before you fly, I bet everyone has enough time, even if you do last min packing like me,

I realized I can babble a lot when I am bored. I just typed so many words and it is only about the airport to the plane. I did not even talk about any other things.

But guess what, that was 20 minutes closer to Singapore already! HOHOHO.

And now I shall start blogging about interesting experiences

*warning! usually revolves around food*

1. I have been so out of touch with running man! Instead, I am catching up on Big Bang Theory, which is seriously hilarious by the way. And isn’t it so coincidental? They have a new season (5) like a few days after my birthday! HAHAHAHA. Shelldon is damn funny and cute. He is so anal that I find him hilarious. According to Freudian theory of development, it could be related to him not being able to transit into the phallic stage, which might have caused this ‘anal character’ of his. By the way I think Freud is a very scary person and I see his name everywhere.

Although I have not been talking, I am currently very thirsty! :(

09 November 2012

Ended paper rather early and I went to do some last minute shopping. It was so tiring. I had a headache at the end of it and I didn’t even want to shop anymore. This always happens to me. I really hate looking at clothes when there are too many, and none of them catch my eye. That is why I hate shopping – to some extent. Talk to me about baking instead please. My eyes will sparkle hahaha!

Met Melvin for dinner at rose garden after that! We haven’t been to that place for so long! I think I will miss Classic Curry Company btw. It is so yummy! Never knew I would like indian food HAHAHA.

I realized I cant blog now. Because Idk what happened. I have to look at the photos to decide what I had done on that day. Apparently my phone is idiotic. It was 100% and then got depleted like till 50 plus% but after I off-ed it and on-ed it again, it was 15%. Ah just as well, I don’t have network coverage haha. Oh while I was on the plane, and we were above the clouds, the clouds were SOOOOO CUTE! I totally imagined  Sun Wu Kong and those Chinese olden drama that starred deities lazing around on the clouds! SO FLUFFY!

And as I type this I am thinking of the cat on the marshmallow. How I said if I were small, I would sleep on a marshmallow and eat it when I wake up. HAHAHA I think it is funny, even if no one thinks so. 

I'm 21!

Definitely grateful for everything that has been planned for me.
I love celebrating birthdays, but i absolutely dread it when my birthday draws near.
the anticipation kills me.
i'm excited but i don't want to get excited because i am a firm believer of 'the higher you go, the harder you fall'.
and so i put on a front and act like i don't care so that i would really believe that i won't care. But the anticipation always sets in and so i end up getting so conflicted and annoyed with myself!
urgh!
what a torture!
to make things worse, things often pop up hinting that my birthday is going to suck. and i get super sensitive. a small little thing happens and i go. i knew it, my birthday is going to suck. it's so annoying i want to shoot myself.

and so anyway, lovelies celebrated my birthday for me, both from Singapore and Australia:) ♥

Met up with Jodie and Joy for dessert and this is what they gave me! "couldn't resist making this into the gif when i was given such an interactive card". and the card sort of describes what happened during my birthday LOL! i bet they gave me this lunchbox recipe book as a hint that i should start eating proper food during lunch. oops. so sweet of them though!

This came in the mail just a day before my birthday from Ashley! with a little cactus which i really hope won't die!! i can't believe that we've known each other for like 4 years? you're definitely one of the gems that i found from fish and co :) "don't regret working at that outlet even though it is so busy and sometimes some things happen to make us feel annoyed haha. So touched to see the 'i miss you!' at the first part of the sentence. and when i read the part where you said that distance really matters, i felt so sad. but then i actually felt so nostalgic about the times where we would just meet up randomly to chat or have a meal, or to study etc. it was so easy. and i'm so guilty about the 'not replying whatsapp'. I can't wait to go back to SG and spend some quality time with you!!! ♥

Poly Clique's messages to me:) came one day before my birthday too :) and i bet it's deliberate of them to actually find a card with a picture of a bird in front. I miss spending time with all of them! whether in a group or alone when we are just so random. :) Although our farmville seems to have grown and shrank and grown over the years, i still am grateful for knowing all of you! With all our different characters, it seems so unlikely that we would blend well together. Well, I'm glad we did! :D

and so this is how i spent a large part of my day - reading in a cafe along elizabeth street:) 

poor Melvin had to carry 21 apples to me at the cafe with a bouquet of flowers with strong wind. (because i was not supposed to be out of the house according to his plan) - too bad i always spoil plans. LOL.

arranged by YiJun - super sneaky of her to fb message Melvin. it would just be so Melvin to accidentally let slip that he received a message from YiJun. well, at least i didn't pry to see what they were gonna do so i was still surprised! "although i must mention that the 21 smth did pop up in my mind". YiJun, that's so you! HAHA! people say that i won't be able to finish the apples. i proved people wrong, the apples are almost all gone now. LOL! it's only been about a week. HAHAHA

Melvin came to the cafe to find me again after going back to put the apples down at my place, insisting that i should stay at the cafe and not move about. *sounds suspicious?* and so we went to have dinner together thereafter at this rather expensive Spanish place. the food's nice, but very pricey! tried rabbit burger for the first time! (even though it was like bite sized lol!) because it was a meat patty, i think i wouldn't know it was rabbit meat unless i was told what it was? it was like a mix between pork and chicken. and so we took a slow walk back home! 

along the way, Melvin kept messaging Jodie, thereby leading me to hypothesize (too much psychology in my mind, JUST HAD TO USE THAT WORD) that the two of them were planning some sort of surprise. it certainly didn't occur to me that they were already in my apartment! (and had decorated my room whilst i was having dinner outside!) *toucheddddddddddddddd. :)

and this was their home-made tiramisu for me! :) by the three girls ♥ we were chatting till quite late and i think the neighbors would be pretty annoyed with us but it was only a day! :) so sweet of them to plan my birthday :)

another one of the earliest presents i received by Sherman! so sweet of him to draw this! so touched leh! St Kilda's Sunset hahhaa. wouldn't have expected this actually! especially when he has all his projects due now!! 

and this is from Melvinnnn. so typical of him to buy me kitkat! "which is the reason why we started talking actually" LOL. ♥ although you are always screwing things up without knowing haha but that's just you! :) hehe. like i said, im a bad girlfriend who annoys my boyfriend and spoils his reputation

and while we were making a hell lot of noise, someone suddenly knocked on my door, making me think that a neighbor was telling us to shut up. but it turns out to be Hannah and Charles who just got back from their trip with chocolates and a cake! 

a few days later SuYin suddenly appeared with a present for me! totally unexpected! i was really super surprised that she went to get me a present because she doesn't actually know about my birthday. haha. :) so sweet of her! and she made a photo and pasted in the card too! ♥

another few of the early presents that i received through the mail! this time from Taiwan sent by Joyce who was there on a holiday:) wah i really miss the bumble bees. all our random moments and meetups. baking sessions, etc.! :)))♥♥♥

I think this is the earliest i received my present. I was surprised to see happy birthday actually and i went "it's my birthday already meh?". haha! With so many stickers which is absolutely can't bear to use! 

♥ all of you people who ♥ me! :D hahahaha im so narcissistic. 

Machines

Am i the only one?

i can't stand talking to machines. it feels super ridiculous and i feel super dumb doing it.
i can't understand the rationale behind talking to a machine.
but it seems that machines are inching their way into customer service.

machine: i would need you to tell me in a few words what you would like to enquire about.
me: *hangs up repeatedly until i finally find the resolve to speak to the machine.
it took me like 5 calls to find that resolve.
and i'm in a really really really bad mood now.

the conversation with the machine was terribly awkward.
machine: i would need you to tell me in a few words what you would like to enquire about.
me: blabbers details*
machine: i'm sorry, i do not understand what you said (OR SMTH ALONG THE LINES)
me: *hangs up again.

I CAN'T STAND MACHINES!!!
i actually hung up and called a machine stupid.
that makes me feel even more stupid.

and so i decided to call again.
machine does not understand me again.
and this machine even cut me off while i was talking halfway.
OH THE ANGER.
and machine finally decided to direct me to a human because machine felt that it is unable to comprehend me.

system made me wait for about 5-10 minutes which felt like forever. when human finally answered my call, human answered my question, THAT ONE SIMPLE QUESTION, in less than 5 minutes.

i hate machines.

Surviving Winter!

I can't believe the last time i really blogged about experiences in melbourne was on 15 july.

16 July 2012

Rocky Road part 2! super yummmmmmy treat! :D

17 July 2012

Celebrated Jodie's birthday today! 

Chef Joy & Chef Elizabeth's creations! HEHE

Feast for the birthday girl

This is the yummiest ice cream cake ever!!!!!!!!!!

so super love it.

18 July 2012

Exploration day today! 

*attempt to conquer the 1000 steps at upper ferntree gully! 

1256 steps (i counted on my way down because i couldn't believe it when i reached the top so fast)

LOL.

the top wasn't really top. (i was quite sad when we sort of reached the top. because the view was not really fantastic.)

and may i add on that everyone along the way were going up and down in exercise attire.

they are awesome man. 

i went up and down once and i was already feeling like i'm going to die. 

*exhausted*

Look at that bent sign!!

As we were walking back, we experience hail!!

omg i was so excited even though its supposed to be bad haha.

After the whole trip we were feeling tired and so we hopped on to a bus to bring us anywhere. 

here's where we landed! 

melvin feels like home here. there were SO MANY asians! 

and it looked like marine parade (according to him)

someone's trying his best to look fierce here, but it became an epic fail moment if you get to see what's on the table. 

HAHAHAHAHA! (i'm such a bad girlfriend. i'm always throwing his face haha)

19 July 2012

MUOSS FOOD ADVENTURE! 

*gah i dont have all the photos. :(

and so we had a short briefing before we set off to Lygon! 

*macarons once we registered :)*

we had thai food thereafter, but i didn't get to eat anything much because i went to take last. one of the committee members said we took up places of freshmen, making me feel super bad. okay not really on feeling bad. i felt irritated and didn't want to talk to them! >:( i actl wanted to leave man. hmph. im still a first year what! grrr.

University Cafe!!!

their dessert was mad awesome. (i'm a dessert person haha)

but their main courses were really yummy too! 

we had a few of their pizzas, pastas, and chicken schnitzel (this is really yummy!!!)

*no other photos because i was busy dividing the food for all of us! :(

and last stop! DESSERT! :)

YUMMYLICIOUS CHURROS! :)

we stopped somewhere in the middle to play games. 

the games were quite 'team bonding' haha!

but i think i'm too old to play such games alrd. haha

20 July 2012

Shark Fin's House Part 2!

i've been eating dim sum so much lately haha.

You wouldn't believe the bill that came to us.

I NEVER KNEW DIM SUM WAS SO EXPENSIVE. 

!!!!!

$30 plus per person! :(

i love these egg tarts. (more than maxim bakery's!) well this was piping hot for one thing haha.

21 July 2012

Met leonard for lunch!!

oh it's just so nice to have a friend over in an unfamiliar environment. haha

we decided to skip mekong and try out rice paper. 

it was quite interesting that they served tom yam noodle soup! 

leonard said it was not bad haha.

and what's bringing a friend around if you do not visit the state library and pose in front of the library? HAHA




met sherman for dinner! i was too full to eat. but you know what they say about 'there's always room for dessert?' next picture accurately describes me :)

it's melty already :( oh but there are brownie bits in it, which made it really enjoyable!

22 July 2012

South melbourne market!

24 July 2012

After all that spending, poor me has to cook dinner at home hahahha!

25 July 2012

26 July 2012

this hor fan at laksa king is super nice! well, it really has a resemblance to ones that i can get in singapore zi chars (the better ones with a little charred taste).

27 July 2012

The reallllllly long name of this place: Maccaroni Trattoria Italiana

all of us ordered different things but apparently this is the best. 

and i ordered it! 

haha. it was some spinach filled cannelloni.

(GOOD) 

28 July 2012

no-bake cookies to make mr koh fat so no one will want him HAHAHA!

TACOS FOR DINNER!! :) (we were awesome cooks hahaha)

29 July 2012

mekong's broken rice!


i had to give the no-bake cookies a second try. the first try just didn't look appealing enough to me. See! they look so much better now!!! haha

30 July 2012

Churros with the girls! :)

and its home cooked dinner! :)