told you it was addictive

it's surprising how some things on the internet can be a phenomenon overnight. take FB for instance. gone were the days we were all on friendsters where uploading photos took forever. where cool glittery messages does not appear most of the time. where if your friends are checking out your profile and it appears in 'who has viewed you' there would be this awkward moment where you think why so and so is checking you out. where if you chose to spy silently then be ready to get spied on. where there's too many 'chain letters' circulating around. it was just a year ago that i joined FB. i joined it because this is what the aussies use for networking. like how we malaysians and singaporeans were using friendsters. it was how i kept contact with my honours buddies. leaving them messages for them to reply when they're free. since for some msn at work is a no no. we organized events. we shared photos. we drew graffiti for each other. now it's like an addiction. i have to check it everyday without fail now. no wonder the polls are saying that workplace is becoming less productive since FB was introduced. of course i do refrain from making comments, or playing games, or spying on people while i'm at work.

one guy at our student room actually 'announced' that he's on FB for more than one hour during working hours. like as if that's something to be proud of? anyways just some weird AMS (medical student) whom we don't really fancy because he seems to be doing things not to our liking for someone new to our environment. moving things around without asking permission, complaining about the workload when most of the time we see him doing nothing.

ok where was i? have i told you guys that my supervisor has FB too? now even his wife has FB!? it's kinda cool but freaky at the same time. have to be especially careful when updating status. there was once min was putting some comment on her status and when she went to meet my supervisor regarding work, the first thing he did was asked her about her FB status! O.o and now that he has his new gadget i.e. the one and only iPhone, you can see him uploading status from his mobile all the time! thankfully there's this function where we can go offline while on FB else he'll be on alert to catch us slacking at work. he actually asked me to form a group for the lab where we can organize events and upload photos and stuff. but i told him that it would only work if more of our lab people have FB. else the group would be redundant. hey talking about group! the st. vincent's postgraduate student society created a group just for us! not so happening yet though but it would be a good place for us to give in suggestions as to what other events we can organize. we just came back from our annual retreat last weekend and boy was it cold at philip island. and i LOVE go karting!! more about that next!

tokens

from sarah

from 'tan tart'

a start of a new journey

the stilettos bead was a gift from charles and min

whilst the rests are my own

each one is unique

the epitome of life

the day i turned two four

started off friday morning with nothing much in mind. all i thought of is not doing lab work for the day. first thing i saw was a pressie on my table from min and charles! *smiles* that was going to be the start of my new investment but more about that at some other time kay? surprisingly quiet when i got in thinking that everyone else is down in the lab busy with their experiments. while noon approached, out of no where, grace came in to tell me she has something to show me...

...and a chocolate mudcake was awaiting my appearance! ah...our usual spot in the pantry for birthday celebrations. that was right before we were heading off to our 'lunch' spot...

...yeap you didn't see wrongly. we were having chocolate drinks for lunch. we wanted to skip actual meals in anticipation for the dinner buffet. i thought i was always too full to finish up the drinks at kokoblack because we always go after dinner. but even without a meal...the chocolate was surprisingly filling! no more snacking around for us until dinner time...

come dinner time...everyone was already too hungry by the time we reached. so without delay...everyone was off to attack the food. unfortunately i couldn't capture the array of selections they have there...i didn't have everything and totally forgot to capture the ambience of the place. was too busy entertaining my guest at times and other times was preoccupied with eating. no time to even spare for photography sessions until later...

a special thanks to faiz for coming eventough he was sick! *touched* hope you didn't felt out of place surrounded by a whole bunch of PhD students! ")

a group shot after the dinner. thanks for everyone who actually turned up! and to duncan and tat who were the flower delivery person. really happy that i have many more reliable friends now. wonder what that means aye? haha!

so some of us head back to my place for some after dinner drinks. i was kind enough to provide the drinks but they still couldn't leave me alone. what is with this culture that the birthday gal has to drink upon each toast. got tricked a few times to toast where i totally forgotten i had to bottoms up. another excuse was that i'm the only one allowed to get drunk because i was in the comfort of my own home. there goes the night where my memories were flashes of time frame.

HOW'S THAT FOR A BIRTHDAY!!

p/s: more random pics coming up soonish.

of amnesia

it was my birthday yesterday. i have so much to say but i'm still recovering from intoxication. not to worry though...i only remember everything vaguely but i'm sure everyone else had a great time. lesson to learn from hosting an after party. do not...I REPEAT...do not host it in your home if you don't want to get a bad hangover the day after. plus the fact that i'm not one with the love of drinking water...my recovery time seems prolonged. am still not feeling 100% normal at the moment. probably still have to get the details from everyone else who was forcing alcohol down me. i'll be back!

favouring fleece

my collection of softies since i came back to melbourne...


upon improvising to make the bunny shorter...

and experimenting with making it squarer...

and suggestion of having button eyes instead of x x...

today i made a one eyed monster...

note for the future: sew the tooth on first before attaching pieces...

well there wasn't a gap when i sew it on but upon stuffing it up it became visible =P

HAVE A GOOD WEEK AHEAD!!

it's been too long aye?

seems like ages since i posted anything up. by the way, i've started making softies again. for the record, i've made 6 in total using the sewing machine eugene got me for christmas last year. not too bad aye? knitted myself a scarf some weekends back as well. my current favourite colour is red. =) trying to restrict all these hobby-like activities for the weekend only. unless people start showing interest and want to pay me to do it then maybe? ahaha!

last weekend went bushwalking/hiking at grampians with my senior and her friend. i didn't expect to do so much strenous walking until i got there. first thing we did when we reach, straight away go bushwalking d. it was physically exhausting but it was fun! i always reach a point where i think to myself, what have i gotten myself into? but when we were more than half way up, everything seems so attainable. achievable. eventough it's up up up all the way to the peak, but it's down down down all the way back. so that's kinda motivating to know that once you reach the top, it would be an enjoyable journey back.

this is where we started...

...and this is where we ended.

get it freaking done already!

oh don't worry. i'm just getting pissed at the IT guys at my workplace. i've been waiting three freaking weeks just to get my laptop hooked up to the network so i can do work freely in the comfort of my own laptop. something that just takes minutes to do, they're making me wait so long. and why? because mine is a freaking vista. oh...university policy so called. only can use XP. what the...! when are they going to keep up with the latest technology? shy to tell people i even in melbourne uni lor. but a part of me thinks that it's just the IT guys, just because they're not familiar with the whole vista interface and compared to the numbers of XPs they have handled, they're being lazy and giving excuses. argh...so frustrating right? now that i bug them so much...eventough i don't know when they gonna do it. i'll prolly have to bring it in every single day! else they come and i didn't bring my laptop then they'll prolly make me wait longer!! oh wait...to and fro from my house is less than an hour. i guess i can make them wait an hour? =)

anyways, i've just started the pilot experimental study this week. 12 rats underwent surgery and hopefully 12 rats survive till the end. while i'm not doing my own surgery at the moment, it is anticipated that i do eventually do some. i don't mind not doing lor...i can always just play the supporting role. =) wouldn't it be a waste if the rats die during surgery just because i was inexperienced right? but anyways, this is all not really up to me...if they want me to do then i'll prolly have to do...sooner or later. i haven't got bitten or scratched by any of them yet...which is awesome. 6 of them are going to get sacrificed this thursday. please be good when i take 'your' blood pressure. darn...i have to wake up freaking early cuz have to be there by 8 am!!! definitely going to be super duper COLD!

tempted to tell you guys about the gory stuff done to other people's rats and mice but i think i better don't. i won't believe what they do...seriously. it's making me think that what 'we' (my lab) do is WAY humane.

so fast it's wednesday d tomoro. by end of this week, means i already back in melbourne for 5 weeks. time seems to pass by so quickly. and soon i'm going to get my second payment. yay!! i think i better start keeping track of where the money is going. else i won't be able to save up the amount i anticipated. note to self. stop shopping eventhough things may be cheap. hehe. =) another note to self. don't be so lazy. cook lunch.

there's free rock climbing tomoro! which i was anticipating since last week. but the thought of me needing to get in to work by 8 am...means i have to wake up by 6.30 am. and if i go rock climbing...i don't think i'll have enough energy to wake up so early what more last the whole thursday!? hmm....

it's all about you today

when we were in dandenongs waiting for the puffing billy

this was really funny because he just candidly stepped onto the car without verifying if it belonged to anyone or was it a display

you should see the picture of him when we were last in gold coast 1999 where all the animals were surrounding him while he was posing for the photo

my dad is special because he's the only person i know with triangular eyes. =)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

my second weekend here

time do really flies doesn't it? it's now been two weeks since i came back to melbourne...well almost anyways. what have i been up to? staying in the city really doesn't help me stay away from shopping! but hey i did get my first payment so it's all good. =) if going for meals in the city means there's bound to be window shopping and window shopping leads to actually purchasing stuff. and me who said i wouldn't do as much shopping because i wanna save up money so i'll be rich when i get home (looks like that's not going to happen huh?). but i think i'm still in the transition period...come on...two weeks only ma. and i who always complained that it's hard for me to find something i like in my size during sales? it doesn't seemed so this time around! my theory is that i just came back to melbourne. i've been missing out on the fashion here for almost four months? so i still see things that i potentially like which could have been old stock but heck i wouldn't know! wait till a month later then probably i will start complaining i don't see things i like anymore.

and my senior just said that it was so unlike me that since i come back i've been coming in to lab everyday and staying til quite late eventhough i don't have any lab work at the moment! i know i know...i have a bad reputation from honours because i'm always missing in action supposedly doing work from home...or just too lazy to go in early so come at lunch time...or going back early. so i can actually sit there with my laptop (only for listening to music) waiting for the IT guys to come hook me up to the network. damn i hate waiting. week after week how long more will it take. i think i'm going to grow shorter by the end of this year since i'm walking while carrying my laptop to work every single day!! it's not one of those 12" laptop...cute and handy...and light. do you want a hunched back gal as a friend? =)

having craving for durian gelato...i want...i need...durian gelato!!! hope can get my fix tomorrow. oh wait...ain't i suppose to be reading all those journals that i brought back? hehe. and i have to go buy printer. and go eat duck rice. yumz. marianne...do you know pacific house is in the city now? =) sounds like i wouldn't be getting much work done huh? that's for bringing all the papers home. and prolly bringing it all back to lab on monday. extra burden. journals as thick as a textbook plus heavy laptop. there goes my shoulder.

note to self: drink more water...

sex and the city

i was just complaining that there's nothing on tv eventhough it's friday then linda said why not we go watch a movie? super uber excited i uttered i wanna watch sex and the city! because previously i asked but no one was interested to watch it with me. saying they weren't fans of their series and all. and i would say i'm also not a devoted fan because i only watch them whenever i can and not go crazy if i've missed some season or chapters. so we called up and there were still tickets available for the 11 pm show. after some rational thinking we concluded that there was still tix because the movie was going to be 3 hours long including ads and by then it would prolly be too late for some to take the trams or the trains. loved the movie to bits! totally chicky flick. i pity those guys who were dragged to watch the movie. mostly gals of course.

on another matter, we went to max brenner before the movie started. so we were happily sitting there waiting for our order when linda noticed a man just walked out with the plates on the next table! the next thing we knew, he came back and was surveying the merchandises and just wrapped on of those cups in his jacket and walked off again. i spontaneously called out to linda's friend who was working there and told him what we saw. in shocked! then after a few minutes that guy was walking pass again with quite some items in his plastic bags! but linda's friend later thanked us and told us they have caught the guy. wow...i couldn't believe my eyes really. right in public where there's just so many people inside and outside of max brenner. we were later told that he said he was drunk but it definitely didn't look like it when we saw him.

it's the long weekend and i've only be back at lab for a week. fantabulous!

can you believe it?

that the price of my bedroom slippers is more expensive than that of a heater? well, i was trying to look for a better heater since it always crash within a year. thought maybe got kambrook or something to buy but seems like all the heaters around are ciplak brands or should i say no brand? ya, and i needed a bedroom slippers too because the kitchen floor and the bathroom floor are tiled. so it's really cold! i was told that this year will be the coldest winter in the past 10 years! it is quite cold considering that it's only june now. prolly be great for skiing this year. but not like got anything to do with me la.

=P

i kinda enjoy staying in the city, eventhough it's the other end of the city. =) anytime can just walk to melbourne central or safeway to buy stuff. though i don't like it that i have to take my own groceries. you know i don't have the strongest arms in the world. and taking a trolley will just look so aunty. maybe i shall like drop by every day and buy one thing at a time? but am finding it hard to finish up all my food eventhough it's not a lot. 15 mandarins is taking too long to vanish. pack of caramello koala is taking too long to finish. cereals not even touched cuz no milk (just bought milk today), and cheezels!

am thinking i'm always writing in short nonsensical manner. is it confusing or wat?

melbourne is freaking cold!

when i came back here, i thought "darn, i just missed out on the megasales in malaysia!". but tomorrow is the start of stocktake sales! i can't think of anything in particular that i really want to buy. except for the fact that i need a new heater (the weather is getting pretty cold) and a new printer (which was worn out due to overusage last year). if i wanted to, perhaps i could get more sweaters. other than that, i already gave up on the hope of getting another boots since i was told they (charles and keith) are not taking in size 4 this year. i'm not overexcited about the sales though. since i know i seldom find anything that i like during this time of the year cuz everything that i like is often out of size. so i actually buy stuff when it's not on a bargain for fear of no more stock.


have been back at uni for two days now. doing good at the moment. kinda been doing things leftover from last year actually. submitting abstracts for poster or oral presentation based on my honours project. so am actually kinda glad that more than just an honours thesis have come out of last year. going to be working on my PhD project outline soonish. i think i'm the PhD student that started the latest this year but obviously can't be helped.

there's random stuffs in my room...

...but i'm too lazy to touch them

i am connected

organization

so many clothes need organizing. first the clothes then the other random stuffs. my bears and wabbit are occupying my desk. where to put what and what to put where. can't believe tomorrow is thursday already!

*/update

clothes are in order. now the pengsan part, all those tiny lil things that are everywhere!

back in melbourne...

...lots of things to unpack. it's like pratically moving house and on top of that with an extra luggage to unpack. can't seem to find anything right now since most of the things are in all random boxes. the first thing i did was to change the bedsheets and sleep! went to buy basic necessities and cooked myself dinner after so long. couldn't stop chatting with linda (my current hommie) who was kind enough to accompany me to safeway. and i ate san churros for the first time...yumz! and we both were planning to get new phone plans hence phone-scouting. too tired too do any organizing at the moment. probably keep that for tomorrow.

...time seems to pass by so slowly

it saddens me...

...to leave my loved ones behind.

of cocktails and more cocktails

went to bintan island without much expectations because read on other people's blog that there was tar pollution on the beach. but upon arriving, there was nothing but spectacular. i guess being the 'jakun' me who always opted for the most affordable accomodation, it was great to experience a four-star treatment for once. we were served ice cold lemon tea and cold towel upon arrival which was very refreshing indeed, considering having to travel all the way from KL-Singapore-Bintan Island. we didn't even need to carry our bags to the room as they handled all that (though we couldn't tip whoever who brought the bags to our room because s/he was long gone before we even stepped into the room.

this is the view of the main area by the pool side. noticed there's not much people around? (the people started pouring in on the day we were leaving, perhaps for a seminar). thankfully it's not the holiday season. there's a lot of other activities to do here apart from swimming. also there's the beach just a short walk away.

our double suite. loved the colour scheme a lot. well nothing can fail when there's dark wood furniture and bright coloured walls to bring in the holiday mood.

we arrived in the evening so didn't really do much that day because too tired and hot anyways. but it was sure fun to have free flow of cocktails and mocktails at the bars.

the next day we did all we could. we went to do some archery and then to the beach. surprisingly there wasn't many people on the beach also. and may i say there wasn't any tar pollution at ria bintan. though there was a lot of warning saying that "jelly fish is present at all time", "the beach is steep", "no lifeguard on duty". i realised more people rather hang out near the swimming pool maybe because most of the guests came with kids. then did some swimming in the pool, while being watched by the hunky lifeguard (who was praticing his dance move for the programme later at night).

overall it was a very pleasant experience. definitely thanks to my parents who won this trip from their CIMB lucky draw thingy. even the food was excellent! so much choices to choose from. you know like for breakfast how you would normally get the continental breakfast (egg, bacon, sausages, toast, cereal etc), this one even has cream cheese smoked meat smoked salmon bagel, porridge for the asian inclined etc etc. and the fruit juices were all freshly squeezed, not those processed crap. even dinner and lunch time always consist of western, korean, japanese, indian, and various specialities of the day. and we get to meet the employees there as well when we shared a table while having meals. according to all of the whom we asked, they said that Club Med Cherating is one of their favourite. more authentic, and special. so i guess what i'm leaving you with is that if you're planning to give Club Med a try, start with the one in Cherating. you definitely don't have to fly there and take a ferry just to get there. more convenient and seemingly better. like one whom we asked how many Club Med has he been, he said he's been to more than 10 within Asia Pacific!

i'll leave you with the picture of eugene taken in the only place worth taking in Changi Airport.

how can someone be so insensitive

well...i was listening to the radio the other night. there was this programme called "flirty at 10.30" where they will try to hook people up on date. of course one party would initiate the asking another out and then the radio host will call the other person to see if they'll agree to it. so this time around, there was this gal called allison. she was going out with this guy for a few times now and wasn't sure what they were in the "relationship". when asked if they were already boyfriend-girlfriend, she said, this is what she wanted to find out. so they asked her, if she actually asked the guy this question and she said he seems to be not answering his phone lately *get the hint*? so when the radio host got hold of james @ the guy, they were asking him if he wanted to go on a date with this gal who he has been going out with? then he started freaking out, obviously saying no and telling them about why he's not interested in her (eventough they dated). AND MIND YOU, ALLISON IS LISTENING ON THE OTHER END!!! so he went on saying that SHE'S OUTTA THIS WORLD!... SHE IS TOTALLY BLA BLA BLA...SHE'LL SHOUT WHEN HEARING A GAL VOICE CALLING HIM...anything bad you can think of la. asked if he maybe wanted to say hi to her, he totally said no HE DON'T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING GOTTA DO WITH HER and even THANKED THE RADIO CHANNEL IF THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE LAST TIME HE'S GONNA HEAR FROM HER! so when they finally got back on the other side of the line with Allison, she was speechless then she hung up...from her shaky voice it was so obvious that she was CRYING!!!

so tell me, how can someone be so insensitive? if he doesn't like her, eventhough they dated a few times, i'm sure he can just tell her maybe they're just not meant to be or something right? but he chose the cowardly way of avoiding her hoping that she gets the hint. obviously if she's interested in you, she'll try her very best to hear from you right? i mean if you really like this guy, you're just going to ignore the unanswered calls or unreplied sms and comfort yourself by saying, maybe he's just busy? to me, i totally felt upset for the gal lor! it's just as bad as breaking up with your girlfriend ON-AIR! so EVIL!!

*wonder what would you think the next time you meet a JAMES in your life. maybe he IS THAT JAMES! BEWARE!

** this is a totally biased post based on what i heard on-air. maybe the gal could be a controlling freak of nature but she sounded sweet and he is still at the wrong in my opinion!