Siti has been asking me what I have been up to over the weekend. She roughly gets the picture from the one clue that was left on my taggy. So yup. I went accomplish one of my lifetime dreams. I went surfing. You know what? I want to keep doing it forever. It was awesome! Best thing I've ever done, second to buying my trusty Nikon. I went on 2 days actually. Suzy and I had a 2 hour road trip up to Middleton, blasting road tunes and singing along while driving past the country. I love the country. As a local, she drove through the areas where tourists wouldn't go for and I was an awe when i saw the endless hills from left to right. It just took my breath away and how badly the drought has done to the grass. They looked like dessert hills to me. I was feature pictures in two parts but I'll leave you hanging with the surfing part. :D

I'll show you pics from Hahndorf and Suzy's family ranch. Met Suzy's family and her animals. And who can forget dear little Pip. She was excited when she saw me and she hasn't had her nails cut, scratched my shoulder and now i have a slight scar there. Thanks Pip. Her family is so cool. I'm just amazed with her parents. I reckon they're one of the coolest parents on earth. I know I'm beyond my teenage years but seriously, they're so awesome!

Yup, went to Hahndorf with Suzy yesterday to buy lollies to bring back. I've never spent so much on lollies before in my life. So for those who are getting lollies, don't blame me if you have toothaches. It was a scorching 38 degrees in adelaide but it was abt 33-35 up in the hills?

There was a funny story to our journey there. So mom, dad, don't panic. We took the wrong bus to the hills. It stopped halfway opposite the bus terminal instead of going all the way. So we knew the next bus would come in half hour so we walked back to the previous town which was Aldgate. No worries, it was 10 min walk and saw roadkill along the way. So we hung around Aldgate till the right bus came along.

We were starving when we got there and went straight to the German bakery. Delicious stuff. We were disappointed that our favourite vintage shop closed! I was like what?!!! Real bummer. And I was really tired on the journey back. For the past few nights, it had been so warm that I'm sleeping without my blanket now. I can't sleep properly which results in me being really tired in the day. Right now I have the fan blowing behind me and thunder going off outside. I don't know what that's about.

Alright pics now. Hahndorf first followed by Suzy's farm.

Sorbet for the hot day

Spring and summer flowers

Giant teacups anyone?

Suzy's always up to something

Meet Pip

Pip leads the way

That's Lulu

Pip wants a rub on the tummy. Sometimes she lies on the back, waiting for a rub

Lola wants some rubbing behind. Lola's the black goat in the background.

Australian Idol Finale

Expected Jessica to win cos she has the christina aguilera/monica's voice and unique for a 17 yr old. Then ago, Irish Damien caters for a different audience. But both were fantastic. Enjoy!


Australian Idol Damien singing the winner's song


Jessica with one of her best songs 'Beautiful'. She's really good!


And for the ladies...Dean Geyer! Can't help it...he's singing a favourite song of mine. (Turn away, Zeren!) Dean, sing to me!

Job hunting is really tough here. I want to try new areas such as cafes or retail but lack of experience can't even get you there. Why can't people just give people like me a chance? We could learn faster than you think. Application to woolworths has failed. Kinda expected but I still felt alittle disappointed. Funny how I really didn't want to get that job yet I feel the disappointment? At least I don't have to buy black shoes and wear black pants. I wonder if it's because of me being away in december for too long or lack of experience spelled somewhere on my face that I can't see or is it my colour?

Colour is the first thing I think of. Anyone offended by this. Don't read then. Hey, part of being an asian in a western country and part of someone who had a history of being discriminated.

Anyway, I'll use tomorrow's big day out to cheer myself up. Two hour drive to Middleton, here we come. It's weird how I live in a quiet suburb but I still want to get away to somewhere else. Heading to Middleton is a welcome change as well as next week, I'm planning to head up the hills to get things people are asking for. Gonna spend quite a bit on lollies. *smack head* But it's quiet and it's a change of environment and the people there are heaps nicer. I like old people. Old people are good.

Speaking of old people, I had two old ladies from a church knocking on my door while I was resting. Can't seem to nap with that strained muscle in my left thigh. Usually you get someone preaching at your door but they're old ladies and you don't have the heart to shut the door in their faces. Trust me, their smile will melt you and you'll leave the door open to listen to what they have to say. But they're so different from those people in singapore who keep going on and on when they knock on your door. Their approach is they give you a choice, don't have to commit anything and just listen. Simple as that. And they're lovely old ladies. Hopefully there's no old ladies reading this blog. Don't want them knocking on my door all the time!

Ian Thorpe has retired. Kinda expected it since they announced he was gonna give a press conference. He was so relieved but though I am alittle disappointed cos he influenced me back into swimming after the Sydney Olympics. I wanted to swim like him but duh...no matter what training I get, I can't even come close. Luckily I've got backup. Grant Hackett. Yeah...1.5km in 15 minutes. Sheez...it took me almost an hour to do that.

Anyway, I went to Glenelg (again) with Suzy. Just wanted to go and take pictures there. I love Glenelg especially spring and summer. Best time to go there. I picked up heaps of shells and something useful to me. It will be used as my jewellery box as an example below with the shells.

Closed

Open with shells

Had fish and chips again. Standard meal when we go to Glenelg but we went to a Greek shop instead. The guy forgot to put in tartare sauce so we had to go back and get them. When we told him, he was like 'you have a nice day!' and gave Suzy a hug. I was surprised and quickly took a big step to the side. Sorry Suzy...couldn't save you! He's a middle-age Greek guy so they're over friendly haha and he asked me where I was from. He went 'Singapore .... ahhh!' I like the way he says singapore in his greek accent. Again, we fed seagulls with chips. They were kinda weird though. Once the aeroplane flies over, all fly away in sync towards the water. When the coast is clear, they fly back. And seagulls aren't shy at all. Trust me on this.

We went to play with the water and it was freezing but it felt really good somehow. Burying your feet in the sand, cool water... it was just fantastic. Wished we had that kinda weather when Zeren was here to visit but he came at autumn. Sorry mate, come in summer next time! haha! I kinda bought a hat. Thought I'll use it for all seasons, with the expected 40 degree range coming next month. Play safe. Anyway, here are the pics.

Suzy and me set out in Glenelg with strong winds

Water's cold!

"I believe i can fly..."

Suzy's sinking

I was taking a shot of the seagull behind when this one walked into the shot...alright...limelight's on you!

A chip, anyone?

Overview shot of the gulls on the marina

The dark shadow below is actually water

Our reflection in that dark shadow

That's my boat!

High Schoolers playing beach volleyball

He searches for treasure

Me hurley hat

Wednesday was the day of freaky weather. The sudden rush of antarctic air came into australia driving everyone crazy. There was snow in melbourne, cyclonic storms and hail stones in Queensland and we had crazy wind storm and it was freezing here. We had winter for one day in spring. It was sunny one moment so I went out to get the paper, then on my way back, it was so dark and I got caught in the rain. Well, I had a trusty hood. Need to be Eminem in the rain with my grey jumper.

Been having quite a week. Had my coffee-making class on monday evening. Our teacher was a former Australian Barista of the year which is mighty impressive. She's really nice but I felt really awkward in the class of 5. I'm the youngest and I don't drink coffee. They don't know the coffee part and they were talking coffee all the way and I was so quiet. I have no idea what to contribute so I just listen and smile at them when they look at me. Have to be nice and all. But now I see coffee differently. Mentioned coffee and the techniques start rolling back in my head. I see a latte glass, the process of making it pops into head. It's amazing and surprisingly though I'm not a fan of drinking coffee, I want to learn more into the art and techniques. It is interesting.

I had an illustration interview on tuesday where you have to choose between illustration and graphic design. Going for illustration with advice from Marcus and it's something more specific I guess. Lecturers like my work and I'm supposed to draw in a room by myself. I had to rush off for another appointment so I drew in less than 15 minutes. This is what I got.

My superhero look.

It's supposed to look like life drawing but looked more like a comic character in the making. Will this do Stan Lee?

On the same day, I brought my Nikon to take photos at the skatepark opposite uni. Always wanted to take photos there so it was a good chance for me to do so. Some of the guys were cool enough to head in my direction and pose or did stunts. Particularly impressed with the cyclists. One of them did a 360 flip which was amazing!

Blader did a flip up





I had a tough day and when I got back, I received my essay back and I was so happy with the grade. Couldn't stop jumping up and down inside the house. Luckily I'm on the ground floor.

Wednesday, job interview with woolworths. Dressed up nicely for the group interview. I didn't like the guy who was doing the interview. Primp and proper, pointing out mistakes in front of everyone, and he's a total perfectionist. One thing about perfectionists, they tempt me to push something out of order like a book placed in a 45 degree out of place. One accountant guy screwed the rest of us in the group project. Didn't like him too. *growls* So fed up with the interview that I walked home from the city. Beautiful evening and there was still light. Why not. After that, I didn't feel like working with woolworths. Praying that I won't get the callback but....

I got the call back today. I think it's because I was the only one who finished the test which test on your speed and accuracy. Think I aced that one. Bleah. I'll go for the second interview with mr perfectionist and see how it goes. I did have another interview in the morning with a child photography studio. No, no porn there people. It's a job for calling customers up and this place is a 5 minute walk from my house. So hopefully they call back. Hopefully the other cafe calls back. So many call backs I'm waiting for.

I was in the bus when I saw a jeep next to my window. A dude in his jeep with 2 surfboards on top, another tank of fuel on top as well, inside his car there were bags and in his front seat, a guitar sits there. He's going on a surfing trip. Lucky bugger. Wish I had his life.

Alright, pictures for your viewing.

Carrot walnut cake that I had for lunch when I was having food poisoning. Had to make myself better, people.

Jap meal I made for myself a while back. *yums*

Bottle decor in Sportsgirl. I love it and wished i had it in my house

Taken on my evening walk home.

Finally, a real blog entry.

First of all, I'm surprised when I read the headlines of yahoo7. Belinda Emmmett, wife of Rove passed away at the age of 32. I've heard that his wife had battled cancer but didn't know she was still fighting. Rove is a quirky guy on his TV show. Full of life and will do anything for his audience. First thing I thought, how will he be? Since he has a live show every tuesday night. I did get a chance to read more about Belinda. Yes, it's another remarkable story. On the other end, Kylie released her fragrance 'Darling' here yesterday (which i might add smells fantastic), to mark that she's ok and coming back. The ironies of life and how life can be taken away just like that. To read her story, click here

Back here. Last night Amanda and I talked for three hours, maybe more. It feels great catching up with her and again without fail, we had our share of coincidental quirkiness like our nicks and deja vu stuff. To give you abit of our history. Both of us were born 2 days apart in the same hospital. Were our beds next to each other? I wouldn't know. Prob 2 beds away from each other. We had another 2 day coincidence which only 4 people know very well. She's like my twin and it's amazing in the way we think alike. Freaky at times! So manda, stop stalking me! Naw..just kidding there.

For the past week, I had food poisoning. Believed that I didn't wash the fertiliser off the veg thoroughly. So I had to go through about 4 days of agony. The running to the bathroom, stomach pains, feeling light-headed, nausea. Not good at all but feeling much better. Slowly going back to normal eating though still in detox stage. Oops.

Finally finished with my assignments. Returned all library books, tidied up my examples journal for tania to mark. I was so happy on wed. Pushing in my essay into another teacher's box. Cos I'm not letting my own tutor have it. Cos I'll bet, he won't understand the essay at all. So no point there Mr! This morning Stewie saw me and flew towards me when I was in my balcony. It was good to see him but I worry when I see one of the ducks by themselves. Cos abby and stewie only have each other so I tend to worry what happened to the other. Stewie came back again and I didn't know he was watching me vacuum clean my living/dining/study room. I saw his little face at the window, staring in at the balcony. Maybe he wanted some company but I had to put the machine away. He decided to take off though. But I was relieved when I saw abby and stewie an hour later chasing each other on the grass patch. It had been 2 weeks before I fed them. Now I'm confident that they will do fine on their own once I'm away. I do worry about them.

Ok, what happened on the last day of uni? Well, brought food into class. Should have bought another pack of TimTams cos Suzy, Nick and Renee came over to join in. It was alittle sad and for the first time, in my history of studio, Tania finally used my piece as an example! I thought it was crap, both pieces but she said it was a huge improvement from what I had and used mine as an example. It was strike gold for me and it felt fantastic. Then we had an illustration talk followed by a big group of us heading to chocolate bean to celebrate. I have to admit it was abit cramped but with all the love, we squeezed. I'll have some photos at the end.

Currently I'm planning something big for myself. See how that goes. I'm happy I'm done christmas shopping for one person. Another tick against the name. Renee, Camilla and I saw a fire at Glen Osmond. We were there shopping and when we came out of JeansWest, huge black smoke up in the air. It was scary and we found out it was an elder care centre. Everyone was rushed out and traffic had to be stopped. It was the first news read out on tv. Thankfully, no one got hurt.

Please let it rain here. If brisbane could have hail stones and thunderstorms, could you spare abit of water here? Plotting for something big for myself.

Ok picture time. Have a great weekend!

Hanging around Harris Scarfe again. Baby rats and I love them :/ I want them

Chew chew

Meanwhile at chocolate bean...

Cindy and Alex having a good laugh

Nick's big grin

Anna 'just doesn't get it' look while Andrea watches on

Michael's in a trance after tasting his mousse

Renee and Lang

Suzy's making her point

The Guilty Pleasure. The worse of the sinful platters. Haha! Shared it with nick and renee

Alex's embarrassment with Cindy and Suzy playing with his hair

I will update my blog properly next week after that one more essay. For now...

I’m playing this deviantart game that is going around called “11 Things”. Its therapeutic and insightful. Qns 10 does not pertain to my close family. And no, I’m not going to tell you if you’re right about who you guess or think they are or if you’re on the list.

The rules:

* List 11 things you want to say to 11 different people.

* Don't say who they pertain to.

* Feel free to comment, but don't confirm or answer anything.

* Never discuss it again.
----------------------

1. It is one thing to say that you are good at what you do, but another when you keep raving on and on about it when you are supposed to be providing direction. You may be good at what you do, but you do not have the knowledge. You like to make it look as though you do have the knowledge but simply you know nuts. I can only hope that I will never be in the same space as you.

2. You have done your best and have always been there. I think about you all the time and I miss your prescence. I may seem to be repeating myself at occasions which I apologise. But I do enjoy your company, always. Fun times and all. Really looking forward to more of these times. Thank you for being who you are. A beautiful person with the biggest heart i know. I'll do my best to keep up with the tons of pacts we made. Some compromises though

3. I wish you accept your mistakes once in a while. Start small with the little bitty ones. You may have your pride but I wish for you to not always put yourself as the victim, but talk about other people for once. Not putting them down but talk about their good points. Everyone has their good and bad points. Not everyone is at your neck all the time, just put yourself in their shoes and see their point of view. Give it a go, you'll understand more than you jump to conclusions and making up stories.

4. I see your need to be everyone's friend and wanting to be in the 'in' crowd all the time. But it will help to have more friends if you stop seeing the bad side of everything. Once you don't like something, you leave it there. End of story. You don't make an effort and you should treat others better. Sometimes don't over-flirt with guys cos you do have a boyfriend. That's not the way to get into everyone's good books. Just ease down on the nastiness and be nice to everyone and not say 'I don't like it' all the time. If you don't try, you would never know. It's called change you know.

5. Point blank. I never liked the way you treated people. You can suck the toes off the people you think deserved to be suck up to. Well, you can first lick the boots, then suck the toes. Don't forget underneath the toenails. Mighty fine stuff there honey. Seriously, I will never regard you as a friend. You never were. You just use people and chuck them one side like some leftovers. You talk way too much and those eyebrows? You look more evil with what you did with them. I don't think you're the kind of person who will change. Ever. Keep treating people the way you are right now, cos more will do the same to you. I really hope I won't meet you again. Just walk on by if you do see me.

6. You are a strong person and I'm proud of what you are doing now. Continue to be strong but less whiny though. Not everything is perfect but keep being strong because i know you can do whatever when you try. Good on ya for making baby steps.

7. You have changed some much since I left. More materialistic, trying to get into the 'in' crowd maybe? I don't know. Sometimes I wish for you to come join me to show you that simple can be contented. Trust me, you'll learn alot. Simple things in life can bring a bigger smile than materials. Don't think too low of people. You used to be like them and i wish for you to know where you started from and respect that beginning. It was part of you. It made you the person you are now.

8. You sit in the corner all the time and never moved to the center at all. You catch my eye all the time without fail. Because I know there's something good in you. I know that you are a good and nice person. You helped me once even though it was a small thing. Smile more cos you have the whitest teeth. Trust me they're pearlie whites mate. They make the smile. The smile makes you look good. I don't have the courage to go up to you but I hope that I would one day if I still see you around. Cos it's always worthwhile to know some good people. Everyone should. And thanks for that help. I don't think you ever got to hear the thank you or maybe you did.

9. One of the first people I talk to in a new situation. I am so glad that I have met you and you have been very supportive. It was so easy to be me around you and I hope I do the same for you. I miss the crazy times and they are great memories. I definitely see you as that good old neighbour that lives next door to me for many years to come where we start sharing about the jerks we dated, the other blokes, fashion to our aching bones, poor memory and those sags heading too way south. You're a great mate, did you know that?

10. (Addressed to many) Stop being proud. It's hard to see you as family at all.

11. I wished I stayed longer to chat with you because you have been really good to me. You wanted to know more about my personality and try to incorporate that into many things. I appreciate your guidance and I know one day I'm gonna make you proud that one day you'll say 'I know that person' and smile. I hope I see you around cos it will be handy to ask you for tips. And thanks for helping me personally. You are a great mentor and I will never forget you. Keep sharing that big heart with others.