Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wow!! What a night!! I had one of the most memorable and superb birthday 'surprises' of my life!!
Well, I woke up in the morning, being quite dazed as usual and had to attend an 8am lecture on Animal Biology. It was a Wednesday and Wednesdays are crazy days for me as I had 3 hours of lectures in a row.
Nothing much happened in the morning. I received a makeshift card made by my friends in the middle of Genetics lecture. It's amazing how these Malaysian students could multi-task in the middle of lectures. Although the card was quite plain, I was actually thrilled that they were so thoughtful of me....(And, I don't appreciate being called "old" and yes, I realise I will be joining the "20's club").
So, after class, I went back to college and had my lunch. Some of them knew that it was my birthday that day. So, they sang a short birthday song for me that afternoon. How nice!! ;)
For the remaining part of the afternoon, I was in my room watching Pirates of The Carribean (The Curse of the Black Pearl). I had to confess I didn't actually study that afternoon...hehe! So, it proves that I'm not a 'study machine' after all. Actually, I was planning to catch up on the Pirates series as I was going to watch the 3rd series of Pirates on the next day!!
So, after a few hours spent on watching Pirates 1, I went off to dinner!!! And guess wat! They sand to me another birthday song...now a larger college group as everyone practically comes to dinner at around the same time...I was sooooooooooo embarassed!! The thing is, living in college has its ups and downs, and that moment was probably one of the ups....
State of Origin is on that night!! It's actually a popular rugby game between Queensland and New South Wales. The Queensland team (cane toad) supporters wore maroon and NSW team (cockroach) supporters wore blue. In college, there were a substantial proportion of students from NSW, although a majority of them is from, well Queensland!! So, you could imagine how excited everyone was.
I was planning to watch the game with them, but something totally BIZZARE happened.
At around 7.30pm, I received a distressing call from Penny, claiming that she was followed by some stranger in the university while walking back from the library. Well, 1st, I thought, why in the world was she in the library alone at that time of night? Well, then, I thought Pharmacy students would have a lot of assignments to do. So, I brushed off that doubt.
By that time, she started screaming at intervals and she claimed that she walked into an unknown building in an attempt to escape her stalker. She was pleading me to find her as she was "trapped" in an unfamiliar corner in the building.
Well, what could I do, but to run all the way to the university in the freezing cold of the night, hoping that that stranger didn't find her first before I did. What was worse, she screamed before she hung up on me!!! In my mind, panic struck as I realised that she may have fallen into the hands of her stalker. Well, I quickened my pace and I ran to that building she described to me. She was in the Steele Building.
Eventually, I found her cowering on top a long flight of stairs in one of the secluded corners of the Steele Building. I calmed her down and walked her back to her place.
I was planning to return to my room to switch off my comp (as I was chatting before I received the distress call and i didn't want my quota to be sucked dry). As I reached my place, she (penny) stopped. I thought she hurt her legs. But, guess what, she grinned...she grinned and pointed to my hse. While laughing, she said, "Go in...They are all waiting for you."
You can imagine what ran through my mind there and then...Shock, I suppose. And all the running-to-the-uni episode in the middle of the night was a sham....
There they were in the living room of my house, to celebrate my birthday. And, the whole Penny-in-danger was merely a trick to get me out of the house...hmmmmph
Well, that was definitely the most memorable (in a good and bad way) Birthday celebration in my life. Thanks to all who managed to orchestrate such a terrifying yet shocking birthday night.
And, above all I LOVED THE CAKE AND THE GIFTS..WOOHOO!!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
That was my first time entering a choir team. We had practised for close to 3 months under the training and supervision of Ms. Josephine, a Masters in Music student at UQ. She's also from Sabah, Malaysia (Yeah!! Malaysia Boleh!).
Well, I played the tenor part of the choir. We sang two songs : the first was What is Life by George Harrison and the 2nd was what I liked the most, the LION KING MEDLEY. We sang songs that range from Can You Feel The Love Tonight to the Circle of Life..Those songs were truly magical...
However, throughout the practices, we faced numerous difficulties. One main problem was that ppl were not committed enough to attend the practices. I really pitied Josephine as she was the only one controlling the whole crowd of talkative teens in our group..
So, on that night, when we went on stage, we performed to the best of our abilities. There were undoubtedly some hiccups here and there, but everything went well, I think.
We didn't put our expectations up too high as we knew that we wouldn't win. Well, at the closing of the event, we were awarded the "Most Entertaining Performance". We took that as a consolation prize for our valiant efforts. I bet Josephine (and all of us) were glad that it was now all over.
After the performance, ppl were coming to me saying, "You really made my night!!" Even the Principal of my college, Rev Hugh Begbie said, "You were really enthusiastic!!". My college mates were also thrilled when they heard that we won the Most Entertaining Performance and praised me. Well, firstly, I really appreciated all those attention. I found out later (through a video taken by my friends..*Thanks ah!!), however, that I was a bit too "enthusiastic" on stage and I totally made a fool of myself on that night..hmmmm
This is the CROMWELL COLLEGE TEAM (I'm at the front row. Find the short Asian in front)
This was St John's College. Look how sophisticated their dress were and they even had their own ORCHESTRA!!! Superb ah!! But, their grandeur and extravagance only managed to land them 2nd place.. BOO-HOO!!
Ok...now for something lighter, this time I'm not anywhere else but in Brisbane!!
In case some of you who don't know, there are lots to see in Brisbane too!
First, Roma Street Parklands, it's a very scenic park. We had the Malaysian Student Association of UQ Barbeque lunch there. After that, we saw a wedding couple having their wedding photographs shot in that park. That itself is testament to the beauty of that park.
Then, we went to South Bank. In South Bank, we have the Beach in a City. Imagine that! I bet that we don't have that in Malaysia....hehe!! We had lovely ice cream at Cold Rocks...Cole Rocks is an ice-cream parlour where you could add other stuff in your ice-cream such as marshmallows, oreos, tim-tams, chocolate, M&M's etc...Your choice!! Everything will be mashed and stuffed together into one superb mix.
Nah...here are some photos also...
After the Stradbroke Island trip, I guessed we had not had quite enough fun. So, there we went, venturing to another place. This time it's TOOWOOMBA.
Toowoomba is a town located around 1.5 hours west of Brisbane. Toowoomba is also known as the Garden City as the gardens there were rumoured to be breathtaking and enchanting!! The reason we chose to visit that place was to attend the Australian Gospel Music Festival (AGMF). The festival resembles a carnival in Malaysia except that they didn't have a Ferris Wheel and Carousel ride. There were large massive tents, where they organised music performances of mainly gospel themes. But, mind you, the quality of the music in that festival was superb!!
However, since we didn't book our accommodation earlier, we couldn't secure a place to stay throughout the three-days festival. Hence, we could only attend the last day of the festival :( and return to Brisbane on the following day.
We embarked on a bus ride from Brisbane to Toowoomba. Upon reaching there, we set off to find our hotel so that we could put down our luggage. Little did we know that we had to walk for about 30 minutes to reach our lodging place. Haih!! (and they all blamed me for booking that place. To defend myself, I told them that all the other hotels were fully booked due to that famous festival!).
But, I have to confess that once we reached that town, I personally felt that we were in Disneyland!! The town was amazingly clean and the buildings there were newly (I presumed)and brightly painted. So, we went to have our lunch and then proceeded to the on-going festival.
The festival was entertaining. As I told you, there were many music performances in the many tents erected on Queens Park. There were also rock-climbing, (fake) sword fighting competitions and of course, the Red Frogs "Sumo Wrestling" showdown!
Then, as evening came, we were eagerly waiting to attend the last evening concert of the night. There was a long queue at the entrance to the concert. And we had to walk all the way back to our motel to get some stuff. So, there was the Amazing Race story again in Toowoomba and we managed to reach Queens Park again about 45 minutes later..
The concert was just unforgettable. The song "The Cross Alone" was as meaningful as it can be especially in conjunction with Easter Celebration. Everyone was sitting on the grass and people were singing on the stage, followed by a short time of preaching.
After the concert, we headed to have our dinner. and on the way, we bumped into a group of stunt performers who were basically playing with fire. They were swinging around bars with fire on each end. And in that place, Ms. Jessica finally found her "Clark Kent"...hehe! That's beside the point....
Then, we joined in the bush dance!! Woo-hhoo!! It was so FUN!!! But, at the end, I had a little difficulty breathing as we were breathing in dry dust kicked up from the ground throughout the dance.
Subsequently, we headed to the last show of the night and the AGMF festival, a performance by the Parachute Band, a gospel music band from New Zealand. We missed the Planetshaker's Band who came to perform on the 1st day!! Well, I told myself that I wasn't gonna miss the Parachute Band after knowing that I didn't have the chance to see the Planet Shaker's Band perform. And guess wat, the Parachute Band performance was equally as good as I expected.
We walked back to our motel, tired but satisfied. We vowed to come for thewhole 3 days event next year...That was the 1st day.
On the morning of the 2nd day, we had 6 packets of Maggi Mee for breakfast. Jessica said she missed Maggi Mee, and after having that heavy dose of Maggi Mee for breakfast, she immediately regretted her request...hehe!
On the 2nd day, we visited the garden in Queens Park and after a significant delay (consisting of mainly, lazing around and playing "Speed") we decided to visit the Japanese Gardens too. Well, basically the gardens were as beautiful as the rumours stated, but it would have been much more beautiful if there was RAIN!!!! At that time, Queensland was (and probably is) suffering from a severe drought. In the Japanese gardens, the river was quite dry but some plants still survive in spite of the drought.
Well, after that, we headed back to Brisbane by bus. Overall, I was satisfied with the trip and I thanked God for always being there with three of us. It was my 1st time planning for a trip (from booking of hotel, buses etc) and I was glad that everything went well under His care and help. Glory to God!
Slide 1 : Toowoomba Day 1 
Slide 2 : Toowoomba Day 2
Saturday, May 12, 2007
In Australia, there are very strict rules implied on underaged drinking. Anyone below 18 years of age are prohibited from drinking alcohol in public spaces. Hence, one has to apply for a specific document called an 18+ card.And there we went, my friend and I to the Queensland Transport Department with expectant hearts. I heard the process will be quite fast and simple. Again, I was wrong.
The problem with the ang-mohs are with Chinese names. To them, our last name is the last word of our name (it's like duh...) But, as you know, Chinese names are not always that simple. Last names are also your surnames to the angmohs. So, my First name is Ernest and my last name should be Tee. But, when they checked my passport, my name was stated as Ernest Tee Hock Lynn. They see Ernest as my first name (yes!!!) and Lynn as my last name (urrrgh!!). Tried explaining to them that that's how Chinese names are phrased and the surname is always in the middle (or the beginning of their names if they don't have another name in front).
So, guess wat? My friend, who also encountered the same mishap, and I, had to rush to the Immigration Department to obtain a verification of our First & Last names. Imagine that!! So, there we went, with hearts beating, as the the Transport Department was about to close for the day. We managed to rush back to the Transport Department just in time to get our application in, photos taken and of course, the 18+ card. Looking back, we were like one of the participants in Amazing Race, rushing from one point of the city to another...
To top the whole mess up, we had to collect a cake for Cheryl's birthday at 5.00pm. By the time we hopped on the bus and reached Indoroopilly Shopping Centre, it was past five. We dashed to the cake store as fast as our legs could carry us. Well, in short, we managed to get the cake too...hehe!
After a tiring and "Amazing race"-like day, we had Cheryl's Birthday party at Grace College dining hall. 
Try to guess what was her gift?
Birthday girl and I
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
I didn't know that taking up this biotechnology course would be soooo cool!!
The Biotech Department organised a field trip to Stradbroke Island, one of the most beautiful islands outside Queensland. So, there we went with expectant hearts and joy.
What did we do there, you may ask? On the first day, when we reached there, we were given a talk about some on-going research on sharks. Interesting huh? Then, we split into groups and were given a question on how to detect land mines in a war-torn country without you accidentally stepping on one and blow yourself up..KaBOOM!!
On that night, we played a Trivia Game. Super difficult questions they gave. Something like : What is the town called Big Banana?? wth...And yeah, there was one question concerning Malaysia and it was shameful that none of us got it right. It was about the finding of Nipah virus by some Chinese professor at University Malaya which earned him the Nikko Prize or something..
A group of us then went out to the local cemetery and I agreed that it was pretty freaky (though I tried to scare some of my mates...hehe..sorry peifei!) We then decided to visit the local pub just to chill out. In that small community, there were only two main local pubs...And....you guessed it! They were both closed on that night! Dang!!
So, we returned to the Moreton Bay Research Centre, at which we spent the night, with sunken hearts. A few of us gathered to watch a famous old Australian movies entitled "The Castle". It was regarding a local Australian family who lived next to the airport. One day, the government decided to enlarge the airport and had to demolish their place and so, the family were forced to leave their "castle" with compensation. The story was basically focusing on the struggle of the father to defend his "castle" against the government. That show enlightened me on the Australian culture and showcased one of Eric Bana's earliest acting attempts..He was soo innocent then...
Well, the next day, we went to the Gorge Walk on Point Lookout. We embarked on a trail through high mountain cliffs overlooking the beautiful sea below. The wind was massively strong and the scenery was just breath-taking. It was really a superb experience!
Then, we headed to the beach...And yeah, we did all the "beachy" stuff ler, such as burying someone in the sand, stuffing sand in someone's hair..etc
Overall, the trip was a relaxing and beneficial one. Dr. Steve and Dr. Ross really deserved a great applause for organising this trip!!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Hai faithful fans of mine!! =p
Living in college is not totally a bore. Now and then, you have interesting social activities. But, most of the time, I don't really join them (no, it's not because i'm unsociable) but, more often than not, the activities are always alcohol-based...
Well, this AT HOME is my very first social activity with all the other collegians.
Before that night, we were given a month to do an "Ask" for our partner. I was coupled up with a 2nd year girl named Quad. So, I "asked" her out one Friday night to South Bank where we talked and talked while eating Cold Rocks ice cream and basically, to get to know each other better.
Well then, AT HOME 2007 finally came. The theme for the night was "World Wide Web (WWW)". We had to dress up accordingly...hehe! Have a look!
My partner Quad is a notorious VIRUS. Can you guess what am I??
Some interesting pictures of other ppl's costumes:-
Electrifying display of electrified ppl
SURF the Internet
Well, before I went to that party, I took time to satisfy my self vanity...!! Can't blame a guy for his self worth, right??
OK!! You can stop throwing up now!
Juicy details of the night : Firstly, dinner ran into a havoc as ppl started a subtle food fight (had to be subtle as the Principal was present) It was indeed an idea of fun, but sometimes, it's hard to comprehend why Australians don't appreciate their food??!!
Well, you can guess wat happened after dinner...DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. There's a song in college which runs like this : If the ocean was whisky and I was a duck, I'll dive myself in and drink it all up. Indeed, they really drowned themselves in alcohol that night.
And,when they got drunk, it's hilarious seeing what they do. At times, they'll be wrestling on the lawn..like WWF RAW!! Then, as time goes by, they'll pass out somewhere...hehe!
But, that night, something extraordinary happened. One of the guys decided to have a Nudity Run!! He was obviously in a drunken state of mind, I suppose. It was quite late at night by then. So, there they went, stripping off everything and running around the college. If you think that was funny, there's more!! Two of them were "lucky" enough to bump into the Principal who was making his rounds that night...hehe!
All these are the ups and downs of living in college ler....
answer to my identity : erawYPS
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Hi everyone!!!
Well, after a glooomy start, I guess I should lighten up the mood in this blog a bit.
This post is specially dedicated to the people I really really cherish : my FAMILY.
A day after I left my home country, they came "hunting me down". HEHE!! They arrived in Brisbane on the 17th of February and I only had the opportunity to meet them on the day after. It was such a great relief and joy to finally meet my family.
I really really thank GOD that my family managed to reach Brisbane safely and they were there for me to help me adjust to the new place. On the 19th, the college Orientation Week started, and it was TORTURE!! Initially, it was quite mild and fun, but as days went by, the seniors began to disclose the ugly, ferocious and merciless faces on us "freshers". Through the midst of that busy week, my family was there to get for me certain things which I needed ( a fan, for example..My room has no fan..how sad!)
With my family coming to Brisbane too, I had the luxury of getting more stuff from home. My family helped to transport my stuff for me as I clearly had exceeded my maximum baggage limit imposed by Malaysian Airlines (To think of the huge load of things when I pack up for winter will be another story).
Occasionally, we had dinner together with our dear friend, Kuan Yean, who also was an immense help for me in terms of getting adjusted to a foreign place. My family and I learnt to cope with the then confusing road maps of St Lucia (the suburb which I live in now). I remembered the time when we had to walk the whole stretch of Carmody Road to reach my place. Mind you, Carmody Road is a very hilly, HILLY road. You could literally die walking up and down, up and down....And to my surprise, they got a better understanding of the Brisbane City much better than I did after just having been here for a few days. Superb!!
Then, we went to stay in Surfers Paradise for 3 days, 2 nights. In that period, we took the opportunity to visit Movieworld (the pics of the trip are shown below).
The greatest and the most rewarding experience of all is enjoying every single moment with my family when they were here. They brought light to my journey here in Brisbane. They were my launch pad / booster to kickstart my life here.
Call me a spoilt child, nope, I am a loved child.
Call me weak, but no, I am strong with my family and God on my side.
They sacrificed their holiday just to be with me, and to attend to my needs.
The conclusion?? There is no SHADOW OF DOUBT then, that your family never leaves you...
Parents, teachers, friends. All of you have led me to this stage
God alone deserves all glory!!