When Ice Man Couldn't Control His Power

27th Feb 2007 (Tues)

"Its hailing outside. Omg, its my first time seeing so! Freak cold now." (Shuey's sms)

I wondered that 'hailing' was and thought that hailing is a replacement word for 'raining'. I google-d the word and finally found out the meaning when there was suddenly a knock on my door.

Something that falls with the force and quantity of a shower of ice and hard snow (thefreedictionary.com, 2003)

I saw people evacuating the building and I heard the fire alarm. I followed them down. My msn was still on and my handphones, camera, etc. were left in my room. It was then I saw the ice on the floor. Wow fascinating.

I was looking for smoke as it made no sense to me that the fire alarm was triggered by the hail. But most of the residents have no idea why. Then, somebody(i've forgotten who) told me it was because the ANU security was afraid that the might be short circuit as the water leaked in to the power circuit.

There were some ice which were even bigger

Most of the trees were bald after the hail. Pity them =(

Water leaked from the roof. I'm staying in top floor but thank God my room was not affected. Imagine what would happen if the water were to drip on my laptop.

We were allowed to go back to our respective rooms at about 12 something but as curious as we teenagers are, some of us decided to put on our jackets and go kai kai (jalan-jalan). We saw this river flowing faster than ever.

One of the main library in ANU: Chiefly Library. Looks eerie, isn't it?

This is one of the most popular spot in ANU: the union court which now looks like an ice skating ring.

Zhong (China) lost one side of his slippers and Barney offered to carry him (for a while). Haha, he stepped into the deep ice and found his slipper missing when he lifted his left leg up. We spent considerably a large amount of time but were to no avail.

In the morning, the ice were still obvious although I expected them to melt by morning. The field looks even more like a skating ring compared to union court.

Thanks to the hail, ANU students were rewarded three days off as there were lots of damages in the campus. Hence, they've decided that it's best for the students to stay away while the repairs are currently being done so as not to risk students' safety. It is nice that we students have five days of break which means more time to relax and study. But Zhong warned us that the lecturers might cram in everything next week so that they are not behind schedule. Therefore, to avoid us from being left behind, he advised us to pre-read.

I expected this hail news to appear in front page of local newspapers but it instead appeared in the second page. Hm....anyway, gotta go. Wanna do some studying after doing nothing much yesterday. Thanks for reading =D

Weekends

23rd Feb 2007 (Fri)

Many things happened. I'll briefly blog about them.

We went to the museum. It was my second visit but there are still much to explore. The museum is simply unique.

24th Feb 2007 (Sat)

Had CNY lunch. Food was good. Certainly worth my 5 bucks =D


Later in the evening, there was a carnival in front of unilodge which saw many interesting things such as these two freaky creatures..

and these 'jaws'. They went around looking for people and sang for them. Gosh, they sang really well. Such nice harmonisation.

Balloons were distributed as well. I see no point of taking the balloons but they did make these three gals happy. Good job, balloons! L-R: Wei Ling(Penang), June Chen (Singapore), Mellisa (KL)

25th Feb 2007 (Sun)

I crashed over in Asma Hadi's place last night which means that I slept outside Ursula for the first time since I arrived. I was helping Zarifah reformatting her laptop and it was too late to walk back. Hadi, if you're reading this, I wanna thank you so much for letting me sleep on the bed while you, on the couch. Very courteous of you.

On my way back to Ursula in the morning, I wondered what happened to these trolis.

Later in the morning, Malaysian students had a session with The High Commissioner, His Excellency Dato' Salim Hashim. Hope I got his name right. An open-minded man with good sense of humour. That's what he is and I respect him for that.

He gave a speech and managed to keep me awake all the way. Amazing. Of course he did that by inserting jokes. And for the first time after the countless months, I sang Negaraku together with the rest before the session. Felt a sense of nationality while singing it.

Dato' Salim (Left) and Abang Radzi (Lecturer who is also in charge of looking after scholars)

We were given nasi lemak for lunch. It was nice especially for me who hasn't tasted it for so long. But the sad case was the absence of chicken rendang. They provided fried chicken instead. Tapau from Kingsley(KFC-like fast food) one somemore.

The next interesting highlight was the first MSO (Malaysian Student Organisation) meeting. We had ice-breaking games which was a bit chaotic during the initial period (because of the massive number of people). But overall, it was fun. I even got a chance to sing Da Cheng Xiao Ai. Unbelievable...Sze Huey and Afiq initiated the whole process by going, "Shin Yau, Shin Yau" when the emcee asked, "Who else can sing?" Gosh, my hands were trembling during that moment. My fear of standing in public is still so overwhelming.

Upon finishing the games, the students nominated and voted for the First Year Rep and..erm they chose me. Flattered(because of the vast majority) and worried(because I don't know what I've got myself into) at the same time.

Oh, meet Barney Ong. He's Amanda Albert's cousin. Small world isn't it? He's a perfect example of a happy go lucky type of person and is extremely fun to hang out with.

The majority of the MSO committees. Besides me, the rest are second years.

It's always nice of have in informal picture =p haha..like this one.

Thanks for reading. Catch you all in the next entry.

Tagged

Gosh, I certainly have to apologize to my cousin sister, Eevon for delaying this entry. She tagged me so many days ago, even before the Chinese New Year and I only post this up today. So sorry, Eevon.

These are the rules:

Each player of this game starts out by giving 6 weird things about themselves. People who get tagged need to write in a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. After you do that, leave them each a comment letting them know you tagged them and to read your blog!

Haha..but since I'm lazy, I shall break the rule and only state 6 weird things about myself and not tag anyone else =p

Here goes:-

1. In the morning, I only brush my teeth after breakfast and not before.
2. I like shopping when other guys don't.
3. I like buying books (especially those with interesting covers) but will never finish reading them.
4. I live near the Lake Gardens but have never tried paddle boating and been to the night safari before.
5. I have (note the present tense) a Power Ranger picture in my pencil box.
6. I use a video tape box as my pencil box.

If Ken Jin has a blog, I'll surely tag him. Haha..

The Big Picture

22th Feb 2007 (Thus)

Finally, I've gathered all the AUSMATians in one complete picture. Many of us, isn't it? Haha..Hope I didn't miss anyone out.


Had my math diagnostic test today. Glad it was easy =D And also happy that today was a better day after going through a bad day yesterday.

Have no lecture tomorrow and plan to pay the National Museum a second visit.

Thanks for reading. Till we meet again. =)

Picnic

18th Feb 2007 (Sun)

Greetings everyone. For those who visited my blog yesterday till now, you'd probably be wondering why I posted an entry full of pictures without descriptions. Well I wanted to, but the wireless connection suddenly has a problem. So I can only do it now.

Malaysian scholars had a picnic on CNY, thanks for the organizer, Eriziana and Zaza. Afiq and his team should be given credit as well for cooking such delicious spaghetti.

Feeding the geese

Everyone contributed $5

The group picture. Some did not turn up due to their respective reasons. Safuraa was down with flu while Sze Huey and Sher Reen were in Sdyney.

Jason and Maha were initially joking around.

Suddenly, an arguement was heated up.

Then, ahem, somehow I got involved =p

Haha..didn't manage to post on time. Funny picture but I like it.

Everyone was prepared but this picture was over-exposed

Maha, Kai Xun, and Asma Hadi

All in all, a good outing.

On 19th Feb 2007, lectures have finally begun. My second lecture(Math) was boring.

But it's alright. My aim is to at least go through the notes before lectures so that I can absorb more during lectures.

I'll be having a diagnostic test for Math this Thus. Have not touched Math for two and a half months. The good thing is students can assess pass years diagnostic exam from ANU website. So cool right...

Okay lah..That's all for now. Thanks for reading =D Tata

CNY Eve Away from Home

17th Feb 2007 (Sat)

I was invited to have dinner in my distant-relative's house. His name is Lian Lu. His mum cooked Chinese food which eventually became my second consecutive Chinese dinner. Haha...they are nice people and it was a good first-time meeting up experience.

With Lian Lu and his mum

Later at night, Kai Xun called me and invited me to another party nearby Ursula. Wei Min's parents cooked.

L-R: Wei Min's dad, Eugene, Han Yi, Chia Yuen, Wei Min, Lawrence. All of them are Singaporeans except for Han Yi who is from China.

The group picture

Celebrating Chinese New Year eve with both relatives and friends at the same night. Not too bad, isn't it? Another good thing was I got to taste more Chinese food. Nonetheless, I still miss my family's cooking in Taiping. The pig intestine soup sure is nice..... =p

Alright, that's about it. Catch you all some other time. Thanks for dropping by. Happy CNY people!!!

Highlights

15th Feb 2007 (Thus)

Took a bus for the first time today to the Bike Coop. Plan to get a bike but there wasn't anyone there. Disappointing. We were asked to go around that time and yet, no one was there to attend to us. Since we were already there and the National Museum is nearby, we paid it a visit. It was really modern and unique. They have this rotating presentation room which explains about 3 themes: Land, Nation, and People. There were also 3d pictures on the wall which made the kangaroos looked as if they were jumping as you walk pass them.

At night, we had a traffic light party at the courtyard.

Green: Single
Orange: Complicated
Red: Taken

We were supposed to wear according to the dress code above since I wore a while long sleeve t-shirt since my green one wasn't dry yet. They had a limbo rock competition towards the end of the party which I was super eager to join. Believe it or not, I won it!! Haha..Guess this is when short people like me have an advantage =p

Announcer: Yes, we have a winner. And his name is...
Clair(my neighbour): YEAM!!!
Announcer: Yes, Yeam. He's going to receive a $10 discount coupon from (I forgot the name) restaurant.

Wow...I enjoyed a few minutes of glory, standing in front of the crowd as they were clapping for me. So happy =D





16th Feb 2007 (Fri)

I ran more than 10 km today as there was this training for a 'Merentas Desa' kinda event. It is called IB Run. Participants will be blindfolded and driven to an area far away from ANU. They will then be dumped at the location and have to find their way back. I of course don't plan to join the run due to my poor navigation skills. But today's run was just a training and everyone was encouraged to join. Since I haven't ran for so long, I just wanted to do some running. And now, my leg muscle hurts like nobody's business. But at least now I know that I can still jog.

Roonie(3rd Year Student from Singapore): Do you run often back at home?
Me: Nope, I don't like jogging actually. I usually play badminton.
Roonie: Oh, then u're seriously doing a good job man. You've ran pretty far (for a person who doesn't usually jog)

At night, I went for a Chinese New Year dinner in the China Embassy. I was invited by my aunt's ex-classmate who are living in Canberra. Her name is Sharon while her husband's is Ken.

The Entrance

I am between Sharon and Ken

The China Ambassador(in purple)

The food tasted nice but didn't live up to its expectation overall. I expected a buffet and everyone was only given food in styrofoam/plastic.


There were stage performances

There were seriously many many people

From today onwards, there might not be many entries in my blog. Classes will begin soon and some preparations need to be done. So I can't share my experience that often anymore. Sorry about that.

Bye for now...Thanks for reading =D

Cleaned My Room

14th Feb 2007 (Wed)

Note: No updates yesterday because I dozed off at 11 something. So far the earliest time I slept. =D

Today's Valentine. Besides wishing people Happy Valentine, I did nothing to celebrate it.

However, I was being awaken 2 times. First was at about 3am cause Eugene(from Singapore) left his key in his room while going to the toilet. He, hence came into my room and slept on my chair and table till the next day before asking the Senior Resident to open his room.

At 6.30am, I was again awaken by Eugene cause there was a fire drill. Ring! Ring! I didn't really hear the fire alarm. I am not sure if I will wake up if it wasn't for Eugene. We evacuated the building and stood outside for about ten minutes before going back into the common room to watch a video about fire drill. It was super cold man. I was shivering like mad.

Went for Market day slightly after 10am. It was a day when clubs set up booths to attract students' participation. So crowded!! And there were many different kinds of clubs. Manga Society...imagine that..

Hardeep playing chess with Shawn during the Market day

Attended Actuarial Studies briefing and it was so far the most interesting one. Michael, the speaker, included in his speech, a very important thing which keeps students awake- joke. It was fun.

Michael

Meet Han Hui, another Bank Negara scholar of my batch. We of the same age and course. I didn't even know him until I was introduced to him during the bus tour. He arrived a few days later than me.

Vacuumed my room for the first time at night and moved my table to another position besides doing my laundry. Sort of like a room makeover. Haha.

Sorry that everything was brief. I am super sleepy =p

I Danced Today!!!

13th Feb 2007 (Tues)


Did Scavenger Hunt today. It was fun. So many crazy stuffs we did. For instance,

We took pictures with a bearded man. We accumulate points by doing many other crazy stuffs like taking picture with postman, three policemen, and buildings named after a place.

Saw this notice during the Scavenger Hunt. Reminded me Russell Peters. "Be a man. Do the right thing!"

During a barbeque after the hunt.
Top(L-R): Nina(korea), Hui Ling(Singapore)
Bottom: Don(Singapore), Seo(Korea), Chie(Japan)

There was a carnival in ANU as well. Joined this bull ride for the first time. Stood a chance to win a plama tv. Yes, plama tv. Afiq stayed 38 seconds on the bull while I recorded 57seconds. I was given applause after I was done. "Good try!" So nice. Unfortunately, I was 10 seconds behind the leader. But I created a technique to stay longer on the bull which was later being used by other participants =p

Alex, Man Yee, Weng Harn with their Cotton Candies. It was free of charge.

Took a picture with a Mac computer. At last, I saw Mac Book for the first time after Merlin promoted it in his blog. Mac has a booth in that carnival so we've decided to experiment it by taking this picture. I am the one in the middle with the mouth wide opened. Haha.

Another picture.

At night, I had another superb moment. It overshadowed the Scavenger Hunt as the highlight of the day which explains why the title was named after it. There were two events held simultaneously in ANU: Bbq dinner & Bush dance (organized by ANU) and a sports session(organized by Ursula Hall). Since I wanted to avoid bbq(I am heaty), I didn't register for the dinner and opted for the sports session.

I was on the way to the sports unit when Afiq called.

Afiq: Yeam, aren't you coming?
Me: Well, i might drop by for a while to see what's it like over there. But can I come without a ticket? I didn't register for it.
Afiq: Yeah, they didn't check. Just come.

Thanks to this call, I went to the dinner. I didn't eat anything since I've had dinner. But I danced!!! Felt so shy at first. Sze Huey, Eriziana, Afiq, and Sze Huey danced. During the second round of dancing, I became braver and asked Carol to dance. Well, halfway through, when we exchanged partners, I ended up having no partner. It must be some guy who suddenly came into the circle. I went back to seat. Dejected a bit, yes, but I had fun before that at least. Another nice thing about attending the dinner was that I get to meet up with friends from John Hall and other Malaysian friends.

Thanks for calling me again, Afiq =D

Oh, there were two things I forgot to blog about a few days ago. Thanks to Sze Ching's comment, I remember one of them now. In Canberra, I introduced myself as Yeam, not Jimmy simply because it's a good way of letting the people know about the existence of Yeam as a Chinese surname. Yes, I know Jimmy is easier to remember. You don't have to face the hassle of repeating your name when they say, "What?" after you introduced yourself. But still, I insist. I feel so happy each time they pronnounce Yeam correctly.

Second thing, to mum and ken jin, I found my lipgloss during my first day here. It was in the same plastic bag as the vitamins. Ken Jin's mum bought me another one when I couldn't find the previous one. Now, I have two. Haha..

Alright, that's all for now. Sorry for lack of pictures during the bush dance. Didn't bring my camera cause I intended to go sporting instead initially. I wore a three quarter pant into the dinner. How weird I looked! "You just woke up?" someone asked me. But that was mainly caused by my hair. They haven't got used to seeing me without my cab.

Okay, thanks for reading!