Days in Aussie

Sunday, August 31, 2008

For the 2nd time since I've been running here, I've been shadowed by a magpie! (I think they're at least 1.5 times the size of crows at home) It was the same path, same chirping, same breed of bird! I could feel it flying above me, than stopping on the electric cables and after I took a few more steps, it would inch forward a bit and rest on the cables again. Was it just intrigued by humans or was it deciding whether to attack me? It has been said that when it's turning spring, the magpies are more prone to attacking people. And I've heard about this guy in school who got attacked by them! Scared the hell out of me and the path felt like it was never-ending and thoughts were running through in my mind like 'Please dont attack me, please dont attack me I haven't provoked you!' and 'OH NO!! where can I hide if it really attacks me?' As there were only rows of houses around me, I can't possibly run into one of the gardens and hide right? Nevertheless, it was a pretty good run. Been running pretty long distances, well at least it is to me but I just cant figure out what's the distance I've ran. Maybe I should invest in a watch like that (Accurately measures speed, distance and calories burned)-such a pretty watch! i need my chi-ching!!!:

FYI: Magpies are birds of the crow family. Magpies are symbols of good luck in Korea, in contrast with their relatives the crows, which are portents of bad omens. In Britain and Ireland, magpies may represent good or bad luck of various forms in a complex manner, depending on the number of magpies present, according to various traditional rhymes starting "One for sorrow, two for joy,..." or "One for sorrow, two for mirth,..." (Wikipedia, 2008)

And this is how a magpie looks like:

RiverFire at Brisbane last night. My virgin experience of having to squeeze with CROWDS of OZs to get into South Banks where the best view of the fireworks is supposed to be. It was a whole half hour long. Those who went prepared had picnic baskets/mats and portable chairs. Next year!! We shall have our own picnic by the river and the best seats!! The position where we were at was pretty much blocked by the trees in front and it didnt help that there was a lampost directly next to us, totally affecting the glamour of the fireworks. Still, the company was great, Korean food + bubble tea was sedap and I finally met up with jenni!!

photo:Credits to joycexu

On a sidenote, I can finally understand how it feels like to be staying on the ground floor. My whole life's been spent up on the 15th and 27th level! Spiders been lurking around my room. I've shooed and killed countless of them to date. Seems like we're getting another visitor too! the mini cockroaches!! I'm just glad that there isn't any L......D around!

YAY!!! Spring's coming!! Byebye jeans, Hello lovely shorts!!

*edit: earlier on, after posting up this entry, I made my ham & egg sandwich(brunch). Being me, the one who cant do without her sauces, I went up to xy's house to borrow chilli sauce. When I was about to enter her house, LO and BEHOLD!! The L....D was right infront of me on the doormat!!! AHHHH!!!! how lucky can I get!! This is why we should NEVER speak of the devil!!!

{ 10:36 AM ; Ming Xian }

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Grow grow grow, We love Grow. Vaguely recall the song in the back of my mind. As I was having breakfast/lunch this morning with my daily dosage of milk, I realised that my milk intake is scaryfyingly HIGH! ha! The fresh milk here's cheap and the most economical one's the 2 Litres kind. Hence, the amount of milk I consume's 2L in 10 days. 200ml in a day! Well that's considered quite a lot for me! Drinking milk's beneficial for health! Does that mean I'll grow in height as well?? Alrighty. Back to my older people essay!!

{ 11:59 AM ; Ming Xian }

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

In the midst of considering the benefits and constraints of older people’s access to leisure experiences, programs and facilities, I’ve decided to take a break. 3 more days to go and it marks my 2nd month here. I dislike typing on a blank page of Microsoft Word. It signifies a long way to go till the end of my essay. Catched Australian Idol earlier on, their auditions are on for 5 days whereas the one in Sg, just 1 day. Ghost Whisperer on now. TV's a major distraction! I shall and will off the tv as soon as I'm done with GW. But Ugly Betty's on after GW!!! Followed by Make me a Supermodel!!

Brainteaser of the Day: What is never-ending, keeps piling up daily, haunts me often but it’s still significant and a necessity in my life?

Answer: my READINGS!!! (was supposed to flip it upside down! But I have no idea how to do it!)

{ 8:28 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Well, just couldn't bring myself to sit down and blog for the whole of last week. Just wasn't in the mood. Anyway, just to note down what I've done for the whole of last week,

- I submitted my very first assignment at UQ. Was quite nervous about it.

- Visited the DFO airport outlet

- Made pancakes. Serving size stated = 9 pancakes. I have no idea how i ended up with 17!!! hahaha!

- Practically slacked my remainder days away, at the same time, trying my best to absorb what I've read from the Biz Law TB.

- Booked our flights and accommodation to Melbourne!! Wheeee!! Hello hello FAB!!

- Signed up for Bridge to Brisbane Run on the 7th Sept.10km. My first ever marathon!!

- Marked the end of Beijing Olympics 2008. While watching the closing ceremony on Sunday, I was having mixed feelings about it. In the blink of an eye, it's come to an end. The terrific Olympians whom performed so well. How often does one get the chance to actually compete in a world renowned event? The heart-racing swim events, tranquil yet breathtaking gymnastics and diving, all the team games like volleyball, basketball, handball events that portrayed the strong bonding of a team. If only I had been in a sports team during my polytechnic days. Till 2012 when I'll be watching all of it again! Will I be one of the spectators than? Or will I be in Singapore working my guts out as an OL? Or will I be in some other parts of the world viewing it? Bye Bye Beijing! Hello London and the Big 24!!

All in all, school's been pretty much the same. Other than the fact that the assignments are piling. Have got an assignment due every other week. Isn't travel & tourism supposed to be easier to score as compared to events management? At least that was what I thought.

Oh!! I've confirmed the dates of my return flight back home!! YAY!! Hello Singapore! Hello Bayshore Park! Hello ECP! Hello NCC peeps! Hello Ping Yians! Hello ex-group mates! Hello humid weather! Hello HAWKER FOOD!!! - 1st December! It's arriving!!! =)))

And I had Tao Huey & Mooncakes the other day!!

{ 4:39 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Olympic's been on the past few days. I can just turn the TV on and sit there all day long to watch it. From swimming - athlethics - gymnasts - equastrians - volleyball - hockey. Plain exciting! I wanna be there at home to root for my home country at the match later on. After such a long while, finally a MEDAL! Though she's a Chinese, but the fact that she's representing Singapore just more than makes up for it. Seriously hope channel 7 or one of the cable channels will air it later! go Singapore!!!

{ 5:34 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

After a 35 mins long run, Poh went home and cooked breakfast/lunch. Usually, back home in Singapore, what she normally does after a run is to slack around/watch tv/eat some snacks/rush out to meet friends.

What a laidback life she's leading now. However, still not accustomed to cooking for one, she made Portebello mushroom and garlic penne topped with sausages and champignons for two! And no one to lunch with her! Housemate just went out shopping. Xueying's swimming. Yiwen just had her leftovers lunch. Joyce is too far away. Her meal for 2...

Fatty's traffic police test today! *she has got to PASS* so that there will be someone to drive me around when I get home! Another 8 more days and my class 3A licence will be with me for a year.

{ 11:45 AM ; Ming Xian }

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Monday, August 11, 2008

I can't believe that Ms Wu Xue Ying finished 1.5L of my water within a span of 2 hours!! Fat Seas family feast(1large chips/2 whole chicken/1 cup of corn) for dinner. Made chocolate fondue along with marshmellows/bananas/strawberries for dinner. Turned out YUMMY!! How can I not put on weight?? I'm trying hard to resist the temptations of visiting Coles. 1st day of not visiting Coles and still counting...

{ 10:53 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Poh's a happy girl because...

She's got a full length mirror in her room!!!! ( Landlord's promised to fix it up today, but has yet to do so, thus it's placed on the floor.)

she's got 2 study tables now!

Her house looks neater with a shoe rack and floor mat.

potluck party to celebrate National Day was FUN!! The excitement from Taboo and mahjong games played last night has yet to worn off.

Word to be guessed: Disposable. Clue-giver went on about Mcdonalds, leading us to the takeaway topic, asking us to guess other similar words for it. If it was for me, the 1st thing that came to my mind: travelling overseas, ___ underwear? HAHAHA! One more..

Word to be guessed: Tattoo. Clue-giver mentioned something about him and this other guy. We went on with the guessing of transexuals, plastic surgery etc. The opposing team were laughing their heads off!!

Housemate & I at the party

she's found pleasure in cooking as a group!

she found absolutely good bargains at the DFO (Direct Factory Outlets) yesterday! 4 tops+1 cap+1 nail polish = $27 AUD

Got the cap for $1. At the cashier,

Me"Is this cap $10?"

Cashier keyed in the code no.

Cashier"it's a dollar."

Me: immediately took out two 50cents from my purse, paid and left. HAHAHA!! I bought a cap for o-n-e dollar!!! Heart was racing super fast after that!!!! Imagine the excitement!!!

{ 6:34 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Thursday, August 7, 2008

So it turned out that we didn't make a wrong choice in volunteering for the Ekka carnival even though we had to be up at 0530 in the morning. It's a once a year carnival with cattle displays, shows by animals, carnival rides, food, shopping and SHOWBAGS!! Showbags are goodie bags with a certain theme to it, like if you get a Pooh one, there's like pooh coinbank, sharpener, memo pad etc. And some of it's real CHEAP like the retails prices can be 100 odd but its available at 10-20 bucks there!! I was quite tempted to get a few but managed to resist the temptations.

The spongebob one

Some random shop

More showbags!!

I wanna be a COWGIRL in my next life!!!
Met quite a number of them throughout the day and it seems sooo much fun to be one! With the hat & boots!!! *crosses fingers and pray that when I return next fri for my final shift of volunteering, the cowgirl hats would be going at half price* LOVE THEM!!! i wouldnt mind getting the straw hat either!! Housemate was just saying there isnt much use for it unless I'm gonna wear it to school. But it's nice!!!

My 'attempt' to milk a cow

The dagwood dog and strawberry sundaes that's a Must Have at the carnival.

I thought that this very simple ferris wheel at the carnival looked magnificient!

Fed a bulldog at the dog show pavillion as well. Cant believe I had the courage to do it!!

One of the many cute goats.

The dog that looked like a lion.

The best catch of the day... my cool sunnies for 5 bucks!!! (didnt manage to get a picture of it. it's rested nicely on my head in some of the pics though)

OH!!! Beijing Olympic's starting in less than 24 hours! Uberly excited!!

{ 9:08 PM ; Ming Xian }

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Sunday, August 3, 2008

1st month in OZ Land

Poh has...

- discovered that Tuesdays are movie & pizza days! Rental of dvds from Video ezy at $2 each and pizzas from dominos going at $5.95!! The perfect combination!

- experienced the joy of jogging. Now it feels like a form of leisure activity rather than a mundane exercise.

- enjoyed cooking more than anything else. Be it breakfast/lunch/dinner. The experimentation's (breaded prawns, chinese soup) are just FUN! Surprisingly, the food always turns out yummy! Just when I'm doing up this entry, decided to just search for a new soup recipe since we bought lotus root yesterday. Can't wait to cook it now!!! CHINESE SOUP's the BEST!! oh! did i mention that my fellow cooking mates here adore campbell/english soup. So going to influence them to start cooking more chinesy soup!! Have been thinking of cooking 冬瓜汤. But couldn't find the main lead Mr Dong Gua at Sunnybanks.

- once again attracted the attention of toddlers! Oh! the kid was all smiles before the picture...

but as soon as I swiped out the camera right in his face, his expression became...

Pardon the flat hair, it always happens during winter.

- yet to cut her hair in a month

- packed lunch to school

- felt lost during some lectures/tutorials. Aussie lecturers have a tendency to start mumbling whenever they're approaching the end of a sentence.

- missed the beaches in Singapore. Yes, i know it's ironic. Isn't it only logical that I fall in love with the beaches here and push images of the ones back home to the back of her mind. BUT, she has yet to visit any here!

- missed Sanya more than when I was in Singapore. The trip down to Sunnybanks yesterday brought back even more memories. Here's to my fellow Sanyarians:

奶黄包

烤玉米

王老吉

清补凉

Think you guys can totally relate to my excitement when I saw the above food products!!

Here's to mum:

Indofood fried rice paste. So fear not! Your daughter's definitely going to feed herself properly here.

- been trying her best not to think about the food back home in Singapore. She's doing much better here than she was in Sanya.

Technically it's considered my 1st month here. Before calculations, I've always thought that 7th Aug marks my first month here. But in actual fact,

1st Week = 7th - 13th July

2nd Week = 14th - 20th July

3rd Week = 21st - 27th July

4th Week = 28th - 3rd Aug

Here's to me:

Happy 1st month Miss Poh!!

{ 9:53 AM ; Ming Xian }

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