mood nostalgic

My favourite oldie at the mo.


Try to Remember by The Brothers Four

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow, follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow
Try to remember the time of September
When love was an ember about to billow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow, follow.

Deep in December It's nice to remember
Although you know the snow will follow
Deep in December It's nice to remember
The fire of September that made us mellow
Deep in December our hearts should remember
And follow, follow, follow...

Labels: music

mood hungry

Happy Sunny Day!

Today we went to The Spit to do some sightseeing in the afternoon, afterwhich Wayne cooked chicken schnitzel for dinner before we left again at 8pm to go see glow worms at Lamington National Park.

How very exciting it was to wander about in darkness, trudging along mossy staircases and seeing itsy bitsy worms that glow blue-green beside a little waterfall! Didn't manage to take any pictures of the worms, because it was just too dark. Apparently we were not allowed to shine any torches at them or take picture with flash because the harsh lights would kill the worms. But seriously, up there i was concentrating so much on climbing up and down the staircases with only the guidance of the light spot from the torchlight shone on the ground that i broke out in a sweat, man.

Anyway, before we went to The Spit in the afternoon we went to this posh place called Mariner's Cove where all the rich people park their yachts and stuff. There was also a little chapel where people apparently have their solemnisation done, after which the newlyweds literally sail off into the sunset. So damn cool huh huh huh??

There were also a shopping centre with posh restaurants and hotels nearby, including the six star hotel owned by Versace called Palazzo Versace. It was a designer hotel which looks probably half as eccentric as its owner, complete with ugly colourful couches which look like inverted mushrooms. At the carpark we saw shitloads of posh cars, all gleaming and shining and i bet Wayne had the urge to covet one, because he who is normally quite shy around cameras did not hesitate one bit when I asked him to pose beside an incredibly sleek Aston Martini.

I told him that he could give me a sum of token money, and in exchange, I could publish this picture of him here and tell everyone that Wayne is actually the 106th son of an Arab prince and his past time include collecting sport cars and folding paper cranes with 100-dollar notes. Oh look, here he is with his latest toy! But alas, the miser has since declined my generous offer, so.

GO GET YOUR OWN and take your hands off that Aston, Wayne!

Next, we went to The Spit, which in idiot's term is basically this thin strip of water separating two chunks of land. Cut me some slack, I'll provide the geographical details after i check the map or something alright?? Anyway, many people walk their dogs and go fishing at The Spit. How the Australians managed to cook up such a weird name for a body of water, is a mystery I would choose not to find out for the moment. Gobsmacking names aside, the view from The Spit was absolutely gorgeous!

Thick white fluffy cotton clouds! nice enough to eat.

And I spied this cute couple suntaning on the rocks. Quite a funny sight to behold and I couldnt resist a snap :)

I realised that I really don't fancy writing this sort of events post much, because uploading pictures, especially on a dial up connection, is just such a pain in the ass. I reckon that if I do up such a post every single day, by the end of four months I will have no more hair left to pull.

Today I realised that i've been here in Gold Coast for almost a month. How time truly flies. It scares me that I have exhausted a quarter of my time here and before I know it I would be back in a claustrophobic land that is singapore. Better get myself sorted while I can!

Labels: aussie

mood aching all over!

Australia Day

Long weekend this week yipeeyay! Yesterday was Australia Day and Wayne brought us to Southbank, which is this area bordering the Brisbane river (quite similar to Clarke Quay or Esplanade) because there were carnivals, fireworks and a lot of australian programmes thingymagy going on. Nathan, Wayne's eleven-year-old smartass godson, tagged along and it was really funny because he throughout the entire day he just wouldnt shut up! But funnily enough, I found myself actually being able to relate to him at some points of time, talking about Australian tree frogs, spider crabs, and poisonous toads. We also exchanged tips on finger acrobatics which made Wayne cringe and barf. Hmm.. made me wonder if i grew up too soon heh?

Anyway, yesterday was a sweltering hot day and we practically baked under the sun. But there were tiny booths everywhere which provided freeflow of sunblocks and fake tatoos of Australian flag! It was so cool! As such, I decided to be abandon for a day my sense of belonging to the country which witnessed my birth and pledge temporary loyalty to this land of koalas, kangaroos and many strange animals. They also had free face painting, kite-making, some tribal dance show, rock band concerts by some local bands, yadda yadda. Check out my symbol of betrayal. *muahaha*







Anyway, since we had a few hours until the fireworks started so Wayne brought us to take the ferry from one end to the other and back to Southbank, just for the fun of it. The Brisbane river is serviced by the CityCat, the catamaran boats which was actually a form of public transport. How cool is that! imagine going to work or school via a ferry everyday! Here in Queensland, the transportation tickets that we buy include bus, trains, and ferry as well so as long as your destinations are within the stipulated zone you can just ride here and there and we didn't have to pay for the ferry tickets.

So off we went! 'cept that the journey he said was 15 minutes turned out to be two hours. At certain points of time the wind was damn strong, so much so that my cap flew off and it felt like ten thousand ants were punching my stomach when the wind blew head on into my belly while the boat sped along. yelch!

The views along the ride were really nice!

Me and Nathan. I had to hold onto my cap lest it escapes for a dive

Nathan and the sun

Nathan the smartass: "Let me try to catch it!"

Anyway, on Thursday Maysan and I went to play badminton because Wayne runs a badminton club that meets every thursday and he asked us if we want to tag along. We stood him up last week because Maysan was too tired to play after working in the factory all week. This week, however, I MADE IT despite having been slaughtered in the factory myself and i am darn proud of myself. And hence, coupled with a whole day of walking yesterday, I am really quite zombified! But exactly one minute ago Wayne just came in and said that we are going to The Spit in 45 minutes.

*&^%^$#%$#%$ what a short notice!

over and out!

Labels: aussie

I wish I could stay in Australia forever.

... that was just a thought.

My days here in Gold Coast are quiet on most days. We go to work in the morning at around 830am and Wayne drives. The past two weeks I was stationed in the laboratory while Maysan had to help out with production in the factory floor which involved packing bottles, filling sauces, and all things physical. You bet i had the better deal because in the laboratory, i just had to do quantitative tests with lots of idle time in between, while Maysan had to flex some muscles moving big bottles of sauces and this and that. Wayne is in the lab 80% of the time and I spent most of my time talking crap with him, teaching him chinese and microsoft shortcuts, and laughing at him until i tear because his chinese pronounciation is absolutely hopeless and he likes to talk to inanimate objects, the mosquitoes, and himself.

Starting yesterday, however, maysan and I had to swap duties, and I am not laughing now, because now i am stationed in the factory floor, and just today, I spent 5 hours sticking Maggi stickers onto what must have been two thousand pouches, it was just insane. When you do mundane things like that, time passes in a really bizarre way, because things were so regimental and mechanical that my mind was blank most of the time, and my body went into an autopilot mode. Time was slow while i was at it, but when it was over, it was like *poof* five hours was gone just like that, and that was it. i just wasted five hours of my precious life battling with sticky labels and stubborn pouches that refuse to lat flat while being sorted out.

After we come back from work, we normally straightaway get down and dirty in the kitchen and once every 2 days maysan and I get serious migraines racking our brains deciding the dinner menus. Thankfully, every other day, Wayne will cook, and he really is a fabulous cook. The other day when we were talking while eating fish and chips at Labrador, we learnt that he graduated with a degree in chef-ing. I nearly hyperventilated when i heard that, because all along i thought he was probably some geeky food scientist who spend his free time experimenting in the basement of his house developing the next oriental sauce to conquer the Asian market.

Today on the journey back home from work, I asked him what he was going to cook and he said he hadn't given it much thought. Later on when me and maysan sat on the kitchen stools watching him marinade chicken, he said "There is really nothing to watch! Not much preparation today." But after pottering about in the kitchen, peeling potatoes at a speed of 1 potato/10 seconds, occasionally talking to the chickens ("come on, bake!"), his nothing much turned out to look like this:

It was really yum :)

On some nights, i take pleasure in cabbaging on the couch watching TV or grossing myself out watching Fear Factor with Wayne (maysan normally watches taiwanese drama on her laptop!). Some other nights, i get plenty of quiet time in the comfort of my own room spending time with myself.

Yesterday I was just rummaging through my picture folder looking at all the pictures i have taken over the past two years or so (yes, i was that free) and it was mind-boggling to see from my own perspective how much I have changed, both physically and mentally. What i was reminiscing about, deserves a brand new post for another less lazy night.

Ok laa.. I know that i am somewhat too sentimental and a little too nostalgic for my own good at times. Last time Rudy used to be able to muster some sort of interest and patience to listen to all my nostalgic findings, hypothesis or theories whatsoever. But over the past two years, I suppose he has developed some sort of there she goes again mode, which he faithfully turns on whenever i get into my nostalgic yak-yak mood.

Together with some other occurences, I guess this is how i came to be such a private person. My mind is like a giant reservoir where strands of thoughts float along. Most days they mind their own business. Some days they collide and cause sparks of emotions that momentarily disarm me a little and cause me to do a bit of reflection. And that is also why i am really cherishing my time away here in Gold Coast, because here in my own little corner on the other side of the globe from whereever home is supposed to be, I could make believe that every single fragment of my life is in place, exactly how and where i picture them to be. Because there is no need to be accountable to anyone for my thoughts and emotions, no ugly pretentious faces to judge me, no fake smiles, no superficial banters, no obligatory conversations, nothing to make me feel small and inadequate.

Anyway, the day after we reached Gold Coast, Wayne let us tag along to Mt. Tamborine while he did some delivery. The view along the journey up the mountain looked like this:

Ok actually there are more pictures but i am so pissed at blogger because it always screw up my posts.

anyway, here in Gold Coast i'm a bit not used to the roads having so little traffic and having clear blue sky and clouds floating all day long. Would love to post more photos from the past two weeks but blogger's photo uploading function is just crap. Next time! :)

Labels: aussie

Friday, 5th January


mood boink boink

A holler from down under!

Reached Brisbane this morning around 7am Australian time (5am Singapore time) after getting only a meager 1.5hr sleep on the plane because they served the frigging breakfast at 3am sg time. Wayne picked us up and drove us back to his place at Gold Coast, which was a 45 min drive from the airport at Brisbane.

On the long drive back, all we saw were long winding roads dotted with a few cars, trees, grass, and more grass. Reminded me a little of the time when I was a kid and our family used to go on those relative-visiting trips to the other end of town. It was all rather significantly different from the Melbourne experience last July winter. Anyway, Wayne's car was scorching hot because he didn’t turn on the air-con and the sun was just glaring at us through the car windows, and for a fraction of a minute I actually wished I were in Melbourne.

However, the moment we got down the car, it hit me that the weather is actually really beautiful! Even though it's summer, there is the absence of that ubiquitous icky stickiness we used to get due to the darn humidity back in Singapore. Also, the cool breeze blows all day along despite the heat and it is literally and figuratively really cool! Yayness!

I am so excited!!! Wayne's place is located in a rather suburban area surrounded by plenty of grass and occasional hills. His house is really pretty! It has a genuine country feel to it and he keeps it superbly spick and span and immaculately tidy, it is just unbelievable. Maysan and I got separate rooms side by side and the rooms are great too! It really made me feel like I was in a mini hotel the moment I stepped into it. It is roughly twice the size of a typical hostel room, with a humongous wardrobe which can fit a whole soccer team inside lined in sardines' formation. It would cause any normal shop-bug-bitten girl to instantly feel that she needs more clothes just to fill the generous space. I tell you, I wanted to buy another 20 pairs of shoes together with a rack, more coats, and more dressy tops to hang just because there were so many friggin' hangers! I wanted to get 5 more havaianas in assorted colours and more shoes and more shoes!!

I wanted to frame ten pictures, put them in photo frames and hang them on the bare wall, spray girly linen spray, buy a ladybug rug and personalize the room with all the possessions I’ve accumulated for the 21 years I’ve been on earth, and make the room --- or rather, the house --- all mine. I wanted to buy a cute cocker spaniel and a golden retriever and let them roam around the house, after which I will subsequently get married, have kids and live here until I grow old.

SOMEBODY BUY ME THIS HOUSE PLEASE.

On to a less bimbotic and dreamy note, I start work on 8th January. Wayne will drive us to and fro work and that is awesome (insert irritating Australian twang) because we get to save on transport. Yayness! Our working hours are from 930-1730 everyday, except Friday, where everyone reports an hour earlier so that we can knock off earlier (and then proceed to go to the pub for booze, according to Wayne). Oh! Thursday is late-night-shopping day! Shops close at 9pm instead of the usual 5pm.
Wayne brought us to Helensvale, the nearest clusters of shops where there was also Coles where we did a bit of groceries. Well from what I see there wasn't much to shop, unlike Melbourne, but I can't honestly say that I'm majorly upset by this revelation because I really need to adopt this whole frugal living thing while I'm here.

Occupational trainees get an allowance of AUD$20/day, which adds up to slightly over AUD$400/month. I need to save money so I would have more cash to spare when I go up to Melbourne in May. Yay, can see Rudy! Sometimes I wish that I were rich and have a sack of cash to bring all around the world but I suppose sacrifices need to be made. Paid my building fund the day before I leave and it feels great somewhat.

Now I understand why SEP students always yak non-stop in their blogs and some write in a single paragraphs with little commas. Because there is so much to take in!

Labels: aussie