StiLL oN HoliDae...

forgot to wish everyone a very merry christmas... haha is it too late... then happy new year lor...
sunday was christmas, so all the shops were closed... so uncle suggested bringing us to travel the newly-opened M7 expressway, so we drove all the way to this faraway place called cabramatta... which according to them was a place consisting mostly of vietnamese... everything was vietnamese stuff and the place was packed with them... it was good to see other cultures and they actually sell some really cool stuff (like the scissors used by the hairdressers)... spent quite some time there and we went to check out this place where all the designer houses are... seeing all these nice houses make me wish i have alot of money so that i can renovate my home to become like one of theirs... sigh... we even saw one home which has the bushes in their front lawn shaped into animals... really funny...

monday was boxing day... my uncle's side family has a gathering every year on this day... went to this beach (i dunno what it's called) abt an hour's drive and the place was also packed with families on picnic and bbqing... it was a really hot day also... the beach was really nice though... the sand was soft and clean, not like in singapore... and the water was clear you can see the small fishes... got quite a tan and bcos my sunblock lotion was not enough for this weather, my back got really sunburnt... it is all red and painful still... it's good that their family take the time to meet up with one another every year and they appear to be quite close... unlike my mum's and father's side family... we only see each other during chinese new year, and i am not even close to some of them, i dun even noe if i will recognise them if we see each other on the streets...

tues... post christmas sale... of course we went on a shopping trip to hornsby... to check out all the sale... bought a photo album to store all my photos... and then had to go to work in the late afternoon so didn't get to spend alot of time there...
the supervisors came back to me regarding the cookies... all of them said the famous amos cookies were very nice... they ate until they can't stop... and asked me where i got them etc... it was actually abit like a bribe thing...
and prisy and me are on a firefly marathon again... i missed watching it when i was in s'pore... and when the hell is Serenity coming out??!!!

and then yesterday... prisy and me went to the city for karaoke... yay!! found some nice songs again... by rainie yang... realised she's a really good singer though, she always like to act cute also... here sing karaoke is much cheaper than singing in kbox leh... like tat time me and huimin went to sing... so expensive...

ParT II...

Thurs... went out in the morning, wanted to go to toa payoh to get stuff that i wanted to bring back with me... went to toa payoh popular queuing up wanted to pay money already then realised that i forgot my wallet... so stupid rite... can't believe how dumb i was... in the end i had to go all the way back home again to get it... stupid andrea...

met up with huimin, jo, fran and esther to play bowling... so long never play already that's why the first time was very sucky... the second time was better... enjoyed myself... but the dumb dumb sherry said that she will join us later in the end also never turned up... angie also... said want to meet us at raffles place, in the end when we got there... she also did not turn up... quite disppointed... went to wisma to get my famous amos cookies before heading to raffles place... whoa... so many pple queuing up for it lor and i think some pple were actually quite irritated with me cos i was taking such a long time... for my supevisors at work and for myself... huimin they all had to wait for me also... thanks guys...
went to this curry place esther recommended... i personally felt that the curry tasted the same as the one we ate in wisma... but esther said that the one at raffles place was more worth it...
after that... jo came up with the idea to walk to esplanade... i wouldn't have minded normally but it was actually raining quite heavily that night leh... so we had to take out our umbrellas... and something funny happened... dun want to say lah... just fran and her "passed-down-from-her-family" umbrella incident... haha... we were laughing and talking so loudly that everyone was looking at us at the traffic lights...
reached the esplanade... fran wanted to go eat her haagen daz ice cream cos jo's got this discount coupon... btw... when we were at great world city... me and humin saw the ben and jerry's shop and we were so excited! i really wanted to eat ben and jerry's when i went back... oh it was sooo nice, especially the brownie one... yummy...

all in all it was really a good night for me... the day before i had to leave to go back to sydney... thanks for spending the day with me guys... thanks for the cards and prezzie...

23 dec 2005... fri had to wake up early morning to leave for the airport and back to sydney... back to work and uni and have to wait another year, if i am lucky and if i earn enough money probably, to go back home again... sigh... i suddenly have this feeling when i was waving goodbye that going back home makes it harder for me to leave... suddenly i felt so homesick again... tried really hard not to cry in front of them... sometimes i never know when the feeling of homesickness will come and grab me and then i will start thinking abt my family and start missing them... dun think i will ever get used to this feeling...

CatCHinG uP...

mon... went to the polyclinic to collect my blood test results... mostly okay but cholesterol levels abit high... after that, went to sgh to visit nainai... when i reached there, she was sleeping so i woke her up and stayed till pong and prisy came too...
the three of us then went to plaza singapura... both of them went to shop and i went there to meet up with piyo... she was late so we went to long john silver's... the chicken combo was still as tasty as i remembered...
saw a pair of sandals that i liked... with pink straps but the shop only has one pair left and it was quite dirty so i asked them to find out for me if they could ask the other outlets if they have it... pong went to pickup for me at wisma... very diffcult to find a pair of sandals that is cheap and at the same time does not hurt my leg... but the strap still quite painful but it was quite cheap so can't expect much...

piyo finally came... she looked the same but i told her that she looked abit shorter compared to the last time i saw her... we went up to the cinema level to check out the movies... she wanted to watch the memoirs of a geisha... at the counter then realised that it only come out in jan... she blur... thought it comes out in dec 19... so in the end watched king kong... and it was so crowded that we had to sit in the first 5 rows... but the movie was quite good... abit scary sometimes but also funny at times... walked ard for awhile... then went to get something to eat to bring into the theatre... saw this stall selling some hong kong 'ji dan zai'... decided to try... not bad... but had to wait quite a long time for them to make...
piyo is going to adelaide to study in jan... study podiatry... she was offered a scholarship by sgh and the bond is 8 yrs!! super long lor... but at least she got out of the course that is doing now... she dun like it... i told her maybe next time... she and angie can come to sydney to visit me...

tues... day of pampering... went to highlight my hair and to this facial place in orchard... actually it was mum who got this complimentary coupon and she gave it to me and prisy... the place was so nice and huge... really love it and the facial was also quite good... after that, went to bugis with prisy and pong then later we went to meet up with mum at plaza singapura... wanted to show her this coldwear shop that was on sale... but the stuff that i wanted was sold out already... in the end... only managed to buy this coat at this fashion... quite cheap also for a coat...

wed... nainai was finally discharged from the hospital... the doctor did not even come and tell us what caused her to have the dizziness and spasms... only the nurse and the pharmicist came... shouldn't they come and tell us what was wrong?? stupid hospital... anyway... uncle sent nainai and us back to her home and then we went to the temple to pray... i noe nainai does not like to stay in our home but it's not safe for her to live on her now... i hope that she'll be fine from now on... but her leg's still worrying...

WoRrY...

went back to nyp on sat to meet up with inthu... oh man... nyp is still the nicest schoool i've been to compared to that hole i am in now... nyp is so nice and big and so spacious... got nice swimming pool also... was actually late and poor inthu had to wait for me... sat in front of mcdonalds' and talked for awhile... and after that, she brought me up to the OT garden to look at the plants... and guess who we saw... silvana!! hi... actually wanted to ask the class out for dinner or something... but heard that they are all on placements and busy so in the end, decided not to... next time k...
after they watered their plants and showed me ard the garden... silvana left first and me and inthu went down to the north canteen to drink... my fav soya bean... haha... i even ate the grilled fish and chips... still as tasty as before... halfway thru... mum suddenly called and said nainai was sent to the A&E department in sgh... i was like what happened and of course started to panic...
was supposed to meet siti later but then i called her to cancel it and inthu was really kind to go with me all the way to sgh... thanks...

reached there and found out that nainai almost fainted again in her house... luckily prisy was there with her... waited with mum and uncle and prisy for them to come out and tell us what was wrong with nainai... stayed there till they transferred her to the ward and said she has to stay there a few days for further observation... poor nainai... she hates to stay in hospitals...

sun... went swimming in the morning... and after that... went to see nainai again... cos it was sunday... so the ward was especially crowded with relatives... and then 2 of my uncles came also and then nainai's brother and sisters also came to visit her... so in the end... the whole place was really crowded... they told us that her blood test came out okay... blood pressure was also okay... they still cannot tell us what was wrong with nainai... so they have to slowly do some more tests on her...
after that... went out to marina square again!! to eat swensens... yummy... so long never eat already... ordered my fav fish and chips... ordered my fav frosted choc malt and then later they came and tell us that the choc balls no more already... so in the end i didn't get to eat my frosted choc malt... ate till i was so full man... later... prisy, pong and me went shopping ard there... bought another hook earrings again... obsession...

CroWdEd...

last fri went to meet up with melissa in city hall... so long never see her already... abt 3 yrs i think... she still looked the same... also as crazy and liked to laugh alot like last time in sajc... walked along city link then to marina square... she decided to eat at carl's junior... btw... dun EVER eat there... so expensive and not nice to eat at all... saw zoe tay and hong huifang eating there also... but never go and ask for their autographs lah... shy... haha... after that... walked around marina square... the whole place changed alot... alot of nice cute shops on the third floor... and i finally found what i've been wanting to find... my hooked earrings... yay... found them at ice lemon tee... very very hard to find leh... both here and in sydney... bought 2 earrings... for pple who dun have ear holes (like me)... and then after that... we went to esplanade to try the chocolate bar that everyone's been talking abt... the crazy melissa have absolutely NO sense of directions at all... brought me to the wrong way to the esplanade... walked a big circle to get there... anyway... after eating at the choc bar... hmmm... nothing fancy though... abit disappointed... i ate the waffles and melissa drank the strawberry drink...not that nice and i did not bring enough money... so she had to pay for me first... crap...

at night... went to bishan junction 8 to meet up with zhenzhen... so crowded there man... what's wrong with pple??? orchard also like that... from morning till night also got so many pple... went to the food court to eat ice kachang... yummy... and then sat there and talked for awhile... after that... i suggested that she come to my house to sit for awhile... so both of us came back home and watched the last episode of the dancing show... i dun even follow the show... just that it's the last episode that day... and she showed me some pictures of her in sri lanka... and she gave me this balloon in the shape of a flower... thanks...

EaT, eAt, and MorE eaTiNg...

didn't really do much for the first week since i came back...
except last fri when i met up with sherry, huimin, jo and fran... i think all of us still looked the same and also behave the same... not much changed since i left in jan... we met in our usual place in orchard and went to cafe cartel in cineleisure to eat... ordered too much already and jo also very full... so in the end... did not finish our seafood platter and we still ordered waffles... yummy... very hard to find waffles in sydney also... so no matter how full i was that day... i still ate the waffles... we talked abt what happened to them during this past yr and also my life in australia... i am glad that we all have our own blogs... so that at least even though we never really communicate during the year... we still at least know what's going on in our lives... we ate, talked and took pictures... halfway thru... sherry had to leave... and after the dinner, we walked over to the youth park thinking to look for a place where we can sit and talk... jo suggested to walk to the esplanade... me and fran were like no... so far away leh and so late already... took pictures in front of the red bus in the youth park... then we went into cineleisure again cos there got no space and got alot of pple skateboarding... shopped for awhile inside... went up to the sofas and sat down there and talked till 11pm... gossiped some more... talked till we were the only ones left there... even better... got more space... after that... fran went to take bus at the busstop outside cineleisure and jo, huimin and me walked to orchard mrt...
on the way... i saw the escalators outside wisma very nice... got multi colours... so i asked them to take pics... when we wanted to take the stupid colours changed and we had to stand there and wait for like 10 min... for the colour to change back to the multi colour one... it was really funny...

and then yesterday... huimin went out with me and pong to sing karaoke at cineleisure k-box...whoa... damn expensive leh... from 2-7pm... it costs us $16 each...but we all sang till our heart's content... hmmm... i think this is the first time i heard huimin singing... i always thought she was more the english songs kind of girl... haha... but she sang the chinese songs really well... not bad... and then after that... pong left first and esther came and met up with us... btw... esther... it's not that i purposely walked pass you, it's that i really didn't see you cos i was looking at the sky outside and wondering if it was going to rain...
went to paragon, walked awhile inside the supermarket and then went to lucky plaza, to check out this perfume that i wanted... here more expensive, so i decided to get it when i go back...
after that, we decided to eat at the foodcourt in wisma... they renovated the whole place and it was so crowded... but very nice place... realised that the mcdonald's in wisma is gone!!! how can that be??!! what else in orchard changed that i dun noe abt?? haven't really got the chance to walk there... finally decided on this north indian place that esther and huimin recommend... the food not bad except the portion all very small... and hey... u two promised to bring me to the curry place in raffles place and little india ah... dun forget!!

HoME swEeT hOmE...

finally... i am back home... reached home late monday night... my parents and sister came to fetch us at the airport... first thing my mum said to me was... andrea... u have become fatter... i was like thanks mum... :(
showered and unpacked my luggage... felt like santa claus, giving out presents... very excited to be home... everything felt different... some of the things at home have changed...

something horrible happened that night... my grandma came over to stay in my house that night, and i heard her going into the toilet... okay... before that... she hurt her knee during her trip to cameron highlands... it was quite bad... okay... so i woke up, went in and asked if she was alright... and she said her leg was very painful so i helped her to massage her knee... after that... she slowly tried to limp out of the toilet with me standing behind her... suddenly... her right leg started to tremble really badly... and then her whole body started to shake really badly... i kept calling her and asking her if she's alright... she did not seem to hear me and then she suddenly leaned back and started to collapse onto me... so i quickly slipped my arms under her arms to support her while at the same time, kept calling her... still no response... i started to panic big time... i started to shout for prisy who was sleeping and she woke up and she too... started to help me support nainai and calling her... nainai actually fainted... i quickly ran to my parents' room to call for mum and papa... when we went back into the room... she was sitting on the bed with prisy and pong and she did not know what happened to her... all of us were so worried about her...
i did not dare to sleep properly the whole night... in case she need to go to the toilet again or something... the next day... we accompanied her to see the chinese sensei... they said she pulled a nerve/vein... and gave her acupuncture... but till now... her leg is still giving her trouble... she cannot bend her knee to walk up and down the steps... that's why i spent the last few days with her... make sure that she has someone ard with her always... i am so scared that something will happen to her and no one's ard to help if she stays alone in her house... i dunno what's gonna happen when we go back... who's going to help look after her?
i feel so helpless when i see her limping along and especially when she's walking up and down the stairs... i can only stand beside her and make sure that she does not fall... but she is so stubborn also... refused to go see a doctor... everyone's been telling her to go see a doctor... take x-rays and find out the cause... she refuse...

4 dAys To gO...

slowly counting down the days when i will be going home... can't wait...
mon... went back to uni to look for some books for my last assignment... almost finished but dunno whether i included everything... cos heard that other people's assignment got like over 10 pages and i only have 6 pages... consoling myself by saying that it's the quality that counts and not the quantity rite...
after that... went to parramatta to meet up with my clinical supervisor to sign the evaluation forms... i seriously think that either she has gotten me mixed up with some other girl or she remembered wrongly... bcos she kept telling me all these things and i dun even remember doing them... and the group that i was in charge of looking after was not the group that she kept talking to me about... she kept going on and on about this girl whom i know wasn't in my group but i didn't want to correct her bcos they were actually good things that she remembered... she failed tina, another girl who went with me to the camp, bcos she did not listen to her instructions... the supervisor even asked me if it was fun and if i wanted to go again next year... of course i said yes even when i was thinking... hell no! i dun want to go again... i hate camps and taking care of these kids were not easy and no way am i going back to luna park again!!!

tues... stayed at home... did nothing, actually i was trying to finish up my assignment... boring day... dun even have any nice shows to watch now... when exams are over... all the shows are gone and when my exams are here... all the nice shows had to come at that time... what the hell... CSI is gone... and now left survivor only...
oh and btw... prisy heard that the backstreet boys are coming to australia in jan and singapore... we are definitely going to go check out the prices and i really want to go... never seen them live before... but i know that the tickets must be really expensive...better start saving money now... i am so broke...

yesterday... was supposed to meet up with amelia and karen for lunch... and then till 1pm, they still haven't contacted me yet... like i dunno why i keep hanging out with them when they always disappoint me sometimes... not that they are not nice... they are really nice pple... but like i feel left out everytime i hang out with them... cos they are always speaking canto and i feel so extra... and then i decided to call amelia... she haven't even woken up yet lor... but after that, we met up with karen and went to this christmas shop in alexandria... faraway place... they have all sorts of nice tree ornaments... the nice balls that u use to hang on the trees... the santa claus stuffed toys... alot of nice christmas stuff... and then after that... we went back to the city to sing karaoke... amelia's friends (canto-speaking) came also... and i was like great... they all were singing canto songs and i was the only one singing chinese/english songs... and then amelia's cousin came also and she started smoking... oh man... i can't even breathe properly... how to sing...
and then i had to leave early cos michelle was having a tupperware party at home... wanted to catch a train back... and the silly amelia insisted on driving me back... i was like no way... i told her nope, u can stay here, i can just catch a train... otherwise u have to drive all the way back to pennant hills and then come back to the city again... waste of time and petrol... so when they were buying KFC... i quickly sneaked out and ran to the train station... before i could even buy my ticket... amelia came and she saw me and i was like shit... so i started running... so childish rite... the both of us... running ard the train station... in the end... two against one... and she finally drove me back... i really felt bad though... silly girls...