Day 16, Day 17 and Day 18

Day 16(23rd July, Thursday)

No tutorials until week 2. Thankfully. I do my usual morning stuff and get to college at 11.30am for my second Maths lecture. Regular stuff, slightly more difficult than the day before, but nothing too difficult.

I go to Kelvin Grove and meet the CCM guys... Here's a few pictures...



After that I go home to wait for class... and at the appointed time, (I seem to be keeping more to schedules now...) about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. XD

Cisco lessons are......... pretty dull... At least until we get to a practical application. It seems that most of the assessments are... online. Interesting...

After that I go to Adelaide to take a bus to Fortitude Valley to attend a CCM meeting. Theme of the night was: "Iron Chef".

That's right. Its a pot luck cooking competition.

I unfortunately got on the wrong bus, but I get off in time, before I arrive in who know's where... From the stop where I got off, it was only a few minutes walk to Chinatown where I call for help... XD

Will is sent to my aid in a few minutes... Good response time! XD
After the appropriate revelries and fellowship, I go home with the others.

(I don't have the picture, but when I do get them, I'll post them up!)

Sleeptime...




Day 17(24th July, Friday)

I go to class... the first INB251 class. Professor in charge is Ernest Foo. Nice guy. I like his teaching style, very heavy on the dry humor. XD

I go home and then rest... doing homework and stuffs... Fairly uneventful day. I seem to be very very tired today. I rest early tonight.



Day 18th(25th July, Saturday)

I know why I'm so tired. I have a cold. Sneezing, sniffling the works. I rest today and try not to do anything strenous.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be better...

Days 13, 14 and 15

Day 13(20th July)

Mornings as usual. XD
Lazy to write about the daily routine.

About 10am-ish I go to Uni to get my textbooks. I get one of them at the secondhand bookshop, for the other 3 I had to buy new textbooks, which set me back about 200 odd AUD. Quite a bundle, just for 3 books. But... I suppose at the end of the semester I can sell them off and get back about 50-75% of the money(hopefully?)

I meet Fiona in Uni, and we actually go to the bookshop together. After we're done(or rather after I'm done), Fiona is actually still agonizing on whether she should buy the textbooks or not because it costs so much.

After that we go out together, because I wanted to explore Fortitude Valley(CHINATOWN!) and Fiona wanted to just tag along because she had nothing to do.

So, a short 5-10 minute walk and another 3-5 minute bus ride later, we're at Chinatown.
First, we stop at Yuen's Market, a little asian specialty grocery that carries stuff from Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and China. Oh, and some Indian food and spices as well. I wanna buy some bak kut teh packets!!! And I did. Also got some kei chi and hoong chou as well. So... Bak Kut Teh anyone? All I need now is the meat.

Oh... and a rice pot. XD (Wondering if I should buy one. Let me know what you guys think, try the poll app on the top...)

So basically that's it for the food hunt. We walk around a bit... and even go into a quaint secondhand/pawn shop. I see a pretty good guitar for 145AUD, wonder if I should get that, or if I should borrow/bring from home...

Really really miss playing guitar(in the house)/piano(on sundays)

And that's all the interesting things I did on Monday.




Day 14(21st July)

Woke up at 8am, and got ready for class. But... catch was... I couldn't shower. The water was absolutely freezing. So I just washed my face and brushed me teeth. I figured that I could take a bath when I come back, it's only 2 hours after all.

10am class, INB 351 with Dr. Hasmukh Morarji. The subject sounds...

really...

really...
really...
really...
really...

INTIMIDATING/SCARY/CHALLENGING/YOU GET THE PICTURE ALREADY...

At the end of the class, I'm really anxious, like, "Is this really what I want to do?"

But maybe, that was his plan, to shake people up... I dunno really @.@

So when I get home, I prepare for the PRAC-tical session tomorrow as best as I can. Reading up and trying some of the Linux commands on Cygwin(Linux Emulator that I downloaded)

Hopefully it won't be that hard tomorrow...




Day 15(22th July)

I wake up at 8am-ish... can't really sleep anymore after the sun rose at around 5am... Also, felt kinda nervous about the PRAC session. One of the reasons why is because I wasn't sure that I would be able to get in. My class allocations were screwy as a result of timetable clash with INB251 on Friday. I emailed Dr. Hasmukh and he said, "just go anyway, and ask the tutor if there's place."

So, I figure... if I go early, I should be able to get me a spot even before the tutor arrives. EUREKA!

I get there at around 1130am. Plenty of space. So I take one. XD

The tutor comes and I ask him if I can sit in even tho' I'm not allocated. He said sure, as I already asked Dr. H about it and I have a reason for not allocating a different time.

So I get started on the thing. The Lab Comp was running Ubuntu(sorta Linux OS type of thing) . I get cracking on the excercises, and I find that it isn't really that difficult... yet. XD

It's kinda like a more technical version of the DOS CLI.

Of course this is just an introduction to the OS and the real nasty difficult stuff hasn't come out of the closet yet.

So, after completing the excercise, I leave. Wait for an hour... and go for the next class.
This time, it's MATH!!!

Yea, I know... MATH... AGAIN... But it's a basic foundation for crypto...


I meet Kev, a guy from Hong Kong, doing Masters of Mathematical Science. Hefty stuff.

The lecturer for MATH was a guy named Ross Cuthbert. He has a PHD but he doesn't call himself a Dr.

Mr. Cuthbert really reminds me of someone... I KNOW!!!
He reminds me of Uncle(Granduncle really...) Tony!

The way he speaks, acts, etc. etc. really really really really reminds me of Unc. Tony. He used to be a High School teacher too! Teaching Math and Science, it was... I think. XD

He's a nice guy.

Now, enough about the lecturer, the subject seemed a bit... easy...
almost like Form 3 mathematics... But I won't let my guard down... those monster math problems will show up and bite my arse sooner or later...

Finished classes for today. Tomorrow I have another Math Lecture and the first lecture of INB350. Tutorials and Workshops don't start until next week, so my Thursday morning is pretty free. Thank God too... I'm feeling tired and I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.


So I'll end my post here.
Cheers! (Don't forget to poll!)

Day 11 & Day 12

Day 11(18th July)

Nothing much today. I wake up at around 10am. Wash up and shower... Hrmm... seems to be a routine with me. XD

I get some breakfast and go for a walk around the area. Lookie here... Soon as I step out of the hostel area, I run smack into a... pasar malam????

Only......... one problem. It's not Malaysia, and... It's not "malam" XD
I'll attach a picture now and add more in a seperate blog post next week so you folks at home can see it...

Alright....
That's the picture, but it cannot compare to the actual thing, the hustle and bustle of the crowd, the smell of the various kinds of food in the air(fresh wood-oven baked bread, pizza, roasting chicken, etc. etc. etc.), the clamor of the vendors yelling out their wares, the chinese guy asking whether I'd like to buy:

"Mandarin Orange! Very cheep! Onni wan daular nintee faiv sent!"

With that paragraph, you probably get the picture.

Oh... I almost forgot. About halfway through the 50 meter gauntlet that comprises the "day market", I run across this guy:



The one man band. Cool huh! XD
He's a real showman alright, and even got that patter that street performers usually have.

I'm starting to think that here in Brisbane there's a whole complete culture of street performers, buskers, and what-have-yous.

That's pretty much all I did today, went back to the room and did some reading on what textbooks I should get. Came out about 5pm to have a little walk around again. That's it.





Day 12(19th July)

Wake up at 8am... Got a knock on my door from Tim who wants to know whether I still wanna go to church with him and Jo. I still do and I say as much to him. I perform morning ablutions and then have a breakfast of toast. No time for hard boil eggs or anything fancier.

We leave at 9.30am(something to that effect, wasn't really looking at my watch) for church.

After the service, Jo and Tim drop me off at CLV and they go off somewhere doing whatever they do together. XD

I spend the rest of my day surfing the net and hearing banging and moving about generally happening next door in Osama's room.

So when the coast is clear(I really don't like the guy...) I go out and find that his stuff is sitting in a trolley outside his room. I guess he is moving out after all.

I have some dinner, and then I meet Kate, who's back from vacation. I help her carry one of her bags up to her room, and then duck back into mine to write about it. XD

I'm going to bed soon... Night!

Day 10

Day 10(17th July)

So.... Day 10, I wake up in the morning at around 10am and have my breakfast. A light one though, because Uncle Jimmy is coming round to take me for a little lunch.

To kill time until then, I decide to catch up on some of the TV programs I missed while I was in Malaysia, namely Stargate SG-1.

In short order, Uncle Jimmy calls and tells me that "they" are downstairs. I wonder who the others might be. Turns out that Uncle Jimmy is accompanied by Uncle Richard Lim, his colleague and partner as well as brother in Christ.

So I get in their car and we go for lunch at that place nearby called Little Lily. It's a Thai/Japanese restaurant that I told you about in one of my earlier blog posts.

So as we eat lunch, we chat a little, and I find out that Uncle Richard is also an IT graduate that is now working with Uncle Jimmy in Real Estate and Development. So after lunch, I show them around the apartment, so they can see what I've been describing in our chat in the restaurant.

Basically thats about it. We seperate from there, and Uncles Jimmy and Richard tell me to call them if I need anything.

I go back to my room, and continue watching my TV series while looking up the require textbooks for my subjects, I'll go and buy them at the secondhand bookshop on Monday.

Before I know it, It's 6pm... and suddenly, the Fire Alarm rings:
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! "Please Evacuate the Building..."

And so I do. I use the fire stairs to walk down to the designated assembly area to wait for the fire department...



They get here pretty fast. About 3 minutes response time(more or less... I wasn't really timing them)

They search the building but find no trace of fire(I kinda guessed it was a false alarm, because there was no smoke smell or anything...)

So they leave, and we go back to the rooms. At dinner, I heat up some of the leftovers from lunch at Little Lily to eat, and at the same time, find that the toaster is missing. I saw Osama and a friend of his toting some stuff down to a car, maybe Osama is moving out? I see some other stuffs missing from the toilets as well. But his toothbrush(at least I think its his) and razor are still here.

Whew! a little excitement in the evening tonight, what with the fire drill and all.

I text with Leh Roo and chat with Illy. (Not much though, before I know it, its time to sleep. 1am)

Cheers. Night.

Day 9

Day 9 (16th July)

I woke up at 8am this morning... Wish I could have slept longer, but my flatmate's doom doom music woke me up... I went to have a talk to him, a talk which ended in him stating his right to: "Have his music as loud as he wants as early as he wants." (More or less his words)

I'm so pissed off at him. I'm going to have a talk with Tim later, see what he thinks.

So, I wake up and have lunch and have Udon. I cook it with Miso, and fry some bacon to go with it. Oh, and an egg.

After lunch, I get going to QUT to see Mr. Roggenkamp. I meet Taka on the bus.... again. XD

I see Mr. Roggenkamp and we get cracking on my schedule. Pretty good. Made a lot of progress, got some new subjects and such.

So then I go to town and wait for the CCM meeting thing. I walk down Queen's Street Mall and I come across a strange sight...





Hehe, you may not see it, but its actually an artist drawing an artist drawing a painting. XD

Pretty cool.

I meet Wong Leh Roo( is that the right spelling? ) near Hungry Jack's with a bunch of other people going to the same thing. XD

We walk about 2 kilometers( is that about right? I'm bad with distances...) to a christian brother's apartment. We meet a lot more people there... I estimate about 20-30 of us were there. All a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Koreans, Thai, from all over... Malaysia, China, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand... you get the picture.

Eat some food, play some fun games, then its time to get moving...

Walk (another 2km?) to the bus station with Sing Ho(Spelling? from Malaysia), Leh Roo and Tracy.

Very kind of them to show me the way back. I would've gotten lost.

So I'm home... Tomorrow, I go for lunch with Uncle Jimmy. So, I'm tired, from all that walking... I seem to get tired faster now. But on the flip side, I'm not as hungry.

Goodnight,
Cheers...

Day 7 and Day 8

Day 7 (14th July)

Today woke up on time thank God. Actually woke up slightly earlier.... at 4am... =.=
Thanks to one of my roommates playing his music at that time. The walls are pretty thin, and since his music is the doom doom doom music, it goes right through the walls...

Heck, even if someone talks loudly I can hear them through the wall. So I wake up and tell him to at least use headphones in the wee hours of the morning.... He took it well, at least.

Went back to sleep again until 7am. This time I'm woken up by the alarm. Shower, brush, and comb. Going to uni. Met Taka on the bus again, he seems to think I'm his guardian angel or something, that I'm helping him. I tell him its only coincidence. Duh... Either that or we think pretty much alike. XD

So I go for the orientation stuff. Not very interesting. I do my best to take in everything. Find out that I have some courses that clash, must email the lecturer to deal with the problem and that I do. Thursday I meet with course coordinator to consult with him regarding Security related course units.

During the break, I meet with Fiona(Singaporean) and Desi(Australian) who are studying in Business: Finance. Okay duo. Fiona is a cool and trendy girl, and Desi is pretty knowledgeable about the area here, seeing that he's lived here for most of his life.

So after that I went to the East West Eats thing and go to "Chinatown". This isn't really chinatown, but a place where a lot of asian stores do open. So I see a "Yuen's Market" that apparently sell Chinese/Malaysian foodstuffs. Should go and check it out.

I come home and rest at around 8something pm. Another long day tomorrow.





Day 8 (15th July)

I wake up at 7am again. At least today my roommate only plays his music after I'm awake. I wash up and shower, and then.......... discover that the activity I signed up for only starts at 10am... -.-

I wake up 2 hours early for naught. Well, at least I can have a leisurely breakfast. So I check some stuff on QUT Virtual and then go and meet the bus. Again, I meet Taka. This is pushing coincidence a little too far...

We get to uni and we go up to the arranged lecture hall together. On the way, we meet Sachiko, that Japanese girl who is studying nursing.

So, the lecture was interesting. Academic writing.... Note to self: REALLY IMPORTANT!!!XD

I get off and go out early(12pm). I stop at the junction of L block to get me a beef pie. Couldn't resist. Smelt soooo good....

After that went down to the refectory area, and met Fiona and Desi together. Hrmm... Is there something going on there? XD

We chat, and we're eventually joined by Taka and Ting Juan(Malaysian, doing Bachelor of Science - Chemistry)

We chat some more, and Fiona's parents show up just in time for the free(business students only) lunch.

I leave at around 1245pm cos I have another event at 1pm(learn about student e-portfolio). I go to the assigned computer lab, and wait...

and wait...

and wait...

and wait...

for almost 45 minutes.

When the activity facilitators finally show, they explained that they got the time wrong, they a message saying the activity was at 2pm instead of 1pm.

So we get down to business. Not that difficult. In fact, it's pretty much like a blog, but for academic stuff. Pretty useful. I can upload digital copies of my Certs and academic qualifications plus other stuff that might come in handy when I wanna search for a job. It includes tools like resume builder and other stuff.

I go for a QUT Blackboard tutorial thing next. Its pretty much a teaching tool, allows students to download course notes and stuff. Pretty important. Usage seems rather straightforward.

I seem to have glitched the Blackboard system by enrolling for a community(sort of like a group) thing which only staff are supposed to have access. Not my fault, I wanted to find something to do with Information Security, and how was I supposed to know that a "staff only access" group would show up and that I was able to enrol in it. So I tell the Tutorial guy, and he said he'll get on the problem and he'll email me if anything turns up.

I go back to CLV and guess what, I have a Facebook message from Jimmy Teoh(Uncle Cheng Ghee's brother)

I call him and we made an appointment on Friday for lunch. He's taking me to the authentic Chinatown, Sunnybank. (No idea where that is....) I hear the place I went yesterday was in a seedier part of Brisbane, lots of adult entertainment clubs and so on.

So, now, I'm going to eat dinner and then watch State of Origin(Australian football game between Queensland state and New South Wales) on TV. We've already won twice, but this will be the 'icing on the cake' third time.

My gosh, its only been 6 days and I'm already saying 'we' as regards to Queenslanders. XD

Seeya later.
Cheers.


P.S. I might update once in 2 or 3 days once classes begin, cos I'll be doing assignments/homework/studying and probably be busy kinda thing. Post some comments people!!!!! I dare ya!!!!!!

Day 6

Day 6 (13th July)

Woke up late this morning, about 7:55 instead of 7:00... Rushed off to the bus. XD
Thank God I caught it in time. I didn't hear my alarm at all......

So... Met Taka on the bus, he was also going for orientation and stuffs. Arrived there at a8:30am and took the campus tour. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. XD

Oh well.

So went for the Understanding Cultural Differences talk next. Met some new people. A Sachiko who is a Japanese girl, going for Nursing, A Finnish girl, on exchange program, and 3 Norwegian girls who are studying City Planning. XD

Was an uneventful session. Walked around with Sachiko while waiting for the next orientation thingie. Met a Christian Group, goes by the name of CCM or something like that. Joined up, meetings are on Thursdays, maybe next week I'll drop by... Good thing the last QUT campus shuttle leaves at 9pm.

Went for the last orientation thingie, pretty boring. I guess I already knew all of it. The interesting one will probably be the Faculty Orientation Tomorrow. So... That's it for my day at campus.

Came home, cooked dinner. Pasta with Cream Sauce and Bacon, garnished with Spring Onion. Tasty stuff. XD

Later will be playing LAN games with some of the CLV people. Fun! XD

I'll end my post here. Night!

Day 5

Day 5 - (12th July)

I wake up in the morning and its about 10am... XD Slept in again. One of the perks of not having family to wake you up.

So I do my regular stuff... Wash up, have a bath and go make breakfast. Egg and Toast with Ham. Ooookay, Toast is an overestimate. It's really just a bun, pressed in a sandwich presser and buttered. Would you like if I take a photo next time? (Leave comments on what you think later) XD

So, after I eat, I turn on my Laptop to check mail and Facebook and stuff. Chatted with some of you guys on MSN, that kind of thing. So then, I go out on the town for some grocery shopping/lunch.

I go get some detergent at Woolie's, cos I might be doing some laundry on Thursday or something. Still haven't got an Iron yet. Or an Ironing Board.... So, while I was out on the town, I might as well take some pictures for you to see. Not much, because I kept to the center area where all the shops and businesses and food(most especially food) is. XD

QUT Institute of Health and something-or-other

Kelvin Grove Medical Center(Run by QUT)

Thai food/Vietnamese food/Sushi bar


Village Center Art Piece


Walk to Woolworth's and Shops

You know that place where I ate dinner on Friday? Yeah. I went back to find out. It’s called Carraway Pier Restaurant… Maybe because its on Caraway Road. XD

Oh, and that place that I had lunch with Tim + Jo + Justin? It's a cosy bar called Chiasso.

So I then go home… Do some surfing… XD

Before I know it, Tim knocks on my door. It’s time for church. We take Jo’s car… About 5 to 10 minutes later we’re in church. It’s Brisbane City Church. I hear from Jo that it’s part of AOG… XD

Here's a couple of photo's I took.

In the service, I feel, that in the presence of God, wherever I may be, He is there, and I’m home…

Its funny, the worship leader quoted a verse from the bible that really encouraged me. It’s been 5 days already, here in Brisbane, and homesickness is starting to set in a little now.

The verse was:

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come;

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

Amen and Amen. No matter where I travel, no matter what time it is, no matter what I face, I know that God will always be there with me.

We leave at around 8.40pm. And head for dinner. We feed the soul… Now we feed the body! XD

Yay!

Ate dinner at a place called the Red Rooster. It’s like a fast food store which serves roasted chicken. I’ll include a picture, the next time I pass by the neighbourhood. Like I said, anyone want a picture of anything, please leave a comment or something. I’ll do my best to get it.

So after dinner, we go home. Watched a TV program with Jo and Tim tonight. It was called Castle, I’ll include a poster or something below…

So I’m off to bed, after posting this, and after I get the intercampus shuttle bus time. Have to go early tomorrow. Probably be eating a cuppa instant noodles tomorrow morning. That’s how rushed my time is tomorrow, no time for Toast and Butter and Milo. Goodnight then.

Cheers.

Day 4

Day 4 (11th July)

Ah... As I wake up I realise something... Its warmer today. Maybe its just today, but I can finally go out without wearing a coat. XD

So, after a breakfast of egg and bread with ham(results of grocery shopping yesterday), I go out and try and check with MECU(the bank) to get something called a SWIFT code... But, as I arrive there, there's nobody in. Bank doesn't open on weekends, something I should remember.

So, with nothing else to do, and Tim busy... I decide to head into the city, to see whether I can do that on a weekend. I go to the busway, that is like a bus station on Kelvin Grove QUT campus and take a bus to the cultural center.

Okay. the cultural center is just across Victoria Bridge as you should probably be able to see from this placemap(Look at the Balloon with the words, You are here. That's the Cultural Center Bus Stop):

So I walk up the pedestrian crossing so I can see stuff better and this is what I see:

Asma wanted more pictures of Brisbane, so this next one is for her actually. Hope you enjoy it Asma!!!

It's a bit blurred I know. I took this using my handphone camera. So sue me for the low megapixel rate. I wish I had a digital SLR, but they cost a bundle.

Here's the last scenery picture I took. I took this on the Victoria Bridge, and there were a lot of passersby, so I was forced to dodge them, and that's why its a bit more blurred than usual.


So now that I've pretty much got my bearings, I look around the CC and find that its the place where all the museums and art galleries and theaters are. Strangely enough, there is a place called the Ng House that's just opposite the bus stop. A chinese restaurant perhaps? LOL

I go back across Victoria Bridge and surprise surprise, find myself very near Queens St. Mall. I hear the sound of music so I go and see whats up. I found a nice singer/guitarist guy doing his thing. He's pretty good. Putting up his own CDs under an Independent Label. I sit on a bench nearby for several minutes just to listen and I took just one photo. Here it is:


I remember I have to get my headset for voice-chat so I head down to Harvey Norman to check it out. Outside, I meet... this guy:

Familiar? He should be. It's Charlie Chaplin(albeit with an off-center moustache)!!!
He's one of those street performers who act as statues, here's a photo of him standing so still.... I mean I can almost believe he's a statue...

After getting a few laughs from his antics, I go get my headset. Cost me 26.00.

After that I go home, I must have walked like 2-3 kilometers today, so my feet are pretty sore.
I catch the bus from Kings Square Bus Station and get back to CLV. But, on the way to rest pooor footsies, I spy with my little eye, a strange black and white bird. There are actually two specimens, but I dunno what these birds are. I upload the pictures so someone can actually tell me what birds these 2 are.


So I reach home. It's an uneventful evening. So I go to bed now. Tata! Cheers!

Day 3

Day 3 (1oth July 2009) - From here on I'll be omitting the year, as it is redundant data. XD

Woke up in the morning, Osama's(YES it IS his real name) blasting his music out going, "DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!"

Well, it was only for a little while, he went out shortly after, and I was getting up anyways. Free wake up call. XD

So I got a shower and stuff. Still cold. But at least I have a nice toasty warm heated room to get back to after I towel off. So I check some mails and I've got one from Takanori Nakai, that Japanese guy I met yesterday. He's coming over to visit at around 1pm.

As I shut down my computer, there's a knock on the door. It's Tim, asking whether I still wanna go for breakfast with him, Jo and the cousin. I say its all good. I'm all ready after all.

So after a few minutes we go out and meet the cousin, name of Justin. Also a student at QUT, he lives next door to us. How convenient! New friends new friends! So we all go downstairs to meet Jo, she's just driven in from home. We walk to this coffee house nearby, chatting all the while.

Ai... I forget to take pictures of the food at breakfast... as I type this I just remember... So we were chatting about a lot of stuff, about a whole range of topics. I found out the Tim doesn't really like mushrooms. XD

He says that they smell. I don't really get it though, its button mushrooms that are on his plate and they hardly have any smell or taste.

Justin is a coffee connoisseur and is addicted to the stuff. He drinks three cups a day. Is that a lot? I guess he's something like my dad, he gets withdrawal symptoms too if he doesn't take his daily cuppa.

So after breakfast, with all of us stuffed, we walk back up to CLV and say goodbye to Jo who has to leave for work. Then... It's down to business. The three of us, go down to Woolie's to buy us some garbage bags for the real serious work.

So, armed with garbage bags, we head for the kitchen for the perilous task of... cleaning the fridge. Apparently some of the roomies here aren't as nice as Tim. And they leave behind a lot of stuff in the fridge when they go, dirty the kitchen stove, don't clean anything, etc.

And so, the honor falls to us, as in Tim and Me to clean...

So we start by doing the cupboards and when we're finished there're about 4 bags... 4 big bags of garbage that nobody wants... Inclusive of sauces in packets from who knows when, open bags of chips from who knows when, Biscuits and flour that have been sitting there for who knows when... You get the picture.

So, about when we finish the cupboards and stuff, Taka arrives. Just in time to help us beard the lion in his den.

We open the fridge and Taka goes, OMG. Understandable. It was my reaction. XD

Yea so we start. We chuck out most of the stuff, dismantling the inside of the fridge bit by bit as we do so. Tim washes the pieces of fridge, I wipe the inside of the fridge, and Taka throws out the bits and pieces of rotten/spoiled/otherwise inedible food.

So we work, and we work... and we work... and we work... rinse and repeat... for 2 hours. Pics of work next...

First exhibit... Tim and the Corn that was.




Me and Taka with ex-avocado and ex-tomato




Taka dancing with his chilli friends... XD


Rockvocado and Wiltedcabbage

The Avocado in the last picture with Taka was as hard as rock. We could bounce it off the carpet in the common room. The wilted cabbage was well... wilted. Hardly even recognizable anymore. It's either cabbage or lettuce. Lol! XD

At the end... we have about 10 bags of garbage... Here's a photo of the complete pile of garbage in two trolleys...

Check it out. The two trolleys full of black bags...

Behold the clean fridge!

I accidently deleted the before picture... darn. Should have kept multiples. But anyways the fridge is clean now so I can buy groceries... XD

After that took a little rest and went out for dinner with Taka. Went to the fish place nearby CLV. It's called... I don't remember but I'll update. Here's the picture of what I had, before and after.

Grilled Cod with Fries and Greek Salad



Empty Plate... Yum Yum

So that's all for tonight. I think I'll head off to bed. XD

Cheers.

My Room

I have a cosy little room in Campus Living Villages. Its got a bed, a table, corkboard, mirror, wardrobe, shelves and stuff... So I took some pics so I could post it up here.

That's my bed. I sleep there.




My wardrobe. I hang my clothes there.





My Desk. I work and surf and blog from there. XD

Maybe tomorrow or later I'll take a few pictures and show you around my apartment. This is just to keep you reading.

And if you've noticed, I have ads from Google about the place. If you've got the time, just click one or two or three ads, this helps me a bit financially I guess. XD

Cheers.

Day 2

Day 2 (9th July 2009)

Woke up... Still feeling a little tired and stuff, wish I could've slept a little more. I guess I wasn't really recovered from flight and new environment. =.=

Oh, and I was really cold too. Slipped my mind. I mean... how could a cold that seeps upwards from your toes and sets its teeth into your bones slip my mind. I must be really really tired...

So... Man is cold. No heater in Man's room. Therefore the logical conclusion is Man should go and get a heater! Simple logic right?

I get up and get a shower. Almost horrifying actually, since when I turn the tap on, the water is still freezing. So with my teeth chattering I scrub and shampoo my way to cleanliness and good hygiene. It got gradually hotter as I washed.

After my shower and cup of hot noodles, I went out to the bank to give my room number to Vicki(Bank teller from Day 1). She needed it for my address thingie at the bank. And after that I went to the bus stop to catch the intercampus shuttle to Gardens Point(My actual campus)

At the stop, I met an Australian guy and his Korean girlfriend(I think.) The guy was like talking about football(australian football - which is kinda like rugby) and the girl was going, "Uh huh, would you like a Mandarin orange dear?"

So got on the bus after that, and after a short period arrived at Garden's Point. My first impression on going into the place was.... ITS HUGE!!!!! I mean, its pretty big... Took me 4 minutes to walk down the long driveway down to Block X, which was the International Student Services building. So I went in to check things out.

Nothing much was going on there so I head back out to the main corridor,(Forgot to take pictures, bear with me until I get them taken when I next go to GP campus)

Went to the Student Guild thing. I discovered they have Subway(c) on campus. XD
Bought an Australian Handphone thingie... my Aussie number is from Yes Optus. 0431687820

So after I did that I went down to Block S(IT, Science and Engineering Building) where I went to look for my course coordinator. After some searching, I found out that the guy was on leave. So I could see the Acting CCoordinator at around 2pm. Great! I needed to go and attend a Discover Brisbane Session Anyways.

So back to Block X, about a good 2-3minutes walk away. (Gosh, I seem to be doing a lot of walking now. Yay me!) Luckily I found sort of a shortcut and a straight line route between the Faculty of Law and another building I guess.

Attended the Discover Brisbane thingie, and met some new friends. Ting Juan(Sabah), Aunhild(Norway), Jess(Singapore) and Taka(Japan).

Taka lives in CLV nearby me actually(West Tower room 350). So it was pretty good. We could eventually meet up and stuff. Always good to have a friend.

So after that... Me and Taka went back to see the CCoordinator(Taka's taking IT as well). So we did that, I signed some forms for Advanced Standing, got a little talk about exemptions and choosing subjects from a Mr. Michael(dunno his last name, very abrupt and brusque fellow). And helped Taka get his student ID.

After we got done with that, it was to the Mall for us, as Taka had to get some banking done and I had to get my ice-cold hands on a heater. We seperated at Queens St. and I went looking for Harvey Norman.

Gosh! The mall was pretty packed. Its nothing like Queensbay for instance. Its totally jam packed with people. Pretty bustling and what not. Street performers, saw a guy juggling 4 knives and a helmet on top of a 10 foot thingie with a single wheel(monocycle or something?) and a couple of buskers(street musicians, a saxophone player and a small group that included guitar, fiddle, cello and bass).

And the sheer amount of nationalities there! Let me tell you, I saw Germans, Chinese, Korean, Africans, Japanese, Arabian, Australian, British, etc. etc. And all the languages spoken...

Imagine, Chinese and German coming at you from two different directions. That's an experience. Your head starts to pound and you're thinking in several different languages at once. XD

So I eventually got to HN and spent about 5 minutes navigating the escalators up to HN. It wasn't really all that high or tall, just that it was a bit confusing, the way the escalators were placed.

K... got help from a pretty lady named... what was it again? Charlotte I think... or so it says on my invoice. Got about 20AUD cheaper on a heater. I paid 40 dollars, and it was supposed to be 59.95AUD.

So after I did all that, I was hungry... had nothing to eat since a cup of instant noodles at around 9 in the morning and it was like 4pm. So... I stalked my prey for a while and finally cast my hunting atlatl at a passing animal that was named.... S-u-b-w-a-y. XD

Had a meal for 7AUD(6.95 actually but I rounded it up). Twas cheaper than regular because I get a student discount for showing my ID. If not it would've cost around 10AUD.

After that, headed back to GP campus to catch the bus back to KG. Met Jess and Aunhild there again, they were also headed to KG to check out CLV. So got them back to CLV and showed them to the admin.

Left Jess and Aunhild looking at an apartment(same floor as mine. dunno if Aunhild will take it)
And went for a shower.

Went for dinner at around 7.30pm Brisbane time. Was already dark tho. Almost like 8pm or 9pm Malaysian time. Went for dinner at Kasiim's Kebab again. Had almost the same thing. XD
cost me 13.20AUD this time. Cos I ordered a hot Green Tea to go with it.

After that, I stopped by Woolie's and got myself a waterfilter jug. So I didn't have to boil my water or buy bottled water everytime I wanted a drink. cost around 22.95 for the whole thing. But I guessed it's worth it just to save on bottled water and electricity(although I don't pay for electric bills)

Went back to the apartment. Found Tim preparing dinner for himself and Jo. We talked a computers for a bit. Then I went back down to do some blogging and some computer stuff. While I was doing that, Jo showed up. They were eating and stuff, so I went up and had a little chat with em while they were eating. Jo apparently doesn't like butter with her bread.

So we talked... found out that they're Christian! Yay! And they go to an AOG branch or something thats nearby. So they invited me out for church on Sunday. I couldn't get ahold of Uncle Cheng Ghee's relative, so I guess God was in control of the situation and brought me to these guys. Talked a bit more and then decided to clean out the fridge on Friday after breakfast. Jo said Tim's cousin was next door, and Tim decided to invite all of us to breakfast at a local cafe. Nice guy right? XD

So went downstairs after Tim showed Jo out, and went to chat with mom and dad. For some reason, I couldn't connect with them on MSN so it was a bummer.

After doing some last minute stuff, I went to bed. So tired...

End of Day 2

Day Zero and D-Day

Day Zero (7th of July 2009)

Okay... where do I begin.... Day Zero was a momentous day for me, a new chapter in my life. So I've decided to blog about it, share my feelings, thoughts and all.

Alrighty, I'll start with the airport. Okay.... After the airport farewell with family and friends(will upload photos as soon as somebody sends them to me.), went through customs and on to the plane. So, twas pretty normal and stuff. No problems there. Breezed through and arrived in Singapore.

Now in Singapore, I met this German fellow. Name of Reichel. His son is studying in Brisbane too, but he doesn't know the name of the University that his son studies at apparently. XD Pretty laid back. Met him at around 7 o'clock it was? I don't really remember the precise time. Talked until about 8pm or something, swapping life stories and stuff. Apparently he's pretty widely travelled and he's been to a whole bunch of places including Taiwan. So he was talking to me about China's culural revolution thingie and how Chiang Kai-Shek(is that the right spelling?) fled China with treasures and stuff and set up a museum in Taiwan for them.

Overall a pretty nice guy, our Herr Reichel.

After Herr Reichel disappeared, think he went to take a walk or something and only came back when the plane decided to board... I met another fellow. Indian this time. His name is Suez(again is this the right spelling?) and he's going to study in Griffiths(?) University in a business undergraduate program. He was there with his family. Also a nice guy. At least I think he is. Kinda trendy looking, and pretty handsome(I guess... my tastes don't really run that way)

After we passed the check in place where we scanned the hand carried luggage, I met another Indian, named Ayush. So we were all going to Brisbane. Ayush was going to University of Queensland to study in Engineering. Also a swell guy...

(Are all Indians as handsome as these two?)

So we parted after that as our seats were pretty far apart from each other. I met Herr Reichel again, as he was sitting in the seat in front of mine. Lucky huh. XD
We didn't really talked much on the plane, cos it's pretty hard to talk to a guy who sits behind you I guess...

Instead... I turned to my neighbour, and guess who I found. XD
A Mr. Grant Warren, an Australian *surprise surprise* QUT Lecturer and International Services Manager with the Faculty of Health. Talked quite a bit on what to expect and stuff on the way there. Actual weather, campus life, etc. etc. etc. Also asked his opinion about the H1N1 Swine flu thing.

According to his informed opinion, (Faculty of Health... Colleagues in Medicine perhaps?) the Swine Flu is just another seasonal flu, albeit a bit more contagious and that most governments are overreacting when it comes to the whole "pandemic" issue.

So then after the conversation petered out, we went and did our own things.

Myself, I watched Watchmen(which I didn't get to see in M'sia) during the first 2 hours and just before landing I watched an episode of MythBusters(arguably my favourite series on Discovery)
Didn't sleep much. The place was pretty bright even with the lights dimmed down. All those people watching movies at the built-in screens.

So after we landed I find myself saying my goodbyes to Herr Reichel(He complained that the air stewardess forgot to serve him breakfast) and Mr. Grant, the latter mentioning that he the friend(well, close neighbour actually) of the head of the International Student Services.




D-Day aka Day 1 (8th July 2009)

Disembarked from the plane, got sniffed by an absolutely huge dog(drug check I s'pose), and went to get my baggage. Got delayed there for 20 minutes thereabouts cos the luggage was accidently sent to a storage warehouse(something like that... can't remember the exact reason) and went to scan my stuff and get out of the airport and into Brisbane proper.

Met the people doing the greeting. They were guys from a Bel Air Limo(something like that) company that was doing the driving for QUT and a whole bunch of other Unis.

Our driver that day was a Ms. Irma and I was carpooling with a Tiffany(Singapore, going to UQ can't remember what course), Sumi(Korea, going also to QUT to study Journalism) and another Korean who didn't introduce herself.

So, after I arrived at the campus and said goodbye to Tiffany and Irma, I checked in at CLV and went to my room. There I met 2 of my roommates.

The first one was Osama(I kid you not). He's from Saudi. Pretty sour chap, guess he's in a bad mood. Said hi and went straight to his room.

Second was Tim. Now that's what I call a roommate. Polite, decent fellow. Friendly too. Had a little chat about the state of the kitchen as well as the two missing roommates(both girls who are presumably on vacation somewhere)

So after that, I went and unpacked one of my bags(the Big one, obviously) and then went out do to some scouting and preliminary things.

Went first to Kelvin's Grove QUT campus and found out that I had to do some online enrolment thingie before I could get my student card. (messed up my plans for going to Garden's Point on my first day)

Then, I went to open a bank account at MECU, the local bank that was conveniently on Campus and met Vicki(the bank teller). She gave me some stuff to look over and forms to fill. So I told her I'll do those outside and come back later.

I went for lunch at Beadles Cafe, I guess it was at around 12-ish? paid 10AUD for a plate of sandwiches(2 large ones, ham, onion, lettuce, tomato and a cappuchino. I was sleepy XD) while partially filling up the bank forms.

When I was done eating, I went back to MECU and finished up with the application thingie.

Went down to the Urban Village after that, and did some shopping. Altogether I did 3 trips to and fro(and I've got the receipts to prove it) to get stuff I was forgetting(extremely tired at that point)

Came back from my third trip there and found out that my room was very very cold and that I needed a heater if I wanted to have a reasonable chance of surviving my first few weeks here and that Woolie's didn't have any more heaters left in stock.

Came back from my abortive 4th trip to Woolie's and met Tim and his GF, Jo(Joanne). Asked them about the online enrolment thingie, they said just pick a random subject initially and change it after I see the course coordinator and do the orientation.

Freshened up, toilet, shower, etc. and went for dinner. Shopped around for a bit, there were a good number of restaurants there. Decided on a Turkish place called "Kasiim's Kebabs" and had the Kebab Plate.

Came home, made an Internet phone call back to M'sia and did the online enrolment thing while planning day 2.

After that, I only knew the sweet embrace of pillow and blanket until the next morning....