Nicole Lee Shu Hui's Events & Thoughts...

A new hairstyle for a new beginning...

2008-11-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

Out of total randomness, I decided to put a picture of my new hairstyle on facebook and updated my status " A new hairstyle for a new beginning". I got this out randomly when my managed asked me why go perm my hair. I answered " A new hairstyle for a new beginning". It is a new beginning. A working adult, stepping out onto the comfort zone as a student. Earning my own keeps. Realising how hard it is to earn money. Realising the ugliness in this so called "world" we live in. Stepping out of my naiveness. Jumping out of the well I've so been in for the past 24 years. Realising not everything is oh so sweet. So what I expect. Yes. What I expect. The oh so perfect world, the world which revolves around me catering to my every fantasy, every dream, every desire. What an ugly world I realise. There's only one motto to live on: WHEN LIFE GIVE YOU LEMON, MAKE LEMONADES. Make the best out of everything you've got. Maybe the sad thing is like what eme said, she finds it tragic that I dont even realise that I am better than what I think of myself to be. Is that really what it is?

Anyways, I realise weekends really go by very fast. Its only been 2 days and I am off for the next week of work. May god bless me... Sales sales sales... I will dread this word by the end of Nov....

4th day of work

2008-10-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Oh man...

On the 4th day of work, I received over 100 plus e-mails. All full of resumes. I placed 2 jobads, one on JobsCentral and the other on JobStreet. I was trying to read through 100 plus resumes. I had to be v. familiar with the job descriptions. Which I am not in the 4th day. Cust service, reception, admin, HR etc etc etc. And I was thought by my senior not to be very quick in clearing my e-mail. Haiz... she told me to be more aggressive. I am beginning to doubt if I can do sales. Then weijun told me during dinner not to give up on the 4th day of work cos i'll nvr know whether i can do it on the 4th day or not.

First day sucked cos my other colleague, Amy who was supposed to turn up didnt turn up for some family reason. Haiz.. Then no orientation only until second day. Haiz, so sian.... Then for next few days is info overload. then my senior say degree liao should be able to do all these. etc etc etc. Then first day nvr go out to eat. Cos we eat in 2 shifts, and i got the late shift. Then senior dont want to da pao. So end up eat in office. Then second day also the same. Super sian...

But 4th day ok lah. Got to to tanjong pagar exchange to eat Yong tao foo. Today seniors all goin haloween party. They ask me to go but I dont want... damn tired and just wanted to chill...

Oh man, my blog is beginning to sound monotonous.... oh no, working life's gonna be like that soon...

First Day of Work...

2008-10-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

First day of work? Sucks.. I hate first days at work...

And I hate for Dec to come...

I hate to put everyone in a spot..

But its best not to meet. Cos it hurts so much....

I just hope ppl ard me know what to do and how to react. Becos rite now, I dont really want to meet.

Please understand... that's all I ask...

Will's Birthday Video

2008-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

I logged on facebook and I saw a youtube birthday msg for Will. It's 11 mins long and it was done by Joel, his ex housemate. Joel didnt sleep the whole night making the video, going ard everyone's house (so many places!) and editing it. I was sooo touched. I cried for half the duration of the video.

For my whole life, I've never had that kind of surprise before. I think its so sweet of Joel to do that. Talk about a real surprise! Good on you Joel!

Happy Birthday Noelle!

2008-10-21T09:44:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Babe!

I know you're reading this =)

happy yet sad at the same time...

2008-10-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've gotten the job as a recruitment consultant. My manager offered me the position and I would be starting work on the 28th. Finally goes my worry of not being able to find a job with the coming recession.

However, this happiness didnt sustain me for long. I still feel sad. I still cry when looking at facebook. This hurts so much so much... I wonder how long it'll take for it to heal. Want to shout out loud, tell the whole world how I feel.

Can anyone hear me? Can anyone understand? Can anyone lend me a shoulder to lean on? Can someone offer me a hug?

The Winner Takes It All

2008-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

I don't wanna talk

About things we've gone through

Though its hurting me

Now its history

I've played all my cards

And that's what you've done too

Nothing more to say

No more ace to play

The winner takes it all

The loser standing small

Besides the victory

That's her destiny

I was in your arms

thinking I belonged there

I figured it made sense

Building me a fence

Building me a home

Thinking I'd be strong there

But I was a fool

Playing by the rules

The gods may throw the dice

Their minds as cold as ice

And someone way down here

Loses someone dear

The winner takes it all

The loser has to fall

It's simple and its plain

Why should I complain

Tell me does she kiss

Like I used to kiss you?

Does it feel the same

When she calls your name?

Somewhere deep inside

You must know I miss you

But what can I say

Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide

The likes of me abide

Spectators of the show

Always staying low

The game is on again

A lover or a friend

A big thing or a small

The winner takes it all

I don't wanna talk

'cause it makes me feel sad

And I understand

You've come to shake my hand

I apologise

If it makes you feel sad

Seeing me so tense

No self-confidence-

But you see

The winner takes it all

The winner takes it all

The game is on again

A lover or a friend

A big thing or a small

The winner takes it all

The winner....

horrible dream...

2008-10-16T06:11:00.001-07:00

I had a horrible dream last night... It was almost identical to the horrible months ago, except that now the female had changed. I woke up breaking cold sweat. Then I realised how much I still cared for ***, how much I still like ***. This time round, I didnt dream of running to another person's house, asking that person to comfort me when the horrible dream happened. Becos the other person had hurt me deep as well. Too deep, I realised. So in the end, I realised how much I like these 2 ppl. Sounds funny isnt it? Sounds ironic isnt it? In the end it was me who would be affected so badly. Now I dont even want to see *** if *** is together with ***. I have no idea if my heart will be repaired by then. But its the first for me. First to let my heart be wounded by then. The wound is really deep. Will it heal by 2 months time? I have no answer... Just please dont let the tears rolling like that. Its not nice to always be seen like this....

Somewhat nostalgic

2008-10-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'll let u guys out on a secret. I've been on facebook everyday looking at the pictures my friends posted. Friends in Perth mainly. All the birthday celebrations, trips etc. Everytime I see my friends having so much fun, I get so jealous. Here I am in spore struggling to get a job. I'm constantly frustrated of not being able to work, even though I know how much work sucks. I really want to move on, move on so that I can get my experience over soon, so that I can look forward to planning my next step. I know everyone's turn will soon come and I'll be first to step into the workforce, but still looking at the pics in facebook sucks. Nonetheless, I still like to see what they have been up to.

I really miss my friends in Perth. Every little thing I encounter, be it getting an interview, facing probs in spore, the first ppl I wanna call are my friends in Perth. I really miss hanging out with Noelle, I miss talking to my mei, I miss Jasmine knocking on my door everyday after she finishes work, I miss hanging out with the ISS people. I miss MCW, I miss spring feast, but most of all, I miss the friendships forged through ISS and MCW. U know, the friends I know still stay with me till now. I now meet up with Angel and Yingsi in Spore, I met up with Jeanette a few days ago. These are the ppl I've been out with most often.

Sometimes I wonder whether things will change when I go out to work. One year is not long but its not short either. A lot of things can change within a year, esp when 2 ppl are in diff environments. Priorties become diff, goals and thinkings change. I know that cos many of my girlfriends now embrace a diff mindset, one I am yet to be accoustemed to. I am looking forward to what working life brings, the network, the stress, the tiredness, but somehow I wish I had people who were in the same phase as me. Helps to know someone out there is facing the same things as I do. And deep down inside I wished ALL the ISS and MCW peeps were from spore. And everyone would return to spore eventually so that we can all be reunited in spore. Hang out or do stuff. But thinking of that, its actually the diversity that brought us together. Learning from each other, changing, evolving to be a better person. For that I'm grateful. To date, I've nvr looked back and regretted spending 4.5 years of my life doing a double degree. I just wished I could have done else, like HR.

No matter what, I tell myself to be strong, to embrace what is coming. And to make the best use of my life. My goal? To put awesome pics on facebook and make everybody awe at my photos. hahaha.. As if...

Interviews & economy...

2008-10-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Went for the interview. It was for a role as a conference producer. What the role entails was to produce and research possible topics for conferences, and after establishing the topics, I have to make calls to possible speakers. And after I've established a conference, I have to work with the marketing and sales department to sell my conference. And I have to attend the conference and make sure everything goes smoothly. I was asked to come up with a proposal with the topic "marketing" in 2 days. I wrote a 2 page proposal on using customer service as an important tool to market singapore as a tourism hub. I think it wasnt that good. But the manager hasnt gotten back to me yet, so we shall see...

News has been going about the economy going on recession. With the global Meltdown by IMF, and news of intrest rates going down, this really isnt a good time to be looking for a job. Many jobs will be cut, pay will be cut, and the world is going into turmoil. I tell myself not to be choosy. Just look for whatever comes. I've started applying for the Big 4 already, going to try other accounting firms too. This sucks. To be going through all these by myself. Sometimes I wish I had friends going through the same stages as I do. Getting depressed day by day applying and waiting for prospective employers to call... Oh well, such is life....

Job interview tmr!

2008-10-07T08:42:00.001-07:00

Having a job interview tmr at a co which organises conference for the position of "conference producer" even though I dont know what it entails. We shall see... I hope for luck for tmr's interview! Hope I get a job soon...

Took a break today from looking for work. Woke up at 11 am then had breakkie and read newspapers. The global economy crisis is affecting everyone, including me, a job-seeker. Economy, dont go down k? Wait for me to find a job first. Then u can go down. But not so much! Cos I wanna earn money to buy lotsa things and travel! hahaha

Rewatched sweet 18 which Noelle lent me. Finished watching a couple of days ago but still wanted to rewatch certain parts. Super nice show! Good for chillaxing man.

Talenite is tmr! Cant believe its been a yr since I took part in talenite! Rite Noelle? Time passes really quickly. Tmr night I'll be going for a career talk somewhere in Raffles Place. Not sure if there'll be a formal interview. But according to the person who called me, there'll be personality tests. I've had my fair share of personality tests to know i hate doing those. Long and makes my head spin!

Back to Singapore

2008-10-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'm offically back in Singapore... for abt 2 weeks already. Now its crunch time. Have to find a job.

My life for the past week has been looking at job ads, applying for jobs, and waiting for companies to call me back. Everytime I get an unknown phone call, I get sooo excited! But when I realised its not the companies, my face fell. You should have been there to see it. From a smile to a frown... sighz..

It doesnt help now that I'm sick. Been sick for nearly 2 weeks. It first started with a cough. Then phelgm. After 2 weeks, the phelgm still refused to go away... I have been coughing the phelgm out day and night, to the extent that i cant sleep at night. Right now i am so sick of coughing out my phelgm that I dont feel like talking at all. The feeling of phelgm getting stuck in my throat is just horrible....

Speaking of jobs, I actually had 2 job interviews. They were both recruitment agencies. Both required sales (which I didnt know that recruitment firms actually have). ONe offered me a temp position and I had a day to think abt it. It was a v. hard decision. Knowning that I cant do sales was one thing, but getting a temp position really put me off. What if i cant be promoted to a perm position? Then it'll be worst to find another job given the economy getting worst day to day... I called the friends i could think of for advice. Everyone gave me a diff opinion. Some say go for it (mum & aunt contributed to that): they say if u nvr try u'll nvr know. True. That's what I've always been. For everything. If u dont try, how do u know whether u can do it or whether it suits u? On the other hand, some ppl (okies, mainly emes) said that I'm a double degree holder and I'm worth more than a temp job. Plus she knows that I cant do sales. Hmm... okies, reasonable but some part of me do want to try it out to really see if i can handle the job. Past experiences of me being impatient and wanting to try everything out has failed in a few instances. Some still hurt till now. So I've decided to be more patient and try to see if i can find other jobs. Look ard and scour for something that I really like. Therefore I rejected the temp offer. Oh man, for one week i was still thinking whether it was the right decision. No one has called me for an interview ever since. Haiz... Nvr mind, find already. Keep on looking bah!

Back to blogging...

2008-07-12T06:58:00.001-07:00

After so long, I'm back blogging.

It's a saturday night in Singapore and I'm supposed to be out having dinner or watching movie or singing ktv or clubbing or chilling out. Instead, I'm at home, with no mood to do anything. Not even kung fu panda can excite me.

I start thinking about life. Life on a normal saturday night. Life of how one spends his/her saturday night. Life of how I would be when I start working in Singapore. I've been so used to the Aussie life that I forgot how a normal saturday night in Singapore would be. Nearly 6 years in Perth. Getting back to the Singapore lifestyle might be a little difficult to handle at first. Finding back friends to hang out with, finding things to do in Singapore. Having a purpose. Is life gonna be just work? and hanging out at home? The occasional going out with friends and parents? Such is life?

Back to blogging...

2008-07-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Not your 100%....

2008-04-07T09:51:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted to know this question.

There are a few terminologies here which i would like to define before continuing on.

100% - to a guy, he will go for the girl if he feels the girl is 100% for him, meaning he likes the girl and the girl is what he wants, ie he wants to be with the girl for life.

70% - distinction in my uni terms, meaning, for a guy, he has feelings for the girl, but is not sure whether he likes her enough to want to ask her to be his girlfriend.

So my question is, if you are the guy, and the girl is just a 70% to you. Will you go for it and ask her to be your gf? Another question is, say in 6 months time, the guy hasnt found the 100% girl. However, as times goes by, a 70% girl and the guy becomes closer. Will the guy ever consider the girl and make her the 100% girl?

Questions.... they might not be answered.

All I know is, I'm not your 100% for now. I might only be a 65% or a 70%. For now, I want to see myself being the 100% for you. But will I ever be the 100% for any guy? That's what I wanna know...

Didnt know it was gonna be a hard one

2008-03-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

I am fully exhausted.

I'm exhausted from thinking about weighing the pros and cons about staying in perth or going back to spore every night before i sleep.

I'm exhausted from seeing myself in the future.

I'm exhausted from all the IA and BAV readings. So many. BAV's so hard.

There were times like these where i wish a fortune teller could tell me what it's gonna be in the future. At least I know the decisions to make.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Oh wells.... I cant be bothered for tonight. Gonna get a good night's sleep. :)

What will happen from now on?

2008-02-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

My life's a huge question mark. Everything is uncertain. It has certainly affected the people around me. S'pore ppl making decisions cos of me. My housemates in perth making decisions cos of me. ********** both in spore and perth making decisions cos of me.

Yet, I have to make the biggest decision of my life soon. To stay in Perth or to go back to Spore. What do i really want? I have no clue. What will happen in the future? I have no clue. Yet things just get more and more complicated.

What I really hope for is to just graduate in peace. No more drama mama. No more tears. Just to fully enjoy my last semester as a student. Just to study and get good marks. Since when i'm gonna start work, things aint gonna get easier, so I see no point in making my last semester more complicated.

Perhaps making things more clear makes it easier. But then again, maybe not.

God, I pray things will go peacefully. I ask for peace. Serenity. Can real happiness or real sadness wait till I finish my exams?

Part of me...

2008-02-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Emelia told me once that her ex-bf will always be a part of her. Given that they have been together for 10 years and they literally grew up together.

So how i feel about my sec sch mates and uni mates.

My sec sch mates. How sec sch life was simple. How we were so rebellious then. How puberty started then. How we learnt about love, relationships, friendships, sex back then. How the friendship was so pure. How the friendship was so simple. How we grew so much back then.

My uni sch mates. Although i have to admit half of it wasnt as sweet as honey. Rather, it was full of sourness, bitterness. With lots of tears. With lots of hardship. With lonliness. But, it was the sourness, the bitterness, the tears, the hardship that made me grow. That made me mature. A turning point in my life. How i see diff ppl. The best of the best. The best bf. The best friend. The best family. Honestly speaking, the ppl that i've met in uni have already set a benchmark of what i look for in a guy. The ppl that i've met in uni have changed my comfort zone into a whole new level. More wise, i hope. Not the stupid person i used to. Maybe i'm still stupid, but perhaps more wise.

With more people i meet, the more i'll compare with my sec and uni mates. And then i'll diss away those who do not meet the "criteria" and consider those who meet the benchmark.

These ppl whom i've studied with will always be a part of me, no matter what. I really hope they know how much they mean to me... I really hope to cherish them and be there for them no matter what.

My last official uni holidays... kinda sad that its over. Back to reality. The harsh reality. It sucks to feel this way now...

feeling like shit...

2008-02-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

I am not feeling like shit today because its valentines day. I am blogging about it because it has been an accumulation of an all time low since monday. Its been freaking 4 days but i still cant get over it.

I just finished my internship. I feel like i am leading a meaningless life. I kept thinking in the past when I was in primary school, secondary school, and jc, my life revolved around school work. School in the morning, homework afternoon, homework night. In jc, sleep became a luxury. Now that i am in uni, i feel that i have all the time in the world. And I wondered how i actually survived my last holiday. I was doing absoultely nothing, but time still seemed to pass pretty well.

I guess i'm in a very different phase of life now. I'm entering a new phase, yet it doesnt seem well. U know, in the past, everyone graduates with you. Siqiao, Jingping, Aiwen and I graduate from primary school together. Weitian, Meixian, Kaili, Maggy, Waner, Steffi, Wanlin, Siyun, and all the other e3 dogs and me graduate from secondary school together. Peiyu and Steph and I graduate from JC together. And me, me alone, graduate all by myself in 5 months time. A double degree, something to celebrate, but then in the meantime, i'm all alone. Most of my friends have started working and have gone into the working phase. Tired is the word they say. Wake up in the morning, wash up, have breakfast, take the train/bus to work, work, eat lunch, work, knock off, maybe sometimes OT, then come home, have dinner, shower, maybe surf net, exercise or watch tv, then its time for bed. The routine continues. Everyone feels sian. Everyone feels tired. Hardly anyone has the mood nor the energy to go out like me.

What about the ppl in my uni? Most of the ISS ppl are either in msia or in perth. My MBGU? half in msia half in perth. The one in Singapore? Stupid me do stupid things which ended up me not talking to that person for 2 weeks. Shit. I am always doing things that make myself suffer. ONly now i realised i really need that friend. But i told myself 2 weeks not to contact that person. So shit. Shouldnt have done that. Wanted to shout and say i regret. Our friendship means everything to me and i am really grateful for that person's company. Shit. Now i feel all empty and alone.

10 more days to go before i fly back... i have absolutely no idea how to feel now. Uncertainties. I hate uncertainties.

Its funny how twisted my year can be... let fate decide for the rat

2008-02-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

Its the fourth day of the lunar new year. For past years, i would frantically search through the newspapers and watch the tv for the fortune of the rats in the respective years. Perhaps fate made it this way. I've had no chance of reading any articles about the fate of the rat in the rate year. And I missed out the fortune teller reading the fate of the rate.

Perhaps its meant to be this way. The more I look at it, the more it seems to be this way. I have no idea how 2008 will treat me. How twisted my life in the year of the rat will be. In a certain way, life was already twisted in January. Things that i expected happen didnt happen. Things that i didnt expect to happen happened.

Everything in my life seem to be tumbling, roaring, freewheeling downwards. Like a spiral staircase, I'll continue to fall till i reach the basement, where surprises will lie ahead. Be it good or bad, you'll never know. Just like how in the movie nancy drew finds a clue that leads her to find the mystery of the famous actress dahliff draycof. Maybe i'll find the missing pieces to my life in that basement, but till now, i am still spiraling downwards.... god knows when i'll reach the basement....

2oo8

2008-01-13T07:06:00.000-08:00

WELcomE To mY firST poST of 2008... and also my first post after 3 months...

Been too lazy to blog about stuff. When i have all the thoughts, i have no mood to write them down. And when i have the mood to blog, nothing comes to mind...

Anyways, hopefully everyone would have their 2007 resolutions met.

I was gonna make a long entry on my second semester in 2007. I had planned out what to write during the exam period, but after that, i lost the urge to write. Shall leave it till i come back to perth.

Anyways, 2008 for me is gonna be a challenging one, as well as a life-changing one. Yes. Life changing. I've been making plans for 2008 as well as thinking about it, even up till today, about 2008. Why is it so life-changing? Because in July 2008, i officially graduate. Something that i have been pinning for, longing for so long has finally come. But when its coming, i dont quite want it to come. I enjoy student life v. much now, esp after doing this internship. However, the time will come, and i'll have to make many decision, which i think will be v. life changing for me.

The most important issue for me now is whether to stay in Perth to take my PR. Been thinking about it for a v. long time. Most imptly, the question comes: " What is making me take my PR?"
3 reasons come to mind:

1) Better future (in terms of job opportunities overseas)
2) To get cheaper sch fees for my psych honours
3) shorter working hours

Been having mixed signals from friends. SOme tell me its worth taking. They say so many ppl go this this this place to work, get work exp, then come back, have higher pay. Some ppl say stay in spore, cos i'll have more friends here, more fun.

Still considering. I'm 24 this year. Staying another 2 years or so in Perth means a lot to me. A dead, boring, Perth, considering i dont really have much close friends there makes a diff. Spending my youth there makes a difference, something i care v. much of. A women's value goes down with age. I dont want to be stuck in a place where i cant make the best out of my youth.

Still have no idea what i am goin to do... well, shall think further...

okies, i cant think of anything to write now... when i think of something, i'll blog it down.

Happy 2008 everyone!

Exams and my sis!

2007-11-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

Exam time...

Words to describe my feelings:

1) stress: doing 5 units is no joke, esp with 3 psych units which i plan to score

2) sad: dont know why, but this semester seems to be v. diff from the rest. Not so enjoyable. Shuffle between library and home.

3) sianz: just wanna graduate and work. 4 years of uni is more than enough!

1 screwed paper gone and 4 more to go...

Never minds about that.

The reason why I am blogging now is to wish my sister, Jonette Lee Shu Xia good luck for her o'levels!

You can do it mei mei!

And always remember that your sister is here to support you!

Let's jiayou together and go through the hard times!

love ya!

Linkin Park Concert!

2007-10-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all for not blogging for soooo long!

These past month has been absolutely tiring... I know how it feels not to have enough sleep every night.... Been addicted to caffine... not one day goes where i have to have at least 3 cups of tea everyday.... up till a time whereby caffine effects have worn out... and where i really need sleep... nonetheless, i am still lacking of sleep... thank god i've handed in 3 dreadful assignments... and i hope i'll do well....

Anyways, the highlight of last week has been the Linkin Park concert! YEs, I had a chance to go for it in Perth! @BUrswood dome. It was a last min decision. I didnt have any tix cos none of my friends were interested. UNTIL.... A friend wanted to sell 2 tix. Surprisingly at the last min, I could find Lisan to go for the concert with me.

The concert was at 8pm. Stupid us arrived at 7pm after having dinner at Northbridge. Thank God we found parking within 20 mins. Before the concert, i got myself a LP t-shirt which costs $45. Woo hoo!

WE both got a standing tix, i.e. being in the mosh pit. After many concert experiences from my housemate Jason, Lisan and I decided to stand at the back of the standing area so that we could see the whole stage. he was right. If we were standing at the front, we would have been blocked out by many ppl who were at least a head taller than us! Damn Australians! Or rather Damn us! For being so short... sighz... this was one of the few times i wished i was taller.

The opening act started at 7 30pm where Chris Conelly performed. It got quite boring after half an hour. However, they performed for a straight hour before they left the stage! We waited and waited and waited...

AND ONLY AFTER HALF AN HOUR AT 9PM did LP COME OUT!!!! WOw... the crowd went absoultely CRAZY!!!! I couldnt believe I got to see them!! All these while, I've been blasting LP music in my room, Blasting their songs so that i could get to sleep... And now, i've got a chance to see them live! CHESTER was ABSOULTELY AWESOME! WHEN HE SCREAMED, THE CROWD WENT WILDDDD!!!!!! INcluding me! They played tracks from meteora, which i like, such as somewhere i belong, numb, from the inside. Not to mention new tracks such as What've I've Done and with you. However, Lisan and i was most high when In the End was performed. I absoultely love that song!!! Throughout the whole concert, i jumped, moshed, screamed and clapped! High high high was the word!!! Hahahaha

At 9 30, the concert ended. According to past history, there would be an encore performance. However, after the concert, everyone started leaving. Lisan and i stared at each other. Being enthusiastic LP fans, we waited for 10 mins to see if anyone would shout "ENCORE!" No one DID!!! Oh man.... and then someone came out!!!!

TO DISMANTLE THE STAGE!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Lisan and I were soooo disappointed. One and a half hours. It had gotta be the shortest concert i ever attended. But all was still good. I got my LP T-shirt, and i got a chance to see them perform live. Could be better, i think!

answering a tag @ 3 40am in the morning..

2007-09-18T12:38:00.002-07:00

yeap, i am in the midst of listening to my i lecture for AFM (applied financial management). Still have 3 more lects to go but getting bored of it...

So, i've decided to answer Jasmine's tag which i just happen to see a few hours ago...

You must answer each question in three words.

Where is your cell phone? On my table.

Boyfriend? I dont have!

Hair? Smells like Loreal!

Your favorite item(s)? My Acer Laptop!

Your dream last night? Its a secret!

Your favorite drink? errr... no... favourite....

Your dream boy? musical, romantic, nice.... (=P)

The room you are in? Hmm... my bedroom...

Your fear? Living in isolation

What do you want to be in 10 years? Ooh... a psychologist! ;)

Who did you hang out with last night? Hmm... too many....

What are you not? tall, smart, attached! (ah-ha! I love my answer!)

Are you in love? I... don't... know...

One of your wish list items? Hmm.. can't think...

What time is it? Its AFM time (3 40am on a Wednesday :( ).

The last thing you did? Listened to i-lecture

What are you wearing? Haa... my pyjamas!

Your favorite book? Harry Potter series. (Only same answer as Miss Yim!)

The last thing you ate? Fishball Mee Sua

Your summer? Beach, tan, Bikinis!

Your relationship status? Single & Available

What is on your tv screen? Nothing... its off!

When is the last time you laughed? hmm... cant remember...

Last time you cried? Cant remember too...

School? Hoo Haa Great!

Your mood? Bored, stressed, sleepy...

Your friends? In spore now

What are you thinking about right now? How to pass AFM! ( I dont care if its 4 words now!!!)

Your car? My Hyundai Excel

What are you doing at this moment? Keeping myself awake!

Your life? experiencing life maximally!

My chance for psychology honours!

2007-09-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

An e-mail made my night!

I was being sent an e-mail about the application of psychology honours. I thought it was similar to the one i read last year (they send the e-mail to all students who are doing third year units). Well, the entry requirements to honours was the same. However, my eyes sparkled when i read this part...

In 2008 we will make at least 16 additional Honours places available to students who do not meet all of these requirements. These will be awarded on a competitive basis by inspection of grades in level 3 Psychology units. Even if you fall short of the Honours requirements you are strongly encouraged to apply.

Can I start mid – year?
A Yes, but it takes 3 semesters to complete so you must be able to enroll part-time. Mid – year places are not offered to students who miss out on the grades.

oh man.... my eyes lited up as soon as i read these few sentences. THey're giving out 16 more honours position! And i get to start mid year! This couldnt be more perfect becos 1) i finish in june next year, which is perfect timing to start my honours and 2) I take a longer time to finish my honours = less stressed and more time to complete my thesis!

woo hoo! This couldnt be delightful than it is now. No, not delightful... better than that! I've been wanting to do honours ever since i attended the psych conference. Plus an honours student in UWA just told me that spore accepts a psych student for a "psychologist" position as long as they have a min honours in psych!

So now, I'm gonna apply for the honours programme and hopefully, i'll be able to get in.

These means a lot of things. My results for my psychology units this semester is v. crucial. I've gotta get all distinctions for my psychology units. Which means i gotta ace my assignment and my exam.

On top of all these, i am overloading this semester. Means i am doing an extra 2 commerce units. I am dying in finance... I've got a mid sem this thurs and i have no idea what the unit is talking abt.... I was on the verge of giving up my finance major until noelle and shireene was like " hey nic, u're already almost there! How can u give up your finance?"

So now, i'm gonna work real hard to get my distinctions for my psych units and pass my commerce units. Been trying to work real hard this sem. On top of iss stuff. Iss stuff overwhelms me sometimes. So much more things are happening than i expect.

Also been doing tonnes of readings. Sometimes i read and read and i dont even know whether its goin into my head. And the worse part is that my eyes get really blurry after reading for v. long.

In order achieve my goals, its the time or at least till the end of the semester where i really need everyone's understanding and patience. Be understanding that i dont have time to go out now except for iss events. Be understanding that i might not want to spend time cooking dinner sometimes cos i have to rush on assignments (hehee... hmm i was wondering if my housemate would be kind enough to cook dinner for me sometimes...) Be encouraging and give me the motivation and support to reach my goals... Pls try to understand if i cant make it for stall duties or mcw events as i have to do my assignments... lastly, i think i am gonna get really stressed for my finals... so be paitent with me and understand if i get really stressed....

Yeah... that's all i've got. My head's almost exploding from studying for AFM. Wish me luck for that! Cos i think i need it right now!!!

Move over cupid, there's friendster...

2007-09-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

A totally irrelevant title.. cant think of anything better at the moment..

Its been a whopping 5 years since i came to perth. However, my spore friends always knew exactly the right words to say when i just got over something sad or bad or negative..

one of them's Maggy. And I am so glad in this pt in time she told me these.. cos these are what i needed to hear the most now...

(our conversation on msn)

Mag says:
u have ur gd pts

Mag says:
just tt different ppl 's acceptance differs

Mag says:
just be yourself

Mag says:
live happily

Mag says:
tt's more impt

Mag says:
besides. u have gone thru so much

Mag says:
so it makes u an even sronger person now.

Mag says:
life moulds u to become stronger

Mag says:
if not life wld be meaningless

Mag says:
its tought for u out there ..alone

Mag says:
tough

Mag says:
i understand

Mag says:
i will drop by ur blog more often

Mag says:

:)

Maggy & I =)

There's a reason why she's such a good friend of mine...

Thanks mag... for that little spirit that u've given me...

I won my last ticket to my future!

2007-09-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

Hehehehe... I am at Noelle's house blogging now... I took her all the way home so that she could drive her car to Utopia... We're both gonna watch the preliminary rounds of the Utopia karaoke competition. Cool!

Before that, I just went to confirm my booking for suyen and I's combined birthday party at Onyx Bar. Hopefully its gonna be great! Oh, and I took jason to the airport to get a DHL package which was uncessfully delivered to our place. Ahh.. inside the package was Jason mum's hint of getting Jason to come up with Plan M. Hehe.. shall not say any further, but oh Jason, shouldnt Plan G come first? Time to think about it... hehehhehe...

Oohh.. and I just secured my last ticket to my future. When I was having a psych lab this morning at 9am, my tutor just reminded me of a psychology honour's conference happening next mon from 9am to 5pm. WE have to queue up to get tickets for the conference, which just happens to be at the reception 3 levels below. We ended class just 5 mins before 10am. Most of my classmates were down waiting for the tickets. Well, i thought to myself I prob wouldnt have the time to go cos i have a mid sem and 3 assignments. And I Wasnt sure if i was gonna do honours. BEsides, i had plans to go for KTV with Noelle. So i walked straight out of the psych building and towards the reid library where i was gonna meet her. On the way there, i kept thinking about the conference. One hand was "it would really be a good opportunity to see what honours is all abt, the diff kinds of projects etc, and also good for my lab report cos i would have an idea how to write a better lab report blah blah..." but on the other hand, i was thinking " Ah, i have better plans with Noelle... and i am not sure if i am gonna do honours, and i want to do counselling psych which would only be offered in murdoch or curtin.. blah blah" My mind was still swinging both ways till i reached the reid library to print out my notes. I already pressed print on the computer. But I wasnt at ease. At that point in time, my legs took control. I walked out of the library and, as fast as my legs could take me, i sprinted to the psych building (5 mins walk away...) and asked for a ticket. The receptionist asked me" did you e-mail me to ask for a ticket?" I shook my head. Oh yeah... i received an e-mail a few days ago abt the conference and i had to e-mail the receptionist my interest in goin for the conference so that I could get a ticket. Damn! But then she said" Ooh, you are so so lucky. There is only one ticket left..." I was soooo happy! I grabbed the ticket like a happy child and grinned while leaving the building. Woo hoo! I get to go to the conference! U have no idea how badly i wanted to pursue my psychology career. Even to the extent of giving up my finance major... Hopefully, the conference will be useful... Hehe... and hopefully, i'll be able to do honours in psych in UWA =)

Okies, gotta go to Utopia now. Check out all the good singers. Tata! Till then...

so you have not heard from the long lost shuhui/nicole

2007-09-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

I dont know if its becos i am so caught up with everything else except to blog or becos i lost the mood to blog... so many feelings i wanna express... but so few words can protray what i am feeling right now... mix of many emotions i've never felt before... whole new experience... whole new dimension... ah... life of shuhui/nicole has taken a new turn... a good one i hope.... whole new events and thoughts to put into the little book of my life...

anyways, back the the usual, mundane, boring stuff. Well, just finished an audit-mid sem on saturday. This is the paper which i am most unprepared for. Well, passable is good enough for me at this pt in time.

Overloading this semester is not easy. On top of the other things which always seem to find its way for me. A colourful and vibrant uni life, as Lisan would say. The Reid library seemed to be my second home for now. When i get back home, i cant seem to study... no mood to do anything. Just wanna stare at my msn and stone... Seeing other people study in the library makes me study; cos there are others like me who are studying as well. Makes me feel nerdy.

On another note, I've just organised a trip to chittering valley. Went to the honey factory to see honey making process, have a bit of honey tasting; follwed by a tour to the orchard. Had a chance to pick mandrines from the orchard and eat them. They're so sweet! Compared to the ones i bought, which were sour :( We then went to the winery where i was grilling sausages for lunch and the rest were out there having wine tasting... oh man... but i bought one for myself... sweet! Lastly, went to the maze where we all had to get our way out of it. The girls got quite lost while the boys were way ahead. Nonetheless, we all found our way out... hehehe

Suyen & I @ the Orchard @ Chittering Valley

other than that, i've been picking up the guitar a few weeks back. To my astonishment, i've been having the urge to play every night. For at least an hour... trying to write songs, but not quite successful. Been playing a few songs now, trying to improvise them. Not quite a contestant in idol shows yet. But yeah, hopefully substantiative for something coming up quite soon.... well, shall not say further...

Right, my trip to the eastern states. Hehehe... quite lazy to post pics up at the moment. Oh, but i uploaded quite a few on my friendster. Take a look at them!

Oh, and i would like to welcome 2 new readers, mr lamomok and mr little jay chou, andu! Haha.. love your blogs! Keep it up! I'll be both of your faithful readers!

thoughts about work...

2007-08-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

I was sitting down having lunch with jasmine yest and we were watching footie when she asked me," Do you know the rules of footie?"

I shaked my head. I work in the bar in the oval that holds footie matches but yet i dont know anything abt it. My colleagues, all female, never talks abt footie. Some dont even watch footie. What we talk abt are "yeah, where are u going tonite? The Deen? Eurobar e.t.c" We talk abt uni and other random stuffs to keep the shift goin.

Then again, I realised something impt. Its not abt whether u like what your job is abt; you can be an ordinary clerk guy in the office... its abt who u are working with that's impt... finding nice colleagues that u can clique with is impt to keep your mundane, boring, sometimes stressful working day goin....

Reformat

2007-08-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

I just reformatted my comp... becos of a trojan virus... luckily my hard disk has space to put my pics, music and shows... hehehhee

Sometimes i wonder if humans can reformat like a computer... get rid of all the viruses... erase all the memories and start anew... well, if most of them are bad ones, it gives them a chance to live a happy life...

On a side note: I've been hearing this quote from 2 friends in 2 days, so just thought i'll share....

"Looking for love is just like a toilet bowl; the good and clean ones have been washed away... what's left is just full of shit..."

Engulfed...

2007-08-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

I know I was supposed to blog a looonnng time ago... SOrry to all who have been waiting for my entries...

If sem 1 was busy, sem 2 was crazy...

Like what was predicted, what i never expected happened... too many new changes this semester... in ISS alone, ppl quit, new ppl took over.... my life too.... after the trip seemed to be a whirl.... things that i did not expect happen.... take studies for e.g. I knew i was busy, but i didnt expect it to be that busy.... i had nearly 200 pages of readings to do each week... audit, social psych, abnormal psych, developmental psych... till date, i havent completed my readings yet...

New circumstances have formed as well... some have taken me aback... some have left me feeling hard to deal with at times.... in the end, what came was frustration, a little bit of sadness, a little bit of sianess that was a little hard to deal with... thank god it got better in the 4th week of sch....

getting my groove back for uni... hopefully i'll be able to cope with all... uni, ISS, work, time to play... I miss singing Ktv, i miss going shopping, i miss having tim sum, and i miss getting more than 8 hours of sleep a day....

On another note, I've started thinking abt what i want to do in the future... it looks bleak... many options and choices are possible... stay in aussie and do my honours in psych, go back to spore and work, stay in aussie and get my PR, e.t.c e.t.c e.t.c..... age, family, friends, job prospects all came to my thoughts... confused, confused, confusing....

Will blog sooon abt my 3 week trip! Stay tuned!

This Blog is Not Dead Yet!

2007-08-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys!

Uni just started and its been heaps busy. Sch work has increased cos i am overloading this semester, there's tons of stuff to do for ISS, been going out quite a lot as well.

There are plenty of things to update. To sum it up, the past month, ie month of july has been absolute crazy. New situations have been formed, and I am amazed and awed as to how everything could happen. As I said, everything is soooo not what I planned out or expected to be. But all in all, I am still trying to deal with the situation. Anyways, let me sort things out first then i'll start blogging again... In the meantime, i am trying to catch up with the humongous amt of readings to do...

wish me luck in dealing with everything that I have now...

Ciao! Till then....

Concluding My First Semester of 2007

2007-06-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

I was gonna blog about this for a very long time... wanted to say so much and thank so much people. Now that the exam is over, its the best time to blog abt it.

To be honest, i wasnt expecting much when i was bound for Perth again. I had such a good time holidaying in Spore. I mean, the e3 dogs were great! Going out with them to Bangkok, having yearly gatherings at my house, and going to MOS as my farewell back, god i love them. When the time came to go back to perth, i was really upset. I didnt wanna come back at all. Truthfully, honestly, 2006 sucked. I wasnt happy at all the whole year. Uni sucked. Granted though, being in MCW and meeting all the wonderful people which turned out to be some of the greatest friends that i have all time was the highlight of 2006. But yeah, the feeling was undescribable. Was crying heaps. Sometimes alone in my room, sometimes when my housemates.

I remembered boarding the plane back to Perth with Suyen and Jon. Almost cried when I got seperated with them. Wasnt really myself when i was in the airport. Became all quiet and different. Wasnt looking forward about going back. I had a few plans in mind to keep myself really occupied. One, I was going to go work more this year. Get a longer hour part-time job. Was gonna travel and of cos, maintain my baby (Its still a secret what my baby is. But if you know, shhhhhh...dont say it or mention it anywhere in my blog). Just that my baby drinks a lot of water. Yeah, and that costs money. Two, I was gonna be part of ISS and i guess that takes up time as well. Since i'm committed to it, might as well do a good job on it! Somemore i know most of the people already, so its cool! And I like all of them! Three, I am gonna put in more effort in knowing God. Join a bible study group. Know the bible more, and thus God's word more. Yeah, that was my initial plan.

Who knows? Part of the plan was realised, but what was more amazing was what wasnt planned happened. ANd you know what? It was better than what I expected. Let me elaborate.

Jon & I

Suyen, My Lezzie Partner & I

I came back to Perth and got straight into orientation. Spent a lot of days with Suyen, my lezzie. Enjoyed every minute of it! From suyen's speech to bringing new international students from the maths lab to GP3 for their enrolment. I always enjoyed hanging out with my lezzie partner. Always there to protect me, esp this year! (hehe... I wont go into the details. ONly she and I know it. And thank you lezzie!) And also being with jon. Spent a lot of time with jon and suyen before uni started. Lunch, dinners, beaches, everything. Love them. Great fun!

Uni then started. Well, life before uni was not too bad. To top it all off, uni was better. Both during lecture/tutorial times and lunch times. I'll talk about lectures first.

Noelle & I =)

Well, i didnt know anyone in my CFP lecture. It was okie, cos i skipped most of it anyway. I listened to all the i lectures (I had to... if not i cant do my tute!) I knew some people doing FATP, like Jason, Yujhyn, Shireene, Anny, Christine, and got to know some of their friends. However, didnt go much towards the end of the semester. Actually half. It was 9 am in the morning. Hehe.. The highlight of all, however was Psychology. Its so much fun and interesting becos of this one girl. Noelle Loh. Psychology is interesting, and Noelle makes the hard part much better! Got to know her last year during MCW. And this year, we're both doing the same psychology units! This is one hellva smart babe. We sit together during lectures, have the same labs together. After our labs, we would go out for lunch together. Through this process, we became really good friends. We could click really well. We talk about shows, (we both love korean shows) and everything under the sun. We discussed our assignments together, and helped each other out. Although Noelle's an ABC, i dont feel she's one! She can speak and write chinese, and boy, her english is fantastic! Its like she's 80 up on the scale and i'm 30. Without her, I dont know how I'll manage to pull through doing psych. She's a good company, lights up my lects and labs, to a friend that i hang out with and talk to. EVen pouring out my heart to her. And yeah, the dreadful exams that we have to sit through. We'll call each other everyday and support each other. When we put down the phone, we'll always say "Jiayou!" until the point where she says "Jiashui bah! Oil is too expensive now! LOL

ISS Peeps

Okies, back to other parts of uni. This is gonna be a long post, so bear with me. ISS. Yes, ISS. The major, integral part of my life. AS the social secretary, I've had to organise one-day social trips for international students. And i've got my first assignment. Swan valley trip for the second week of uni! I've gotta settle transport, print flyers, set up stall for sign-ups! And i was doing most of it by myself. It was super hectic. But the trip turned up great. Okies. Back to ISS. AS i've mentioned, I've got to know most of them last year. But I've got to know them at a whole new upper level this year. Gotta work with the director (my lezzie partner), the treasurer (April), My deputy (bernice), my sports secretary (Law), the secretary (angel), my assistant social sec (Cheery), MCW director (ANny), the assistant liason officer (Shireene), the liason officer (Kaysen) and many more. On the second week of uni, Suyen told us that we had to do stall and office duty, which meant an ISS stall will be set up at the guild from 12 to 2 pm everyday from 12 to 2pm. We were all rostered for it. I was down monday and tuesday from 12 to 2. I tell ya, doing stall duty totally lighted up my uni life. I spent many lunch hours getting to know the ISS peeps better. WAs doing stall duty with Kaysen and Liying. Got to know them much better. Did stall duty with Shireene, Angel, April and Anny on tues. Love chatting with them. Spent so many hours chatting, joking, having lunch together. We would get lunch from the ref (which would either be chicken rice or laksa for most of us, hehe). That totally increased my belonging to ISS. And made new awesome friends! Not forgetting all the ISS social trips and events and conferences with the ISS people and the Curtin International students services. It was great getting to know Ming, Manish and Kevin. Awesome and fun ppl to talk to. I gotta admit, i spent most of my time with ISS. Weekdays would be spent with them in stall/office, then weekends social trips, or conferences or meetings (trust me, ISS calendar is always packed when suyen takes the reigns!) ANd so, most of my time gone. Its awesome. Gotta work with different people, and I know how its like to be part of a committee of a club and see how things get done. Most of all, getting to know them. Then came a few more ordinary committee members which Suyen recruited during mid sem. Liying, Lisan, Lionel, Hun Hao, Saiffudin, Anul, Cheerong, TK, to name a few. Got to know some better, and yeah, had fun joking around with them.

Remember how i said i wanted to find a longer part-time job? I did find another one, but never for longer hours. I was introduced to this job at Subiaco Oval, where I worked at a retail bar selling alcohol. Subi Oval had matches every weekend for Footy matches (AUstralian football. THe rules are different from soccer btw. You can use both hands and legs to catch and kick/throw the ball). I only got to know max 4 hours a week. But that was a whole new total experience. I met great people at work. All my colleagues were Australians. Brownie, my supervisor, who was 18 and studies in uwa as well, Alex, And the 2 Choles. The 5 main ones behind Bar 118. I had to pour alcohol for customers, as well as the occasional cashier duties. Cashier and the bar were at seperate places. Heehee. Surprising, I could talk to them. And as time goes by, we could joke and bitch and talk to each other. I was pretty suprised myself. Brownie and I are always talking about this hot change guy that she likes, Choles and I are always talkint about uni, shows and what nots, and Alex and I, well random stuffs. I absolutely love them. And Brownie. WE even met up at uni and have lunch! And now we sms each other often. Although its just a short 4 hours, i enjoy every minute of it! My dream of working in an all aussie workplace and interacting with them have come true! Plus, we're situated right beside a stall selling food. And guess what? WE have free food after work! Chips, pies, suasage rolls! Yum yum!

As the subi oval job requires me to work some fridays, I've been inconsistent with going for bible study. However, I did manage to make it for some of my church's public meeting and the home bible study group. Got to know more people know. Like esther, Judy, My bible study leader, and a few more. ITs a small step but i am taking bigger but slower steps soon.

My housemates: 1 = Jasmine, 2=nicole, 3=Jason

Things have definitely changed at my household. Jasmine was doing honours last year and I remember how busy she was. She put in heaps of time and effort into her honours, plus a lot of time with Michael as well. Not much time left for housemates outings ( as i thought we would have in 2006. Hehe, bet jasmine and jason didnt know that). Now that Jasmine is working, and she's basically free after 5 each day and during weekends, our housemate outings have increased exponentially. And jason. He's doing Masters now. Still slack and free most of the time as usual. But amazed to say, Jason and I talk a lot more this year. I have no idea why, but it just happened. Maybe one year of staying together has opened the both of us up to each other more. We talk more, joke more, share more. I am still amazed till now, but yeah, i like the relationship that we both have as housemates now. So with housemate outings increased, housemate time together has also increased! Shopping, dinners, watching tv (well more for jason and jasmine), etc etc. Gotta be really grateful for them. With Jason taking care of me after RICE (oh that was horrible, thanks jas!) and Jasmine offering to cook for me during the dreadful exams. Shows how much they care. So besides ISS, i spend a lot of time with them too.

Jeremy & I: Taken on our birthdays (his bdae happens to be one day before mine... hee)

We have many housemates outings with the park road housemates as well. It consists of Suyen, Jon, and Jeremy. Here's a pic i've got of Jeremy above (u've seen suyen and jon's pic above when i mentioned them earlier on). Jeremy comes to our house everday to play dota with Jason. In a way, he makes the house livelier. SUyen and I hang out cos we're lezzie partners and becos we're in ISS. And Jon. We go to church together every sunday. Normally, we have the 2 households going out together for lunch, dinner, play etc. Nevertheless, we're close to each other. They're a big support to our household. Life with them is oh so always interesting! And yeah, either we go to their place or they come over to ours. I really appreciate the help that they've been giving me this semester and last year, and also the accompany! They make great company!

WIth all these great things happening, all i can say is that it has been an aweome semester! Totally unexpected. Didnt expect most of the things to happen. Most of them have been good. Been really happy and i guess it shows. And being happy has reverberations, i guess. People look at you in a totally different light and treat you differently as well. Its all good.

This concludes my first semester. And I am rewarding myself with a trip to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmania with Liying, Yin Han and Yam for 18 days. I am pretty excited about it and I hope it'll be a good trip!

Like what Suyen says, one semester is different from the other semester. And she's right. Every semester surprises me. Crossing my finger's for the next one!

And to all my Singapore friends who are reading this, I've missed you. Even though I'm really happy here in Perth now, I think of you guys a lot. Esp the e3 dogs and my good friends (waner, mag, weitian, mexian, kaili, etc). I havent seen most of you guys online already!! What happened? Always wondering what you are doing at the time i was thinking about you. And there was one time where i had to resort to asking Alvin (which i seldom see online also) to help me to msg kaili and xian to ask them how they're doing and that I've missed them! ANd MAG!! the busy auditor! Where have you been for the past month?. I havent seen you online! And WEekian! The busy studying boy. U havent been online too! Only recently.. I hope you're still my faithful blog reader... hehehe...

All in all, its been a great semester. And for all those whom I've mentioned above, I cant thank you enough for making my semester an awesome one! Let's keep this up next semester shall we?

Cazzine Cazine Caroline...

2007-06-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Okies I dont know why i am blogging this in the middle of my exams, but i have to blog about this.

I was reading Noelle's blog just now and then i clicked on the link to Caroline and Michelle's blog. Well, now its kinda like Caroline blogging only.

I was scrolling through Caroline's entry rite, and then I saw a post on the 2nd of May. Quoted from her blog:

Note to self:
Never ever, EVER scull another Smirnoff Ice, EVER AGAIN. NIC YOU ARE SO DEAD. You have ruined my reputation! RUINED I SAY!!I HOPE YOU’RE READING THIS, YOU NOW OWE ME LUNCH =) hehehe.

Haha... I just realised that Caroline mentioned about me in her blog.

And then.........................

I just realised she had a lot of blog-links.

Which means.... shit.... a lot of ppl now know what happened at RICE.

And then.....................................

I saw from her blog that i was one of her blog links.

Which means..... that a lot of ppl that i dont know about now read my blog!!! *glups*

okies Cazzine... i'll buy you lunch one day.

That is, if you read this blog and remind me about it!!

Good luck to everyone for their remaining papers ;)

exam stress

2007-06-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am really feeling it. The stress.

2 papers next wednesday.

For one, i am not sure if i can finish studying everything. I have no clue what's going on from the beginning of the semester to the end.

For the other one, I can do it but i am not confident of scoring... which is bad because i have the intentions to further on my studies for psych and if i dont ace this paper, there goes my chance of doing honours/masters....

And the worse part is, i cant seem to concentrate. Maybe its the thought that I have to retake onw whole unit again. The thought of hanging on to it is making me flutter, my hands tremble, skimming through my pages so quickly that i dont have the time to sit down and process what it going on. Memorising thousands of journal entry w/o understanding them. God....

I just want to get through these... Maybe i should have the thought of letting go and accepting the possibility of retaking the unit next year since I only have 3 units (instead of the usual 4) . Maybe it makes studying much easier...

But for now, I dont want to give up on that unit. I've come so far.... I am so gonna get through this.

So for the next three days, I am gonna be in a highly stress mode.

Maximum encouragement and minimum distrubance is advised for all readers of my blog and for ppl whom i see on msn... Thanks heaps for your understanding... I'll repay after the exams and entertain you as much as you want. For now, let me concentration on the freaking exams....

Birthdays...

2007-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

On the eve of my sister's 16th birthday,

I just found a new accquaitance of mine was born on the

SAME DAY, SAME MONTH, SAME YEAR as me!!!!!!

HOW EXCITING!!!

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY JONETTE LEE SHUXIA!

Now, back to unexciting assignments.... 4 more hours before its due... gotta finish it by 6 am... its 4 45 am in the morning btw... heheheheh

Another week has passed...

2007-05-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

The week just went pass in a whirlwind...

But its a been a good week...

Its the first time in my uni life that I managed to sort of complete an assignment a week before its due. Knowing how last min I am, this has gotta be a whopping first! Hehe... prob due to the fact that I have 2 assignments due next week and I havent started on the other one yet... oh well... another all nighter pulled on thursday I reckon...

I did a bit of catching up with some of my friends this week.

Went for dinner with Kaori and Rob. They took me to this Jap restaurant (its called Ha-Lu) near their place in Leederville. According to them, all the food there is nice. And they were right! A few things I've learned about Japanese restaurants. They usually serve hot towels to customers (like in the aeroplane) together with the menu. I tried the tempura, a nabe pot with beef (according to kaori, a v. diff kind of japanese beef), a special homemade tofu, some salad with yummilicious dressing, and had desert (ice-cream with berries plus cornflakes!) It was the most authentic Japanese restaurant I ever tried. The menu came to a whopping $40 for each person! But justified for all its worth! Had so much to chat to with Rob, for the first time in person. We usually talk a lot on msn, but its good to just talk to him face to face so much. Nothing beats talking to a person when you can see his face! And I learnt that Kaori got bitten by a dog. And the interesting stories i hear in the emergency room in fremantle hospital at the wee hours on a saturday night. hehe...

had a bit of a chat with Suyen as well... my busy lezzie partner. After my dinner with Kaori and Rob, she came looking for me, but I was not around. Went to her place after dinner. Was chatting about her assignment and her plans during the holidays. All packed! Sighz.. dont think i'll be able to travel with her in Adelaide...

And for the most surprising part, gotta talk to Limin. And for the first time, we sat down to discuss about our crazy stats assignment. I talked to her for a total of 2 hours last night. And the familiarity feeling came back... A good feeling I would say... like I feel totally comfortable talking to her, just like how I would talk to Wan'er, Eme, Mag, Tian & Yu. Reminds me of the endless hours of chat with my spore friends...

And I just put down the phone with Noelle. This girl, my psychology assignment-lab-lecture partner, whom I grew so close to this year. I am so glad she's in my life right now... Becos of her, doing psych is so much more enjoyable... we would discuss assignments together... chat together.. bitch together... And we just talked on the phone for 2 hours. Talking to her is also like talking to waner... We just click.... oh girl, I am so waiting for exams to be over! Then we can go sing Ktv and have jap and korean food!

Not to mention talking to my housemates more this week... Talking about my CFP tutor, Jason's master's coursemate and the adelaide, tasmania and melbourne trip this winter break! Its almost confirmed! I'll be going to these 3 states for 2 weeks... I am so excited and I cant wait!!! Woo hoo!

Alrights.. I hope I can pull through my next assignment... Till then... more crazy weeks to come.... I've got a paper on the 9th of June, 2 papers on the 13th of June, and my last paper on the 13th of June...

so envious of my spore friends... all has finished exams... like kian.. hehe... I see all online now... for the past few months, I havent been able to talk to anyone cos all are not online... wanna know how u guys are doing now! So tag me and let me know how you guys are!

I've been tagged... hence 10 interesting things about myself!

2007-05-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

hehehe... I've just been tagged by Jason.... and I'm quite sian from doing my finance tute, so here goes... 10 interesting things about myself which I bet some of you dont know!!!

1) When I cant go to sleep, I often blast music in my Discman (now MP3) player to sleep! And it helps! My fav music to blast to sleep is Linkin Park. Woo hoo! Play that meterora album man!

2)I go to the toilet v. often. And I mean v. often. I can go to the toilet at 8 pm, and 5 mins later, i'll go to the toilet again. Friends often say I have a bladder problem. I think i need to get my bladder checked.

3) ACcording to my dad, being a Lee family and a hakka is a minority in spore. And u're pretty lucky if you can find someone that belongs to both. I found 2. One is Ryan, my ex-psychology group mate. Like me, he used to visit our hakka hometown in China. The other, whom my dad told me, was Lee Kuan Yew. Cool eh? I am somehow related to him!

4) I have heaps of cousins. My dad has 13 siblings. I cant remember how many ppl there are in my dad's family. More than 100, i think. Including my new born nieces and nephews.

5) Well, I used to be in the choir in sec school.

6) I learnt drumming a year ago for a short 2 months. So I can now play the piano, the guitar and drum. What's left is learning how to turn tables, which is what i want to achieve before I turn 30.

7) Okies. This might be a little bit embarrassing. When I was in primary school, I was soo stressed about my final exams that I had insomnia. I would then go over to sleep with my mum, and she had to pat my backside (like a baby) to sleep. And I could only fall asleep an hour or 2 before I had to wake up again. It was dreadful I tell ya. It happened for a good 3 years of my life (pri 4 to 6... haiz... damn streaming and PSLE... I cant help it... I was put in the best pri sch in spore.. the pressure was there...)

8) The more encouragement I get, the better I perform. I cant succumb to pressure, but with adequate compliments, assurances, and nudging, i perform better!

9) I wont be able to survive a day being alone by myself. I need to talk to someone at least in a day. So putting me in isolation is the worst torture for me, ever....

10) This is somehow related to no 1. I fantasize being a rock chick, jamming the electric guitar away. The louder, the more deafening, the more metal it is, the more i like. I really hope I can play in a band one day, but this doesnt seem possible in reality.

Yeah, that's it folks! 10 things about myself =) hAve a good day tomorrow you all!

Mum's always right =)

2007-05-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

I got back from dinner at 9 plus today. Picked up my phone and tried to call home. Phone was engaged. Called 3 times. Still engaged. Gave up and sent mum an e-card instead. Told sis on msn to tell mum tomorrow. sis said if she remembers, she'll tell her. Cant wish mum on that day now.

Anyways, I've been wanting to blog about my mum for a v. long time. Hehe... funny huh? Well, its only been these few years when i am a thousand miles away from mummy that i realised one thing: SHE'S ALWAYS RIGHT ABOUT ME.

It sounds creepy, scary, intimidating, all sorts that you can think of. But reflecting upon it, its 100% true.

A few years back while I had my JC ball, mum went shopping with me and chose my ball dress for me. A simple black dress. Yet she told me how to accessorise myself to look good. Mum was right. I did look good, I have to admit. Even friends taught so.

When I was in uni and I faced huge friendship problems, mum taught me how to be a more tactful person. Mum taught me how to be a more lovable person. Mum knew me inside out. She knew how i was like, how i behaved, what i should do to make life better. Mum's suggestions were always right. Her logic is un-arguable. Yet mum is ever so supportive of all my decisions, esp coming to aus to study and furthermore assuring i would have adequate finances to do a double degree.

Most of all, mum was right in how I could make my life better in Aus. Perhaps mum did understand how i felt when i was in perth. But mum had her own problems and couldnt help as much. However, i couldnt help mum as much. I tried to help her by hiding most of my problems from her. Assuring her that I was doing alright in Perth.

I did tell mum eventually how life was like and she did give me a few pointers to make my life better in Perth.

I wanna say this so much. And I wanna publicly declare it on my blog.

Mummy, thanks for all the advice. Thanks for the encouragement to join iss. Meeting the current iss committee and working with them has been the best part of my uni life. Thanks for allowing me to work, after acknowledging that I could handle my studies. But most of all, thanks for giving me the ability to buy my "baby"... You have no idea how much joy having my baby, which I now name NG. I love it v. much and I will take care of it.

One thing I learnt. Listen to my mummy. She's always right. And now, I wish I was beside her at the very instant, talking to her.....

Happy mother's day! To all mothers! =)

officially the worst day of my semester..

2007-05-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

I just handed in a screwed up group assignment. Groupmates who arent collarborative. Ended up doing most of the assignment. Groupmates who did stuff last min. Then gave it to me without any refrencing. Spent the whole morning doing the assignment. Felt so drained after that. Couldnt even do my lab. Went into iss room. All cold faces. Went to lab. I see unappreciative faces. Went home. Felt worse. Took all calls today. None sounded happy.

In times like these, i really appreciate the good friends that I have. Thanks Noelle for jiayouing for me yest. Thanks mag for lending a listening ear as ever. Thanks Jason, for making an effort to help me proof read my assignment. Just the effort of saying "yeah, i'll help you read it" and not say "oh, I cant help you, sorry."

Feel like shit today...

ooh... asian food at northbridge!

2007-05-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

I felt so happy today even though i only slept for 5 hours last night..

My tutorial ended at 9 am in the morning. As always, I'm looking for stuff to do. So, I decided to go to northbridge to get lunch and bring it for stall duty, which starts at noon. I went to EMMA'S SEAFOOD, where they sell yong tau foo stuff and also asian products. I went to the cooked food section and saw that they had seafood noodles, meaning they had your usual yong tau foo stuff such as fishball, fishcakes, wanton etc plus mee pok noodles! I havent touched mee pok since i got back to perth! Then something caught my eye... CHEE CHEONG FUN!!! WOw! I havent had chee cheong fun in ages as well! The spore style where they had dark sweet sauce over the chee cheong fun. I decided to get that for dinner, since I was going to catch spiderman 3 in the evening and i have no time to cook (I'm working in the afternoon). Woo hoo!

After which, I went to DA SHI JIE, this taiwanese shop which sells mainly taiwanese products, some of which i've never seen before in spore!!! I decided to get a ginseng crysenthemum tea (bottled one which only costs $1.20) and a red tea (also bottled for the price of $1.20)! haha, so all in all, i spent $12 for both lunch and dinner. All asian food and yummilicious! I felt soooo satisfied. I then went to buy meat for the house. After I went to another asian supermarket (VHT), i came across this packet of mabo tofu sauce. Suddenly, i had this urge to cook mabo tofu for dinner tomorrow. I couldnt find the silken tofu in VHT, so i walked all the way back (5 mins walk) to EMMA's to get the tofu.

I was grinning on the way home. I felt sooo happy. I havent had a weekday to myself for the past month. Time to leisurely shop around at northbridge, and to buy such cheap and yummulicious food! Haha.. I was singing and grooving to all the songs played on the radio. I hoped no one saw what i was doing... hehe

tumbulgum farm

2007-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

I am happy i gave up 4 hours of my pay ($80!!!) for a trip to tumbulgum farm.

I saw a cow named bernie, and bernice, my MBGU friend, milked bernie today! Hehe.. we were all teasing bernice today about bernie. It was hilarious..

Its the first time we had a bbq in our trip. all thanks to all the iss peeps/iss peep bfs/ISC peeps who helped to bbq! Hehe. Law, Kaysen, April, Joe (April's bebe), Ming, Manish, Adrianna, me , bernice were bbq the chickens, sausages, sweet potatoes, sweet corn and garlic bread the whole time! haha. It was heaps of fun!

There was a sheap shearing demonstration. Plus, there was an aboriginal video and I saw how the sheep dog, henry, gathered all the sheeps back to the farm. Coolness!

After lunch, i bought 2 packs of animal feed and shared it with everyone. I was feeding this cow and sheep who seemed to have flu. They had mucus outside their noses... ewww... i kept wondering whether i was goin to get flu after feeding them...

On a side note, my colleagues and I were talking about UWA at work. I told my supervisor (who likes the change guy) that I saw him at UWA! And guess what? He's doing law! woow... I asked my supervisor to go for it! And then when I was giving change to a customer, I dropped his change, a dollar coin, into his drink. He and his wife kept laughing and said that they'll find his drinks after they finish the beer. I couldnt stop laughing too! And then i met Jeanette! my ex mcw promos head! We went to have dinner at northbridge and chatted and chatted and chatted. It seemed like we've known each other for ages but we havent seen each other in a long time! hehehe..

so much fun yest and today! Yeah! a reward after handing in 2 dreadful assignments on friday!

Of Fun & Stress...

2007-05-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

I got to see both sides of australian primary school children today.

Before I started work at Kumon, I saw students having a music class. They listened to pop music (I definitely remember hearing it on radio but i cant remember the name!) and they were singing and grooving to it. My supervisor's daughter (who happens to work in Kumon as well) told me she missed music classes. How fun is that! My immediate thought was that we could never get that in Singapore. Singapore music teachers will never let us hear pop music in music class. All we can listen to is probably "marikita singapura" or "chan-mail-chan" or "stand up for singapore"!!!

Whilst I was in the midst of marking papers at work, I heard my supervisor talking to a student about how he feels about his dad giving him so much work. As he was talking, he was sobbing away. Poor boy... He feels v. stressed about sch work already. Then I heard along the lines of "My dad wants me to excel in getting good grades to beat what he achieved in school. And he didnt do well at all in studies!" Oh boy.... I can never imagine an AUSTRALIAN BOY being stressed in PRIMARY SCHOOL! Oh well, he's an Asian. Maybe all asian parents feel the same way. I know I felt tremendously stressed when I was in Pri sch. I couldnt sleep at all before my exams. Mum had to sleep beside me so that I could fall asleep....

To me, pri school seem aeons away... now my goal is to get through my last hurdle in school life: UNI

Of R.I.C.E & 2 assignments

2007-04-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

I think I had the most unforgettable moment at R.I.C.E. on friday night. Shant elaborate. All the ISS peeps/housemates/friends of housemates know. I'm glad that suyen and Alex were there to help me that night. Thanks a lot!

I've 2 assignments due this friday. Havent quite started on one yet. Not in the mood to do it. Dont know why. Havent been sleeping well for the past few days.

Oh well... one and a half more months to the holidays!! Can't wait man!
My tasmania, Melbourne and Adelaide trip. Now 4 confirmed ppl going: Me, Liyun, Yam & Yinhan! Woo hoo!!!!

BRING THE HOLIDAYS ONNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Anzac Day

2007-04-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

The pressure is finally over. Mid-semesters finished. RElieved. Few days worth of hard work paid off. Think i'll do alright.

Today's a public Holiday. Anzac day. Australia remembering soldiers who died from the war in Gallipeoli (shucks, might be wrong spelling). Dear Jasmine whom wanted to go for the Anzac memorial service for years couldnt wake up at 5 am to go. heee heee heee... Couldnt stop teasing her about it.

Made pancakes for breakfast. Yummy pancakes with honey and jam and peanut butter!
Conclusion: Yummilicious and satisfying!

Assignment day. Two assignments due end of next week. Weekend gone.

Friday: Working at night then going for Rice (this huge clubbing event!)
Saturday: Morning (hangover from friday night), afternoon (iss meeting at 2 plus grocery shopping plus photoshoot for lighthouse... sighz... stupid chris hee hee)
Sunday: Morning (church), afternoon (work)

Oh yeah, and did i mention i plan to go adelaide, tasmania and melbourne during the winter break? ITs in mid july. for all my spore peeps, if you could come, join me for my aussie trip! It'll be loads of fun!

Thinking of Travelling to London and Hk as well. Jing promised accomodation in London. Lucia and my cousin promised to take me around plus i could prob stay with my cousin.

Haiz... so many travel plans... got the time for it but no money...

I need a sugar daddy... any takers?

... wouldnt go away... neither will ....

2007-04-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

The mounted pressure to do well for tomorrow's exam is getting too much for me...
The stress wouldnt go away... neither would my headaches that i've been getting for the past few days...

If I dont do well, this wouldnt justify the other things that I do. Be it joining ISS or working... Trying to cut down on every other thing and focusing on my exam... i hope you understand that studying is my no one priority... sorry if i spent less time cooking...

On the other hand, fear wouldnt go away... neither would my insecurity...
waiting... when the feeling came so strongly for the past few days... the feeling of getting into one... deep inside knowing that it wont happen.... just waiting... when i dont know how long i can stand it anymore... waiting... when the desire to go back to spore is so strong... when i can just pick up a phone call and i know my good friends be willing to spare me a few hours for dinner... waiting... when i know that my good friends will be there to hug me...

Thanks wan'er and mag... I feel so much better just because u cared to ask how i was and offered a hug...

1 min per line...

2007-04-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

I only covered half of what I was supposed to cover in my study plan for the easter break. I tried, but somehow nothing seems to go in.

Been having headaches for the past few days. The more I think about it, the more painful it gets. I feel stressed thinking about my CFP mid sem on saturday.

The desire to do well in studies is mounting. So much so that I cant breathe. I wanna slack. I feel so good when I do other things besides studying, ie watch hk shows, chat on msn, check e-mail, grocery shopping etc.

Even my FATP tute is halfway done.

I need a day's off. To unwind the whole day.

I know time's not on my side but can I have a day off pleassseee?

One week gone

2007-04-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

I didnt go ice-skating.

But watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made up for it. The long-awaited movie.
I lurrve Michalangelo. He never fails to crack me up! My fav ninja of all times!

Out of the list of 6 items, i did 3.

2) Go ice-skating (x)
5) Ktv (x)
6) Go eat Ciao Italia (x)

I have been wanting to go Ciao Italia for the longest time. Its supposed to have the best wood-fired pizza in the world... and Jeremy, a friend told me that I have to try the Tiramisu...

I did do some shopping at Morley. Bought a long sleeve white shirt for work (winter's coming and I havent got my spotless uniform yet) and Printer cartridge. I could shop forever... Almost every shop I went into seem to have clothes that I wanna buy. Luckily I was stopped by Limin.

And yeah, work's tomorrow.

Not much studying done this week. I wonder what I was doing. Other stuffs seem to take priority. Not good. Gotta get my butt back into studying mode.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all!

I am soo happy because i have a week's worth of holiday. Well, not exactly a holiday. More like a studying catch up week. Mid-sems are next week! =( But anyways, I plan to do a few things while I can during the week:

1) watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2) Go ice-skating
3) Go shopping
4) working at subi & hopefully somewhere else
5) Ktv
6) Go Ciao Italia to eat

The last week has been my many "firsts"

My first time sitting in a Volkswagon Beetle! ITs a 1970 beetle somemore! Its soo cool! The boot is actually at the front of the car. And the windows are just soooo cute! I forgot to take pics of the beetle. Hopefully I'll get a chance to take a photo of the car and post it up!

My first time going go-karting. Went for an outdoor go karting. I love the speed which the go kart moves. Exciting, heart pumping, and near adreleline when you feel you will hit the kerb.

Good friday is the first time I am off my 'p' plates after 2 years of getting my license! Now what's left is the conversion of my license to my spore one. Hee hee..

Yesterday was my first time watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon! I know this sounds so stupid, but yeah, i havent caught it yet. And I finally did when I watched the DVD at Kaori and Rob's place.

Yeah, that about sums up what i was goin to update. Catch ya guys sooon!!

On a side note, I feel that all my spore friends have disappeared from msn.. Hmm... How are all of ya? Give me a shout out to let me know you are still alive!!!!

preventive measures

2007-04-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you had to prevent something bad from happening to your friend but you dont know how to?

I have.

As a friend, if i see something bad happening to you; and i know that it will get worse, i would wanna take the step out and prevent it from getting worse. I know as a friend, i'll be there to give my time to listen to you, to hug you and accompany you when things hit rock bottom; when the person decides the worse has just happened and relies on you for support. I'll be that friend to my good friend, but I find it sooo hard to take that preventive measure. No matter how hard I try preventing things from getting worse, I cant seem to make that happen.

Esp with regards to relationship problems. I'm not the best person to talk to or even give a talk about preventive measures as I've no experience in the relationship field. All I can give is my friends' past experiences, which I take on board. But often what I always get is "you dont know how it feels like, nic." Sure I dont, but all I can offer you is this. I accrue it all to my inability to talk to my friends from preventing it from happening. I could be more tactful or i could be more persuasive (which I am usually not). I am usually the one that would give my time to comfort my friends when the relationship could not be salvaged. But in my heart, i thought, i could have done something more as a friend to not let you get hurt even further. Because deep down in my heart, i know that you are gonna suffer more. So how can sit down and helplessly let you sink further?

So peeps, tell me, advise me, what should I do prevent all these bad things happening further to my friends?

Dont mind me.... I'm just frustrated at something I cant do, and which I know could have been done. This has happened more than once....

WoRking At SubiaCo Oval.. the GooD and the Bad

2007-03-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

I pretty much started getting the hang of things at work. I'm assigned to the same bar stall every time I work there.

My supervisor's pretty nice. She's like probably the same age or me or a bit older. She's cool and nice to talk to. All my colleagues are aussies, which is a good thing as I get to talk to them.
Well, some are just like acquaintences. Like this guy Alex, I noticed he practically talks to my supervisor, Brownyn and Jennifer, but he doesnt really talk to me much. I got a chance to talk to him when I was working in the tills (ie being a cashier) for the first time. My till's right next to him. He was teaching me the ropes, but we dont really talk. there were awkard silences between us. Strange.

Then came jennifer, a third year nursing student at Curtin. She's really cool. I like her a lot. We started chatting when I was working yesterday at the bar with her. And then today, she changed roles with Alex, ie she works on the till while Alex works at the bar. It was really good. We bascially chatted the whole time. We talked about alcohol, DAylight savings, footie. It was good fun.

Haha, I think everyone's kinda blur about what I do. There are basically 2 roles. Working at the bar serving beer, spirits and wine, or working at the till (cashier) which is seperate from the bar. There are 2 ppl working behind the tills (ie 2 cashiers) and usually 4 ppl at the bar. We rotate from time to time, according to Brownyn. Today's my first time working at the till. Its fun yet draining at the same time. Pressing the numbers and giving change.

Yesterday was a rubgy match, and there was a constant stream of ppl buying drinks.

Today's the first time I'm working in a footy match. Footy is the national sports of aus. Its similar to soccer, yet not so much because players are allowed to use their hands. I am not too sure of the game because I never really watch those games, but I tell you, aussies are crazy over footy. There were lots of fremantle dockers supporters today. They were clad in all sorts of purple, from hats, to scarves, to t-shirts, to socks, to purple wigs. Purple is the colour of the fremantle jersery, so everyone wears purple. YES, 90% of ppl who turned up in the matches wear freo accessories. You can buy them at shopping centres, or at subi oval.

Working at a footy match is so different. peeps come down and buy drinks during half time. The crowd is horrendously long during break times. There i was frantically pressing away at my cashier machine. I could hear simultaneous "teet teets" signalling the speed of pressing all the buttons. When match starts again, the crowd lessens, by like a lot, and sometimes we dont get a single customer.

ITs interesting meeting all sorts of people at the till. People who are v. meticulous about their money. I did make some mistakes (undercharge i think, but I'm excused cos its my first day doing this! heeeee). Some peeps who were really nice, some really cheeky ones. I remember i was working with Alex for the first half of the match and this buy brought his beer up to me and said" oh, i go to your till cos you're the more good looking one." And I'm like okie. ( I was thinking in my head, i'm the only girl there, for god's sake!) haa. I've seen the same faces at my till at least 4 times. Aussies. They can really drink.

So far, work's alright. I take the train to work. And I hate going back to work after a match. I gotta squeeze in with all the spectators. like the mad rush in mrts. It was so funny yesterday. The train was so crowded that my friend bernice was under a man's armpit and people were grabbing around for support. There was this poor guy who was stuck in the middle and he couldnt move. And then he shouted in the train "Whoever's grabbing my arse, could you please grab it a little to the left?" Bernice and I were giggling so hard. That poor dude must have felt so uncomfortable with that spot that the person is grabbing (okie, this sounds a little wrong but its what I felt anyways. Hahaha).

On a side note, I can forsee being busier with ISS stuff after a long early social meeting. But the idea of helping to organise a ball sounds enticing. Dont you think?

Kookai student night sale

2007-03-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Its the FIRST TIME perth ever had a student night sale where only students could enter the shop!

Initially, I was tempted by the freebies that I would get. ONe mag, one SKYBLUE VODKA, one perrier mineral water, one REDBULL, and some others which I cant remember.

Went with Angel and Joanne. It started at 6 but we arrived at 7. THe queue was freaking long. There were at least 100 people queueing in front of me, waiting to get into Kookai. The thought of getting free goodies motivated me to wait in the cold.

45 mins later, I finally got into Kookai. There was a DJ playing in the shop! cOoL!
Plus, those who were above 18 got a free SKYBLUE vodka and perrier mineral water upon entry.

It was a madhouse inside. Everyone was squashed, and we had to wait 3 mins in order to rumage through a pile of clothes on special. The things in Kookai were pretty ex, like a t-shirt would cost around $50. ITs something like MANGO in spore. Angel and I were scouting around for good bargains, but alas, NONE of the clothes in KOOKAI fitted me. Angel saw a clubbing top which was pretty nice, but she thought it was too ex to get it.

Guess who was the shopping queen of the night? None other than my slim, hot, pretty gf Joanne who bought 2 tops! All for 60 something bucks! Haha...

AND GUESS WHAT WE FOUND? The free goodie bag with the free mags and drinks and tops only comes with a purchase of at leeast $40. ANd given we came late, the only thing that was in the goodie bag was a perrier mineral water, a kookai top which was too big a size for Jo, and something else which I cant remember. No MAG FOR ME! THE ONLY GOODIE I WANTED FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT!!!

Oh WELLS, a GooD ShoPPinG ExpERienCE I muSt SAy. MORE STUDENT NIGHT SALES PLEASEE!!!!!

Oh, and please throw in freebies as well.... heeeeheeeheeeee

tempting...

2007-03-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

everything seems tempting besides studying...

the tv shows that is played on the tv downstairs while my housemate, Jason is sleeping on his "bed" in the living room

adding background pics for everyone on my msn list

thinking of what to cook for breakfast & dinner the next day

cleaning up my room

changing my bedsheets

thinking of what to get for shopping tom (things that I need)

All the things that I had so much time to do last year but didnt appreciate doing it.

Is it the temptation after being so busy everyday?

Oh well, i'm busy but at least my time gets filled up... Loving it =)

P.S. I did cook breakfast this morning! I fried 3 eggs with tomatoes and "dong gu"
AND i made one sandwich for Jason as well!

Learn on each new day..

2007-03-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

As groCery ShopPing beCAme easIer, I beGan To expLore Many New IdeaS For LuNcH aNd DinneR. And aFtEr thorougly looking through the oriental supermarket, I realised that Perth sells a lot Of AsiAn FooD WhiCH SpoRE doesnt sell. For eg, there's a pic of 8 diff types of Korean instant noodles which I've never tried before. Some might be seen in spore, but some I'm pretty sure that spore doesnt have them. I bought all 8 flavours to try. There's bibimen, which is the noodles version of bibimbap. There's also a korean horfun noodle soup, etc, etc. I havent opened any yet, but if I've tried them, i'll let you know how it tastes. Not only for instant noodles; there are also many diff drinks which I've found in the oriental supermarket that I've not found in spore. Like milk tea sold in a packet. Apparently, its from china/taiwan whose products have not been sold in spore. Some of them tastes pretty nice, I must admit.

I feel pretty lucky in a way to try things that I've never done in spore. Hmm.. come to think of it, coming here is a whole new exp. Meeting ppl out of my comfort zone, making friends with them, and not to say maintaining the friendship which can be pretty hard. All of us have to comprise on a comfort level. It involves sacrifise at times. For me, things change each semester, which spans for a short period of 4 months? And then after that, things change again... When things get for the better, I thank God for it... but when things take for the worst, I grumble... It can get to a point where I find it pretty hard to adapt. But I've learnt one thing: Life goes on... Deal with it, move on and accept the changes or die in the situation and feel miserable. I chose the latter for a pretty long period of time, but now i guess I'm pretty much practising the former.

Like how my life has been since I've been back to Perth. I made a promise to myself to keep myself busy at all times. Definitely my priorities will still be studying and aiming for graduation, but to also learn things each new day. Being part of ISS has definitely opened up my mind. Its like a whole new political world out there. But I love the part whereby I can learn and improve skills. Such as learning to plan an event. Posters, e-mail, dealing with unreasonable ppl, delegating tasks etc which I've never done before. Mum's impressed; she told my sis its a good thing I joined. She's been encouraging me to do this for the past 2 years. I just sat there and did nothing. Wasting and weening my time away... actually sulking my life away, when I could have done much much more... and work. Working at Kumon; its such a joy, seeing the kids at tution; them asking you qns, talking like innocent babies... they bring so much joy for that 3 hours... but the marking papers part can get quite boring... and subi oval; getting to integrate into the aussie culture... just by interaction with my colleagues, knowing how they communicate with each other, how they think... and also dealing with customers... I've learnt a great deal...

Of all, the most impt step of my life is to walk further into my faith. With years of "hardship" ( what I define it or call it.. Its a thing where nobody can understand best except yourself because u've been through it), I learnt that God never fails. Through God's people, his brothers and sisters, there is caring, sharing, love, and yes, unconditional love from Jesus. He'll be there to hold your hand. I always thought I could deal with things myself. But it comes to a point where you surrender and say" I cant do this anymore... " You try to look for someone, for a hand to hold, for a shoulder to cry on, for someone to listen. You look to your left, your right... you try to find that "someone"... but that someone is not there... Only God will be there unconditionally. And that's why I want to take a further step into faith. To have a stronger relationship with him.

And yes, hip-hop. I love every minute of my hip-hop lesson. I just love it. One hour of exercising and enjoying it! (beats going to the gym)

With all of these that I enjoy, I thank Mum. Mum gave me a gift that made all the above possible. Two things I've always known but have been dening it all along:

1) My mum is always right about me

2) My mum loves me always

3) Mum trys to improve my life in any way she can

And to that, I have to say a big thank you. (Hugs from me)

And so, from now on, I'll strive to learn every new thing. To grow, to be a better person, and to deal with things/ppl whatever better... Pray that life's fulfilment will grow each day =)

Updated!

2007-03-16T07:22:00.002-07:00

~The ISS peeps - Love em~

~ My Housemates' graduation! - The housemates photo =) ~

~ISS Sausage Sizzle~

~Swan Valley Trip - Thanks all who came!~

Sorry for the long awaited post... My three weeks were filled with activities EVERYDAY.. Though it was busy, i have to say I have truly enjoyed the past 3 weeks. Let me update you as to what I've been BUSY with.. heee

As the social secretary of ISS, I had the opportunity to organised a trip to swan valley. We visited the chocolate factory, played supa golf, and took a tram ride. For the first 2 weeks, I had lotsa things to do. I had to set up a stall in the my uni guild for peeps to sign up for the event. Most of the comm members were busy with uni, so I had to be at the stall almost everyday from 12 to 2. I had to arrange transport, make bookings for supa golf and the tram ride. Besides that, I have to send newsletters about the trip to the guild news, the iss news, as well as design posters, get authorisation to put the posters up in uni. I received heaps of e-mails which I had to reply about the trip. Nonetheless, the trip was pretty successful!

There were also many ISS events, such as the iss sausage sizzle and the iss bookfest, which I helped out it. Yeah, ISS took up loads of time... But I learnt a lot. Planning a trip isnt easy after all. Kudos to all the great planners out there!

I recently bought my baby before school started. Perth peeps would know what i'm talking about. But I'm keeping it a secret for my spore friends. msg me online if you wanna know what my baby is! heehee... However, it has many probs. I had to take it for servicing many many times.. More than 5, if i can count. However, I love my baby. Its working pretty well now. So making sure my baby runs well took up countless hours, esp when the servicing place is far....

How could I leave out my housemates' graduation and 2 visitors who stayed at my place which added so much hype in my house for the past 3 weeks! Amanda, my ex-housemate came over to perth to stay for about 2 weeks. She had to settle some gradution stuff. She stayed over in my room during her stay. So I had much company at night. She plays O2 jam every night.. not forgetting being on the phone with .... haa.. shall not mention more... Nick, another friend of mine, is currently staying in our living room for a while. He's applying for his PR and also looking for a place to stay at the same time. So yeah, with nick, the house is definitely much more livelier!

Both of my housemates just had their graduation this week. Nick as well. Their famlies came, so the house was more lively as well. I saw all of Jasmine, Jason, and Nick's family. All of them came to the house and I had a chance to chat with all! Haa! There's a picture of my housemates, Jasmine and Jason. Sigh.. I wanna wear the regalia with them too... I attended their graduation ceremony. It was really inspiring. Their parents must be so proud of them. Like all parents of their graduant children hey?

Lastly, I just started my new job this week. I'm still working at Kumon teaching little kids on tues, but I've got a new job at subiaco oval(a stadium like our national stadium in spore), where I tend the bar at the stadium which holds aussie footie and rubgy games. Actually, I pour alcohol for customers. Cool eh? I dont get to drink any, for those who think I get free beers and wines! Hee hee, my first day of work was good. All my collagues were aussies. Had a bit of a chat here and there. Not too bad, I find. Mum says I should mingle with them and get to know them a lil bit better. After all, I'm in aussie land.

Yeah, this sums up my 3 weeks in perth. Plus uni work of cos. There are heaps of readings which are piling at this moment. From next week, all the hype will pause and I get the whole of next week to catch up with work =( ... I'm not rostered for next week for subi oval cos there are no games next week.

Till then, take care everyone! Havent really got a chance to catch up with the sporean peeps! Hope you all are doing okay! Dont get too stressed over assignments and exams yea? Good luck everyone! I'm gonna head to bed now... Gotta wake up early for a camp tom...

Sleepy Nic Signing off....

Uni

2007-03-01T04:35:00.000-08:00

Hi guys!

Sorry for not being able to update my blog since I came back. Let me update you what I've been doing since I came back.

Been helping out at orientation in uni when everyone back home was collecting ang baos, eating Bah Kwa (My fav) and visiting relatives. It was a full on week where I helped out from Monday to Saturday. Helped Suyen (the international student services director) with her speech, joined a group of international students for orientation, showed freshies around uni, and taking the international students to fremantle for a trip (where all I had to do was to take attendence on the bus! What a waste of time...) Nonetheless, it was interesting seeing all the new faces; blur looks, helpless looks, friendly looks... Made a few friends. Nice.

Uni started out with a bang! I'm currently organising a swan valley event that will take place next saturday. Here's what I have written for the poster. Does it look exciting?

Want to have a free tasting of mouth watery chocolate??

Want to enjoy a fun and exciting Supa Golf????

Want to enjoy a beautiful, scenic tram ride???

ISS is taking you to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, Supa Golf at Swan Valley Oasis Resort, and Whiteman Park for a Tram Ride, all for a reasonable rate from $10 onwards!!!!!

Date: 10 March 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 8am to 5pm
Venue: Swan Valley
Price: $10 for Guild Members, $12 for Non-Guild Members

To sign up, visit our ISS Stall from 12 to 2pm, Mondays to Thursdays at the Guild! Alternatively, email lees46@student.uwa.edu.au or call Nicole at 0423323716 (Optus Pre-paid). Hurry Up! Places full up fast!

I've been in the stall from 12 to 2 everyday this week, unless I have lessons. I've learned how to organise a trip; call the bus company, call supa golf to book places, call whiteman park, set up a budget, how to send e-mails advertising my trip, how to print posters, how to put the posters up in uni and college (U need to get permission!)

Besides, I've been cleaning up my house. I swear to keep my house cleaner this year. My house is abuzz with ppl. Nick, an ex-college friend of mine is staying with us for the moment. He just graduated and is looking for a place to stay plus applying for his PR. Amanda, my ex-housemate is also here staying in my room. She's getting all her transcripts and applying for advanced standing credits for her units so as to apply for completion of her majors. There are at least 5 ppl in our house now, so the house feels much livlier!

I just aplied for a job yesterday and I've got a call today telling me to come down for an interview next week! I'm gonna work at subiaco Oval, where AFL is held. AFL means the australian footy league, something like the English premier league, except that the english play soccer and the australian play footie. The rules are different. I'm not sure what my job scope is, but I'll be working when there's a match, either waitressing or tending the bar or working behind the coffee machine. Anyways, I'm really excited. Hopefully I can clock in 20 hours a week. Then I'll save up enough money to go travelling! Yeay!

I'm still getting back into the lecture & tutorial mood. Its the first week but I feel that I already have a lot of things to do.. Welcome to fourth year... Kinda sick of studying but I'll press on... I need my degree!

Yeah, that's basically what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks since I've been back.

The weather in Perth has been really weird. I'm wearing a jacket to uni today because it has been raining for the past 2 days! And its summer, where the weather is supposed to be hot! Forecasts predicts the weather is gonna see about that... But in 5 years I've been here, I've never worn a sweater in Summer! It's interesting hey?

An interesting note: I was pretty full after dinner and I've decided to take a walk at matilda bay (which is about 10 mins walk away from home). The weather's really nice to take a walk. I saw a flock of birds (a white body and green wings. Yes. I'm not kidding!) flying past me. I saw the sunset and people walking dogs in the park. I walked past sommerville auditorium ( an open field in uni) and saw that there's a sunset cinema going on there. I suddenly realise how beautiful perth is, and how abuzz with activities it can be. And speaking of it, I really wanna go to the west coast blues concert in April, where acts like John Mayer, Wolfmother, Missy Higgins, and lots more artists are performing!

Yeah, that's all I have to blog for now... Lotsa more to blog about when the weeks come by, so stay tuned! If you wanna know what's happening in my aussie life..

One litre of tears...

2007-02-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching one litre of tears on you tube. This show made me fall at least 500 ml of tears.... I couldnt stop crying from ep 5 onwards...

This story is about a girl, Aya Ikeuchi, 15, who has spinocelleberall atrophy. Its a disease involving the degredation of the cerebellum, a part of our brain. The person who has it will evetually have difficulty in coordination, and in the end cannot walk, have difficultly swallowing, and will lead to death. There has been no cure of the disease till the present....

When Aya first learned of the disease, she said her sinseh (doctor) " Why did the disease choose me?" Life is cruel, life is brutal.... quoted Aya. After watching this show, I realised life is fragile, especially when you cannot take control of your health.

It makes me ponder.... Has life been really that bad for me? To date, I've been in pink health. There's nothing wrong with me, physically and mentally. Not to say i'm in total control of my life. God plans my life, but in the very least, I plan how to control what I have right now, physically and mentally. I choose to be lazy and not exercise; I choose to be sad because I cannot get what I want... But little did I think that I choose all these... Choosing not to exercise is my choice; doing a double degree is my choice; coming to Australia was my choice; I have the ability and therefore I choose to do it... Life is never smooth sailing, but somehow I kinda regret feeling the way I feel the past years... Life is never fair... Life will never be smooth and happy all the time... Deal with it! Why should I dwell on things that are not what I should have? Shouldnt I be contentd to have a good health, a good body, a good mind? Shouldnt I take control of my happiness? Shouldnt I take control of my health? Shouldnt I take control of my career? Shouldnt I take control of how I feel? Shouldnt I?.....

For everything reading this, this post was written for me... For me to read this and feel positive about life... To feel positive about what I am going through right now... To feel positive about my environment... Because to date, I am healthy; I am not mentally handicapped; I have my family who cares about me; I have friends who care; and most importantly, I am in charge of the consequences I choose... I should never complain, because although it can be painful at times, at the end of it, my life turns out to be beautiful...... and at the very least, because it is my life. My own unique life that no other previleged one can own................................................

Cherish

2007-02-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

8 more days to perth....

The feeling of being there hit on me today. The feeling; dreadful, sad, helpless.... It's all coming back now...

Every single day since I've been back in Singapore has been the happiest days of 2006. It kickstarted a well 2007. Ive been hoping that God will be kind to me to grant me happy days to end my final year in aussie.

Days spent at home literally with my family around has been awesome. No words need be spoken. I am glad to have their company. My maid being around all day doing the housework, us joking around about my sister; when my sister comes home from school and our constant arguings, teasings and fights; my parents coming home from work. Having dinner together, watching tv together. My grandma coming to see me almost every week.

You have no idea how its like being in perth. In a land where no one will be there for you when you need them, when all you want is just someone to talk to, to chit chat for a while, to have a family there. When all you do is shut yourself away from the world, when no one is really interested in talking to you. When your life revolves around msn, where you will die because no one is online to talk to you. When you cry yourself to sleep most nights when you are feeling really upset.

So people in Singapore, cherish all you have with your family. They are the ones who will be willing to sacrifise for you, no matter what. I learned to cherish them, and I realised the importance of kinship. Nothing beats that...... Its hard to cherish them when they're constantly around, but when they're no longer with you and life's so hard out there, you'll miss them sooo sooo much, and you'll appreciate all that they've done for you....

unprepared!

2007-02-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

After talking to my darling girlfriend, I just realised that I'll be leaving for Perth next Sunday! And that happens to be the first day of chinese new year!

I'm so unprepared... I just drafted out a list of things to buy back to aussie, like soap refills, foolscap pads, medicine etc.

However, I'm not mentally prepared to go back yet. There's still lotsa stuff concerning perth which I havent been able to think about and make plans yet. I'm still soaked up in the relaxed, happy atmostphere in Singapore, which I've longed for when I spent a painful, yes, painful 9 months in Perth.

So unprepared, and sad, yes, sad to leave Singapore.

I shudder to think what's in store for me back in aussie.....

why why why?

2007-02-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

2007 has been a good year for the girls in the Lee family.

CPA Australia just had their first exhibition in Singapore. I got a chance to know more auditing firms which I didnt know existed in Singapore. After the exhibition, I got my heart set out at one of the auditing firms. As most of them were recruiting, the most they could offer was an internship, which I'm pretty happy about.

Later I attended my uncle's wedding anniversary. I met up with my ex boss, who happened to be there as well. He offered me a place after I graduated (Also an auditing firm). He told me if things dont work out after working at the Big 4, there'll always be a place for me. Somemore the workplace is at Orchard, 3 stops away from my house!!

My cousin, Sulin, later announced that she'll be getting married in October this year. Damn! I'll be away in Perth, so I wouldnt be able to make it for 3 cousins wedding! I was chosen to be 3 of their bridesmaid! Or at least, I was chosen to help out at the wedding (SObbbsss). All 3 of my cousins are girls, and I'm pretty close to all 3 as there are not much girls in the Lee Family.

Sometimes I wonder why I've chosen to do a double degree. 2007 is a good year for work and relationships, well at at least for me. Accounting firms are frantically looking for ppl, and Love seems to be in the air in Singapore. If I've only done a single commerce degree, I would've just graduated, and hot in demand as an accountant! And now, all I'm awaiting is more torture and shaping up in aussie...

Everyone's telling me that time will pass quickly... Yeah, my double degree better come up good in future!! If not, I'm gonna lose all the opportunities that I would have now! :'(

My highest opportunity cost ever..........................................

Flu Bug...

2007-02-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

Been having a flu since monday.... Been taking meds, panadol for cold relief but it doesnt seem to work.... Have been staying home for the past few days, trying to get well.

Just finished watching the vineyard man on youtube. It's a sweet, romantic comedy. If you like the princess from goong, you'll like this show as well...

I'll always remember this phase that the male lead, Jang Taegki said... "Go search for the Korean footballer Park Jis Sung's leg on the internet, and you're bound to be in tears... Although his legs are bruised and scarred, they're the most beautiful legs in the world. After going through hard work, you'll find that life is beautiful..." Pretty nice phrase, innit?

Hopefully I'll get well tomorrow, cos I wanna go shopping!!!!

Contradicting views...

2007-01-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

WAtched half of the drama series, The Vineyard Man, where the princess in goong is the female lead.

Somehow felt something when I saw the show. Esp when the female lead saw how united the ppl in the vineyard was. SHe was from a city, and she came to the country to learn how to farm to inherit the vineyard. In the end, she fell in love with the man working in the vineyard. She learnt to appreciate the country, and in the end she liked the country.

It's somehow like an analogy for most of my friends. For me, all i've taken in is that I've learnt the importance of kinship and company in the country, which I brought back and applied in the city. It made me cherish the kinship and company I have in the city. But nothing in the country. I've met ppl like me in the countryside. But what I see was the worst, or so far I've seen in the countryside. Makes me not wanna stay there. Contradicting isnt it? I'm sure there are ppl who likes the countryside. They learn to appreciate what the countryside have to offer, and choose to stay there for the rest of their lives.

Not for me, therefore I find it contradicting... I have no hard feelings for the countryside. Just my luck. But I've learnt a lot, and at least I did learn to cherish whatever I have in the city...

MOS

2007-01-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

Had the best day of my life yest! Haa, any days spent with the e3 guys are great!

It was an impromptu decision to go clubbing today after hanging out at supper yesterday. At first, I thought that only Ivy, Alvin, Me and Wanlin came. In the end, Alvin, Leiming, Jingyi, Ivy, Wanlin, Siyun and Me were at MOS! Haa, first time clubbing with them! Actually, its the 2nd time. The first was during the Bangkok trip.

Was pretty touched when my daddy (Leiming) told me that he came cos of me, despite him taking the risks of going to smoky places after his Lasik surgery. Cos his precious daughter is goin back to Aussie to study, therefore he decided to go. Thanks Daddy if u're reading this! Hee hee... Went to the hip-hop room then proceeded to Trance. Ppl were holding lightsticks which reminded of Rise, a nightclub in northbridge in Perth. Then went to Retro, where mummy (Ivy), Alvin and me were happily dancing. Took some v. nice photos using Daddy's camera!

When I was in the bar counter in the Retro section ordering drinks with Wanlin, I spotted a project superstar finalist, Kelvin Soon! (Sun Wen Hai) Hee hee, wanted to say hi, but by the time I had my drink, he was gone! Then we had to leave soon. on my way out, I saw Kelvin again! Haha... This time I was with Mummy. I took up the courage to go up and say hi. Told him I liked him a lot and that I thought he could sing v. well! (Which is true! Cos I always thought he would win the competition!) He introduced mummy and I to his friend, Terence and wanted to buy us drinks. Mummy and I kindly declined cos the rest were waiting for us. Hee, but nonetheless, it was good seeing him! Haaaaaa

And today, I finally savoured the king of fruits! When I was about to open my mouth to eat the durians my mum bought, I was silly laughing to myself, too happy that I can eat my fav durians! hee hee, my mum laughed at me while my sis gave me the " heh? What's the fuss with eating durians look?" Haa, to add on to it, ate my beef horfun at geylang! What's left is now my fav black pepper crab, which my mum promised is coming soon! Muhahahahaha My saliva's drooling at the thought of crabs! Hee hee, oh yeah, and crabbing in Mandurah real real soon! ;)

Prata story

2007-01-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

5 e3 dogs went to a particular prata shop in JE (for the purpose of this story, the name of the prata shop cannot be revealed).

They were seated on the outside having delicious yummy prata. One of them, S, shared a mushroom w cheese prata and a kosong prata with I. They also shared tea halia (I'm not sure if its the correct spelling) and Tea Tarik. W ordered tissue prata which was too sweet, and hot milo while A ordered a kosong prata, mushroom w cheese prata and Ice Milo.

The 5 e3 dogs were happily chatting away until the worker chased us out at 12 am. AFter 12, they close of the outer section. We happily walked away. When we were reaching the car, I suddenly exclaimed, "WE havent paid for our pratas yet!!!" At this instant, the 5 ppl started giggling and realised, "Yea hor!". Haa, but being the kiam siap us, we proceeded to the car and drove off! Haa, without paying.

Haa! ITs super hilarious! I said before they are v. slow in getting the bill. People can run away without them realising it. Haa, the 5 bad dogs.... Hahahaha.

one dog left and the remaining 4 proceeded to WEst coast mac where they sat down chatting. They ordered nothing but no one chased them away. Hee hee.... S had the time of her life last night! Hee hee.... Yeah, and this is the prata story ;)

FREE HUGS

2007-01-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

Was on my way to meet patricia and Maggy at takashimaya today. Walked out onto orchard road. I saw this guys back facing me holding a huge sign. I got excited because I kinda knew what he was holding. Seen a similar thing in Youtube before. Except the thing took place in Sydney. Passerbys who saw the sign commented on it, which further confirmed what I thought was written on the sign.

Guess what it was?

The sign says "FREE HUGS".

I was pretty thrilled at the thought of seeing the sign. If I were feeling really upset, I would go up to the guy to give him a hug. I was quite sad to see no one wanting to hug him for the last min I walked past him. A hug can do wonders, esp when you are feeling down.

It made me thought of the low prospect of becoming a psychologist. No one would really go see one when they are feeling down. Most singaporeans would satisfy themselves with materialistic things.

Giving a hug can make a person's day. Being willing to give a person, any random person on the street, is awesome. And I totally respect, admire this guy..... :)

Kelly Li Kelly Li Kelly Li...

2007-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

I gotta blog about this...

ONe fine day, which is today, I asked Miss Kelly Li out for dinner. She suggested to go Kembangan to have dinner. We took the mrt, happily chatting away. When we reached Kembangan, she told me " I am not sure if I can still remember the way to the place I'm having dinner." When I heard this, I was like "...........".

We walked into Jalan Msjid. We hit the end of the road, at the intersection of Changi Road, we finally found the place. Thank god for that. We found a table. THen I asked Kelly " What are we eating here? " She said " Errr.... I dont know how to order." WHen I heard it, there was a double ................................... in my head. She took me here to have dinner, and she doesnt know how to order? THen what are we gonna eat? I looked around and people were having rice and dishes. I knew we were having herbal chicken, becos the coffee shop put herbal chicken. Finally, we asked the auntie whether they had mee sua (Kel remembered she ate mee sua the last time she came here). Then the auntie asked us "do you want mixed?" We were like "?????" Then we asked the auntie. SHe said mixed consists of pork, pig kidneys and pig liver. I hate pig kidneys so we ordered 2 bowls of mee sua with pork and pig liver. I'm hate eating pig liver too. BUt mum always say " Pig liver replinishes your supply of blood lost during your period!" Felt that I havent had enough blood since I always feel giddy after I exercise, I had to force myself to eat one.

I then heard from Kel that she came with her friend a few years back and its her friend who ordered the mee sua. Okies. Fair enough. You're forgiven!

Haa... Miss Kelly Li! Arent you honoured a post in my blog is just dedicated to you?

Nostalgia

2007-01-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Didnt expect to see many ppl that I've lost contact with today. Was at Cine with Emes when I saw Shwu Huey. WE both share the same name and the same surname. Haa, I remember when we were in Jc, our chinese teacher had a hard time calling our names. When she said "Lee Shu Hui", we both were like " which shuhui?" From then on, we were differentiated either by "xiao shu hui" (me) or "da shu hui" (her) because of our height differences. She was much taller than I am. It's pretty nice to see her.

Had dinner with family at our old place at Bukit Batok. Jiaxian walked past me. Didnt have a chance to say hello. He's one of the e3 dogs. But I lost contact with him since we seperated from sec sch. Only seen him in the first 2 gatherings after we graduated, but havent seen him in the recent ones.

To me, my old place still remains the same. Some shops are still there, like the bread shop my mum used to buy bread from, some hawker stalls still remains, like the duck rice shop which sells yummy kway chap. According to me, they're still the best kway chap I've ever tasted! The 4 of us were comparing rojaks and hokkien mee from Bukit Batok and Toa Payoh. We all tried the rojak in Bukit Batok and agreed that the one in toa payoh is still the best! But after trying the hokkien mee, my sis still thinks that the hokkien mee in toa payoh is better (Tian tian lai hokkein mee in blk 127, toa payoh lorong 1). I somehow prefer the hokkien mee that I had in Bukit Batok. It's less oily, and the chili is not too hot.

Nostalgia... Back to my old place which brings much memories. But somehow, I like the place I'm staying now. But its good to savour the old place. That's where I grew up. THe place shaped who I am. THe school that I attended. The friends that I met and kept in contact till now. Now I believe there's a difference between the east and the west people. And growing up in the west, I still say the west rocks! ;)

4 pretty ladies reunited after 7 years =)

2007-01-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Waner, Mag, Me, Steffi at VivoCity 2007. The 3 of them have become prettier, innit?

Simple thoughts... Mature thoughts..

2007-01-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

AFter 7 years since we graduated from Dunearn in 2000, the 4 of us, Waner, Mag, Me and Steffi met up at Vivocity today. We've been good friends since sec 2. We've been through a lot together during our secondary school days, and its because of them that made my secondary school life so enjoyable. Looking back, my sec sch days were the best days of my life. We had so much fun together. The 4 of us were with each other when we faced relationship problems, family problems, teenage problems, friendship problems. I miss our hangouts, going to WEst Mall, CCK Shopping Centre, bowling sessions, movie sessions...

Been chatting a lot on who we've lost touch with. Who's been into what uni etc. It amazes me how all of us are starting to get back in contact with all the sec sch friends we lost touch with, even though we werent even close to them durin sec sch. My first simple thought was that we may have been through a lot in our poly, Jc, Uni days. ANd that made us realise how precious and innocent our friendship was in sec sch. That's why we treasure each other friendships so much now. ANd it surprises me that all of them, I mean ALL my sec sch friends are either pursuing a uni degree, or furthering their education in one way or another. I feel so happy for all of them, and right now, I wanna be in contact with all those that I've missed out on all these years. And whenever I face problems in Aussie, I'll think of them. With every thing I face, it reminds me of them. That with each problem, my heart leaves more room to cherish everything I have with them.

And I wanna leave more room for God. I can't explain it, but after meeting up with Jon and Jem on Tues, My desire for God has somehow sparked a lit. I would love to know god better, to learn to have a better relationship with him.

Yeah, in a nutshell, I'm amazed how mature how all of us has become in 7 years time. Priorities, our future, our marriage seem so important now. And I learnt something. Life is worth living. Because I am so happy that I can live till now, to be able to cherish every moment i have with my friends and family in singapore, even just for a short 3 months.. Thank you God.... ANd I love you =)

Chinatown

2007-01-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

Met kel at chinatown for dinner today. It's only one and a half months away from chinese new year (sighz... counting down to the day i leave for aussie again :( ) It's surprising to see Chinatown so quiet. "OG seems sooo quiet", Kel equips.

Had dinner first. Met her at Raffles place, then walked over to Chinatown. Talked about how good the food in Maxwell hawker centre is, but we decided to go to Chinatown itself. WE settled for homemade noodles (shou la mian). I had dumpling noodles dry and Kel had Fried wonton with cha siew noodles soup. It contained no oil. V. plain, v. nice, v. cheap. Just what both of us needed. WE saw that the other stall which sells "zhi cha" looks really good. Thought of organising another e3 outing closer to cny and eating there.

After that, I went to satisfy my craving for a thailand coconut drink ($1). I remembered that Zhida used to order a coconut drink in Bangkok wherever we went; seafood place, chatuchat market, e.t.c. I also remember Alvin telling me that the sausages in 7 eleven is good. And he wasnt joking. It's really nice. Esp the chicken cheese suasage. And its cheap! hahaha... ANd leiming's recommendation of the thai soy milk and vitagen in 7 eleven as well. It's light, less sweet and delicious! Haha.. I miss Bangkok's 7 eleven. And I remember Suqin's shopping craze in Bangkok. According to her, its the first time she shopped like mad ever. And Kel and my craze of getting a sports bag which we could carry to school. ANd for 10 sing, both of us are proud owners of a brown adidas bag, which I am gonna carry to uni.

As Kel and I walked along Chinatown, I chanced upon this stall selling icy ice (Taiwan's xue hua bing). I remembered I fell in love with the desert when suyen introduced me in Curtin's Pasar Malam. The desert is made of flavoured ice with toppings. The ice just melts in your mouth the moment you eat it. Kel fell in love with it after she bought it. Try the mango flavoured one if you guys have a chance! It's delicious. According to that auntie, her stall is the only stall in spore that sells icy ice. PLUS, its only 3 sing. I ate it for $4.50 aussie..... which means it costs around $6 sing, which means I CAN EAT 2 ICY ICE IN SPORE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE IN PERTH! Damn....

We walked further along Chinatown. Went to OG. Nothing much. SAw this shop selling Kuching Kolo mee. Must try that shop next time. Sounds good. Plus many shops selling hainanese chicken rice. Spotted this desert shop along chinatown that sells hot desert. Yummylicious!

Afterwards, we went to Chinatown Point to have a drink at Mac. And in there, I chanced upon annalakshmi. I've always heard from Lu hui that there is annalakshmi in spore. But I just dont know where. Now I found it in Chinatown, which is quite surprising given the fact that it's an indian vegetarian restaurant. They have one in perth, so I told myself I gotta try the one in spore. Shall bring my mum there soon... You take as much food as you want, and you pay any amount you want. All proceeds go to charity. Check it out at http://annalakshmi.com.sg.

Enough of my ramblings... On to watching My Girl... Damn... I bought it this morning for $29.90 in TS only to find it selling for $20 in Poh Kim... :(

Photos of the Bangkok trip...

2007-01-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

Left: Me in front of MBK

Right: Photos the guys took in front of MBK. Spot the difference?

Look at the lobster we had on thailand!

From left to Right on the Second Row: Zhida, Alvin, Terence, Leiming
From left to Right on the First Row: Suqin, Kaili, Ivy, Me

Above: "pork rice" on a roadside stall. Costs less than $2 sing. Cheap and nice! Plus 4 girls having german beer in a german restaurant. Their suasages were nice too!

Time Flies...

2007-01-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

It's 2007 already! Time passes so quickly in Singapore that I totally lost track of time... It's totally different when I'm in aussie... Oh well, I cant have the best of both worlds! Hee hee, let me try to recall what I did for the past few days...

Today: WAtched Death Note 1 on DVD which I bought from Thailand. Makes me wanna watch Death Note 2. It's not as scary as I thought it would be.

Yesterday: Spent the day catching up on sleep. Been pretty exhausted for the past 2 days. Woke up with a sore throat in the morning

2nd Jan: Had a makeover at Wanlin's place by Siyun, our professional makeup artist at Shu Umera... heee hee... Had my eye-brows plucked. Became a "xiao ye mao" after the makeover, took photos.. Plus, I learnt heaps of makeup tips from her! Thanks Siyun! And remember to put my makeover photos in your blog! Hee hee. Went to West Mall for Dinner and Movies. Havent been to West Mall in 4 years. Brings back Dunearn Memories. Had dinner at this chinese restaurant. Food was fantastic! WAtched Confession of Pain with Kel, Xian, Tian and Wanlin.

1st Jan: Had an e3 gathering at my condo. Bbq... Serene just told me it was the 3rd consecutive gathering at my house... Woke up at 5 am to make almond and mango jelly.. Baked a cake and decorated the word 2007 with strawberries... Played games as usual... drinking games... More ppl turned up this year! It was fun! Thanks everyone for turning up! Its good to see all of you and catch up! You guys have no idea how much laughter u bring to me... no matter where I am, as long as we have gatherings it brightens up my day. Oh yea, and thanks Kel for helping me clean up my place!

31st Jan: Invited Kel and weitian over for countdown. We could watch fireworks from my place. No need to squeese in the crowd. Great! Kel and I were laughing at the videos that terrence took during the bangkok trip. All of them were hilarious! Esp the part where they were in the tuk tuk and imitating the visa ad where the tuk-tuk driver said "Mr Brosnan!" Haahahaha...

Hmm... I cant remember much of what happened before that. Only the meetup with Siqiao. Which was on a thurs. This girl is working right now. She looks v. feminine.. Had a wonderful time catching up with her and shopping with her. Thanks to her, I bought myself a pair of Mondo shoes from Far East... Thanks babe!

Shall post some photos on my next blog... stay tuned...

no crowds in new year's eve...

2006-12-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

I'm getting old... was in orchard on christmas eve. Couldnt squeese through the crowd. It was jam packed with people. Mostly teenagers. Couldnt move at all outside taka. Hence, I decided no countdown parties for new year. Just me and a few friends over at my place for the new year. Its a good thing I can see fireworks from my room.

Merry Christmas to all! May God bless you this christmas =)

Christmas... and Movies...

2006-12-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

A christmas song is playing in the background now... X mas spirit all around... shopping centres packed with ppl buying gifts; long queues at gift wrapping counters...

Before I continue, the place where JusCo was (mentioned in my previous blog) is Tebrau City.

Watched Eragon just now. It's an alright movie. I give it 2.5 stars out of 5. Nothing extraordinary. Remembered this phase "one part brave, three parts a fool/stupid/an idiot ( I can't remember what the last word was).

Wanna watch The Curse Of the Golden Flower. Yes, mainly cos Jay Chou is in it. But another reason to watch; Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. I love Chow Yun Fat shows... always good. Besides, Zhang yi Mou Shows are worth a watch. Another one which I would love to watch is Blood Diamond. Coming out soon...

Watched Borat Yesterday. It's hilarious. Had a good laugh. Another show that's funny would be Rob-B-Hood by Jackie Chan. It's damn funny too. I didnt know Jackie Chan could double up as a comedian cum action star. I love the baby in that show... It's soooooo ccccuuutteeee.....

SPCA and Vivo City.... For the first time...

2006-12-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

Went to SPCA for the first time... on a wet and rainy day... Maggy wanted to buy their SPCA notebook... looked at the animals there... It was smelly at the dog section. Stentch was overbearing.. Cats were cute... reminded me of Lily.. I wonder how's she doing now... I hope she's well taken care of by a new owner who would give her food, water and shelter. And toilet train her too....

Walked around VivoCity for the 1st time. 3 storeys. But its a long walk from one end of the shop to the other. Reminded me of JusCo which I went a few days ago. Had Fig & Olive for dinner. Proceeded to Pacific Coffee Company. The seat that we had was pretty nice. Could see sentosa from there. Cable cars illuminated at night. I wonder how Sentosa's gonna be like after the IR is built. Imagine Universal Studios opening there...

shopping in Spore and JB

2006-12-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

Just came back shopping in Orchard in the afternoon with mum and sis. Noticed that shopping centres have somehow changed a little since I got back. Gap just opened its Spore outlet in Wisma, and one in vivocity, i heard. The entrance to the basement of wisma has been closed off.

In fact, food places have changed in shopping centres as well. Nooch in citylink has been changed to New York New York. According to Kel, the food there is only medicore, but there's always a queue there. There're now a few "cha chan tengs" (Hongkong-style cafe) in Spore. Kel and I tried one that's opened not long ago in marina square. For less than $10, you'll get delicious food. Pretty good.

Even JB has changed. Mum drove to JB on thursday to visit grandpa. Roads in JB has changed again. Bridges has been built halfway and construction has stopped for whatever reason no one has a clue about, new shopping centres have been built. My uncle took us to Jusco at this plaza which I cant remember the name. Carrefour and The Store was in the vicinity as well. Jusco has all the shops in there; adidas, nike, converse, mango, breadtalk, Levis, Padini etc etc. Its really huge. Plus Jusco is like another Giant. A megamart which sells everything. Just a side-track: I noticed that shops of similar kinds like to be beside each other. There are 2 beauty shops (that sells soaps, shampoos, beauty care products) that are right beside each other in Toa Payoh Central. 2 bag shops also beside each other in TP central. ANd Jusco, Carrefour, and The Store right near each other in JB. Makes me wonder why they do it. No doubt, consumers like us benefit. Being near each other means they have to compete with each other, and competing with each other means that we get the best deals for a cheaper price! Hahahahaha

Been doing nothing much since I got back. The first and foremost thing I wanna do is to enjoy my family's company. Its been 9 months since I'm not in spore and I really miss their company. Havent had a chance to hang out much with friends. But I'll be meeting up with them the whole of next week so its good. So far met with Kel and Maggy. Maggy brought me to this bar in Mertitus Mandrin called "Mezzbar". Not bad. I like the live music. Been watching DVDs which I brought back from Bangkok. Hee hee. Some of the DVDS are of bad quality. I learnt a lesson. Never get DVDs of movies that are recently shown in the cinemas. What you get is a show where a person secretly taped it while watching the show in the cinema. Either get a DVD of a movie which has already been shown at least 4 months ago or watch the latest release in the cinema. That's what my aunt told me as well, Haha, whose's speaking from JB where you can get pirated DVDs...

Back in Singapore... and Jetting off to bangkok the next day!

2006-12-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

On the 4th of Dec at approximately 1 25 pm in the afternoon, I landed in Singapore. As I was about to land, I saw spore's CBD, marina south, the esplanade, to the east coast, to the expo, a train stopping at expo mrt station all from the airplane. Once again, I'm back in Singapore. A land which seems all so foreign once again.

To tell ya the truth, I;ve been so used to the life in Perth. Not being used to the crowd, the humidity, and most of all, the noise. I've been keeping thoughts and comments to myself in the past 9 months. Suddenly, I find it so hard to start talking. Nevertheless, I;m glad I'm back. ANd this time, its different. I feel so blessed having my family and friends around. With my mum constantly coming to my room talking to me, me bullying my sister once again, and having my dad around me. With Amanda, Gary, Siqiao, Maggy, Emelia, Waner, Kaili messaging or calling me when I touched down in Spore. I miss hanging out with them. Its that comfortable feeling I get once again. I can open up to them anytime. One thing good about singapore is the crowd, the comfort zone i get with the people around me. I cant describe how much emotional support they've provided me and the people I can turn to chat with. They're so willing to fork out the time to talk to me, to spend that time they have with their busy lives to meet up with me. I cant say how happy I have them in my life.

I'm jetting off to bangkok tomorrow with my e3 friends tomorrow. I have a good feeling about this trip tomorrow. Kel and I cant stop talking about the trip. Met up with her at suntec today to exhange money. The exchange rate is 1 sing to 23 baht. Kel mentioned that I've seemed lost in singpore, like I havent been back. Yeah, some shops have changed. The fashion is different here compared to perth. Been buying lotsa clothes in perth. The language. I felt like I'm in a foreign countey while i was listening to them speak singlish once again while taking the MRT. So different to the beach, the shops in the city, the supermarket, but overall, life as a whole.

Anyways, Kel and I watched HAppy Feet. Its a very cute movie. Hee hee, if you have a chance, go catch it!

The trip with my parents in perth have been good. Or at least, better than the last few trips we've ever had. Had a chance to catch up with my parents. Drove the whole time they're there with the hyundai elentra i rented. No accidents. everything's good and they're pretty satisfied with my driving. They now have a chance to experience life in perth. And my dad, mum and sis came to a consensus that Perth is boring. All three couldnt stand the summer heat, and most of all, the flies. Hee hee. Nonetheless, they all had fun.

Just to blog about this in case I forgot. I showed my mum pics in my laptop one night and she made 3 comments. She said that Jasmine looks like a smart girl, Bernice looks like me and Suyen doesnt look like a med student at all. Hee hee. Yeah, I agree with them, but they're all great. To me at least =)

Will blog about the bangkok trip when I come back. Till then, everyone take care....

5/15 Stirling Highway is now Spick, speck, Spotlessly clean!!

2006-11-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sunday and Monday ended up pretty hmm... overwhelming... well, a bit less than overwhelming, but I cant find the right word to describe...

Had timsum with Lucia and Joe at this place in northbridge. I forgot the name. But its good. It has fried fish tempura, something that I've never seen in other timsum places in perth. Pretty cheap too. Just $13 per person. Spent sunday afternoon doing laundry and cleaning yen's house. Been staying there for almost a week. I better clean up the house, including the mess that jon made in the living room... hee hee... my dlg did his laundry and left cotton all over the living room floor. Helped him clear up, plus the bathroom and the kitchen. Packed my luggage to bring things out for the trip when my parents come. Not gonna bring the whole luggage. Then went to book the accomodation for the last 3 days when my parents come. Am going down south for the 1st 3 days that they're here, then last 3 days back in perth. LESSON LEARNT: DO NOT BOOK YOUR ACCOMODATION LAST MINUTE! All the cheap apartments have all been taken up. I Then realised that it the RObbie Williams concert is on the last 3 days while my family is here. No wonder I cant find a good accomodation. Damn! I was feeling panicky for a good 2 hours.

Then watched aussie idol. I've never watched the finals before. Always went back to spore before the finals. It was awesome. They had red carpet and there were fireworks! It was down to Jessica and Damien. Damien sang this italian song before the results were announced. It was so good that after he sang it, he got a standing ovation from the audience in the opera house. IN THE END, HE WAS CROWNED AUSTRALIAN IDOL 2006! Good on you Damien!

Then came the overwhelming part. I had to bring the pots and pans back to my house at 5/15 stirling highway. Called Nick and he opened the door for me. My 1st reaction when I stepped into the house was "OH MY GOD!!" The living rooom was sooooooo cleannnnn! Very much cleaner than when I was staying there. THe kitchen is god damn clean, the toilet is sooo clean as well. Not a single mould in the house. I was so impressed! And to think 4 guys are staying at my place now! Bryan told me he cant stand the house being dirty. He spent 2 hours cleaning the toilets. In fact, he spent almost the whole week cleaning the house. And Nick cleaned our balcony where we hanged our clothes. There's amost no leaves there. Amazing! My hats off the Bryan, Nick, Stuart and Warren. Its fantastic what 4 guys can do.

Yen came back from exmouth on sunday night. Alex and her was sunburnt. But they enjoyed the trip nonetheless. Went shopping with ber and yen at harbour town today. The funniest part was when Yen and Ber tried this carrot top dress. Haha. I'll never forget how it looked on them. I couldnt stop laughing for a good 3 mins....

Monday ended up with dinner at Hog's Breath with my foundation classmates. Good as usual. Used the guild voucher and had 25% off my main meal of garlic mushroom steak. Had gelare's afterwards. Spent $20 for dinner. Not bad at all!

Mom, Dad, Sis coming tomorrow. Sis wants to try fish and chips at cicerellos. Mom wants to chill and relax. Dad wants to see Uncle Paul, my ex housefather.

Meanwhile, I have one day left to relax. Working at kumon tomorrow, dinner with Yen and Alex, then off to fetch my parents.

So, I'll see ya guys back in spore on the 4th of dec! CANNNTTTT WAAAAIIIITTTTTTT!!!

5/15 Stirling Highway now has pots and pans!

2006-11-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

5/15 Stirling Highway just had pots and pans, all thanks to Leon!

Leon's shifting house, so all his stuff has to go. Managed to get 2 huge cooking pots, enough to cook soup for 6 ppl, and 2 huge pans, 6 wine glasses (Leon told me Jason will flip when he sees it), 6 pairs of chopsticks, one knife sharpener FREE from Leon.

Yesterday started with Lunch with Leon in northbridge. He took me to eat "big bowl noodles" (for those who understand chinese, do a direct translation). The place's right beside Wing Hong, the butchery. Apparently, the place's pretty new. Had pork and pickled noodles for $9.80. Leon told me the beef hor fun there is pretty nice. Shall go there and try it. After which, I brought Leon to Centro Galleria at Morley, which he had never been before. The shopping centre is huge. It can be compared to Garden city and Carousel. Haha, apparently, Leon can shop pretty well. He can tell whether the shirt or dress fits me just by one look. Bought a pair of pyjama pants in sussan for $20. Sussan has all the nice pjs. He stopped me from buying a pair of roxy slippers which I had been eyeing for quite a while. More logical to buy a few pair of sandals from Bangkok. If those spoil, I can buy my long wanted roxy slippers. Haha, good thinking by Leon. Afterwards, we dropped by his place to get the pots and pans. Then headed to northbridge again. Went to try Sri Melaka, a nonya food place. While we were eating halfway, we realised it's a vegetarian restaurant. We didnt know we had mock chicken and squid. No wonder I felt they tasted funny. Both of us finished a bottle of crouchen Riesling from Brown Brothers that we bought earlier on. Only $13.95. Cheap and according to Leon one of the best Rieslings he has ever tasted. For all the perth ppls, dont try Sri Melaka. Both of our stomach felt queasy when we played pool at Pot Black after. I went to the toilet twice. Nonetheless, we managed to play pool. Had to use my guild voucher where we pay for one hour and got the second hour free. Leon trashed me at pool. For each game, when he was at the black ball, I still had at least 5 coloured balls. It was terrible. We ended the game at 10pm. He had to go back early to sleep cos he had to wake up at 4 30 am the next day for work. Hee hee.

Yeah, that ended my day yesterday.

Today started off with lunch at nandos with ber, followed by shopping at garden city then watching "a good year" at the cinemas. A good show. I love the female actress. Remembered her in "Love me if you dare". Followed by dinner with Joe. Did some catching up. Was pretty good.

Beaching tomorrow. I heard its gonna be 32 degrees tomorrow, according to ber. Hope I dont get sun burnt again.....

It's really boring in perth...

2006-11-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging away when I'm supposed to plan for accomodations and itenary for my family when they come to perth next tues.

Meanwhile, I'm over at yen's place for the week. Didnt wanna pay empty rent. So Bryan and his trinity friends took over my house for the whole 3 months. Paid us and wanted to move in on mon. So here I am, freeloading at yen's place. Yen left for her ex mouth trip yest morning, jem left for melbourne yest afternoon and jon just left this morning for spore. So here I am, home alone in their place from today till yen comes back on sun.

It's hell boring here I tell ya. I regret not looking for a job for the week while waiting for them to come. My sis is happily having her camp while i'm stuck here having no one ard and nothing to do. Not her fault. As long as my mum and sis gets to see perth, i'm happy. I can show them how boring perth is!

Went with ber yest to kingsway shopping centre for her job interview. Promoting maths software. While ber was at her job interview, i was happily shopping away.... My first time there (its a bit up north). They had a huge shop called Big W which is like K mart. Cheap stuffs there. They were giving away free knives where ber pulled me to get. 24 cans of coke for less than $10. hoo haa. Bought a pair of shorts there for $20. Went to woolies to browse around and found interesting stuffs there. Groceries there are super cheap. Compared to IGA in broadway and stirling highway. I almost wanted to buy pots and pans for the house but then i remembered I cant go back to my house anymore. A 6 piece pot for just $50! Damn. Its really cheap.

Afterwards, both of us went to shop at centro galleria in Morley. That place is sooo huggee. It's like another Garden City or Carousel. It has K mart, coles, woolies, and Myers. I havent been able to finish shopping there. As usual, I bought heaps of clothes from Jay Jay's my favourite store. Bought a dress, black shorts, and a black halter for just $50! Each costs $60, but if u buy more than $50, u'll get $10 off. Good deal, clothes fit me perfectly. I'm now having a fettish for black shorts. They're so many of them and its really cheap. I have 2 now. More to come... but gotta save for my bangkok trip. Ber and I went to Roads, Sportsgirl, Valleygirl, Temt, City Surf, Jeans West, Just jeans, Cotton On and Diva. We stayed till the shops closed.

After I came back, went with jon and will to Bibik Chan's for dinner. Jon has never been there before, so Will and I decided to take him there. Food was great, but the portions were little. We had mutu fish curry, Squid Taramind and Stir fried vege.

now I've got to think of what to do before my family comes. Shopping, movies, beaching, watching OC and House in my hardisk and the DVDS that are in yen's place are all part of the plan. Nothing beats being back in spore, where I can watch my channel 8 dramas and hang out with my spore friends. But Oh well, another 2 more weeks. In the meanwhile, I shall just chill in boring perth.....

lessons learnt

2006-11-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

If i've ever learnt anything this past 2 weeks, it has got to be 2 things.

1) Learn to face things and deal with it. Don't run away.

It has been a mechanism for me to run away from things so that I dont have to go back to deal with it. In other words, running back to my comfort zone. I've learn to protect myself over the past few years. Not to let myself get hurt. It's probably god's call that in his event, i ran away. Lesson learnt from god. Don;t ever run away anymore.

2) Never take things for granted. Take the initiative.

Been cleaning the kitchen the whole afternoon. Backache, lots to clear up, many dirty areas. I've learnt to appreciate what my mom have done. I remembered for the past few years, my mom always ask me to help her clean the house. But I refused. I was too lazy or I came up with many excuses. In the end, she had to clean up the whole house herself. It was during the hols and I was relatively free. BUt on the other hand, she was busy with work from mon to sat, and now on suns, she has to clean everything up by herself. I've realised the importance of splitting the housework. The house is ours. Its up to us to presume the responsibility to clean up the place we live in. And like what Jon told me, we must take the initiative to do it. Let's hope my housemates and I can take the initiative to do a better job next year.

Still recovering from the exams, incidents which have affected me deeply, and mistakes which I had made my whole life and which I've only come to learn. It's too much for me to take in 3 weeks. I apologise if I am in a pissy mood, a quite mode and a heck care and rude attitude. Many things to think about. Whether I like it anot, its gonna be a life changing moment for me. I hope I can turn out to be a better person, not only for myself, but the ppl around me.

One more thing, fate can really play pranks on me. I was walking back from collecting my lab report. Saw this person, whom I have never spoken before but know who she is. We were walking from diff directions. When we walk past each other, we suddenly turn our heads to look at each other. Oh dear, seems like she knows who I am and I know who she is. Not in a good way. But yeah, she's hell of a lucky girl. That's all I can say....

freedom is sweet, freedom is mine

2006-11-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

My brain is the happiest part of my body today! After the dredges, yes, dredges of 9 months, my study year of 2006 has finally come to an end!

Went to the city to celebrate with suyen today. Went to had tim sum cum sushi, whereby we took what we wanted from the conveyor belt. An innovative idea eh? Suyen told me she had never seen anywhere else that puts tim sum and sushi at the same time, not even in spore. Then, we went to shop, but alas, both of us didnt get anything. Yen was complaining that she didnt get any shopping bag. Hee hee, but she spent the most today. Yes, close to $600. For an airticket back to spore. Went to joytours. That place has got to have one of the "stressful-est" ppl I've ever seen in perth. It's such a busy place, with constant stream of ppl asking for enquiries and to book flights. The tour consultants all look busy and stressed. Phone rang all the time. Yen and I were there for almost half an hour.

After which, we challenged each other to a game of pool. The last time we went, we both tied. Our challenge of the day was to beat each other. But Damn, she won. TYCO SHIT!!! haha. Whenever i get a lucky shot, she says" tyco shit!" what the?? Haha, but I like she says it. Hell funny. I vowed to beat her the next time. When I go back to spore and brush up on my pool skills. Haha, looking for khakis to play pool when I'm back.

Lastly, followed by a meal at kimchee restaurant. My favourite korean rest in perth. Had hotpot. WE were both so full eating it. Nonetheless, was satisfied with my kimchi, seafood pancake and my beef hotpot. Bbt afterwards and da pao backed one for my dlg.

3 months of freedom. No work this holiday. Just enjoy, chill, relax, catch up on shows, hang out with friends, laugh my ass off with them, enjoy the warmth of family, basically just back to my comfort zone. One where I can truly be myself, say what I want and do what I want.

ANd yes, thanks to yen who accompanied me today. For being there for me, esp this sem. Idol hangouts was great. And yeah, maybe Jeremy and I should change houses during the weekend. In one way, he can play all night dota with Jason, and I can have the best of both worlds with yen and dlg. Hahahahaha... alrights. Going to sleep now. Only had 5 hours of sleep. Night night ppl...

7 hours 35 mins to....

2006-11-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

It's officially 7 hours 35 mins to my last paper, company law. I'm in a holiday mood now. Didnt really get much studying done today. My brain feels so much better when my mind does not absorb information. And I'm almost reaching the point whereby I couldnt care less if I fail the paper. Bringing in my statues to the exam somehow gives me the confidence to get through it, that is if I CAN REMEMBER ALL MY CASES.

Many thoughts have been going through my mind for the past 2 weeks. Many. Too much to blog it down, but I'll try to jot it down once it comes to mind.

Oh, and yes, I spent 15 hours watching goong during my study break. I'm absolutely in love with that show. Thanks to Liyin who passed me the show after 3 days of putting the wrong show in my hardisk, forgetting to bring my hardisk, and remembering to bring my hardisk but forgetting to pass it to me. And for the past few days, I kept replaying scenes of goong, esp the ones with Shin and Chaegyung. Woo.. lovely couple. Makes me want to become a princess as well. I dont mind the arranged marriage. Jason once said this to me and it was stuck in my head. Sometimes no choice can be the best choice. And with the impending failure to tomorrow's paper, my 1st thought was to marry a rich husband. If only my grandfather had an agreement with one of the kings in Malaysia, haha, a sultan perhaps? Then my marriage will be arranged. No need to go through courtship, parents dont have to worry about me not having a bf, and i'll have the money and be a tai tai.. How good is that?

Rights... enough crap.. gonna spend the next 2 hours cramming in as much as I can. I can't explain, but I have a feeling my life's gonna change in 9 hours time... see ya guys! ANd good luck to those who have remaining papers!

Library

2006-11-02T22:03:00.000-08:00

The reid library has been my favourite hangout place for the past week. It's where I get the most productivity from studying. Though I can only spend at most 5 hours studying each day, it beats staying at home and not get anything done at all. When I am bored, I can go kacau suyen, bernice, liying, shireene & Lisan, my studying buddies in reid.

I saw Jasmine's blog when she talked about me mentioning that we all have to deal with issues no matter what and taking the effort to fufil our goals. Sometimes, it really helps to have someone there for you. Someone to ask you how your day is everyday. Someone to keep you going, to remind you about what your goals are. Someone to encourage you. Someone to talk to when you need someone to talk to. Someone to accompany you for lunch. Someone to accompany you for dinner. Just someone to be there for you. I can't find that someone. Can't seek solace in parents, friends too busy to listen blah blah blah. You can read it and take it as me just complaining. Or you can say you leave messages in my blog, comments etc. But where are you when I need you? When I need a shout out, when you can sense that I need someone to talk to. When you can sense that I am upset, when you can sense I could need company for lunch. Where were you? When you could be just a few steps away, when you could just be a phonecall away, when you are just 10 mins walk away. Granted, we all have to deal with issues. BUt when its time you need someone to keep you sane, you can't find anyone. And maybe you just think that this person keeps you sane (i.e, you make up that this person keeps you going and sane, and when talking to this person, that person keeps you happy. You think about the person everyday). Even so, you feel happy. Now that the person is gone in your life, how would you feel? Would you feel upset? That there's no one else to keep you going.

I know I am whinging/complaining/being ridiculous, but I am currently going through a lot right now. Many thoughts keep impinging on my mind, and I can only think of one reason. This place that I am in right now does not have that person to keep me going in uni. That person does not have to be a bf. It can be a very good friend who could have my back anytime. And I miss Singapore. Esp with all the hangouts, all the friends I can call with just one phonecall away, conversations that I can be comfortable with.

Another thought: I will try to have your back when you need me, but will you be willing to have my back when I need one? That does not only include writing comments on my blog. But sensing I am upset and accompanying me for lunch, even spending just one hour talking to me, having lunch with me, and letting me know that one hour is worth it compared to watching your drama serials, spending time with your bf/gf, doing other stuffs which you really like?

sometimes i wonder...

2006-10-31T08:18:00.000-08:00

Been hooked to Eminem's "When I'm Gone". I love Eminem. He appears to be a hardcore rapper but his lyrics show his vulnerability, his emotional side. I love it. No pretending to be a "Yeah, I am strong, I can do this, I have tonnes of girls, blah blah blah".

Anyways, the end of the sem got me thinking. Amanda msged me on saturday afternoon after we went for dinner together saying" Good luck with your exams. Don't think I'll be seeing you for the rest of the semester already". I suddenly felt so sad after seeing her sms. I miss the times I hang out with her and she's graduating and going to spore for good. She's been there for me for the past 2 years and I thank god she was my housemate last year. On the walk back from suyen's place on idol on sunday, I suddenly thought to myself, " Oh man, this year has got to be one of the shittest year of my life". Everything didnt go well. And I mean everything. I am not generalising based on certains things that have happened recently but throughout the year. The things I never thought I had to deal with. Life just seem to throw me out. It seems like I have been totally neglected by humans on earth. And to top it up, I just saw the whole psychology third year gang in the reid cafe today (Jason, Ryan, Fiona, Bernice, Lydia, Li-Ann etc) discussing about one of the units. And I thought "Oh man, I should be there. Why on earth am I doing this double degree?"

Yes. My double degree. I've struggled alot because of this. Because of this decision I made. I can honestly say that life would simply be much better if I'm back in Singapore. At least I have my family who would be physically there for me, friends who could give me emotional support. Why did I choose to do a double degree in the first place? I could have chosen to do a single psychology degree. Cos that's what I want and love to do. Cos I want to be able to help people in my job. I could have been with the psych ppl, who are the best bunch I've ever met. All are competing for honours, but yet all are so willing to help. looking at my bunch. I mean the people who are doing 2nd year psych. I can see competition. All arent that willing to help. all prefering to study themselves and not form study groups. And I'm gonna do most of my third year units with them. okie, dont wanna think about that now. And then I think about my family. THat psych would not pay as much as accounting and finance, and that I owe my family one. I have to put my sis through uni. Cos I feel its my responsibility. That's why I'm doing this. Another reason I'm doing this is to show my parents that "hey, I can achieve good grades. I can pull through a double degree because doing it itself is hard. I want to be get through this and excel in it. To show my relatives, hey, I have 2 degrees. Be proud of it". And now I think, is it all worth it? Life's really hell. Or circumstances make life as a double degree student (or only rather me )hellish. And to top it up, I dont see anyone from my cohort doing the same double degree that I'm doing. I do diff units with diff ppl. I sit alone in lectures for some units, I have trouble finding group mates for assignments.

The only 2 things that made me feel better was when my uncle sent me an e-mail about the 90/10 principle. 10% of how things turn out the way they are depends on your circumstances. 90% of how things turn out will depend on how you react to your situation. And the other thing was when I was doing my i lecture for my psych unit. It talked about pscyhological problems of elderly people when a thought dawned on me,"I am gonna get much better job opportunities when I graduate. I get more choices. If I'm not happy as an accountant, I'm gonna quit and become a psychologist. And I'm gonna be an awesome psychologist"

Life rolled downhill in adolescence. I prayed life will roll uphill again in adulthood. But then again, I'm already in adulthood. And I just celebrated my 22nd birthday. Life's shitty this year. Will it improve next year? I have a negative feeling about this... and thinking about this can make me cry...

Revaluation of my life...

2006-10-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

Aussie idol was great today. Good performances by Damien, Ricky, Chris and Jessica. My 1st time watching Arias (An aussie music awards ceremony). All the songs and bands have funny names, like wolfmother, rougue traders, tv rock. Haha, there's even a song called "moo, the choir" or something like that.

with the help of yen, my lezzie partner, who was with me when the incident at nb 2 days ago, and a call to maggy, my good friend in spore, i feel much better now. I think I can set my mind to close the case. After putting down the phone with mag, I finally thought, hey, the other person whom I saw that day is what God has planned to be in "that person's" life. And God has other plans for me. So I shouldnt be upset over something that wasnt meant to be mine in the 1st place. But like I said, I'm glad that the person has been in my life in 2006.

Anyways, been thinking a lot for the past 2 days. How my life has ended up the way it has. Somehow, opportunities hasnt been knocking on my door for the past 2 years. I did learn a lot; from the people I have to live with and communicate with is indeed different from my friends and family who were clearly in my comfort zone; for the past 3 years, I was put in a situation that wouldnt have happened when I was back in spore. I can daresay I was being put last in other people's mind. People wasnt willing to help when I was in dire straits. When I had to pick myself up, when I was forced to use rationality to overcome the emotion that I felt, and mind you, I am a pretty emotional person. When I really needed help, I could feel no one helping me. When I needed emotional support, I could turn to no one. No one could offer me the perfect solution, the kind of support that really comforted me after talking to the person. There was close to zero social life. I could count the amount of times I went to the cinema to watch a movie with my fingers. Similarly, I could count the amount of times there was a gathering, where I could thourougly enjoy myself, and be myself. There were times where I had coffee with amanda and Joanne, and it was all within the vincinity of my house. 5 mins walk to Tiamos or Terrazza.

Sometimes I really wonder how life has progressed for me in Perth. Particularly Perth. Wanting to be more involved in the Australian culture; wanting to go places, wanting to see more things, wanting life to be more exciting, fulfilling. Instead, life became more boring. My sole purpose this year was just to study and get good grades, and it ended up being going to uni and back home. And uni's just 10 mins walk away from home.

The purpose of this blog is not to complain how boring Perth is, or how boring I've made it out to be. The purpose of this entry is to really rethink being in perth. No doubt, I've made some good friends, I've grown, I've matured, I've suffered more hardships and learned more things. But somehow, this is not the life of an overseas student I've made out to be. Wanting more distinctions has not been my sole purpose in life. Wanting to go out more, meet new people, travel more, have more gatherings, movie sessions in the cinema, more coffee hangouts, go for rock concerts with friends. Perth seemed to be hindering life for me. I feel like I am gonna explode. Like what Bernice told me a few months ago, "its like you cannot truly be Nicole in Perth" Yes, its like I have something to offer, but no one in perth seems to take notice. Less and less people seemed to be appreciative of the things I do, less people seem to really like the person I am, less people seem not to enjoy my company. Which brings me back to my question. Is is because I have not found the right group of friends over here? Or is it just Perth? Is it time to move on to some other places where I can grow?

However, I've not completed what I set out to do. I've not graduated with a degree yet. I've not completed my studying cycle. And I do like the degree that UWA's offering me. I love what I am doing. I love doing psychology. It keeps me sane. It reminds me of what I can give to people when I graduate with this degree. Accounting was the best choice I've chosen out of my commerce degree. Its stable, relatively in high demand. At least I can tell myself, I can partially support my sister through uni, I can relieve my parents of the financial burden, and being the eldest child, I can at least tell myself that I have fulfiled the obligations as a child.

But the process of getting this degree is killing me. The very things that keep me alive, the company that keeps me going is not there. And I tell myself there are 2 ways I can go: either change to a better place where I feel happier, or change circumstances in perth so that I can be happier. I havent decided which route I should take for next year, but I am seriously going to give it some thought during the summer holidays. Its time I give a revaluation to my life....

It's time for a closure...

2006-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Afte 2 semesters... its time for a closure. Seeing something in northbridge confirms what I have feared over 3 weeks. The good vibe that I have felt turns out to be wrong. However, I'm glad I met this person because that person has been the one that kept me sane in perth. That person has been a motivation to me to study, to be happy each and everyday. This person has not meant to be in my life later on, but its alright. I'm glad we met. And I'm glad we could click.
But after this incident is over, I am definitely and positively sure cupid hates me. And being the stupid, foolish me, I have come out with some reasons why he doesnt like me.

Firstly, I'm not pretty enough.
Secondly, I do not have what it takes to attract guys.
Thirdly, I am too insignificant for him to strike.
Fourthly, he just hates me plainly or is jealous of me for whatever reason.

I can't think anymore. It's 2 am in the morning and the scene which I saw just now kept replaying in my mind. I wished the other person that I saw was me. But alas, it wasnt meant to be... oh well... It takes time but I'm gonna put a closure to it. Sometimes it hurts too much to cling on. And it'll be easier to let go. But what I fear is not letting go. What I fear is falling again, and the fear of going through the hurt again. Since cupid doesnt like me, I should just put a metal protection over my heart to prevent it from hurting again. I wonder when all these will ever end...

Lord Of War

2006-10-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching Lord Of War. Talks about Nicholas Cage, an arms dealer surviving in the world. At the end, he escaped pusnishment. Just felt that I had to blog about this movie.

Firstly, life ain't fair. I see civilians being killed because of war. I see them killed because of no crime that they have committed. I see good people die. Turns out life will never be fair to each and every human being.

Secondly, Life doesn't revolve around ourselves. Perhaps being in perth has made me live in a rabbit's hole. I don't read the news, so I have no idea what's going around in the world. Life just ain't about ourselves. The things that we're complaining about revolves around school work, the tonnes of assignments that we have, the dreadful assignments that we have, our gf/bfs, family, friends. Life's bigger. Politics, religon, war. Bigger issues for us to think about.

Lastly, from what I've taken from the movie (Shall not divulge much for anyone reading this and have not caught the movie yet), one person's action can change the world significantly, whether the person chooses to believe it or not.

But Lord of War is a good movie overall. I definitely recommend 2 hours of your time watching this movie.

EaRLy QuiChY BiRthDaY

2006-10-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

I just spent the most wonderful early birthday with my darling girlfriend. She surprised me by taking me to Maison Perry the passeterie. Knowing that I love quiche and that Maison sells quiche, she bought me one whole big quiche. We then headed to our favourite spot in mat bay, ordered a lemon tea and latte, and sat there enjoying the scenery and talking. One of the best things that happened to me this year was hanging out with her. She's my darling, accompanying me, listening to me whine, grumble, pour my heart out, etc etc. We'll always find comfort in each other, and I always understand her jokes. hee hee. It's so funny, and she's definetely one hellava good friend to be with.

Oohhhh... I saw so many nice cakes in Maison. Now I know why everyone buys birthday cakes from there. I remember eating the chocolate mousse cake from there. I saw the baileys cake there. It has the word " baileys" on it. How I wish I could just buy a slice. Alas, they dont sell it in slices. The apple pie looked good too! I miss eating apple pies. One of my favourite cakes around. Oh yeah, and the baci cheesecake in the restaurant my darling girlfriend works in. Hearing her describe how yummilicious the cake almost made my saliva drip. I can so imagine myself in that restaurant enjoying that slice of cake with a glass of sweet wine. Ah, nicole, snap back to reality.....

no psych honours in uwa

2006-10-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

just handed in a "non-distinction" standard 60% lab report. Format ok, but my points in my intro and discussion dont seem to flow. I regret not reading more books. Books to help me improve on writing. I need this distinction for this unit to get into honours. Now I can only harbour hopes that my tutor will be more lenient in marking my paper. They say "God will make a way." My way is to get into masters in psych. You cant choose who you want to be. But sometimes I wish I was a girl who has both the brains and the looks. Damn it. I have neither. And damn... I am too tired to write....

Forgive my nonsensical blog at 8 55 am in the morning. The 3rd sunday in the semester w/o sleep the whole night...

Happy 22nd BirthDAy to My BestesT Friend =)

2006-10-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is A SpEciAL MessAge To My BesTesT FrieNd, Miss CorrinE HonG Wan'ER.

~ HappY 22Nd BiRthDay!!!!!!!!!!!!~

From Your BesTesT FrieNd, Miss Lee Shu Hui.

I Hope You Are REadIng This GirL. PleASe Come OnLinE More OftEn And TalK To Me. I Haven'T ChattEd With You foR a WHiLe and I miss TalKiNG tO You. REad this Entry And GivE mE a RePLy SO thAT I KnoW You HAve Been REadiNG My BloG! Muhahaha...

Mistakes..Where my life led to in 2006...

2006-10-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sat down on my computer doing my 60% lab report. Random thoughts came into mind. Random became reflective so I had to blog it down before it all fades away...

I came to Perth this year wanting to make the best out of uni life. I had made great plans. Getting a car, working this year to pay for my car, learning drums, spending good quality time with my housemates. Given circumstances have changed for me this year, I became optimistic of what my life would be this year.

About 2 days ago, when I handed in one of my assignment, I asked myself " What am I doing in Perth? What's the reason of studying so much? Why did I choose to torture myself and do a double degree when I could have done a single degree and be back in Singapore for good in a month's time?" I couldnt sleep that afternoon even though I did not sleep the previous night (as usual doing last min work for my assignment; my groupmates spent more than 24 hours in my room figuring out how to use access for the assignment)

Wrong planning. Wrong Focus. 2 reasons why life turned out for me the way it did.

1) Wrong focus:

One would be devoting ALL my time to studying. Intention: becos I am doing all 3rd and 2nd yr units, and it equals more workload therefore more time and effort on studies.
Second: Relying too much on my housemates. Thinking that it would be fantastic hanging out with my housemates. Do stuff together. Like shopping, eating out every week, watch movies together.

2) Wrong Planning:

1st priority: studying
2nd Priority: Getting a job then a car (I never made it to the second one)

Guess what turned out?

Zero social life.

Zero Church life.

Housemates time? Only dinner time when we cook. Although we do speak everyday, we dont hang out together.

My only life was studying. ONLY.

I was too dependent on my housemates for support, leisure. In the end, I got frustrated and disappointed when I didnt get what I expected. I flared up and showed my temper a couple of times, all in the sake that they knew how I felt and try to do something about it.

I gave up finding a job in the first semester because I put too much emphasis on my studies. When I couldnt get good results, I was sad.

Other social life? Nah. I could count the handful hangouts that MBGU has. It didnt turn out the way I had expected it to be.

Church life? I didnt give it much thought either. God wasnt on my mind this year. Prayers I did? Less than 20.

Other unexpected events came into place. There was one. One person which I had met in uni which changed my life. In a good way of cos. Because of that person, I had motivation to study. Because of that person which I feel a strong vibe about, I was happy everyday. That person keeps me alive, keeps me sane. And talking to that person has been fantastic. It kept me going. To the point now that I dont know where we stand.

It was a mistake. 3 mistakes, 3 different sources that I shouldnt have relied on heavily in the first place. Because in the end, I get disappointed. When the 3 sources dont satisfy me, I get upset. I lose all rationality. And I mean it. I cant think. I cant be rational.

A good thing that came out of this: A learning experience.

I need to rethink my priorities for next year. And I have come up with a resolution for next year. Every minute of my day in 2007 has to be fulfilled.

Fast forward please... Make time fly till the 15th of November. So that I can sit down and reflect on my life in 2006.

And I want to apologise to my housemates for being so moody, seemingly irritated, stressed, upset, and unfriendly at times.

Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel

2006-10-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

In the midst of doing my ACcounting Information Systems (AIS) assignment. It requires a great deal of knowledge of Access, which I've never used before. It took a lot of struggling before I could get my input forms correct.

Doing both an arts degree and a commerce degree has been great. For my psychology unit, I have to use Excel, and I've learnt how to use some of the more complicated functions such as macros. I can create graphs and use excel more efficiently now. Also, with this AIS assignment, I can roughly use access, though I still suck at it. Great, now I have one more thing to put in my resume. Under skills obtained, I can insert "Microsoft access" as an additional skill.

I've been spending everytime and everyday either doing my assignment, tutorial or lecture. If that's the case, I think I'll just really chill and relax during my summer break. 2 months of just enjoying. Eating yummy foods in spore (Yeah, I'm thinking of chuey Kueh, Chee Chiong Fun, Kuay Chap, Char Kuay Teow, Hokkien Mee), hanging out with friends (Yes, Eme, Wan'er, Mag, Weitian, e3 dogs, Kel, Win etc etc.), My Bangkok trip with the e3 dogs, and yes, taking up scuba diving lessons in M'sia, and also buying all the drama serials that I can and just sitting at the couch of my living room and watching it. So much so much to look forward to when I go back to spore. Oh yeah, and also spending time with my family. There's so much to do, so much to talk about, and so much to amend.

Yes, yes, I think I'll just do that. Screw the internship at EY, Deliotte, KPMG or PWC. I can always do it next year. Work's driving me nuts this semester and all I want for my break is just to relax, reorganise my life for next year (Yes, I have a screwed up life this year: Studying + no social or church life) and something needs to be done for next year. Before history repeats itself next year.

Right... back to work... maybe I'll just take a short nap... while waiting for my groupmates to come to have an assignment meeting... Not much sleep tonite... again... This is how I work when assignments are due the next day...

motivation vs cirmumstances

2006-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Its the worse period of everyone's life. Assignments. Dreadful. No one wants to do it. But no choice; in order to pass the unit, graduate, strive for honours, everyone has to do it.

Yeah, this brings me to my topic. Motivation vs circumstances. It has been happening to me, a few of my friends who have been complaining to me about their problems, which I deduce, stems from "the lack of motivation". It happens to us all the time, but it seem to strike a deep chord in me recently.

We are all affected by circumstances. Yes, we are students and we do have to put priorities into our studies. But come on, let's face it. We have 24 hours a day. Let's say we spend 8 hours sleeping (which I'm sure some ppl DON"T). We take 3 hours out from other things (eating, going to the toilet, stoning, chatting, surfing, whatever). I'm sure no one sane person can spend the remaining 13 hours studying (unless thay guy has 100% full power concentration, and if so, I take my hat off them). So what about the rest of the hours that we dont spend studying? Wouldnt we want to do something that we would like to do? Like for eg, spending the rest of the time trying to plan your bf or good friend's bdae? Wanting to hang out with your best pal? Play sport? If you dont spend the time doing it, what does that mean? I deduce two things: either you cant be bothered or you are not motivated to do it. I choose the latter.

I mean, if the person means something to you, I am sure you would take the time out to do something for that person. Even the tinest little bit. Dont tell me, "oh, I have an exam or assignment due in 2 days time and I cant even spend 10 mins talking to my bf/gf". It all boils down to motivation. Being motivated to do something makes you want to do it, and you will take the time out to do it even though you are affected by circumstances (exams, work etc).

A classic example that I can think of are birthdays. I cant change the fact that assignments and exams cloud together in the month of october and november. Its socially structured (Those who plan assignments and exams at that period are idoits, or rather, those whose birthdays fall on those periods and unlucky). I see that all the March & July babies always have something planned for them (surprises, birthday celebrations). that's because everyone's relatively free and do not have something off their hands that they can make time to participate/plan the birthdays etc. Even my sept birthday friends in singapore have exciting birthday activities lined up for them (just look at the recent sentosa celebration for the e3 sept babies). Ah, then come to october. What do the october babies get? Almost nothing. I can count the birthday celebrations for the october babies. Just look at Johnathan, Jeremy, Me and Suyen. I mean, we do get surprised, but our birthday celebrations are not as elaborate as Jasmine's, Jason's, Abel's, Sean's, Lu Hui's or any March or july babies for that matter of fact. Maybe I'm bitter. I havent had a very good surprise or birthday celebration in my life. But the point is, can you see the motivation there? I know everyone's busy with their assignments/exams/thesis whatever, but come on; if I am your good friend and if you really bother, what's taking out 2 hours of your precious time and come ask me out for a dinner right? Unless, 1)I'm not your priority 2) I am not a dear/good/best/girl/boy friend 3) You are really screwed with your work that you need the time to think, sleep, rest so that you get the energy to concentrate on your work, then yeah, no celebrations for me. I choose to think that 1) and 2) are more applicable.

Call me selfish, narcisstic, an idiot, foolish for thinking that way. I am just making a point about motivation. And sometimes, thinking that how people can be "unmotivatied" in doing things piss me off. Well, not pissed. More of disappointment. Enough of disappointment for the last 10 years. I've learnt that with no expectation, you will not be disappointed. The best thing I can do is to make sure I make sure every day is fulfilling and that I am happy, with or without friends.

So, to my friends who is sick of doing assignments/studying. Ask yourself this question. What's your motivation behind studying? When you find the right motivation, trust me. Studying becomes a lot more enjoyable. Circumstances may put you through a rough time, but motivation keeps you going and makes going through circumstances much more interesting, challenging, and enjoyable.

What do you think?

Nicole = not a studying machine only

2006-10-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

I am damn sick of assignments. Yes, and studying in general. I hate the fact that my life only revolves around studying. I hate the fact that I spend monday to sunday only travelling from home to uni. Yes, and home is only 10 mins walk away from uni. Many people ask me recently," so this is your last year eh?" I find myself having to repeat the fact that I am doing a double degree. and I will be in uwa till July 2008. I wish I can break free from this life that I am leading now. I cant stand the fact that my life is rolling downhill now. Come on, I am 22 years old. Isnt this supposed to be the prime of my life? Isnt this supposed to be when life is most happening? And it doesnt help that I am not gonna be a bridesmaid, and that I cant go on a date. Maybe I should just take a year off from uni, go and throughly enjoy life before I start uni again. After 3 years in uwa, I am damn sick of studying, but most of all, I AM DAMN SICK OF PERTH! Nothing seems to go right over here. Everything sucks. UGHH.............. I am a highly extroverted and highly neurotic person. And I learnt in psych that I need to be highly stimulated (ie, I need excitement in life), and right now I cant seem to be getting it.

AHHH!!!!!!!! LIFE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

MCW!

2006-10-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

apologies for not updating my blog. Been pretty busy for the past week. Didnt sleep last night cos I was rushing through my psychology essay. However, I wasnt busy the whole week because of that. It was because I just had the most happening week in the semester! And that is... Multicultural Week! Haha... For my friends back in aussie who doesnt know what mcw is, no worries.

Check Out:

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nicoleleeshuhui84/my_photos

http://mcw06.blogspot.com

Through pictures and the blog about multicultural week, you would be able to have an idea what mcw is.

To sum up, the past week have been good! BUsy, but HapPy!

Rights... Back to more busy periods. Assignments and the Exam... But no worries, the SemeStER WiLL End In A MonTh'S TimE... so EveRyBoDy JiA You!!!!!!!

SIgninG Off... A "HigH" Shuhui~Nicole Who Is SLeeP-DePriVed...

A learning experience

2006-09-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

I am glad I had a break today. Though its not exactly a break, and it was more of a chit chat and feedback and discussion day, but I'm happy that I dont have to think about my studies and *other things*.

Multicultural week is next week. It's one week of full on activities. Movie screenings, spring feast (which is a pasar malam in my uni selling international food), games, and so on. It;s good. Get a week to have fun, at least a deviation away from my assignments.

Was in the car with my Promotions head, Jeanette when she was sending me home. While we were chatting, it suddenly dawned on me how much I've learned and grown since I've been in Perth. I can definitely say I've been put out of my comfort zone. Just look at the friends or rather people that I meet here. Even for Singaporeans or asians for that matter of fact. We come from so diverse background. Hanging out with them is not an easy task. But in a way, I'm glad I met them because they provide me with a differing point of view in handling all kinds of issues. I've begun to take a whole new perspective with regards to school work, working life, friendship, relationship. Even the meaning of life.

Come to think of it, I've been regretting coming to Perth because I feel its such a boring place. But come to think of it, life is what you make out of it. I am sure there are things that I can be involved in (like mcw which I am involved in now, and the A.S.I.A cocktail - a clubbing event which I didnt make it tonight cos I was having dinner with the mcw people) . Perhaps its time to think of more things to be involved in. Uni life can be fun and interesting if I make it out to be. And I want to believe that so.

A learning experience

2006-09-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

company law assignment

2006-09-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

My post for the past few days seem to be mostly about school work. I cant help it... My life now revolves around assignmnents. Yes, tonnes of assignment. I just remembered handing one up last monday. Now another, (see titleof thie post) is due tomorrow. Just finished one last draft. Still 2 more points to consider before I am finally done. 2 more on the way which is due in 2 weeks time. Havent started them. Shit. No semester break, assignment every day. It'll be a matter of time before I go insane.

Hee hee, but thanks to all those who tried to keep me sane. For some, it'll be serenating me with good songs as usual, some trys to comfort me, some try to talk sense in me. There are 2 who told me "just keep going. Just a few more weeks and you'll be back in spore". I cant wait for the semester to end already. And the best thing hasnt come yet! Mcw! Oh yeah, and also thanks to those who helped me with my assignment. Endless bugging, hee hee. Thanks to Jessie and Ed, who never refuses to help when I ask them questions.

I hope more interesting things come please. At least something which is different from this mundane life. At least a few hours at cottlesloe beach maybe? I miss going to the beach with my darling girlfriend....

Eme, if you are reading this, u better keep your promise of going out with me every week when i'm back in spore! ;P

sanity

2006-09-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

Was flyer-girl on saturday.
Picked lemons with Li yin on the way.
Had lunch at Aria Di Mare for the 1st time.

Started on my law assignment in the afternoon.
I need sanity.
Been studying non-stop for the past 2 weeks.
I'm sick of this routine.
Either Uni, assignments, tutorial, city for promos.
Been home for most of the day.
Damn.
If only I could just do something different for a while.
Maybe another holiday or a crash course in drumming.
I need inspiration.
For I lost all of mine.
Someone keep me sane.
Or give me suggestions to keep sane.