Ernest in Aussieland!!

Bubbles

2009-05-13T03:37:00.005Z

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. Those are the three popular Powerpuff girls seen in cartoons trying to save the world from evil monsters like Mojojojo and the like. Don't worry. This post is nothing related to cartoons and animated characters. It's specifically about Bubbles!

I'm sure everyone knows about bubbles. They are the mesmerising spherical creatures which has a thin film outer covering and float freely in the air. Nowadays, the word 'bubbles' have been made into an adjective, 'bubbly', to describe a person's happy-go-lucky, cheerful, carefree personality. I guess the reason the adjective fits the description of bubbles is because of the sudden feeling of glee and excitement when you see streams of bubbles floating everywhere when you blow it out of the hoop.

Here I present you an alternative, but equally accurate, interpretation of 'bubbly'. A bubble is a pretty little thing. When it's put under the light, the thin film around it glows with a somewhat magical rainbow aurora. However, if you try to touch it, POP! it goes and everything that was pretty disappears in a split second.

There it is, 'bubbly' represents a person with an 'untouchable' character. He/she 'pops' at the slightest 'touch' and everything that was so admirable about the person disappears into thin air. Having a 'bubbly' friend is therefore a tough feat. At one hand, you'd like to enjoy the company of your 'bubbly' friend. Just like blowing bubbles in mid-air and finding joy in that, you'd like to be happy being around with your 'bubbly' friend. But, wait! If you venture too close and touch the bubbles, your 'bubbly' friend will 'pop' in a matter of microseconds.

So, you see, there's no spontaneity left in a 'bubbly' friendship. Everything that is done must be mechanical, robotic and somewhat involuntary. One has to tread cautiously in that friendship or else risk the collapse of the whole friendship at the most insignificant of a 'touch'. At one point, one would decide that it's too tiring to survive in a laborious mechanistic friendship and decides to cut that line forever. However still, there lingers still the feeling of a searing loss of a beautiful 'bubbly' bubble of a friend.

So, if someone says, you're bubbly, think twice!

Trip to South Island of Kiwiland (31/12/2008 - 9/1/2009)

2009-01-11T05:28:00.034Z

Ok, so I returned from Melbourne for about two weeks before I flew off to somewhere else. This time it was NZ. In that two weeks, I had Christmas eve dinner at my place, Christmas dinner at JJ's place and also Christmas service in church.

To give an overview of the NZ trip, Kev and I joint a tour group organised by a company called Contiki. The tour lasted for a week and covered the south island of NZ in a clockwise sequence. There were approximately 50 people joining the tour, most of which are individuals aged between 18-35 (Contiki: Holidays for people aged between 18-35). So, it was pretty much a young crowd, from people who were (finished) studying like Kev and I and also people who already had a steady career. Without further ado, here's my account of the trip.

31/12/2008
We arrived at Christchurch at around 2pm. After checking into the backpackers place (The New Excelsiors), we zoomed out into the city centre for lunch! (Poor poor hungry stomachs we had). The backpackers we stayed in were ok by comparison to Victoria Hall in Melbourne. For one, it had a dodge key-lock. However, it had a clean toilet and bathrooms to be used.

Anyway, we went to the city and snapped pics there and here like any tourists do. I particularly liked to sit under the willow tress beside the River Avon which ran through the city. You can actually pay to punt on the River Avon (basically, you sit on a 'sampan' and someone guides the sampan with a stick, just remember Venice). It was a cool windy day that evening in Christchurch and sitting under the willow trees on that breezy day was just amazing.

Something very peculiar happened in Christchurch that day. A group of Indian film makers were producing a Bollywood film I suppose in the city. They were shooting a scene where an Indian girl came skipping along with some flowers by the Christchurch tram.

To celebrate the coming of the new yea, the city council organised a concert at the Cathedral Square. Large crowds gathered to watch various bands performed on stage. There were a lot of old Irish music (after a while, I got sick of it) and also some modern pop rock songs (I like :)). We had Green Tea Latte from Starbucks while enjoying the music there.

When the countdown began, there were blasts of fireworks into the midnight air. Everyone was overjoyed and started greeting each other Happy New Year. There were dancing and merrying which further cascaded into booze-drinking. As for us, we headed back to the backpackers place to have a good rest for an early start in the morning.

In essence, we celebrated New Year in Christchurch. It was not bad, but I preferred celebrating it at home.

1/1/2009
We greeted the new year at 6.30am. We left the backpackers place and walked all along Manchester Street for 25 minutes before reaching Bealeys Hotel where we met our tour mates. The tour was supposed to commence at 8am but due to some excessive New Year Eve celebration on the night before, it was delayed by 1.5 hours. On that early stages of the tour, we met some of our tour mates (Poh-Lynn and Tony, Steve, Andrew).

We boarded the bus and left for Lake Ohau lodge where we would stay for the night. On the way there, we stopped at the beautiful Lake Tekapo. The clear skies of the day made the waters looked incredibly turquoise. The scene was just amazing! Even the postcards depicting the waters of Lake Tekapo couldn't capture the turquoise colour of the waters as we witnessed on that day.

We then passed Lake Pukaki and headed to a suburb called Twizel. I supposed Lake Ohau lodge was located at Twizel. We stayed there for one night overlooking the magnificent Lake Ohau. The lakes in New Zealand were incredibly huge. I suppose that lakes in Malaysia were considered as puddles if compared to the lakes there in Kiwiland.

The first night with our tour mates started with a BANG! We had a toga toga toga party! Basically, we rented a sheet for NZD$2. We wrapped it around our half-naked body Roman style. It was essentially a costume party which resembled the olden days of Socrates and Julius Caesar. Then, we headed to the bar and mingled around which each other. I got to know a few other tour mates a little bit more and finally we ended the night in exhaustion.

2/1/2009
After breakfast, we headed to Milford Sound aboard the Milford Wanderer where we would eventually stay a night. On the way, we stopped by at a fruit stall in Cromwell, where I bought some kiwi jams to be brought home.

We also stopped at Te Anau a few hours later for our lunch break. I purchased a new pair of shorts there as well as a sandfly repellant because Milford Sound was (allegedly) infamous for its irritating sandflies.

That stop was particularly interesting as Kev had to sing out the Malaysian national anthem in the bus in front of all the other tour mates. Why did he have to do that? I wished I could say he was over-patriotic but nah...he was just late. You see, the tour manager formulated a rule which required latecomers to do one of two options:

1) Sing their national anthem; or
2) Answer 3 questions truthfully.

I reckoned Kev didn't want to be horrified to be subjected under a "truth booth" so he opted for the national anthem instead. We (Kev and I) were principally the only Malaysians on board (Poh-Lynn was also Malaysian too, but I supposed she had lost all her Malaysian roots after living in Australia for 20 odd years). So, no one realised that Kev had replaced some words in the national anthem because he forgot some of them, except for yours truly, of course.

The slight embarrassment was quickly forgiven and we headed onto Milford Sound. It was a rainy day on the Milford track, which was quite normal for the West Coast of New Zealand. The tour guide tried to appease us by stating that we were lucky to witness Milford Sound in its original natural state. Huge volumes of rain poured onto Milford track that day and caused the formation of countless number of natural waterfalls which scaled the mountain sides like snakes slithering down the steep mountain edges. The added bonus to this was that the strong winds actually picked up some of the falling water and blew it into a mist back up into the air again. The waters didn't reach the ground but was blown up again into a fine spray of water vapour. Amazing! We even had the opportunity to taste some natural fresh river water from Monkeys Creek.

When the rains eased, the raindrops draped over the mountaintops like curtains overhanging from the sky. One particular memorable moment was when the tour manager played the song, "What a Wonderful World" in that song. The timing of the song overlapping with the sceneries of majestic mountains streaming with water was incredibly mesmerising. It was truly magical!

We arrived at the ferry terminal half an hour later. After boarding the Milford Wanderer, we headed out into Milford Sound. In geographical terms, a 'sound' is formed by a sea flooding a river valley. However, in the case of Milford Sound, the sound arose from the carving activities of glacier on the valley which was then flooded by the sea when the glacier receded (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_(geography)). This type of sound is also called a fiord.

Fortunately, the rain has ceased after a while. I took the opportunity to kayak along the waters of Milford Sound, while Kev went on a small boat trip around Milford Sound. It was a relaxing kayak as I took time to absorb the beauty that surrounded me in that sound. After kayaking, I decided to kick-start my adventure gear: jump into the chilly cold waters of Milford Sound...twice.

(Thanks Kev for the pics!!)

Brrrrrrrrrr!!! It was incredibly cold in that 12 degrees Celsius water (brain freeze!!). I had a hot shower and headed straight for dinner. The night was particularly relaxing as we indulged ourselves into board games. It's pretty remarkable how board games can keep people really occupied for the whole night. Then, it was lights off!

I fell in love with Milford Sound.

3/1/2009
In the morning, the captain of the Milford Wanderer navigated his ship out of the fiord, into the Tasman Sea (the sea that separates Tasmania from New Zealand). The sea was so choppy that it was difficult to keep ourselves standing straight. I reckoned some of the tour members got sea-sick in the end. We even managed to see some seals resting on a rock, adequately called the Seal Rock.

Then, we disembarked from the Milford Wanderer and off we went on the bus again to Queenstown. Everyone was excited to venture into the Adventure Capital of the World! The reason for this was that everyone had signed up for their own optional activities a few days ago. Optional activities were not included in the tour and we had to pay for those ourselves (although there was a slight group discount if we signed up with Contiki). For me, I've signed up for the Fox Glacier hike, Skydiving, Twin Challenge (Shotover Jet + White water rafting), Canyon Swing and Maddog River Boarding.

We stopped by in Arrowtown, a township similar to Ballarat (in Melbourne), as both towns came into existence due to the gold rush in the early 20th century. As we entered Queenstown, the bus stopped us at the Kawarau Bridge bungy jump where we witnessed about 12 of our tourmates attempted to jump to their death from the 43m bridge. This was one of the three bungy jumps in Queenstown and was the mildest form. The trick with this bungy jump was that one could be immersed into the river at the lowest point of the jump before being hauled back up again. Nevertheless, everyone came back alive and was greeted with the heartiest congratulations.

(The Kawarau Bridge)

(Our friend stepping off and weeee...there she fell)

(They gave a TOE TAG to every participant in the bungy jump; to prepare for their close-shave demise...hehe)

Eventually we reached Queenstown and checked into the Queenstown Lodge. The accommodation provided was comfortable and was the best in the whole tour. We were going to spend 3 nights there in Queenstown, which will inevitably be filled with adrenaline-packed stunts. Woo-hoo!! Kev and I called it a day early as we needed to prepare for our SKYDIVE early tomorrow morning!

4/1/2009
I have had countless sleepless nights pondering over the stupidity of jumping out of a plane at 12000 feet and the ramifications which could follow. Anyway, we woke up early as the tour manager had scheduled our skydive to be early in the morning. To our "despair", the dive was cancelled as it was too windy that morning. Being the resolute and brave human beings that we were, we demanded for another time slot (Why?? Why??!!). Anyway, we booked ourselves for the 5.30pm slot, which was pretty rushing as our Twin Challenge was due to finish close to that time.

We had a gap in the morning and so, we went on a gondola ride to have an overview of Queenstown. Then at 12.30pm, it was Twin Challenge time.

Twin Challenge was so-so. The Shotover Jet was just ok but the only interesting part was the 360 degrees turns. Then, rafting was a new experience for me. That was fun as we had to cooperate as a team to manouver our way through the rapids under the guidance of an experienced rafter.

(Preparation for rafting)

So, after that, we rushed back to Queenstown to register for skydiving. I'm freaking scared of heights but all my fears had sort-of numbed my heart and mind when I got into the plane. That was partially because everyone who had gone before me came back down safe and sound. And one thing good of joining this tour was that we did all the scary stuff together. Having your mates doing the scary stuff with you does make it less scary to attempt! So, after being strapped up and harnessed, my tandem partner, Caleb (Liz from our group thought he was HOT!), and I jumped into the plane. We were in the same plane with Kev and another girl from our tour group.

As the plane rose to 12,000 feet, my heart was pounding but I did not freak out (as you know, I've been numbed). When it was our turn, I had to be hanging outside the plane with my feet in MID-AIR, while Caleb took his sweet time swinging in and out of the plane before he jumped off (with me tied to his front of course). We free falled through the clouds (which was COOL!!!) for about 10-15 seconds. In the clouds, everything was just a blur but as we came out of the clouds, the landscape beneath us was unravelled like the opening of theatre curtains for a show. Right at that moment, Caleb opened his parachute (Thank God!) and we cruised down to ground in 5 minutes. The aerial view of Queenstown was spectacular! It was just spectacular!

After the exhilarating experience, we headed back to the Lodge and had our late dinner. As other people prepared to head to the Minus 5 ice bar, we decided to take a rest in the Lodge.

5/1/2009
I woke up in the morning to join River Boarding for another joyous fun which I'd never forget. It was even more fun than rafting as I had the chance to get my whole body into the water. Basically, they gave us a board and taught us how to kick our way through the rapids in the river. 3 essential tips were given. First, we had to follow fully the path our guides took through the rapids. Second, we needed to try to stay at the centre of the river as that was where the water speed was the highest. Third, we needed to "go with the flow" - we should never attempt to fight the river. The guide told us to swim 45 degrees to the river current as that would make our swim through the rapids easier.

The whole activity was physically tiring as much as it was an adrenaline rush. Many of our tour mates got leg cramps throughout the swim and had to be practically 'towed' by the guides throughout the activity. Remarkably, I learnt a few life lessons from this.

1) We should try to stay with the river current at the centre of the river, in case we got caught in an eddy (calm part of the river) and other people passed us by.
2) Going with the flow would make us less exhausted; if the river wants to spin you around, spin with it.

The last activity on the plate was the Canyon Swing, whereby you jump off the edge of a canyon and free-fall vertically for 3 seconds (60m) before you swing across the Shotover River. I was terrified to start the swing because it was sooo high. Why wasn't I less afraid of this after the 12,000 feet skydiving yesterday?

1) In skydiving, you won't see the ground coming straight at you; you sail down onto the ground comfortably.
2) In skydiving, you had someone to jump WITH you; in the canyon swing, you jump ALONE.

I treated the Canyon Swing as a substitute for the bungy jumps that we missed (no $ ler). As such, I decided to jump HEADLONG into the canyon, to resemble a jump from a bungy cord. Therefore, I chose the Hand-stand style. In the hand-stand, you start with a push-up position with your hands gripped onto the edge of the platform. The operators will pull your leg up vertically so that you'll be in a handstand position. And then, they will push your leg forward and you have to push your hand away from the platform at the same time.

(Preparing for the jump)

And so, I fell headlong into the canyon Superman style! I saw the edge of the cliff in an upside-down position and being so terrified, I closed my eyes for 1 second. I regretted that action as I missed out on the fall. Before I knew it, I was already swinging above the river. I'll definitely try the canyon swing again if I return to Queenstown one day.

Apart from the thrill and excitement in Queenstown, we enjoyed the burger made by Ferg Burger. That is a must-do in Queenstown!

6/1/2009
The breakfast today marked the end of our stay at Queenstown. We left the lodge and headed to the West Coast only to be greeted with...guess what? RAIN!! It is incredibly wet in the West Coast of the South Island with the annual rainfall measured in metres, not in milimetres! The programme of the day was the hike onto Fox Glacier.

The 4 hour hike was physically demanding too as it was wet, slippery and cold. All elements were against us that day and we were treading rocky terrain, slippery muddy slopes in the forest and finally the icy blue-white Fox Glacier. Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier are two of the world's most dynamic glaciers. They advance at incredible speeds through the valley due to the abundant rainfall onto the West Coast.

The experience of stepping and hiking through ice was extraordinary. I guess this would be the closest I could get to hiking on Antartica. At the end of the hike, I was :-

Starving
Wet
Tired
Disgusted with my feet swimming in water in my boots
Stung with the repeated pain of a blister on my left heel

As an aside, a few days after we hiked, two Australians were killed at the very same glacier we hiked due to an ice collapse onto them (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4813157a11.html). **My mum's not gonna be happy with me after reading the news....

Anyway, we spent the last night with out tour members in a bar at the Rainforest Lodge in the Franz Josef township area. We had a few drinks of Monteith lager (purportedly NZ's originally brewed beer) and had a nice chat with our tourmates.

7/1/2009
We headed back to Christchurch in the morning. On the way, we stopped by at Hokitika to see some Pounamo (Maori for greenstone/jade). I didn't know that NZ had jade, but as broke as I was, I didn't purchase any jade.

When we arrived at Christchurch, we bade farewell to our tour members and checked-in at New Excelsiors again. Then, we met up with some of them at Coyote, an eatery by the Avon River. That was the last time we saw them.

8/1/2009
The next day, we went on a road trip with Jo (from Dunedin; "Duh-Nee-Den") and Hao Jin (from Christchurch). Both of them were Kev's college mates form Inti Penang. We headed to Akaroa, which was a scenic bay-like town. Kev said it resembled Redcliffe in Queensland. I have never been to Redcliffe, so I couldn't comment. Hao Jin then drove us back to Christchurch where we had German beer together before she dropped us off at the airport.

We spent a night in the airport like refugees from war (hehe) to check-in for our 6am flight. And thus, we left New Zealand in the wee hours of the morning when the Kiwi sun was just about to peek out from the horizon.

Highlights:
1) Beautiful turquoise colour of Lake Tekapo
2) Kev's rendition of Negaraku
3) Milford Sound and the Milford track - beauuutifull!!!
4) Contiki tour mates, who made the trip more enjoyable and the adventure activities less daunting
5) Ferg Burger in Queenstown
6) Adrenaline Rush - Skydiving, Canyon Swing, Rafting
7) Getting wet on River Boarding
8) "Sweet As" T-shirt (Kiwis say "Sweet As" all the time...If you wanna know its meaning, you can have a read on my T-shirt - IF YOU DARE)
9) Drinking Lemon and Paeroa (the only soft drink found in NZ....oops!! haha, what i meant was, the soft drink ONLY found in NZ)

10) Meeting Peter Loh. This guy is really special. He suffers from a mild form of cerebral palsy ever since he was born. He has a deformed grip and he talks and walks with considerable difficulty. However, he lives alone in Brisbane and is really independent indeed. He has a stable working job as an IT guy and he did ALL THREE BUNGY JUMPS, SKYDIVE AND CANYON SWING. He is really an inspiration for I could see his strength and resolution of living life beyond his disabilities!

(Peter is the one standing beside me in this pic)

Disappointments:
1) Having to spend more to alter our departure flight due to the inavailability of the tour on the date we originally wanted
2) Having to spend more to upgrade our return flight because I had to check-in my Royal Jelly and because our hand-luggage was over-weight (haih...greedy people we were)
3) Being cheated by money changer at Queen Street mall
4) Didn't go through Dunedin
5) Airport departure fee from NZ (NZD$25)
6) DARN YOU KIWIS FOR SUCKING ME DRY OF CASH

Oh, before I forget:-

They even named their islands after me! Pretty cool, hey!

My first ever trip to Melbourne (17 Dec - 23 Dec 2008)

2009-01-10T04:44:00.009Z

Well, I'll take this chance to share my experiences in my opinion, the most exuberant city in Australia, Melbourne. Having never stepped foot onto Victorian shores before, I found the anticipation for the vacation in Melbourne particularly exciting.

I travelled with my housemate, Kevin, who had just graduated from his Masters course. Treading the soil of Victoria with us were KC's family (4 of them). If you're wondering who's KC, I strongly recommend you to visit Kevin's blog (http://www.kevinkks.blogspot.com/).

1st Day
We arrived at Melbourne at approximately 4pm. After checking-in at Victoria Hall (a exceptional backpackers place at an affordable price), we headed down to Melbourne city led by our 'local tour guide', Sian Hong. He led us through the complicated network of Melbourne's trams and we ended up at Eureka Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Melbourne. We spent the night there overlooking the city and the skyline was just beautiful.

2nd day
Thus starts our day tours in Melbourne. The first of which was the Great Ocean Road tour, where we traversed hours of coastal highways to witness magnificent rock formations carved by the very elements of nature herself. The one which I vividly remember was the Twelve Apostles, which had only 8 of the original 12 left standing.

We arrived in Melbourne at around 7.30pm. Approximately 10hours of travelling had its toll on all of us. However, I was not discouraged as I had booked to watch the musical WiCkEd, which was totally AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! I had been waiting for this musical to come out thanks to Ming Zhan who raved all about it when it was showing in the UK. And finally it was in Australia! Since it wouldn't ever come to Brisbane, I couldn't let that golden opportunity to pass me by.

Wicked it basically a musical which narrates the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch. Both characters were made famous in the classic Wizard of Oz novel. The musical revealed the sequence of events which led to the Wicked Witch treading on her evil path. It generated sympathy towards the Wicked Witch and reminded us all that evil and wickedness in one's character stem from one's own choices, which in turn are influenced by one's very own social circles and their perception towards one's self.

3rd day
We headed to Ballarat on our second of four day tours. The most interesting place was Sovereign Hill, the place where whole town, which fluorished in the early days of the gold rush in Victoria, was re-enacted with particular attention to the style, living etiquettes, fashion and architecture of those times. It was like walking into a Wild Wild West story. We spend most of our time here watching gold mine tours, taking pictures and of course, buying souvenirs.

On that night, I had dinner at Lygon street with Chor Han, my high school mate from KHS. Lygon street (as everyone knows) is famous for its Italian delicacies. As such, we dined at an Italian restaurant, eating pizzas, and then enjoyed sumptuous hot chocolate at Koko Black (yummm). Well before that, we treated our sweet tooth with some gelato at Il Dolce Fredo.

4th day
Well let's not stop now, we have another day trip to go. We steamed off to the Dandenong Range, but we first dropped by at a national park, where Kev and I were being attacked by cockatoos (those huge white parrots), as we were attempting to feed them. Anyway, we moved on to take a ride on the steam train, Puffing Billy. It was interesting on a historical point of view, and that was as interesting as it went.

Next, we went on an alcohol drinking frenzy at Yarra Valley wineries where wine-tasting and champagne-drowning made my head spin! Pinot Nair, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscato............

Now, dinner was something special too. We had Peking Duck for dinner at a restaurant called Old Kingdom which was located at the Brunswick suburb in Melbourne. Kev and I dined with Kev's friend, Shiang Yuan (also called Tiffany) and her mates as well.

5th day
It was pretty much a free morning and like any tourists, we spent our morning and afternoon, roaming around in the city, mostly to obtain information on our self-driven road trip down to Mornington tomorrow. We obtained maps at a tourist information booth in Federation Square.

In the late afternoon was when the fun truly began. It was our final day tour (phew!) to the Phillip Islands to watch the funny little birds in Happy Feet - the penguins. Called the Penguin Parade, the tour highlighted the amazing phenomenon of watching penguins coming in from the sea after a full day of "work" (getting food for the family, that is), and straddling their way back to their burrows which may be located up to 1 km from the shoreline (as you can see, I made up that figure, but the idea is they need to walk very far). However, the trick is, the penguins only returned when the sun sets, which in the summer was approximately 9pm. So, there we were, waiting for the little penguins to come into shore.

But things were not as simple as they seemed. The penguins needed a little more coaxing to step onto shore. On land, the penguins were most vulnerable to predators. As such, we had to watch them hastily running back to the ocean once they sensed danger a few times before they actually felt safe to step onto solid ground.

The tour ended at around 11pm. Night fell, lights out.

6th day
You'd think we would be sick of touring around Melbourne, but you were so wrong. These bones still had marrows of youth to last them a whole week! So, we rented a car and Kev drove to Mornington, led by two reliable navigators, Sian Hong and yours truly...hehe. We ventured to a cherry farm for cherry-picking but it was closed. So then, we headed to a strawberry farm and collected huge punnetts of strawberries!!! Juicy, red, fresh strawberries. (Strawberries resemble heart-shapes...I reckoned those times were pretty romantic for some members of our group...hmnm..I'll explain more about this later)

Then, we moved on to Borneo Maze and Wetlands where we tried to find our way through artificial maze. (I discovered I had an knack for finding dead ends, how interesting!). It was a decent park with a costly entrance fee, $12.

We did a few sightseeings and we were done for the day at Mornington.

Now, at night, I had a chance to meet up with my friend, Ian. We were in the same swimming team together and it had been quite long since I met him. Dinner at a Greek restaurant, Stalactite, was ensued with hot chocolate at Max Brenner with Jaslyne, his sister, who was working part-time at Kookai. I then crashed his place for a while before I returned to Victoria Hall for the night.

7th day
Back to Brisbane and bid farewell to KC and her family who left for Sydney on the same day.

Highlights:
1) Breadtop, amazing breads, they should open one in Brisbane
2) WiCkEd musical! Melbourne is truly Aussie's cultural hub!
3) Max Brenner, Koko black, Lygon street, Il Dolce Fredo - Melbourne is delicious
4) Meeting up with Ian and Chor Han
5) Peking Duck - first time trying
6) Kev's secret escapades into the night with KC...shhhhh!
7) 3 power couples and one single guy (ME!) The three couples were as follows:-

Uncle and Aunty Teoh
Kevin and KC
Sian Hong and KC's sister

(Imagine the horror of being squashed in between two power couples!)

Disappointments:
Zap! none!

Acknowledgements:
1) Uncle Teoh (KC's dad), who had treated us our lunches and also paid for the rental car. Cheers!
2) Sian Hong, who painstakingly grabbed us 4 day tours at an exceptional good price
3) Kevin, who drove us all the way to Mornington, and for showing me how romantic he could be (to KC of course)

Oh yeah, before I forget:

("BE A MAN! DO THE RIGHT THING!" - Russel Peters)

Stupid money exchanger

2008-12-29T11:17:00.003Z

Haih...felt the need to express this (knowing that my blog is sooo dead that no one will know it has been slightly revived, so this blog post will have minimal effect)

Kev and I went to the money exchanger today in the city. After a few rounds of scouting, we found some good money exchangers. We wanted to change Aussie dollars to NZ dollars. The first one we went was really good (rate: 1.59...). But they only had NZ$240 in stock. So, we took that anyway and went to the second best one (rate: 1.5368...).

We changed our remaining amount of money there but little did we know that they CHARGED 5% COMMISION!! It was our fault as we didn't ask properly before handing our money to that *&^$% Indian guy.

So, in the end, we lost around NZ$42...stupid! With the commission rate, the exchange rate plummetted to around 1.098...Stupid!

I'll try to get the pic of that &&**(!!@$ money exchanger and put it up soon (and maybe the picture of that $%^&*! Indian guy too, if I'm lucky)

My 21st Birthday!!!

2008-06-23T02:14:00.006Z

Hi everyone!! Firstly, I would like to lay down a very crucial point. This post is not to BRAG about myself, but it's ultimately a TRIBUTE to those who have sowed their tears and sweat to make 2008 another meaningful birthday year to remember....alright, let's cut to the chase

Firstly, on the eve of my birthday, I was innocently working on my poster project for biochemistry when my housemate, Kevin (also known as Kean Shyang) walked into my room and told me he's hungry at 12.00am sharp. Thursdays are usually late nights for him as he has classes till 10pm at night. I empathised with his plight and suggested some snacks or something. He walked off and suddenly "Happy birthday to you!" I was so shocked from the intrusion of my privacy that I tried hiding under my chair!!!!! That was only the beginning of my embarrassment.

After the late night celebration, my friends walked back to their homes. It was so kind for them to come and "shock me to the bottom of my chair" in the middle of the night. Alas, I thought that was the only surprise. I could have never been so wrong........

The next day, after uni ended, a bunch of us Biotech freaks went to have a scrumptous Malaysian dinner at Little Malaysia, West End. (By the way, I really recommend that restaurant if you want to enjoy authentic Malaysian delicacies.. I promise I earn no commission whatsoever from such subtle promotion of this place). Anyway, dinner was great and we came back to my place to have some ice cream. Again, how could I be so naive?? When they asked me to go to my room, I gullibly obeyed and fell into a trap of confetti's a balloons!!!!! Wow, they have turned my room into a decorative mess!!!!!!!Cool!!!!!!!

After that, I presented two songs for them. U don't want to hear me sing....

The next day, it was the time to celebrate with seniors and some other friends. We went to have dinner at Chinatown. Not a very good one but, who cares? It's the company of people that matters.

Overall, my 21st birthday was a blast! Thanks to two really dedicated and super organisers, Emilyn and Jessica F, everything worked out well since they preyed on my innocent and unsuspecting mind ( as usual). Good job everyone! :)

from Huda, Aza, Belle, Cik Ti (lovely card) and Hajar

from Kev, Jessica, Emilyn, Jing Zhong, Patricia and Chin Lin

From Sam and Pinky. Very chocolatey

From dear Trina

And if you lump all these together, ............................

Not forgetting the Man of the Show

It was truly a GRIPPING SUCCESS!! Cheers

What have been happening to Ernest in Brisbane '08?

2008-06-23T02:07:00.002Z

What I have been doing :-

a) Uni work
b) Part-time Chemistry tutor
c) Research project
d) Biochemistry poster
e) Road trip to Sunshine Coast
f) Football match between Australia and Iraq
g) My 21st birthday
h) My house warming
i) Kevin's 23rd birthday
j) Movieworld 2

For items (e) and (f), kindly refer to kevin's blog. For item (j), you can visit jessica's blog. I'll do the honours of reporting on item (g) in my next post. Look out for that!

Me Apologies

2008-06-23T02:02:00.002Z

To my dear blog,

I'm very ashamed of what I had done to you. It's UNSPEAKABLE, TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE!!
I'm sorry for leaving you in the darkness when there was supposed to be 'light shine in the darkness' (don't get it? nvm)

I'm sorry for not prioritising you above all else. I feel bad for the visitors who come knocking on your door, just to find stale bread and old 'family videos' (referring to Golden Compass trailer).

sorry *sob sob*

IN THE PITSTOP

2007-12-24T15:14:00.000Z

Hi everyone! Sorry ah..back in Malaysia already. So ah...quite busy with family matters ok? But, I'm enjoying and cherishing my time back here in Klang for sure! Thanks to all my faithful FANS of mine who frequently visit my beloved blog. I love you so much...Muaxx! But, I won't be updating much here when I am back. Sorry ah...

I'm enjoying my pit-stop!

Brilliant New Movie

2007-10-13T12:27:00.000Z

The Golden Compass

Switchfoot concert

2007-09-16T05:37:00.000Z

On the 8^th of September 2007, I went to the Youth Alive Concert featuring Switchfoot!!! Wow! What an opportunity!! When the worship starts, everyone rushed to the front! To see the youth son fervent for God, brings back memories of the ISCF rally in Klang. These young lives were so sold out for Him.

“Bent and Broken” by Reggie Dabbs
-He was an orphan. No mum, no dad, no surname

-This is your life. Do you want to be what you are now?

-Jesus takes the bent and broken and picks them up.

Then, of course, was the long awaited concert. (Switchfoot was amazing!!!)

Hundreds got saved that night.

Glory to God!!!

EKKA 2007

2007-08-13T03:15:00.002Z

Hello! It's me again. The August month in Queensland is famous for its EKKA show. The EKKA, also called the Royal Queensland Show is a carnival which showcases the various farm livestock and also a lot of fun-filled rides. A group of three of us went to have a visit. And we had a time of our lives. But, we didn't stay for the fireworks at night as we had a "hunt" to prepare on that night....(hmmm...)

Well, anyway, someone asked me to mention on my blog that I LOST MY CAMERA in the EKKA. After 1 hour losing it, we managed to recover it from the Lost and Found Property station. Really thank the lady who so kindly reported that lost item there. THANK GOD I FOUND MY CAMERA!! Phew....

[Just an aside, I almost lost my handphone while sitting in the CityCat (the river ferry in Brisbane) about 4 days after the EKKA. THank God again that I managed to recover it]

Glasshouse Mountain Climb

2007-08-13T03:15:00.001Z

Hi everyone!!!! Well, it's been only the 2nd week of second semester and I've already gone on another exploration again!! hehe...This time, I'm gonna conquer the mountains.

Well, on Saturday, 5th of August 2007, a group of us from college went on a mountain climbing trip in the Sunshine Coast. We were the chapel group and I really enjoyed mixing with these individuals as they share the joy and unity as one in Christ.

Anyway, we decided to climb Mount Tibrogargan, the 2nd highest mountain after Mount Beerwah. These and a few other mountains form a chain of beautifully sculptured chain of mountains in the Sunshine Coast called the Glasshouse Mountains. The shapes of these mountains are unique and the peaks of the mountains are REALLY SHARP. It's as if the mountains are big triangular blocks with the sharp peak at the top.

As usual, in my ignorance and "blur"ness, I agreed with all their plans, thinking that we'll hike up to the top. Little did I know that I was going to be forced to CLIMB UP THE MOUNTAIN WITH BARE HANDS AND FEET...(this is the best part)...WITHOUT ANY ROPES OR SAFETY HARNESSES!!

Well, I thought that after a short stint of rock climbing in Canberra, I'd be able to handle this...But, how was I wrong!!!!! Towards the middle of the climb, things got pretty rough. There were no crevices or holes for me to grab onto or hoist myself up. So, I have to rely on the advice of my friends and a little thinking to co-ordinate myself. One false move and a slip could mean an endless drop to the ground hundreds of metres below.....I was scared of going up [There are pictures below which accurately portrays my fear]...really scared. It came to a point where I wanted to call back home and tell my family the CRAZY thing which I was currently doing....but, i decided not to..(just to be cheeky! But, I called Louis from OCF though...)

After about an hour, we finally reached the top. The top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS SO RELIEVED! All of the other group members were much more experienced climbers and I was thankful that they were there to help me.

The view from the top was simple breathtaking. I was awestruck by first, my achievement of climbing the treacherous way up successfully and secondly, the beauty of the world below...Amazing!!!

Coming down the mountain was not that horrifying. I could simply slide down by sitting. I guess it was simpler because descending was an act of obedience to the law of physics....(huh?..nvm)

It took me another hour to descend from the mountain. After that, we headed to King's Beach at the Sunshine Coast. We had our lunch there (thanks to Rex and others who packed food from college). Then, a few of us had a dip into the freezing cold ocean - an act we would soon regret as it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzing. (Imagine swimming in the middle of winter...it's fun but not for long).

It was a tiring day. But, we had a great time and I'm really grateful for the ones who organised this trip. Thanks to the drivers too (Rex and Booyeah).

NB : Thanks to these ppl who were on the trip : Joshua Brimblecombe (Rex), Ben Brimblecombe (Hunt), Jessica (Check), Sam (Booyeah), Hayley (Punjabi), Roger (Explosion), Jordan Herd (Finman), Tegan Slapes (Bonds) and Satoshi Kato from Japan. I really really enjoyed the company and I'll miss all of you dearly.

Cheers, mates!

[If you can't see me clearly in these pics, the guy in the yellow beach pants is me!]

Intermission

2007-07-23T03:55:00.001Z

And now, the 2nd semester begins!!!

1st Semester Break

2007-07-22T06:29:00.000Z

This 1st Semester Break was actually quite eventful and crazy..needed to have a breather. It was as if I had to endure another Amazing Race episode. Overall, the trip could be divided into 5 phases :-

a) Trip to Gold Coast
b) Hillsong Conference in Sydney
c) Canberra stay
d) Back to Sydney again
e) Home Brisbane Home

Trip to Gold Coast
This was not supposed to happen. But, due to my mistake of booking a flight from Gold Coast to Sydney at such an early time (8.30am), thinking that it would be cheaper to depart from Gold Coast, we had to spend an unnecessary night at YHA Coolangatta.

Hillsong Conference in Sydney
Hillsong Conference was amazing!!!!!!!!! God totally blew me away with the awesomeness of His Word. The speakers were superb too. We had John Bevere, Brian Houston, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Jentezen Franklin, Joseph Prince and Ed Young Jr. as speakers. Furthermore, the conference showcased many popular musicians like Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman and Israel Houghton.

What I treasured most too were the group of church friends from Malaysia whom I stayed and hung out with throughout the conference. Really missed them and enjoyed their company and humour (poor Samson...!!). I'm also grateful for Vincent Chin for arranging the accommodation and transport throughout the whole conference.

Conference took a lot of energy from all of us. After it ended, we were relieved but NOT at the fact that we were gonna have to spend a night at a shady backpackers area. That whole day we were out to explore Sydney : went to Paddy's Market, Circular Quay, Rocks etc...

(the shady backpackers accommodation)

Great fun with GTAK ppl in sydney (as below)

Then, it was time for them to return to Malaysia. A part of me really wanted to join them back home but I can't. Well then, as they returned home, I packed up my bags onto the bus to Canberra.

Canberra stay
Despite the protests that surrounded me over spending 11 days in Canberrra, I was excited to head over there as I really wanted to meet my family relatives who were there. Canberra was predictably cold and chilly, but being in the company of familiar faces and culture really warmed me up inside..hehe! I visited the Old and New Parliament House, National Museum of Australia, Questacon (Science Centre), Australian War Memorial and the Royal Mint of Australia.

At home, I had the rarest chance to taste local Malaysian food after so long!! Char Kuay Teow, Mee Hun Kueh, Laksa, Bah Chang and Huat Ke....Moreover, I had the chance to savour many different types of cakes and chocolates (my dad's cousin brother studies cookery classes).

Back to Sydney again
You must think that I hadn't got enough of Sydney. I must strongly disagree as I really wanted to stay in Canberra longer. So, there I went to Sydney, another 3 hours gruelling journey by bus. I stayed in my friend's place in Chippendale. Well, this time, we visited Mrs. Macquarie's Chair (Jess actually thought it was a big big chair...haha!!) and Blue Mountains. I also surveyed the amazing architecture of the University of Sydney while I was there.

Home Brisbane Home
I was partly relieved to return to a quieter and less hustle-bustle surroundings of Brisbane. But, I regretted that the hols passed by so quickly...Nevertheless, I arrived at college at around 6.30pm.

One final thing, this whole trip was blessed by God ultimately....Without his protection, wisdom and guidance, I wouldn't know how I'd be able to make it through this trip with so many shifts in locations and surroundings.

Writing on the Sky....

2007-06-29T01:32:00.000Z

It was a bright, sunny day. The azure blue skies, greeneries and the blooming floral plants in college really exuded the warmth rarely felt on a winter morning. Well, as usual, I had my breakfast and headed back to the laundry room to collect my clothes which I had left overnight to dry.

Without any reason, I tilted my head up to the sky. Actually, I wanted to see if there were any clouds in the sky. In Australia, it is relatively easy to predict whether rain would fall or not. A cluster of bright white clouds over a wide region would indicate that it's gonna be a rainy day.

Well, this time, the sky was empty and..blue!! Then, I noticed something else on the sky. A WRITING!! It was "4 LETTERS?" A few minutes later, I saw a plane, which only resembled a tiny speck of white on the vast skies, spewing gases to write letters on the sky!! It was pretty amazing, thinking of how the pilot could manouver his/her plane to form letter colossal enough to be read with such clarity!!!

RACQ is an insurance and automobile corporation in queensland ....It was pretty fun trying to guess what letter would the pilot scribble next (bearing in mind that the previous message was "4 Letters")..hehe!!

Another coooooollll occurrence in windy, winter-stricken Brisbane!

BIOL 1012 (Animal Biology) Presentation on TURTLES

2007-06-29T01:20:00.001Z

Aha!!! This time, I had to so a talk on turtles with my lab mate, Sarah. This course, Animal Biology was very interesting as we had the chance to dissect many animals, starting from a crayfish (something similar to a lobster), catfish and toad.

Well, the next thing I had to do was to talk on turtles for 5 minutes. Sounds simple, right?? Well, as usual, did a little bit of research and came up with points to talk on turtle physiology. Haha!! Did you know that the sex determination of a turtle is temperature-dependent? Above 26 degrees Celsius of incubation, the turtles would hatch as females, below that temperature, every turtle would be males!!! cool, huh??

Well, there are more interesting facts on these ancient creatures....I'll just leave that as that. Don't want to bore my readers with facts...haha!

OCF Camp 2007

2007-06-28T06:43:00.001Z

OCF UQ and Griffith University had a combined CAMP at Kenliworth State Forest, Sunshine Coast. The theme of this camp was Admiring God's Creation...

I went to that camp site in a van which was driven by Louis. The journey to the camp site was interesting with many beautiful scenes of natural landscapes on the way. And, I was still wondering how the van could go through deep pit holes on the way into the State Forest...

Once we reached there, we set up tents and played a little Ice Breaker Game, organised by Small Dave (from Griffith Uni). In that game, Jessica found her Korean "husband", and as a punishment, they had to declare aloud that they were GETTING MARRIED (Talk about fate huh???)

WE broke into groups and discussed with everyone about God's creations and the confusion of evolution. Sincerely, I felt that the topic of evolution was not a suitable topic for the camp and it was too heavy to understand. I was the assistant gp leader and we were given a set of notes to teach our group...erm...not suitable,I'd say.

That night, Jessica and I spent the whole night laughing at this Singaporean comedian show called Mr. Brown show...Melvyn recommended us this show and we listened to how the comedian criticized certain Singaporean public issues in his own hilarious way...Super duper funny.

By that time we finished laughing our butts off, it was late at night and everyone had fallen asleep. Then, we noticed that Kane was playing with his high-tech camera and he asked us to participate in a camera trick. WE took a bunch of camera trickery photos. I actually liked the photo of Angel Jessica, which u can see in the slide show below. Kane actually used a torch light to sketch the angel's wings and halo around her head..superb ah!??

The next morning, we packed up the campsite, before we went for a short hike around the State Forest. The walk trail was simple, and the journey was not tiring at all. But, no harm breathing in some fresh air in an early cool morning, right?

After that, we did the usual camp stuff, snap snap some photos there and here. And we left home for Klang!! (oops...Brisbane!!! haih..miss home too much). Well, we reached back in college, tired obviously. The 2 days, 1 night camp, though short, was nice...

Thanks to all the OCF UQ and GU committee for organising the camp!! God bless...

OCF CAMP 2007 : ADMIRING GOD'S CREATION

Mini Ball 2007

2007-06-28T06:25:00.000Z

The last time, it was Cromwell's At Home, where the guys had to plan something for the girls in preparation for that event. However, this time, it's Mini Ball. The girls were the one who asked the guys out to have a good time.

This time, my partner was a girl called Croyden. She's doing Bachelor of Optometry at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She and her group of friends organised an Italian dinner for us guys at Indroopilly. Before that, we were given a list of items to procure, which included G-strings, teddy bear and other stuff..The dinner was amazing..free-flow of pasta and pizza, but there happened one minor problem. One of the guys, threw up in the restaurant due to excessive drinking before we got there. That practically (I'd say) ruined the whole night....The WHOLE group was SO EMBARASSED by what had happened and we really wanted to pack up our meals and leave. But, the restaurant owner was kind enough to allow us to finish our meals there. The drunk guy however was sent back to college (he was passed out oredi).

The night of Mini Ball eventually arrived. The theme was "A Long Long Time Ago". MY partner and I were Greek God and Goddesses. Oh yes!! Did I forget to mention that we were supposed to switch sex as well? That meant, I was the goddess and she was the god. I was Aphrodite (Goddess of Love) and Croyden was Zeus. I placed loooovee stickers all over me, but I turned out to look as if I had measles....hehe!!!

P/S : If you see any pics which resemble Star Wars and can't see the connection with the theme "A Long Long Time Ago", please recall what was the introduction words of every Star Wars movie..hehe

BandFest 2007

2007-06-28T06:16:00.000Z

BandFest 2007 was something long awaited for. Sophia (a Mexican from Spore, freshername: Sucre) had been practising long and hard for that event.

Well, on that evening, we, Crommies, were waiting eagerly for her performance. Then, when she started her 1st song, the whole stage burst into frenzy as everyone enjoyed Cromwell's performance. Cromwell's show was unique, they added a lot of body actions which added flavour to their performance...

Nevertheless, IH [International House] won the 1st place (it's no surprise, as they were the main organiser of that event). Grace College won the 2nd place with the screeching and deafening voice of their lead singer (ewww...)

Cromwell, however, came in 4th place (sad...) I pitied Sophia as she had laboured so hard for that very performance.

All in all, it was a great night. Jess and Cheryl had their 1st taste on alcohol and they "liked" it. haha!!

Lone Pine Sanctuary

2007-06-28T05:15:00.000Z

This is one of the natural parks in Australia where visitors have the chance to witness many native Australian animals.

What can I say, Koalas are cute, but their cuteness ceases when they POOP ONTO YOUR HANDS...=_= that's what they gave me in return for a generous hug from me...hehe!

Well, Ernest, reporting from Lone Pine..out!

ANZAC Day Parade

2007-06-28T05:08:00.000Z

It was ANZAC Day in Australia, a public holiday to commemorate Australians who had perished in Galipoli during World War 1. There was a memorial service at 4.30am in the city (but we didn't go...lazy to get up...hehe). But!! We went to the annual parade held in the city.

The procession was filled with many veterans and bands. Initially, it was fun and exciting as we had a chance to see how Aussies celebrate their patriots' contributions to the country. Well, the procession lasted for 2 hrs and we finally got bored of it.

One thing interesting though was the huge amount of horse stool on the roads. Horses were used in some of the processions and some of them didn't have the decency to hold on to their poop...And what's worse, the other participants of the parade had no choice but to STEP ON THE STOOL!!!Eww...Cars drove over it, humans stepped over it...Injustice was done on the horses' poop..hehe!

After the parade ended, we grabbed Nando's for lunch and headed back to college.

Story Bridge Climb

2007-06-24T13:34:00.001Z

When I received a call from Yean for a climb on Brisbane's Story Bridge, I was excited and out-of-words. What more, to have a climb which would normally cost AUD$70 (I think) completely paid for, was just superb, wouldn't you agree??

So, on the night before the day of the climb, Aunty Leslie (Yean's mum) picked me up from college and I subsequently bunked in Yean's place for a night...

At approximately 4.30am next morning, we woke up and headed to the Story Bridge Climb office. As usual, they checked us in and gave us a debrief about the safety precautions and dangers of the expected climb. I could still remember how cheerful the facilitators were. Aunty Leslie was quite fearful before the climb, I can recall, but after much short rehearsals and practices on a miniature bridge, she calmed down a bit.

Well, there we went, up the bridge on a bright sunny morning. The scenery and the display of the city from up there was just amazing. And every time a heavy truck passed on the bridge, you could actually feel the bridge shake a little.

The Story Bridge is one of the few bridges in Brisbane completely made of steel (You can compare this to the Sydney Harbour Bridge).

Well then, after about 1.5-2 hrs on the top of the world (on top of the bridge actually), we completed the walk safely [I bet Aunty Leslie was relieved]. We received a certificate (woohoo!!) and I could be exempted of any future climbs if I bring another 2 new individuals with me. Isn't that cool???

Lastly, I missed 2 hrs of lectures because of this trip (PHYS1171 & BIOL1012). Well, who cares, anyway?

Yean, Aunty Leslie and I

Time to bathe??? Time limit to shower....

2007-06-24T13:30:00.001Z

In light of the water crisis in Queensland for the past few months, the Queensland Govt is imposed a LEVEL 5 water restriction. That includes not being able to wash cars, limited amount of water to irrigate plants and lastly, 4 MINUTES TO SHOWER!!!!

Ok, generally speakin, who says the 4 minutes is enough to have one decent, clean shower? I bet the girls will agree with me that 4 minutes is just enough for them to put shampoo on their hair....Guys,erm...some guys take even less than 4 minutes to shower...Wonder how much could be done in 4 minutes for them...

So, in the spirit of water conservation, the college placed this device in the bathroom...It's like a monitor which dictates how long we could shower...I tried it once and yes, I failed to finish showering before the sand fully dropped. Indeed, trying to bathe while looking at the sandclock to keep track of your time is not an easy feat. It as rather a distressing one.

Yeap, there you have it! A sand clock in a bathroom (Lucky it doesn't go BEEP!! when the time runs out)

Local peanuts...(r u nuts??)

2007-06-24T13:21:00.000Z

Tada!!!! Hallo, I am back again after a long time of abandoning my blog..Well, just for starters, let me present to you CURRY PEANUTS!!! Haha, my friend, Brandon Marquardt, brought it from his hometown (Kingaroy), which, mind you, is one of the largest peanut producer in Australia.

Yes, I've opened the packet (finally..) and savoured its taste. The curry taste is there (duh!!) but it was too salty for me. Probably it was the excess flavouring etc.

Yeap, let's have PEANUTS for a start then.

My 20th Birthday

2007-05-31T00:11:00.000Z

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!!

Choral Fest 2007

2007-05-20T05:44:00.001Z

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!!

South Bank & Roma Street Parklands

2007-05-20T05:30:00.000Z

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...

AGMF Toowomba Trip

2007-05-20T04:23:00.000Z

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

Of Cheryl's Birthday & 18+

2007-05-12T05:48:00.000Z

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

Biotechnology Stradbroke Island Trip

2007-05-09T13:24:00.000Z

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!!

At HOME 2007

2007-05-07T13:50:00.000Z

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

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO!! my PARENTS?

2007-05-03T12:05:00.000Z

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...

Introduction

2007-04-21T10:39:00.000Z

Woke up at 4.30am in the morning on that fateful day: 16th February 2007. In the darkness of my room, I grouped about to shut that blaring alarm clock and slowly got out of my cosy single bed...Switched on the lights and looked around the room...Trying to capture every single detail of this humble room of mine.

Showered (shall not share any details about this) and dressed up in a formal attire; with coat, slacks and leather shoes. It was JPA orders to be dressed up like an ambassador or something but it was super hot inside..I was already sweating partly from being stuffed in a navy blue "cocoon" and also of the nervousness of leaving home for a very very long time.

Went down, all my family members were there. Mum, dad, sis, maid, uncle, aunty, 2 cousins. Picked up my massive luggages and there we go, heading straight to KLIA in the wee hours of the morning when the whole world was still in deep slumber and there I was, taking a big leap in my life.

Journey to KLIA was quiet as everyone was tired and still quite sleepy (we drove out in 3 cars, by the way). As for me, I could barely close my eyes and I still remembered driving along an endless stretch of KESAS highway where bright orange lamp posts were whizzing past.

Reached the airport at around 7.30am i think. Registered my luggages at the counter, pinned up my JPA badges and we headed for McD for breakfast. I ate an egg burger, that's all. Then, we went to the meeting place where we were given a short briefing by JPA. After the briefing ended, the officials said, "Say your last goodbyes to your family and we will check-in soon."
I was the last to pick my boarding pass from them.

I crossed the gate of no return.

The journey to the airplane was bland and quite torturing as I have two heavy hand luggages with me. My shoulders had been bearing that immense weight throughout that 15-20 minutes walk to the departure gate. Well, my family members followed me till they could not trace my footsteps anymore. Goodbye!

Embarked on the Malaysian Airlines plane. Our flight was delayed for a moment and so, I was quite bored at the initial part as I was just stuck at my seat without anything to do.

Finally, we took off. I saw KL beneath my feet and it shrinked to a minute speck of dust in a matter of seconds. I was flying. The flight of 8 hours wasn't that eventful. Watched a few movies (Open Season, one of them) and dozed off for a moment. I can still remember many elderly Australians who were on board, walking about as they could not stand that long strenuous flight. I could still vividly recall their odour as they walked past (shall not elaborate on that).

Touched down at 6.30pm at Brisbane International Airport. Went through Customs and Immigrations to have my stuff checked...Super strict la Australians, Everything must declare

Well, the Uni Airport Pick-Up service welcomed us and I was placed in a van linked to a small carriage in which luggages were positioned. That lady was nice and she was quite well-built, after years of assisting students to carry heavy luggages, I suppose.

Well then, we dropped off a few students at specific points before reaching Cromwell College at 10.30pm.

When I arrived at Cromwell, everything was quiet. No one was in college. I went straight to the office and rang up the ATP (something like a night warden). Dash was his name and he brought me to my room. I slowly placed my luggages in the room and changed into more comfortable clothes (How happy I was after crawling out of that navy blue "cocoon").

I then headed to the kitchen to collect my dinner..Heated it up in a microwave. It was two fried chicken balls, vegetables and a packet drink. That was my first dinner in Australia. I was filled but it was not a delicious mail (Late meals are always not tasty). And so, I had my dinner/supper alone....

I headed back to my room at approximately 11pm. Everything was dark and quiet..RAther spooky though. Only at this time, reality sets in. And dear me, when reality sets in, it hits you really hard!!!

I was alone in a foreign land. In the darkness of night and the quietness of the surroundings, I found nothing but loneliness. All the while I've been sheltered in my home and my parents' love, and now, I'm now all alone. The feeling of loneliness and helplessness gripped me like unrelenting claws on my heart on that quiet night.

And that was the very first time I cried myself to sleep....................