Monday, April 28, 2008

And the break is over...

First day back to school today. Oh, and that's the best substitute for Indomie on the right. Everybody eats Indomie and sometimes it's outta stock in the supermarket... so you gonna know what's the next best thing!

I couldn't sleep last night... Was in bed, thinking about the time left before the semester ends.. And there's not much time! And I'm worried I wouldn't do as well for the second half as I did for the first. Naturally things in the first part are always easier.

Well, it was that or the tummy ache. And I'm not sure if it was the increased intake of milk or the fact that I bought cheaper orange juice. Well, it was a quick-sale and the juice was half the price! It's not expired yet though...

Went out for a unit dinner on Saturday. Well, it was supposed to be a unit dinner until quite a few decided not to go, so it was just three of us. We ate at Eight Ounces, a pizza and bar. It was good - we ordered eight slices between us, which we polished off, to the surprise of the waitress. The serving was kinda unique, served on a plank of wood which was longer than the table. After dinner went for coffee at Goldberg's. In the picture, Victor from Sweden and Steffen from Norway.

On Saturday night we had a water fight too - in the unit. That's where I was standing when I was given a sho
wer in the living room.

And made my second quiche on Sunday! It's a vegetarian one this
time and it's got capsicum, eggplant, zucchini and onions in it.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Get laid

Was looking up some quotes on computers and technology. Love this one:
"1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d"

Another me

There will never be another now -
I'll make the most of today.
There will never be another me -
I'll make the most of myself.

Helen Keller

Monday, April 21, 2008

Disney, for adults

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Sydney Day 4 - Of The Rocks, Thaitanic and wild rabbits

Another late morning, though not as late as the day before and this time we had breakfast in the dinning hall. One thing about the Jewish college Steffen stays in, it seems there’s no problem that I sleep in their beds, use their bathrooms and eat their food. Steffen says that’s why he pays $365 a week!

I had scrambled eggs, cooked by myself, some prunes, and matza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matza) really dry biscuits without yeast. They’ve got this Passover feast now, and basically they can’t eat anything with yeast in it.. Which is like everything! Well, the food is limited.

Being a weekend, there was the local weekend market going on and I was particularly keen on visiting the one at The Rocks. It is an old suburb, and the buildings pretty much older than the rest of Sydney. But the place still commands a high price, as it is situated right along the harbour, with the view of the opera house.

As the brochure says, The Rocks is where Sydney began.

The Rocks market is also known for the arts and craft and while I didn’t get anything, we bought chocolate-coated strawberries and ate them along the way. Lunch was a simple affair of take-away fish and chips, eaten by the water side.

In the mid afternoon we went shopping; I had decided to get that jacket. And I did want something that was a little more dressed up than my hoodies. Nothing else interesting happened apart from walking around the city.

I arranged to meet Sameer for dinner since Steffen had a dinner to attend on college and being the vice-president of social meant he had to go.

Sameer picked me up and I met his partner, Lee and we headed to Newtown for dinner. Sameer is a 5th year student studying medicine in Newcastle while Lee is an actor. Since Sammer felt like drinking we got a cheap $9 rosé to to share. Dinner was at - get this - Thaitanic! Good grief! What a name huh!

I was afraid dinner wouldn’t go smoothly as this is probably one of the first few times meeting him in such an intimate setting.

Thankfully, dinner was pretty decent and I would even say enjoyable and conversation flowed pretty easily. And it wasn’t the alcohol in my system since I stopped at one glass.
Dinner ended at 10pm and I made my way to the train station, where I had an hour and a half wait for the train. I didn’t manage to sleep at all on the three-hour ride back. Something I find surprising since I normally sleep in the train.

As I was walking back to my room from the station, Warabrook, I spied a family of rabbits. It was a stark contrast, Sydney with the teaming people, and Newcastle, not a soul, just the rabbits.

Oh, my new phone. :)

Sydney Day 3 – Of brunch, Rabbit Without Ears and the Sydney Opera House

Though I did plan of seeing some of the museums, it looked like I wasn’t gonna get much of a cultural experience. We only got up about noon, and headed to Kings St, just behind Uni Syd for brunch. We ate at Urban Bites, a pretty nice café that is frequented by the students. I had a bacon and egg roll, recommended by Steffen, and we shared a sandwich with grilled aubergine and melted cheese.

We headed straight to Bondi Junction (after much gasps from Steffen that I hadn’t been there! It’s only like the biggest mall around!) So there we were, looking for a jacket for myself.

Bvlgari has a new scent, Aqva Marine, and it smells really good. I miss my Bvlgari Aqva. And since I wasn’t going to spend $80 on a new one, I went to the counter and asked for a sample. Again, the Singaporean emerges.

I was also going to meet Craig, who studies medicine in UNSW. Steffen wanted to leave us alone to hang out, but I insisted he came along since we were just meeting for coffee. We had drinks and some tea, Steffen a chai latte, Craig a café latte, and myself the usual hot chocolate. Mmmmm. Only Steffen and I had something to munch on though, he a strawberry tart and what else but a lemon tart for myself.

In the evening we decided to go to the German Film Festival, and after a few bumps, we got to the theater about 10 mins before the start of the film, Keinohrhase or Rabbit Without Ears. As you could predict, the film was sold out. Normally, I’d probably give up hope (there were signs EVERYWHERE saying it was sold out) But not Steffen. We queued, and when we got to the cashier, he asked her pretty persistently, but nicely, if she could squeeze us in the back. In the end she gave and told us to wait until everyone went in and took their seats, then she’d try to help us. What an angel.

She came to us when the crowd was comfortably in their seats and brought us in through the side door. Surprisingly the first row was empty so she told us we could sit there but then came back a few minutes later telling us to sit on the steps first because there were late-comers and when the film started we could just slip in the empty seats.

We eventually got pretty good seats somewhere in the middle though we weren’t seated together.

The film was great, and while it had a pretty predictable storyline, a good first German film. It was a about a celebrity gossip writer who is sentenced to community service or face jail term. He is sent to a kindergarten, where the head is a girl from his younger days he used to bully. Of course they fall in love, but it was a nice take on it, since he’s a player and she’s this sweet schoolteacher. Or at times "an animal in bed", as she put it.

There was a gem in the movie, little Cheyenne-Blue. The weird name because her “mum’s an actress and her dad’s an arsehole.” She said that! And that her “mum goes through many men, but only I get breakfast in the morning.” Her real name is Emma Schweiger, but I can't find any pictures of her adorable face online.

She really is super adorable. (If you watch the below videos, she’s the one who sticks her tongue out in the rain while on the tricycle with Ludo)

The official website (though you probably wouldn’t understand a word): http://wwws.warnerbros.de/keinohrhasen/

And there’s a Youtube link, though the English subtitles are all crappy, it’s good enough to understand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmalF-6QQec



After the film it was still relatively early so we headed to the Sydney Opera House (More gasps that I hadn’t seen it.) It was beautiful and because it was not crowded with tourist you really get the feel of the place, and then I realize why it’s world famous. Pictures really don’t do it any justice and you really have to be there, standing on the long and wide expanse of the steps, looking up at the sail-like roof of the opera house do you then get the magnificence of the building.

I also learnt something new – the roof is not smooth, like it looks in the pictures. It is actually tiled, and from up close doesn’t look smooth at all.

Sydney Day 2 – Of factory outlets, Korean hairdressers and filthy rich Asians

I decided to go to Strathfield, a twenty-minute train ride and a fifteen-minute bus ride out of town. But, there was a major factory outlet there and by default, every starving student’s place to go.

It was huge and I bought six books, for $90. That is cheap, considering a couple of them originally cost close to a hundred each. Having settled the books, I went to have more fun – clothing. The place is oragnaised like a shopping mall except everything is cheap. Oh gosh, so this is what it feels like to be Singaporean! I took one walk round the place, browsing everything. And then went to buy things only on the second round. I only picked up this sweater for $30. Of course there was plenty of nice clothes around… but since I didn’t find them particularly nice, I didn’t buy them. Pretty surprised at my self-restraint.

I needed a haircut badly and saw a Korean hairdresser at Strathfield (which it turns out is Little Korea) and having heard that Koreans were the better hairdressers, I tried my luck. They were cheap, at only $15 but I think the cut could have been better.

I was back in Sydney by the late evening and finally went to meet up with Steffen. He is from Germany and a model. His latest shoot possibly for D&G though he might not take it if it clashes with his school. Argh, some people! Turning down a D&G shoot!

We went back to his dorm (which is huge and he is allowed to pull in a spare bed, that’s how big his room is!) had a shower and headed out for a movie – my first in a few months! We watched Step Up 2, which was pretty nice for all the dancing. Steffen enjoyed it on another level since he is a trained ballet dancer.

After that we headed to Capitol Square, where we met one of his girlfriends, Judy a Singaporean, and her friends. We took some silly neo-prints and then headed back to one of their apartments. Apart from Steffen, Judy and I there were three others: Clarence and Vanessa, siblings from Singapore and Pear from Thailand. They all know each other because they stay in the same apartment.

But apartment hardly begins to cut it as it’s more like a hotel. We were in Clarence and Vanessa’s unit, which was on the 54th floor and had a fantastic view. They have an incredible sound system, loaded with a pretty impressive gaming system. For most of the time we were there they played this game which where you had to synchronise the drums, guitar and the singing so three could play at a time. There was also a DJ console in the balcony.

Needless to say, they were dripping with cash. I just find it hard to fathom this immense wealth, where the kids simply have no inkling of the value of money.

Sydney Day 1 – Of missing trains, smelly feet and free cookies

I had been lazy to get off my butt and go into Sydney. I suppose I have been getting too comfortable in my little room. Plus it’s been getting cold! I just wanted to sleep under my blanket!

I was planning on leaving in the afternoon – say about 3. But my mobile wasn’t in order and I couldn’t make outgoing calls – I wasn’t going to go to Sydney without a working phone!
So after all the waiting on the line with the operator and my problem fixed, it was after 4pm, so I thought what the heck? I’ll just have dinner here (since it is provided) and head down after that. I went for dinner at 5.30pm, left 15 mins later for my room, left my room just before 6pm, and still managed to miss my train at 6.09pm. Damn. The next one was not due till 7.15pm! I wasn’t going to go back so I took out my book and read in the frigid wind.

I reached Sydney about 10.40pm. I did not secure a place to stay for the night, but then again I thought that was “fun” and at most I’d just sleep in the train station. Ok lah, I had done some prep… I checked online and from what I saw the YHA was still vacant. There’s two within walking distance of Central station in Sydney but I was hoping to stay at the Railway YHA because they converted some old train cabins into rooms! I opted for a dorm-type room, where I share with three complete strangers. Two were Germans on a 4 month-long vacation and another Asian guy, who was asleep when I got there, and had left by the time I got up.

The moment I walked into the room, the pong of smelly feet hit me. Boy, it was gonna be a long night.

I didn’t want to stay with Steffen just yet – he had an assignment due on Friday and I didn't want to get in the way.

So, I hurriedly put down my things and left, for a very late supper of a subway sandwich, along with TWO free cookies. I suppose they were closing and were just trying to get rid of them. I walked around town a bit – most places were closed – and then headed back to my dorm about 1.30am, to the smelly feet and my waiting bed.

I slept with the sheets over my nose for most of the night.