It's winter

The temperature just dipped the past couple of nights... it was 12 degrees celsius last night! And 11 degrees tonight!
Time to get the heater and fleece jacket and socks out for a goodnight's sleep.

This great weather makes it wonderful to sleep... but that also means it makes it tough to get up and do my readings.

CHINA versus WORLD?

I have been catching up quite a bit on the controversies surrounding the upcoming Beijing Olympics. To sum it up sweepingly, it seemed to be a case of "People who want to address human rights issues in China" against China, with the former using Olympics as a platform.

Everywhere the Olympic torch went, protests resulting in loss of lives happened, which makes you think what Olympics is about these days. That would be a whole new topic on its own.

Interestingly, I have a few friends from China on my MSN and all of them had a logo "Love China" as part of their avatar. My friend said this was their way of showing their support for their country no matter where they are.

Current issues aside, I wonder if Singapore were to ever experience this similar type of public or international lashing, will we stand up for Singapore the way we used to sing the same words with much enthusiasm in primary school and national parades? Will we stand for our country in times of adversity? When are we able to truly build a nation, and feel it within us?

A year wiser

I just turned a year wiser this week in a foreign land... and it's getting to be demoralising especially when you celebrate with a group of friends who are ALL younger than you! Whatever it is, thanks to all my friends for their greetings, celebrations, massive gorging and gifts :D

Precision Parking

And probably the top OZ occupation is......

... BOOZING! This is no supermarket queue... it's the queue for the liquor store on a weekend! The store was jam-packed.

The Aussies buy crates and crates of beer (not forgetting the Koreans too!!). The four of us just bought a six pack of Victoria bitter and have to brave this massive queue! boohoohoo... :(

Foodie

A recent culinary achievement :D (pardon the poor resolution coz my camera screwed up, I had to take this with my mobile!!)

Brisbane's best student deal!

Hidden in a corner of the foodcourt in Wintergarden, Queen Street Mall, Hanaichi is a Japanese eatery that we have been enjoying for the past year in Brisbane. It's been the best deal in Brisbane for students coz you pay only AUD5.90 for a decent portion of curry katsudon. It's yummo too!

This place is like a little indulgence for one of my friends who simply loves Hanaichi for both the food and the price! We will meet up for a Hanaichi session everytime we need to relieve some stress. At our latest session, the stall was super crowded probably becoz it was school holidays for the high school kids. It took longer than usual to get our food but it was worth the wait. Check out the thick saucy curry gravy!

Strange as it may sound, Hanaichi is an important institution in most Asian international student's life in Brisbane.

When birthdays feel like christmas

I have 3 friends with birthdays all falling on the same day - 11 April!
I thought it will be nice to give them a early birthday greeting call on the morning - thinking that they will be up and going at 8am (Spore time) and probably on the way to work... (the first 2 calls went smoothly but the 3rd one ended up being a wakeup call, oops!)

It was strange to say "Happy Birthday" 3 times in a row, and it was strange to ask "So what are your plans tonight?" thrice. My housemate (who couldn't help listening in my conversation) was chuckling and thought I went nuts repeating the same conversation 3 times.

It felt like Christmas "Oh Merry Xmas!! So what are you doing for Xmas? Where are you going for dinner? What presents did you get?" Same thread of enquiring for both birthdays and christmas!

Hmmm I suppose they are similar since both occasions are of a celebratory nature.

Happy Birthday Sf, Beth & Nuanda!
It's nice to have friends growing older together :)

Brekkie for two

I have grown to love breakfasts - it's a wake up treat for me and always an excellent way to start the day with! Here's what my housemate managed to cook up one morning... simply yummy!

And it's April already...

It's nearing mid April already... which means I am almost done here.

My friend told me it's pre-departure depression, something he kind of experienced before. Basically you don't quite know where you will be happier.

You want to go back to your friends and family and yet, you are reluctant to leave behind all the memories and experiences, more so because you are probably never going to be able to see the people here ever again!

The thought of that happening in a couple of weeks makes me feel really lost and sad...

Steamboat!

Yay my very first steamboat session in Brissy! Steamboat was perfect to complement the cool weather these couple of days, there is no better way to keep warm than a hot bowl of soup!

Our host Matthew was so nice he actually started to prepare the soup base the night before, just to ensure the high quality of the taste! And it really did matter!

Because of the unique make of our steamboat "pot", we took a longer time than usual to have dinner... but it was great to be in the company of fun people and Victoria Bitter (located at top right corner of photo). It just makes this steamboat session all the better!

I saw sunset!

Now that I've kinda seen sunrise at Byron Bay, I just saw the most gorgeous sunset ever! And I saw this right from the patio of my house... (photos courtesy of my housemate Joyce :D)

I went to...

Yoohoo! I am here at the Most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland, Byron Bay.
This road trip is a first for me - we went to Gold Coast for my favourite Japanese dinner, then hit the casino till 3.45am before we set off for Byron Bay.
The time is 5.45am, New South Wales time (& 4.45am, Queensland time). It was fairly dark when we got here and virtually impossible to walk around properly... Thank goodness we had torchlights with us. I was freezing too, it felt like 10 degrees or so!

People say a trip to Australia can only be complete with a trip to the Byron Bay lighthouse, and catching the sunrise from the same spot. I think this is the nearest I ever got to a lighthouse and it was quite a sight being the only thing that was lit in the dark.

Initially, there was just a handful of people parked at various spots when we got there. Then suddenly, more and more people came jogging up the hill. It apparently is a very popular spot for joggers and exercise... If I were to live around here, I would come up here too (every morning?) to breathe in the fresh air and take in the view of the neverending skyline.

BUT, despite slogging to get here the entire night, we didn't quite get to see the sunrise. It was far too cloudy... and the sun just came up and the sky suddenly brightened up. Though a wee bit disappointing, tt was still great just to gaze out at the open sea, this somewhat reminded me of the Twelve Apostles at Great Ocean Road.


And that's me over here in the red jacket, caught in an unglam moment! I was having a snack of crackers and dip coz I was starving!


Another first for me coz I have never snacked at 6am in the morning, and looking out at the open sea! :D

晚餐sssss

My dinners for the next few days is settled - all thanks to my friend, Matthew's cooking! He kindly packed for me in his favourite Pyrex tubs his specialty chicken stew and chicken soup... and trust me, he CAN really cook!

Only problem is I won't have a chance to practise my cooking :(

Oh and not forgetting the top container of half a roast duck packed from the Chinese supermarket! Turned out to be a skinny duck, with lots of bones and minimal flesh but nonetheless yummo!

We are gonna have steamboat this Friday! Yay - really looking forward to it... :P