Resolution

So, New Year approaching. Looking back on the sparseness that is my blog, I'm wondering how bleak my life this year has been, that I didn't have stuff to put in. Or maybe it's just that I'm less imaginative and can't find that much to stuff my blog with. Whichever it is, I'm meaning to put the past behind and get on with it.
Resolution: To continuously update my blog, mundane though the posts are. Perhaps the frequency will inspire me to greater heights and more interesting posts.

Anyway, I'll use the remainder of the space to wish a Happy New Year to all my friends and acquaintances.

Signing Off,

Back To Nothingness

I wonder if that's a word...

Anyway, I finally have my internet connection back. Oh sweet, sweet connection.

So, updating, lectures are over, Christmas is over, now back to the usual boring routine. Really. I'm getting really really bored now. A bit alleviated by the return of the internet, at least I can surf online.

Christmas was hectic. Well, the week leading up to Christmas anyway. I had a really boring Christmas. Just sitting on the couch, watching Babe and Simpsons. Must reminisce about the Friday before Christmas though. Shift was from 4 -12.30. Latest I've ever worked. Busy too... up until about 10 pm when all the customers got quite sleepy. Anyway, survived through that shift. Surprisingly less sleepy than I thought. Went out and waited (at the wrong bus stop) for a bus. Was I ever so surprised when the bus sped by me without so much as a touch on the brakes. Found out that after 12 they switch to another bus stop further down the road. Luckily I figured it out, or I could've been sleeping on a park bench.

Christmas came, and Christmas went. Boxing Day, now that was a bit of a let down. Had to work full-shift on that day, so, no time to go shopping. What more, Guess which had a 25% sale on and where I bought something.... now had a 50% storewide sale. Arrrgghhh.

So... I think that pretty much sums it all up to date. Will try to be less lazy and post again sometime soon.

Until then.

Waiting

So, here I am, back again. Realised I haven't posted in a long long long time.

Water under the bridge. I'm back now. Quite a few things have been happening over the three weeks that I haven't been blogging. For one thing... exams ended (they have to end sometime... can't always continue). My parents came over just after that... I went on a week's vacation to the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. It was quite fun. Sunshine Coast had nothing much, other than a few shops and the beach but it wasn't bad. I went swimming in the ocean for the second time then. Big accomplishment.... since I did it when my mom was there... which logically speaking, would (should?) never happen.

After a couple of days, there we moved over to the Gold Coast. Wrong time to go actually. The whole place was flooded with Matric. and Year 12 school leavers (they call them schoolies) so there were areas cordoned off and huge crowds of 'kids' everywhere. We did go to a theme park, Warner Bros' Movie World. It was pretty fun, going around, doing usual theme park stuff, roller coasters etc. I didn't dare go on the Lethal Weapon ride though, too scary. They had people dangling high high up and turned them all over the place.... like a gyroscope. I did however, get my first round on one of those shot rides, you know... those that shoot you straight up in the air? The Batwing ride. It was not bad... but as I'm slightly altophobic... it'll be a while before I'd dare do anything like that again. That ride, and the Superman roller coaster were the highlights of the park. Quite intense rides, 4,2 and 4.0 Gs respectively.

Other highlights of the trip included going to the Australian Outback Spectacular, a dinner show in which they have horses and sheep and cattle coming on stage to perform and showcase some of the Outback history. Also paid a visit to the Australia Zoo (the late Steve Erwin's zoo). Was not bad actually, I was expecting a lot less of it but it turned out to be quite interesting. Quite a few exhibits and so on. I was particularly taken by the tiger enclosure. The trainers were in there at the time, romping with the baby tigers and playing around. Looked so fun, wished I could've joined them. Of course, we didn't leave without trying to force feed the kangaroos. Poor things, they ate all that everyone gave them until, in the end, they were all sitting on the ground, quite bloated.

All in all, quite a good vacation. Not as hectic as the ones we usually take. Now I'm just sitting here, blogging, waiting for a delivery. It may be another two weeks before I get to blog though. I'm not sure yet. Today marks the beginning of the summer semester for me, an intensive two week course, Mondays to Fridays. On top of that I've work, so I'm thinking I'll be pretty worn out by the time this is over.

Until then,

Dammit

Just great. I've got a 8 a.m. exam and here I am, 3 a.m. and still wide awake. Drat those 6 cups of tea I had to help me concentrate.

Oh well. I supposed I'd better try somehow. Hopefully I don't get all fuzzy and asleep during the exam.

Back Again

Exams are half over, I've got a week's break (until next Wednesday before my next exam). Still kinda busy though. Working quite a lot this weekend to make up for the lack of work over the past few days. It's amazing how much you forget after not being on regular duty for almost a week. Yesterday I realised I hadn't been into work proper since the last Friday... so everything seemed quite 'new' to me, even botched a couple of announcements. I'm not looking forward to Saturday though, it's the first full-shift I'm pulling since... I forget when.. but it's been months since I've done that. Hopefully I can maintain my stamina...

Feeling a bit melancholy today. Not quite sure why... but there it is. I guess moods come around. Maybe it's the lack of sleep although I've been striving to catch eight hours a day, I've been sleeping at one or two everyday so maybe that's getting to me...

Oh Well.

Exhausted

It's been a gruelling day. Woke up at 10:20 am, studied Genetics until 1... then left for an emergency shift at Chermside. Very very tiring. Spent 4.5 hours shifting and shelving books. Up and down and up and down.... then when we left at 8.30, had to wait 1/2 an hour to get a cab back. Had a quick dinner then started studying again.... just finished the final chapter... Exam's tomorrow at 11.15. Definitely very hectic. Luckily I won't have to repeat this soon.

Anyway, time for bed... if the 4 cups of tea and bottle of Coke will let me that is.

Wish me luck for tomorrow's exam. I think I'll need it.

Roadshows

Looking forward to this evening, I've got a roadshow to go to.... some book publishing company... Murdoch books if I'm not mistaken. Should be interesting, it's held at a quite famous restaurant in Brisbane, Ec'co Bistro. There's gonna be food, wine and hopefully some good books and doorgifts to take away.

I like the last one I went to, Random House's. Gave us very good doorgifts... I got a sling bag, two books, two free movie passes to Attonement and a couple of interesting notebooks... just for sitting there for half an hour listening to upcoming hits.

On another note, I got a payrise last week. 38 cents an hour. Not much.... but still factors to about $20-30/month which is a little something. Added to that, it takes effect from Sept, which means I got an unexpected windfall.... of about $50. Still... not to be sneered at... expenses are high as it is and extras are welcome.

Speaking of expenses, I just spent $150 on printer inks. Stupid Issues in Biotech notes. 670 pages and a lot of them came in full page PDFs which I couldn't change... used up 3 black cartridges, 2 magenta and 1 cyan just printing the notes. Luckily my dad will be bringing a stock over for me so I don't have to buy so many for now. Thinking about it... I've asked my dad to bring me a lot of stuff.... hopefully he has enough space to pack it all....

Well... that's all he wrote.

Until next time.

End of the begining of the end of the ...

There it is, tomorrow, the end of the world yet again. The sleep-depriving, frustrating period known as exam season. As usual, I'm going with the frantic last minute cram, although, for some reason, this time around it doesn't seem so bad. Probably I'm more relaxed because there's less examable material for this course (Although the course notes come up to 670 pages). There's also the fact that the exams are really spread out over two weeks, so there's no rush of panic. I've got one tomorrow, one on the 7th and one each on the 14th and 16th. Not a bad schedule as the one on the 14th is minor.

After that, I get to play. My parents are planning to come over for that week and I've got off from work for the whole week until the 24th. Look out Gold Coast!

But, I'm day-dreaming again. Looking too far ahead. Have to start concentrating on tomorrow (or now). So... now dinner... then study....

Until the next time.

Lifeless

No.... I'm not moaning my lack of life... I'm perfectly fine with a boring routine.

It's just that I've been coming back from work utterly exhausted nowadays. I'm not sure why. And this coming week is going to be hectic. One day's break tomorrow then working until Thursday. Friday I have to study for Saturday's exam. Just thinking about it is exhausting.

Anyway, that's about it actually, seeing as I have a lack of social life and I don't do much else but work, study, sleep, play computer games, read and eat....

Until I can come up with something a little more interesting to post about....

Z is for Zurfing

Had an awesome weekend. Caught two shows; Surf's Up and the Nanny Diaries. Surf's Up was great . Funny and wittty. I didn't want to watch it originally because I thought it'd be Happy Feet all over again.... but I was wrong. Nice and punchy storyline and great graphics. There seems to be a trend in movies about competitions nowadays, where the protagonist doesn't win. In Hairspray, Little Inness won instead of Tracy Turnblad and in Surf's Up, the chicken won instead. Anyway, Nanny Diaries was excellent as well albeit a bit long. It got really touching and heartrending at the end though.

As for other happenings, the semester's winding down and most of my assignments have been handed in so.... slightly more relaxing than usual nowadays but then again, I'm usually quite relaxed anyhow. All will change come exam time although I'm expecting this sem's exams to be easier than the last....

Anyway,
Seeya

Guess it's time to post. Almost a month since my last post. I just couldn't find anything much to say that'd be interesting enough to post. Even now I struggle to find words to captivate and entrance.

But... anyway. The last month has been mundane at best. Doing what I do everyday. Uni. Work. Eat. Sleep. et cetera et cetera.

Oh yeah. Notable exception. I watched Hairspray twice. Good good show. After watching it the first time, I started listening to the soundtrack and kind of didn't stop for the whole week. I stopped at the end of the week though. Loved the songs.

Almost crunch time though. Finals are barely a month away and tons and tons of assignments due this week. Which generally I usually leave until the last minute to do so....
Anyway, most of them are over. Presentation tomorrow and a few more due on Monday and Friday then we're clear until exams.

Work's getting busier too. Keep running up and down and up and down. They've started hiring holiday temps to gear up for the peak Christmas period. Should ease the strain a bit.

Anyway. Enough chit chat. Seeya in a month. (or not...)

100!

Wow... post number 100...

Interesting. I wonder that I've that much to post about. Seeing as others hit the hundredth mark way before me though... I guess I can safely assume that I don't have much to say. Which is fine by me. Don't need to bother thinking up what to post... just nice leisurely snippets of the daily grind.

Speaking of snippets... here comes another one.

So... busy week comes round again. I've got a lab report, and 2 assignments to do this week with a mid-sem test on Friday (Stats). Taking a 'break' now to blog but I've gotta finish off one of my assignments and the lab report tonight. I had quite a bit of fun working today. Nice and easy not one of the usual hectic days. Supposedly the calm before the storm though cos Christmas season's coming soon and apparently things go crazy then and doesn't stop. Luckily they hire Christmas temps so the onus is not thrust on us.

And that's all he wrote... for now anyway....

Stay tuned for the next clip.

Done

Finished a couple of assignments these past couple of days. Last minute work as usual. I cut it a bit too fine this time though. Had a last minute panic attack when the Speculative Fiction assignment I did wouldn't fit properly. In the end I redid the whole thing. Managed to pull it off though. For that I'm happy.

Also, my computer got another transplant. This time it's reminiscent of the movie Face Off. The LCD screen got replaced because of this stupid tendency to black out or go green at the oddest times. Ah well... got a nice shiny new screen. Dell made quite a fuss again... not over having to replace the part but, as usual, mixup over appointments. This time, they didn't show the first time around and had to make a second/third appointment to come over. Still they got the job done.

That's all for now folks.
Until next time.

Mid Sems Again

It's too soon.... still feeling quite lazy.... Barely 1 month after the start of sem and it's midsem exams already? I thought the sem was supposed to last 14 weeks.... apparently the people at the SIB don't know how to count cos it's just week 5 right now.

Still... shouldn't be too bad cos we've covered a lot of this like 2-3 times already. Mendel and his ever so irritating laws. Now that I think of it.... this is my 4th time going through Mendel... a little bit extra now with chi-square added... but the basics still covered in there....

Good thing about having covered a lot of this already is that assignments are pretty okay. I got 8/10 for a Mendel problem set the other day.... she took a few half marks off here and there for a couple of titchy little mistakes.... but it's still a good mark. Also 7/10 for Mendel practical. Didn't do so well in this one... but could've been worse. Personally I think the number of red marks in the paper was more than 3/10... but.... who am I to disagree right?

Now I've got a midsem coming up.... in about 13 mins.

Wish me luck....

Ekka

Ooh... hadn't noticed... it's been 10 days since I last blogged. Getting slack. :-)

Anyhow... it's been an uneventful week +. Nothing much but the usual... eat, sleep, play computer games etc.

I went to the Ekka yesterday (the Royal Brisbane Exposition to be more exact). Almost didn't make it cos halfway in the journey, at the city, it started raining so I had to layover for a couple of hours. Finally made it though. It was quite fun. Very crowded. But lots of stuff to see. There was heaps of food everywhere. Displays on stuff like... gardening, quilts, beef and so on.... . It's also a fun-fair so had all the usual fun-fair games there as well as some of the more extreme ones. No rollercoaster though.... . I didn't try the games... too expensive and I really don't like being hung upside down that high.

They had these things called showbags there.... where you buy this big bag full of candy and stuff so I bought a Wonka one. It wasn't bad except for the lack of chocolate. Also, there was this Strawberry Sundae by Nestle Peters that's apparently an Ekka tradition. It wasn't bad. Quite surprising actually as it had a few layers. It looked like just strawberry ice-cream on a standard wafer cone but inside it had fruit and vanilla as well. I got a bit of a shock when strawberries started spilling out of it. Hehe.

Anyway, that's all for now I guess. I'll post up the pics next time when I've finished processing 'em.

Splurging

Just paid my fees the other day. First time I ever wrote a cheque. Also... amount was huge! $11,030. I have pictures of it... but they're blur and posting pictures of cheques can be dangerous so I'm not gonna bother.
Spending that kind of money can be a bit sobering. It's like.... we're paying that much for a course that takes up about 4-5 hours/week and that's not including textbooks etc.

Ah well.

Been working the whole weekend. Two full day shifts. Pretty tiring but I'm getting used to it....
Must have had something funny for lunch on Sunday though. Stomach complications. Got so bad that I was shaking at registers and my coworkers were all like... "Are you well?"

Stupid class cancellation today. Didn't get the notice until... it was too late. So... could've slept in today. Other than that class at 8 am, my next class was at 5 pm. Woke up at 6.50 just for that class, walked all the way there and discovered only two guys sitting there. What a waste of time. So I went to Chermside and walked around for a bit. Didn't do much there though.

Then came back and napped.

All in all an uneventful day.

Transplant

So...

Things breaking down all over the place. You've heard all about my troubles with my phone... now it's my PC's turn.

Keyboard broke. 'Y' key chipped off. Good news is.... it's still under warranty so a Dell techie came over today and fixed it up for me after a lot of fuss over when to service it.

Haven't been having pristine days. Been pretty tired these past couple of days. Damn this cold. Guess my body's telling me to catch up on my sleep.

Got through today though. Happy for that at least. Almost didn't make it to Biotech class cos I felt really really lethargic.

Two assignments came in. One Genetics and one big big one on Biotech. Luckily I've got a month to do it in although, cross your fingers, hope I won't wait until the last couple of days to tackle it. I think I won't... but who knows what I would or wouldn't do.... Hehe.

Good thing. My pay for the past couple of weeks has come in. No need to skimp for a while although in keeping with my words earlier. I should kerb spending so much and save a bit. Still, at least I have some excess now.... in case.

Signing Off.

I Spoke Too Soon

Haih. Rookie mistakes. Thought I'd finally shaken off all those stupid little mistakes. Turns out... they were just compiling them and waiting to hit me with them all at once. 9 sheets today. 9 mistakes.... accumulated over the past... dunno how long. Also.... thought that cold went off for good already. Turns out it was just laying low... waiting to come back with a vengeance.

On the plus side.... Quite nice things have been happening. Yesterday, my phone charger broke. Went to the Three Centre and they told my it was not covered under warranty and I had to replace it but they didn't have one in stock. So I went to the Nokia Care Centre. The lady there was so nice. She replaced it for me at no cost because she recognised me from before.

Watched the Simpsons Movie today after work. Was quite hilarious. The 1 1/2 hours flew by just like that. Was pretty sorry that it was over so soon.

That's it for now I guess.
Stay tuned.

Tired

Been quite exhausted this past week or so. Probably a spillover from the Harry Potter weekend where on Friday, finished work at 9.30 got back at 10.30, slept at 12.30 and woke up at 4.30. And the spillover lasted a week so far. Can't seem to convince myself to go to bed early. As a result... my concentration suffers. Been behaving a little odd for the past few days...

Ah well. Anyway, First week of classes. Horrible horrible timetable cos there's like 2 5 o'clock classes with not much in between. So it's like... morning classes... then 3-4 hours in between until the next class which is really stupid cos I can't do much else in then.

Work's been okay... gradually falling into a routine there. At least I'm not making any more stupid rookie mistakes. Back to 20 hours a week now... which doesn't seem to be enough. My pay suffers accordingly.

On the subject of pay, my expenditure this month has been horrendous. I really could have got by with less. Have to start cutting back on some of the luxuries... games... shows... clothes... etc.

Things have been pretty quiet nowadays although I suppose the pace will pick up in the coming weeks as school is in now. Don't really have much to do nowadays so mucking around on my computer playing the odd game or so and reading people's blogs :-)

This is interesting. Apparently I'm more eloquent when I'm feeling lethargic than I do when I'm perky as evidenced by the length of this post. Hmm... side effect. Interesting parallel with the Ed. Board days when I also had a general lack of sleep but could come up with all sorts of ideas to write down. Oh well. Suppose if I ever need to write next time... must sleep-deprive myself first.

That's it I suppose....

The End

There. I've done it. I've finished The Book.

For all my talk of not taking it up tonight because I wouldn't be able to put it down, I did it. There'll be hell to pay tomorrow I guess. Something to do with the lack of sleep over the past couple of days... but I guess I'll just have to handle it somehow.

Okay. Bedtime.

P-Day

Well... it's here.

P-Day. Potter Day.

Just got about 4 hours of sleep. Then have to work again. Don't know how I'm gonna stand it... but somehow... I must. 9 hours of standing at the registers. Don't quite know what to expect. Long lines? Rushing crowds? Hmm...

Anyway, gotta rush. have to leave in 52 minutes.

I'm Dying....

Or so someone says...

Bad... bad... bad cold/cough.

Been hacking my way through everything these few days and it's getting really annoying. I mean... I 'd be talking to a customer and suddenly he's wondering why I'm turning red in the face and looking like I'm ready to pop. Not good at all. Went to see a nurse today.... told me to drink more fluids and get some more rest... and said it could last up to 6 weeks. Gosh! 6 weeks...

On the plus side, HP day's coming up. Just got my tie in the post so I'm all ready (almost) for the big day. Wonder if it'll be as big as everyone's making it up to be. Well... we'll see. We'll see. At least I've got my copy preordered and ready and I should get the Plush Owl too. Also going for a post-potter party.... dunno how that'll turn out yet. I'll try to get pics and stuff to post.... but don't hold it against me if I don't. :-P

That's it for now. Until next time.

Feelin' Good....

The week's been quite okay... aside from the fact that my phone had to go into the shop again... The screen was busted. Got a new one though :-). New screen that is.

And...I've been having a flu these past four or so days. Got until my voice was like really scratchy at the end of today.

All that aside, I'm feeling pretty good. Work's been fun... warming up to my colleagues slightly. I've got some new stuff... new books... shows... games.... etc. So... life's been good.

That's it I guess.

Over and Out.

Relieved

I was soooo nervous.
My results came out today.

Turns out, I got a 4 (pass) for Biochem and 6 (distinction) for Genetics, Animal and Microbiology.
Really, really a relief. I thought Biochem was a goner for sure. Although it's slightly saddening, to think that if I'd been more alert and attentive, I could've maybe gotten higher for Animal and Micro? Then again... I shouldn't be dwelling on maybes.... Good thing is... I passed BIOCHEM!!!!

In other news, woke up with a horrible flu couple of days ago. Probably cos of all those late nights (damn you internal clock...). But... it's improving... with the help of Dimetapp. Hehe. I'm turning into a druggie.

Today was my day off... went to the Westfield Chermside shopping centre. Not bad. Very big. Lots of shops. Didn't buy much though. They had a Borders there. Made me miss Queensbay quite a bit cause it's almost like it. Same design, same tables, shelves and everything. Borders in the city is quite different. Old style I think. The shelves are deeper and higher and everything's just different. Harder for me. But.... what they hey... I can rough it... I'll adapt.

And... that's all for now I guess. Now playing the Harry Potter OOTP videogame. Can't wait for the movie and the book to come out. Still don't know what I'll be doing for the costume though.

Dos vidanya.

Transformers, Robots In Disguise

Just caught Transfomers just now. 3.40 showing at the Southbank Cinemas.
Excellent movie. Can't exactly say what set it apart from all other movies but IMHO it's better than Pirates or Spiderman. :-)
My new favourite movie!

In other news, I tried the Nasi Lemak at Satay Hut today. And it was okay. Not bad. But not good either. The beef that accompanied it had a strange texture to it. Very grainy. Don't quite know what it was. Too bad I didn't take a picture of it. I've only just thought that a picture would be a good accompaniment but seeing as it's all gone down the gullet...

That's it for now I guess...

Damn It All...

The weekend's been absolutely terrible.

Recap:

Had eight transaborts on Friday. Add one more today... brings it up to nine. Hehe. Almost beat Aileen's record. Then there was the whole mess with the SPOs and stuff.

On top of that.... guess what I had for lunch on Saturday.
Pot Flambe!!
Really. The pot caught fire just as I started heating it up. And it was like... two pots burning away on the stove. Luckily, I wield a mean fire extinguisher. And to think I was leaning over the pot just a half minute before it spontaneously combusted. Ugghh.

Above: Scene of the carnage.

Plus, I do believe I've overspent this month. Definitely. Won't go into details here but suffice to say that I have to reign myself in.

On the positive side of the ledger, I got some more new stuff. Bought a few books, some DVDs, and.... 3 more t-shirts and a bag. (Just to make Justin jealous. Hehe. Evil, aren't I?)

And that's all for now. At least I think that's all. Brain's a bit fuzzy now. Definitely not enough sleep over the past few days.

Au revoir!

And Life Goes On...

Exam's may be over... but life still goes on.
Back to work. Done with my long weekend away. Even better, no 20 hour weekly limit so I get more time at work which = more moolah for me. :-)

Weather here's getting colder and colder. As I sit here, I don't think I can feel my toes.... hehe. Seriously, I'm shivering. Thank God for sweaters and pullovers. At least I'm not shivering at work.

Sales are on now. End of June sales. Lots of shops have 50% discount. Just bought a t-shirt and a pants...
Might buy more... now that I've got more spare cash coming in. Hehe.

Anyway, that's it for now I guess.

Until next time.

Well... It's Over

and I'm glad for it. It's been a stressful weekend but I'm none too proud with myself over today.

Note to self: Never ever again stay up until 2 a.m. revising. It just takes too much out of you.

I was yawning and fuzzy throughout both my exams. God knows how I did. I know I screwed up at least two questions in Micro and in Animal as well. Ah well... bygones.

Better get to bed then.

G'night

Two Down

Two down and the worst is over...

Not quite. The worst may be over but the next ones're quantity over quality. Two exams in one single day and just a day to study for them. I suppose I'll really have to hunker down to it tomorrow and get it all settled with. Future's looking brighter though with the end of exams on the horizon. I just have to make it past Monday.

Genetics and Biochem were okay. Not as bad as I feared but not smooth sailing either. Good part is that at least I finished answering as much as I could. Time constraints'll really kill you. We had about 2 hours to answer 8-10 questions for each exam. Supposedly short-answer but their short-answer = full length STPM essay question. Ah well. Have to keep up with the times I guess.

Anyhow. Gotta go to bed. Tomorrow's gonna be packed.

Signing Off.

Arrggghhh!!!!

Haih. Tomorrow's my Biochem final.

Guess what. I haven't studied yet.

Guess it's an all-nighter for me this time.

Guess I should have studied earlier huh?

Anyway.

Wish me luck. Or at least some divine intervention.

Catching Up

So...

Yesterday, went out the whole day for a Movie Marathon!
Caught up on some of the shows I'd missed.
Pirates, Spiderman and ... Reno?

Reno sucked. Terrible terrible show. Slightly funny in a few points but otherwise horrible. Ah well.... it was just a filler between Pirates and Spidey anyhow.

Pirates was great! I watched it on the 25m screen (Brisbane's biggest). Awesome special effects and very fun to watch. Really enjoyed it... especially the part where Barbosa and Jack clash. I find Barbosa to be more interesting than Jack tho... probably cos he's more pirate-y.

Spiderman was not bad... comes in a close second out of the three... Although I'm wondering... if Spidey had a friend dying on the floor below... why didn't he remember it and go down immediately instead of chit chatting with the bad guy? Interesting all the same... even though it was a bit long ( I know Pirates was longer but it didn't feel that way...)

At the end of the day... a bit stiff from all that sitting around. Still, I had fun... Shrek's coming out tho... luckily it's still study break... so can probably catch it this weekend.

Seeya.

The End Of The Beginning

Thus ends my first week back at work.

Turns out there's a ton of things I forgot or a ton of new things that I had to learn/relearn. Makes me feel like such an ass cos I should have known all this stuff. And I guess my feet forgot how to stand that long. And it was only 5-6 hours/time... not like the 9 hour shifts I used to pull...
Ah well... all part of acclimatisation.
Yesterday particularly was really hectic. When at reg.... didn't stop for a single second. It was like... "Next", "Thank You" then "Next"... And even off reg... kept running up and down.

On a brighter note, it was also the last week of classes. Now we have swotvac (study break). I wonder how much studying I can do tho .

Anyway.... day off today... gonna go have a Movie Marathon!!!
Catch up on all that I've missed.

Seeya.

Still Kicking

No... I'm not dead and
No... I've not dropped off the face of the Earth.

I've just been really really swamped.
I know I promised to update but I had so many things on my plate for the past couple of weeks. I had a huge Biochem poster to do, a Biochem quiz, an Animal Biology presentation, 4 Micro lab reports and a Micro quiz to prepare for. Thank God it's now over and done with. I'm not sure how well I did... but at least I did it.

Anyway, that's some of the things I've been up to....
As for the rest... I've been living.... eating, sleeping, shopping (no... not clothes... groceries - I seem to need a ton of groceries, the other day I humped back 36 rolls of toilet tissue to keep... hehe... turning into an old maid... keeping toilet rolls....).

I bought a chair yesterday... lugged it back on the train and the bus.... all 17 kilos of it. Nearly died... but I made it and it was worth it. Very comfy.

Tomorrow... start training (again! - This'll be like the 3rd time already... for cashiering anyway... guess some things are just meant to be done over and over and over.... again).

I guess I'll be back when I think up more stuff... and pics... next time... still lazy to convert the RAW files...

Signing Off

All Hell Breaks Loose

The world ends tomorrow. Tomorrow, the dreaded Biochem midsem exam begins and I'm not prepared. Even now, I'm only through with less than half of what I need to know for tomorrow's exam. Even if the world miraculously survives tomorrow, there's still next week. Genetics Lab Report, 3 Microbiology reports, 1 Microbiology quiz... all happens next week.

Can't be giving up though. I persevere. Now on a break from the study but will hit my books again soon.

Wish Me Luck.

Signing Off.

View From Stradbroke

I promised more photos... so here... some photos from when I was at Stradbroke Island on my Biotech field trip :-). Below is the ferry that we took to get there.
And these are some of my coursemates throwing around a football...That's the view from the back of the ferry....
Moreton Bay Research Station... that's where I stayed. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures inside so I can't show what it's like in there... . Coincidentally, their sister station, on Herne Island, burnt down the day before the field trip. Lucky it wasn't this one...
They didn't have very much room... by luck of draw I got assigned to the VIP house because there was no more rooms.... that was really nice... no need to queue up with everyone else for the showers....
These are some of the scenes around the island.

And that's a group photo of all of us (Lecturers, 1st year Biotech students , 3rd year mentors)
Ugghh... it's late... really need to go to bed already. I'll post more up next time.

Signing Off.

It's Here Again

Exam period. Tomorrow signals the start of it. Genetics tomorrow then Biochem next Saturday. Microbiology and Animal Biology have no mid-semesters... but that probably just means that they're waiting to throw their worst at you at the finals. Oh well. Anyway... lazy procrastinator that I am, here I am blogging instead of studying. I should I know... hehe.

Anyway. Good news today... I got 10/10 in a microbiology quiz a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully that's a portent of things to come.

I'd better go start cramming.

Signing Off.

Virtual Tour

First up on this virtual tour is... the view I get every weekday... on the way to school. This is on the outskirts of the uni, just before the bus stop and the student centre.



Building Number 1. The Frogan-Smith Building. I don't actually have any classes here... but it's a representative of most of the buildings in UQ. It's the most central building and has the nicest architecture (IMHO). This view is from the back (Kelvin Goh would of course call it the front...). This is where the law school is.

Next up, the Biological and Chemical Sciences (BACS) Library. This is where I spend a lot of my spare time surfing the net... When I have a break between classes... that (or the Dorothy Hill Engineering Library (not featured in this tour)... because it's closer) is where I'll usually be found.
Backtracking a bit... this is the Great Court in front of Building 1. It's like this large grassy lawn where a lot of people like to lounge or sleep. Also study of course. I don't know if I can bring myself to actually sleep on the grass. Too self-concious I guess.

The Union. This is where most of the food is. The lolly shop (candy) is here as well as a sushi place and the main refractory (cafeteria). This is one of the archways that surround the Great Court. It's actually the one leading to the Union.


And this is outside the uni... where I do a lot of my grocery shopping. Coles.
And finally... where I rest my head at night.

Hopefully this sates your photo needs Justin.... for now... I still have some others... which I will try and put up soon.

Signing Off.

Fleeting Time

Time flies really fast... doesn't it? I can't believe I let this long get by before posting again. Oh well... at least I'm doing it now. Anyway, a few things have happened since the last time I posted, we went to Stradbroke Island for a short camp-like trip. Biotech style... meaning a quizzes and workshops.

The quiz was horrible... a lot of questions about the nationality of people who won Nobel Prizes... and a lot of questions on Australian things. Funny thing though. Half to 3/4 of the people who went on the trip were Malaysian, but none of us could get the last question (about Malaysia) right. It went something like... which Malaysian University won *some Japanese prize that I can't remember* and where did the professor who won the award do his tertiary ed. Answer: University Malaya (which I argued for and was overruled) for the Nipah Virus discovery and the Professor was educated in Australia (DUH! We all got that one right). Besides that, it was really, really fun. Interestingly enough, one of my professors could write my name in Chinese, even though I hadn't told him anything but the name.

Later that night, the professors organised a trip to the local pub (The Little Ship... or something like that). Walked through the cemetary at night to get there. Professor was walking so fast and my friends were all creeped out by it. I.... tried not to think of it and concentrated on following Prof. Barnard. Got there and the pub turned out to be closed... at 8 p.m. on a Saturday! Unbelievable. Decided to go to another one nearer the shops. So, we about-faced and went through the cemetary yet again. Walked and walked for ages. The other pub was closed as well. Darn. Hehe. Went back to the research station (where we stayed, btw). Then... really had fun. Played Pictionary until 12 a.m. Didn't stop laughing the whole time it was hilarious. And... funny bit... but the dice... everytime I rolled... it seemed to be jinxed. It went... 1, 2, 3 and then 3, 2, 1 consecutively. That was really freaky.

Next day, went on a hike. Up a cliff near the ocean. Man, the wind was strong. Hair was flying all over the place. When we took our group photo there, didn't dare leave my camera on a rock... too scared it'd blow away. Got down from the cliff then went to a beach. Swam in the ocean (first time!) and then played some cricket (also first time!). After that, went back. So tired, I slept through the entire trip back to Uni.

And that was my Stradbroke Trip. After that was just usual schooling until yesterday. Now... HOLIDAYS!!! WooHoo!!!

Happy Easter everyone!

Signing Off.

Addicted

Internet addiction creeps up very easily. Since I got my internet here, I started online gaming again. Whole of Sunday, and today... playing online. Ah well... initial period I guess. Hopefully this isn't the trend for the whole semester or the whole year. On the plus side, lectures are getting more interesting, albeit more challenging. More meat to chew on I suppose. I'm enjoying Genetics, Microbiology and Animal Biology. Biochemistry... so so only. It's fine I guess, but fails to catch my interest the way the rest do.

Went to the market for the first time here on Saturday. Lots and lots of interesting things to see there (lots of vegetables too). They had all sorts of food stalls, some craft stalls. I even managed to get 'chang' there. I bought a basil plant for $1 which promptly wilted when I got back. It's back to life now... (I'm crossing my fingers... hoping I suddenly grow a green thumb).

Apparently we're going on a chocolate binge here... barely a day goes by without us eating at least a piece of chocolate here. Hopefully there's no long term side effects. Now if only I can find the willpower....

Signing Off

Back Again

It looks like what I said here has had an effect. No sooner did I post my last post than I got my home internet line activated... no need to scramble for library terminals just to do the most simple things anymore.

Anyway... it's still pretty much the same as last time... I eat, I sleep, I go to class, I survive.

Aside from that... the occasional jaunt to the shopping mall or grocery store... and that about sums up my week.

That's that again. Until next time.

Signing Off.

And Again

Well... here I am again. Nothing much just taking the time out to keep typing and make sure that there's something here at least. Can't wait until I get my internet at home so I can go back to surfing the net at home. Was thinking of starting online gaming again... but... we'll see. Anyway, last week was... boring. Highlight: celebrated my b'day on Saturday... and went for pizza on Sunday to celebrate. It was not bad... quite fun. I ate a whole pizza... and then some. Hehe. On Friday night, my housemates suprised me with a cake and candles... but they did it just after I went to bed so I was naturally blur and sleepy. Still it was a nice thought.

Okay... that's it I guess... nowadays very sleepy. Wonder why? anyway... I'm very blur right now... so no idea what to type. Until the next round.

Signing Off.

Monday Blues

One more week, one more Monday.

Still in the uni library, using their internet, mine hasn't come in yet... for some weird thing... they said it may take until April . Internet deprivation can be so horrendous.

We've had a okay weekend though. Even though I was dead tired at the end of it. Saturday we celebrated the birthday of a friend of a friend of a sister who we got to know here. Was quite fun. She took us out to this Vietnamese place to have dinner.

Sunday was lazy. Nothing to do. I went out to the city but for no purpose. Wanted to go to the post office but, silly me, forgot it was the weekend and the post office was closed. Went to the craft fair but there was nothing there. Pretty boring. Later in the night though, it got more exciting. Had a pitched battle in Warcraft with my housemates. Lasted at least 3 hours... but I Won!!

Which brings us back to now. Long day ahead. I've got 3 more classes and then a 3 hour lab which means there's the whole of my day gone. Oh well...

Signing Off

And Life Goes On

So... first post from all the way over here. Haven't been able to update my blog or go online at all for the past 2-3 weeks. No internet at home (sad isn't it?) but, thankfully it's about to be solved, internet applications underway and should be up by next week or so. On the plus side, I've got a host of new stuff, new desk (took me almost the whole day and ruined a good screwdriver to fix up), new phone and so on.

Classes have started here in UQ and it's quite fun, some of the subjects at least. It's a different system here than what we're used to back in Malaysia. For one thing the courses here have multiple lecturers per subject. So you never know if the next lecture will be the same or different. It makes it disconcerting because each lecturer will have their own style. Other than that, I'm adapting to life here and doing things on my own. That's one of the things that's slightly harder for me since in Penang, my parents will usually handle most of the things. Still, I'm managing, managing quite well I think (IMHO). No real big problems cropped up yet.

Other than that, things are pretty mundane here. Quite quiet, everything closes at 5 or 6 pm, so can't even 'lepak' at the shopping malls. Mostly stay at home with my computer or go to Uni to 'tumpang' their line like I'm doing now. Chinese New Year was also very quiet. Didn't feel much in the celebration mood because not many people were celebrating it. Still, we paid a visit to Chinatown and saw a few lion dances.

That's basically everything there is since I left... Not one of my better days so I can't think of much to type. Will update when I get my internet connection settled and if I can think of more stuff to say. 'Till then,

Signing Off.

Paradigm Shift

Okay... this is it. In a little less than ten hours, Yong Ming will officially be headed into exile. Heading of onto another leg of my life story. From this point on everything changes (no... not really... some things remain the same :-)). Still, everything around will become unknown. Exciting because there'll be so many new things unexplored, scary because not all unknown, unexplored things are good. But I will persevere and weather the storm (hopefully). Although some part of me is loth to leave Penang, another part is also excited and ready for new things and new challenges.

Let us descend now, unto the breach.

Signing Off.

Unshackled

I quit.

Yeah... that was what I did. Stopped working at Borders as of 2nd Feb 2007. It was a nice job. Friendly colleagues, comfortable working environment and all... but it's done. Another chapter of my life closed.

For the weekend, I went to KL. Went down on Friday and stayed with my aunt and uncle. Didn't do much on Friday. On Saturday, went around to BTS and 1-Utama. Walked around shopping but didn't see much. We went to the Eye on Malaysia though on Saturday night. Went up the giant Ferris wheel. Boy did it go up high. I had a touch of altophobia... a bit scary going up there all the way. Luckily it didn't stop right at the top and dangle there.

Sunday, we went to Sunway Pyramid and walked and shopped. A bit of a rush because we were almost late for checkout. And then we went to Genting. Went to the theme park but it was a bit of a let down. Not very interesting to say the least. I had more fun shopping.

Came back at 6 this evening.

That's all.

Signing Off.

A Splash Of Colour

A splash of colour in an otherwise monotonous life... that's what today was. One of the more interesting days after the same old same old work every day.

Today began just like any other day. The sun rose, I rose and so on. I got up, got dressed, got my teeth cleaned, got my breakfast, got washed up and went out. Went to Gurney and met Justin for a movie. Night in The Museum. I had watched it before... but it was just as nice the second time round.

After that... walked around a bit and then decided to hit Queensbay. Went there and had KFC. Then we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked (suffice to said we walked a whole lot...) went into many stores and looked around, even skipping dinner.

We walked and walked and walked until we were going round over and over again. I think we circled the entire Queensbay Mall at least 3 times. Also went for Starbucks. My working status came in extremely useful there. I had a Grande Toffeenut Lattè and... man... was it good! First time I actually had anything hot from Starbucks... definitely going back for more!! Hehe.

All in all, it's been a very very good day.

Thanks Justin.

Signing Off.

Back Again....

Well well well... it has been a while... hasn't it?

That's just because nothing much's been going on since the last time I blogged. It's been eat, sleep, play, work (not necessarily in that order) every day for the past 2-3 weeks. The only exciting bit's been that I've just completed a 7-day, no day-off, stint. A personal record.... all thanks to Daniel and Aileen.

The worst part about working at a bookshop is that it's always work... and you don't get to read their books... it's like the saying... water water all around but not a drop to drink.
Still it's been fun. Quite entertaining... especially with all the antics that we get up to.

So... that's that... oh yeah.... I'm quitting at the end of the month... things'll probably be more sporadic and spontaneous then... so I'll probably have more to say. I'll try and keep things going... but I think it'll probably be another void until after I quit.

Signing Off.