mood dilemma


Bag Lady

Two days ago I bought a bag. From Fossil. It was a genuine leather bag, and it cost me AUD$160.

It looks better in real life.

What, don't look at me like that.

It's really not something I could have controlled! They were having a whooping 50% sale! Only for a week! And they were selling like hotcakes, all disappearing from the shelves at a very alarming rate. It was an impulsive buy. Because when you have to clutch onto a particular item while you observe the other bag-hungry women starting to walk around you in concentric circles while impatiently anticipating for you to put it down so they can grab it, it was difficult to think rationally. Didn't have the luxury of overnight pondering. Had to act fast. Umm yeah...

For the past 2 days I had been somewhat in a daze. I had to periodically feel my head to check if it is still there. I mean, how could my brains have deceived me into spending one. hundred. sixty. dollars. Just like that. But slowly and surely, I am recovering from the shock. And the irreversible damage it did to my bank account. I told myself I'm not going to buy anymore bags for a long time. I even considered returning the Sportgirl jeans I bought a week back, just to minimize damage, you know. Shorten the guilt trip.

But I think God really has a wicked sense of humour. Because today Rudy and I went shopping and I was innocently walking around Witchery when I stopped dead in my track. Because I saw the most beautiful bag I have ever seen for a long time. Ten times better than the Fossil one. I went breathless. If love at first sight exists, I was convinced this must be how it would feel like.

Leather oversized Super Heidi bag

The picture is totally crap, because in real life it doesnt look that boring. The leather is soft and when carried it folds and creases at all the right spots. Oh my God. It was just so damn gorgeous.

It's AUD$349.95. And you know what? the most insane part of this whole bag affair is that I am actually CONSIDERING it.

I didn't buy it today. I want to sit on the thoughts for a few days. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow, enough logic would have crept into my system and shook my brains awake so I would realise that spending AUD$500 on bags within 3 days is just majorly insane.

When I was young I used to not understand them mothers who would spend so much money on handbags. I was totally happy with hippy yuppy bags because they are cheap and you can buy like a dozen of them and carry different ones for a thousand and one occasions. But I think after the Fossil bag, I have totally stepped over the line. Passed the point of no return.


Ok how about this one then? Leather Justin Bag in light grey. AUD$189.95 only.

Labels: aussie, shopping

mood chillin'
reading The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
listening to 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins


I want a backpack for christmas.

After 6 days 5 nights of crashing around in the bushes of Blue Mountains and ferry+train hopping in the metropolitan city of Sydney, I am back in Melbourne. The weather has been bordering on the less erratic side, and that, i'm telling you, deserves a cry of jubilation.

The Sydney trip was a great eye-opener. We spent 2 full days in the city and 2 full days in Blue Mountains. While the city was nothing out of ordinarily spectacular, the Blue Mountains was awesome. It was a gem, and if my travel itinerary had been more accomodating I would probably have spent a few more days there.





Views of the Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters, which are basically 3 blocks of rocks made famous by a myth.


The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.


And as with all myths, it has probably undergone a series of distortion while being passed down from one tourist guide to another. Some say that the sisters were being chased by a giant, some say that the wizard lost his wand while turning into a bird, but heck, you get the drift.





We did a couple of short bush walks too and saw many waterfalls, big and small. There had been a rare downpour the day before and in a way we were lucky because when we went, the waterfalls were as pretty as a picture. Everywhere we went, water was cascading down in such fierce streams that for a moment we forgot we were in drought.

There was a particularly interesting trail called the Giant Stairway which goes all the way past the Three Sisters into the valley below before it goes back to the top via a less steep roundabout way. The whole thing was 997 steps and bloody steep but I bet the views must have been amazing. We only got as far as about 60 steps, past the bridge and to the first "Sister" before chickening back up because we didn't have time. I was so disappointed.

On the second day we went to Jenolan Cave to do see limestone caves! The whole Jenolan Cave itself has got so many caves full of stalactites and stalagmites and it would take half a lifetime to explore Jenolan in its entirety. But anyway, we only had time for one tour so... grumble grumble.

We did the adventure tour and it was all thanks to Wayne's recommendation. It was such a fun and laughable affair! We had to do a bit of abseiling, squeeze past impossibly small holes, wedge ourselves between boulders of rocks, and slide down on our bums past S-bends and whatnot.





They made us wear funny blue overalls too, which made me feel absolutely like a plumber in action.





We came out of the 2 1/2 hr tour looking like grubs. Everyone had a big brown patch on their bums.

The city, on the other hand, was so-so. Staying in Gold Coast for 4 months has made me realise that I am really not much of a city girl. Well, I wouldn't want to have to eat my words anytime in future, but as of now, I would most definitely choose walking trails and waterfalls over city-hopping anytime.





In front of a wishing well near Queen Victoria building, the leaves-littered street at Town Hall, and maysan in front of Queen Victoria building.





We also visited Manly beach. And oh, how could I forget. A travelogue of Sydney will never make the cut without the inclusion of the ubiquitous Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.





There you have it. Night view. Taken painstakingly with super steady hands.

Labels: aussie, travel

mood cold


Where Mountains are Blue

Again, I'm blogging from a backpacker's hostel. But this time it's a different one, cos this morning we arrived at the Blue Mountains and we are staying the night. Tomorrow we are going to Jenolan caves to do a cave tour before heading back to the city in the evening.

It is COLD up here in the mountains, and showering was such a torment. The part I hate most was trying to get the right combination of hot and cold water flowing out of the shower while standing there shivering in my birthday suit.

Anyway, with 6 days' worth of clothes and ample supplies of muesli bars and Pocky (Rudy made me bring it) all crammed into a medium haversack, I am truly feeling like a backpacker. And it rocks, yo! Other than some minor travelling hiccups, it's been all good.

Maybe this is how a snail feels. A portable home strapped onto its back, ready, get set, go. But unlike me, it doesn't have to go knocking on backpackers hostels and pay 20 bucks a night to get a bed. Good for it.





At an old coal mine up in the Blue Mountains near Katoomba Falls, and at the first section of the Giant Stairway at the Three Sisters.


Just two photos from today, because I'm lazy. And also because the super strong wind made my hair look crappy in most of the pictures. :p

Labels: aussie, travel

mood hungry

Living out of a backpack

Am blogging from our backpackers' hostel at Sydney now! Anyway, Sydney is a big city, very much like Singapore. I think up til this very moment, we have cruised past the Opera House and Harbour Bridge so many times that now we yawn everytime we pass them by.

Going to Blue Mountains tomorrow! :)

Labels: aussie, travel

mood cold
cold-o-meter 10-12 C


Crazy Weather Part II

It's f..f..freeezing here.

The crazy weather plummets and rises at its own whim and fancy. This morning it was actually quite sunny. The blinding sun shone through the window sills and straight unto my bed, and I remembered wriggling about in bed thinking Boy, this is a little warm. But I slept through it, and when I woke up, I was flabbergasted because my cheek was bloody SUNBURNT. It was pink and slightly tight to the touch. The unmistaken legacy of UV rays.

But now it's freezing! I'm not sure exactly how cold but according to meteorology webbie, the CBD is 14C while Melbourne airport is 9C. So I'm guessing that over here it's about 10-12C.

Staying in Melbourne has made me somewhat rather obsessed with numbers, and I feel lost without a thermometer. Back in Gold Coast I was always able to know exactly how hot/cold it is because Wayne's car has got an external thermometer, and it was very much a quintessential part of our lives because we watch those little numbers like as though we were watching the NASDAQ stock market. It's only 18C tonight, so cold! Omg, its 32C, no wonder it's so hot in here!

I so miss Gold Coast weather! :(

Labels: aussie, mumble jumbles

mood bloated


Falling.

If everything that God created has got genders, then Melbourne must be a female. One who is in a perpetual state of PMS.

Yesterday night was absolutely freezing. I almost couldn't feel my fingers and toes and I came out of a warm shower with my teeth chattering so hard I thought my jaw was going to drop off. But this afternoon as I was strolling down Bridge Road alone while Rudy stayed at home to mug, the sun was glaring at me so strongly that I had to squint just to read the tram stop sign.


Lesson#1: Women normally cant make up their mind. That is true.


Anyway, today there was a house inspection for the upcoming auction so we had to leave the house in the afternoon. Ended up at Nando's for lunch.

Staying in Toorak is a pretty unnerving experience. Everything about this little neighbourhood screams posh and glamour, and while tall blondies and men in smart suits strut around in Manolo Blahnik and Ferragamo, I galumph around in crummy F21 jeans and Keds/havaianas. While they zoom past in shiny and sleek cars, I wait for trams at the side of the road and tip toe under the trees picking leaves. But I am a happy oddball, because there is one thing I enjoy about this place, and that is how beautifully lanscaped it is. Maybe its because of all the big and formidable looking houses. They are so castle-like that all the owners must have felt compelled to plonk a tree or two (or three, or four) to complete the whole fairy tale picture.

Most of the trees are deciduous, and all the streets are lined with them. So now that it is autumn, they fill the whole place with red and amber hues, and they are truly beautiful.





They are so fragile and brittle to the touch. At the slightest prod, they flutter down and join their fallen friends in a heap on the ground. The whole street is littered with brown, and when the wind blows, the leaves rise up in a whirl and float along in accompaniment. It was picture perfect. Just like how I used to read about it in story books when I was small.





So after lunch Rudy went back home while I spent about 4 hours doing my own walkathon in the attempt to burn off the Nando's chicken and the super big heap of chips I gobbled down for lunch. But really, there is only so much about the city that you can take in, after which every shop becomes the same thing. I am so easy to please. I like the journey back home the best.

Probably spurred by the guilt still lingering from lunch, or maybe because I missed walking 2 1/2 hr with Wayne just to get newspaper, I decided to walk home from South Yarra station. It was a half-hour walk, 7 tram stops down. And all along the walk back, the wonder of nature continually mesmerized me. While humming along to Big Yellow Taxi blasting on my iPod, I wandered around in awe, touching every different kind of leaf I could find, plucking some whose perfect symmetry or rich shades captured my attention. Hawthorn, elder, maple.

With a few leaves clutched in my hand, a grin hung on my face, I trudged home. And I felt like a little kid.

Oh my God... one whole post dedicated to LEAVES.

Labels: aussie

mood speechless


When you put two loons together.


Talking about cold weather:

kko. i am, i am, i am. says:
ok
kko. i am, i am, i am. says:
u also pls set ur breasts on fire to keep urself warm
kko. i am, i am, i am. says:
haahhaa
kko. i am, i am, i am. says:
i think it'l work
felicia. says:
...........
felicia. says:
wow
felicia. says:
that TOTALLY make sense, man
felicia. says:
maybe i should go try it.
felicia. says:
-___-
felicia. says:
maybe it will make them bigger too
felicia. says:
cos you know how heat expands things

Labels: mumble jumbles, quotes

mood full
listening to Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman


One teaspoon of Moccona with one teaspoon of sugar.

Nowadays, my typical day here in melbourne is the epitome of a bummer's life. When Rudy is away in school, I plonk myself on a tram and loiter around the city, where every single street and road is lined with rows upon rows of shops, restaurants and chic cafes. I must have looked ridiculous, periodically stopping at the side of the street and rotating the map in all possible direction to find the most street-savvy way to navigate around all the countless junctions and intersections. But noone knows me. So even in my most unglam moment with bad hair day and evident lack of sense of direction, I seek solace in the pleasure of anonymity and everything seems not so bad.

When I am tired of walking, I sit on one of the many benches along the streets, while seagulls and pigeons flap around noisily beside me fighting for crumbs. And with the company of my faithful iPod, sometimes before I know it, many contemplative minutes have faded into nothingness.

I sound like a bum right??

Well, hello.


The days and nights have been getting progressively colder here in Melbourne and various parts of my body have been responding to the climate by going completely cold turkey. My eyes are droopy, my face is blotchy, my hair seems like it has lost its life, and I just feel like sleeping the whole day away. I used to wake up feeling happier back in Gold Coast, but now I open my eyes and move my limbs only because I need to snooze the alarm. And I blame it on the weather. But maybe it is also because I have a queen size bed all to myself while there is only one pillow. So at night I curl into a fetal position with my knee caps touching my face and then hug myself to sleep. And when I wake up, my body aches in a way that a gymnast feels after she has done the Olympics.

Today we had a late and heavy breakfast. I had a bowl of muesli with milk, a prawn fritter and a mug of coffee milk, which totally made my morning. But barely an hour later, Uncle Wahyu asked us out for LUNCH. At that point of time I felt my pants starting to tighten, but we obliged nonetheless. We went to this cozy little english cafe called Cafe Sweetheart and had the yummiest brunch ever. I had eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce, with avocado and a bit of sauteed mushroom, and felt like I had gone up to heaven. And hence, I came to a conclusion that heaven must be full of fat and happy people.

As much as I am sounding like a true blue bum, I actually have got lots of things to do. I have spent my free time settling the accomodation and itinerary for my Sydney trip next Thursday, and likewise for the Hobart and Launceston trip next month. And when I want to do something less technical, I like to sit on the floor and admire my new guitar (yes, spanking brand new guitar which I have to lug all the way back to Singapore!). I also need to periodically sit down and take some time moisturizing my legs, or trimming my fringe. So as you can tell, being a bum is actually not that easy afterall. Plus, sometimes my jobs are made difficult because I get lost in the house while trying to make my way back into the study, like how I did this morning.

But on some days when I have more time to spare, I could afford to be lost in stupor thinking about many things. Like the colour of the scarf I should wear today. Or the names of my future children. You know, how these Hollywood people name their kids with distasteful names like Paris or Brooklyn? I need to think of ways to do better than them, and come up with better names. Like Fiji, or maybe Pennsylvania.


Eat your vegetables, Pennsylvania!

No TV before you finish your spelling, Pennsylvania!

Ok seriously, can you tell that I'm starting to malfunction here?

Labels: aussie

mood sleepy
listening to Choux Pastry Heart by Corinne Bailey Rae


Goodbye Gold Coast, Hello Melbourne.

Arrived in melbourne last night. It is chilly here. But i'm not complaining, because to me, the weather is just perfect. When the gentle wind blows, I tuck my arms together and the feel of fleece rubbing against my skin brings some sort of a comfort.

Yesterday Wayne took us to the airport. As we waited at the departure gate, we sat down and ate chips. But the whole time I was there, my mind was a blank. I glanced around me, and everyone I see was a traveller. Where were they going? What were they leaving behind? What beckons them at the other end?

I couldn't cry, my eyes were dry. Maybe I had exhausted them all that morning when I was eating my last breakfast and doing my last minute packing. Or maybe it is just this whole denial issue that I have, the same thing that paralysed me when my auntie passed away last year. Because I make enemies with reality. My mind switches off and erects a wall, holding all emotions back. Maybe a few months down the road when I am a thousand miles away and back in singapore, battling all the academic humdrum, then I will remember those days in Gold Coast when I was truly and naively happy, and maybe then, the wall will crumble.

As he was saying good bye, Wayne teared, and it really broke my heart. But still, I couldn't cry. Then I felt my body walk into the little plane. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Maybe I was hoping that when I woke up some sort of control would have crept back into my head.

On another note, Melbourne is great! I am staying at Uncle Wahyu's place, the place where Rudy is staying, and this place is SO. HUGE. It is obscenely colossal, and I don't know what to do with all this space.

Today we woke up early for church. We bought breakfast at South Yarra. A cappuccino and a bacon-egg-cheese sandwich each. I had an extra 600 kcal chocolate soft cookie, an early endorphin rush. We took a tram, a train, and a bus (I had missed taking trams!). We went to Knox city, supposedly the biggest shopping centre in Victoria, and we had a good time catching up. We ate gelato, we took strolls, we walked down the graffiti-filled Flinders Street, and we ate xiao long bao and shanghai noodles for dinner.

It was very very nice.

But admittedly, I think a part of my heart is still left at Crestridge Crescent. Amidst all the rush, I must have forgotten to pack it in my suitcase, because I can't seem to find it anywhere. Right now, it must be flopping on the couch watching TV, or sitting at the dinner table eating lemon meringue, or lazing in bed, rejoicing because of the long weekend and looking forward to going to the lab on Tuesday. And it must be happy.

I miss uncle wayne. I really do.

Labels: aussie, emo

mood contemplative

Over All Too Soon

Today is my last wednesday in Gold Coast. And then the days after, there is my last Thursday, last Friday, and come saturday I will be leaving on the jet plane.

To be very honest I can't bring myself to be excited about going to Melbourne because all my excitement at the prospect of meeting Rudy has been wholly and helplessly masked by how reluctant I actually am of leaving this place.

Anyway, I don't think I will have the chance to blog much (or even, at all) within these few days because there are just so many things to do. Everybody wants to meet us! for last dinner, last coffee, last cakes, whatever. And I have yet to finish packing because I just suck at it. Period. Keiko, remember how chaotic it was when I moved out of hall?? This is like the sequel. Part 2.

Last saturday we went to Seaworld, thanks to Kwang, who got all six of us in for absolutely free. We also did the shark snorkel, and the dolphin interaction thingy which normally cost $165. Can you imagine that!!?? And then he arranged an international buffet for us which cost $23 but he refused to take our money. So all in all, we wringled out about $300 worth of activities and food, without forking out a single cent. It was incredulous. And we had great fun!

On sunday morning I was wandering about at Westfield after church when I innocently bought a pack of Tim Tam chocolate mud and polished 7 out of the 10 pieces that were in it. When I eventually looked at the nutritional information, I realised, with utter horror, that 1 pack of Tim Tam contained about 1000 Cal, which was bloody HALF of my daily intake. I'm not trying to nit pick here, but when you gobbled down HALF of your daily calorie intake for after breakfast snack alone, it is just not funny. So I very subtly hinted at Wayne for another jogging session, and off we went to Labrador. Yipeeyay! Wayne did 4.6 km while I only did 3.6 km, trailing behind Wayne as usual but it felt great! After that while cooling down, we ended up playing at the playground.

It was hilarious. We got a little carried away and I think passerbys were wondering what were two adults doing creaking on the see saw and swinging on the monkey bar.

Yesterday we met up with the badminton peeps for a supposed farewell dinner, and Kwang got us another cake! Chocolate mousse.

I can just feel my coronary arteries shutting down now.

Ok, til next time, people.







Sometimes when life gets too confusing, just make a joke out of it.

Labels: aussie

I don't know what I want.

Labels: mumble jumbles