Saturday, September 17, 2011
The End of Winter 2011 and Beginning of Semester 2
After all the mofo I had for the holidays, I had nothing more interesting in Penang to write about, aside from the new crossbow I made and the foods which I desperately chased after. I left, with a heavy heart nevertheless, to return to Melbourne for studies. I arrived in Melbourne and the customs, surprisingly, DID NOT check my bags. Thank goodness. I was tired enough and the last thing I wanted to do was to lift my heavy luggage up again. The air was 3 degrees. When I left Penang it was 33 degrees Celsius. I got back to my room and just fell asleep. Somehow I dragged all the 40kg of baggage I had with me all the way up to my room.
The new semester started but yet class sizes did not seem smaller. If only Chan marked the papers. We have different lecturers this semester for all subjects. I had the issue of not being able to find the last subject to enrol for (since Transport Engineering and Structural Analysis clashed). Through Dr. Nira's advice I took up Catchment Water Management which was about rainfall calculation and streamflow analysis. It actually required Water Engineering as a prerequisite but since she was the lecturer for the course she mentioned she had looked at my grades and believed that it should not be an issue for me.
For Structural Analysis we have to analyse not only what happens outside a beam but also what happens inside a beam. For the project we have to design a car porch for 2 cars plus a paired project to create a beam out of balsa wood. If you asked me I would think cardboard and paddle pop sticks would be even stronger than balsa, but there's the challenge in itself. Sigh.
For Geotechnical Engineering there is... NO ASSIGNMENTS! Only 2 tests in class and Finals. Fair enough.
For Catchment Water Management we have 2 assignments and Finals. Assignment 1 is about using a computer program to seek out the peak rainfall of a certain catchment area (my group got melbourne) while Assignment 2 is about the height of a river due to inflow. This is quite a tricky subject as I have no background in water except the fact that I drink it regularly.
For Infrastructure Planning and Evaluation we have to have 3 stages in the planning for a rail link in between Melbourne CBD and Tullamarine airport. Gotta love RMIT for giving out possible projects in the coming years but all I can say is that the workload is pretty hefty. Sadly the lecturer likes giving poor marks as well T.T.
I have begun cooking more with Beng and this semester BK joined us. BK is now probably the one who cooks the best among all of us due to his experience and holy cooking scriptures in 2-3 volumes. Beng is getting better at cooking, so I have to begin to introduce new recipes into my arsenal. The most madly labour intensive one was the Nasi Lemak I made on September 1st. I cooked 4 cups of rice only to see the nasi lemak vanishing within half an hour. What a sense of satisfaction I got from that. Other than that we had peanuts, ikan bilis (which I just found out that alot of people could not stand the smell) and a mega big pot of curry chicken (I cooked 2 packets of curry and 10 drumsticks). After all the hustle and bustle, sending someone home, cleaning up, I even followed Stallone (my housemate) to the Royal Melbourne Hospital due to his malevolent execution of carrots which backfired on his own index finger. Luckily, it was nothing too serious and we didn't have to remain for long. He got 3 stitches in total and I saw him get stitched up. For a guy who is bloodthirsty like me even the sight of the blood endlessly oozing out during the stitching was almost too much to bear.
Other than the perilous nasi lemak I had two new recipes up my sleeve: Potato salad and Lasagna. They were awesome in my personal opinion for not requiring too much labour. The semester went by so quickly that people were asking my plans for summer already. In order not to waste my rent and also be more Australian I suppose I will explore Melbourne with my housemates for a little bit. Chris and Priscilla are coming down to Melbourne soon right after my exams so I am looking forward to that.
As a side note I have had my first chance of playing Mahjong in Melbourne at my relative's place on a Friday night. I was glad I got to see some family members again and we had a tasty dinner and dessert thanks to all the Grandaunts. The green bean biscuits I brought back from Penang (which took up a majority of my luggage space) were quickly evaporated as presents to friends and family. I am just glad they are happy to taste them.
Recently, it seems that Shaegan got hooked to Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood while I got addicted to see how the storyline unfolded. At the time when I am writing this post, Shaegan's father is here in Melbourne and I have to say his cooking is awesome. Home cooking is always great and Shaegan's father sure has loads of experience in cooking. Many thanks for his and Shaegan's hospitality.
Another landmark achievement (which to many would seem foolish, useless and retarded) is that I have completed my first machine in Australia, the BT-5. For more info click on the link to check it out.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tuesday 28/6 - Thursday 30/6 2011
After Dim Sum, Uncle Sung and family set off for Taiping and KL.
Later that afternoon, after Daryl and Jenghis came back from buying some clothes, we sent off Jenghis and Zhao at the airport. It was really awesome that Zhao came back for Chris's wedding since her exam period wasn't over yet. We loaded all their luggage up onto dad's Airtrek and set off for the airport.
Daryl waited at the waiting area while I took Zhao and Jenghis to check in their luggage and I was preparing to send them off when Lao 4 Kor walked towards us and I called out to her. Again as a member of my family I thanked her for her presence (she stays in KL) and it turned out that she was taking a flight back to KL that day. Her flight is only 10 minutes from Zhao and Jenghis's.
Daryl gave me a 'call of complaint'. I guess he cannot wait to get back into his world of his white-haired avatar. I bid farewell to my cousin and her boyfriend (most plausible to be the next in line for marriage) and knew I will not see them for quite a long time. I will probably not return in the next winter holidays and might nail myself in Melbourne if I choose to apply for Permanent Residency.
For the rest of the day we just played the day away since Ming wasn't here and we just had dinner and slept late at night again HAHA...
The next day we were just awaiting the arrival of Uncle Sung and family. My uncle and aunt sure 'spices the house up'. No matter they may be talking about life, going somewhere to shop or just verbal whipping us I will always appreciate them for making the house more lively. Yes sure it makes my blood boil sometimes but still we are family.
Late in the afternoon they arrived. We settled down for a few rounds of Dota when Ah Yee requested to check some stuff on internet.
Later that afternoon, after Daryl and Jenghis came back from buying some clothes, we sent off Jenghis and Zhao at the airport. It was really awesome that Zhao came back for Chris's wedding since her exam period wasn't over yet. We loaded all their luggage up onto dad's Airtrek and set off for the airport.
Daryl waited at the waiting area while I took Zhao and Jenghis to check in their luggage and I was preparing to send them off when Lao 4 Kor walked towards us and I called out to her. Again as a member of my family I thanked her for her presence (she stays in KL) and it turned out that she was taking a flight back to KL that day. Her flight is only 10 minutes from Zhao and Jenghis's.
Daryl gave me a 'call of complaint'. I guess he cannot wait to get back into his world of his white-haired avatar. I bid farewell to my cousin and her boyfriend (most plausible to be the next in line for marriage) and knew I will not see them for quite a long time. I will probably not return in the next winter holidays and might nail myself in Melbourne if I choose to apply for Permanent Residency.
For the rest of the day we just played the day away since Ming wasn't here and we just had dinner and slept late at night again HAHA...
The next day we were just awaiting the arrival of Uncle Sung and family. My uncle and aunt sure 'spices the house up'. No matter they may be talking about life, going somewhere to shop or just verbal whipping us I will always appreciate them for making the house more lively. Yes sure it makes my blood boil sometimes but still we are family.
Late in the afternoon they arrived. We settled down for a few rounds of Dota when Ah Yee requested to check some stuff on internet.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The Next Day...
Guess how I woke up that day? By a wake-up call from mum of course!
We went to buy some stuff and also pick up Jie's pants from Supertanker.
After that we went to have lunch at sour and spicy fish bee hoon with Ah Yee and Uncle Sung and the other cousins.
When we arrived at home Chris and Priscilla were there too as they checked out from the hotel and came back to return the car to Aunty Carina. Again we instigated some nonsense by shouting at Priscilla 'AHHHH SOOHHHH'.
Later on Mum took me out again to collect bus tickets and later Chris took the Turtle (green Perodua Myvi) to go back to Balik Pulau with Priscilla. Later on we were discussing what to have for dinner when we realized that Chris was not back yet.
Mum gave Chris a call and we all agreed to meet at Bali Bali. What made me panic throughout the holiday was the fact that when we arrived at Bali Bali grandma actually forgot what she usually ate: fish/chicken porridge. Being a Pisces and a paranoid fellow, I cannot imagine the future when she is going senile.
That night, Daryl sent the oldies and the newlyweds to the bus station as they are going to Genting. Honeymoon? Come on if it is a good marriage everyday would be a honeymoon. Ming will go down to Taiping the following day to send Jie back to KL. It came down to only me, Daryl and grandma at home...
We decided to have a good night before ming goes missing so I scrambled to find the original Empire Earth(the updated one could not play on multiplayer) and also Empire Earth 2 (which was faster and easier to complete). Outrageously, we played for an entire night until morning when Ah Yee and Uncle Sung took us for Yum Cha and I made ming drink a cup of coffee before going to hide his lethargic face.
To my horror they actually planned to let ming drive part of the journey, resulting in my day-long worry for their safety LOL. Ming apparently took the safer route of going slowly (Uncle Sung complained he was going so slow everyone was overtaking him) but I was glad everyone was alright.
We went to buy some stuff and also pick up Jie's pants from Supertanker.
After that we went to have lunch at sour and spicy fish bee hoon with Ah Yee and Uncle Sung and the other cousins.
When we arrived at home Chris and Priscilla were there too as they checked out from the hotel and came back to return the car to Aunty Carina. Again we instigated some nonsense by shouting at Priscilla 'AHHHH SOOHHHH'.
Later on Mum took me out again to collect bus tickets and later Chris took the Turtle (green Perodua Myvi) to go back to Balik Pulau with Priscilla. Later on we were discussing what to have for dinner when we realized that Chris was not back yet.
Mum gave Chris a call and we all agreed to meet at Bali Bali. What made me panic throughout the holiday was the fact that when we arrived at Bali Bali grandma actually forgot what she usually ate: fish/chicken porridge. Being a Pisces and a paranoid fellow, I cannot imagine the future when she is going senile.
That night, Daryl sent the oldies and the newlyweds to the bus station as they are going to Genting. Honeymoon? Come on if it is a good marriage everyday would be a honeymoon. Ming will go down to Taiping the following day to send Jie back to KL. It came down to only me, Daryl and grandma at home...
We decided to have a good night before ming goes missing so I scrambled to find the original Empire Earth(the updated one could not play on multiplayer) and also Empire Earth 2 (which was faster and easier to complete). Outrageously, we played for an entire night until morning when Ah Yee and Uncle Sung took us for Yum Cha and I made ming drink a cup of coffee before going to hide his lethargic face.
To my horror they actually planned to let ming drive part of the journey, resulting in my day-long worry for their safety LOL. Ming apparently took the safer route of going slowly (Uncle Sung complained he was going so slow everyone was overtaking him) but I was glad everyone was alright.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Chris's Wedding Day!
Again, got woken up by mum. I got quickly chased into the toilet to take a bath while the other guys all struggled to pluck themselves out of bed... soon we were all ready... in shirts and slacks and ties. Chris started to get his photo taken while he arranged his sleeves in the toilet.
I came down to realize that most of the convoy was here already. Later on mum and dad
'escorted' Chris downstairs and did even more praying (praying had begun last night based on the auspicious times of the day). Later on everyone quickly got into their respective cars and we tried to set off, only to realize Daryl forgot the Chinese fan which he was suppose to carry to fan Chris all along. Next the 6 car convoy set off together with the camera and video men. It was a long trip up the hill (we were going from Sungai Dua to Balik Pulau, go on this road and you will understand why it took long)
This convoy is unprecedented in our family history. For the first time the groom drove the lead bridal car all the way to the bride's house. As we approached Balik Pulau town there was an issue at a T junction where there were too many cars, so Daryl went to be an instant traffic cop and halted all traffic. As the neighborhood was quiet and serene, Chris parked the car so that Yang (Priscilla's brother) could open the driver's door with it facing the house. One ang pow (red packet) down. Next we weren't allowed into the house until we cleared all the 'challenges'. If you played Super Mario when you were young you will understand how it feels, except this time the developers can be bribed for you to win the game XD...
OK! First challenge! One of the 'ji mui' (sisters or close female friends, similar to heng dai) held out 2 hula hoops. One was fat but had a long circumference, the other was thin but had a shorter circumference. The challenge was to pick one and shake it for 50 times. Somehow Ming stepped up and amazed the crowd when he completed it in one shot. Even his mother was in disbelief, telling me 'I didn't know he was that good!?!?!?'
The next challenge was right out of fear factor. We were offered two cups of green liquids which they said was kiwi juice. Fat Chance. Me and Daryl went bottoms up and as I expected, bitter gourd juice (Better than a previous wedding of my cousin Patrick when I drank a whole cup of Guinness Stout with chilli, soy sauce and god-knows-what that made it spicy and salty). Mum later told me I should thank them for offering me something to help with my lunar surface face.
I should have drank it more slowly... They mentioned that we did it so nonchalantly that they put in another challenge for us (I personally believed that this would be still imposed on us even if we took a long time in the previous challenge). We were made to use a lipstick and draw an animal on each of the 'heng dai''s faces. I drew a snake on Daryl's face and a chicken on Ming's, while Daryl drew a turtle on my face. Up till now we never let down Chris =D
Next was a near impossible challenge. They handed us the day's sudoku and gave us a time limit of 1 minute. 1 Minute!!! 3 guys couldn't even write 6 numbers down before the end of the time limit. Oops for once we let slip. The first bribe 'ang pow' went out of my hand.
After that came the most unsightly challenge. Being a political commissar on Chris's side, Anthony kept on complaining and complaining from the back like a loudhailer and I guess this kinda ticked off the ladies. They singled him out for the next challenge and made him eat a banana. Sounds simple enough right? Yeah a banana with chilli padi inside. Anthony took it like a man. Ate the whole damn thing and continue to complain all the way LOL...
Later we went all the way into the house and we thought that it was over, we were challenged to help Chris shout 'I love you' in Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese (or Myanmar I forgot). After some adversity we got through that. A piece of paper was then presented to Chris. It turned out to be an ultimatum from Priscilla with 14 points of interest. I could only roughly remember the first one which was 'I will not play so many online games...'. After he read this all I could think of was Daryl since he was actually the one who plays the MOST online games in the house haha...
After that the door was opened and Priscilla was inside. Chris brought her out into the main hall where even more praying occurred and the tea ceremony began. First I had to take care of who gets which ang pow, and next came the worst part. Chris and Pris had to offer tea to Priscilla's relatives and guess who had to record down the people who gave the ang pow? My G-Tech was in my hand scribbling away endlessly while my brain tried to recollect the chinese characters for uncles, aunties, granduncles, grandaunts and cousins.
After that came the '3 day' ceremony. Traditionally, the bride and groom has to return 3 days after the wedding to the bride's house for a meal. But in the modern day we have no time for that (time is limited for the folks living in Queensland) and so they had the meal on that day itself while I had to take care in providing the correct ang pow for each person. Once this was finished Priscilla sat in the co-driver's seat while Chris returned to the driver's seat in the Mercedes and they drove into the sunset... NOT! With the old ceremony auntie (sang kek mm) at the back how to drive into the sunset?? Instead we all returned to our house.
Actually when I got home I just tried to serve the people who came to our house some beverages such as packet drinks and I had no idea what happened. Somehow there was some ceremony which I didn't take note of where bride and groom exchanged rings and stuff and kissed. Later on we were hurried out of the house again and this time was to go to The View for some photographs. We went to The View and the first place we took photographs was at the apartment unit, especially the room which we decorated for Chris and Priscilla. Later on we went to take photographs at the swimming pool but I swear it was hot as hell...
After that everyone went home to rest for a while. I had some trouble with my belt which took 3 person's intellect just to remove (Ming, Ah Yee and Chris) and so I wasted a lot of time figuring my belt out instead of resting. Barely a few moments of rest after I removed my belt and western trappings Priscilla was near panic as 3pm loomed closer. Oh yeah I forgot. Family photo time. The new couple plus I were the first group to leave, and thus found out that the wedding dvd that was going to be played that night was left at home. Mum was requested to turn back her car to look for it.
Everyone was already at De Santia having their make up done and trying on their formal clothes for the night. Priscilla and Chris went straight into the dressing room to have their make up done and try on their own suits and gowns. Priscilla's family was already 90% done with their make up, so their family photo shoot was done first. The rest of the family was finally here (inclusive of 2 chek and 2 chim plus megan) Oh dear did mum take long for her make up... Finally it was time to take our family photo. We took several photos (which I have in my possession) and once again it was the couple and me rushing to E&O hotel to meet the solicitor who will host the garden reception of the couple. It was 5.25pm... we agreed to meet him at 5pm... I will never forget Priscilla being at the back of the car praying that he doesn't leave.
We arrived soon after and the couple rushed to check in while I went to check on the guests and solicitor while there was Valet parking for the Mercedes. Everyone was around... even the solicitor, a Malay gentleman who, in my opinion, was near boiling point due to the waiting. Well I believe we can't blame him for that.
Later everyone else arrived and we begun the garden reception. I was trying to take a few photos but sadly no matter where I tried to take the pictures from there will definitely be something in the way. Trees, trestle, microphone, solicitor himself, you name it and there they were blocking my view.
After that was over, I was instructed to set up my laptop to prepare for the upcoming slideshow. After copying everything over and setting the slideshows up I passed all operation to a young gentleman who was a staff of E&O. Right after this I got the greatest surprise of the day. Firstly there will be a surprise birthday bash for mum (since it is her birthday) and secondly I would have to be in charge of the confetti during the first and second walk-ins.
Later there was the tea ceremony where me and Daryl shouted 'AH SOH!' (eldest sister-in-law) and I received my red packet. But I was so busy I didn't even open it even up to now. To me the red packet was sufficient, the credit inside was just a step up.
What surprised me was the break in tradition where the younger uncles and aunts stepped up to collect their share of red packets. Financial issues aside it was a total breach of tradition and generation. I will not allow this to happen on my own wedding. Even my aunt (who was older than my mother) only shook my mother's hand during my parents' wedding.
Later everyone started getting seated in the ballroom. We didn't assign porters but we had factored in our helpful uncles and aunts who could seat themselves and others.
Me and Daryl were ousted from the main table after we found out that the manager in charge only placed 10 seats instead of 12. Anyway it would have been weird for me and Daryl to be seated at the main table while Lynn and Yang sat somewhere else. Chris later came over to explain the confusion but I didn't mind. Uncle Thor and Dua Gu found us 2 seats on the front. Apparently mum had forgotten to put in some old neighbours' names and they came. They requested to be seated together with some old relatives and yet requested to be seated near the front which was near ridiculous due to the urgency and limited seating. In the end the whole lot was banished to the back of the ballroom.
As the night went on, the band played good music. One thing to note was Ming and I were requested to use the confetti. Mine went off, Ming's didn't. We were literally staring at each other dumbfounded. It was later learned that the body had to be held halfway instead of near the trigger. The second time when confetti were used we had too many going off ==... Next time, remind me to buy 20 confetti instead of just 6. There were no pilot models to train the crew and there were no spares as well. Sigh. Imagine an army given their weapons without teaching them how to use the weapons.
Mum tried to get me to go on stage to sing, but I had no energy left and also the band's music list was full already too. Later on we went on stage for the Yam Seng (toasting the guests to a drink for their participation) and after that, the surprise was sprung on mum. Me and Daryl went backstage to prepare and we later pushed a cart out with a Hard Rock Cafe themed birthday cake on it (It was mum's birthday after all) after Chris spoke how grateful he is to both mums =D. I placed my bet that mum would be moved to tears but unimaginably I lost that bet. We all gave mum a hug (including Priscilla's mum) but dad looked on from a corner. He was happy but didn't wish to be involved in such lovey dovey matters (so much as a public hug). Somehow dad got nudged up to mum and mum gave him a kiss on the cheek (The person who pushed him to mum was slated up for a death sentence I swear). For the rest of the night we just went around tables to thank everyone for coming while the guests left. One thing to note was the sago honeydew which came at the end. Damn it Eastern & Oriental Hotel was so efficient they cleaned out the leftover sago honeydew so fast I didn't get a 4th bowl. I should have just ate from the bowl that came with all of the sago honeydew to start with.
As everyone went off we also sent Chris and Priscilla to the lift. Sorry I don't have backstage passes to the venues beyond this. All the main participants were all terribly worn out (I was near shut-eye status in the car) and we all went home. Tired but extremely happy. Happy that we have a new member in the family, happy that we pulled through this event, happy that we all attended this once in a lifetime experience.
When we all arrived at home we were horrified when ming asked 'what the f*** have I been sitting on?' and pulled out Chris and Priscilla's registration papers signed during the garden reception from under his arse. Imagine the faces of the angry birds when they found out that their eggs got stolen.
Later on came the hilarious but sometimes frustrating tasks of opening the red packets. Sometimes this can be even more tense than a general election as there are only set numbers of political parties while money could not be known until it has been seen. I will not elaborate much as it was filled with praises and curses through the whole session. One interesting thing we found was that we found an empty red packet amongst all and we could not come up with an explanation for it.
That's all for now for the story of the wedding of the new Mr. and Mrs. Cheah, this post will still be updated once my memory catches up with me =D
Due to confidentiality I shall keep some information to myself prior to receiving approval for publishing. I sincerely apologise for inconvenience caused.
I came down to realize that most of the convoy was here already. Later on mum and dad
'escorted' Chris downstairs and did even more praying (praying had begun last night based on the auspicious times of the day). Later on everyone quickly got into their respective cars and we tried to set off, only to realize Daryl forgot the Chinese fan which he was suppose to carry to fan Chris all along. Next the 6 car convoy set off together with the camera and video men. It was a long trip up the hill (we were going from Sungai Dua to Balik Pulau, go on this road and you will understand why it took long)
This convoy is unprecedented in our family history. For the first time the groom drove the lead bridal car all the way to the bride's house. As we approached Balik Pulau town there was an issue at a T junction where there were too many cars, so Daryl went to be an instant traffic cop and halted all traffic. As the neighborhood was quiet and serene, Chris parked the car so that Yang (Priscilla's brother) could open the driver's door with it facing the house. One ang pow (red packet) down. Next we weren't allowed into the house until we cleared all the 'challenges'. If you played Super Mario when you were young you will understand how it feels, except this time the developers can be bribed for you to win the game XD...
OK! First challenge! One of the 'ji mui' (sisters or close female friends, similar to heng dai) held out 2 hula hoops. One was fat but had a long circumference, the other was thin but had a shorter circumference. The challenge was to pick one and shake it for 50 times. Somehow Ming stepped up and amazed the crowd when he completed it in one shot. Even his mother was in disbelief, telling me 'I didn't know he was that good!?!?!?'
The next challenge was right out of fear factor. We were offered two cups of green liquids which they said was kiwi juice. Fat Chance. Me and Daryl went bottoms up and as I expected, bitter gourd juice (Better than a previous wedding of my cousin Patrick when I drank a whole cup of Guinness Stout with chilli, soy sauce and god-knows-what that made it spicy and salty). Mum later told me I should thank them for offering me something to help with my lunar surface face.
I should have drank it more slowly... They mentioned that we did it so nonchalantly that they put in another challenge for us (I personally believed that this would be still imposed on us even if we took a long time in the previous challenge). We were made to use a lipstick and draw an animal on each of the 'heng dai''s faces. I drew a snake on Daryl's face and a chicken on Ming's, while Daryl drew a turtle on my face. Up till now we never let down Chris =D
Next was a near impossible challenge. They handed us the day's sudoku and gave us a time limit of 1 minute. 1 Minute!!! 3 guys couldn't even write 6 numbers down before the end of the time limit. Oops for once we let slip. The first bribe 'ang pow' went out of my hand.
After that came the most unsightly challenge. Being a political commissar on Chris's side, Anthony kept on complaining and complaining from the back like a loudhailer and I guess this kinda ticked off the ladies. They singled him out for the next challenge and made him eat a banana. Sounds simple enough right? Yeah a banana with chilli padi inside. Anthony took it like a man. Ate the whole damn thing and continue to complain all the way LOL...
Later we went all the way into the house and we thought that it was over, we were challenged to help Chris shout 'I love you' in Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese (or Myanmar I forgot). After some adversity we got through that. A piece of paper was then presented to Chris. It turned out to be an ultimatum from Priscilla with 14 points of interest. I could only roughly remember the first one which was 'I will not play so many online games...'. After he read this all I could think of was Daryl since he was actually the one who plays the MOST online games in the house haha...
After that the door was opened and Priscilla was inside. Chris brought her out into the main hall where even more praying occurred and the tea ceremony began. First I had to take care of who gets which ang pow, and next came the worst part. Chris and Pris had to offer tea to Priscilla's relatives and guess who had to record down the people who gave the ang pow? My G-Tech was in my hand scribbling away endlessly while my brain tried to recollect the chinese characters for uncles, aunties, granduncles, grandaunts and cousins.
After that came the '3 day' ceremony. Traditionally, the bride and groom has to return 3 days after the wedding to the bride's house for a meal. But in the modern day we have no time for that (time is limited for the folks living in Queensland) and so they had the meal on that day itself while I had to take care in providing the correct ang pow for each person. Once this was finished Priscilla sat in the co-driver's seat while Chris returned to the driver's seat in the Mercedes and they drove into the sunset... NOT! With the old ceremony auntie (sang kek mm) at the back how to drive into the sunset?? Instead we all returned to our house.
Actually when I got home I just tried to serve the people who came to our house some beverages such as packet drinks and I had no idea what happened. Somehow there was some ceremony which I didn't take note of where bride and groom exchanged rings and stuff and kissed. Later on we were hurried out of the house again and this time was to go to The View for some photographs. We went to The View and the first place we took photographs was at the apartment unit, especially the room which we decorated for Chris and Priscilla. Later on we went to take photographs at the swimming pool but I swear it was hot as hell...
After that everyone went home to rest for a while. I had some trouble with my belt which took 3 person's intellect just to remove (Ming, Ah Yee and Chris) and so I wasted a lot of time figuring my belt out instead of resting. Barely a few moments of rest after I removed my belt and western trappings Priscilla was near panic as 3pm loomed closer. Oh yeah I forgot. Family photo time. The new couple plus I were the first group to leave, and thus found out that the wedding dvd that was going to be played that night was left at home. Mum was requested to turn back her car to look for it.
Everyone was already at De Santia having their make up done and trying on their formal clothes for the night. Priscilla and Chris went straight into the dressing room to have their make up done and try on their own suits and gowns. Priscilla's family was already 90% done with their make up, so their family photo shoot was done first. The rest of the family was finally here (inclusive of 2 chek and 2 chim plus megan) Oh dear did mum take long for her make up... Finally it was time to take our family photo. We took several photos (which I have in my possession) and once again it was the couple and me rushing to E&O hotel to meet the solicitor who will host the garden reception of the couple. It was 5.25pm... we agreed to meet him at 5pm... I will never forget Priscilla being at the back of the car praying that he doesn't leave.
We arrived soon after and the couple rushed to check in while I went to check on the guests and solicitor while there was Valet parking for the Mercedes. Everyone was around... even the solicitor, a Malay gentleman who, in my opinion, was near boiling point due to the waiting. Well I believe we can't blame him for that.
Later everyone else arrived and we begun the garden reception. I was trying to take a few photos but sadly no matter where I tried to take the pictures from there will definitely be something in the way. Trees, trestle, microphone, solicitor himself, you name it and there they were blocking my view.
After that was over, I was instructed to set up my laptop to prepare for the upcoming slideshow. After copying everything over and setting the slideshows up I passed all operation to a young gentleman who was a staff of E&O. Right after this I got the greatest surprise of the day. Firstly there will be a surprise birthday bash for mum (since it is her birthday) and secondly I would have to be in charge of the confetti during the first and second walk-ins.
Later there was the tea ceremony where me and Daryl shouted 'AH SOH!' (eldest sister-in-law) and I received my red packet. But I was so busy I didn't even open it even up to now. To me the red packet was sufficient, the credit inside was just a step up.
What surprised me was the break in tradition where the younger uncles and aunts stepped up to collect their share of red packets. Financial issues aside it was a total breach of tradition and generation. I will not allow this to happen on my own wedding. Even my aunt (who was older than my mother) only shook my mother's hand during my parents' wedding.
Later everyone started getting seated in the ballroom. We didn't assign porters but we had factored in our helpful uncles and aunts who could seat themselves and others.
Me and Daryl were ousted from the main table after we found out that the manager in charge only placed 10 seats instead of 12. Anyway it would have been weird for me and Daryl to be seated at the main table while Lynn and Yang sat somewhere else. Chris later came over to explain the confusion but I didn't mind. Uncle Thor and Dua Gu found us 2 seats on the front. Apparently mum had forgotten to put in some old neighbours' names and they came. They requested to be seated together with some old relatives and yet requested to be seated near the front which was near ridiculous due to the urgency and limited seating. In the end the whole lot was banished to the back of the ballroom.
As the night went on, the band played good music. One thing to note was Ming and I were requested to use the confetti. Mine went off, Ming's didn't. We were literally staring at each other dumbfounded. It was later learned that the body had to be held halfway instead of near the trigger. The second time when confetti were used we had too many going off ==... Next time, remind me to buy 20 confetti instead of just 6. There were no pilot models to train the crew and there were no spares as well. Sigh. Imagine an army given their weapons without teaching them how to use the weapons.
Mum tried to get me to go on stage to sing, but I had no energy left and also the band's music list was full already too. Later on we went on stage for the Yam Seng (toasting the guests to a drink for their participation) and after that, the surprise was sprung on mum. Me and Daryl went backstage to prepare and we later pushed a cart out with a Hard Rock Cafe themed birthday cake on it (It was mum's birthday after all) after Chris spoke how grateful he is to both mums =D. I placed my bet that mum would be moved to tears but unimaginably I lost that bet. We all gave mum a hug (including Priscilla's mum) but dad looked on from a corner. He was happy but didn't wish to be involved in such lovey dovey matters (so much as a public hug). Somehow dad got nudged up to mum and mum gave him a kiss on the cheek (The person who pushed him to mum was slated up for a death sentence I swear). For the rest of the night we just went around tables to thank everyone for coming while the guests left. One thing to note was the sago honeydew which came at the end. Damn it Eastern & Oriental Hotel was so efficient they cleaned out the leftover sago honeydew so fast I didn't get a 4th bowl. I should have just ate from the bowl that came with all of the sago honeydew to start with.
As everyone went off we also sent Chris and Priscilla to the lift. Sorry I don't have backstage passes to the venues beyond this. All the main participants were all terribly worn out (I was near shut-eye status in the car) and we all went home. Tired but extremely happy. Happy that we have a new member in the family, happy that we pulled through this event, happy that we all attended this once in a lifetime experience.
When we all arrived at home we were horrified when ming asked 'what the f*** have I been sitting on?' and pulled out Chris and Priscilla's registration papers signed during the garden reception from under his arse. Imagine the faces of the angry birds when they found out that their eggs got stolen.
Later on came the hilarious but sometimes frustrating tasks of opening the red packets. Sometimes this can be even more tense than a general election as there are only set numbers of political parties while money could not be known until it has been seen. I will not elaborate much as it was filled with praises and curses through the whole session. One interesting thing we found was that we found an empty red packet amongst all and we could not come up with an explanation for it.
That's all for now for the story of the wedding of the new Mr. and Mrs. Cheah, this post will still be updated once my memory catches up with me =D
Due to confidentiality I shall keep some information to myself prior to receiving approval for publishing. I sincerely apologise for inconvenience caused.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Day 1 - 2 in Penang
After getting picked up I got home, unloaded my baggage and took a bath quickly. Saw a piece of shit at home (I don't wanna elaborate on that). I got out of the house quickly to go over to the mainland to get my haircut. In the end I was the last to get the haircut and later we went to have some laksa for lunch before sending me for facial treatment (my face was a lunar surface after exams, and no please dun talk about the decepticons hiding underneath)
At night we had dinner with the rest of the family and they commented on my face n hair bla bla... I had to say the amount I ate for this one dinner is enough to cover two dinners in Melbourne in quantity. Later I realized Priscilla and Chris were sleeping in my room while I had to sleep in Chris's room (which had no bed and was nearly filled to the max by boxes of stuff) on a mattress (I suppose sleeping anywhere like a mattress or a sofa was better than sleeping next to Phoebe).
Before I got to get any sleep at all, mum asked me and Chris to start working at 12am Midnight. Work? Get 7 holes dug into the ceiling so we can insert hooks to hold the 'ang chai' (a piece of cloth hung over an entry which is significant in Chinese families) before the pre-wedding dinner the next day. Shirts off and hammers plus drill bits in our hands, we hammered away for nearly 2 hours to get 7 puny shallow holes which were, in our opinion, a total waste of time.
Later we were told to go and sleep. Before I had realized it, I had been without sleep for over 40 hours... from 8am of 23rd June until 2am of 25th June. I was so tired I was out like a light when I hit the sack.
The next day I had to be woken up by my mother and we went to do something in the morning (I forgot what) while the other guys await the coming of the tent building crew and the wedding car (Mercedes).
The Mercedes came but we found out later the Hai Lee ppl only came to check what sorts of tent they were going to put up at our house. They only came back later in the day to put up the tents. While we waited for the next assignment, we tried to hang up the red streamer cloth or 'ang chai' mentioned above and guess what? All the pins came falling down... we were all frustrated and desperate... CABLE TIES TO THE RESCUE!!!... we grabbed several of them and 'zup zup zup' the streamer went up like a charm.
Next we drove dad's car plus the Mercedes to De Santia to get them wrapped up for the next day, and we also parked the cars at The View due to better cover and security. When we returned the catering was here but we were too preoccupied with other jobs.
Later on I helped my mother with arranging the seating for tomorrow night's banquet. I swear, even the hardest Construction Management didn't prepare me for this 'seemingly simple' job. Mum had done most of the sorting and I only had to change the names and places of some people. Still, it was slow work. I had to depend on mum to give me the names of the people since we normally call them uncle, auntie, ah poh, ah peh... mum was later called down to entertain the guests and I went AWOL since mum wasn't around to provide me with information. I found myself another job when I picked up Chris's Sony Nex-5 and started taking pictures of guests who have arrived. While taking photos I was constantly asked about my life in Melbourne.
Later on I put down the camera as my gang arrived (Abdi, Lee, Hui and CS) and so I went to have some food with them. We had a long long chat about inti, how good it was... how shit it was... who are leaving inti soon... bla bla. One stupid question I HATED the most was 'Hey when are you going back?'. Damn you peeps who asked me that. I wouldn't mind u asking me 'How long are you back for?' but that previous question made me feel unwelcomed back in Penang.
As I was chatting with my 'Heng Dai' (brothers or close male friends in Cantonese), Chris's own 'Heng Dai' arrived from KL. All the way from KL to penang just to support my brother. I salute these great fellows. The week after next I will find out that Anthony sped up to Penang at 180km/h in the Toyota Vios LOL.
After everyone left I had to continue my work of changing the names of the guests e.g. Uncle Tong to Mr. XXX XXXX Tong and family. With Daryl's suggestion we sorted out the last guests and I ended up sleeping at 3am instead. I was laughing at myself working harder these few days than during my exams combined. Oh well, off to sleep I went!
At night we had dinner with the rest of the family and they commented on my face n hair bla bla... I had to say the amount I ate for this one dinner is enough to cover two dinners in Melbourne in quantity. Later I realized Priscilla and Chris were sleeping in my room while I had to sleep in Chris's room (which had no bed and was nearly filled to the max by boxes of stuff) on a mattress (I suppose sleeping anywhere like a mattress or a sofa was better than sleeping next to Phoebe).
Before I got to get any sleep at all, mum asked me and Chris to start working at 12am Midnight. Work? Get 7 holes dug into the ceiling so we can insert hooks to hold the 'ang chai' (a piece of cloth hung over an entry which is significant in Chinese families) before the pre-wedding dinner the next day. Shirts off and hammers plus drill bits in our hands, we hammered away for nearly 2 hours to get 7 puny shallow holes which were, in our opinion, a total waste of time.
Later we were told to go and sleep. Before I had realized it, I had been without sleep for over 40 hours... from 8am of 23rd June until 2am of 25th June. I was so tired I was out like a light when I hit the sack.
The next day I had to be woken up by my mother and we went to do something in the morning (I forgot what) while the other guys await the coming of the tent building crew and the wedding car (Mercedes).
The Mercedes came but we found out later the Hai Lee ppl only came to check what sorts of tent they were going to put up at our house. They only came back later in the day to put up the tents. While we waited for the next assignment, we tried to hang up the red streamer cloth or 'ang chai' mentioned above and guess what? All the pins came falling down... we were all frustrated and desperate... CABLE TIES TO THE RESCUE!!!... we grabbed several of them and 'zup zup zup' the streamer went up like a charm.
Next we drove dad's car plus the Mercedes to De Santia to get them wrapped up for the next day, and we also parked the cars at The View due to better cover and security. When we returned the catering was here but we were too preoccupied with other jobs.
Later on I helped my mother with arranging the seating for tomorrow night's banquet. I swear, even the hardest Construction Management didn't prepare me for this 'seemingly simple' job. Mum had done most of the sorting and I only had to change the names and places of some people. Still, it was slow work. I had to depend on mum to give me the names of the people since we normally call them uncle, auntie, ah poh, ah peh... mum was later called down to entertain the guests and I went AWOL since mum wasn't around to provide me with information. I found myself another job when I picked up Chris's Sony Nex-5 and started taking pictures of guests who have arrived. While taking photos I was constantly asked about my life in Melbourne.
Later on I put down the camera as my gang arrived (Abdi, Lee, Hui and CS) and so I went to have some food with them. We had a long long chat about inti, how good it was... how shit it was... who are leaving inti soon... bla bla. One stupid question I HATED the most was 'Hey when are you going back?'. Damn you peeps who asked me that. I wouldn't mind u asking me 'How long are you back for?' but that previous question made me feel unwelcomed back in Penang.
As I was chatting with my 'Heng Dai' (brothers or close male friends in Cantonese), Chris's own 'Heng Dai' arrived from KL. All the way from KL to penang just to support my brother. I salute these great fellows. The week after next I will find out that Anthony sped up to Penang at 180km/h in the Toyota Vios LOL.
After everyone left I had to continue my work of changing the names of the guests e.g. Uncle Tong to Mr. XXX XXXX Tong and family. With Daryl's suggestion we sorted out the last guests and I ended up sleeping at 3am instead. I was laughing at myself working harder these few days than during my exams combined. Oh well, off to sleep I went!
The Tankman's Return...
After the last paper, I got a lift back to my place by Renning. I was happy since I was going home but anxious as well since it is my first time taking a flight by myself. Had to get used to collecting my boarding passes, checking in luggage and going past customs and immigration with no one to count on except myself.
I got home, packed and checked my luggage over and over again. What I prepared to bring back was a Samsonite with a huge trolley bag INSIDE and also a blue bulky trolley bag, and last but not least my laptop bag.
Ming and the others were very awesome as they cooked me a farewell dinner. Oddly enough it seemed different from the food they used to cook and it seemed more like the stuff I used to eat back at home. Halfway through dessert (sago paste plus honeydew) Ming was occupied by her family who gave her a call and she was on it all the way until I left. Seeing her being so occupied I decided to do some of the dishes (I had nothing better to do except wait) and I found out later that one of the lift wasn't working. Luckily I found the time to slowly move all the bags down by the lift by 9pm and I was in front of Unilodge for 20 minutes before the Starbus even came to pick me up. Turns out that there was someone else who went to the airport at 9.30pm so they picked us up at the same time. sigh. I am a very paranoid guy so I kept looking at my luggage and passports plus my air tickets.
I paid the guy and off we went to the airport. I got to the counter and the lady sitting there was a trainee and I was just thinking I could not get my ticket when her supervisor walked over and solved the problem. My baggage turned out to be only 26kg out of the 30kg I was allowed and I only had my laptop bag as my hand carry. (Which was good since the customs in Australia was very very strict with the 'one piece of hand luggage' rule and will screw anyone who breached that). My goodness Tullamarine feels a real freakin' jail since after going into the gate you cannot see anything outside anymore. Since I went to the airport alone I had nothing to look out for anyway. I quietly went to the toilet and then to the gate I was suppose to go but to my surprise I didn't see an A380, instead I was looking at a twin engined plane. Well anything is good when you are going back home I suppose.
Boarding was at 11.05pm, but I was there at around 10.30pm. It was at that moment I saw this European guy who was in my Construction Management class but he looked busy so I didn't bother him. Other than him I saw this lady with a headscarf who was in my Wastewater class. How interesting. It was a long wait before we were allowed to board. The stupid thing was the escalator to the boarding platform was out of order so we all had to take the stairs down, which was alright for me but horrid for the old folks. The other passengers sitting further back in the plane were allowed to board first, and while they went down this kind English lady had a little chat with me and she commented on my good English. I explained my history and she replied me with hers. Right before boarding the plane I had a short chat with the European guy and it turned out that he was from Denmark and will return this time. We were just talking about how unruly classes are in Australia while our classes back in our home countries required strict attention and absence of noise.
We settled into our seats and I was hoping to sleep on the journey back. Fat Hope. I had some white wine which caused my heart to beat faster and resulted in me being unable to sleep. Not to mention the leg space was limited. Worst was that I was seated in between two guys who were soundly asleep. OH THE PAIN of being insomniac. I had a meal and some movies... I have to say, watching movies make time go by fast. Sooner than I had expected, the flight arrived in Singapore and I alighted. Before going any further, I sat down for 10 mins for a foot massage since I always missed this opportunity when traveling with mum (since she took so much time buying duty free and we always had to RUSH to the gates)
I had been requested by my mother to purchase 2 bottles of 'pretty' perfume by Elizabeth Arden for her and Priscilla and it took me a loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg walk to the other side of terminal 3 before I found a shop which sold it. I asked if they did currency exchange because of my lack of Singapore dollar but they asked me to get to the money changer instead. I exchanged AUD$100 for about SGD$120++ and bought the perfume. (I purposely bought the normal 100ml one instead of the special edition 50ml one since I value quantity). Super tired, I took the sky train to terminal 2 to board my flight to Penang. Being a hyper paranoid guy I waited there from 6.45 (flight takes off at 8.05am and gate opens at 7.05). I got over the scanning n stuff bla bla and sat inside the waiting hall until it was time to board.
Boarded the damn plane, read some articles (boredom drives me to read stuff) and had some chicken sandwich. Walah! I am back at this old rickety airport which read 'Penang International Airport' which was undergoing repairs when I left. I went through the Autogate (thank goodness this was way faster) and collected my bags. Went through the baggage scan and found out they relocated the exit door all the way to the right (used to be on the left side). I was seriously anticipating someone like Ming, Chris or Daryl to be there waiting. When I got out, no one was there. 'what the...' was going through my brain and I walked straight out to the passenger pick up area. After stopping my cart I immediately (no joke, immediately) felt the heat and humidity hit me like a hammer.
Luckily, mum arrived soon after with the turtle car and I quickly stowed all the luggage into the car and left. Turned out that mum requested for guys to liaise with me at the airport the day before but no one woke up in the morning to go with her to the airport. Sigh, seems I am the only one able to wake up early in my generation.
Ta dah! I was back in Malaysia...
I got home, packed and checked my luggage over and over again. What I prepared to bring back was a Samsonite with a huge trolley bag INSIDE and also a blue bulky trolley bag, and last but not least my laptop bag.
Ming and the others were very awesome as they cooked me a farewell dinner. Oddly enough it seemed different from the food they used to cook and it seemed more like the stuff I used to eat back at home. Halfway through dessert (sago paste plus honeydew) Ming was occupied by her family who gave her a call and she was on it all the way until I left. Seeing her being so occupied I decided to do some of the dishes (I had nothing better to do except wait) and I found out later that one of the lift wasn't working. Luckily I found the time to slowly move all the bags down by the lift by 9pm and I was in front of Unilodge for 20 minutes before the Starbus even came to pick me up. Turns out that there was someone else who went to the airport at 9.30pm so they picked us up at the same time. sigh. I am a very paranoid guy so I kept looking at my luggage and passports plus my air tickets.
I paid the guy and off we went to the airport. I got to the counter and the lady sitting there was a trainee and I was just thinking I could not get my ticket when her supervisor walked over and solved the problem. My baggage turned out to be only 26kg out of the 30kg I was allowed and I only had my laptop bag as my hand carry. (Which was good since the customs in Australia was very very strict with the 'one piece of hand luggage' rule and will screw anyone who breached that). My goodness Tullamarine feels a real freakin' jail since after going into the gate you cannot see anything outside anymore. Since I went to the airport alone I had nothing to look out for anyway. I quietly went to the toilet and then to the gate I was suppose to go but to my surprise I didn't see an A380, instead I was looking at a twin engined plane. Well anything is good when you are going back home I suppose.
Boarding was at 11.05pm, but I was there at around 10.30pm. It was at that moment I saw this European guy who was in my Construction Management class but he looked busy so I didn't bother him. Other than him I saw this lady with a headscarf who was in my Wastewater class. How interesting. It was a long wait before we were allowed to board. The stupid thing was the escalator to the boarding platform was out of order so we all had to take the stairs down, which was alright for me but horrid for the old folks. The other passengers sitting further back in the plane were allowed to board first, and while they went down this kind English lady had a little chat with me and she commented on my good English. I explained my history and she replied me with hers. Right before boarding the plane I had a short chat with the European guy and it turned out that he was from Denmark and will return this time. We were just talking about how unruly classes are in Australia while our classes back in our home countries required strict attention and absence of noise.
We settled into our seats and I was hoping to sleep on the journey back. Fat Hope. I had some white wine which caused my heart to beat faster and resulted in me being unable to sleep. Not to mention the leg space was limited. Worst was that I was seated in between two guys who were soundly asleep. OH THE PAIN of being insomniac. I had a meal and some movies... I have to say, watching movies make time go by fast. Sooner than I had expected, the flight arrived in Singapore and I alighted. Before going any further, I sat down for 10 mins for a foot massage since I always missed this opportunity when traveling with mum (since she took so much time buying duty free and we always had to RUSH to the gates)
I had been requested by my mother to purchase 2 bottles of 'pretty' perfume by Elizabeth Arden for her and Priscilla and it took me a loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg walk to the other side of terminal 3 before I found a shop which sold it. I asked if they did currency exchange because of my lack of Singapore dollar but they asked me to get to the money changer instead. I exchanged AUD$100 for about SGD$120++ and bought the perfume. (I purposely bought the normal 100ml one instead of the special edition 50ml one since I value quantity). Super tired, I took the sky train to terminal 2 to board my flight to Penang. Being a hyper paranoid guy I waited there from 6.45 (flight takes off at 8.05am and gate opens at 7.05). I got over the scanning n stuff bla bla and sat inside the waiting hall until it was time to board.
Boarded the damn plane, read some articles (boredom drives me to read stuff) and had some chicken sandwich. Walah! I am back at this old rickety airport which read 'Penang International Airport' which was undergoing repairs when I left. I went through the Autogate (thank goodness this was way faster) and collected my bags. Went through the baggage scan and found out they relocated the exit door all the way to the right (used to be on the left side). I was seriously anticipating someone like Ming, Chris or Daryl to be there waiting. When I got out, no one was there. 'what the...' was going through my brain and I walked straight out to the passenger pick up area. After stopping my cart I immediately (no joke, immediately) felt the heat and humidity hit me like a hammer.
Luckily, mum arrived soon after with the turtle car and I quickly stowed all the luggage into the car and left. Turned out that mum requested for guys to liaise with me at the airport the day before but no one woke up in the morning to go with her to the airport. Sigh, seems I am the only one able to wake up early in my generation.
Ta dah! I was back in Malaysia...
Exams!!!
Ok this post is a late post. Don't get mad with me... =P
Everyone was anxious to get the exam timetables, some are worried of certain subjects, some wishes to see if they get 2 exams in a day while some peeps like me just wish to see if we get to go back home to our hometown earlier if our exams finish early.
Bullocks. My flight is on the 24th at MIDNIGHT and my last exam is on the 23rd... No chance to change my flight to earlier now... First is Wastewater (toughest subject), Second is Statics (no issues), Third is Math (should be alright) and last is Construction Management. Swot Vac arrived after a hail of assignment submissions and bridge testing... I didn't do much studying anyway until the day before the first exam. I swear it was the only subject I could have failed since Dr Mazuuza didn't publish any coursework marks and I felt I was struggling in the subject.
As for math and statics I only did light studying (look through notes and examples) and that was all to it... The paper for statics was alright though maths was a bit more tricky (but still no problem for me). Wastewater was 50% a complete blur to me (I feel guilty for being so blur for this subject since my father coined it as a very easy subject). Lastly for Construction Management I could not wait till I was done and over with it. Dr Kevin Zhang sure gave a spicy paper where some terms were not easy to explain, but it was alright overall.
3 weeks, 4 exams, and next is going home... home... smell of the place where I belong... some are going back while some are staying put, while I leave for a very very special event back in Penang...
Everyone was anxious to get the exam timetables, some are worried of certain subjects, some wishes to see if they get 2 exams in a day while some peeps like me just wish to see if we get to go back home to our hometown earlier if our exams finish early.
Bullocks. My flight is on the 24th at MIDNIGHT and my last exam is on the 23rd... No chance to change my flight to earlier now... First is Wastewater (toughest subject), Second is Statics (no issues), Third is Math (should be alright) and last is Construction Management. Swot Vac arrived after a hail of assignment submissions and bridge testing... I didn't do much studying anyway until the day before the first exam. I swear it was the only subject I could have failed since Dr Mazuuza didn't publish any coursework marks and I felt I was struggling in the subject.
As for math and statics I only did light studying (look through notes and examples) and that was all to it... The paper for statics was alright though maths was a bit more tricky (but still no problem for me). Wastewater was 50% a complete blur to me (I feel guilty for being so blur for this subject since my father coined it as a very easy subject). Lastly for Construction Management I could not wait till I was done and over with it. Dr Kevin Zhang sure gave a spicy paper where some terms were not easy to explain, but it was alright overall.
3 weeks, 4 exams, and next is going home... home... smell of the place where I belong... some are going back while some are staying put, while I leave for a very very special event back in Penang...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter Holidays !!!!
It's now Easter holidays! Sipeh boring. Everyone ask me am I going anywhere or not. Even my mother. I am a stingy guy and not used to Australia yet, so I won't go on far flung trips like all the way to South Gippsland or Tasmania for camps and trips. I appreciate my friends trying to wrench me out of my room and into the world, but still I love my comfort zone of my room. Oh well I am not alone on my whole floor, most of my friends are also stuck in Unilodge as well since they are being buried by assignments and quizzes after the holidays. Saturday was Aland's 20th birthday, but we had it on the Thursday so everyone on the floor would be free to attend. Ming and Jennifer borrowed my 'chariot' and went shopping on Tuesday morning and so we didn't have to go to footscray market to get the ingredients on Wednesday. However we were still short of some stuffs so I went to Safeway/Woolworth's (whatever makes you happy =D) with Kai Lin and Ming again to grab some stuff. We came back and Kai Lin was preparing her meaty spaghetti for her cell group for that night while I tried to help Ming with cutting n stuff... Some ex-chef came in and taught me how to sharpen my knife with a butcher wand (if u dunno what's that come ask me) and I went off to the sink and started trying to juxtapose his actions and ended with a 1cm long gash on my left thumb. Yes... The same thumb I slashed my skin out of 13 years ago. Blood oozed out into the faucet and luckily this time I knew what to do so I didn't have to trouble anyone... applied pressure to my thumb and raised my hand up high... soon the bleeding stopped and I just put on a plaster and... continued cutting!
Then it came to the day of the party, but this time I didn't help out much because I was engrossed with Travian (I love my horsies). Then we got all the things downstairs and Kai Lin was busy all night being the only chef. It was nice, the 4th floor contingent just kept to ourselves since we saw good old aland having so much fun with his friends. He felt bad as well as he tried to introduce us to his friends. As Ming observed, it sure was weird that it was Aland's birthday party but yet some of his friends just came and ate and talked among themselves. We went upstairs to clean up the dishes. The next day Kai Lin left early to meet with her family so she won't be back until Tuesday. Meanwhile Ming brought her friend Michelle home and just in time... I made curry chicken cheese baked rice that night. Saturday was just a frenzy of Travian raiding throughout the whole day and at night there was fridge cleaning. Those who could not participate should have just scram and not even let us see them. It sucks to hear all the lame excuses people come up with, worst was that white guy who came in and just said he isn't gonna be doing anything. Definitely a Fking Spoilt Son of a bitch. Richard and us washed the fridges and the worst was the explosion of a bottle of soft drink where it froze up like a glacier. Below it was a yellow goop of I-dunno-what-the-heck. We just scooped up everything and washed the fridge. Later me and Aland volunteered to help Richard with the 3rd floor fridges (since I was so free, might as well do some work) and luckily for Richard, the 3rd floor folks sure aren't a helpful bunch. They only cared about their own fridges and seemed at a loss of what to do. Richard asked us to just wipe the compartments instead of removing and washing them. We finished that pretty quickly and me and Aland went back up to have our dinner. After that... Safeway/Woolworth's again! Sunday is a total boring piece of crap day since there is Easter Truce in Travian... TWO DAYS!!! Hope I won't die of boredom. I just realized my retarded housemate keeps asking me to be healthy and on the other hand drink with him sometimes (drink alcohol) He keeps piling the pressure on me just to get it down into my body 'since everyone drank as well' oooo I 'can't be bothered with him' He taught me that phrase. If you can't be bothered, why should I be bothered with you? I think I will sentence him to complete ignorance for the rest of my stay here with him.
Then it came to the day of the party, but this time I didn't help out much because I was engrossed with Travian (I love my horsies). Then we got all the things downstairs and Kai Lin was busy all night being the only chef. It was nice, the 4th floor contingent just kept to ourselves since we saw good old aland having so much fun with his friends. He felt bad as well as he tried to introduce us to his friends. As Ming observed, it sure was weird that it was Aland's birthday party but yet some of his friends just came and ate and talked among themselves. We went upstairs to clean up the dishes. The next day Kai Lin left early to meet with her family so she won't be back until Tuesday. Meanwhile Ming brought her friend Michelle home and just in time... I made curry chicken cheese baked rice that night. Saturday was just a frenzy of Travian raiding throughout the whole day and at night there was fridge cleaning. Those who could not participate should have just scram and not even let us see them. It sucks to hear all the lame excuses people come up with, worst was that white guy who came in and just said he isn't gonna be doing anything. Definitely a Fking Spoilt Son of a bitch. Richard and us washed the fridges and the worst was the explosion of a bottle of soft drink where it froze up like a glacier. Below it was a yellow goop of I-dunno-what-the-heck. We just scooped up everything and washed the fridge. Later me and Aland volunteered to help Richard with the 3rd floor fridges (since I was so free, might as well do some work) and luckily for Richard, the 3rd floor folks sure aren't a helpful bunch. They only cared about their own fridges and seemed at a loss of what to do. Richard asked us to just wipe the compartments instead of removing and washing them. We finished that pretty quickly and me and Aland went back up to have our dinner. After that... Safeway/Woolworth's again! Sunday is a total boring piece of crap day since there is Easter Truce in Travian... TWO DAYS!!! Hope I won't die of boredom. I just realized my retarded housemate keeps asking me to be healthy and on the other hand drink with him sometimes (drink alcohol) He keeps piling the pressure on me just to get it down into my body 'since everyone drank as well' oooo I 'can't be bothered with him' He taught me that phrase. If you can't be bothered, why should I be bothered with you? I think I will sentence him to complete ignorance for the rest of my stay here with him.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Easter Holidays!!!
Celaka my test left 5.5/10 marks only... zzz... In the end he started Fourier series, but it turned out to be simpler than how it was taught back in IICP... Then he continued on and on in Fourier series... like sine and cosine series and also half equations which are used in heat application on materials... pretty fun in my opinion. Within the past few days it nearly drove me crazy that I have to do so much weblearns all in one go for my wastewater subject. It was beneficial to me though since it enhanced my knowledge further. Out of my 4 subjects this semester... only wastewater makes me struggle due to confusing lectures and formulas and not to mention the lecture for this subject is the last class of the week... Today I saw within the SSCC (student representative) meetings that the subject has been criticized due to its demand on Civil Engineering students, I pray something is done about it. I got my Statics test result today... out of my 10% i got 9.4%. Surely something went wrong somewhere because my brain is hay-wired. At least it's better than my Wastewater online test where I got 83/120 which in my opinion was damn good already since my brain was only updated 4 days ago =P. Oh well, after all these wars in RMIT it is time for a ceasefire... Easter is here!!! woo hoo!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
28th March Wednesday
This morning... wake up... bath... eat cereal... even make coffee...
Then packed my computer and headed off to RMIT. I got to the class and claimed my question paper for my Math test and when I started... the first question already made me go $^%^&#^@$^^&%... wa lao he go put in ln y^4 for what... please la I 3 yrs din do maths d ok? in the end all questions got cha pa lang answers... After my test found out the third question the lecturer gave wrong answers in the sample test... zzz
see how la when I get my test paper... I understand the concepts but I forgot my differentiation == At the end of the test I got this though...
Cheered me up a little bit...
Then packed my computer and headed off to RMIT. I got to the class and claimed my question paper for my Math test and when I started... the first question already made me go $^%^&#^@$^^&%... wa lao he go put in ln y^4 for what... please la I 3 yrs din do maths d ok? in the end all questions got cha pa lang answers... After my test found out the third question the lecturer gave wrong answers in the sample test... zzz
see how la when I get my test paper... I understand the concepts but I forgot my differentiation == At the end of the test I got this though...
Cheered me up a little bit...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Continued (1)
It took me a while to play around with my HTC Legend, since HTC put a smaller battery in this smaller than normal touch screen phone (compared to iPhone 4 and HTC Desire HD) but nevertheless I got the apps figured out.
The moment I got the Legend it outclassed both my Nokia 2730 and 5MP Canon camera immediately. Hence the Nokia is now the host to my Lebara number to call back to Penang while the Camera sleeps peacefully in my drawer.
Then the first saturday came about and Anna (I am suppose to call her aunt but she'd rather me omit he seniority) came about. Facebook age people pretty badly, she looks way better in real life. We later got a gathering where everyone came over to celebrate the end of CNY. For the first time I got to see Lao 8 Kor and Uncle Robert Chong (Now I got 2 uncle Roberts... confusingly, so I decided to call one Celsius and the other Fahrenheit due to the first letter in their last names)Sarah was not back yet that night, ETA = 14 days. There was a very exotic Yu Sang made by Lao 8 Kor and nevertheless it tasted wonderful. I cannot recall my dinner that night now... Sry...
After a few more days of going around I finally went to Unilodge @ Melbourne... There was a ton of paperwork and payments to be made (not to mention I screwed up one of the forms when I wrote my birthday instead of the present day below my signature, and I can feel the hatred the reception lady had for me increased in amount... ~~~~) Moved into my room... It is simple and sweet I have to say, one of the closest rooms they have to the toilet... While Chris and Mum were still here we went out to eat dinner either at Lt. Burke St. or we just went to have footscray to have Vietnamese Beef Noodle ('Pho') with tendon, brisket and tribe... I have to say the fish sauce, chili, beansprout and leaves which go with the noodles is fantastic...
Chris and Mum left me at my Unilodge (oh yeah I got room 411 [wa lao still stay on 4th floor again... stay singapore also 4th floor.. wun sien one meh]) on Sunday night so I can prepare for enrolment the next day. Kanasai they said opening time 8.30am but I actually had to go to the International Student's registration to enrol, and they open at 10.30am == Stand on swanston street staying at Hungry Jack's for a whole 2 hrs before registering and contacting Mum and Chris... After being done, they said I have to come for orientation again on Friday... Sigh...
Meanwhile on Tuesday Chris called me to tell me they postponed going to Queensland to Wednesday so they hung around Melbourne CBD for that day and departed the next day. I just went around Swanston St. and took some pictures...
I can still remember there was one night Chris had to drive me n Mum to Caulfield K-Mart to get some funny stuffs for my room (table lamp, pillow, fleece blanket although I already got a blanket...)
Fashion for me has changed only a little, with the addition of a hooded jacket to fend against slightly more chilly weather which is nice compared to Malaysia's carnivorous heat.
On friday when I finally got to the orientation... we were told enrolment and timetables are done ONLINE... if we have existing exemptions we are to go see Dr. Gang Ren about it next week (This annoyed me extremely because later I found out I had to go see Joshua who told me to see Dr. Nira Jayasuriya who told me to find Dr. Saman Desilva who told me to go see the other staff who took over his position as International Student coordinator where I finally found out my exempted subjects. Very confusing ho? Felt like a pinball bumping into everything there is) But it's cool that we have to do stuff ourselves and we don't have staff to work out our enrolment and timetables, a very prevalent problem at INTI Penang... :P :P :P I met several Malaysians at enrolment like Shaegan, Iwan and Daniel...
I forgot which day it was that I was cooking Mee Goreng for my dinner (mee goreng here sucks big time although it's the same brand as back home) that a batch of 3 ladies offered me some food to add to my nutrition... I later got to know them as Kai Lin, Ming and Mei. After some chatting I found out Kai Lin is the sister of my EE senior Kai Yi who is now in Sydney... small world.
The next day I was lying in my room doing nothing and suddenly heard a familiar noise. I looked out the window and found that people were playing Mahjong downstairs... I got downstairs and later played with them for a while and also joined them for dinner as it was William's belated 35th birthday (apparently there were here for really long already)
On another day what freaked me out the most was I walked out of my room and saw a lady wearing a BLACK LAUREATE INTI T-SHIRT... (YES THE SAME ONE THAT I BROUGHT TO MELBOURNE) and I couldn't helped but be stunned and ask where she is from... INTI NILAI...
My timetables and subjects got me pretty messed up and I lost 2 days of classes already (I got an off day on wednesday so I relaxed for another day) Got to my first class for Construction Management and see like a few hundred people in my class... Later went for my Math lecture... and found out the location is a cinema... imagine INTI got class so big that they need go GSC and teach (no not using the small one for 3D movies, the big one with side couple seats) and the class was nearly filled up as well...
Marking scheme in RMIT is mostly on assignments, projects/test and finally final exam. Most subjects set finals as 50% of the total mark, with Math setting 60% as the total mark instead. I personally like the teaching style in RMIT because the teachers are fun to learn from since they crack jokes, and the relate to the current constructions and issues now in Melbourne, so their tutorials and examples are UP TO DATE...
I formed my groups for my projects and I have a 1Malaysia ideal group for Statics (me, Iwan, Shaegan, Conrad and Liang) but for other subjects I have mainly PRC students as my fellow group members.
Project for Statics: Build a bridge
Project for Constrution Management: Analyze the Eastlink project
Project for Wastewater: Make a study kit about Quenos Wastewater treatment plant
I went for an event around Flinder's street station called Lord Mayor's welcome, but till now I have no idea who the Mayor is ~~ and I met the International Student Ministry. They turned out to be a christian based group mainly catering for the social wellbeing of international students (NO I am not converting my religion, any attempt on converting me will result in violent and bloody backlash from me) They seem fun so I just joined them for the Philip Island trip since it's only 1 day, but I am unwilling to go for the Easter camp since it's half a week duration and will cost me $100, PLUS the half a week's rental I have now in Unilodge(~another $100).
The Philip Island trip took me to 4 places: Maru Koala Park (see koala and kangaroos bla bla...), Panny's Chocolate Factory (pretty amazing place), The nobbies seal rocks (this place takes the oxygen out of me as it is just so beautiful) and lastly the Penguin Parade (I M HYPER ANNOYED THAT PHOTOGRAPHY EVEN WITHOUT FLASH IS NT ALLOWED. Their reason? I have to respect the penguins. Bullocks... Rubbish... If YOU want to respect the penguins then DON'T even build the damn place in the first place, or just ask everyone to leave Philip Island and let the penguin population recover in other areas of Philip Island.) The experience was damn good though, since the Penguins come up and sleep in the vegetation for the night.
Along the trip I met Petrus, Ah Beng, Ginger, Jaevon, Poh Hui, Jeslyn and many others who, because of my poor memory, I have forgotten (sorry!) It's a good experience meeting new people and chatting on topics. Ah Beng turned out to be Bee Yee's cousin and Jaevon was Bee Yee's classmate. The world gets even smaller.
Another thing I have to talk about is my exploded phone bill. You see, my plan comes with 200MB of 3G usage and chatting on e-buddy and facebook was just alright. I screwed up because I was trying to learn a new cantonese song and kept on streaming the same MV over and over again. My bill went up to over $174.00 and that was the last straw. I walked to Burke St. to the vodafone store and requested a line, in the end I decided on a 10GB line at $39 and I opted to buy the pocket wifi since it was at half price. The line is pretty good up to now...
In Unilodge no meals are included for you. So I had to dig up my recipe book in my brain. So far I have cooked instant noodles (duh, if I dunno I am better off barbecuing myself and eat) and also some simple beef marinated with soy sauce and pepper, more high level foodies include spaghetti (took me a whole week to finish eating everything), Salmon cheese baked rice and Curry chicken cheese baked rice. I am a cheese lover nonetheless, and so is Johnny 仔... Hee Hee... Worst comes to worst I just buy a Subway footlong Pizza Sub for $7.50 and eat it for lunch & dinner. Meanwhile over here in Melbourne I chose to not eat lunch at all, since I have a cereal breakfast and also I usually snack in the afternoon... I do get hungry, but oh well I don't give a damn.
The moment I got the Legend it outclassed both my Nokia 2730 and 5MP Canon camera immediately. Hence the Nokia is now the host to my Lebara number to call back to Penang while the Camera sleeps peacefully in my drawer.
Then the first saturday came about and Anna (I am suppose to call her aunt but she'd rather me omit he seniority) came about. Facebook age people pretty badly, she looks way better in real life. We later got a gathering where everyone came over to celebrate the end of CNY. For the first time I got to see Lao 8 Kor and Uncle Robert Chong (Now I got 2 uncle Roberts... confusingly, so I decided to call one Celsius and the other Fahrenheit due to the first letter in their last names)Sarah was not back yet that night, ETA = 14 days. There was a very exotic Yu Sang made by Lao 8 Kor and nevertheless it tasted wonderful. I cannot recall my dinner that night now... Sry...
After a few more days of going around I finally went to Unilodge @ Melbourne... There was a ton of paperwork and payments to be made (not to mention I screwed up one of the forms when I wrote my birthday instead of the present day below my signature, and I can feel the hatred the reception lady had for me increased in amount... ~~~~) Moved into my room... It is simple and sweet I have to say, one of the closest rooms they have to the toilet... While Chris and Mum were still here we went out to eat dinner either at Lt. Burke St. or we just went to have footscray to have Vietnamese Beef Noodle ('Pho') with tendon, brisket and tribe... I have to say the fish sauce, chili, beansprout and leaves which go with the noodles is fantastic...
Chris and Mum left me at my Unilodge (oh yeah I got room 411 [wa lao still stay on 4th floor again... stay singapore also 4th floor.. wun sien one meh]) on Sunday night so I can prepare for enrolment the next day. Kanasai they said opening time 8.30am but I actually had to go to the International Student's registration to enrol, and they open at 10.30am == Stand on swanston street staying at Hungry Jack's for a whole 2 hrs before registering and contacting Mum and Chris... After being done, they said I have to come for orientation again on Friday... Sigh...
Meanwhile on Tuesday Chris called me to tell me they postponed going to Queensland to Wednesday so they hung around Melbourne CBD for that day and departed the next day. I just went around Swanston St. and took some pictures...
I can still remember there was one night Chris had to drive me n Mum to Caulfield K-Mart to get some funny stuffs for my room (table lamp, pillow, fleece blanket although I already got a blanket...)
Fashion for me has changed only a little, with the addition of a hooded jacket to fend against slightly more chilly weather which is nice compared to Malaysia's carnivorous heat.
On friday when I finally got to the orientation... we were told enrolment and timetables are done ONLINE... if we have existing exemptions we are to go see Dr. Gang Ren about it next week (This annoyed me extremely because later I found out I had to go see Joshua who told me to see Dr. Nira Jayasuriya who told me to find Dr. Saman Desilva who told me to go see the other staff who took over his position as International Student coordinator where I finally found out my exempted subjects. Very confusing ho? Felt like a pinball bumping into everything there is) But it's cool that we have to do stuff ourselves and we don't have staff to work out our enrolment and timetables, a very prevalent problem at INTI Penang... :P :P :P I met several Malaysians at enrolment like Shaegan, Iwan and Daniel...
I forgot which day it was that I was cooking Mee Goreng for my dinner (mee goreng here sucks big time although it's the same brand as back home) that a batch of 3 ladies offered me some food to add to my nutrition... I later got to know them as Kai Lin, Ming and Mei. After some chatting I found out Kai Lin is the sister of my EE senior Kai Yi who is now in Sydney... small world.
The next day I was lying in my room doing nothing and suddenly heard a familiar noise. I looked out the window and found that people were playing Mahjong downstairs... I got downstairs and later played with them for a while and also joined them for dinner as it was William's belated 35th birthday (apparently there were here for really long already)
On another day what freaked me out the most was I walked out of my room and saw a lady wearing a BLACK LAUREATE INTI T-SHIRT... (YES THE SAME ONE THAT I BROUGHT TO MELBOURNE) and I couldn't helped but be stunned and ask where she is from... INTI NILAI...
My timetables and subjects got me pretty messed up and I lost 2 days of classes already (I got an off day on wednesday so I relaxed for another day) Got to my first class for Construction Management and see like a few hundred people in my class... Later went for my Math lecture... and found out the location is a cinema... imagine INTI got class so big that they need go GSC and teach (no not using the small one for 3D movies, the big one with side couple seats) and the class was nearly filled up as well...
Marking scheme in RMIT is mostly on assignments, projects/test and finally final exam. Most subjects set finals as 50% of the total mark, with Math setting 60% as the total mark instead. I personally like the teaching style in RMIT because the teachers are fun to learn from since they crack jokes, and the relate to the current constructions and issues now in Melbourne, so their tutorials and examples are UP TO DATE...
I formed my groups for my projects and I have a 1Malaysia ideal group for Statics (me, Iwan, Shaegan, Conrad and Liang) but for other subjects I have mainly PRC students as my fellow group members.
Project for Statics: Build a bridge
Project for Constrution Management: Analyze the Eastlink project
Project for Wastewater: Make a study kit about Quenos Wastewater treatment plant
I went for an event around Flinder's street station called Lord Mayor's welcome, but till now I have no idea who the Mayor is ~~ and I met the International Student Ministry. They turned out to be a christian based group mainly catering for the social wellbeing of international students (NO I am not converting my religion, any attempt on converting me will result in violent and bloody backlash from me) They seem fun so I just joined them for the Philip Island trip since it's only 1 day, but I am unwilling to go for the Easter camp since it's half a week duration and will cost me $100, PLUS the half a week's rental I have now in Unilodge(~another $100).
The Philip Island trip took me to 4 places: Maru Koala Park (see koala and kangaroos bla bla...), Panny's Chocolate Factory (pretty amazing place), The nobbies seal rocks (this place takes the oxygen out of me as it is just so beautiful) and lastly the Penguin Parade (I M HYPER ANNOYED THAT PHOTOGRAPHY EVEN WITHOUT FLASH IS NT ALLOWED. Their reason? I have to respect the penguins. Bullocks... Rubbish... If YOU want to respect the penguins then DON'T even build the damn place in the first place, or just ask everyone to leave Philip Island and let the penguin population recover in other areas of Philip Island.) The experience was damn good though, since the Penguins come up and sleep in the vegetation for the night.
Along the trip I met Petrus, Ah Beng, Ginger, Jaevon, Poh Hui, Jeslyn and many others who, because of my poor memory, I have forgotten (sorry!) It's a good experience meeting new people and chatting on topics. Ah Beng turned out to be Bee Yee's cousin and Jaevon was Bee Yee's classmate. The world gets even smaller.
Another thing I have to talk about is my exploded phone bill. You see, my plan comes with 200MB of 3G usage and chatting on e-buddy and facebook was just alright. I screwed up because I was trying to learn a new cantonese song and kept on streaming the same MV over and over again. My bill went up to over $174.00 and that was the last straw. I walked to Burke St. to the vodafone store and requested a line, in the end I decided on a 10GB line at $39 and I opted to buy the pocket wifi since it was at half price. The line is pretty good up to now...
In Unilodge no meals are included for you. So I had to dig up my recipe book in my brain. So far I have cooked instant noodles (duh, if I dunno I am better off barbecuing myself and eat) and also some simple beef marinated with soy sauce and pepper, more high level foodies include spaghetti (took me a whole week to finish eating everything), Salmon cheese baked rice and Curry chicken cheese baked rice. I am a cheese lover nonetheless, and so is Johnny 仔... Hee Hee... Worst comes to worst I just buy a Subway footlong Pizza Sub for $7.50 and eat it for lunch & dinner. Meanwhile over here in Melbourne I chose to not eat lunch at all, since I have a cereal breakfast and also I usually snack in the afternoon... I do get hungry, but oh well I don't give a damn.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Finally...
Finally I get to update my blog...
First... I got to the airport and my baggage is 3kgs overweight... Unloaded coffee and I was alright already... When my silkair flight arrived at penang airport... Mark Lee and Brother Hui (yes... from the comedy movie that went 'ah hui... lee jiak pah boay?...') got off the plane... I was so stunned I didn't take a photo of them... The flight to Singapore was uneventful and I arrived in Singapore and checked out... Boy there were so many tourist who were checking out as well zzz... found mum and went to eat dinner with her... Before I got off to my historical flight on the A-380 mum was going around buying duty free alcohol... When I got into the waiting area there was like around hundreds of people around... sigh and the lady said i had to check in my trolley bag cuz it was so bulky and heavy. I panicked and finally calmed down when they said it was for free... whew... I got lucky and sat on the upper deck. The flight was long and bumpy (I wonder how such a big plane stand up to so much shaking) and the meals were pretty nice. When I got off the plane it was just so alien to me... I got to the customs counter and gave my passport and after some short and friendly exchanges with the kind lady I got on my way to collect my baggage. Wa lao... same situation as the waiting area as there were a whole mountain of people around collecting bags. I finally went to take my bags after half an hour of waiting. I queued up and went through customs check... and in Tullamarine airport they really have a CUSTOM checkpoint... I was lucky I only had to open my samsonite and show her some simple herbal chicken that I didn't even want to bring zzz... When exiting the customs to the arrival hall I could not but notice that arriving passengers only see the outside when they get to the big metal gates... Tullamarine to me feels like a dungeon some how like this... Got outside and found that the airport is pretty small. Waited for over an hour and a half for mum and she finally arrived... After another 15-20 mins of seeking and walking we finally found brother and lao 5 sim... The moment I got into the car... JETLAG struck. I was half awake n half asleep on the way to Glen Waverley and the roads seemed never ending... When I arrived I thought I arrived in wonderland. The houses, roads, lawns and surroundings seemed picturesque, as if I were in my retirement home or something. The day went on very half consciously for me and I signed up for an account in the Commonwealth bank (because brother said it's easier to find on Australian streets and in cities... I tried to sign up for my phone but I had to wait until the next day... I got myself a HTC Legend instead of an iPhone 4 because the package was cheaper. In the end I was having a shortage of short pants (jeans were really driving me mad) so we went shopping for some. I will continue on next time if I find the time... this post has gotten terribly long...
First... I got to the airport and my baggage is 3kgs overweight... Unloaded coffee and I was alright already... When my silkair flight arrived at penang airport... Mark Lee and Brother Hui (yes... from the comedy movie that went 'ah hui... lee jiak pah boay?...') got off the plane... I was so stunned I didn't take a photo of them... The flight to Singapore was uneventful and I arrived in Singapore and checked out... Boy there were so many tourist who were checking out as well zzz... found mum and went to eat dinner with her... Before I got off to my historical flight on the A-380 mum was going around buying duty free alcohol... When I got into the waiting area there was like around hundreds of people around... sigh and the lady said i had to check in my trolley bag cuz it was so bulky and heavy. I panicked and finally calmed down when they said it was for free... whew... I got lucky and sat on the upper deck. The flight was long and bumpy (I wonder how such a big plane stand up to so much shaking) and the meals were pretty nice. When I got off the plane it was just so alien to me... I got to the customs counter and gave my passport and after some short and friendly exchanges with the kind lady I got on my way to collect my baggage. Wa lao... same situation as the waiting area as there were a whole mountain of people around collecting bags. I finally went to take my bags after half an hour of waiting. I queued up and went through customs check... and in Tullamarine airport they really have a CUSTOM checkpoint... I was lucky I only had to open my samsonite and show her some simple herbal chicken that I didn't even want to bring zzz... When exiting the customs to the arrival hall I could not but notice that arriving passengers only see the outside when they get to the big metal gates... Tullamarine to me feels like a dungeon some how like this... Got outside and found that the airport is pretty small. Waited for over an hour and a half for mum and she finally arrived... After another 15-20 mins of seeking and walking we finally found brother and lao 5 sim... The moment I got into the car... JETLAG struck. I was half awake n half asleep on the way to Glen Waverley and the roads seemed never ending... When I arrived I thought I arrived in wonderland. The houses, roads, lawns and surroundings seemed picturesque, as if I were in my retirement home or something. The day went on very half consciously for me and I signed up for an account in the Commonwealth bank (because brother said it's easier to find on Australian streets and in cities... I tried to sign up for my phone but I had to wait until the next day... I got myself a HTC Legend instead of an iPhone 4 because the package was cheaper. In the end I was having a shortage of short pants (jeans were really driving me mad) so we went shopping for some. I will continue on next time if I find the time... this post has gotten terribly long...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Must Pray pray...
Yesterday had a stupid farewell lunch that I didn't know it was for me, felt like an extra person there on the table because of one simple thing. People who were suppose to come didn't come, and yet one bugger came though not on the invitation list. My blood nearly boiled hotter than the grill used to cook my London Grill... worse is that the free flow ice cream felt like shit in consistency though the taste was alright...
Later went to Kek Lok Si in order to go see the night lights and also pray...
Firstly we went to write ribbons for my family members... wrote 12 ribbons for my father, mother, 2 brothers and sis-in-law, mother's father, father's mother, uncle and ME la!(Boh Koh Leng I din write for myself write... I am not so selfless...) Then the problem rose... HOW TO HANG THE RIBBON ON THE TOP BRANCH?? Lee also not tall enough... then I hugged CS up to hang his ribbons (duh he's light as a stick, no sweat!)... Then ask Lee to carry me... What the... hug me up from the wrong part... Lee... WHY YOU HUG ME AROUND MY KNEE?? Haiz... epic centre of gravity phail... what happened? Just like being hit with a HE missile I collapsed like a tower... (I do not blame Lee for this mishap, since I requested that he try to hug me up) In the end hugged CS up again to hang my ribbons... lalala....
Besides writing ribbons I also donated TWICE to write on the temple roof tiles to represent for my family (my mother later criticized me for not writing my father's mandarin name, plz la I can't even write my second brother's mandarin name)
Next we posed to take photos with our separate zodiacs... CS took with the Snake, Lee and Hui took with the Horse and of course I took with the Ram... (To those peeps who still think I am born in 1990, screw you, I am born in 1991) I later on went to buy fans cuz I was feeling retro somehow... and also have the scholar look LOL... Besides the bigger paper one I also bought 3 smaller wooden ones for rm5 (Daiso sell 1 for rm5...and I am a cheap guy) for my brother's upcoming wedding... count yourselves lucky bridesmaids and best men...
Later we took more photos and walked down to the lower part of the temple... nth much here... except more ppl and cars... PAGODA entrance fee RM2 per person? NO THANKS! Later walked back up to the Guan Yin statue and it made me think twice about my policy of 'not stopping' when walking... The hill was just so steep! And cars were streaming by all the time...
Finally... Dinner at LK restaurant... the mega sized orange juice is a welcomed relief... After that... complain to each other about certain dumb individuals... Then we went home la...
Mother ask me test my jeans before I go to Australia (yes half a year of holiday has widened my waistline) and I found a 50cent size bruise on my right thigh... Haiz... Take Zam-Bak and message the wound... morning wake up the spot got blacker... oh well...
Later went to Kek Lok Si in order to go see the night lights and also pray...
Firstly we went to write ribbons for my family members... wrote 12 ribbons for my father, mother, 2 brothers and sis-in-law, mother's father, father's mother, uncle and ME la!(Boh Koh Leng I din write for myself write... I am not so selfless...) Then the problem rose... HOW TO HANG THE RIBBON ON THE TOP BRANCH?? Lee also not tall enough... then I hugged CS up to hang his ribbons (duh he's light as a stick, no sweat!)... Then ask Lee to carry me... What the... hug me up from the wrong part... Lee... WHY YOU HUG ME AROUND MY KNEE?? Haiz... epic centre of gravity phail... what happened? Just like being hit with a HE missile I collapsed like a tower... (I do not blame Lee for this mishap, since I requested that he try to hug me up) In the end hugged CS up again to hang my ribbons... lalala....
Besides writing ribbons I also donated TWICE to write on the temple roof tiles to represent for my family (my mother later criticized me for not writing my father's mandarin name, plz la I can't even write my second brother's mandarin name)
Next we posed to take photos with our separate zodiacs... CS took with the Snake, Lee and Hui took with the Horse and of course I took with the Ram... (To those peeps who still think I am born in 1990, screw you, I am born in 1991) I later on went to buy fans cuz I was feeling retro somehow... and also have the scholar look LOL... Besides the bigger paper one I also bought 3 smaller wooden ones for rm5 (Daiso sell 1 for rm5...and I am a cheap guy) for my brother's upcoming wedding... count yourselves lucky bridesmaids and best men...
Later we took more photos and walked down to the lower part of the temple... nth much here... except more ppl and cars... PAGODA entrance fee RM2 per person? NO THANKS! Later walked back up to the Guan Yin statue and it made me think twice about my policy of 'not stopping' when walking... The hill was just so steep! And cars were streaming by all the time...
Finally... Dinner at LK restaurant... the mega sized orange juice is a welcomed relief... After that... complain to each other about certain dumb individuals... Then we went home la...
Mother ask me test my jeans before I go to Australia (yes half a year of holiday has widened my waistline) and I found a 50cent size bruise on my right thigh... Haiz... Take Zam-Bak and message the wound... morning wake up the spot got blacker... oh well...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Shopping spree...
No choice ah... The hostel I stay dun provide alot of things so I gotta bring my things over there by myself... This was my rough shopping list:
Knife
Knife Sharpening Stone (I personally like using the sharpening stone and not any others because they have no feel to it)
Mattress Protector
Bedsheet
Clothes Hanger
Sanitory liquids and basket (yes i need to bring my shampoo and facial wash n stuff)
Clothes
Jacket
MP-190 Printer ink
So far is like that la... These are just the 'Bought' stuff, not to be confused with the 'Already have' stuff...
Many people like to ask when my flight is... I dun want to tell. Why?
Simple reason, Yasi has moved into Victoria and might threaten Tullamarine Airport, the last thing I want is a flooded Penang International Airport which delays my transit to some other day.
Knife
Knife Sharpening Stone (I personally like using the sharpening stone and not any others because they have no feel to it)
Mattress Protector
Bedsheet
Clothes Hanger
Sanitory liquids and basket (yes i need to bring my shampoo and facial wash n stuff)
Clothes
Jacket
MP-190 Printer ink
So far is like that la... These are just the 'Bought' stuff, not to be confused with the 'Already have' stuff...
Many people like to ask when my flight is... I dun want to tell. Why?
Simple reason, Yasi has moved into Victoria and might threaten Tullamarine Airport, the last thing I want is a flooded Penang International Airport which delays my transit to some other day.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year everyone...
2011... New year come already... Soon I will leave this island and embark on a journey for the next. Suddenly realized that I haven't went to get my air tickets printed yet!
Suddenly started wondering... 3 yrs no actual steady girlfriend... STEADY lo!
Suddenly started wondering... 3 yrs no actual steady girlfriend... STEADY lo!
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