Sob!

Yesterday, my father returned to singapore and we went to send him off at the airport... needless to say, i really miss having him around... the feeling of living with ur own family is no doubt different from living with other pple, rite... that kind of feeling is really not the same... i guess this is what being independent is really all abt... at home, u can do what u want, whichever way u want, blah blah... but living with other pple, u have to do the stuff urself... it's good in a way though... it teaches you not to over rely on ur parents... cos sooner or later, u have to do things on your own too... anyway, i juz wanna say that i have learnt a way not to become too homesick... and that is not to think abt it... juz carry on doing other stuff... keep myself busy, then i won't have the time to think abt things, u noe... sigh...

okay, enough... after that, cos the damn weather was so hot... we decided the only solution to it was ...... SHOPPING!!! haha... yep, we went shopping and i bought this denim skirt... the shop was having a 50% discount on everything...
however, what i dun like abt the shops in sydney was that ALL the shopping centres here close at 5pm... can anyone believe it? i mean, to me it's really weird cos they close so early... what if like after school, i want to go shopping or something, and all the shops are closed... so boring...
and... they close even earlier... i mean, huh??? i dun really get the rational behind it... shouldn't they close even later during the weekends??!

we ate pizza for dinner... we bought 2 large pizzas... pepperoni- flavoured... yum yum!!!
it's really cheap over here, compared to singapore... the large pizzas cost us $5.95 per pizza... i think back home, one large was like, $20 plus?? in pizza hut... that's one good thing...

LAzzzzyyy...

Today I didn't go to uni for my 2nd day of orientation... haha... i am so slack... i dun care... cos like there really isn't anything important to do today... there will be only talks and a tour ard the school and the surroundings... and besides i have already completed my enrolment yesterday...
So... i went to the casino with my father... the previous time we went, the guy didn't allow me to enter cos i dun have any ID to prove that i am 18 yrs and above... so today... i deliberately whipped out my passport b4 he even ask for it... i should have shoved the passport into his face and said, 'see?? i am already over 18 yrs...'
we stayed till 4pm... i didn't play though... only my father played the roulette.... it was super mind-exercising cos he has to count dunno wat... i see all the numbers and my eyes started to cross... boring... i took a tour ard the place... it was really huge and alot of pple were playing some game or another... they have roulette, blackjack, the jackpot( btw, now the jackpots dun have the metal pulling thing anymore, it's juz pressing the buttons... i mean, the whole fun part was pulling the lever rite??! and of course, winning money...), etc...

anyway, after that, i met up wif my cuz and we went swimming at this swimming complex, complete wif a gym, spa, sauna... we only have to pay like $4.90 per person and we can use all the facilities... it was really crowded though.. going there reminded me of the times in nyp when denise, realreal and me went swimming whenever we can... the pool was much bigger and cleaner in nyp... we swam a few laps, went to the baby pool to laze ard and the spa... the spa was great though... i could have sat there forever! the water was so warm and fuzzy... we stayed till ard 9pm... my cuz and i decided to get the card where u pay a certain amt of money and u get 20 visits... and there's no time limit... so we can maybe go there every weekend if possible...

i better hope that the school dun notice that i didn't turn up today... i think i'd better think up an excuse juz in case...

Orientation 1st Day...

BORING!!!
The much-anticipated orientation was so damn boring... totally ruined from the time i started to walk from the train station to uni... for your information, it was a 35 mins walk... no joke man!... as we were walking stupidly along the road ( mind you, we were the only ones walking...), the shuttle bus zoomed past us... i was like... OHMIGOD!! The shuttle bus is operating today???!! We thought the bus will not be operating today cos it's not an official school day and no one was at the bus-stop queuing up... i really felt like screaming at the driver to stop/ pulling my hair out...hmmmph!! I reached school all sweaty and hot k... horrible...

Something miraculous happened though... i actually saw someone i knew from NJC at the orientation... is that amazing or what?... She's from the same CCA as I in NJC...but she's staying in the hostel...her name's Huilin and she came up to me and was like 'andrea?' and then i asked her is she from singapore?... she looked really familiar at first but i didn't dare to approach her and ask... ha! it's really her!!! haha
anyway, i also met alot of people from different countries... it's a really enlightening experience for me... to actually be able to talk to pple from countries like Sweden, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia... Cool rite??

however, i dun think i really found anyone who i can really talk to yet... do i make sense?...
it's really quite hard... like what jo, piyo and fran tell me... i can really understand how they feel at that time... i guess as pple go higher up in the education ladder, it gets increasingly difficult to make frens whom u can really talk to... i wonder why...

oh and b4 i forget, FRAn ... if you are reading this... HAppy BIrthDAy!!! I didn't forget...

Chilling Out At Home...

Today is Australian National Day...
So, there's nothing to do but slack at home and juz chill out...
my cuz and I sat at home and sort of had a movie marathon... we watched 'The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen' and 'Underworld'...
after that, we juz took a stroll to the nearby supermarket, bought some groceries and ate ice-cream...

Quite looking forward to school tomorrow... who knows what is going to happen??!

Wine-tasting, anyone?

Hey...
yesterday we went on a 2h drive up the mountain to Hunter Valley, a really huge town which houses 176 vineyards... cool huh? the drive up was super long though... but the scenery was really nice, i saw horses and cows and farms... nice streams and creeks... anyway, we went to visit 3 vineyards and it was a good experience, got to sample some wine too, my dad bought a bottle of white wine...
the grapes were really small though, cos the harvest season was in Dec and the ones we saw were the ones that were juz planted...

After that, we went back home and juz chilled at home... got a call from my mum... i miss her a lot and my sis...
tomorrow, i am starting the first day of my orientation, very nervous and excited, i guess... have to wake up early in the morning to catch the train... dunno whether the shuttle bus to my school will be operating cos it's not an official school day... otherwise, i will have to walk to school, which is a 20 mins walk... no kidding...
pls wish me luck...

Practice Makes Perfect...

I am writing 2 entries today bcos u noe what happened yesterday...
Again, today, we went to practise taking the train to my uni... at Lidcombe... have to change train and i have to learn how to read the screens to see which train platform i have to go to...i think i got the hang of it though, juz have to be extra careful cos the same platform can have 2 diff trains passing thru and these trains dun go to the same place... and the trains are divided into' all-stoppers' (meaning that the train stops at every single station), 'limited stops' ( only stops at certain stations) and 'express' (stop only at certain stops but it's faster than the 'limited stops' one)...
For those of u who are planning to come to sydney to study, like RealReal... muz noe these stuff... but i think by that time, i can teach you already... haha...

after that, we took a train into the city, my dad wants to go to the casino, and u noe what shitty thing happened? we walked like 20 mins from the station to the casino and they said i can't go in unless i have some form of ID proving i am 18 yrs and above... i didn't bring my IC or anything...
in the end, i went shopping on my own while my dad went to gamble... everything was so expensive... i didn't buy anything and it was so crowded... this area was different from the market place that we went a few days before... more aussies... they sell like branded stuff and cater more to the aussies... i was trying to look out for cinnamon rolls but i can't find any... hrrrgh... singapore dun even have... all the cinnamon shops all close down already... i miss eating them...

oh, and btw, i bought my pre-paid sim card already, so that means i can use my hp now... but i can't like call overseas or msg... i got a nice phone number though...

Horrible Ending to The Day...

I promised to tell you abt the late night movie thingee rite...
we actually went to watch The Incredibles lor, very nice show, didn't really regret the $11.30 aussie dollars i spent for the movie... again, very expensive... my cuz introduced me to this new frozen coke and it was great, not gasy at all... singapore dun have leh... we started eating even before the movie started and we were into our 2nd pkt of chips when we realised that the short clip we were watching was not the movie, but actually some stupid clip abt this dancing lamb who got his wool shaved off and all his animal friends laughed at him and he was too embarrassed to dance... i think the whole clip was to tell us that no matter how you looked on the outside, you should not be embarrassed but instead, overcome the obstacle and do what you are good at... or something like that, if i am not wrong??? haha...

The next day (sunday),we went to some korean karaoke lounge... the room was cool, 4 screens and it's quite spacious, and there's a disco-like ball on the ceiling... the one that gives out multi-coloured lights?... is that what it is called???... anyway, that was the first time in my entire life going to a karaoke though... actually back in singapore, before i came here, huimin and I wanted to go K-BOX, but Fran dun want..:(
there were only korean, jap and english songs though, no chinese songs, i only paid $5, quite cheap, i think... but there was this weird smell though...hmmm...
after that, we went to the lounge to grab something to eat... we ate cheese fries and something that resembled 'ice-kachang'...

After that, we went back home for dinner... and then the horrible thing happened... i dun like to eat mangoes but everyone was like forcing me to eat, and then my dad was like going on and on about how i was very choosy and picky abt my food and then finally, i couldn't stand it anymore, i broke down and cried... totally horrible... i hate pple forcing me to eat stuff that i dun like...
and then i suddenly felt home-sick all over again... i started to cry harder... i miss everyone back home... i dun even want to talk to anyone and before i knew it, i fell asleep ard 9pm, which is like 6pm singapore time...sickening...

What's The Difference?

Today, we went to try out the route to my uni... have to change trains at the interchange( u have to change trains twice) and then take a shuttle from the train station to the uni... all in all will take me ard one hour to get to school everyday... transport fees are damn expensive, btw, like i have to spend ard $50 aussie dollars every week...
after that, oh and btw, my campus is relatively smaller than the main one in the city...and is situated opposite the cemetery... scarrryy...

okay, and then we took a train again to the city, went to eat at Market City in Chinatown, i ate fishball noodles and btw, the portion is really huge but it sucks lor...i wouldn't recommend it to u guys...
we went to Paddy's after lunch, the place is something like an indoor 'pasar malam', alot of stuff to see but i didn't get anything... actually i went there before in 2003, and everything looks pretty much the same... so no difference at all...

anyway, i observed that actually it's no difference from like walking down orchard rd there, bcos most of the pple i saw are Asians (mostly Koreans and Japs) and only the minority are 'ang mo's
so to me it's like very comfortable, i dun feel out of place or weird at all... so it's kind of nice..

hey, and then i went to this shopping centre the day before, and it was the first time in my entire life that i saw an ice skating rink, 'in the flesh', so to speak...
alot of pple were ice skating and my cousin was like telling me that it is actually very easy, u just have to balance, i was like ' no way! i am not going to embarrass myself in front of the whole world by falling flat on my face or my butt lor'...

by the way, at the time i am writing this, i will be going for a late night movie, so it will be a new experience, bcos i never been to a late night movie before and it will only be the two of us, my cousin and I...
so pls tune in for the details of my late night movie trip next time...
au revoir!

The day I left Singapore...

Firstly, I would really like to thank those of u who took the time and trouble to go to the airport to send me off, really very touched to see so many pple...
Thanks for all the gifts...
To Huimin, jo, Fran, Sherry... thanks for the blanket and the letters... i already miss you guys... Huimin, thanks for the CD...
To the class of OT2, 2004, a very big thank you to u guys... for turning up at the airport and for the video... i really appreciate it...
To ZhenZhen--- brother! THank you for the video... i know that u have really taken time out to film this thing for me...
To Nizar, Inthu, and all those who have been interviewed or helped to make the video--- THANK YOU!
I am really glad to have so many good and concerned friends around me and i hope that we will all continue to keep in touch and remain friends...
To Siti, thank you for coming to see me off... i actually forgot to take a pic with u!!! I was on the plane when i suddenly remembered that we didn't take any pics... so sad..

okay... i have already landed in sydney, australia, and am looking forward to starting a new chapter of my life here... i have got 7 more days to enjoy myself before starting school...
hey pls feel free to email me k... i would really like to hear from u guys k...
that's all for today, folks, pls tune in for the next episode of my life in sydney!!!