The weather has been really erratic these days. It is freezing cold at night, dawn and morning, but unpleasantly warm in the afternoons. I rather have a constant climate throughout the day, so that my sleep would not be disrupted in the middle of the night. Up to this date, the temperature has hit a bottom low of 15 degrees celcius. This causes me to tremble in cold despite my thickest turtle neck top, Bowie's blanket, gloves and socks. Guess it is really imperative to get a thicker blanket soon. And, I also wish that there was a heater installed in my room, albeit it might result in hefty electricity bills.
The new garlic bread which I had purchased 2 weeks ago is different from the previous one. The garlic spread makes my hands oily when I take it out onto a plate to be microwaved. However, the servings are heartier and the taste of the garlic spread is richer. The party of 4 went out for a basketball session which lasted almost 5 hours yesterday. Alas, I can have some peace and quiet due to the absence of the deafening noise from their games. Cooked bee hoon soup again for my lunch. This time, I put in the frozen fish that I bought from the House of Asia. Need to eat it separately from the bee hoon because there are bones in it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my serene lunch in my room. I rarely have my meals at any other parts of the house either than my room.
Had another interesting talk with Alan again. I helped him a little with his elementary Chinese worksheet while he taught me a few Cantonese words. Seems like a mutually beneficial exchange huh? And, he showed me his room too. I was certainly awed by its huge size and the private bathroom cum toilet that came with it. And I finally realised that the toilet door in between 2 of the bedrooms could be locked, all thanks to Alan's assistance. Sadab taught me a trick on how to thaw frozen food more quickly, and that is to expose the food to the sunlight on the area beside the kitchen sink. Made small talk with Wilson, who returned in the mid afternoon after his First Aid course as well. He advised me to put my plastic boxes which contained raw meat upright instead of sidewards, to prevent the juices from the raw meat from leaking out of them. Sound advice indeed, otherwise I could have continued soiling my friends' food packages with those repulsive juices.
Had an entertaining 1 hour chat with Aili. She is so comfortable to talk with and we seem to have amazing chemistry between each other,despite being friends for a mere month. I could talk to her about things literally under the sun, including heart to heart topics. Appreciate her honesty and receptiveness to the topics I initiate a lot. It makes my heart feel really liberated and carefree. Wouldn't it be great if we could be housemates? *wistful sigh* Time always seems to speed by whenever I am engaging in such cheery conversations. And, I sincerely hope with all my heart, that her eye will recover as soon as possible. :)
Dinner was a very light meal, just a cup of yogurt and grapes, for I wanted to give my stomach a break once in a while. Had to discard some of the grapes because there were obnoxious looking white and brown bits on the skin. The rest of the night was spent chatting with Clar and Mummy, which got me all hyped up and gleeful. I even did some random singing while blowing my wet hair dry. When I sing, all the unhappy things that burden my mind temporary vanish. And I feel liberated, even though the moment is transient.
Okay, I shall conclude this post now. Want to go grab a Subway sandwich and an IDD card before my Green Engineering lesson at 2 pm.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Boring Saturday
Hmm, I reckon that this post will be rather boring to read. For nothing really interesting happened today since I did not take a single step out of the house at all. In fact, I have stayed in for the entire day since Friday. But the free time wasn't spent in a very productive way, for I surfed the web, chatted on MSN or just simply lazed on my bed most of the time. The credits in Hongjun's Green card have been depleted, and as a result, I can no longer call Edward or friends for random chats. All my NTU friends seem to be as busy as bumble bees lately, as the examination looms closer and closer. Wish all of them the very best of luck and hope they would attain their expected results.
Read through my handwritten notes on Thermodynamics and Energy balances. The former was relatively okay, but the mathematical formulaes in the latter look intimidating. And I am totally clueless about how to go about doing the Energy balances tutorial questions. At this point of time, I really wish for the supernatural ability to allow all related knowledge to diffuse from my notes to my brain cells. Unfortunately, this is only possible in science fiction shows.
Chatted with Zhaoyang and Chailing online before cooking lunch at about 3.15pm. They gave me really good advices about how to cope with my emotions in Australia, to make the best out of the not-so-pleasant situations that I find myself embroiled in, seize the opportunity to gain valuable friendships and let my true personality shine forth naturally. Shall try to drum their advices into my mind, and apply them whenever applicable. Lunch was udon with seafood base, together with the usual frozen ingredients like fishballs,vegetables and chicken. The noodles were tasty, but I need to reduce the volume of water used in the future.
Took a therapeutic afternoon nap for a couple of hours shortly after lunch for I could not think of anything else to do to pass my time. Keeping my eyes glued to the laptop screen for hours is going to have a detrimental effect on my eyesight, so I chose to sleep instead. Had a strange dream though, of some of my Malaysian friends asking me to go out with them in a dimly lit house. And the house did not even bear the slightest resemblance to my present home. And they seemed to be holding candles too. This dream must have originated from my memories of them celebrating my birthday briefly in the dark. I cannot remember the exact details, but I clearly recall seeing Bowie's and Jeannie's face in the dim candle lights.
Dinner was a beef and potato dish that could be prepared really easily, by just putting it in the microwave for 1.5 minute. Like yesterday, dessert was green grapes. The living room is buzzling with activity as usual, due to the excited yelps and the frustrated groans of the boys who are preoccupied with the playing of the Aarons' games. Not forgetting Huifang's loud shrills in mock exasperation as she attempts to learn how to play them as well. Such high pitched voices can make you raise your hands in exasperation, but she cannot help it, right?
Read through my handwritten notes on Thermodynamics and Energy balances. The former was relatively okay, but the mathematical formulaes in the latter look intimidating. And I am totally clueless about how to go about doing the Energy balances tutorial questions. At this point of time, I really wish for the supernatural ability to allow all related knowledge to diffuse from my notes to my brain cells. Unfortunately, this is only possible in science fiction shows.
Chatted with Zhaoyang and Chailing online before cooking lunch at about 3.15pm. They gave me really good advices about how to cope with my emotions in Australia, to make the best out of the not-so-pleasant situations that I find myself embroiled in, seize the opportunity to gain valuable friendships and let my true personality shine forth naturally. Shall try to drum their advices into my mind, and apply them whenever applicable. Lunch was udon with seafood base, together with the usual frozen ingredients like fishballs,vegetables and chicken. The noodles were tasty, but I need to reduce the volume of water used in the future.
Took a therapeutic afternoon nap for a couple of hours shortly after lunch for I could not think of anything else to do to pass my time. Keeping my eyes glued to the laptop screen for hours is going to have a detrimental effect on my eyesight, so I chose to sleep instead. Had a strange dream though, of some of my Malaysian friends asking me to go out with them in a dimly lit house. And the house did not even bear the slightest resemblance to my present home. And they seemed to be holding candles too. This dream must have originated from my memories of them celebrating my birthday briefly in the dark. I cannot remember the exact details, but I clearly recall seeing Bowie's and Jeannie's face in the dim candle lights.
Dinner was a beef and potato dish that could be prepared really easily, by just putting it in the microwave for 1.5 minute. Like yesterday, dessert was green grapes. The living room is buzzling with activity as usual, due to the excited yelps and the frustrated groans of the boys who are preoccupied with the playing of the Aarons' games. Not forgetting Huifang's loud shrills in mock exasperation as she attempts to learn how to play them as well. Such high pitched voices can make you raise your hands in exasperation, but she cannot help it, right?
Friday, March 28, 2008
Green curry udon
Woke up at 9 am today, but my sleep was disrupted for a few times because I had subconsciously removed my gloves and blanket while sleeping, and as a result, I woke up shivering. The morning air was really chilly, for I still felt cold despite my long sleeved turtle neck top. Had cornflakes with dried fruit and milk as usual.Finished reading all of Warwick's CHEM 3310 notes, which is considered an accomplishment because I have not touched any academic related stuffs since last Wednesday. Did some blog hopping and chatted with friends on the Internet. Got to know that Li Yun had sent me a birthday card from Singapore all the way to Newcastle from Dajie. She is indeed my sweetest best friend ever. :) Look forward to receiving my precious and special birthday card from her soon.
The Aarons seemed to be in an exceptionally cheery mood today, for they greated with an exuberant hi and made small chats with me when they returned home together. I was especially surprised to see Weiming, for I thought that he would be still hibernating on his warm bed at 12+ pm. At that point of time, I was putting some frozen food in a plastic container to be thawed for dinner and soaking my red beans in water. Since I bought the red beans 3 weeks ago, I have been religiously following a weekly routine to cook a warm dessert from it. However, I have a peculiar penchant for just the red bean soup alone, without the beans. Not forgetting, a tablespoon of sugar to make it sweet.
It was my maiden attempt in preparing ready to eat mushroom and chicken pasta today. I also had to add a teaspoon of butter,a quarter cup of low fat milk and 250 ml of water to make the gravy. In short, I just followed the cooking instructions on the packet. And the end product turned out great. I just loved the buttery and milky taste of the gravy, together with the pasta. The 3rd attempt to prepare red bean soup was also better than the previous 2 tries. There was more soup and the amount of sugar added was just nice. Lady luck was smiling on my cooking skills today :)
I think that the Aarons could go and open an arcade shop, for their computer games have become immensely popular with all my male housemates in just a mere few days. The living room has become crowded and boisterous overnight. Amazed by the fact that computer games can bond guys together,regardless of the emotional distances between them. I guess this is one of the reasons for their exceptionally good mood. Aaron was even rapping to his hip hop songs on his laptop, both openly and merrily. I was wondering whether he knew that I was nearby washing the dishes in the kitchen or not, before he started rapping. Many a times, I want to crack jokes with the Aarons, but did not dare to do so most of the time, for the fear of offending them, and worst of all, souring the friendship. Or am I being oversensitive and paranoid again?
Dinner was green curry udon with tomatoes,frozen vegetables and fish fillet. Had a big bunch of green grapes for dessert too. The lessons which I took away from this cooking experiment are : to add less green curry paste next time, for the udon was a little too spicy. Secondly, add some sugar to mask the spicyness.Had an enriching and interesting chat with Alan, who was frying beef and boiling corns. Despite being only 19, he has no qualms about joking and being forthright in his opinions with someone 3 years older than him. I certainly admire such straightforwardness. However,we needed to put in effort to understand each others' accents. Alan prefers soccer over basketball, and enjoys playing Warcraft as well. I told him that the Aarons are vagabonds, for they had never stayed in a single place for long. So far, they have slept in 3 out of the available 7 rooms in our house already. And that is excluding their temporary accomodation at Formula 1 Hotel. But the good thing is, they always get to share a room together, albeit sleeping on different beds. I am starting to see them in a new positive light, to the extent that I do not get irritated by the facts that their food takes up space in the fridge, having less space to hang my clothes and the sometimes deafening sounds from their computer games. Hopefully,my impression of them will continue to get better, for it facilitates the progress of forging long term friendships.
From Alan, I realised that my Indian housemate is actually named Sadab instead of Sabbath. He is a full time 2nd year IT student and a part time worker. He was born in India, but lived in Saudi Arabia and now Australia. Apparently, he dropped out of UoN's computer engineering course a few years ago because of his dislike for the Physics modules. It suddenly dawned on me that my house mates are generally very friendly, helpful and tolerant people, and thus, all of us are able to co exist harmoniously in a common house.
The Aarons seemed to be in an exceptionally cheery mood today, for they greated with an exuberant hi and made small chats with me when they returned home together. I was especially surprised to see Weiming, for I thought that he would be still hibernating on his warm bed at 12+ pm. At that point of time, I was putting some frozen food in a plastic container to be thawed for dinner and soaking my red beans in water. Since I bought the red beans 3 weeks ago, I have been religiously following a weekly routine to cook a warm dessert from it. However, I have a peculiar penchant for just the red bean soup alone, without the beans. Not forgetting, a tablespoon of sugar to make it sweet.
It was my maiden attempt in preparing ready to eat mushroom and chicken pasta today. I also had to add a teaspoon of butter,a quarter cup of low fat milk and 250 ml of water to make the gravy. In short, I just followed the cooking instructions on the packet. And the end product turned out great. I just loved the buttery and milky taste of the gravy, together with the pasta. The 3rd attempt to prepare red bean soup was also better than the previous 2 tries. There was more soup and the amount of sugar added was just nice. Lady luck was smiling on my cooking skills today :)
I think that the Aarons could go and open an arcade shop, for their computer games have become immensely popular with all my male housemates in just a mere few days. The living room has become crowded and boisterous overnight. Amazed by the fact that computer games can bond guys together,regardless of the emotional distances between them. I guess this is one of the reasons for their exceptionally good mood. Aaron was even rapping to his hip hop songs on his laptop, both openly and merrily. I was wondering whether he knew that I was nearby washing the dishes in the kitchen or not, before he started rapping. Many a times, I want to crack jokes with the Aarons, but did not dare to do so most of the time, for the fear of offending them, and worst of all, souring the friendship. Or am I being oversensitive and paranoid again?
Dinner was green curry udon with tomatoes,frozen vegetables and fish fillet. Had a big bunch of green grapes for dessert too. The lessons which I took away from this cooking experiment are : to add less green curry paste next time, for the udon was a little too spicy. Secondly, add some sugar to mask the spicyness.Had an enriching and interesting chat with Alan, who was frying beef and boiling corns. Despite being only 19, he has no qualms about joking and being forthright in his opinions with someone 3 years older than him. I certainly admire such straightforwardness. However,we needed to put in effort to understand each others' accents. Alan prefers soccer over basketball, and enjoys playing Warcraft as well. I told him that the Aarons are vagabonds, for they had never stayed in a single place for long. So far, they have slept in 3 out of the available 7 rooms in our house already. And that is excluding their temporary accomodation at Formula 1 Hotel. But the good thing is, they always get to share a room together, albeit sleeping on different beds. I am starting to see them in a new positive light, to the extent that I do not get irritated by the facts that their food takes up space in the fridge, having less space to hang my clothes and the sometimes deafening sounds from their computer games. Hopefully,my impression of them will continue to get better, for it facilitates the progress of forging long term friendships.
From Alan, I realised that my Indian housemate is actually named Sadab instead of Sabbath. He is a full time 2nd year IT student and a part time worker. He was born in India, but lived in Saudi Arabia and now Australia. Apparently, he dropped out of UoN's computer engineering course a few years ago because of his dislike for the Physics modules. It suddenly dawned on me that my house mates are generally very friendly, helpful and tolerant people, and thus, all of us are able to co exist harmoniously in a common house.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tomato scrambled eggs
Due to the Easter holidays, all the IRHR 1001 tutorials had been cancelled for the entire week. So, I only had CHEM 3210 lab today, from 1-4 pm. However, I went to school at around 12 pm because I wanted to use the Internet and look for the green engineering reference textbook. Time seems to fly whenever I am surfing the web. Wanted to upload the photos of my Sydney trip on Shutterfly, but it was a futile attempt because the webpage failed to load. This is outrageous, how can the internet connections in school be so excruciatingly bad? And it does not help that the Internet speed at home has gone back to square one, the days before 5th March.
CHEM 3210 lab was okay, for there was a lot of time in the middle to idle as the refluxing took 90 minutes to complete. Chatted with Renee and Robert about how we spent our Easter holidays. Renee and I share the same sentiments : Sydney is too crowded for our liking and we prefer a quieter and more peaceful place like Newcastle. There is a paradox in this opinion, for I absolutely love Singapore despite the high population density. The compounds which I crystallized today came in really beautiful colours, maroon red and purple. The derivatives of transition metal ions come in a wide range of colours, due to the d to d electron transitions.
Went to Auchmuty Library after that to retrieve the green engineering textbook which I had put on short loans. Its contents made me rather disappointed, for Michael's lecture notes were not based on them. Guess I have no choice but to seriously read through his lecture notes and work through the tutorial problems during the weekend. Nevertheless, I still printed several pages for basic reference purposes. On a happier note, Ding told me that Geoff will be resuming his lectures with us after Monday's quiz. I couldn't be any happier. His notes are very extensive and really aid in doing the tutorial problems. Had a late lunch of seafood sensation sandwich from Subway. The meal certainly tastes more palatable without onions and olives.
Weiming helped me to install Bejewelled into my computer when I reached home. It was really patient of him to sit down for almost 20 minutes to get the game up and running on my laptop. The house was surprisingly empty at that time, for Aaron was still having his Biotechnology lab session in school and the couple were in hospital, seeking treatment for Hongjun's recurrent ankle injury. Weiming also offered me a custard chocolate biscuit, a snack which I had never tried before. The Aarons bought a lot of titbits and ready-to-eat food. Thus, I reckon that they will not be shifting out of our house anytime soon. But I have grown used to their presence anyway, so it's totally fine. :)
Hongjun had very kindly asked me if I wanted to go to Jesmond with the party of 4, but I politely declined his offer for I wanted to chat with Chunyin online. Furthermore, my two previous massive shopping sprees had resulted in me having sufficient food to last for another 1 month. Cooked scrambled eggs with half a tomato for a close to 10 pm dinner today. The taste was better than my previous attempt to fry mushroom omelette, because I did not add too much pepper this time round. At night, the living room was exceptionally crowded, for in addition to the party of 4 and me, Sabbath, Alan, Wilson and William were present too. They were all enthralled by the video and warcraft games that Hongjun and the Aarons were playing. I think that the atmosphere at that point was a little bizzare, for it was the first time that so many people congregate in the living room because of the common interest for the Aarons' games. Furthermore, the party of 4 and the other 4 boys are just mere acquaintances only, therefore it is inevitable that there would be an air of awkwardness, stemmed from not being able to talk and laugh freely like when it is just the party of 4 themselves present.
I think the flu bug is circulating in the air within our house. Previously, it was just Hongjun who sneezes badly whenever he wakes up to the cold morning air. Now, I hear Aaron sneezing more often than usual as well. Hopefully my Berocca supplement can endow me with an immune system strong enough to defeat the nasty flu virus. According to recent observations, I think that Hongjun is quite pitiful, having an ulcer, a recurrent injury and a cold. Hope he gets well soon.
CHEM 3210 lab was okay, for there was a lot of time in the middle to idle as the refluxing took 90 minutes to complete. Chatted with Renee and Robert about how we spent our Easter holidays. Renee and I share the same sentiments : Sydney is too crowded for our liking and we prefer a quieter and more peaceful place like Newcastle. There is a paradox in this opinion, for I absolutely love Singapore despite the high population density. The compounds which I crystallized today came in really beautiful colours, maroon red and purple. The derivatives of transition metal ions come in a wide range of colours, due to the d to d electron transitions.
Went to Auchmuty Library after that to retrieve the green engineering textbook which I had put on short loans. Its contents made me rather disappointed, for Michael's lecture notes were not based on them. Guess I have no choice but to seriously read through his lecture notes and work through the tutorial problems during the weekend. Nevertheless, I still printed several pages for basic reference purposes. On a happier note, Ding told me that Geoff will be resuming his lectures with us after Monday's quiz. I couldn't be any happier. His notes are very extensive and really aid in doing the tutorial problems. Had a late lunch of seafood sensation sandwich from Subway. The meal certainly tastes more palatable without onions and olives.
Weiming helped me to install Bejewelled into my computer when I reached home. It was really patient of him to sit down for almost 20 minutes to get the game up and running on my laptop. The house was surprisingly empty at that time, for Aaron was still having his Biotechnology lab session in school and the couple were in hospital, seeking treatment for Hongjun's recurrent ankle injury. Weiming also offered me a custard chocolate biscuit, a snack which I had never tried before. The Aarons bought a lot of titbits and ready-to-eat food. Thus, I reckon that they will not be shifting out of our house anytime soon. But I have grown used to their presence anyway, so it's totally fine. :)
Hongjun had very kindly asked me if I wanted to go to Jesmond with the party of 4, but I politely declined his offer for I wanted to chat with Chunyin online. Furthermore, my two previous massive shopping sprees had resulted in me having sufficient food to last for another 1 month. Cooked scrambled eggs with half a tomato for a close to 10 pm dinner today. The taste was better than my previous attempt to fry mushroom omelette, because I did not add too much pepper this time round. At night, the living room was exceptionally crowded, for in addition to the party of 4 and me, Sabbath, Alan, Wilson and William were present too. They were all enthralled by the video and warcraft games that Hongjun and the Aarons were playing. I think that the atmosphere at that point was a little bizzare, for it was the first time that so many people congregate in the living room because of the common interest for the Aarons' games. Furthermore, the party of 4 and the other 4 boys are just mere acquaintances only, therefore it is inevitable that there would be an air of awkwardness, stemmed from not being able to talk and laugh freely like when it is just the party of 4 themselves present.
I think the flu bug is circulating in the air within our house. Previously, it was just Hongjun who sneezes badly whenever he wakes up to the cold morning air. Now, I hear Aaron sneezing more often than usual as well. Hopefully my Berocca supplement can endow me with an immune system strong enough to defeat the nasty flu virus. According to recent observations, I think that Hongjun is quite pitiful, having an ulcer, a recurrent injury and a cold. Hope he gets well soon.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Post birthday present and treat
Had CHEM 3310 lecture early in the morning. Warwick was teaching at a slower pace this time around. But I did not pay a lot of attention as I am still in the Easter holiday mood. Catherine and Kelly wished me Happy Birthday and even received a lovely photo album from them. I shall develop the pictures I take during the exchange trip when I get back home. So that I can slot them into the album for easy viewing. Catherine and Kelly's birthdays fall during this semester, which is good, for I can give my greetings and treat them to meals personally.
After lecture, Catherine treated me to a bacon sandwich at Mamaduke for brunch. She herself, had a slice of chocolate cake. The sandwich cost $5 which is cheaper than I had expected it to be. The serving was large and I could not eat the sandwich as a whole because the combined layers of its content were too thick. I would need a huge mouth in order to do so. In the midst of savouring my brunch, I had a very entertaining and relaxing chit chatting session with Catherine. She loves driving, as she finds it exciting. In fact, driving to school is what she does on a daily basis. She prefers manual cars over auto cars, due to the more effective engine brake and it aids in her concentration on the roads. Speaking of driving, I saw one car in front of us veering off course while on the way home from Sydney. That is really dangerous, what if there was another car on the adjacent lane? The consequences would have been unthinkable. Catherine is also a part time tutor, which reminds me of my previous tutees as well.
Proceeded to Auchmuty Library after thanking and bidding Catherine goodbye. I certainly hope to take a few photos and keep in touch with her even after I leave Australia, because of her friendliness and all the help she had rendered to me during lab sessions. Typed an entry at blogspot at one of the computer terminals. Due to the long time I took to plan and organize the contents in my blog entry, I was 20 minutes late for Green Engineering lecture.
As usual, Michael made us copy the contents from the power point slides. But it failed to keep me awake as my eyelids were growing heavier and heavier as the lesson progressed. It must be due to the fact that I have not been getting sufficient sleep since the day we left for Sydney. My handwriting was also getting uglier and uglier. Therefore, I have decided to borrow the reference text from the library, in preparation for the quiz on Monday. Just hope that no one beats me to it. Michael always lets us off late from lecture, which is extremely irritating, for Geoff had always released us at least 10 minutes before the stipulated time. I shall continue to pray for Geoff to return as soon as possible to lecture us.
When I reached home, the first I did was to put my huge grey jacket in the washing machine and sleep. Woke up about one and a half hour later to hang it up and pamper myself with some light snacks. Ate an apple, a slice of cheese and some vanilla ice-cream. My friends went out to play basketball as usual, while I played Bejewelled and did some random surfing of the Internet. Dinner was duck flavoured instant noodles with the remaining Asian stir fry vegetables in the fridge. I had no choice but to discard the expired mushrooms, for they gave out a faint odour. Finally, I have gotten rid of all the vegetables that have passed their expiry dates. If only mushrooms and vegetables can be kept for several months instead of a mere few days!
Got to find out something exasperating yet a little amusing during a MSN conversation with Clar yesterday. Some western exchange students were under the big misconception that Singaporeans speak Malay at home. Figuratively, my eyes would have bulged out of their sockets in addition to my lower jaw hitting the ground. And I thought that the misconception that Singaporeans do not learn Chinese in school was considered wrong enough to induce jaw drops.
After lecture, Catherine treated me to a bacon sandwich at Mamaduke for brunch. She herself, had a slice of chocolate cake. The sandwich cost $5 which is cheaper than I had expected it to be. The serving was large and I could not eat the sandwich as a whole because the combined layers of its content were too thick. I would need a huge mouth in order to do so. In the midst of savouring my brunch, I had a very entertaining and relaxing chit chatting session with Catherine. She loves driving, as she finds it exciting. In fact, driving to school is what she does on a daily basis. She prefers manual cars over auto cars, due to the more effective engine brake and it aids in her concentration on the roads. Speaking of driving, I saw one car in front of us veering off course while on the way home from Sydney. That is really dangerous, what if there was another car on the adjacent lane? The consequences would have been unthinkable. Catherine is also a part time tutor, which reminds me of my previous tutees as well.
Proceeded to Auchmuty Library after thanking and bidding Catherine goodbye. I certainly hope to take a few photos and keep in touch with her even after I leave Australia, because of her friendliness and all the help she had rendered to me during lab sessions. Typed an entry at blogspot at one of the computer terminals. Due to the long time I took to plan and organize the contents in my blog entry, I was 20 minutes late for Green Engineering lecture.
As usual, Michael made us copy the contents from the power point slides. But it failed to keep me awake as my eyelids were growing heavier and heavier as the lesson progressed. It must be due to the fact that I have not been getting sufficient sleep since the day we left for Sydney. My handwriting was also getting uglier and uglier. Therefore, I have decided to borrow the reference text from the library, in preparation for the quiz on Monday. Just hope that no one beats me to it. Michael always lets us off late from lecture, which is extremely irritating, for Geoff had always released us at least 10 minutes before the stipulated time. I shall continue to pray for Geoff to return as soon as possible to lecture us.
When I reached home, the first I did was to put my huge grey jacket in the washing machine and sleep. Woke up about one and a half hour later to hang it up and pamper myself with some light snacks. Ate an apple, a slice of cheese and some vanilla ice-cream. My friends went out to play basketball as usual, while I played Bejewelled and did some random surfing of the Internet. Dinner was duck flavoured instant noodles with the remaining Asian stir fry vegetables in the fridge. I had no choice but to discard the expired mushrooms, for they gave out a faint odour. Finally, I have gotten rid of all the vegetables that have passed their expiry dates. If only mushrooms and vegetables can be kept for several months instead of a mere few days!
Got to find out something exasperating yet a little amusing during a MSN conversation with Clar yesterday. Some western exchange students were under the big misconception that Singaporeans speak Malay at home. Figuratively, my eyes would have bulged out of their sockets in addition to my lower jaw hitting the ground. And I thought that the misconception that Singaporeans do not learn Chinese in school was considered wrong enough to induce jaw drops.
My Birthday celebrations :)
At around 12.15pm, I adjourned to Canara Place to meet Aili, who was going to bring me to a western restaurant, called Goldberg in Newcastle East for my birthday celebration. We took the bus service, 101 over there. I finally got to know the location of the nearest bus stop from Faulkner Crescent. It is actually a stone's throw away from Aili's place and near the University of Newcastle's stone logo. Melissa and Eva boarded the bus when it passed by International House, their on-campus hostel. Had an informative and interesting chat with Melissa on the bus, she has a wide knowledge about contact lenses, for she wears them almost all the time. Most importantly, she has a really friendly and cheery disposition that brightens up one's day. Felt really at ease talking to her, for like Rachel, we share a common 1st mother tongue.
The bus journey was around 20 minutes, but we had to walk a distance before reaching our destination. Coincidentally, Darby Raj is in the vicinity of Goldberg. The restaurant exudes a rustic charm but was rather crowded nevertheless. I particularly liked the chandelier that was hanging directly above our table. There is a free flow of plain water, but we had to get it ourselves. The water dispenser reminded me of the water cooler in school. Aili ordered a plate of calamari to be shared among us, and I ordered a blt ( bread, lettuce and tomato ) hamburger. The rest of my friends requested for different flavours of pasta instead. I am a die hard fan of seafood, so I ate several of the calamari rings. However, I nearly choked on a cuttlefish shred which was very long and I couldn't bite it into shorter pieces. During the entire lunch time, the mood was exuberant for the 3 girls kept cracking jokes and gossiping about any random issues that struck their minds. The contents of the conversations really deserve a good, hearty laugh from me. Snapped pictures with the 3 girls, using Aili's camera. Thankfully, I did not look too ugly in the photos, probably because of my natural smile and my cheek muscles did not go into uncontrollable spasms this time around. Received a hand made birthday card from Aili which was simple, yet lovely. Melissa and Eva penned their well wishes in it too. Was touched beyond words by the effort she took to make the card and fork out time to celebrate my birthday despite having only slept a few hours the night before.
After lunch, we headed to Asia Grocery by bus. We did not need to pay for the bus fare since the area which we were in is a free bus zone. Melissa had wanted to buy some pandan leaves to cook nasi lemak. She has a penchant for cooking and likes to experiment with novel combinations of various food. Asia Grocery has a wide range of frozen food, including mock meat which are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It even sells crockery,seasonings and sauces However, the prices are exorbitant. The packet of frozen mock chicken which I purchased cost $8.80. Just hope that its taste is good enough to make my money worthwhile. After grocery shopping, all of us headed back home. At the later part of the day, I smsed Aili, Melissa and Eva to thank them for the lunch treat and the warm company.
At around 8 pm, the party of 4, Bowie, Jeannie, Oi Yin and Weifun knocked on my door. When I stepped out my room, they spontaneously sang me a birthday song. On Huifang's hand was a lovely chocolate cake with 2 candles in shape of the number "2'' on them. Made a wish and blew out the candles. Bowie handed me a birthday card and we proceeded on to the cake cutting session. Took a few photos with all my friends, and Hongjun was the cameraman again. Offered a piece of my birthday cake to Wilson too, who also wished me Happy Birthday. I really liked the rich chocolatey flavour of the cake, which was sprinkled with pink and red strawberry shaped bits of chocolate. Bowie and her friends had chosen this cake from Michelle's and it was a good alternative to my favourite cheese cake. I particularly liked the colourful balloons which were stuck onto the cake. Therefore, I have washed them and will keep it as a souvenir. Same goes for the candles. On top of the cake, they ordered 3 big pieces of Dominos pizza and bottles of soft drinks as well. I had a lion's share of the cake for it was my special day :P. Plus two slices of pizza which were bursting with meat flavour.
We watched a reality TV programme which showcases the atrociously poor hygiene standards of certain restaurants in USA. One chef returned a piece of food back to the fryer although it was dropped onto the grimy kitchen floor before. When the host questioned the chef about it, the latter said that it was all right, for the high temperatures of the sizzling oil will sterilize that piece of contaminated food. Theoretically, it might sound correct. But in actual fact, would anyone dare to eat food that has fallen onto that germ infested floor? After watching several of such scenes, one might possibly develop a phobia for outside food for at least a period of time. However, I will still choose to give the food and beverage industry the benefit of the doubt, unless I get food poisoning. *touchwood*
Introduced the game "99'' to my friends and we played it for one round. The losers had to drink a icky mixture of soft drink and salt water. Aaron was the ultimate winner of the game. "99'' is really fun, for you get to sabotage your friends into losing the game with the several power cards you may have in hand and watching the stunned expressions and looks of mock annoyance on their faces. Must really thank Kuan Huey for introducing such an exciting game to me. Played heart attack next. And poor Oiyin had to bear the "humiliation'' of losing the game terribly because of her relatively slow hand motions. Nevertheless, we all had great fun laughing and teasing one another. The final instalment for my birthday celebration was the Truth and Dare session. As usual, the guys were coy about answering private questions and awkward about having to pose questions. Jeannie asked me 2 questions which were really liberal and private, but I answered them truthfully nevertheless. Afterall, I trust that my 9 friends are nice and trustworthy people. Bowie and her friends went home at a few minutes past midnight. Aaron drove them back because it was raining outside.
My birthday this year was definitely the most unique one ever, celebrating it with not so familiar "people'' but yet I still managed to have fun overall. It is beyond my scope of vocabulary to describe my exact feelings during the celebrations yesterday. But in a nutshell, I felt really grateful to have lukewarm friends who invested in time and money to make a heartwarming difference in my life on this very special day :) Considering the fact that I am still a very new friend in their eyes.
The bus journey was around 20 minutes, but we had to walk a distance before reaching our destination. Coincidentally, Darby Raj is in the vicinity of Goldberg. The restaurant exudes a rustic charm but was rather crowded nevertheless. I particularly liked the chandelier that was hanging directly above our table. There is a free flow of plain water, but we had to get it ourselves. The water dispenser reminded me of the water cooler in school. Aili ordered a plate of calamari to be shared among us, and I ordered a blt ( bread, lettuce and tomato ) hamburger. The rest of my friends requested for different flavours of pasta instead. I am a die hard fan of seafood, so I ate several of the calamari rings. However, I nearly choked on a cuttlefish shred which was very long and I couldn't bite it into shorter pieces. During the entire lunch time, the mood was exuberant for the 3 girls kept cracking jokes and gossiping about any random issues that struck their minds. The contents of the conversations really deserve a good, hearty laugh from me. Snapped pictures with the 3 girls, using Aili's camera. Thankfully, I did not look too ugly in the photos, probably because of my natural smile and my cheek muscles did not go into uncontrollable spasms this time around. Received a hand made birthday card from Aili which was simple, yet lovely. Melissa and Eva penned their well wishes in it too. Was touched beyond words by the effort she took to make the card and fork out time to celebrate my birthday despite having only slept a few hours the night before.
After lunch, we headed to Asia Grocery by bus. We did not need to pay for the bus fare since the area which we were in is a free bus zone. Melissa had wanted to buy some pandan leaves to cook nasi lemak. She has a penchant for cooking and likes to experiment with novel combinations of various food. Asia Grocery has a wide range of frozen food, including mock meat which are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It even sells crockery,seasonings and sauces However, the prices are exorbitant. The packet of frozen mock chicken which I purchased cost $8.80. Just hope that its taste is good enough to make my money worthwhile. After grocery shopping, all of us headed back home. At the later part of the day, I smsed Aili, Melissa and Eva to thank them for the lunch treat and the warm company.
At around 8 pm, the party of 4, Bowie, Jeannie, Oi Yin and Weifun knocked on my door. When I stepped out my room, they spontaneously sang me a birthday song. On Huifang's hand was a lovely chocolate cake with 2 candles in shape of the number "2'' on them. Made a wish and blew out the candles. Bowie handed me a birthday card and we proceeded on to the cake cutting session. Took a few photos with all my friends, and Hongjun was the cameraman again. Offered a piece of my birthday cake to Wilson too, who also wished me Happy Birthday. I really liked the rich chocolatey flavour of the cake, which was sprinkled with pink and red strawberry shaped bits of chocolate. Bowie and her friends had chosen this cake from Michelle's and it was a good alternative to my favourite cheese cake. I particularly liked the colourful balloons which were stuck onto the cake. Therefore, I have washed them and will keep it as a souvenir. Same goes for the candles. On top of the cake, they ordered 3 big pieces of Dominos pizza and bottles of soft drinks as well. I had a lion's share of the cake for it was my special day :P. Plus two slices of pizza which were bursting with meat flavour.
We watched a reality TV programme which showcases the atrociously poor hygiene standards of certain restaurants in USA. One chef returned a piece of food back to the fryer although it was dropped onto the grimy kitchen floor before. When the host questioned the chef about it, the latter said that it was all right, for the high temperatures of the sizzling oil will sterilize that piece of contaminated food. Theoretically, it might sound correct. But in actual fact, would anyone dare to eat food that has fallen onto that germ infested floor? After watching several of such scenes, one might possibly develop a phobia for outside food for at least a period of time. However, I will still choose to give the food and beverage industry the benefit of the doubt, unless I get food poisoning. *touchwood*
Introduced the game "99'' to my friends and we played it for one round. The losers had to drink a icky mixture of soft drink and salt water. Aaron was the ultimate winner of the game. "99'' is really fun, for you get to sabotage your friends into losing the game with the several power cards you may have in hand and watching the stunned expressions and looks of mock annoyance on their faces. Must really thank Kuan Huey for introducing such an exciting game to me. Played heart attack next. And poor Oiyin had to bear the "humiliation'' of losing the game terribly because of her relatively slow hand motions. Nevertheless, we all had great fun laughing and teasing one another. The final instalment for my birthday celebration was the Truth and Dare session. As usual, the guys were coy about answering private questions and awkward about having to pose questions. Jeannie asked me 2 questions which were really liberal and private, but I answered them truthfully nevertheless. Afterall, I trust that my 9 friends are nice and trustworthy people. Bowie and her friends went home at a few minutes past midnight. Aaron drove them back because it was raining outside.
My birthday this year was definitely the most unique one ever, celebrating it with not so familiar "people'' but yet I still managed to have fun overall. It is beyond my scope of vocabulary to describe my exact feelings during the celebrations yesterday. But in a nutshell, I felt really grateful to have lukewarm friends who invested in time and money to make a heartwarming difference in my life on this very special day :) Considering the fact that I am still a very new friend in their eyes.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
2 Day 1 Night Sydney Trip
Hi everyone, I have returned from my short trip to Sydney with the party of 4, Bowie, Oi Yin, Jeannie, Wei Fun and Cherlyn. Reached home at around 12 midnight and was pleasantly surprised when the party of 4 knocked on my door at 12:06 am to wish me Happy Birthday. It suddenly dawned on me that I can no longer pass off as a teenager and that I am growing older at a rate faster than one could ever imagine. In July next year, I would be graduating from NTU and facing immense anxiety in the process of looking for a job to earn a living. As one grows older, making serious lifelong plans is inevitable. Okay, enough of the sombre talks. Let the Sydney trip stories begin!
Woke up at 8.15 am to have my breakfast and do a little blogging before setting off at 8.52 am in Aaron's car. The morning was cold but fair. After driving for an hour or so, we stopped to top up the petrol tank and have breakfast in Macdonalds. I was the only one who had breakfast before leaving home, so I just ate the red apple which I had brought along. The roads to Sydney are rather empty and straight, so the speed limit allowed is a "supersonic'' 110 km/hour. There are rock walls on the left side of some roads which fascinated me. Those sitting on the rear seats had to buckle up our safety belts, for they might be undercover policemen whizzing around,issuing summons for those who did not observe this important safety procedure. All of us, except for Aaron closed our eyes and attempted to doze off during the entire 3 hour car journey. It must have been exhausting on the driver, for he must have absolute alertness on the roads, for there are warning signs about strong winds and the weather might change out of the blue.
We encountered some difficulty in locating the Sydney Central Youth Hostel, which was our accomodation for that night. Luckily, with the help of Jeannie, who was the other driver of a rented car, we managed to reach our destination. Throughout the car journey, my eyes were treated to the panaromic view of the Sydney operahouse and the sea. There is a stark difference between seeing the attractions in Australia itself and looking at postcards. The feeling was exhilarating. All of us stayed in the 6th floor of the hostel. The couple and Aarons stayed in one room, while I stayed with the other 5 girls in another room 2 doors away. There are 3 double decker beds in the room and we were given bedsheets, for the mattresses had grains of sand on them.
Went to meet Vincent for lunch at about 1 pm, while my friends went to have Korean bbq instead. It was definitely nice catching up with him after about 2.5 years. We had a satisfying lunch cum chit chatting session over char kuay teow and tomyam mushroom and chicken soup at a Thai restaurant which Vincent recommended. Time passes fast when you are so engrossed in engaging conversations. There was a cute little boy with curly hair sitting at the adjacent table who kept making monkey faces at Vincent. We couldn't help but feel amused. Guess that toddler really likes him at first sight.
I did not have to fork out a single cent for lunch, for Vincent had very kindly offered to give me a treat. We walked to Market City which reminded me of Bugis village. There were many shops selling a wide range of clothes, souvenirs and jewelleries. And their prices were rather reasonable too. I bought some boomerangs and fridge magnets over there. In the heart of the bustling city, lies the University of Technology, Sydney. It is a tall building with the letters "UTS'' emblazoned on it. The streets of Sydney remind me of my holiday in Hongkong, where the human traffic is never ending and there are many Asians around. There is quite a lot of litter strewn on the pathways and the drivers are more intolerant towards waiting for their turn to move.
Despite having the map that Vincent gave, I still lost my way to the hostel in Pitt Street. He had to take the trouble to send me all the way there after meeting his friends. I felt really grateful but apologetic at the same time. Waited at the hotel lobby for quite a long time for my friends to come back from their lunch. After which, we proceeded to take the cityrail at the Central station to catch the Easter carnival at Sydney Olympic Park. The train ticket is extremely expensive, $17.50 for a half an hour journey. The train moved backwards from the position we were sitting and the wallks and windows were quite badly vandalized by spray paints and scratches. The standard of the train maintenance is a far cry from SMRT. During the train journey, Hongjun took some group photos and as usual, left the group in stitches with his crazy jokes.
The Easter Show Carnival is like a funfair, with many game and food stalls. But the prices were exorbitant, $6.50 for 2 small scoops of ice-cream and $6 for a thrill ride which swings us round and round at a fairly fast speed. I was so afraid I would feel faint after the ride, but thankfully I only had mild giddiness which subsided quite quickly. At around 7pm, we went to watch the Easter Bull Show. The stadium was so packed that we had to sit on the grass to watch. Basically, the show is a competition on how long the cowboys remain on the bulls which kept moving about aggressively, without falling off. There was loud music, such as the song "Macarena'' to add to the excited atmosphere. However, I didn't quite know how to appreciate the show. Without warning, the skies began to pour and all of us scrambled for shelter, for we were sitting in an open space.
The next stop was the Woolsworth Exhibition, where they showcased elaborate art pieces which were made up of real fruits. It was really fascinating as I had never seen an artwork made up of fruits before. Took several photos and then, we returned to Youth Hostel by train to take a break before having a really late dinner at close to 11pm. Dinner was at Pancakes on the Rocks. The eatery was very crowded despite the late hour. Needless to say, the place was very noisy with customers chatting at the top of their voices and the loud techno music was blasting at us. But I kind of like the music genre that they were playing. I ordered a Family Brunch which consisted of beef and potato crepes, with a scoop of cheese and vegetables as the sides. I regretted buying the sparkling mineral water, for it was carbonated and the taste was rather awful. Jeannie offered a bite of her chocolate and banana pancakes, which were tantalizing to my tastebuds. The Aarons, as usual, ate like a grizzly bear, for they ordered a main dish and pancakes for desserts. The pancakes are actually in the main course section in the menu, for the serving portions are large. Hongjun was the photographer for the night, for he took many candid shots of my friends' humorous poses with the food and the utensils.
The rain was intermittent in Sydney, the shower came and went swiftly, but it returned again when we finished our dinner. Aaron drove us to the Sydney Operahouse so that the couple and I could get a few snapshots of its magnificent structure before going back to the hostel to sleep. I slept on the upper deck, which was not as scary as I had imagined it to be in the past. Fell into a rather deep slumber, for the blanket was thick and warm. It was around 1 am by then already.
Woke up at almost 9 am the next morning. When I was going to wash my face and shower, I realised that I have forgotten to bring my towels along! What a careless mistake. Nevertheless, I still had a shower with the shampoo and soap which Cherlyn had kindly lent me, for I did not bathe last night because it was late. Checked out of of the hostel at approximately 10 am and proceeded to Marigold restaurant in Chinatown for a sumptuous and filling dim sum breakfast. We had egg tarts, barbeque pork buns, custard bread, siew mai, har gaos, chee cheong fun, glutinous rice and other dishes which we could order whenever the staff passed by our table with a trolley laden with food. We also had free flow of chinese tea to flush out the fats and impurities from the food we consumed.
After breakfast, we walked to the Asian Food Plaza, where I got myself a few packet of instant noodles with unique flavours, such as beef and spicy seafood. Most of the others bought titbits for the car trip later on. The prices of the instant noodles are really affordable in this place. Also had a brief trip to Woolsworth to check the groceries out. Woolsworth is equivalent to the NTUC back in Singapore.
The next destination was Sydney Operahouse by car. Jeannie had this really handy nagivator electronic device which could verbally give us directions on how to get to the places we want. The parking fees were really high at the Sydey Operahouse carpark at $9/hr. So, we only spent an hour there. Took several group photos and of the beautiful dome structure of the building, the sea and the unique design of the bridge where cars could travel on. There was a a pleasant sea breeze blowing at us, despite the the blazing the sun overhead. I also saw several of those white birds which we saw in Nobbys beach walking about on the ground.
Initially, I thought that we were going to the Nut Factory and that it was a brilliant idea, for I could probably buy some nuts for Serene, who requested for them before I left. But in the end, it was a mistake on my part because they had actually planned to visit the Nike factory. There was a wide range of sportswear,bags, jackets,shoes, equipment and waterbottles on sale. The designs were nice and the prices were really reasonable. But I had no practical use for any of them. So, I just bought a pair of Nike socks for one of my friends as a souvenir. However, my friends seemed to be really engrossed in their shopping and spent almost 2 hours there. I was bored stiff, so I just sat down on one of the benches to play with my handphones. I seemed like a wet blanket huh?
We left the factory at around 5 pm. I went to the Krispy Kreme in the vicinity to buy 2 doughnuts to eat as late lunch. They came in apple cinnamon and vanilla flavours. Coincidentally, my friends ate doughnuts as well. Drove to Jeannie's sister's house after that. The exterior of her sister's house is really beautiful and the surroundings were very clean too. The sun sets at an earlier and earlier time with each passing day, for the daylight saving time will end on 6th April, by then the timezone will be shifted backwards from +1100 to +1000.
Went to Istana Restaurant which served Malaysian cuisine for dinner. Was surprised at my own appetite despite having 2 doughnuts a mere couple of hours ago. The chrysanthemum tea was too diluted, and I could barely taste its true flavour. We ordered several dishes to be shared among us, such as laksa, char kuay teow, vegetables with prawn sauce, stir fried horfun and lemon chicken. Watermelon and orange slices were the desserts. Chatted quite a bit with Wei Fun during the dinner, which was a new and pleasant experience, for we never chatted so much with each other before. I played with the recording function in my camera, and managed to record 2 short clips of my friends' conversations and antics during dinner.
I felt a sense of deja vu when the skies poured again after dinner. Bowie and her friends wanted to Woolsworth to get something, but it was closed as the it was already night time. So, we decided to drive back home to Newcastle. The journey was surprisingly short this time around, it took less than 2 hours to reach Newcastle. As usual, all of us slept during the long car journey. As the roads were rather empty, Aaron's driving speed went up to 120km/hr. And I did not even feel the impact of the zooming vehicle. Jeannie probably drove at around that speed too, for the distance between our cars remained relatively constant. At the end of this trip, I arrived at a few opinions. I absolutely salute the 2 drivers, Aaron and Jeannie, for undertaking the ardous task of driving for several hours. Kudos to them for their alertness and helpfulness. Special credit goes to Jeannie, who made the special effort to plan our itinery for the entire Sydney trip.
Aaron was totally zonked out by the time we stepped into the house at around 12 midnight, and was the first among us to fall asleep. I only slept at 2+ am, after unpacking my things, showering and chatting online with Mummy. But I could not sleep very much and woke up at 9+ am for breakfast and doing laundry. On an abrupt note, I shall put a fullstop to this entry and continue on either the later part of the day or tomorrow, to keep my readers in suspense about my birthday celebrations. *pseudo smug smile*
Woke up at 8.15 am to have my breakfast and do a little blogging before setting off at 8.52 am in Aaron's car. The morning was cold but fair. After driving for an hour or so, we stopped to top up the petrol tank and have breakfast in Macdonalds. I was the only one who had breakfast before leaving home, so I just ate the red apple which I had brought along. The roads to Sydney are rather empty and straight, so the speed limit allowed is a "supersonic'' 110 km/hour. There are rock walls on the left side of some roads which fascinated me. Those sitting on the rear seats had to buckle up our safety belts, for they might be undercover policemen whizzing around,issuing summons for those who did not observe this important safety procedure. All of us, except for Aaron closed our eyes and attempted to doze off during the entire 3 hour car journey. It must have been exhausting on the driver, for he must have absolute alertness on the roads, for there are warning signs about strong winds and the weather might change out of the blue.
We encountered some difficulty in locating the Sydney Central Youth Hostel, which was our accomodation for that night. Luckily, with the help of Jeannie, who was the other driver of a rented car, we managed to reach our destination. Throughout the car journey, my eyes were treated to the panaromic view of the Sydney operahouse and the sea. There is a stark difference between seeing the attractions in Australia itself and looking at postcards. The feeling was exhilarating. All of us stayed in the 6th floor of the hostel. The couple and Aarons stayed in one room, while I stayed with the other 5 girls in another room 2 doors away. There are 3 double decker beds in the room and we were given bedsheets, for the mattresses had grains of sand on them.
Went to meet Vincent for lunch at about 1 pm, while my friends went to have Korean bbq instead. It was definitely nice catching up with him after about 2.5 years. We had a satisfying lunch cum chit chatting session over char kuay teow and tomyam mushroom and chicken soup at a Thai restaurant which Vincent recommended. Time passes fast when you are so engrossed in engaging conversations. There was a cute little boy with curly hair sitting at the adjacent table who kept making monkey faces at Vincent. We couldn't help but feel amused. Guess that toddler really likes him at first sight.
I did not have to fork out a single cent for lunch, for Vincent had very kindly offered to give me a treat. We walked to Market City which reminded me of Bugis village. There were many shops selling a wide range of clothes, souvenirs and jewelleries. And their prices were rather reasonable too. I bought some boomerangs and fridge magnets over there. In the heart of the bustling city, lies the University of Technology, Sydney. It is a tall building with the letters "UTS'' emblazoned on it. The streets of Sydney remind me of my holiday in Hongkong, where the human traffic is never ending and there are many Asians around. There is quite a lot of litter strewn on the pathways and the drivers are more intolerant towards waiting for their turn to move.
Despite having the map that Vincent gave, I still lost my way to the hostel in Pitt Street. He had to take the trouble to send me all the way there after meeting his friends. I felt really grateful but apologetic at the same time. Waited at the hotel lobby for quite a long time for my friends to come back from their lunch. After which, we proceeded to take the cityrail at the Central station to catch the Easter carnival at Sydney Olympic Park. The train ticket is extremely expensive, $17.50 for a half an hour journey. The train moved backwards from the position we were sitting and the wallks and windows were quite badly vandalized by spray paints and scratches. The standard of the train maintenance is a far cry from SMRT. During the train journey, Hongjun took some group photos and as usual, left the group in stitches with his crazy jokes.
The Easter Show Carnival is like a funfair, with many game and food stalls. But the prices were exorbitant, $6.50 for 2 small scoops of ice-cream and $6 for a thrill ride which swings us round and round at a fairly fast speed. I was so afraid I would feel faint after the ride, but thankfully I only had mild giddiness which subsided quite quickly. At around 7pm, we went to watch the Easter Bull Show. The stadium was so packed that we had to sit on the grass to watch. Basically, the show is a competition on how long the cowboys remain on the bulls which kept moving about aggressively, without falling off. There was loud music, such as the song "Macarena'' to add to the excited atmosphere. However, I didn't quite know how to appreciate the show. Without warning, the skies began to pour and all of us scrambled for shelter, for we were sitting in an open space.
The next stop was the Woolsworth Exhibition, where they showcased elaborate art pieces which were made up of real fruits. It was really fascinating as I had never seen an artwork made up of fruits before. Took several photos and then, we returned to Youth Hostel by train to take a break before having a really late dinner at close to 11pm. Dinner was at Pancakes on the Rocks. The eatery was very crowded despite the late hour. Needless to say, the place was very noisy with customers chatting at the top of their voices and the loud techno music was blasting at us. But I kind of like the music genre that they were playing. I ordered a Family Brunch which consisted of beef and potato crepes, with a scoop of cheese and vegetables as the sides. I regretted buying the sparkling mineral water, for it was carbonated and the taste was rather awful. Jeannie offered a bite of her chocolate and banana pancakes, which were tantalizing to my tastebuds. The Aarons, as usual, ate like a grizzly bear, for they ordered a main dish and pancakes for desserts. The pancakes are actually in the main course section in the menu, for the serving portions are large. Hongjun was the photographer for the night, for he took many candid shots of my friends' humorous poses with the food and the utensils.
The rain was intermittent in Sydney, the shower came and went swiftly, but it returned again when we finished our dinner. Aaron drove us to the Sydney Operahouse so that the couple and I could get a few snapshots of its magnificent structure before going back to the hostel to sleep. I slept on the upper deck, which was not as scary as I had imagined it to be in the past. Fell into a rather deep slumber, for the blanket was thick and warm. It was around 1 am by then already.
Woke up at almost 9 am the next morning. When I was going to wash my face and shower, I realised that I have forgotten to bring my towels along! What a careless mistake. Nevertheless, I still had a shower with the shampoo and soap which Cherlyn had kindly lent me, for I did not bathe last night because it was late. Checked out of of the hostel at approximately 10 am and proceeded to Marigold restaurant in Chinatown for a sumptuous and filling dim sum breakfast. We had egg tarts, barbeque pork buns, custard bread, siew mai, har gaos, chee cheong fun, glutinous rice and other dishes which we could order whenever the staff passed by our table with a trolley laden with food. We also had free flow of chinese tea to flush out the fats and impurities from the food we consumed.
After breakfast, we walked to the Asian Food Plaza, where I got myself a few packet of instant noodles with unique flavours, such as beef and spicy seafood. Most of the others bought titbits for the car trip later on. The prices of the instant noodles are really affordable in this place. Also had a brief trip to Woolsworth to check the groceries out. Woolsworth is equivalent to the NTUC back in Singapore.
The next destination was Sydney Operahouse by car. Jeannie had this really handy nagivator electronic device which could verbally give us directions on how to get to the places we want. The parking fees were really high at the Sydey Operahouse carpark at $9/hr. So, we only spent an hour there. Took several group photos and of the beautiful dome structure of the building, the sea and the unique design of the bridge where cars could travel on. There was a a pleasant sea breeze blowing at us, despite the the blazing the sun overhead. I also saw several of those white birds which we saw in Nobbys beach walking about on the ground.
Initially, I thought that we were going to the Nut Factory and that it was a brilliant idea, for I could probably buy some nuts for Serene, who requested for them before I left. But in the end, it was a mistake on my part because they had actually planned to visit the Nike factory. There was a wide range of sportswear,bags, jackets,shoes, equipment and waterbottles on sale. The designs were nice and the prices were really reasonable. But I had no practical use for any of them. So, I just bought a pair of Nike socks for one of my friends as a souvenir. However, my friends seemed to be really engrossed in their shopping and spent almost 2 hours there. I was bored stiff, so I just sat down on one of the benches to play with my handphones. I seemed like a wet blanket huh?
We left the factory at around 5 pm. I went to the Krispy Kreme in the vicinity to buy 2 doughnuts to eat as late lunch. They came in apple cinnamon and vanilla flavours. Coincidentally, my friends ate doughnuts as well. Drove to Jeannie's sister's house after that. The exterior of her sister's house is really beautiful and the surroundings were very clean too. The sun sets at an earlier and earlier time with each passing day, for the daylight saving time will end on 6th April, by then the timezone will be shifted backwards from +1100 to +1000.
Went to Istana Restaurant which served Malaysian cuisine for dinner. Was surprised at my own appetite despite having 2 doughnuts a mere couple of hours ago. The chrysanthemum tea was too diluted, and I could barely taste its true flavour. We ordered several dishes to be shared among us, such as laksa, char kuay teow, vegetables with prawn sauce, stir fried horfun and lemon chicken. Watermelon and orange slices were the desserts. Chatted quite a bit with Wei Fun during the dinner, which was a new and pleasant experience, for we never chatted so much with each other before. I played with the recording function in my camera, and managed to record 2 short clips of my friends' conversations and antics during dinner.
I felt a sense of deja vu when the skies poured again after dinner. Bowie and her friends wanted to Woolsworth to get something, but it was closed as the it was already night time. So, we decided to drive back home to Newcastle. The journey was surprisingly short this time around, it took less than 2 hours to reach Newcastle. As usual, all of us slept during the long car journey. As the roads were rather empty, Aaron's driving speed went up to 120km/hr. And I did not even feel the impact of the zooming vehicle. Jeannie probably drove at around that speed too, for the distance between our cars remained relatively constant. At the end of this trip, I arrived at a few opinions. I absolutely salute the 2 drivers, Aaron and Jeannie, for undertaking the ardous task of driving for several hours. Kudos to them for their alertness and helpfulness. Special credit goes to Jeannie, who made the special effort to plan our itinery for the entire Sydney trip.
Aaron was totally zonked out by the time we stepped into the house at around 12 midnight, and was the first among us to fall asleep. I only slept at 2+ am, after unpacking my things, showering and chatting online with Mummy. But I could not sleep very much and woke up at 9+ am for breakfast and doing laundry. On an abrupt note, I shall put a fullstop to this entry and continue on either the later part of the day or tomorrow, to keep my readers in suspense about my birthday celebrations. *pseudo smug smile*
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Kotara Westfield Shopping Centre
Good morning, will be leaving for Sydney for a 2 days 1 night trip in a while. Will be residing in the Youth Hostel located in Sydney Central, which is a stone's throw away from Darling Harbour and other scenic attractions. Meanwhile, let's backtrack to the events that took place yesterday.
Woke up at 11.15 am, which is probably the latest time I ever woke up since I arrived at Newcastle. However, my other 4 friends woke up even later than me. It is really therapeutic to sleep in on a cool and windy morning. Set off for Kotara Westfield Shopping Centre for lunch at around 2 am. The car journey was about 20-30 minutes long. The shopping centre bears a little bit of similarity in terms of outward appearance to Charleston Square.
The first stop of the shopping centre was the food court. All of us ate Japanese food at Tokyo Teriyaki. Initially, I was rather unhappy by the long waiting time for the Chicken Katsu don to be ready. But my displeasure dissipated the moment the staff apologized for the delay.Nevertheless, I felt that if the same scenario was repeated back in Singapore, customers would already be swearing and cursing under their breath. The Chicken Katsu don was satisfactory and hearty, but it was rather costly at $8.90.
The party of 4 and me visited the cd, games, vcd, art and crafts, and gift shops in the mall. The guys bought some X-box games to pass their time in Newcastle. The highlight of the trip was the window shopping at Toys R Us to revisit our childhood days. There was a myriad of toys on sale, including the evergreen Play-doh,Barbie dolls and toy cars. I reminisced about the good old days when my doting parents would buy a lot of toys for me, and the innocent,child-like demeanour I used to possess. Unfortunately, as I progress into adulthood, I become more cynical and pessimistic, which are the consequences of being tainted by witnessing the atrocities committed in a less than ideal world. How I wish I was a child of ten again! *daydreams*
There is something interesting to note at the shopping mall. There is a touch screen directory which you can use to locate the various shops in the mall according to category. Was intrigued by it although I did not use it. Purchased a butterscotch ice-cream from Wendy's to satisfy my sweet tooth. I always like to slowly savour the taste of the ice-cream,for if I finish it too fast, I will not get to enjoy every single bit wholeheartedly.
The sky was slightly overcast when we made our way home. It was such a stark contrast to the clear skies we saw on our way to the mall. Rested for a while and played some Bejewelled before preparing dinner of stir fried vegetables and mushroom omelette. Alas, I have finished the set of eggs which expire on 24th March. Surfed the Internet and did a hasty last minute packing of my backpack before sleeping at around 1 am. Speaking of the Internet, the webpages are starting to load as slowly as they did on the 3rd of March, just before the renewal of the bandwidth. =_=
Woke up at 11.15 am, which is probably the latest time I ever woke up since I arrived at Newcastle. However, my other 4 friends woke up even later than me. It is really therapeutic to sleep in on a cool and windy morning. Set off for Kotara Westfield Shopping Centre for lunch at around 2 am. The car journey was about 20-30 minutes long. The shopping centre bears a little bit of similarity in terms of outward appearance to Charleston Square.
The first stop of the shopping centre was the food court. All of us ate Japanese food at Tokyo Teriyaki. Initially, I was rather unhappy by the long waiting time for the Chicken Katsu don to be ready. But my displeasure dissipated the moment the staff apologized for the delay.Nevertheless, I felt that if the same scenario was repeated back in Singapore, customers would already be swearing and cursing under their breath. The Chicken Katsu don was satisfactory and hearty, but it was rather costly at $8.90.
The party of 4 and me visited the cd, games, vcd, art and crafts, and gift shops in the mall. The guys bought some X-box games to pass their time in Newcastle. The highlight of the trip was the window shopping at Toys R Us to revisit our childhood days. There was a myriad of toys on sale, including the evergreen Play-doh,Barbie dolls and toy cars. I reminisced about the good old days when my doting parents would buy a lot of toys for me, and the innocent,child-like demeanour I used to possess. Unfortunately, as I progress into adulthood, I become more cynical and pessimistic, which are the consequences of being tainted by witnessing the atrocities committed in a less than ideal world. How I wish I was a child of ten again! *daydreams*
There is something interesting to note at the shopping mall. There is a touch screen directory which you can use to locate the various shops in the mall according to category. Was intrigued by it although I did not use it. Purchased a butterscotch ice-cream from Wendy's to satisfy my sweet tooth. I always like to slowly savour the taste of the ice-cream,for if I finish it too fast, I will not get to enjoy every single bit wholeheartedly.
The sky was slightly overcast when we made our way home. It was such a stark contrast to the clear skies we saw on our way to the mall. Rested for a while and played some Bejewelled before preparing dinner of stir fried vegetables and mushroom omelette. Alas, I have finished the set of eggs which expire on 24th March. Surfed the Internet and did a hasty last minute packing of my backpack before sleeping at around 1 am. Speaking of the Internet, the webpages are starting to load as slowly as they did on the 3rd of March, just before the renewal of the bandwidth. =_=
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Step up 2 the streets on Good Friday
Woke up to a drizzling,cold morning. According to Sabbath, the days ahead would be cloudy and rainy. Had my breakfast of cornflakes with milk and dried fruits and it was complemented with a red apple. Vacumned my room and the living room, for the floor was very dusty and had hair strewn all over the place. It was the first time in my life vacumning a carpet floor. I found it rather hard to use the vacumn cleaner initially, but it turned out to be a very useful machine in the end.
The Aarons popped over at around early afternoon, for their lease at the Formula 1 Hotel has expired. Unfortunately, their new accomodation at Wilkinson Street has yet to be ready. So together with their luggage, they decided to stay in our house, at least until Saturday night. Alas, had a nice one hour chat with Li Yun on the phone, it was great hearing her voice once again, after a period of more than 1 month. We gossiped and shared our daily happenings with each other. Giggled throughout the whole conversation for I felt absolutely comfortable chatting with her about anything under the sun,regardless of whether the topics were about mature issues or salacious gossips. Found out about Edison's recent sex scandal which involved several female artistes. In a nutshell, one wrong move is all that it takes to smash your favourable reputation to smithereens.
Had a really late lunch at close to 4pm. The meal consisted of stir fried vegetables and the red bean soup which I had prepared earlier on. The vegetables were not too badly done, but I regretted not heating up the red bean soup which had already gone cold. Adjourned to Grandville to watch the movie "Step up 2 the streets'' at 4.55 pm. Bowie, Oi Yin and Weifun accompanied us to watch the movie as well. The weather was really cold and the sky was ash grey in colour. The movie revolves around a adolescent girl, Andie who has a burning passion for breakdancing. However, she mixed with the wrong company which is a notorious break dancing group, 401 who goes around wreaking havoc in public places. Nevertheless, the ending was good, because she left 401, got enrolled into the prestigious and honourable Maryland School of the Arts, and used her newly acquired dance moves to defeat 401 in a breakdancing competition organized by an underground club. The plot is gripping and the enthralling break dance movements can almost blow you off your seats. For those yearning for an adrenaline rush without exercising, go watch this movie! I think this is either the 6th or 7th movie I have watched since I arrived in Newcastle. Thus, watching at least 30 movies by the time I depart for Singapore is definitely not preposterous.
Proceeded to Hungry Jacks for dinner after the movie. Ordered a chicken crisp burger which was satisfying. Almost all the eateries were closed on a public holiday, except for the fast food joints. Had an exceptionally nice chatting session with my friends, especially Weiming. He had never once asked me so many questions or shared his opinions and experiences with me before. Glad he is starting to see me as a better friend now. My friendliness has finally paid off a bit more. Anyway, we sat down for almost 3 hours. We left at past 10 o'clock. Aaron drove us home after going to his storage to retrieve some CDs. The drizzle persisted for the entire day, making the outside air chilly to the bone.
Okay, I need to go sleep now, for it is past 2 am. Look forward to cooking at home later, for I need to finish my vegetables before they turn bad. Goodnight!
The Aarons popped over at around early afternoon, for their lease at the Formula 1 Hotel has expired. Unfortunately, their new accomodation at Wilkinson Street has yet to be ready. So together with their luggage, they decided to stay in our house, at least until Saturday night. Alas, had a nice one hour chat with Li Yun on the phone, it was great hearing her voice once again, after a period of more than 1 month. We gossiped and shared our daily happenings with each other. Giggled throughout the whole conversation for I felt absolutely comfortable chatting with her about anything under the sun,regardless of whether the topics were about mature issues or salacious gossips. Found out about Edison's recent sex scandal which involved several female artistes. In a nutshell, one wrong move is all that it takes to smash your favourable reputation to smithereens.
Had a really late lunch at close to 4pm. The meal consisted of stir fried vegetables and the red bean soup which I had prepared earlier on. The vegetables were not too badly done, but I regretted not heating up the red bean soup which had already gone cold. Adjourned to Grandville to watch the movie "Step up 2 the streets'' at 4.55 pm. Bowie, Oi Yin and Weifun accompanied us to watch the movie as well. The weather was really cold and the sky was ash grey in colour. The movie revolves around a adolescent girl, Andie who has a burning passion for breakdancing. However, she mixed with the wrong company which is a notorious break dancing group, 401 who goes around wreaking havoc in public places. Nevertheless, the ending was good, because she left 401, got enrolled into the prestigious and honourable Maryland School of the Arts, and used her newly acquired dance moves to defeat 401 in a breakdancing competition organized by an underground club. The plot is gripping and the enthralling break dance movements can almost blow you off your seats. For those yearning for an adrenaline rush without exercising, go watch this movie! I think this is either the 6th or 7th movie I have watched since I arrived in Newcastle. Thus, watching at least 30 movies by the time I depart for Singapore is definitely not preposterous.
Proceeded to Hungry Jacks for dinner after the movie. Ordered a chicken crisp burger which was satisfying. Almost all the eateries were closed on a public holiday, except for the fast food joints. Had an exceptionally nice chatting session with my friends, especially Weiming. He had never once asked me so many questions or shared his opinions and experiences with me before. Glad he is starting to see me as a better friend now. My friendliness has finally paid off a bit more. Anyway, we sat down for almost 3 hours. We left at past 10 o'clock. Aaron drove us home after going to his storage to retrieve some CDs. The drizzle persisted for the entire day, making the outside air chilly to the bone.
Okay, I need to go sleep now, for it is past 2 am. Look forward to cooking at home later, for I need to finish my vegetables before they turn bad. Goodnight!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Truth or dare session
Today's management tutorial was quite interesting. We were asked to describe UoN's culture using metaphors,ranging from animals to movies. Tony gave us an Easter egg chocolate each, and I found that a very sweet gesture. Realised that the Caucasian students in class are more outspoken than Asians in general. I still have my reservations about giving my opinions spontaneously.
CHEM 3210 lab session seemed rather relaxing today, for I did not feel much stress while carrying out the experimental steps. But I felt that my pace was rather slow, guess I am already in the Easter holiday mood and thus,my brain tells me not to waste my energy to unnecessary stress, such as pressurizing myself to complete as much of the experimental steps as possible in a day. When lab session was finally finished, I heaved a big sigh of relief, the end of the week has arrived! Random discoveries for this week. The Australians like to wear sunglasses because they have sensitive eyes. This might be due to the lesser amount of melanin in their irises, therefore making their eyes more vulnerable to the bright rays of the sun.
Had mushroom omelette and a cup of lemon meringue yogurt for lunch. Afterwhich, it was a futile attempt for me to catch an afternoon nap, all thanks to the loud singing and the piano playing coming from the neighbouring house. I think it was probably a church choir singing, in preparation for Good Friday tomorrow. Simon came later in the afternoon for house inspection, together with a set of new rules pasted on the fridge. We will be charged $10/week if we do not stick to our cleaning duties listed on the roster. Also, we are not allowed to bring guests in for cooking and stayover purposes, otherwise a monetary penalty will be applied. But the good thing is, he bought us a new vacumn cleaner!
Went to Bowie's house with the party of 4 for dinner. It is amazing that 5 of us could squeeze together at the back of Aaron's car, which only had the capacity to accomodate 3 people. Bowie had to sit on the laps of Huifang and Weifun. Oiyin was the chef for tonight. She prepared stir fried noodles,seafood salad and an elaborate egg dish which contained pork,turkey,crabmeat and vegetables. I must say, that her cooking is fantastic. No wonder Hongjun had once commented that Oiyin possesses the best cooking skills among all his close friends. I have never tasted such good cooking by my peers before. Lemonade with a bitter aromatic flavouring was also served. Needless to say, almost all of us had a lion's share for tonight's meal. I especially liked the squids,prawns and fish in the seafood salad.
After the sumptuous dinner, all of us sat down to play Truth or Dare. We used my handphone to determine who was the one to be bombarded with questions, mostly about immensely private and sensuous secrets and drinking teaspoonfuls of a mixture, which comprised of liquids of contrasting flavours. Everyone was high and excited during the several hours when the game was being played. I got to discover a lot about my friends' pasts,secrets and experiences with respect to their love lives. Like about their ex beaus, first relationships,current crushes etc. Now, I get to see my friends in a brand new perspective. Hopefully after this "baring our souls'' session, our friendship will brought up to another level of understanding and closeness.
Reached home at around 1 am, and found the house in complete darkness. Turns out that most my house mates have returned to Sydney to spend the Easter holidays with their families. Went to discard the rubbish near the kitchen sink, showered, had my daily dose of MSN chatting with Mummy and now here I am, concluding this post. There will be more exciting entries and photos posted in time to come, for I am going to Sydney from 23-24 of March :).
CHEM 3210 lab session seemed rather relaxing today, for I did not feel much stress while carrying out the experimental steps. But I felt that my pace was rather slow, guess I am already in the Easter holiday mood and thus,my brain tells me not to waste my energy to unnecessary stress, such as pressurizing myself to complete as much of the experimental steps as possible in a day. When lab session was finally finished, I heaved a big sigh of relief, the end of the week has arrived! Random discoveries for this week. The Australians like to wear sunglasses because they have sensitive eyes. This might be due to the lesser amount of melanin in their irises, therefore making their eyes more vulnerable to the bright rays of the sun.
Had mushroom omelette and a cup of lemon meringue yogurt for lunch. Afterwhich, it was a futile attempt for me to catch an afternoon nap, all thanks to the loud singing and the piano playing coming from the neighbouring house. I think it was probably a church choir singing, in preparation for Good Friday tomorrow. Simon came later in the afternoon for house inspection, together with a set of new rules pasted on the fridge. We will be charged $10/week if we do not stick to our cleaning duties listed on the roster. Also, we are not allowed to bring guests in for cooking and stayover purposes, otherwise a monetary penalty will be applied. But the good thing is, he bought us a new vacumn cleaner!
Went to Bowie's house with the party of 4 for dinner. It is amazing that 5 of us could squeeze together at the back of Aaron's car, which only had the capacity to accomodate 3 people. Bowie had to sit on the laps of Huifang and Weifun. Oiyin was the chef for tonight. She prepared stir fried noodles,seafood salad and an elaborate egg dish which contained pork,turkey,crabmeat and vegetables. I must say, that her cooking is fantastic. No wonder Hongjun had once commented that Oiyin possesses the best cooking skills among all his close friends. I have never tasted such good cooking by my peers before. Lemonade with a bitter aromatic flavouring was also served. Needless to say, almost all of us had a lion's share for tonight's meal. I especially liked the squids,prawns and fish in the seafood salad.
After the sumptuous dinner, all of us sat down to play Truth or Dare. We used my handphone to determine who was the one to be bombarded with questions, mostly about immensely private and sensuous secrets and drinking teaspoonfuls of a mixture, which comprised of liquids of contrasting flavours. Everyone was high and excited during the several hours when the game was being played. I got to discover a lot about my friends' pasts,secrets and experiences with respect to their love lives. Like about their ex beaus, first relationships,current crushes etc. Now, I get to see my friends in a brand new perspective. Hopefully after this "baring our souls'' session, our friendship will brought up to another level of understanding and closeness.
Reached home at around 1 am, and found the house in complete darkness. Turns out that most my house mates have returned to Sydney to spend the Easter holidays with their families. Went to discard the rubbish near the kitchen sink, showered, had my daily dose of MSN chatting with Mummy and now here I am, concluding this post. There will be more exciting entries and photos posted in time to come, for I am going to Sydney from 23-24 of March :).
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Therapeutic trip to Jesmond
I have been a bad student this week! For I skipped the 9am CHEM 3310 lecture today, as I unable to wake up due to sleeping late last night. But nevertheless I had a fun time chatting with Mummy and friends. Definitely must put a stop to missing lectures before it becomes a habit. Alas, my garlic bread was nicely done this time around, by setting the temperature to medium low for a couple of minutes. After breakfast, I did a teeny weeny bit of my lab report write ups and listen to the songs on the playlist in my blog.
Most of the people weren't attentive during the Green Engineering tutorial on Thermodynamics, probably because they are in the holiday mood for the upcoming 4 day vacation due to Easter. I also felt that my soul was segregated from my physical self during the tutorial. I do not really like Michael's way of writing his numbers for they are literally illegible. Wish that Geoffrey Evans will come back soon to teach us. Anyway, the questions were reminiscent of CBC 214, but the formulas look almost alien to me, for I have conveniently forgotten most of them after the exam in Year 2 Semester 2.
Went to meet Rachel at the Maths building when the lesson ended. Together, we walked to Jesmond. We passed through many spiral routes and tunnels. The journey by foot was rather long, but time passed very quickly, for we kept talking throughout the whole time. It is very heartening to be able to speak with such confidence and be myself to very new friend. It is certainly a stressor when you have to hold back your words and true emotions while interacting with relatively new friends. Lunch was a huge portion of creamy egg rice with chicken at Oceanic, which sells Asian dishes like fried rice,chow mein,mixed rice etc. The dish tasted all right at first, but the last few mouthfuls were very salty! Weird isn't it? It was also rather expensive at $8.90. However, there is a major turnoff at the eatery, which are the numerous flies which swarmed around the tables and one even landed on my unfinished rice!
Here comes the highlight of the day. Grocery shopping at Jesmond. Rachel was kind to help me tick off the things that I had intended to purchase once they were placed in the trolley. Spent about $122 at Woolsworth and House of Asia altogether, even more than the previous "massive'' shopping trip a fortnight ago. Got another tub of ice-cream,cookies and cream, although I have not finished the previous tub. Just hope I can finish all the food I have bought by the expiry date and the time I leave Australia. Can't believe that I actually like cooking for myself now, even more than eating outside food.
Took a cab home after bidding goodbye to Rachel. The cab fare is $6.40, 20 cents more than the previous one.It must be due to the heavier traffic conditions, because the fare is calculated according to the time you spend on the cab, not the distance it travels. The same concept applies to the public buses too.
It is the first time I cooked bee hoon soup today, with vegetables, fish fillet and mushrooms. The end product was nice, although the taste would have been richer if I added less water. Dessert was a red apple, it seemed rather hard as I had put it in the fridge. Chatted with Wilson while cooking and as usual, it was easy to strike up a conversation with him. He seems to like cooking vegetables with curry, to go with white rice. I am not a rice person, thus I never buy any, only noodles.
Okay, it is time that I do my management readings in preparation for tomorrow's tutorial. And also high time to bathe! Wish me luck tomorrow for CHEM 3210 lab.
Most of the people weren't attentive during the Green Engineering tutorial on Thermodynamics, probably because they are in the holiday mood for the upcoming 4 day vacation due to Easter. I also felt that my soul was segregated from my physical self during the tutorial. I do not really like Michael's way of writing his numbers for they are literally illegible. Wish that Geoffrey Evans will come back soon to teach us. Anyway, the questions were reminiscent of CBC 214, but the formulas look almost alien to me, for I have conveniently forgotten most of them after the exam in Year 2 Semester 2.
Went to meet Rachel at the Maths building when the lesson ended. Together, we walked to Jesmond. We passed through many spiral routes and tunnels. The journey by foot was rather long, but time passed very quickly, for we kept talking throughout the whole time. It is very heartening to be able to speak with such confidence and be myself to very new friend. It is certainly a stressor when you have to hold back your words and true emotions while interacting with relatively new friends. Lunch was a huge portion of creamy egg rice with chicken at Oceanic, which sells Asian dishes like fried rice,chow mein,mixed rice etc. The dish tasted all right at first, but the last few mouthfuls were very salty! Weird isn't it? It was also rather expensive at $8.90. However, there is a major turnoff at the eatery, which are the numerous flies which swarmed around the tables and one even landed on my unfinished rice!
Here comes the highlight of the day. Grocery shopping at Jesmond. Rachel was kind to help me tick off the things that I had intended to purchase once they were placed in the trolley. Spent about $122 at Woolsworth and House of Asia altogether, even more than the previous "massive'' shopping trip a fortnight ago. Got another tub of ice-cream,cookies and cream, although I have not finished the previous tub. Just hope I can finish all the food I have bought by the expiry date and the time I leave Australia. Can't believe that I actually like cooking for myself now, even more than eating outside food.
Took a cab home after bidding goodbye to Rachel. The cab fare is $6.40, 20 cents more than the previous one.It must be due to the heavier traffic conditions, because the fare is calculated according to the time you spend on the cab, not the distance it travels. The same concept applies to the public buses too.
It is the first time I cooked bee hoon soup today, with vegetables, fish fillet and mushrooms. The end product was nice, although the taste would have been richer if I added less water. Dessert was a red apple, it seemed rather hard as I had put it in the fridge. Chatted with Wilson while cooking and as usual, it was easy to strike up a conversation with him. He seems to like cooking vegetables with curry, to go with white rice. I am not a rice person, thus I never buy any, only noodles.
Okay, it is time that I do my management readings in preparation for tomorrow's tutorial. And also high time to bathe! Wish me luck tomorrow for CHEM 3210 lab.
Run,fat boy,run!
I woke up at an ungodly hour of 7.15 am yesterday to meet Ding in Auchmuty Library to finish up the green engineering assignment. Had my honey biscuits and milo. I need to go and get small sachets of sugar, for there is barely any left in the house now. I felt a tad guilty relying on Ding to provide me with the solutions directly, but I really had no clue on how to go about doing the assignment at all, for the steps are all based on calculations which I have never seen in my entire life. She also offered me her vinegar chips which were really sour and mentioned that she would be going to Melbourne during the Easter holidays.
We parted ways after handing up our assignments at the Chemical Engineering building. I think it is really refreshing to be able to click with a person of a totally different race although we have only known each other for a week! Guess that is the true essence of an exchange program, getting to know more people around the globe. Skipped CHEM 3210 lecture for the rest of the day for I was rushing to complete the assignment. Felt a tad guilty because Bob is a really good and kind lecturer. Shall make this my first and last time. With the exception of skipping IRHR 1001 lectures though. I simply dread staying in school from 10am-8pm on the headstart of a week which is Monday!
Met Rachel for lunch at the Hub cafe. Ordered a tandori chicken wrap which was filled with bitter vegetables. I had to discard almost all of them, so that the tastiness of the tandori chicken would not be tainted with the bitterness. It is definitely not worth $4 for a relatively unsatisfying meal. Had a really nice and informative chat with Rachel, for we shared quite a lot of similar sentiments together. Most importantly, it is our common mother tongue which is English, which makes the communication process between us a lot more smoother. We even agreed to go Jesmond tomorrow together. Look forward to that!
At 12pm, we went to meet her student mentor, an Indonesian 2nd year nursing student, Levina, for lunch. I was a bit annoyed about having to sit in front of a live band, which made hearing and speaking nearly impossible. I may sound prudish, but the volume of music and singing should be appropriate in order to make chit chatting a pleasurable activity.
CHEM 3310 lab was okay overall, although I broke a round bottom flask while trying to fix the condensor into its neck. Nevertheless, Adam helped me salvage most of my product, without having to prepare it again. Did the melting points and IR for some of my compounds during the 2 hour long refluxing period. The machines for IR and measurement of melting points are similar to that in NTU's.
Went to catch the movie "Run,fat boy, run!'' with the party of 4 at 9.15pm. The price of the movie tickets were cheaper today, $9 instead of the usual $12. I took the chance to clear all my outstanding debts to my friends in the cinema too. The movie's plot is rather ironic to its title, for the main star is not fat at all, albeit for a bulging abdomen. The plot is light-hearted, humorous and predictable. The story revolves around a man who garnered great determination, with the support of his friends to complete a marathon, despite being injured. This was an attempt to win back his ex girlfriend whom he had stood up at their wedding 5 years ago. But I felt that the ending could have been better developed and less abrupt though.
The atmosphere in the car was unusually quiet on the way home as we were feeling rather tired from a hectic day in school. The party of 4 are going to participate in a basketball match tomorrow, wish them all the best although I may not be physically present.
I need to go and sleep now, for it is almost 2am. I have to wake up at 8.15 am later. This really calls for a groan in agony. :(
We parted ways after handing up our assignments at the Chemical Engineering building. I think it is really refreshing to be able to click with a person of a totally different race although we have only known each other for a week! Guess that is the true essence of an exchange program, getting to know more people around the globe. Skipped CHEM 3210 lecture for the rest of the day for I was rushing to complete the assignment. Felt a tad guilty because Bob is a really good and kind lecturer. Shall make this my first and last time. With the exception of skipping IRHR 1001 lectures though. I simply dread staying in school from 10am-8pm on the headstart of a week which is Monday!
Met Rachel for lunch at the Hub cafe. Ordered a tandori chicken wrap which was filled with bitter vegetables. I had to discard almost all of them, so that the tastiness of the tandori chicken would not be tainted with the bitterness. It is definitely not worth $4 for a relatively unsatisfying meal. Had a really nice and informative chat with Rachel, for we shared quite a lot of similar sentiments together. Most importantly, it is our common mother tongue which is English, which makes the communication process between us a lot more smoother. We even agreed to go Jesmond tomorrow together. Look forward to that!
At 12pm, we went to meet her student mentor, an Indonesian 2nd year nursing student, Levina, for lunch. I was a bit annoyed about having to sit in front of a live band, which made hearing and speaking nearly impossible. I may sound prudish, but the volume of music and singing should be appropriate in order to make chit chatting a pleasurable activity.
CHEM 3310 lab was okay overall, although I broke a round bottom flask while trying to fix the condensor into its neck. Nevertheless, Adam helped me salvage most of my product, without having to prepare it again. Did the melting points and IR for some of my compounds during the 2 hour long refluxing period. The machines for IR and measurement of melting points are similar to that in NTU's.
Went to catch the movie "Run,fat boy, run!'' with the party of 4 at 9.15pm. The price of the movie tickets were cheaper today, $9 instead of the usual $12. I took the chance to clear all my outstanding debts to my friends in the cinema too. The movie's plot is rather ironic to its title, for the main star is not fat at all, albeit for a bulging abdomen. The plot is light-hearted, humorous and predictable. The story revolves around a man who garnered great determination, with the support of his friends to complete a marathon, despite being injured. This was an attempt to win back his ex girlfriend whom he had stood up at their wedding 5 years ago. But I felt that the ending could have been better developed and less abrupt though.
The atmosphere in the car was unusually quiet on the way home as we were feeling rather tired from a hectic day in school. The party of 4 are going to participate in a basketball match tomorrow, wish them all the best although I may not be physically present.
I need to go and sleep now, for it is almost 2am. I have to wake up at 8.15 am later. This really calls for a groan in agony. :(
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Troublesome Green Engineering assignment
The quality of my garlic bread improved this time but it was still a little tough. That means I have to further lower the temperature of the microwave. Having a warm cup of milo for breakfast seems a better alternative for cold fruit juice and milk, for our body temperature is usually the lowest when we just get up due to extended hours of inactivity.
The new CHEM 3310 lecturer, Warwick is a stout man who speaks as fast as a bullet train, leaving us breathless at some points of time. Sat beside Catherine today, and she was friendly and chirpy as usual. However, Warwick helps us save money by printing out the lecture notes for us and putting in a lot of details in them, so as to minimize the hassle of flipping through the textbook. He is also very easygoing and willing to give us breaks at any point of time when we request for it.
Went to Auchmuty library to print my notes and surf the Internet as usual. Lunch was the usual 6 inch bread from Subway, but this time, with more ingredients such as olives and onions. Really regretted asking the staff to add all the available ingredients to the loaf, for it made the whole bread taste rather icky, for I dislike the taste of olives and onions. Should just stick to chicken,tomatoes,lettuce,carrots,cheese and bbq sauce next time around. On a brighter note, the Subway honey flavoured cookies that I purchased are very nice! Shall eat them for breakfast tomorrow.
Instead of Geoff Evans, it was Michael who delivered the lecture on Thermodynamics during Green Engineering today. I felt that he was kind of mean, by refusing to provide us with the lecture slides and make us copy from the transparency slides instead. His rationale: students learn more when they write than by just mere listening. I so strongly disagree, how do we absorb our concepts if we have to pay attention to what he speaks and write the facts down simultaneously? Geoff came in for a brief moment to give us hints to the assignment which is due tomorrow. Sat with Ding during lesson too. She was really sweet by offering me a toffee, as for some reason, I felt really tired during the class.
After lesson, Ding and I went to the library to discuss about our assignment. She helped with some parts of question 2 which I was totally clueless about. Although she looks rather unapproachable at first sight, but I came to realise now that she is very helpful and amicable. We even agreed to meet tomorrow at 8am to discuss the questions. This timing is ungodly to me, for I loathe waking up early. But the most astounding fact was, Ding gets up by 4am daily, to study! She is really as hardworking as an ant. Admirable! There are flags of all the different countries in the world displayed in the library. 1.97% of the student population are Malaysians
in UoN, compared to 3+% Singaporeans. Interestingly, I have yet to make a Singaporean friend!
Stir fried udon for dinner. Currently, I am running out on vegetables and I will need to make another trip to Jesmond, hopefully on Wednesday as I will be released at 2pm. At the same time, I can add more stock to my food inventory. After a fortnight of no grocery shopping, the ingredients to add to my noodles are depleting rapidly.
Okay, I need to go now, for I need to wake up early. How I wish that school does not start in the morning, but in the afternoon instead. So that I would not be pressured to sleep early. *wistful sigh
The new CHEM 3310 lecturer, Warwick is a stout man who speaks as fast as a bullet train, leaving us breathless at some points of time. Sat beside Catherine today, and she was friendly and chirpy as usual. However, Warwick helps us save money by printing out the lecture notes for us and putting in a lot of details in them, so as to minimize the hassle of flipping through the textbook. He is also very easygoing and willing to give us breaks at any point of time when we request for it.
Went to Auchmuty library to print my notes and surf the Internet as usual. Lunch was the usual 6 inch bread from Subway, but this time, with more ingredients such as olives and onions. Really regretted asking the staff to add all the available ingredients to the loaf, for it made the whole bread taste rather icky, for I dislike the taste of olives and onions. Should just stick to chicken,tomatoes,lettuce,carrots,cheese and bbq sauce next time around. On a brighter note, the Subway honey flavoured cookies that I purchased are very nice! Shall eat them for breakfast tomorrow.
Instead of Geoff Evans, it was Michael who delivered the lecture on Thermodynamics during Green Engineering today. I felt that he was kind of mean, by refusing to provide us with the lecture slides and make us copy from the transparency slides instead. His rationale: students learn more when they write than by just mere listening. I so strongly disagree, how do we absorb our concepts if we have to pay attention to what he speaks and write the facts down simultaneously? Geoff came in for a brief moment to give us hints to the assignment which is due tomorrow. Sat with Ding during lesson too. She was really sweet by offering me a toffee, as for some reason, I felt really tired during the class.
After lesson, Ding and I went to the library to discuss about our assignment. She helped with some parts of question 2 which I was totally clueless about. Although she looks rather unapproachable at first sight, but I came to realise now that she is very helpful and amicable. We even agreed to meet tomorrow at 8am to discuss the questions. This timing is ungodly to me, for I loathe waking up early. But the most astounding fact was, Ding gets up by 4am daily, to study! She is really as hardworking as an ant. Admirable! There are flags of all the different countries in the world displayed in the library. 1.97% of the student population are Malaysians
in UoN, compared to 3+% Singaporeans. Interestingly, I have yet to make a Singaporean friend!
Stir fried udon for dinner. Currently, I am running out on vegetables and I will need to make another trip to Jesmond, hopefully on Wednesday as I will be released at 2pm. At the same time, I can add more stock to my food inventory. After a fortnight of no grocery shopping, the ingredients to add to my noodles are depleting rapidly.
Okay, I need to go now, for I need to wake up early. How I wish that school does not start in the morning, but in the afternoon instead. So that I would not be pressured to sleep early. *wistful sigh
Monday, March 17, 2008
Mundane Sunday
Woke up at 10am this morning, alas managed 2 have a 8 hour sleep this time around. Breakfast was garlic bread with milo. But I overheated my garlic bread yet again! And it became hard and crispy like a biscuit. Nevertheless, I finished up my crunchy meal. Chatted with mummy online and then I finished reading my management chapter successfully. It was a torturous process though, having to pore through pages of endless words.
Lunch was stir fried yellow noodles with fish fillet and vegetables. It was a rather small portion, so I supplemented it with lemon yogurt. I think I would need to replenish my yogurt too, for I only have 3 cups left. Haven't eaten any chicken in the longest time in my life, but tomorrow I would be able to purchase a chicken wrap from Subway. Most of the time, I would prepare my own meals at home, except for Mondays, because I have a break from 12-2pm. It is definitely much more economical to eat at home than go outside to eat. However, I wish to go and try the food at Oceania in Jesmond one day.
Slacked the whole afternoon away, and embellished my blog with a playlist containing 20 songs. Also, I did my laundry. I do it twice a week. The genre of the songs are either dance,trance or bubblegum dance music. Most people would probably find it childish or meaningless, but what matters most is that I like it :P. Dinner was vegetable flavoured instant noodles with vegetables and frozen fishcakes. The Aarons and the couple went to gym today, and after such a long time, I decided to join them in the next exercising session. Should get regular exercise to keep trim and slim.
After dinner was spent gossiping with Mummy over MSN. It was really fun for I get to let out all my pent up feelings. And guess what, I have not done my green engineering assignment question after a futile and feeble attempt several hours ago. Hope I can meet up with Kris before class tomorrow to clarify my burning doubts. Okay folks, it is late, need to go sleep or else dark eye bags will come to visit me. Goodnight!
Lunch was stir fried yellow noodles with fish fillet and vegetables. It was a rather small portion, so I supplemented it with lemon yogurt. I think I would need to replenish my yogurt too, for I only have 3 cups left. Haven't eaten any chicken in the longest time in my life, but tomorrow I would be able to purchase a chicken wrap from Subway. Most of the time, I would prepare my own meals at home, except for Mondays, because I have a break from 12-2pm. It is definitely much more economical to eat at home than go outside to eat. However, I wish to go and try the food at Oceania in Jesmond one day.
Slacked the whole afternoon away, and embellished my blog with a playlist containing 20 songs. Also, I did my laundry. I do it twice a week. The genre of the songs are either dance,trance or bubblegum dance music. Most people would probably find it childish or meaningless, but what matters most is that I like it :P. Dinner was vegetable flavoured instant noodles with vegetables and frozen fishcakes. The Aarons and the couple went to gym today, and after such a long time, I decided to join them in the next exercising session. Should get regular exercise to keep trim and slim.
After dinner was spent gossiping with Mummy over MSN. It was really fun for I get to let out all my pent up feelings. And guess what, I have not done my green engineering assignment question after a futile and feeble attempt several hours ago. Hope I can meet up with Kris before class tomorrow to clarify my burning doubts. Okay folks, it is late, need to go sleep or else dark eye bags will come to visit me. Goodnight!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Mysun gathering
For the past few nights, I have not been able to remain in a deep sleep for more than 7 hours, partly due to excitation of my brain by the dance/bubblegum dance music I have been listening to and partly because of the loud chirpings and cawings of the birds outside in the early hours of the morning. Yesterday, from morning till late afternoon, I was confined to my room most of the time,playing on the computer and attempting to read my management chapter which I have yet to finish. The afternoon was hot as usual, making me as sluggish as a snail. By the way, I just found that number of rainy days in March for Singapore has hit a record high in 74 years! Courtesy of Diana's MSN nickname :P
At around 4.40pm, Weiming came to fetch me to UoN's engineering premises, the venue of the Mysun gathering which was organized by the Malaysian society. Had to pay $4 for the welcome tea and to join the club. I was given a sticker which was pasted on my student ID. It may seem ironic that why me, a Singaporean, join a Malaysian Society instead of the Singaporean Society. Well, I had attempted to find out more about the UoN Singaporean Society but the site was not available. Pray that they will finish updating the site as soon as possible.
The gathering started with the introduction of the exco members and the programmes available for the rest of the afternoon, such as Mafia and volleyball. However, most of the people seemed to be more interested in helping themselves to the sumptuous food instead. I had a lion's share as well, such as a slice of pizza, 2 different kinds of fried rice which were pineapple rice and normal fried rice, 3 sticks of chicken satay and potato salad. Made many new friends during the mere 2 hours I was there too. They are Rachel,Jianwen,Hans,Huirong,Dennis, and Angela. I chatted a lot with Rachel and Jianwen, who are 1st year Architecture students. We even exchanged MSN addresses and handphone numbers. Hope to see them around school in the future. I felt really comfortable and natural chatting with my new friends, because we shared the same sentiments and they were very honest about their opinions. No airs about them as well.
My horizons were further broadened during the entire chit chatting session. All my friends were from Taylor's College and some of them have even applied to Singapore universities before, albeit being unsuccessful in securing places there. In Malaysia, the lessons are mostly conducted in Chinese and Malay, hence their proficiency in English is not as good as that of these 2 languages. The dominant religion is Islam , whereas in Singapore, the modal religion is Buddhism. Both Rachel and Jianwen are living in homestay accomodation, which has its pros and cons. The pros are: having someone to take care of your 3 meals, almost unlimited access to the Internet and having private transport to school. The cons are having less freedom and the higher weekly accomodation fees. Dennis and Huirong are studying really unique courses, which are radiography and speech pathology respectively. Angela is a Maths major and she has an amicable diposition coupled a wide cheery smile. All my new friends are freshmen. Despite being a 3rd year undergraduate, I feel like a freshman when I am in UoN now. A wave of deja vu swept over me thus.
Time really whizzes past when you are chatting so merrily. Soon, it was time for my friends to go home, for they lived rather far away from school. Shortly after, I also went back home together with my friends. The bad thing about the Mysun gathering was the numerous mosquito bites that I got. They itch like mad and there is a rather big probability that they will leave scars on my skin. I only had a bowl of soup for dinner as I was full from the food at the gathering. The party of 4 went to watch the American version of "The Eye''. I declined to go with them for I do not want to waste money to scare the daylights out of myself by watching horror flicks.
The rest of the night was spent chatting with Mummy,Diana and Rachel. Today, I strive to finish my Green Engineering assignment and management chapter. Way to go, vampirevon!
At around 4.40pm, Weiming came to fetch me to UoN's engineering premises, the venue of the Mysun gathering which was organized by the Malaysian society. Had to pay $4 for the welcome tea and to join the club. I was given a sticker which was pasted on my student ID. It may seem ironic that why me, a Singaporean, join a Malaysian Society instead of the Singaporean Society. Well, I had attempted to find out more about the UoN Singaporean Society but the site was not available. Pray that they will finish updating the site as soon as possible.
The gathering started with the introduction of the exco members and the programmes available for the rest of the afternoon, such as Mafia and volleyball. However, most of the people seemed to be more interested in helping themselves to the sumptuous food instead. I had a lion's share as well, such as a slice of pizza, 2 different kinds of fried rice which were pineapple rice and normal fried rice, 3 sticks of chicken satay and potato salad. Made many new friends during the mere 2 hours I was there too. They are Rachel,Jianwen,Hans,Huirong,Dennis, and Angela. I chatted a lot with Rachel and Jianwen, who are 1st year Architecture students. We even exchanged MSN addresses and handphone numbers. Hope to see them around school in the future. I felt really comfortable and natural chatting with my new friends, because we shared the same sentiments and they were very honest about their opinions. No airs about them as well.
My horizons were further broadened during the entire chit chatting session. All my friends were from Taylor's College and some of them have even applied to Singapore universities before, albeit being unsuccessful in securing places there. In Malaysia, the lessons are mostly conducted in Chinese and Malay, hence their proficiency in English is not as good as that of these 2 languages. The dominant religion is Islam , whereas in Singapore, the modal religion is Buddhism. Both Rachel and Jianwen are living in homestay accomodation, which has its pros and cons. The pros are: having someone to take care of your 3 meals, almost unlimited access to the Internet and having private transport to school. The cons are having less freedom and the higher weekly accomodation fees. Dennis and Huirong are studying really unique courses, which are radiography and speech pathology respectively. Angela is a Maths major and she has an amicable diposition coupled a wide cheery smile. All my new friends are freshmen. Despite being a 3rd year undergraduate, I feel like a freshman when I am in UoN now. A wave of deja vu swept over me thus.
Time really whizzes past when you are chatting so merrily. Soon, it was time for my friends to go home, for they lived rather far away from school. Shortly after, I also went back home together with my friends. The bad thing about the Mysun gathering was the numerous mosquito bites that I got. They itch like mad and there is a rather big probability that they will leave scars on my skin. I only had a bowl of soup for dinner as I was full from the food at the gathering. The party of 4 went to watch the American version of "The Eye''. I declined to go with them for I do not want to waste money to scare the daylights out of myself by watching horror flicks.
The rest of the night was spent chatting with Mummy,Diana and Rachel. Today, I strive to finish my Green Engineering assignment and management chapter. Way to go, vampirevon!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Bar on the Hill and Vantage Point
The weather in the afternoon was warm again. =_=. Beads of perspiration formed on my neck and face despite being indoors. And friends and family have been telling me that Singapore has frequent showers and that the weather is cold. Right now, I can say that Newcastle's daily temperature range is about the same as Singapore. I need not repeat myself on how much I yearn for an autumn-like climate.
Spent almost the whole morning and afternoon doing just one question of the Green Engineering assignment on Water and Air dispersion. But I am unsure if the final answer is correct, I will only know it on Monday. Will work on the second question later, after my sleep. As a matter of fact, I reached home past 1am today because of the Bar on the Hill multiracial event and supper of kebab wrap with the Aarons and the couple. Actually, the supper was like dinner to me to a certain extent because I only ate a small bowl of potato salad at 6+ pm which was not very filling. The kebab wrap was wholesome,with cheese,chicken and vegetables. But the portion was too big for me to finish eating. Lets backtrack to the events after my mini dinner onwards.
The usual party of 4 and me went to catch Vantage point, a action thriller at our usual haunt, Grand Union Cinema. The movie kept turning back the time for a total of 8 times, to show us how differently people give an account for the same scenario, in which the president of the USA was asassinated and a massive bomb explosion occured shortly after. The plot quite complicated and I did not understand the movie fully. But there were some incredulous parts in the show. For example: Thomas Barnes, one of the service secret agents, who was given the task of protecting the president, was barely injured despite having his car smashed into a pulp by a larger vehicle. But the best part of the movie was: the ending was good, where all the terrorists were either shot to death or killed in accidents. And the president was safe and sound.
Went to Bar on the Hill after that. The theme for the night was Latin. Alcoholic drinks were on the house, as long as you showed the bartenders an orange pink wristband. Nothing really interesting happened down there, except for the live band and people dancing with almost no self inhibitions at the centre stage. The atmosphere in the bar was exuberant, coupled with deafening music from the live band and singing. There were a few dancers who gave special performances, such as break dancing. The agile and high difficulty level dance moves were so effortlessly displayed that there was a tremendous round of applause from the audience. A group of Malaysian people came to interact with my friends and I. Apparently, it is UoN's culture to mix and chat up with people randomly. And not to mention, dancing with people who you do not know in an exotic fashion. The dress code was liberal too, for there were many girls wearing cleavage bearing tops,mini skirts and high heeled shoes.
We left the place at almost close to midnight. Since most of us did not have a proper dinner, we decided to go and have supper to ease our hunger pangs instead of going home. We saw a fat man singing a song out loud to himself and pulling along the rubbish bins that were put on the pavement. What a peculiar sight, for he definitely did not look like a cleaner from the way he dressed.
Okay, it is past 3 am now. Starting to feel the fatigue. Will be going to a barbeque session organized by the UoN Malaysian Society at 4pm later.
Spent almost the whole morning and afternoon doing just one question of the Green Engineering assignment on Water and Air dispersion. But I am unsure if the final answer is correct, I will only know it on Monday. Will work on the second question later, after my sleep. As a matter of fact, I reached home past 1am today because of the Bar on the Hill multiracial event and supper of kebab wrap with the Aarons and the couple. Actually, the supper was like dinner to me to a certain extent because I only ate a small bowl of potato salad at 6+ pm which was not very filling. The kebab wrap was wholesome,with cheese,chicken and vegetables. But the portion was too big for me to finish eating. Lets backtrack to the events after my mini dinner onwards.
The usual party of 4 and me went to catch Vantage point, a action thriller at our usual haunt, Grand Union Cinema. The movie kept turning back the time for a total of 8 times, to show us how differently people give an account for the same scenario, in which the president of the USA was asassinated and a massive bomb explosion occured shortly after. The plot quite complicated and I did not understand the movie fully. But there were some incredulous parts in the show. For example: Thomas Barnes, one of the service secret agents, who was given the task of protecting the president, was barely injured despite having his car smashed into a pulp by a larger vehicle. But the best part of the movie was: the ending was good, where all the terrorists were either shot to death or killed in accidents. And the president was safe and sound.
Went to Bar on the Hill after that. The theme for the night was Latin. Alcoholic drinks were on the house, as long as you showed the bartenders an orange pink wristband. Nothing really interesting happened down there, except for the live band and people dancing with almost no self inhibitions at the centre stage. The atmosphere in the bar was exuberant, coupled with deafening music from the live band and singing. There were a few dancers who gave special performances, such as break dancing. The agile and high difficulty level dance moves were so effortlessly displayed that there was a tremendous round of applause from the audience. A group of Malaysian people came to interact with my friends and I. Apparently, it is UoN's culture to mix and chat up with people randomly. And not to mention, dancing with people who you do not know in an exotic fashion. The dress code was liberal too, for there were many girls wearing cleavage bearing tops,mini skirts and high heeled shoes.
We left the place at almost close to midnight. Since most of us did not have a proper dinner, we decided to go and have supper to ease our hunger pangs instead of going home. We saw a fat man singing a song out loud to himself and pulling along the rubbish bins that were put on the pavement. What a peculiar sight, for he definitely did not look like a cleaner from the way he dressed.
Okay, it is past 3 am now. Starting to feel the fatigue. Will be going to a barbeque session organized by the UoN Malaysian Society at 4pm later.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
One month in Newcastle
Today was the start of participation grading during IRHR 1001 tutorial. First of all, we split up into groups of 4 to discuss about organizational culture of 4 various countries. My group was assigned with the task of coming up with ideas to cope with the cultural transition if a manager and his family were to move to Korea for job purposes. I could not contribute very much because I absolutely had no inkling about Korean culture. I could only give very general comments in the group discussion process. Luckily, my discussion mates thought the same way as I did too. At least, I did not feel as if I was the odd one out. Managed to present my points to the class, but I only spoke out to address the discussion questions when Tony prompted me to do so. Nevertheless, I felt that I could at least attain a passing grade for this tutorial session because I contributed something. Shall strive to participate more actively in the next round.
Had a lot of things 2 print from Auchmuty library today. Met Cherlyn and Keegan there as well. As usual, the computer terminals were all fully occupied. I only managed to grab a seat when it was about 15 minutes to the start of CHEM 3210 lab. Observed the fact that CHEM 3210 and CHEM 3310 changed their lecturers during the same week. Hopefully they are as nice as Robert and Adam.
Was punctual for CHEM 3210 lab again, and miraculously, the session went smoothly! I think it was because I frequently asked Geoff and Robert for assistance and they very kindly and patiently obliged me. Did not panic or spill anything today. But my However, I have a inorganic paper literature review to do. But it's only due on 2nd May, so I can take my own sweet time to complete it. And, lab reports need not be handed up weekly, like CHEM 3310, it is own time own target, just make sure that all the lab reports reach the demonstrators by Week 14. Today marks the end of Week 4 lessons, at least for me :) Something I found out from lab today, triethylamine is a putrid smelling chemical, resembling the odour of rotten fish. Well, cant be helped. Its is perfectly normal for an organic lab to be filled with noxious odours.
Stir fried yellow noodles with frozen vegetables,mushrooms and fishcakes today. The noodles seem little in comparison to the ingredients. Nevertheless, I liked the dish that I cooked. Now, I make an effort to ensure that the 3 meals I eat a day contain vegetables and fruits. Huifang has agreed on the idea of sharing our green and red beans with one another to boil soup. It is economical because I will not need to buy another whole packet of green beans.
Had a lot of things 2 print from Auchmuty library today. Met Cherlyn and Keegan there as well. As usual, the computer terminals were all fully occupied. I only managed to grab a seat when it was about 15 minutes to the start of CHEM 3210 lab. Observed the fact that CHEM 3210 and CHEM 3310 changed their lecturers during the same week. Hopefully they are as nice as Robert and Adam.
Was punctual for CHEM 3210 lab again, and miraculously, the session went smoothly! I think it was because I frequently asked Geoff and Robert for assistance and they very kindly and patiently obliged me. Did not panic or spill anything today. But my However, I have a inorganic paper literature review to do. But it's only due on 2nd May, so I can take my own sweet time to complete it. And, lab reports need not be handed up weekly, like CHEM 3310, it is own time own target, just make sure that all the lab reports reach the demonstrators by Week 14. Today marks the end of Week 4 lessons, at least for me :) Something I found out from lab today, triethylamine is a putrid smelling chemical, resembling the odour of rotten fish. Well, cant be helped. Its is perfectly normal for an organic lab to be filled with noxious odours.
Stir fried yellow noodles with frozen vegetables,mushrooms and fishcakes today. The noodles seem little in comparison to the ingredients. Nevertheless, I liked the dish that I cooked. Now, I make an effort to ensure that the 3 meals I eat a day contain vegetables and fruits. Huifang has agreed on the idea of sharing our green and red beans with one another to boil soup. It is economical because I will not need to buy another whole packet of green beans.
Strive to start working on my Green Engineering assignment due next Tuesday tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to understand Geoff Evan's lecture notes!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Edgeworth wastewater treatment plant
Today's CHEM 3310 lecture was rather humorous. Adam showed us complex organic structures which actually resembled people dancing and holding hands! That tickled everyone in the lecture hall greatly. The benzene rings were analogous to a face, and the long alkyl chains or whatsoever resembled hands and legs. Basically, we went through an exercise on multi step synthesis. I got back my chem assignment too and I am really satisfied with the marks I got :)
Had a rather productive time in the library after that, for I printed many pages of information from the set CHEM 3310 organic textbook. But had a fright when I saw a worm resting on mi school bag. Luckily, I managed to use a plastic bag to pull that obnoxious creepy crawlie off and throw it into the dustbin. Now I better be wary when I walk under trees, you never know what could drop from above! At 11.30 am, I went to meet Kris at the Auchmuty Information Centre (AIC), and together we proceeded to the carpark to meet one of our coursemates, Kim, who was going to drive us to the wastewater treatment plant at Edgeworth. The journey was about 20 minutes.
Almost of all the students reached before the stipulated time at 12:20. A lot of them gave their friends lifts and drove there. However, there was a guy who took a 25 minute bike journey instead. The plant tour started promptly. First, all of us were taken to an air-conditioned control room where the guide showed us the entire layout of how the entire treatment plant operates on the computer. Many of the my coursemates were taking down notes,unlike me. The various parts of the treatment plant are located outdoors, and we all had to bear with the bright rays from the blazing sun overhead. The place where they accumulate sludge for treatment gave off a really putrid smell. So it might not be a bad thing that we need to go outdoors in order for the guide to explain how the various parts of the plant operate.
In the clarifying pond, I saw many ducks swimming on the water. I must say they look kind of adorable when they ruffle up their feathers and dip their heads into the pond. In the midst of the tour, I got to know 4 girls in my course. They are Ding, who is a tall Negro girl holding an Australian citizenship, Lisa, Jade, and Rachel. Rachel is doing a double degree in Chemical Engineering and Business. Jade is on a scholarship and lives in Jesmond, which means that Woolsworths is just a stone's throw away from her house. It was rather hard to distinguish between Jade and Lisa initially, for both of them have light blond hair. I am glad that I finally can say hi to someone when I step into the classrooms, instead of being a lone ranger in lessons and not knowing anyone else either than Kris.
The plant tour ended at 1.20pm. Overall, I found the trip quite informative although it was rather short. Shall keep the relevant handout which Geoff gave for remembrance. John, a Brazillian guy of Chinese ( Haerbin and Canton ) descent, offered to give me a trip back to UoN, and I gladly obliged. I also got to know 2 of his other "passengers'', one is a Malaysian guy and the other is a Caucasian guy. John dropped me off at the bus stop in front of the Maths building, and I walked home from there after bidding everyone in the car goodbye. Seems that I have got to know several of my CHEE 2931 classmates within a time span of less than 2 hours :)
Today's afternoon was warmer than usual at 29 degrees celcius. So, I made use of today's sunny weather to wash my bedsheets and Bowie's blankets. In fact, I did quite a lot of novel things today. Such making red bean soup and french toast. For a first attempt, the standard was still acceptable, but I believe that there is still room for improvement. Next time, I should pour in more water while boiling red bean soup and apply more heat to the frying pan when making french toasts, so that the egg will be crispy and more solid, unlike half boiled eggs.
Stir fried vegetables with the Malaysian satay sauce is delicious! For once, I am taking a food risk by keeping mushrooms past their expiry date. Hope to finish them within the next 2 days. And I hope that tomorrow's afternoon will be less warm than today.
Had a rather productive time in the library after that, for I printed many pages of information from the set CHEM 3310 organic textbook. But had a fright when I saw a worm resting on mi school bag. Luckily, I managed to use a plastic bag to pull that obnoxious creepy crawlie off and throw it into the dustbin. Now I better be wary when I walk under trees, you never know what could drop from above! At 11.30 am, I went to meet Kris at the Auchmuty Information Centre (AIC), and together we proceeded to the carpark to meet one of our coursemates, Kim, who was going to drive us to the wastewater treatment plant at Edgeworth. The journey was about 20 minutes.
Almost of all the students reached before the stipulated time at 12:20. A lot of them gave their friends lifts and drove there. However, there was a guy who took a 25 minute bike journey instead. The plant tour started promptly. First, all of us were taken to an air-conditioned control room where the guide showed us the entire layout of how the entire treatment plant operates on the computer. Many of the my coursemates were taking down notes,unlike me. The various parts of the treatment plant are located outdoors, and we all had to bear with the bright rays from the blazing sun overhead. The place where they accumulate sludge for treatment gave off a really putrid smell. So it might not be a bad thing that we need to go outdoors in order for the guide to explain how the various parts of the plant operate.
In the clarifying pond, I saw many ducks swimming on the water. I must say they look kind of adorable when they ruffle up their feathers and dip their heads into the pond. In the midst of the tour, I got to know 4 girls in my course. They are Ding, who is a tall Negro girl holding an Australian citizenship, Lisa, Jade, and Rachel. Rachel is doing a double degree in Chemical Engineering and Business. Jade is on a scholarship and lives in Jesmond, which means that Woolsworths is just a stone's throw away from her house. It was rather hard to distinguish between Jade and Lisa initially, for both of them have light blond hair. I am glad that I finally can say hi to someone when I step into the classrooms, instead of being a lone ranger in lessons and not knowing anyone else either than Kris.
The plant tour ended at 1.20pm. Overall, I found the trip quite informative although it was rather short. Shall keep the relevant handout which Geoff gave for remembrance. John, a Brazillian guy of Chinese ( Haerbin and Canton ) descent, offered to give me a trip back to UoN, and I gladly obliged. I also got to know 2 of his other "passengers'', one is a Malaysian guy and the other is a Caucasian guy. John dropped me off at the bus stop in front of the Maths building, and I walked home from there after bidding everyone in the car goodbye. Seems that I have got to know several of my CHEE 2931 classmates within a time span of less than 2 hours :)
Today's afternoon was warmer than usual at 29 degrees celcius. So, I made use of today's sunny weather to wash my bedsheets and Bowie's blankets. In fact, I did quite a lot of novel things today. Such making red bean soup and french toast. For a first attempt, the standard was still acceptable, but I believe that there is still room for improvement. Next time, I should pour in more water while boiling red bean soup and apply more heat to the frying pan when making french toasts, so that the egg will be crispy and more solid, unlike half boiled eggs.
Stir fried vegetables with the Malaysian satay sauce is delicious! For once, I am taking a food risk by keeping mushrooms past their expiry date. Hope to finish them within the next 2 days. And I hope that tomorrow's afternoon will be less warm than today.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Cooking session and Bingo
I was late for CHEM 3210 lecture today, and forgot to bring my notes, thinking that it was Geoff's turn to lecture from this week onwards. So, I used the lecture time to do some of my CHEM 3310 lab write-ups. I realised that I was the only female in the CHEM 3210 lecture. Felt a little odd, for back in NTU CBC lectures, females form the vast majority. In CHEM 3310, Catherine,Kelly and I are the only 3 girls among the 17 students. So Adam would be able to recognize us instantly in the lecture hall and lab sessions. Adam is really friendly, and can even make small chats to us students. He has 2 daughters, and he hopes to divert them away from the chemical and teaching industry. Such a surprise huh?
CHEM 3310's lab session seemed quite disastrous. I lost quite a lot of my yield for the synthesis of an alkene acid because I poured my organic layer into a separating funnel, without realising that its tap was still open. I stirred my dichloromethane organic layer with a green plastic spoon, and the spoon decolorised, turning my organic layer which contained my yield green. I got really upset, but Catherine kindly accompanied me to find Adam, to ask him if I had to redo the experiment. Luckily, Adam said that it was okay, just that my product will have the greenish hue. Sigh, why do I always have major screw ups during my lab sessions? How to be a competent scientist like that? Really hope things get better in the near future.
Made a new friend from CHEM 3310 lab called Michael today. Together with him,Kelly and Catherine,we went to the GT bar at the Shortland Building to participate in the Bingo session every Tuesday. There was quite a lot people in the bar and there were several pool tables too. There was a big screen that played MTV music videos plus a stage for live performances. I bought an Eagle Boys' chicken pizza, for I have not had my lunch yet. The price is reasonable for a full small pizza. Michael passed us 2 Bingo game sheets each. The bingo rules are standard, but I am not sure about all their rules. Shall "wiki'' it or ask my friends. Those who falsely claimed they won the game will be "boo-ed'' by the people in the bar. For those who won, they have several tries on throwing darts accurately onto a board. If they hit the target a certain number of times, they would be given coupons that can be exchanged for freebies. This event really proved to be an eye opener for me, for I never played Bingo before.
Went to Auchmuty library next, where we attempted to find library resources for our CHEM 3310 lab assignment. Unfortunately, the books were inaccessible to us at the moment. Michael kindly volunteered to help us find the books which will give us information of how to synthesize the products that were assigned to us. It was great chatting with my friends, for I got to find out more refreshing facts about Australians. They call their girlfriends "chicky'' and they greet each other by saying "Good day'' or "Good day mate''. Mate is a term used to call the guys in a casual manner. Getting to know their culture is more interesting than I thought. Hope to learn of their culture when I continue to interact with my friends!
Did a little bit of writing for my lab report before going to Aili's house for a joint cooking session. She stir fried vegetables with garlic and mushrooms, while I boiled the macoroni and scrambled eggs with mushrooms. The dinner was simple, but at least both of us liked the dishes. Aili is really easy going and not picky about the aesthetic appearance and exotic tastes of food. But I made a silly blunder, I mistook the ready-to-eat macoroni for macoroni sauce. In the end, I had to eat plain macoroni but I found the taste acceptable nevertheless. Aili's house seems bigger and more beautiful than my plain house in Faulkner Crescent. She buys her own seasonings and butter, while I share with my room mates. But I believe wastage will be minimized if we share, because we do not need heaps of seasoning in our food.
Tomorrow is a more relaxing day, for school ends at 2pm and there is no lab session. However, I would have to read my assigned articles for management and CHEM 3210 lab manual. Wouldn't life be much better without academic stresses and woes?
Another 3 things I learnt about Australia today. It is illegal for more than 3 people to sit at the back of a car, because there will not be enough seatbelts for everyone to use. As long as you have a driving licence, you are qualified to teach others how to drive, without having to be a registered driving instructor. The age for adulthood is 18 years old, not 21 years old.
CHEM 3310's lab session seemed quite disastrous. I lost quite a lot of my yield for the synthesis of an alkene acid because I poured my organic layer into a separating funnel, without realising that its tap was still open. I stirred my dichloromethane organic layer with a green plastic spoon, and the spoon decolorised, turning my organic layer which contained my yield green. I got really upset, but Catherine kindly accompanied me to find Adam, to ask him if I had to redo the experiment. Luckily, Adam said that it was okay, just that my product will have the greenish hue. Sigh, why do I always have major screw ups during my lab sessions? How to be a competent scientist like that? Really hope things get better in the near future.
Made a new friend from CHEM 3310 lab called Michael today. Together with him,Kelly and Catherine,we went to the GT bar at the Shortland Building to participate in the Bingo session every Tuesday. There was quite a lot people in the bar and there were several pool tables too. There was a big screen that played MTV music videos plus a stage for live performances. I bought an Eagle Boys' chicken pizza, for I have not had my lunch yet. The price is reasonable for a full small pizza. Michael passed us 2 Bingo game sheets each. The bingo rules are standard, but I am not sure about all their rules. Shall "wiki'' it or ask my friends. Those who falsely claimed they won the game will be "boo-ed'' by the people in the bar. For those who won, they have several tries on throwing darts accurately onto a board. If they hit the target a certain number of times, they would be given coupons that can be exchanged for freebies. This event really proved to be an eye opener for me, for I never played Bingo before.
Went to Auchmuty library next, where we attempted to find library resources for our CHEM 3310 lab assignment. Unfortunately, the books were inaccessible to us at the moment. Michael kindly volunteered to help us find the books which will give us information of how to synthesize the products that were assigned to us. It was great chatting with my friends, for I got to find out more refreshing facts about Australians. They call their girlfriends "chicky'' and they greet each other by saying "Good day'' or "Good day mate''. Mate is a term used to call the guys in a casual manner. Getting to know their culture is more interesting than I thought. Hope to learn of their culture when I continue to interact with my friends!
Did a little bit of writing for my lab report before going to Aili's house for a joint cooking session. She stir fried vegetables with garlic and mushrooms, while I boiled the macoroni and scrambled eggs with mushrooms. The dinner was simple, but at least both of us liked the dishes. Aili is really easy going and not picky about the aesthetic appearance and exotic tastes of food. But I made a silly blunder, I mistook the ready-to-eat macoroni for macoroni sauce. In the end, I had to eat plain macoroni but I found the taste acceptable nevertheless. Aili's house seems bigger and more beautiful than my plain house in Faulkner Crescent. She buys her own seasonings and butter, while I share with my room mates. But I believe wastage will be minimized if we share, because we do not need heaps of seasoning in our food.
Tomorrow is a more relaxing day, for school ends at 2pm and there is no lab session. However, I would have to read my assigned articles for management and CHEM 3210 lab manual. Wouldn't life be much better without academic stresses and woes?
Another 3 things I learnt about Australia today. It is illegal for more than 3 people to sit at the back of a car, because there will not be enough seatbelts for everyone to use. As long as you have a driving licence, you are qualified to teach others how to drive, without having to be a registered driving instructor. The age for adulthood is 18 years old, not 21 years old.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Chatting session with Aili
Adam released us from CHEM 3310 lecture close to 1 hour before the actual time. That made us jubilant, I was no exception. Immediately, I headed down the Auchmuty library to print my notes and surf the web. Met Eric, who gave me a friendly wave. When I arrived at the library, there was not a single vacant computer seat. Had to pass time by writing out 1 of my lab reports before I finally managed to get a seat.
Lunch was a long sandwich from the Student Lounge, it is costly for the price is $8. This is probably one of the rare times I am willing to splurge on a sandwich that does not taste exceptionally fantastic. Only managed to finish half of it, for the portion was too huge. Intend to keep the rest for breakfast tomorrow. After lunch, I proceeded to hand up my IRHR 1001 assignment at the student hub which was located on the 3rd floor of Shortland Building. The student hub was mainly painted in red hues, and there were abundant computers in it. One of the student helpers stamped my assignment, indicating that I have handed it up this day before I put it into a deposit bin. What an unusual way of submitting assignments!
Today's green engineering lecture was on Water dispersion. As usual, the lecture notes were filled with a lot of mathematical formulae, such as differentiation and integration. But I would need to study them in future in order to complete my assignment. Will be going to Edgeworth Wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday and Kris's friend had very kindly offered to fetch me there from school. :) I have another piece of cheery news to announce: I scored full marks for my Material Balances quiz. It was totally unexpected for I was not sure of my workings for the last question that was worth 40marks.
At around 6pm, I went to Aili's house at Canara Place for a visit cum chit chatting session. There is a man-made satellite outside her house, for one of her housemates study IT at UoN. The wallpapers in her house have flower and leaf motifs that are quite pretty. Our rooms are about the same size. There are 3 PRC students living together with Aili. According to her, they are postgraduate students and are very amicable. Two of us chatted about almost everything under the sun, ranging from studies to relationships. Spent almost a couple of hours there. The sky was almost completely dark when I left her place.
Prepared dinner when I reached home. Finished the rest of my stir fry vegetables and marinated my chicken with the Malaysian satay sauce. The Malaysian satay sauce definitely tastes better than the lemon sauce. Aili invited me for her house for dinner tomorrow. But plans are not confirmed yet. Shall wait for her sms tomorrow. On a not so chirpy note, my housemates and I have already used up 35% of the allowed bandwidth for this month although it was renewed on 4th March. According to Hongjun, streaming and using Skype significantly "eats'' up the bandwidth. Guess I have no choice but to regulate my streaming and frequencies of using web camera and Skype.
Okay, I am done for the day. Shall do more updating tomorrow. On a very last random note, I may be going to Sydney during the Easter holidays. =D
Lunch was a long sandwich from the Student Lounge, it is costly for the price is $8. This is probably one of the rare times I am willing to splurge on a sandwich that does not taste exceptionally fantastic. Only managed to finish half of it, for the portion was too huge. Intend to keep the rest for breakfast tomorrow. After lunch, I proceeded to hand up my IRHR 1001 assignment at the student hub which was located on the 3rd floor of Shortland Building. The student hub was mainly painted in red hues, and there were abundant computers in it. One of the student helpers stamped my assignment, indicating that I have handed it up this day before I put it into a deposit bin. What an unusual way of submitting assignments!
Today's green engineering lecture was on Water dispersion. As usual, the lecture notes were filled with a lot of mathematical formulae, such as differentiation and integration. But I would need to study them in future in order to complete my assignment. Will be going to Edgeworth Wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday and Kris's friend had very kindly offered to fetch me there from school. :) I have another piece of cheery news to announce: I scored full marks for my Material Balances quiz. It was totally unexpected for I was not sure of my workings for the last question that was worth 40marks.
At around 6pm, I went to Aili's house at Canara Place for a visit cum chit chatting session. There is a man-made satellite outside her house, for one of her housemates study IT at UoN. The wallpapers in her house have flower and leaf motifs that are quite pretty. Our rooms are about the same size. There are 3 PRC students living together with Aili. According to her, they are postgraduate students and are very amicable. Two of us chatted about almost everything under the sun, ranging from studies to relationships. Spent almost a couple of hours there. The sky was almost completely dark when I left her place.
Prepared dinner when I reached home. Finished the rest of my stir fry vegetables and marinated my chicken with the Malaysian satay sauce. The Malaysian satay sauce definitely tastes better than the lemon sauce. Aili invited me for her house for dinner tomorrow. But plans are not confirmed yet. Shall wait for her sms tomorrow. On a not so chirpy note, my housemates and I have already used up 35% of the allowed bandwidth for this month although it was renewed on 4th March. According to Hongjun, streaming and using Skype significantly "eats'' up the bandwidth. Guess I have no choice but to regulate my streaming and frequencies of using web camera and Skype.
Okay, I am done for the day. Shall do more updating tomorrow. On a very last random note, I may be going to Sydney during the Easter holidays. =D
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Cheese Naan
Did a final checking of my IRHR 1001 assignment before submitting it to Turnitin. Because I suspected that I had some errors in referencing, and true enough, I did have some indeed. Read my management chapter that almost bored me to tears. I hope I can remember enough information to participate adequately in the discussion during Thursday's tutorial.
Intended to have soup noodles for lunch, but had to end up stir frying my noodles because the deep saucepans were all occupied by my housemates. The ingredients I used were the frozen fishballs, fishcakes and the usual dose of Pan Asian stir fry vegetables. The overall noodle dish turned out to be fairly all right, because it was a bit salty due to adding too much soya sauce. It seems that there is always a lesson to take away from each cooking attempt. Dessert was my all time favourite ice-cream flavour: vanilla. Chatted with Alan for a while before going back to our own rooms. Alan is only 18 years old, but he is really helpful and friendly, a stark contrast to my initial impression of him which was shy and quiet.
At around 5pm, the Aarons arrived and decided us to bring us out for an early dinner at an Indian cafe which was approximately a 20 minutes car journey away. On the roads, we witnessed a most peculiar scene. There was a group of people, spanning a wide range of ages, cycling with little or no clothes on. In order make their nudity less obvious, they sprayed their bodies with paint. According to Hongjun, he had seen a poster in UoN which advertised about this activity. I arrived at a conclusion thus, the Australians are really open about full-fledged nudity in the public. In Singapore, these people would already have been arrested for the outrage of modesty, especially towards the female passerbys.
We went to dine at Darby Raj, an Indian cafe. To Aarons, it was their breakfast for they only woke up at 2pm. I ordered a cheese naan, which was rather huge. Huifang ordered a prata wrap which was packed with ingredients while the boys ordered mixed rice. The naan's taste was all right, although I was hoping that it would be bursting with cheese flavour instead. I absolutely adore cheese. The Indian cafe is quite small, but the range of food was broad, like Muthu's Curry in Singapore. If Aaron has not brought us here, I would never have guessed that Australia does sell Indian food.
After the filling meal, we set out to Woolsworth. I purchased 2 packets of sauces for my macoroni, frozen stir fried vegetables and a file to put my management notes. I will try to buy frozen stir fried vegetables as an alternative for fresh ones because they can be kept for a longer period of time, provided that I do not refreeze and rethaw them. Huifang offered me a bowl of the green bean soup that she boiled earlier today, it was sweet enough for my liking but there the ratio of green beans to the soup was so large. I had to squeeze the beans with my spoon to get the liquid. I have this bizzare habit of drinking the soup and discarding the beans for this kind of soups.
Some random notes about school. They use the terms alkanals and alkanones instead of aldehydes and ketones respectively. There are only 17 students enrolled in CHEM 3310 and I am the only Asian, let alone Singaporean. That will be make me very distinct in the crowd. UoN is organizing a chain of events for racial harmony from 10th -15th March, reminds me of racial harmony day back in Singapore on 21st July. I see Malays in tudongs around school too. Seems that UoN student culture is almost as diverse as NTU's now.
Okay, it is getting late. Should really turn in now before dark eyebags come to haunt me. Goodnight!
Intended to have soup noodles for lunch, but had to end up stir frying my noodles because the deep saucepans were all occupied by my housemates. The ingredients I used were the frozen fishballs, fishcakes and the usual dose of Pan Asian stir fry vegetables. The overall noodle dish turned out to be fairly all right, because it was a bit salty due to adding too much soya sauce. It seems that there is always a lesson to take away from each cooking attempt. Dessert was my all time favourite ice-cream flavour: vanilla. Chatted with Alan for a while before going back to our own rooms. Alan is only 18 years old, but he is really helpful and friendly, a stark contrast to my initial impression of him which was shy and quiet.
At around 5pm, the Aarons arrived and decided us to bring us out for an early dinner at an Indian cafe which was approximately a 20 minutes car journey away. On the roads, we witnessed a most peculiar scene. There was a group of people, spanning a wide range of ages, cycling with little or no clothes on. In order make their nudity less obvious, they sprayed their bodies with paint. According to Hongjun, he had seen a poster in UoN which advertised about this activity. I arrived at a conclusion thus, the Australians are really open about full-fledged nudity in the public. In Singapore, these people would already have been arrested for the outrage of modesty, especially towards the female passerbys.
We went to dine at Darby Raj, an Indian cafe. To Aarons, it was their breakfast for they only woke up at 2pm. I ordered a cheese naan, which was rather huge. Huifang ordered a prata wrap which was packed with ingredients while the boys ordered mixed rice. The naan's taste was all right, although I was hoping that it would be bursting with cheese flavour instead. I absolutely adore cheese. The Indian cafe is quite small, but the range of food was broad, like Muthu's Curry in Singapore. If Aaron has not brought us here, I would never have guessed that Australia does sell Indian food.
After the filling meal, we set out to Woolsworth. I purchased 2 packets of sauces for my macoroni, frozen stir fried vegetables and a file to put my management notes. I will try to buy frozen stir fried vegetables as an alternative for fresh ones because they can be kept for a longer period of time, provided that I do not refreeze and rethaw them. Huifang offered me a bowl of the green bean soup that she boiled earlier today, it was sweet enough for my liking but there the ratio of green beans to the soup was so large. I had to squeeze the beans with my spoon to get the liquid. I have this bizzare habit of drinking the soup and discarding the beans for this kind of soups.
Some random notes about school. They use the terms alkanals and alkanones instead of aldehydes and ketones respectively. There are only 17 students enrolled in CHEM 3310 and I am the only Asian, let alone Singaporean. That will be make me very distinct in the crowd. UoN is organizing a chain of events for racial harmony from 10th -15th March, reminds me of racial harmony day back in Singapore on 21st July. I see Malays in tudongs around school too. Seems that UoN student culture is almost as diverse as NTU's now.
Okay, it is getting late. Should really turn in now before dark eyebags come to haunt me. Goodnight!
10 000 BC
Yes! Mission accomplished. I have finally completed my IRHR 1001 essay, though I did not put in my best efforts. Hope to get at least 50% for it, nevertheless. And the extent of the similarity for the essay is 20%. Hope this percentage is acceptable so that I would not be accused of plagiarism. Secondly, I have also completed my CHEM 3310 assignment. Shall start reading my management textbook chapter and do some analysis for CHEM 3210 lab report tomorrow.
Attempted to stir fry udon again, this time by adding some fish fillet. The dish turned out to be better than the previous time, although the fish was a little tasteless. Must add more oyster sauce and water next round, for the udon is almost completely dry, despite adding more water to it. And I want to try other sauces to season my chicken wings, lemon sauce doesn't exactly fit my tastebuds. Anyway, Huifang helped me buy tissue papers from Jesmond today, because I was busy with my essay since this afternoon.
Had a very quick dinner of mushroom omelette before proceeding to Granville to catch a move entitled : 10 000 BC, which is set in prehistoric times when the now extinct species such as the sabre tooth and woolly mammoth can be found. I must say that the computer effects are marvellous, for the sabre tooth and the woolly mammoths look so real. The lead actress is really pretty with her sky blue doe-like eyes. The movie was rather hard to comprehend due to the lack of English subtitles. Nevertheless, I felt that it was better than Meet the Spartans and Rambo. There was a reasonable plot in the movie and it was barely bloody and gory. Bought 2 packets of chips from the cinema too. I wanted to pay for them but Aaron insisted that I need not do so. Like Weiming, he is also very gentlemanly.
I finished one whole pack of chicken twistees during the movie and that left me with a very dry throat. Just hope that the large amount that I have just taken it will buffer me against a sore throat. Now I am chatting with my friends who are in Singapore with a happy mood, for I have cleared 2 major burdens off my mind.
On a random note, the combination of cornflakes, dried fruits and milk tastes yummy. On top of that, it makes an ideal,healthy breakfast too!
Attempted to stir fry udon again, this time by adding some fish fillet. The dish turned out to be better than the previous time, although the fish was a little tasteless. Must add more oyster sauce and water next round, for the udon is almost completely dry, despite adding more water to it. And I want to try other sauces to season my chicken wings, lemon sauce doesn't exactly fit my tastebuds. Anyway, Huifang helped me buy tissue papers from Jesmond today, because I was busy with my essay since this afternoon.
Had a very quick dinner of mushroom omelette before proceeding to Granville to catch a move entitled : 10 000 BC, which is set in prehistoric times when the now extinct species such as the sabre tooth and woolly mammoth can be found. I must say that the computer effects are marvellous, for the sabre tooth and the woolly mammoths look so real. The lead actress is really pretty with her sky blue doe-like eyes. The movie was rather hard to comprehend due to the lack of English subtitles. Nevertheless, I felt that it was better than Meet the Spartans and Rambo. There was a reasonable plot in the movie and it was barely bloody and gory. Bought 2 packets of chips from the cinema too. I wanted to pay for them but Aaron insisted that I need not do so. Like Weiming, he is also very gentlemanly.
I finished one whole pack of chicken twistees during the movie and that left me with a very dry throat. Just hope that the large amount that I have just taken it will buffer me against a sore throat. Now I am chatting with my friends who are in Singapore with a happy mood, for I have cleared 2 major burdens off my mind.
On a random note, the combination of cornflakes, dried fruits and milk tastes yummy. On top of that, it makes an ideal,healthy breakfast too!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Gathering at Barahineban Hall
From the time I woke up until evening yesterday, I was struggling to write my IRHR 1001 essay. At this point of time, I am proud to say that I have written 831 words,including references. At least I am more than halfway through my essay, compared to just a few days before, when I had not even typed a single word. Having to reference both in-text and at the end is really troublesome. Thankfully, the next essay would not be due until 28th April. The next round, I shall start researching and planning for the essay earlier, so as to accumulate better ideas.
After preparing lunch, I came to the conclusion that chicken drum sticks contain a lot of fat, because the skin is not being trimmed off. There was a layer of fat on top of the lemon sauce which I had used to marinate the drum sticks. And I do not know how to trim the fat off a chicken as well. From now on, I resolve to buy chicken wings or chicken breasts, where the visible fats are already removed.
At around 9pm, the party of 4 and I adjourned to Barahineban, one of UoN's hostels for a gathering organized by the Nutrition and Dietetics students. Barahineban, according to Hongjun, is the most beautiful hostel among the rest, because of the scenic view when you look from the outside and spacious and clean rooms. There was quite a lot of food prepared at the gathering, such as mee goreng, pasta, pork sausages, salad, potato salad with celery and potato chips. I did not take very much for the fear of putting on weight quickly.
Out of the blue through our dinner, the lights went off. Initially, I thought it was a blackout. But actually, it was planned to give a birthday boy and girl a suprise. The candles on the cake were very special because they were in a shape of a star. I had a slice of the cake, which was made up of white chocolate, cheese and cream. The cake was very sweet, but loaded with calories. My guilty pleasure,huh? The rest of the night was spent listening to the conversations between my friends and Hongjun coming up with jokes to crack us up. At around 12 midnight, we left the place.
During the conversations, there were frequent lightning flashes across the sky. The lightning flashes were so bright that they illuminated the sky to a greyish white hue, which made the night sky almost as light as a day. I had a premonition that a thunderstorm would be approaching, and true enough, it started to drizzle, and the drizzle eventually morphed into a thunderstorm as it got deeper into the night. As a result, we were lost on the roads for almost 2 hours, for the poor visibility hindered Aaron from looking at the road signs clearly. Thunder clapped and the lightning flashed incessantly the whole time. I never saw such bright lightning flashes in my life. Learnt from Hongjun that there is a hailstorm in Newcastle annually, in which rocks of ice that can inflict injuries and damages on people and property respectively fall from the sky. Hope it does not happen during my stay here!
After a seemingly endless drive in a maze, we ended up at Tomago Street, which is near Nelson Bay and about an hour's drive from Faulkner Crescent. But thankfully, a miracle happened. We managed to drive to a short cut road which led us to Birmingham Gardens. From there, we heaved a sigh of relief upon knowing that our house is not far away. Within 10 minutes after reaching there, it was finally home sweet home. Aaron had done us a great favour, for I know it must be very exhausting to be driving in the rain for such a long time, in addition to the stress experienced due to losing the way.
The adventure was not exactly over yet. The thunderstorm had caused the electricity to be cut off and the entire house was thrown into complete darkness. Thankfully, I had my torchlight which gave out quite a powerful beam with me. Otherwise, I would not be able to go get cleaned up at the toilet. Amusingly, I saw 4 of my housemates playing Daidee by the candlelight, for they could have gone to sleep instead. At around 2+ am, I dozed off. But I was awaken by the sudden light in my room, which was a good sign, for it meant that the electricity supply has been restored in our house!
The sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly now, together with the chirping of birds and buzzing of those blood sucking parasites- the mosquitos outside. Aim to finish my essay and CHEM 3310 assignment by today. Wish me luck!
After preparing lunch, I came to the conclusion that chicken drum sticks contain a lot of fat, because the skin is not being trimmed off. There was a layer of fat on top of the lemon sauce which I had used to marinate the drum sticks. And I do not know how to trim the fat off a chicken as well. From now on, I resolve to buy chicken wings or chicken breasts, where the visible fats are already removed.
At around 9pm, the party of 4 and I adjourned to Barahineban, one of UoN's hostels for a gathering organized by the Nutrition and Dietetics students. Barahineban, according to Hongjun, is the most beautiful hostel among the rest, because of the scenic view when you look from the outside and spacious and clean rooms. There was quite a lot of food prepared at the gathering, such as mee goreng, pasta, pork sausages, salad, potato salad with celery and potato chips. I did not take very much for the fear of putting on weight quickly.
Out of the blue through our dinner, the lights went off. Initially, I thought it was a blackout. But actually, it was planned to give a birthday boy and girl a suprise. The candles on the cake were very special because they were in a shape of a star. I had a slice of the cake, which was made up of white chocolate, cheese and cream. The cake was very sweet, but loaded with calories. My guilty pleasure,huh? The rest of the night was spent listening to the conversations between my friends and Hongjun coming up with jokes to crack us up. At around 12 midnight, we left the place.
During the conversations, there were frequent lightning flashes across the sky. The lightning flashes were so bright that they illuminated the sky to a greyish white hue, which made the night sky almost as light as a day. I had a premonition that a thunderstorm would be approaching, and true enough, it started to drizzle, and the drizzle eventually morphed into a thunderstorm as it got deeper into the night. As a result, we were lost on the roads for almost 2 hours, for the poor visibility hindered Aaron from looking at the road signs clearly. Thunder clapped and the lightning flashed incessantly the whole time. I never saw such bright lightning flashes in my life. Learnt from Hongjun that there is a hailstorm in Newcastle annually, in which rocks of ice that can inflict injuries and damages on people and property respectively fall from the sky. Hope it does not happen during my stay here!
After a seemingly endless drive in a maze, we ended up at Tomago Street, which is near Nelson Bay and about an hour's drive from Faulkner Crescent. But thankfully, a miracle happened. We managed to drive to a short cut road which led us to Birmingham Gardens. From there, we heaved a sigh of relief upon knowing that our house is not far away. Within 10 minutes after reaching there, it was finally home sweet home. Aaron had done us a great favour, for I know it must be very exhausting to be driving in the rain for such a long time, in addition to the stress experienced due to losing the way.
The adventure was not exactly over yet. The thunderstorm had caused the electricity to be cut off and the entire house was thrown into complete darkness. Thankfully, I had my torchlight which gave out quite a powerful beam with me. Otherwise, I would not be able to go get cleaned up at the toilet. Amusingly, I saw 4 of my housemates playing Daidee by the candlelight, for they could have gone to sleep instead. At around 2+ am, I dozed off. But I was awaken by the sudden light in my room, which was a good sign, for it meant that the electricity supply has been restored in our house!
The sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly now, together with the chirping of birds and buzzing of those blood sucking parasites- the mosquitos outside. Aim to finish my essay and CHEM 3310 assignment by today. Wish me luck!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Last day of the week
Woke up at 10+ am this morning, for my IRHR 1001 tutorial session only starts at 11am. Had garlic bread and fruit juice for breakfast. I burnt the 3 slices of garlic bread on my maiden try of warming it up after taking them out from the fridge. The temperature was too high and the bread turned dark brown and gave off a pungent burnt smell. After setting the oven to medium low the 2nd time around, the garlic bread was done just nice :) Indeed,trial and error is an unavoidable process in food preparation.
The grading for participation in IRHR 100 tutorials will only start next week. Felt really relieved when Tony broke the news to us. Today, we basically went through a worksheet on recognizing plagiarism. I need not emphasize time and again how stringent UoN is over plagiarism policies. Just hope that I acknowledge the information I get from the academic journals and textbooks correctly when I write my essay.
CHEM 3210 lab session was less stressful than the previous one, thankfully. Because for today's part of the experiment, we did it in groups of 4. But I still made some mistakes, such as forgetting which product I synthesized last week, and as result, the calculation of the mass of the product to make up a solution was wrong. Secondly, I overshot the meniscus mark of the volumetric flask while diluting one of the solutions. I must not make anymore of such mistakes, because it might affect the result of the whole experiment. Overall, the experiment was relatively successful, as the UV-vis spectra for our organometallic compounds were quite close to literature. However, I nearly choked on the pungent ammonia that one of my group mates, Heath poured down the sink, instead of the waste bottle in the fume cupboard!
I got to know some interesting facts about 2 of my group mates today. Renee is a 32 year old woman of a 11 year old girl. That means that she was only 21 years old when she had her daughter, amazing! No wonder she demonstrates a high level of maturity and efficiency when she does her parts for the experiment. She is a part time student who is doing a double degree in Chemistry and Education. All along, I thought that Renee is only in her twenties. Paul looks like someone in his forties, though I am not sure of his age. I still remembered how he consoled me last week by patting on my shoulder. That gesture was really caring!
Stomach cramps came to visit me after lab session had ended. It had quite a bad effect on me due to a couple factors, which were the hot blazing afternoon sun and hunger. As a result, I felt faint in addition to my stomach hurting badly. But I am not completely luckless as well, because Weiming responded to my phonecalls and drove me back home without any complaints. Thanks a million, buddy! Hopefully I can repay your kindness one day!
Had not much appetite, so I just finished a packet of pizza biscuits which I had purchased on Monday. Spent some time reading my management notes before cooking dinner. The standard of my cooking seemed to have deproved this time around, the udon was too dry and the lemon sauce for the chicken was a little burnt. I guess my mood to cook was influenced by my less than tip top physical health condition today. Nevertheless, I hope I get better tomorrow after a good night's rest. No school tomorrow! Cheers!
Wilson helped me cut my watermelon today, that was indeed a very thoughtful act. I did not even ask for help, for he volunteered to assist me. Really lucky to have such nice and helpful people around me. :) They make the sun appear during a cloudy day ( not literally of course).
The grading for participation in IRHR 100 tutorials will only start next week. Felt really relieved when Tony broke the news to us. Today, we basically went through a worksheet on recognizing plagiarism. I need not emphasize time and again how stringent UoN is over plagiarism policies. Just hope that I acknowledge the information I get from the academic journals and textbooks correctly when I write my essay.
CHEM 3210 lab session was less stressful than the previous one, thankfully. Because for today's part of the experiment, we did it in groups of 4. But I still made some mistakes, such as forgetting which product I synthesized last week, and as result, the calculation of the mass of the product to make up a solution was wrong. Secondly, I overshot the meniscus mark of the volumetric flask while diluting one of the solutions. I must not make anymore of such mistakes, because it might affect the result of the whole experiment. Overall, the experiment was relatively successful, as the UV-vis spectra for our organometallic compounds were quite close to literature. However, I nearly choked on the pungent ammonia that one of my group mates, Heath poured down the sink, instead of the waste bottle in the fume cupboard!
I got to know some interesting facts about 2 of my group mates today. Renee is a 32 year old woman of a 11 year old girl. That means that she was only 21 years old when she had her daughter, amazing! No wonder she demonstrates a high level of maturity and efficiency when she does her parts for the experiment. She is a part time student who is doing a double degree in Chemistry and Education. All along, I thought that Renee is only in her twenties. Paul looks like someone in his forties, though I am not sure of his age. I still remembered how he consoled me last week by patting on my shoulder. That gesture was really caring!
Stomach cramps came to visit me after lab session had ended. It had quite a bad effect on me due to a couple factors, which were the hot blazing afternoon sun and hunger. As a result, I felt faint in addition to my stomach hurting badly. But I am not completely luckless as well, because Weiming responded to my phonecalls and drove me back home without any complaints. Thanks a million, buddy! Hopefully I can repay your kindness one day!
Had not much appetite, so I just finished a packet of pizza biscuits which I had purchased on Monday. Spent some time reading my management notes before cooking dinner. The standard of my cooking seemed to have deproved this time around, the udon was too dry and the lemon sauce for the chicken was a little burnt. I guess my mood to cook was influenced by my less than tip top physical health condition today. Nevertheless, I hope I get better tomorrow after a good night's rest. No school tomorrow! Cheers!
Wilson helped me cut my watermelon today, that was indeed a very thoughtful act. I did not even ask for help, for he volunteered to assist me. Really lucky to have such nice and helpful people around me. :) They make the sun appear during a cloudy day ( not literally of course).
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