donkie

surreal

and just like this...i'm back in melbourne again. it's always hard to start the momentum going again. thinking of all the things waiting to be done is just overwhelming. came back here to a scroching hot weather and a dusty home. today will be a day filled with cleaning cleaning and more cleaning before i'll be able to unpack my stuff. it's a good thing i chose to come back and have the weekend to prepare myself physically and mentally.

now i just have to stop thinking so much and just do it.

be back soon.

3 days and counting

by the way, the person i got for kris kringle LOVED the present i bought. christmas lunch was awesome. it's good to get away from the city and just take a lil bit of country side during weekdays. most of the time was spend taking pictures, texting supervisor who was on the far end of the table, looking at people's expression when they opened their christmas pressies and guessing who got who for kris kringle. then on the way home we texted the supervisor again and asked him when is the next party at his place? haha. too funny. it's becoming very common now...SELF INVITATION.

a fussy pot hunt for the prefect gift

it's hard being a fussy pot. i will not buy something for someone unless i really really like it myself. went looking for present to buy for my kris kringle for our lab christmas lunch with the bunch and ended up walking for 2 hours and no present at hand. helped the others pick out their gifts for their kris kringle like in the first 5 mins of entering the first shop. but no luck in my hands. it's particularly hard to shop for someone who you are not closely acquainted to. and the fact that it's meant to cost only AUD 20 makes it even harder to buy something meaningful. i don't want to be classified as the USUAL people who buys chocolates or hand cream or bath products. i want to buy something more personal or quirky, out of the norm.

off to go look again...hopefully the person appreciates my effort.

then have to go marketing for pot luck tonite. so sleepy...

if i was a tenant

what i meant was if i was a REAL tenant, life would not be as easy breasy. the bunch of us were discussing about how the average rental for an apartment have increased so much over just one year. how with the same price we used to be able to afford a much bigger place. one even mentioned that the rental rates are predicted to rise by at least 20% in year 2009. then i started to think to myself...if my rental was AUS 750 now, by year 2009 it would have been AUD 900! omg...seriously shocking! and i used to think increment of AUD 50-70 is totally ridiculous for a student and now it's in increments of AUD 100-150++. fortunately, my landlord is my hommie's relative and she said that she will not increase my rent over the period of my stay. hopefully she keeps to her words. it was all verbal, no black and white documentations whatsoever. you never know...money gets the better of someone. *fingers crossed

15 days and counting

I've set up a countdown to the day I'll finally be home in the comfort of my own home. For a month that is. When you think about it, one month is not that long after all. What can you do in a month? Apart from the whole week spend trying to inform people that I'm going to be back for a month, and another week spend waiting for people to call me out. All the supposedly super busy working friends, that's two weeks down the drain and the last week spend trying to inform people I'll be flying off, by then I'll probably be busy packing up and doing last minute stocking up. Then what about the weekends that I'll be away, one weekend in Johor, one weekend in Taiping, one weekend in Hong Kong and that actually only leaves me with only two more precious weekend.

So I guess I'm saying, if you think of me as a friend who is worth catching up with, please find time to do so and not say weekend after weekend to wait for weekends to meet up. Do you get what I'm trying to say? What about those friends who says, I don't have your number? I've never changed hp number ever since the first time I got my phone. You'll probably find my number in the mist of people whom I've not contacted in ages.

I'll be the one with flexible timing. I can just imagine those days where everyone is at work and I'll be super bored. And come night time would be when people with be more available. And it's also the time parents will be home and expecting me to spend time at home with them? But that is if only got people want to catch up with me then I'm sure we can work something out aye?

See you all soon!

transition period

the blog is in its transition period. apparently i did something and the old template doesn't seem to load anymore. so it's gonna be minimalist until i figure out what is wrong. else a new template might take up this space. till then....bare with me k?

unite for diabetes

The World Diabetes Day logo is the blue circle - the global symbol for diabetes which was developed as part of the Unite for Diabetes awareness campaign. The logo was adopted in 2007 to mark the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution. The significance of the blue circle symbol is overwhelmingly positive. Across cultures, the circle symbolizes life and health. The colour blue reflects the sky that unites all nations and is the colour of the United Nations flag. The blue circle signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic.

WHY DIABETES?
Diabetes is a silent killer that kills one person every 10 seconds. Diabetes is a global problem with devastating human, social and economic impact. Today more than 250 million people worldwide are living with diabetes and by 2025, this total is expected to increase to over 380 million people. Each year another 7 million people develop diabetes. Diabetes is a growing epidemic threatening to overwhelm global healthcare services, wipe out some indigenous populations and undermine economies worldwide, especially in developing countries.
Each year more than 3.8 million people die from diabetes-related causes, one death every 10 seconds.This silent epidemic claims as many lives annually as HIV/AIDS.

London EyeLondonUK

Type 1 diabetes, which predominately affects youth, is rising alarmingly worldwide, at a rate of 3% per year. Some 70,000 children worldwide are expected to develop type 1 diabetes annually.

Type 2 diabetes is responsible for 90 -95% of diabetes cases and is increasing at alarming rates globally as a resultof increased urbanization, high rates of obesity, sedentary lifestyles and stress.

The Great Buddha of Kotokuin:Kanagawa:Japan

In many countries in Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and the Caribbean, diabetes affects up to 20% of the adult population.These countries bear the brunt of the major increase in diabetes prevalence but also the burden of the costs.

Sydney Opera House:Sydney:Australia

We have the knowledge to tackle the diabetes epidemic, and reduce the suffering and pre-mature deaths that diabetes causes. We have the cost-effective strategies to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes complications. Diabetes is not yet curable but in many cases type 2 diabetes is preventable. If governments begin now by promoting low-cost strategies that alter diet, increase physical activity and modify lifestyles, the advance of this epidemic can be reversed.

booked over the next few weekends

it's approaching the end of the year and everyone is busy booking in weekends of activities before one after another departs the country for their well deserved end year holiday. it has reached the point that we cannot come to immediate decision whether we are free or not when asked without consulting the diary. sometimes we begin to forget that we're technically still have projects to complete and experiments to do. anyhow, it's kinda fun feeling up my google calendar with various appointments apart from work. all the randomness of things we do seems to tell a story of its own in facebook albums uploaded by my photomaniac friends. it has also reached a point that sometimes i don't even bring a camera anymore seeing that those friends would be taking the same pictures and more. so we'll just have photo-exchange sessions once a week or so. so i guess what i'm trying to say is that it's way easier to keep track on what i've been up to via facebook. add me if you're interested in spying on me fay1in@yahoo.co.uk

and more events to come. if you have facebook, have you noticed that photos of fay have been multiplying exponentially? i can't believe when i last checked it's up to 600 plus photos now. although i must say that some not so flattering photos have been appearing because too many random candid shots that are unavoidable. and no i do not try to untag them unlike some people who just keep the nice ones and dispose off the fugly ones. it is what it is right? although sometimes you can't help but agree with the saying that some people look better in person and vice versa.

and no i haven't attend wei yee's wedding dinner because it's not in two weeks time. and no i haven't pass her the giftcard because she didn't reply me so yes i'm going to pass to her during the wedding dinner in time for her to go christmas shopping.

HELLO SILENT READERS!!!

intrigued

it's intriguing how people are different yet alike in so many ways.

how the world can be so big yet so small sometimes.

how the weather can be so hot yet so cold in just one day.

how we can be so far yet so near at heart.

how we can think of the future yet reminiscence of the past,

while living in the present.

what is it with tea-stained cups anyways?

have you ever wondered why the innocent looking tea stains cup as badly as coffee does? apparently it's not the tea's fault entirely. if the water that we use to brew the tea is unfiltered or contains heaps of minerals, the boiled water used will cause the rim staining in your cup. if you filtered the hard water, it is said that your cups will never be stained AGAIN! what do you think? how much truth is there behind what i just said?

have a productive day everyone! =D

p/s: obviously procrastinating...the day is too long! i like coming in late better...=(

1 FiNe DaY iN Melbourne...

When the bf came for a visit, we went roaming in the streets of Melbourne. Took random shots around Docklands on our way to look for the Southern Star i.e. Melbourne's equivalent of the London Eye. It is due to start operating in November but I was just curious how the progress is like, seeing it's gonna be a new shopping precinct as well!

Upon disembarking the city circle tram, couldn't help but noticed the gigantic robotic looking wabbit! Of course we cannot leave without taking a picture with the wabbit right?

Then we continue walking along the usual path and the bf pointed out that the colours on the nab bank building looks like that of a Rubik's cube. But I said that the cube that we have has white in it and the building doesn't. It is not only till later that we realised the colours are different on the cubes we see in Australia. Isn't it supposed to be standard?

Anyways, then we walked cross the pier. Another weird thing is that there's Pier 9 and Pier 14 and that is it. Wonder why it's just these two. Don't ask me I haven't got the slightest clue.

And of course we can't miss out a picture with the cow atop the tree branch, can we?

By the end of the journey, we were really close to the Southern Star only to realise the place was secured with security guards. So couldn't get a good picture of the wheel in the end...

is it something to be happy about?

I don't quite get it why some people are so happy that they're going to finish uni and don't have to study anymore! I mean, isn't learning a lifetime thing? Where goes the saying that you'll never stop learning even when you're well into...you know what i mean.

What about those stories from working friends that their day has become monotonous...wake up...go work...come back from work...too tired hence off to bed early...and the cycle repeats.

Technically doing PhD means that I'm still in uni. I'm still a student. A very 'old' student indeed. Like been studying all my life since ten thousand years ago. But I'm not complaining. At least I can still get student discount whenever I go out. Like to the movies which is always a plus! And 10% discount in Boost Juice! Other than that, the fact that we have flexible hours in research is great! Like now that everyone at workplace is getting along really well, we've even taken up time in the park playing Frisbee or footy or soccer as part of our schedule! Even the supervisor knows about it but he thinks it's actually a good thing. Happy to see a good learning environment over at St. Vincent's and we play and work hard too! We're socializing more around the campus as well organizing outings and friday drinks after work and birthday celebrations etc. This is especially good for people like me who don't have much friends here anymore since most have gone back to work and some are just anti-social in a way.

And being a PhD student we don't have exams anymore. Just hurdles like confirmation and progress report in a year but everything will be based on the final thesis itself. I like to tell people I'm actually a lowly paid research assistant because with a scholarship I'm getting paid to study. I don't see anything wrong with that at all! =D The main thing is time management really. You just have to pace yourself although things like experiments are sometimes not under your sole control, you can find other things to do to fill in the void. I'm learning to take things as it comes and trying not to think so far ahead of time. M (who I have self-appointed as my mentor) said it's good that I'm always thinking of things in the bigger picture but not to overdo it because we have to leave space for when things might not turn out the way you expected. Sometimes, I even take shortcuts, like besides trying to read up on literatures on things that I am interested in finding out, I'll send a short email to my supervisor and ask him about it! Save time on reading! Other times I'll go to my supervisor with ideas and ended up needing to read up more materials. O.o

All in all, it's all a learning process!!

After missing for more than a week...

...I am currently fascinated by pictures incorporating my feet

the night out at the aquarium

last year, the university of melbourne postgraduate ball was held at eureka tower (the tallest residential building with observation deck in melbourne). this time around it was at the melbourne aquarium. some of us decided to go just for fun considering for a fact A. i haven't been to the melbourne aquarium in my whole 4.5 years here B. it was going to be subsidized by our postgrad student society C. the more the merrier. and why not, free flow booze and canapes all night long. the theme for the event was actually atlantis. something got to do with mythical creatures, mermaid, pirates etc. so as you can see, a lot of people dressed up in togas and majority just came pretty. for us gals who sorta went for the theme but not really, you would noticed our dresses are either matching with the colour of the sea or of a flowy design. in terms of footwear, a lot had gladiator style sandals in line with the theme.

so by the way, if you have not already guessed. the next picture is the sequel to the previous post. and yes, marianne got it right for sure. i'm not one for long dresses seeing that i'm already short enough.

these series of pictures are compilations courtesy of various cameras belonging to various people photographed in pictures.

here's an almost complete group picture of those from st. vincent's hospital campus. if you look closely there's this guy on the right with a cape...he's pete. he's always really good at dressing up for an event. in the roman empire genre, he even had a sword made out of cardboard and aluminium foil. towards the left at the front is pirate kevin (mr.president) with his sword but he's taken out his eye patch. the three gals at the front (fourth fifth and sixth from the left) is jo, shanna, and stephanie who made togas out of satin cloths and ropes.

we had access to three levels of the aquarium and various sections so it seems less crowded compared to last years venue. and of course we try to incorporate the fishes into the picture but it's not as easy as it seems. by the time we get everyone organised and all, the fishes would have come and gone! up here we have jo, tash and sarah. we helped jo with the toga in less than 10 minutes hence the slightly messy look but fully secured with safety pins.

on the main level where food and drinks are served, there's this really dim area where the jelly fish were. whoever who wore pure white garment would glow in the dark. it's pretty cool. and we all have sparkly white teeth too!

here we have mat, the new phd student in our lab with jo and sarah. all looking really happy and tall in the pic. where else would you see so many phd students?

and this is christina. she's very comel one. she also just joined our lab this year and started her phd 2 months before me. she's normally very quiet but she says the darnest things. =)

see what i mean? she don't even need to say anything in this pic and we already know what she wanted to tell us. we have in the pic with her is min, my senior in the lab. i always call her my senior but actually she's the same age as me. just that she started one year ahead of us and she's been around since forever. haha.

here's a picture of the bunch harassing the waitress for more dessert. passionfruit sorbet topped with candy floss. have no idea what they did to her that she looked equally in the crazy mood as the rest of them. other desserts for the night were small ice cream cones and profiteroles. because it was a casual cocktail style party. wasn't able to capture picture of the food because we had to stand with a glass on one hand and food in the other most of the time. that explains why we had to compile our photos as well since holding a glass and food doesn't allow for much holding on to camera time. haha.

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on a totally different story. take a look at the picture below. that's our mr president with a picture of edward norton from american history x. notice his shave. almost exactly identical. coincidence or what?

party-ing at the melbourne aquarium

Malaysia was on Dateline

Dateline on SBS was talking about Malaysian politics. Totally unexpected. Then they interviewed Anwar Ibrahim. And his wife. And Raja Petra. And Khairy. Just imagine how bad the political status of Malaysia is that it's on international news. And I think the point of the whole news was to talk about the dateline of 16 September. I was totally ignorant of what's going on in Malaysia until I saw the news today. I hate politics. Come on people just grow up already. And get some sense into your puny little brain. I don't see a point in all these nonsense. If only things are as simple as ABC. Then the world would be a better place to live.

what's for dinner?

spring is finally here!

today marks the first day of spring. welcoming spring with open arms. looking forward to the cool weather. not too cold and not too hot. looking forward to the bright sunny days with cool breeze. gone will be the days of chilly windy winter days. new fashion to look forward too as well. although i'm not a fan of floral prints but the 50's inspired skirts looks nice. i think i don't have the heights to wear them but they do looks nice.

counting down the days till the bf is here. time to do some planning.