Let You All See This Picture First

Ok lah..I'm lazy...haven't been updating my blog for so long. There's an event which I want to write about and I haven't responded to Nooi Hoay and Yee Hong's tag. Therefore, I post this picture to 'theng chue tong' (as temporary replacement). Try and guess what event is this =p I'll post an entry regarding the event soon =D

Email From Nephew =D

I just received this email from my 16-year-old nephew today. Haha..super happy to hear from him.

"Hi, ah yau chek.How are you? No message from you .Why? Forget about me or you are too busy until no time to turn on your notebook? I hope that you still remember me. I have nothing to tell you. Just want to tell you that Chek Chek is going to "kahwin" soon. Sorry, because I forget the word "Kahwin" in English,whether it is marriage or marry.Maybe IPOH or U.Raymond told you already but I just want to remind you. Chek Chek ask you to come to his "majlis perkahwinan". He said that if there are no tickets or the tickets are expensive, he ask you to swim back to Taiping.If not, no Angpau for you.Haha. I think Chek Chek is just kidding. Remember ya ..Swim back to Taiping.You can stop at Indonesia or "Selat Melaka".Ha ha..How are your study in Australia?Is the whether cold there?But i hope that you can " membiasakan diri dengan keadaan di" Australia.Sorry,because there are many word that I am not sure It is correct or not. So write Them in Malay.That's all from me. Goodbye..."

I Miss AUSMAT!!!

Warning: this post if full of negative aura. Avoid it if you can't take it.

I miss Miss Pauline, Pn Rabiani, Pn Kudzaimah, etc.. And I miss SACE textbooks.

Don't get me wrong. The lecturers here are nice and definitely approachable. But some of them make simple things complicated. (and one of my math lecturers has an Italian/Spanish accents. So hard to listen to her sometimes) Most of the things that I'm learning in economics, business, and maths are those that I've learnt in AUSMAT and yet I couldn't get the lecturers. What more those who don't have any background knowledge regarding those subjects? They'll be scratching their heads even more than me.

The way Miss Pauline, Pn. Rabiani, and Pn Kudzaimah is so much clearer and we will pretty much understand what they are teaching after bombarding them with some questions. Over here, we sometimes, end up staring back at the tutor (with the word 'blur' clearly written on our face) after he/she explains what is written on the board. To make things worse, three out of four of my tutors are students. Excellent students they are but sometimes, they just can't get the message across. Also, they assume that we've known this and we've known that but that fact is, not everyone comes from the same education background. And I just found out today that students in New South Wales and Canberra are not learning the same syllabus in Math. See how good our good old standardized KBSM(Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Menengah..is this the real name?) is now?

The big-sized lecture halls don't do any good either, well at least for me. In AUSMAT, I asked questions whenever I have some doubts to clear and didn't feel shy since there were only about 20 students in the class. Do the same here during the lecture and you'll have 300 pairs of eyes staring at you. Moreover, when there are that many people in the hall, you don't wanna make yourself look silly by asking questions which you think are silly. Yes, yes, people say go ahead and ask and don't think of what others might think about you. But still...it's 300 pairs of eyes and ears. By the time you wanna ask lecturers or tutors personally, the fire just isn't there anymore. Well, soup is best if it's served hot. Questions too are best asked when the level of curiosity and the willingness to ask is high. After a few days, lazy students like me will usually go, "Aiya, no nit ask lah..lazy.."

As for the textbooks, the Calculus textbooks only have answers to their odd numbered exercises and the answers come without working. So if you got it wrong, you might not find the cause. Sweet...

Aiyo..I complain too much in this entry, hoh? Sorry =( but I just wanna pour it out.

Mum, I Learnt Sewing!!!

20th March 2007 (Tues)

I learnt sewing for the first time yesterday. Thanks to Wei Min, both of jeans and short pants are now repaired. My coins fell from my jeans so many times and it was so disheartening to realise that the pockets of my new jeans were slowly having holes one by one. Besides the fact that it was funky, I bought this jeans back in The Store as it has many pockets. Hence, I told myself I couldn't let my jeans 'die' like that. RM79 you know.

I took a drastic step: I learnt sewing =D

This is the result. Now that I already know how to sew, it is not that difficult =p And I can fix the pocket holes myself in the future.

I am super happy with my sewing and that my jeans was given a second chance to live (exaggerating)

21st March 2007 (Wed)

It was Harmony Day today. Not sure what does that day really mean but I supposed it is the day when they spread the importance of living harmoniously.

People are asked to wear orange to show their support for this day and whoever did that will get to have free bbq for lunch. But I didn't wear it for the food. I sincerely wanted to support Harmony Day =p

'Orangies'
(Wan Phei, Yuet Ling, Me, Han Hui)

Haha...habislah kamu semua...=p

Finishlah u all...this entry is long. It might be dreadful to continue reading and for your computer to continue processing this page (cause of the number of pictures)...

Ok..enough crap..

So many events to write about but I was too lazy to pen. Haha. But the thanks to people who motivated me in the cbox, I am gonna blog about the important events. It’s going to be long. I feel so sorry for you all to go through such long entry (sad face) =(

Lets begin..

9^th March 2007

It was Jason Ng’s (JPA scholar from Kluang) birthday. We had dim sum in Imperial for the first time. Better than the ones served in Ursula, as I expected =D Pay $15 per person and eat all you can eat. Pretty worth it, isn’t it?

I baked it cake together with Safuraa. Thanks for guiding me, Adik =D

The 'Dim Sum's

Everyone =D

10^th March 2007

Skyfire 2007- one of the most happening events in Canberra throughout the whole year. There were firecrackers and aircraft performances. We missed the latter cause we arrived pretty late but was punctual enough to witness the former which was more important. The firecrackers were magnificent. But I did a mistake in the beginning by recording the skyfire and looking at it through my camera screen instead of looking directly at the firecrackers. The effect was different. Looking at it in front of your own eyes only got ‘Umph’.

Bottom (L-R): Kai Xun, Leonard, Jay Shen, Barney, Daryl.
Top (L-R): Jason, Chern, Me.

I like the above picture even though I don't look handsome because of Jay Shen's facial expression. Haha..Chern was gosok-ing his head. Head massage.

This picture is nice too =D
Top: Chia Yun, Chia Yen, Pei Sam, Xiu Qi, Me
2nd row: Jason, Yoke Kei, Ji Lu, Dianne, Ching, Chern
Bottom: Zhong, Leonard

I tried to do what Yi Jia does: kidnapping people using fingers =p Not very successful was I?

The fireworks

Sis, I think there's also a Banana Leaf in PJ right? I spotted this on the way back from Skyfire.

11^th March 2007- Sze Huey’s Bday

Wah this one..we put in so much effort into it but it was all worth it. The main people behind this celebration were Sher Reen, Su Yin, Safuraa, Rhian, Betsy(Sze Huey’s housemate), and myself =p

We surprised her at 12am in her room and she didn’t look that surprised. We were shocked ourselves when Betsy told us that she slept before we came. Tan Sze Huey doesn’t normally sleep that early.

“Hm…, she must’ve known that we were planning something and purposely wanna make it hard for us.”

Anyway, how can birthday gal sleep so early, right? Hence, we decided to proceed with the plan anyway. We switched off the light and knock on the door. She opened it and we sang birthday song for her. But as I said she wasn’t that surprised……yet.

The next day..hehe..well, you see, another purpose of celebrating her birthday at 12am was so that she didn’t suspect anything anymore the next day. Sze Huey was suppose to have potluck with Sher Reen, Rhian, Su Yin, and Betsy. However, we secretly invited other friends to hide in Su Yin’s toilets(the potluck was held in Su Yin’s apartment). When she arrived, Su Yin shouted the key word “Shit” and we all came out of the toilet.

“SURPRISE”

Sze Huey’s eyes was as big as a goldfish’s. “Ah………………”

Haha..so happy that we got her. It was also a good way of gathering people and catching up with each other. The main menu was the curry noodles which was my suggestion btw…haha. But the credit goes to Safuraa who was the main chef together with Sherry and Thuaibah. Sher Reen did the Cekodok (Sze Huey’s favourite) with Erizianna. As for me….em….i cut fruits =p

Good celebration. Everyone was happy =D

Menanti detik 12pagi: Decorating Sze Huey's Chocolate cake in Su Yin's appartment.

Birthday gal cutting birthday cake

How we surprised her...but can't really see anything from this picture isn't it?

Tada....see, so many people

Mihun curry =D Sedap tau..

Like best buddies, right? =p

What better way to get a more detailed description of the birthday party than checking the birthday gal's blog. It features three videos and the last one shows Tan Sze Huey's surprised reaction. I just found out today that her username in Youtube is yeuhezs which is the terbalik version of szehuey. Copy Merlin one (nilremagician) =p

13^th March 2007- Daryl’s Bday

He’s a FAMA scholar from Melaka. We asked Chern (A Malaysian senior) to knock on his door and told him that he had an emergency call from Malaysia. He them followed Chern down to the public phone down stairs and we surprised him from the room just opposite the public phone. He wasn’t as surprised as Sze Huey but the celebration was still alright.

Everybody

Hui Ling and Wei Min tried to make a love shape with fire works. Nice, isn't it?

15^th March 2007

Nothing special happened today. It was just that I did my first quiz in ANU. It was a ten-minute Money Market & Finance quiz. The only one question and many of us finished within five minutes. Didn’t know that to do, I took out my camera and started snapping some pictures. Recorded a video too. Wu liao (nonsence) right…but it was fun =p

Leonard(Petronas Scholar), Sze Huey, and Wei Min(from Singapore)

Maha, Shawn, Arjun

17^th March 2007 – Picnic Day

A picnic was organized by MSO (Malaysian Student Organisation) today. The committee needed to cook for about 200 over people and they certainly needed a helping hand as well from the first years. It was really good to see so many of the first years willing to help out even at odd hours (like 5am). Proud of you all =D I helped them last night from 6pm and reached back my room at about 2.30am. Woke up 1 ½ hours later at 4am and helped them cook at 5am. Gosh it was taxing. Everyone was tired I’m sure. It was just that many managed to cover up well. I thought I did but apparently, I didn’t.

“Yeam, you better go and get some sleep. You look like you’re going to pass out anytime soon.”

I wanted to but if I sleep for too long, I thought that it would be unfair to the rest that I go to sleep while they were busy cooking.

“Well, we have enough people to help out d. So you can take a rest first. I’m serious. I’ll wake you up once we’re about to leave.”

Hence, I went to the sofa and felt into a deep deep sleep. The good thing was I managed to wake up and help them set up the picnic place later on. And the picnic went on fine. The people like the food and we enjoyed ourselves. What more could we ask for?

I even had a short meeting with the first years after the picnic for the first time. Felt pretty nervous and stammered a bit here and there but I at least got to convey my message across. Happy….

Had a nice sleep after the picnic and ended up missing dinner cause I woke up at 8 something. Dinner time ended at 6.30pm. Sze Huey kindly offered to fried rice or cook noodle for me but I was too lazy to walk all the way to Unilodge. But thanks a lot Sze Huey. Someday I’ll taste your cooking, especially curry noodles, cekodok, and mihun kuey =p

Peeling ginger

Peeling sengkuang

No harm having fun along the way =D
L-R: Wan Phei, Hazel, Yuet Ling, Su Yin

Fu yong tan. Mum uses omelette as its english term. I helped to fry some of the fu yong tan and it is no doubt a great achievement for someone who doesn't cook =p

Ayam rempah. I helped to marinate them. Yes, they looked hangus but they tasted good =) They look like prawns in this picture, don't they?

Sherry, Sze Huey, Sher Reen, Me, Jared, (Dunno the name), Din. Sze Huey was super smart cause she brought newspaper to the picnic to lapik the wet grass (it rained in the morning). I think she was the only one who did that.

Sher Reen, Me, Su Yin, Kai Xun, Jason. Sze Huey's behing the camera =p

We played the newspaper game in which we have to stay on top of the newspaper for 30 seconds. Each time the signal was given, we have to fold it by half and it became more difficult. Every couple consisted of boy and gal except for me and Don(second year Singporean). We were kinda the laughing stock because of that but who cares..haha..we had fun. The amazing thing was that I managed to carry Don for a few seconds, something which I thought I wouldn't be able to do. But he was the one who did most of the carrying. His two years of National Service experience must have done him some good. Super strong man him.

We didn't win the game though. Jared and Melissa (bottom left couple) were instead the winner. It's funny to see the many different ways people carry their partner in this game. The couple at the top left is Afiq and Wei Ling.

All the INTEC scholars inclusive of seniors and juniors =D Gotta send this to Pn Haliza.

The Committee. All of them wore the black MSO t-shirt except for Firdaus and myself. Not sure why Firdaus didn't put his on but I didn't because I don't have one, yet.

Alright that’s about it. Congratulations if you’ve managed to persist so far. And of course, thank you too =D Monday is gonna be a holiday cause it’s Canberra Day and thanks to that, I earned an extra day to settle my Math assignment. Catch you all next time. See u.

Commencement Dinner

8th March 2007 (Thus)

Ursula Hall had its commencement dinner tonight. The food wasn't good but I enjoyed taking pictures =D

God’s Grace

7^th March 2007 (Wed)

It’s amazing how a bad day can take a 180-degree turn for the better or vice versa. It once again shows how something beautiful can happen when God answers your prayers.

I almost lost my $100 when depositing it into the ATM machine. I didn’t know that I was required to put the money in an envelope before depositing it. Hence, I forced the money into the machine just to realize that it didn’t accept my money because of the aforementioned reason. I then pulled the money put but one piece of $100 fell into the ATM.

I didn’t approach any bank officers about it as the queue was long. My lecture was about to begin. Therefore, I only went back after lunch and was delighted to find out that they found my $100 in their ATM. They even taught me the correct way of depositing cash via ATM. Gosh, how thankful I was that my prayer was answered. Imagine losing RM 280 just like that if there wasn’t any happy ending.

After that, I met a friend whom I’ve wanted to meet since the last few days. Just had a short conversation but it was enough to convince me that my day has indeed changed for the better.

9^th March 2007 (Fri)

At the same time, it’s pretty scary that most of the time, the truth will only be revealed to us one step at a time. Prior to that, you’ll keep indulging yourself in your own imagination or keep wondering what the truth is. Sometimes, you’re afraid to find out yourself as truth can be cruel. When the truth finally hits you, it's time to face reality. But whatever it is, God has His own plans for you, I believe.

There are many, and yes, many free thinkers out there who question the existence of God. Their strong point will usually be, “Well, if there’s God, why are the still sufferings all around the world?”

Despite all these, my belief in God stays firm. I may not be that pious and follow all the customs but I’ve never doubt what God can do especially if you believe in Him.

So, say a little prayer. It may or may not come true but take it as a test. And sometime, you must help God to help you =D

Thanks for reading!

Genap Sebulan

5th March 2007 (Mon)

Today marked the one month period of me being in Canberra. To celebrate it, the chef specially made 'Dim Sim' (That's what they call it here) for lunch. =p Haha, just joking. It was just a coincidence.

I dislike the word 'Dim Sim'. It sounds....erm weird. I shall continue by using 'Dim Sum'. There...sounds so much better.

The 'Dim Sum's here looked fat, as if they were overfed. They offer both chicken and beef. I chose the chicken 'Dim Sum' and couldn't wait to taste it as I haven't eaten it since I arrived here. Unfortunately, my ears were already filled with negative comments regarding the 'Dim Sum' before I could settle down at the dining table.

Msian 1: Ei...better don't eat that...not nice one..
Me: Really? So big wor..
Msian 2: That's why...fat 'Dim Sum' where got nice one...

Haha..had a good laugh before trying it. Well, it wasn't that bad but at the same time, yeah, it barely reached the average benchmark.

The 'Dim Sum'. I ran all the way up to my room again to take my camera. I just couldn't miss the opportunity to show my family how the 'Dim Sum' in Australia looks like. The fried rice was even worse. It had a horrible combination of hard (didn't put enough water), dry, and not enough taste. There you go, the reason I rarely eat rice in Canberra.

Thank God spring rolls saved the day. Sumptuous man...I went for a second helping and took more spring rolls =p The fried 'popiah' wasn't too bad as well. Wah..so many fried stuffs. And I used to think that the food here are very very healthy. But still, most of the meals are healthy (just minus the 'very very')

Thanks for reading =D