lifefromwelly

It seems easy

2010-07-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

2 weeks have passed since the air was cleared and life has been pretty darn good. you know how when one looks back at whatever that has happened and realized that hey.. maybe everything happened for a reason. Every single event that has happened so far, major or minor, are certainly building blocks that will lead to something eventually. like how i always pray for success in my career, my love life and all. maybe the one above or the almighty is putting me through all these to make me a stronger person. to be frank, i now am thankful for whatever that has happened. i have been able to see people in a different light because no one was made the same.

very grateful for my friends, my brothers who have been there for me when things got a bit rough. friends are definitely forever. i am proud to declare that i have moved on,have you?

cheers,

andy

Not to Forget, Move on

2010-07-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

I see light. Thanks buddy. Now life seems easier and more "natural" for me. Just when i thought i could make use of the past 5 days to forget someone, i realized that it wasn't in my nature to do so. I must move on and accept the fact that things are over. I'm actually really happy right now because i'm talking like nothing had happened and it's all good.

Thanks Buddy.

Closure : Chapter

2010-07-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

10th july : As spoken before, promises days of change. So much happened within this day, commencement, catching up with friends who i know will stick with me through thick and thin. Brothers, Bff, Physics friends, whatever it is, they are all VERY important to me. Donning that graduation gown implies a brand new start to my life. If only Singapore's weather is not what it is, i wouldn't bear to take it off.

A special thanks for all who came, especially Rachel aka Sumei. I know it's awkward and hard for you, but yea, thanks.

Now, it is time for me to move on and forget. It's not gonna be a smooth journey ahead, that's for sure. But i am very certain nothing's gonna get in my way.

Cheers.

Just an Update

2010-07-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

This week has been pretty good, emotions kept in check and life goes on. I'm pretty glad how i have managed to get things under control and all. However, sometimes i wished that things like blog did not really exist because it causes upset(s) at times. And sometimes when people don't really mean things and when they type it out, they only have themselves to blame for their own harshness and stupidity. To think about it, actually people do care about your life. Everything single thing that people do, visiting your blog, reading your entries, all these tell a lot about people. This time round i realised someone cares. Even after a long day at work, someone bothered to read my blog and questioned me on whatever i said. I felt bad for a second, because i said whatever i said on impulse. I am not saying it carries no truth or value, i am just saying maybe i should better evaluate situations and not "blame" people. Not everyone is like myself, people have issues and these all contribute to whoever they are.

To the someone who might be reading this: I am sorry if i stirred any unwanted emotions in you. Hope that you understand that i only said those because i had my own reasons. I know you care. I really do. Thanks. See you soon.

10/7/10

2010-06-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

The past 2 months have been crazy. So many ups and downs, so much emotions spewed over. I think sometimes i just cannot take it anymore and things need to really stabilize and i have to take control. Looks like i have been led by my nose for quite some time, i need to change things around. Looks like 10/7/10 will be the best day. I'm saying this but i'm not sure if i will adhere to it, the one up there, please enlighten me and guide me through. Things have been be really bad these few days, with reservists taking an awful twist and stuff. But, i have learnt to be more open, this will only do me good i guess. Andy, i think you are weak and lost. Really.

Day 10 Taiwan

2010-06-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Day 10 of Taiwan was simple. Woke up late, had breakfast, shopped a bit with Jeremy and then headed to Taipei. Came to Derek's house and that's about it. Ok, truth is i'm tired. Bye.

An enjoyable day

2010-06-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yea, today's indeed a chillax and fulfilling today. I walked in Cijin island which was a stone's throw away from the main city of Kaohsiung. The ferry was alright, pretty decent. I was still thinking if i should hire a bicycle or a scooter, since it will be faster and more convenient to have private transportation. However, i guess i needed workout of some sort so i decided to walk instead. Indeed walking is pretty fulfilling because i managed to walked to places that i didn't think hiring a scooter will bring me too.

Next, i headed to the Love river in kaohsiung but i was kinda loveless. I wasn't feeling very lonely or anything but would love to someone to be with me. That would be just perfect. Too bad she is in Singapore and just started work today. I walked down the river and quickly left that place before i got emotional. lol.

Next came Central Park. I love this place. It was so quiet, the air is so refreshing and it was cooling. I found a spot just on the bridge and laid down with my ipod playing jack johnson's playlist. I could fall asleep right there but i didn't because i didn't want to head to Lieu He night market late.

And so i left for the night market and i'm really disappointed. Food weren't fantastic and variety was little. Sad. I grabbed dinner and went back home. So now im home and don't know what to do. Might be talking to Sumes later but see how it goes, whether she's busy or not. But yea, i had a great day!

Day 6 in Taiwan , day 1 in Kaohsiung

2010-06-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Kaohsiung is a surprisingly nice place. The place is easy to navigate and it's actually quite big! The bus from Hengchun dropped me off at the KS main station and i took the MRT to my host's place which was just a 10 minute journey. Josh(my host) picked me up with his scooter and he drove me back to his place, which is a pretty decent apartment. He let me sleep in his extra room which is really nice of him. We then went to the nearby RueiFong night market for some shopping. I'm quite full now! I will visit some places in KS tomorrow but with the looks of it, KS is actually quite boring!

Bitter Sweet Taiwan

2010-06-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Once of the best and worst happenings of this year certainly happened in Taiwan. Yesterday was a total bitch. I spent so much time on the train and bus and by the time i reached my backpackers i was in a very bad mood, unbathed and dead tired. My room was not really a room but it was kinda cosy. At least i have a space to myself. So after that saw rach on skype and started talking to her and it was nice. Because i learnt some of the stuff that will be good and also bad. Headed off to bed at 3am with something stuck in my head.

Today i woke up at 10.30am and wasn't the freshest at all. I was still a bit tired but had to pull myself out of bed because today is sort of my last day in Hengchun so i had to make full use of it. I hunted for food along the streets of my hostel and found some breakkie place which had fantastic burger, chinese style. It was kinda cool because it's like in between a regular burger and a ramly. Served with a warm cup of milk coffee, it was perfect to start off a day.

The mother of the lady boss(hostel) brought me to rent my scooter and the boss kindly rented the scooter to me even tho i did not have an international license. But of course, a businessman can never resist the temptation of $ and had to allow me to rent it. It was funny, once i throttled off, the freaking rain came pouring down like it has never fallen. Within minutes, my dry asics went wet and i had to seek shelter back at my hostel. Well, nothing much to do while waiting for the rain to stop, so i whatsapp r. It was alright but it got emo at the end. Thankfully both of us had to run, emoness had to stop.

The scooter was very useful, really. I travelled quite a bit, covering both Hengchun and Kenting and saw lots of stuff, including a hike which i wasn't really expecting. The hike was up rocks instead of the regular mud and soil that i'm used to. It was strenous and i was perspiring like crazy within 30 minutes. I managed to conquered the peak and saw a few waterfalls along the way. And next, i saw the most southern tip of Taiwan and then Kenting when the entire beach was flooded with beach goers. I love this trip because it took my mind off some stuff. But as soon as i came back, i'm back to reality. But heck that, i had a fantastic burger for dinner and then scooted down to Kenting night market once to take a look. It was disgustingly filled with people and i left without buying a thing.

I hope tomorrow will be good where i will visit Kaohsiung. Night people.

Days 1 & 2 : Taiwan

2010-06-02T05:29:00.001-07:00

Here i am in Hualien right now, sitting on the couch of my backpackers as the rain trickles outside. I am tired, i guess i have yet to recover from the runs and all. Last night was alright, i slept at 3am on the couch of my host and it was pretty comfortable. Taipei was rather chilly last night and according to my host, it was chilly for past 2 days, quite the opposite of what Jianhong told me.

Today was pretty gloomy, no sunshine at all. I took a 3hr train to Hualien from Taipei and time passed rather fast. I was watching "Bounty hunter" on my netbook and then sleeping.

I arrived in Hualien in fashion. Wearing my lime green short and tee shirt and then carrying two backpacks like i just came from Mt Everest. As usual, taxi drivers came swarming towards me and i decided to get a map from the info centre and started walking. I walked a long time and finally found the backpackers. On the way i got lost and stepped on dog poo.

I got shown my room and then i left for dinner. Had some really good rice. Lu Ru fan and then some orgasmic bubble tea and some zha ji. OMG. It was very sinful. I loved it tho. Its raining out there and i dont wanna go out. Afraid i'll fall sick. Just chilling now.

Cheers

Day 3

2010-05-27T04:16:00.001-07:00

Day 3 started off with a visit to the University of Science and Technology of China. The school looks really big and it's like a mega town, does not look like an uni campus at all. The buildings look run-down, dark and gloomy. Totally does not provide the atmosphere for studying. We gathered in one of the room where the teacher-in-charge and several local students took time to introduce the school to us. We then took a stroll around the campus, not having a proper itinerary. The local students were kind enough to bring us to the places where locals gather. We spent most of the time touring the walking, rather than visiting the buildings, which is a good thing. We then had lunch with the locals but there wasn't a single local sitting on my table. That was a shame but not a pity. As usual, we took lots of pictures and then we left for the synchrotron lab, which was a miniature version of the one that we will get to see a few days later.

In fact, i feel that such visits were a bit unnecessary, because i did not really learn anything from this visit. The only thing i learn was that the students from this university are really studious, they basically have no social life other than studying. That might be a good thing, might be bad too. Well, as long as they feel good, why not?

Oh ya, the synchrotron visit was ultimate boring. The terms used when they were explaining were all in Chinese and seriously, i did not understand a single bit that was uttered. If only there was a translator.

I guess this entire visit already took up the whole day and it was time to hit back to the hotel . I'm glad, because we could rest and relax for the next day.

Day out with Sumei

2010-05-26T08:01:00.001-07:00

Met sumei yesterday, just before she leaves for Phuket. It feels like i've already met her for damn long. There wasn't in any case a difficulty in finding something to talk about. We had lunch, as usual she didn't finish up her food because i guess she had cravings for other stuff. So i finished up my meal, leaving some rice untouched and we walked around in P.S. We then headed to some coffee toast place and she had toast, giving me 2 eggs which she didn't want to eat. I was lucky because im always so well fed when im with her. So i gave her the present i got for her from China, it was a pair of pearl earrings. I could not tell that she was really excited but i guess she liked it because she went to the toilet to put them on after the meal. She looked gorgeous in that earrings. I think i got it spot on this time.

So we continued walking looking for stuff and then left for Chinatown because she needed to change some foreign currency for her trip today. We searched for the exchanger with the best rates and she exchanged 1400 bucks to Thai Baht. After that, we continued walking to Starbucks at the central and that was where we had a lengthy talk about many things, including our families and stuff.

Then i snapped a picture of her with the earrings i bought.

Gorgeous ain't she?

We then had dinner at City Hall and then saw her off back home. It was a sweet as day. Cheers.

Day 2: 合肥

2010-05-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

My day started off quite sweet, cos the sleep was good and i talked to XXX the night before while waiting for Clement to be back since he had the room keys. We had breakkie at the hotel, the food was bad but i just had to eat it to keep my system running. We departed the hotel and headed to the 包公 place straight after breakkie. Before boarding the bus, we took pictures and i think my favourite for the day was :

The bus ride to our first destination is pretty long and it took up our entire morning. We had our lunch before heading to the 包公 place and our lunch is a 10 course meal with everything you can imagine: drinks, beer etc.

So we visited the place. The entire place is huge and it basically tells the story of 包公 and his impartial-ness. Plenty of wax figures showing the court happenings and also monuments used during that era. We then took photos on top of a tower.

The day ended fast and we spent a couple of hours at the same place. As usual, we left for dinner and then we strolled the streets in the city centre, in search for 小笼包 and some cheap shopping. We did manage to stumble upon this shop selling 小笼包 and it was good! We had a couple of baskets of them and we were more than contented.

Well, some photos could not be uploaded so i'm stopping here. Day 3 will be continued tomorrow.

CHIP - Day 1: Arriving in Shanghai, Overnight at 苏洲定园宾馆

2010-05-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

3rd longest and most tiring overseas trip ever made : 苏洲，合肥，黄山，千岛湖，上海。 14 days of non-stop travelling really wore me out and i am still very tired as of now. I am going t

blog about this entire trip from day 1, yes day 1.

Day 1: Arriving in Shanghai

, Overnight at 苏洲定园宾馆

After 5 straight hours of flight time, we managed to arrive in Shanghai. The weather was great, neither was it hot nor was it humid. Just perfect for an escape from Singapore. The PuDong airport is mediocre and not as fantastic as the Changi Airport. Some weird Mandarin - English translations were spotted like labelling tourists or non-locals as Aliens. Our tall and hitler-looking tour guide picked us up at the arrival hall and immediately walked us to the tour bus waiting for our luggages to be loaded up.

We loaded up our luggages and boarded the bus. The first glance of Shanghai was shocking. It was nothing like what i had expected. The highways were nicely constructed and were interlocking with many other highways just like a cob web.

We headed straight to 苏洲 and to our hotel, where we spent the night at. After checking into the hotel, we headed to the restaurant beside our hotel for dinner. The first meal was tasty, or rather too tasty. Too much oil and salt engulfed our food and i was not very used to the type of food that was offered. I ate sufficient to last the night and then a big group of us went out strolling the streets of 苏洲.

苏洲 as compared to Shanghai, is so much more backwards. Street vendors, hawkers were sprawled on the streets and heaps of motorbikes were horning their way on the roads of 苏洲. My 4 friends, namely Zhenghong, Zhengyi, Kenneth and Renny stopped by some food stall and bought some chinese BBQ. As usual, the flavours were very and very different from those back home. I bought cup noodles to ease my hunger pangs, fearing that eating more locally cooked food might upset my stomach tomorrow.

My room mate for that night was Clement, a Malaysian student studying Physics in NUS. He is a rather chatty person, after having spoken to him for 5 hrs on the plane. It was nice having him as a room mate where he shared many stories about the educational structure and practice in Malaysia. We spoke for a while and slumped into deep sleep a while later. The real adventure starts tomorrow.

Post Exams

2010-05-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

My exams are finally over and I am a free man! It has never felt better than this ever in my university days. My last paper was fine, better than 4 of my other exams. Maybe due to the fact that my help sheet was really very sufficient and i did a few past year papers. Today was intense, i finished my exam, had lunch, headed back to my hall room, packed my stuff, loaded it into the car, took a nap, had dinner and drove back home. Now i'm sitting here comfortably on my wheelie chair, typing on my laptop that is sitting on my brand new table.

Now, it is time for me to sit down and think about my plans for post university. What have i got to do? Firstly, i have to master the technique of singing and drumming at the same time. I have never done this in my life. More importantly i have never tried playing the drums for a gig before. This is definitely my virgin experience. Playing for a bunch of professors who most likely do not understand or appreciate the style of music that will be played seems simple enough. But it is my personal hurdle that i have to overcome. I need to do a decent job. This is my chance to redeem myself, showing to the professors that i am not just ANOTHER physics student. We physics students do have other talents, other than simply working out equations and deriving them.

So yes, the first part of my post exam plan is to finish the physics lunch performance on the 1oth of may at Munchy Monkies. Next comes the real deal. Gotta film a 6 mins band performance for a band competition. This is pretty fresh; film a video of the band playing or jamming and send it for competition. Lucky ones will be picked for semi finals. I was thinking, why not? Since its that easy, just film it down. Nothing to lose. But here comes the tricky part, we only have a few days to get it done, and of course the planning phase which i have to do.

Next comes Shanghai, after all these music things are done. I'm so looking forward to it, can't wait to visit their attractions and eat their food. Not to say visit the really "interesting" places.

Enough said, my hands are cramping up. Typing all these isn't easy.

Cheers,

Andy

End of Busy Days

2010-04-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

Finally found the time to continue blogging. Life in my final semester of undergrad studies is definitely not as easy as what people always say. "Last semester, damn slack one.." Bull shit, definitely. But, maybe it's just me who is having such a busy time. I'm quite surprised that people still follow my blog, so i feel kinda bad not updating since people actually bother to follow.

Anyhow, i'm so glad everything is about to come to an end. Yesterday marked my last assignment day and today marked my last late class. No more 6-9pms in NUS and no more physics tests or assignments in my life. I don't think i will further studies in this field anymore actually. What's left is just my 5 exams. 5 may seem to be a shit load, but actually it will fly by before you even realise it. Trust me, it's that fast.

I have heaps of stuff planned out for post exam, like a performance, my Shanghai trip, my Taipei backpack solo trip and many other stuff which was planned for me instead. I am particularly excited about my Taiwan trip because this is gonna be my only solo backpacking trip of my life and i am sure it will be a blast. I am very sure i am ready for another phase of travelling after a very crazy 2009 whereby i took the freaking plane 12 times.

What's gonna suck is that my 24th birthday will fall right smack in the middle of the exams and.. i am so not looking forward to it. But well, i guess i will not be throwing a huge party to celebrate my nearly quarter century old day.

I have been very disturbed with my current health and physique. I seemed to have gained a significant amount of weight, from 59kg to 63.5kg. My stomach seems bigger and fatter. I am getting paranoid by the day and have nearly totally given up my coffee addiction and even snacking addiction. Exercising 3-4-5 times a week seems to be part of the paranoia equation.It doesnt seem to be working very well. I guess it's like the phase of life where sudden weight gain and distortion in physique is taking place. =(

For my loyal readers, maybe it's only U, i will try to update as much as possible. Be prepared for some musical treat as i am preparing some sweet smooth acoustic pieces with my friend pianist aini who is willing to help me play the piano since i can't.

Cheers.

Life in hall, sweet as.

2010-02-08T03:58:00.000-08:00

Finally got a place in Raffles hall, actually it is already the second week that i'm staying here. The first 2 weeks is sweet as, lest the heat. I guess it's really the weather, not the room. My area is pretty elevated and windy to start with. Life in hall is definitely different from PGP. The amenities around hall is complete, pool and track's just a few minutes away from my room. Not to mention that my private transport is also less than 200 steps away!

As usual, i could not really put myself into the study mood or working mood, since there are so many things that i can do here. Of course, i still managed to do my work and not such a good life affect my studies.

Today was exceptionally great, i swam, i ran, i worked and i soccered. Although i did not manage to finish my tutorial, i still did half of it, better than when i stayed at home and didnt even bother to do them at all. I'm so full now i can hardly move. I gotta prep myself for futsal later. Bye reader!

Nostalgia..

2010-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

Seeing Jelvin leave for Manchester sort of reminds me of myself leaving for Wellington 6 months ago. It feels like i have never been overseas before because uni work has already started to pile up and it sucks totally. Lab work, lectures, tutorials, seminars.. these just make up my really boring university life. I am just looking forward to graduate and then teach, enjoy the process of teaching and then get my ass out of this place. To be frank, i am already considering spending the bulk of my life overseas rather than in Singapore. This place, after having lived here for almost 24 years, is getting boring and losing its appeal. Life's too fast here and tasteless. There is nothing to look forward to week in week out, other than planning for future overseas trip.

The most dreadful part of this tiny little island is the climate which seriously doesn't like me at all. Ever since coming back, mornings have been like a non-stop running tap, just that water is now mucus. My sinus problem has gotten back to normal, as compared to the non-existent times in Wellywood, NZ where temperatures there are at least half of that of Singapore, almost all year round. Spending the last 1.5 months back home has made me realised that Singapore is undergoing a second phase of chinese migration, just like how our forefathers came over to this little place tens of years ago. The government says Singaporean women are not producing enough babies to make up for the population demand and therefore we need the influx of foreigners. I am not against this, in fact this sounds pretty fair. Every one wants to be a career person, including the women and giving birth is of least importance nowdays. No wonder guys are turning into gays. Women, we need you!

Right now, i'm battling this sharp pain in my right eye. I have no god damn idea how this pain came about but it certainly doesn't look very good. Had a fever this afternoon but it subsided after popping some panadols prescribed by the Doctor from UHC. Caught some sleep back in Mario's and Jerome's room and managed to drive home safely to catch some more rest.

Other than being sick and groggy today, everything else went fine. Viva was sweet as, as usual, cos it's me. A to the N to the D to the Y. Whatever. I guess the excessive read up on my experiment did pay off in impressing the professor in my depth of knowledge. I felt good by the end of 20 minutes. Yes, 20 mins was all it took for the Prof to viva me. Ain't i cool? I bet.

One down and 4 more to do. Everything's going as planned other than my health. I didn't plan to fall sick and now i have no contingency plan. This sucks. And to all my faithful readers, i certainly guarantee that this will not be the first and last entry of 2010. Keep reading!

Sweet as bro,

dyeo

Awful day

2009-12-02T00:36:00.000-08:00

Have had a really awful day. Woke up at 6am to catch the Carling Cup where United kicked Spurs ass 2-0 but stopped watching the second half because my nose was running like a free tap. Took some cold pills but before it got better, my gastric came up all of a sudden. It was awful. The rest of the day was just shit. Please god, make me stronger!

Finally some news...

2009-11-29T05:19:00.000-08:00

After 2.5 weeks in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, I've finally found the motivation to start typing my entries again. Throughout these 2 weeks, i realized I've learned quite a lot, be it life lessons or stuff that concerns my extended family. I will talk about whatever I've learned later in this entry.

It felt really surreal to be living in Brisbane right now, i could not get past the fact that i have already left greater Wellington. 4 very exciting months of travelling in NZ and studying in VUW has left so much hanging or lurking in my heart. Whenever i browse through the thousands of photos taken in NZ, my heart somehow feels very sore. I try my best to log online, check my facebook on any updates from any of my international or kiwi friends in Wellington. This somehow connects me with NZ and it feels better.

For the past 2.5 weeks in Brisbane, i haven't really done much. I visited the city attractions in Brisbane City Centre itself, went down to the Gold Coast City for a day visit, went WWOOFing, saw the A-League game between Wellington Phoenix and Brisbane Roar and a lot of chilling and movie watching at home itself.

People always ask me ,"Hey! How come u're online? Shouldn't you be out having fun?" Ya, maybe for now, having fun plainly means that i want to chill and watch a movie or surf the net at home. Why should i be travelling and going out every single day? Will that make me happy? I'm pretty sure that my pocket will not be happy with me if i just do whatever my friends tell me to. I like hanging out at home, talking to my aunt/cousin and just sipping my coffee and watching a film. It relaxes my mind and salvages my shallowing pockets. Of course, if i have a choice or money, i would very much love to grab my backpack, wear my hiking shoes and go for a hike. But, i am really tired of travelling. No one seems to understand how tiring travelling can get. Just look at this : I travelled Vietnam at the start of 2009, went to Indonesia in May, after a very hectic semester of workload, caught a virus, became ill, boarded the plane 2 days after my arrival back to Singapore and went to Darwin, NT Australia. 3.5weeks later, i was again at the airport, waving goodbye to my family and friends and spending the next 4 months going around the Pacific. Maybe you will think that this is nothing, but i am very honest and will tell you that i'm drained. So, as some of you might already have seen my FB status " Do not let anyone dictate you on what to do, do what you FEEL like doing". "Go travel! Stay away from the net!" But i just want to do the latter, any problems with that?

I've also realized that I've learned many other lessons in life from the 5 months stay away from home. One important lesson being "Do not live THE life, live YOUR life". Do not let others waver your decisions or thoughts. Be yourself, do not confirm. You are what you are and remember, you are unique, just like anyone else. BUT, you are not the same as any other person. It may sound confusing but trust me, you'll get it one day.

And for all my faithful readers: I am very glad that you are reading all these stuff. I can tell you that this 5 months trip has given me a lot. I had been able to see things differently and maybe i have matured a bit. Some people dislike me but i am sure more people like me now. I can tell you one thing for sure, the Andy you see if the Andy you get. I'm not saying i am a very truthful person, but i am definitely not those who will stab you from behind and leave you bleeding to death.

I will be glad to share more of my life experiences and lessons with you guys when i encounter them. Meanwhile, keep reading and enlighten me too.

Cheers,
Andy

Post Welly , Pre Brissy

2009-11-12T03:05:00.000-08:00

This blog should show: www.lifefrombrissy.blogspot.com, but i will not change it because Wellington had left an indelible mark in that heart of mine. Right now, i am in Brisbane and my soul and mind is still stuck in Wellington. There is simply no way that Brissy can overtake Welly as of now. Welly is simply amazing.

Well, i will embrace life as it is now and will update you guys.

Epic Last Weekend

2009-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

What a blast to celebrate the end of my exchange stint in Aotearoa New Zealand! Snowboarding at Mt.Ruapehu Turoa Ski field, attempting the advanced level slopes, falling on my bum, busting my knee, twisting my wrists, doing 360deg turns, jumping off mini humps, high speed cruising and playing with white fluffy snow. Last snowboard weekend in the entire North Island. Do or die. Tom and Michael(Annika's brother) are pretty good boarders as they proceeded to the tricks section, attempting rails and near 90deg slopes. It was awesome, just based on the fact that i was boarding with 2 rather seasoned boarders. It was EPIC. I got cramps on my thighs but i kept going, realising the fact that if i do not continue, i will never have the chance to do that ever again. It was very important for me. Falling didn't dampen my spirits, i just had to jump back on my feet and carry on the journey. Never say die is the rule on the mountains.

After 4 long hours of snowboarding, we left the ski field, set up our tents somewhere near the field and camped overnight. We were so tired and smashed that we slept right after dinner. As usual, nights in NZ is really cold and even wrapping ourselves in sleeping bags and thick jackets was barely enough to shelter from the cold. But i was still happy. A natural air conditioner is always appreciated.

The next day, we headed to Tongariro Alpine Crossing, an amazing 19.4km hike/tramp to the top of a mountain. We walked through rocks, sand, snow, ice and the blazing sun. For a moment, it felt like an army route march all other again. I was carrying my army bag, with 3 liters of water food, some extra clothes and my camera bag. It was definitely not easy, as my combat fitness was already gone. And, i wasn't trained to walk up mountains with that, Singapore is relatively flat. Kilometre by kilometre, we walked, climbed and took photographs. The scenery was simply breath taking. NZ is definitely a place to visit for everyone reading this post. We took about 7hrs to walk 19.4km and it was so nice to see the ending point. Realising that you have just conquered one of NZ's most walked tracks is very satisfying.

Thanks to Tom, Annika and Michael, without you guys, this trip will never be possible. Cheers!

Wellovin'

2009-11-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

People hate the Wellington weather, I LOVE it. No matter how much rain or wind there is, nothing can beat the coolness the Welly weather offers. 18deg OR 33deg? Choose it. So damn comfortable in bed, good for sports and simply chilling! But bad news : 9 more days to reality. Sun here i come!

Time really flies and i'm already in November. This is freaking me out. I didn't expect an exchange programme to be so fast. Good news : To those who dearly miss me, i will be back soon!

Tramping 21/10/09

2009-10-21T16:33:00.001-07:00

What a great week it has been, even though it's only Thursday. Sunny and eventful Monday, relaxing and chilling Tuesday, exciting and windy Wednesday, studious Thursday. I feel good and just wish that time will slow itself and allow me a bit more time to soak into the wonderful life in Wellington. Like what most exchange students will tell you, I'm just about enjoying the life here, other than the food and cost of living. Friends are awesome, life is just about of the right pace and work is almost perfectly adequate. But reality tells me that my time here is going to come to an end. A mere 3 weeks is all i have. However, life tells me that i have to look forward to what's expecting me. Life has to go on and i am very damn sure that i have so much more to look forward to.

Wellington isn't going to disappear when I leave. In fact, i guess it will only get better. When i am done with school and my bond, perhaps I will come here to work and live for a couple of years. Living in farms is just a bonus, perhaps a possibility. I'm not going to lose my friends ; Fabien is coming over to Singapore for a week, Alise will come Singapore for her long-wished summer breakaway, Tim will be exchanging in NUS, I will head to HK soon, Germany, England, Italy, France during my grad trip and the states to visit my dear American friends when i am in the peak of my career. Nothing's lost really. Let's not lament on the remaining days in Wellington, let's rejoice the fact that we will meet up again and life will be even more exciting than ever.

To life and the greatness it brings, cheers.

xoxo,
Nd

Many Good Reasons Why I Want To Be A Kiwi

2009-10-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to come up with this list of reasons why i want to become a kiwi, all because i will be leaving here in a month's time and also all the different experiences i have encountered throughout my fulfilling time here.

1) Kiwis speak with a really cool accent, with words that i've used them in typing but never in speech.
2) Kiwis do not judge you by whatever that you wear. Put on really shabby clothes to school and no one bothers.
3) Kiwis are really friendly, when they are not wasted on alcohol.
4) They are not as competitive or kiasu like Singaporeans, i mean this in a good way.
5) Kiwis are chill, not as chill as the Aussies though.
6) Kiwis do not care about hierarchy. We don't call our professors SIR.
7) Kiwis do not rely on technology so much, which means they do not stay infront of the computer the whole day.
8) Kiwis really treasure days with sunshine, they will give up whatever they are doing just to soak themselves in the shine.
9) Kiwis, most of them, are not pirates, they rent DVDs and watch them. Streaming online is just too slow.
10) Kiwis, are no racists, at least for Wellingtonians. They embrace Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians. There is no need for racial harmony, it's automatic.
11) Kiwis do not go shopping at 9pm at night, they simply can't.
12) Kiwis love drinking so much because it's cheap. I love this but not the binge drinking part.
13) Kiwis simply love their rugby team. They will die just to watch them. Come on Singapore, flood the national stadium.
14) Kiwis do not need to fulfil U/Es, S.S or any breadths, they simply do their major courses.
15) Kiwis do not mind themselves being named after an endangered species of animal.
16) Kiwis produce really interesting advertisements. Dig that.
17) Kiwis (at least those whom i've heard of) love Singapore.
18) Kiwis stay contented with whatever they have.
19) Kiwis have a good sense of environmental awareness : They reuse, recycle and reduce.
20) Kiwis do not need use hair gel/wax because the wind simply destroys your hair.

More reasons will be uploaded whenever i think of something new. Cheers!

重色轻友

2009-10-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

还以为我以经是个非常重色轻友的人，但是我刚刚才发现有个人还比我更重色。他是个法国人。现在我是在第三者的立场上说这些。他知叫女孩出们，完全没友把男性朋友放在眼里。好disgusting.

Ngomong-ngomong, aku baru bermain sepak bola dengan teman temanku. Ini adalah permainan terakhir kami. Aku senang sekali karena aku main sangat baik hari ini. Walaupun hanya memasukkan satu gol, saya membantu teman saya memasukkan kebanyakan cita-citanya.

Tonight is a party night and i bet a lot of people will be hanging around the waiteata area. I'm kinda excited but also disgusted at the same time because it means a lot of noise and all. I'm going to shower now because of the soccer game which i just had. Cheers!

Life of a Slack

2009-10-08T04:13:00.001-07:00

Today has been really lazy. Did practically nothing other than attending boring classes, sipping coffee with Vanessa, talking about life as a VUW student and other issues, buying bread ham and wine, watching 2 splendid movies, drinking a cup of beer, listening to radio on my comfy bed, blogging and finally preparing to go to bed.

One of my very good friends has some problems and i offered my pair of listening ears. The problem sounded really serious but i didn't probe much because maybe she was really feeling lousy and i will not want to ask more and hurt her more. But i am sure things will work out to be fine.

Chef Loh got her article on the magazine and i am very happy for her. She asked me to take up a photography course with her and i readily agreed, after knowing it's free. Great! Looking forward to it badly, since i am harbouring the thought of downgrading to the prosumer. And of course, good to go with her too.

Time flies and it's already the 9th of October. One month 3 days later i will be at the airport with my luggage leaving this wonderful place. I will definitely miss this place badly, for the wonderful and ever changing weather, for the good people and for the unbelievable experience this programme has offered to me.

Emily left me a message on FB saying she got my card and it made her day, it certainly made mine too. I'm glad that my friends are happy receiving cards for me. If only postage was cheaper, i will make sure every Singaporean friend back home receives my card.

Tomorrow will be a crazier day i think, with my neighbour Daniel celebrating his 22nd birthday. Although he can be really an asshole during soccer games, he is still nice outside of the pitch. Guess i will hang out for his party tomorrow, fully utilising my rock beer and white wine.

My hair's so messy i don't know what to do with it. It's so unkempt and thick, if u bury an ants' nest inside you probably won't be able to find it. I cannot really believe i haven't cut my hair for the past 3 months. Pearlyn's really right, i look like a caveman now.

My sister's A levels are coming real soon. Hope she is coping really well. Hope brother's work is going well and parents' work as well. Cheers and good night!

Sunny Windy

2009-10-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

The best weather for the past week, sunshine with breeze. Did my assignment, went down to the harbour bay to skateboard, practised ollie umpteen times, visited the city gallery for some art exhibition, shopped for groceries and cooked a good dinner. This week has been awesome. Totally slacked it off, no regrets in enjoying this kind of life. Totally amazing. My room is like a heaven now, so brightly lit and comfortable. But reality check, one more month to leaving Wellington. There have been down times while staying here but definitely the up times make up for it.

The art exhibition that i went to today is sort of weird. Almost everything is made up of dots and colors. It makes me wonder,"hey i can do this too. Am i an artist?" But of course, i am not fit to call myself an artist, i can hardly draw or paint. I enjoyed it nonetheless, because partly it was free and also i saw this really attractive girl who queued in front of me. As usual, given my timid nature, i did not get myself to talk to her. But who cares?

I seem to not miss Singapore that much now, maybe because i'm almost done with all my work, other than exams. I wake up at 10.30am, sip my MILO, ate my breakie and did part of my assignment. I am happy. If only i could do this for the rest of my life.

Life's so slack, i kinda forgotten that today is a Wednesday. I've lost the urge to party, i just want to sit down and chill. Sip beer and talk cock. Miss the times like this with Mario. So chill. Anyway, i am juts very happy. Cheers.

Good week, bad day.

2009-10-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

The week has been awesome. Finally completed my lab reports, my essays and stuff like this. Met up with friends, chilled, jammed, skated, etc. I've finally realised that i am a goofy skater, i skate with my right left front. I went to the skate park, tried some slopes and it was fun. Jammed with Lenny and Bryce and we played a certain progression for 14 minutes non stop! The next day i jammed with Jocelyn and tried some jazzy pieces. It was really cool. Sounded really bar-like and omgeesh, nearly professional.

Today has been a very bad day, Things happened, upset everybody but at least it got salvaged when i saw friends at Sampo's birthday gathering and also spoke on skype. Malaysian food was a bonus, but it wasn't as great as Satay Kingdom.

Right now i'm just chilling, drinking my honey water and preparing to go to bed. Hope tomorrow will be awesome, making up for the lost day. My stay here is soon coming to an end and i hope things will be good from now onwards. Peace out, mates.

Rough patch smoothens

2009-09-20T01:14:00.001-07:00

Been feeling rather happy these few days, but seriously neglecting my work and all. Work in the first place is too much. One assignment due tomorrow, one test on tuesday morning, one report due on wednesday blah blah blah. I'm wondering how on Earth will i be able to tide over this. Nonetheless, this weekend has been a blast. Caught the first ever sports game at a stadium LIVE and having dinner and coffee with a great bunch of friends. Good thing i have been talking to one of my long lost friends Nicole and at least i still have some Singaporean essence in me.

Gotta get back to study now. Ciaoz

AKU TIDAK SENANG.

2009-09-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

Aku menbenci temanku karena setiap malam ada bunyi. Walaupun sudah jam satu malam, masih ramai. Karena itu, aku tidak bisa tidur. Sekarang jam sepuluh pagi, temanku masih ngomong-ngomong dengan keras. Kalau saya punya pisau, aku akan menbunuh mereka semua.

Aku tidak senang.

Round-Up : 2 Week Tour around Aotearoa New Zealand

2009-09-09T02:32:00.001-07:00

This is definitely the most memorable and tiring 2 weeks of travelling ever. By the end of the trip, i was both mentally and physically exhausted. Not to mention, my poor wallet suffered too. If i am only allowed one word to describe the entire trip, it would be:precious. Everything from the friendship fostered, the his and lows of the 15 days, the food we ate, the place we stayed, nothing could ever replace whatever that we have done. I must thank Daniel and Pearlyn and Caroline for being such good mates. All good and nice people, i salute you.

Well, i guess it's time for me to get down to serious business and start working. I am very happy that i managed to finish my essay within 2 days, and i am very proud and confident to say that i did it properly, not some low grade essay. There will be more stuff to come and i'm excited, genuinely. Where did i get this inspiration from? The movie : The secret. It tells me to think of positive stuff and they will come to you, eventually. This is also called the law of attraction. You readers should try it. Makes you motivated. Well, i wanna upload one picture which can sum up my entire trip(it has everybody in there). This is it:

Excitement to Plain Routine

2009-08-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

Week 5 has just ended and week 6 is nearing. 2 tests await me and i'm only starting to study for one of them. The other one is on Friday and i guess i have enough time for it. This week has been pretty much plain, finishing up my lab reports, handing in my assignments, preparing tutorials and etc. The highlight must be the soccer match on Friday. We(not just europe) played the top team of the rankings table(the redeem team). The top team comprises of several players from the school team. We drew them 4-4 and i was goalie for most of the game. This is the first time i played Goalie so well. I flew and pounced, scratched my knees and elbows, stopped several balls and let it a few too. But, i think i have done pretty well. I felt good playing Goalie for the first time. Then at night, we went to Janie's place for a potluck dinner when Fabien's bread went smoking up the entire flat. We had to evacuate from the house to prevent suffocation. But his bread turned out yummy and the entire dinner was brilliant.

After that we had some musical session, Bill and i played the guitar and the Uke respectively and we had fun. Of course, we had the werewolves games where i was appointed mayor again and i instantly killed the first two werewolves. I am beginning to think that i am borned for this game. I was so tired, i conked out after the third game and headed to Janie's room for a nap. I had a nightmare and it was pretty disturbing. I didn't sleep well and i wished i didn't sleep in the first place. I felt really grumpy and made some awful comments and i feel bad.

We went up Mount Victoria and i feel good about it. Took several stunning shots of the moon, stars and the night scenery from the summit. Thank goodness i followed the rest up the mountain.

The rest of the day was pretty crappy. I couldn't get any quality sleep because there were some noises in the house. So i gave up and showered and started studying. I'm really tired now and i think i will sleep soon. Good night my readers.

Bore.......Ring

2009-08-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

This week has been rather... unfruitful.. and disgusting... I hate labs, hate assignments and hate lectures. I do not know why i am even attending lectures(since i am on exchange). But well, as a student i have to at least fulfill my responsibility. UROPS was bad because i did not manage to comprehend anything. I had to borrow a book from the library and read it to understand a bit of it. No parties this week, too much to worry about and also to do. But i guess it's good in a way. I cannot possibly have fun everytime and not do anything productive. I'm just about finishing my lab report and still have work to do.

I am so tired and am going to bed soon. Good night!

Nightscape : Wellington

2009-08-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

Finally got my ass up to laby and started doing what i've always wanted to do: Take a night shot of the city from campus. Tonight, i finally did it and i will print these two photos and send it to a few friends. I hope they like it. Here are the photos:

Am gonna camp at home to finish up my work and hopefully continue with Valerio's tutorials. Gosh, this is really hard. No play this weekend, only work!

Virgin experience on the ski field

2009-08-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a wonderful weekend. Done things i have never done in my entire life and seen things i have only seen on television. Even though the weather was treacherous, i must say i thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. At least back home in Singapore, i would have never had the chance to see snow, falling ice flakes and ice mountain. I chose snowboarding because i thought it was cool, and i was right, it is indeed cooler. Although i fell numerous times, i felt good. Every tumble and fall makes me a even stronger boarder. I think that's where the "Never say die" attitude comes in. Whenever i fall, i roll and i'm back on my feet! I do not feel tired at all, even though my wrist and knees are already very pain. I simply enjoyed every second of it.

The only sad thing is that the weather was bad and i did not manage to take a lot of photos. Well, here are some of it:

Craziest Night Out

2009-07-29T17:04:00.001-07:00

Wow, i laid on my bed at 3.30am and was wondering : What happened the past 5 hours? CLUBBING! omg.. It's a regular Wednesday night and my friends and i, the usual people headed down to The Basement(once again) for a night of crazy dancing and drinking(not much of drinking actually). The Basement was alright at first, but once the music started to change, we started to leave too. We then headed to the establishment, where they were playing music from Backstreet boys, Spice Girls, realllly retro. But we danced well to it and i perspired a LOT. Bought a bottle of Steinlager beer for $3 dollars. Look carefully, $3! But that was the last beer of the night. I guess i shouldn't spend much money on beer.

We then went to Mighty Mighty where the crazy dancing really started. By the end of the night, my shirt was already wet and my hair was drenched. Wonderful. It was a great workout. Once again, i was like a crazy asian dancing in the main stage. I think i killed 1000 calories last night. Good day to u!

Photo backlog

2009-07-27T21:46:00.001-07:00

Work, Assignment, Hair, Fun

2009-07-27T02:47:00.001-07:00

Dang! There are so many things to be done. An assignment to be handed in, a report to be submitted, 6 strands of dreadlocks to manage and so much fun to juggle! But it has been alright, putting in minimal effort in those stuff actually. I must remember that i am an exchange student and fun is top priority. But, the bad thing is that fun involves moolah and i don't have much moolah. haha. But it's fine. I've learnt not to spend too much today. In fact i've spent $0 today. Greatness. I'm reading on material given by Valerio to prepare for UROPS. I'm so afraid i will not be able to finish up his work because of course i have travel plans. Maybe i will drag this module for 2 semesters. I'm glad he is willing to let me do UROPs with him given my level of intellect.

Buddy has finally spoken to me online and i am happy. Cleared the air and it's fresh again. Twinny has been communicating with me and i'm glad. Good to hear everything is good back home as well. Thanks to my sister who took all the pains to send me my notes and my Goretex jacket, along with my converse sneakers. Blood is indeed thicker than water.

Had a free day today, but really spent it rather wisely. I did my assignment(i think it's done), finishing up my lab report now and soon i will embark on the UROPS readings. This week will be super exciting because i will be going to snowboard this weekend!

One exciting thing i did last weekend was to have dreadlock extension. Nw i have a ponytail of 6 dreadlocks, with alternating colors. Blue and black. It seems rather cool but it's not easy to manage either. I like it and will keep it well!

FES : Feeling of Emptiness and Sadness

2009-07-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

The day was good until when i reached home. I saw this blue envelope lying on the table at the living room of my flat. One look at the cover and i knew it was a letter from my buddy Sarah. Great, finally another letter/card for me. My flatmate Maddie has been receiving most of the posts so far. Finally one for me. I was shocked when i first opened the card. There were 2 sections to it, one filled with very unfamiliar chinese characters and the other side was normal with english writings on it.

As i was reading the chinese one(i was instructed to), i was beaming with joy and a sense of warmth deep inside. However, when i began reading towards the bottom of the card, i was astounded by what met my eyes. Buddy said that this card served as a proper farewell since she did not have a chance to see me off at the airport and that we might not see each other again in our lives. I could not believe what i just saw. Why is buddy writing all these things to me? I felt very down right after that.

She knows that i will never let this happen and yet she is saying this. What is wrong? Buddy, if you are reading this, please and PLEASE elaborate! If not, my days here will be miserable. It's like losing a dear friend.

Besides this saddening fact, everything else here in fine. Everyone around me is falling sick and i am at serious risk of falling ill too. Please, god, protect me from all these harmful bugs. I want to spend my days in Wellington being healthy and strong.

Am waiting for my last class to start in 40 minutes time. Thank goodness i live just behind the school and it takes 2-3 minutes for me to get to class. Alright, i shall sign off now.

In memory of buddy sarah,
andy

Day XX : Lost count

2009-07-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

These few days were rather plain, nothing exciting happened. Just attending classes, reading books, notes etc. Guess there are nothing much for me to explore already. That's why i am going up north this saturday to have a look at the "suburbs". I think i will take a train to wherever it can take me to. I really want to just backpack and walk alone, try to find some inspiration for photo taking and all. Went downtown to the post office this afternoon to send a photo to buddy, been wanting to do that for ages but my laziness always triumph. Finally got the discipline to do it today and yea, hope buddy will receive it soon. Really miss her and my twin. Of course my bros and family.

I really like my Brazilian class very much. Although there is a lot of information, i just enjoy it. It's different from any other physics or science class. Anyway, i've watched harry potter and to tell the truth, i didn't really enjoy it. Partly because its row 1 and i'm fairly tired.

Just cooked myself some food and enjoying japanese tea right now. It's 11.53pm now. Am gonna try reading some stuff then off to bed. Nights

Day 13 &14

2009-07-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

School has been really good. The classes were fun but not exactly tiring. I guess the lethargy all came from the partying and walking up and down the slopes. I realised that my moolah didn't all go to partying, but eating and buying necessities. Clubbing only ate up part of the expenses. I could merely survive a night of dancing with just a bottle or can of beer. Yea, to add on, we had free beer during the international students party. I had 3 bottles, to be exact. According to Maddie, Abby and Cat, i was already drunk and even sat on the lap of this HUGE woman. Gosh, i seriously hope that they are not telling the truth. Oh ya, most probably people thought that i was drunk but i was seriously not, perhaps just a bit tipsy and high.

Oh yea, the intl students party was crazy but it ended really early, before 730pm. We were planning for the rest of the night and in the end had to settle for some pizza and electric avenue after that. Electric avenue was awesome, despite the weird music. But who cares, as long as there is music, there is dance. After electric avenue, we headed to Boggie Wonderland. Yes, i know. It sounds shady but it's just a name. People there are middle-aged and they were playing MJ's songs. We danced without getting any drinks and yea, we left and hopped onto the Big Kumara after that.

As usual, we didn't get anything while inside there. So, after a whole night of partying, i only spent $10 bucks worth of drinks. Cheers!

Went home and slept, and 6 hours later, i'm up again and preparing myself for the Zoo trip. 11.30AM at the quad, outside the Ranking Brown Library. The zoo trip was great. People were awesome, the animals not so awesome, the company the best.

Watching the match of the Wallabies and The All Blacks at home. Cheers!

Day 10 & 11

2009-07-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

School has been really fun, the classes are interesting and challenging. Nothing much happened these 2 days. I went to the San Francisco bar last night but didn't drink, cause i wasn't feeling too good. In an hr's time, i'm going to Cuba to party again. Cheers.

Day 9 : Start of nothing

2009-07-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

School starts today and it wasn't the best of starts. First class was rescheduled without our knowledge and the next class sucked totally. We have to do up 3 projects and it involves modelling, sketching, drawing etc. I can't draw for nuts! So i think i am going to drop that and opt for marketing 101. It seems much friendlier and also shorter.

Nothing much happened today. It's cold and i'm tired. cheers.

Day 8: Taking it slow

2009-07-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Been a really slow day. Woke up at 10am, couldn't really sleep anymore, despite drinking so much the night before. Had a shower, made some coffee, bread and slacked the day away. Until 3pm when Giorgi from flat 3 approached me for indoor soccer. I quickly got changed and shot myself to the indoor turf which was a minute walk away from my flat. But unfortunately, i slipped and fell, landing on my back and elbows. Thankfully, i was alright and yeah, i played pretty well and scored some really nice goals.

Went home, washed my clothes, ate some snacks and relaxed till dinner. A few friends came over for dinner and we played a group game after that. It was REALLY addictive. I don't really know what's the name of the game, but yea it was fun. Well, tomorrow's the first day of school and i really hope it will turn out well. That's pretty much what happened today.

Cheers.

Day 7 : Capital Safari

2009-07-11T16:57:00.004-07:00

The day started really early around 10.30am. I woke up at 9.30am and to my surprise, i didn't suffer from any hangover, despite the crazy drinking the night before. Met Lenny, Lorenzo, Yared and Johanna before leaving for the Rutherford house at Pipitea Campus.

We decided to go for the coastal walk which was somewhere off Wellington City. The plan was to hike up a gentle hill of about 100m in elevation. It may sound reallly amateurish but trust me, the number of steps that we had to climb was MUCH more than just 100 steps. I would rather go up the hill without any steps.

But the walk uphill was pretty quick and we soon hit the top of the hill. The view was spectacular and i took quite a couple of photos! Met new friends like Kanoy, natalie, marion and helen. Cool people and cool day.

After that we went to the gallery at some place which i totally forgot. Saw some cool exhibits and then headed back to the city for dinner. We then visited Daniel's terrace. Although it's not as big as my room, it's cosier. my room is like an ice box. disgusting. We then went to buy a carton of beer for the party later at flat 3. OMG, another freaking cool and fun house party. I think i can do this everyday and not feel sick of it. LOL. Had quite a few bottles of beer and then decided not to head downtown today cause i am really tired and really needed some sleep. Tomorrow is sunday and im looking forward to it.

Day 6 : Boozy booze

2009-07-11T16:57:00.003-07:00

Today was a pretty mild day. Did nothing much, went on a random campus tour with vanessa, our new friend from the states. Had fried rice and some potato cubes, really nice. Then met the rest of the girls at the staff cafe. Met another sweet girl called silke, from germany. Went back home for a nap and then dinner with Jeenie and Pearl before heading to flat 2 for a massive home party. Lenny's flat was just filled to the max and seriously, this is the most crazy home crowd i have ever seen.

When it was near 11 or 12, i cant really remember, had a few beers and tequila shots by then, we headed downtown to the temperance when we had round 2 and dance. This is crazy. I have never done that back home and i'm seriously very glad that i am in Wellington. The last time i really drank and danced was 5 years ago and when Lenny and i had a heart to heart talk, he was astonished. I'm not very sure if it's a good or bad thing but i was seriously doing some crazy dance.

The party ended at about 3am, we had some really delicious kebabs and then a few of us couldn't take it anymore and we went back home. Hit the bed at 3.30am even without bathing and poosh! One day has passed.

Day 5

2009-07-11T16:57:00.001-07:00

I woke up to the voices of Abby and Maddie, the two american girls whom i know. Both are cool people and i didn't really mind the waking up, since it was already pretty late and i should really start the day by finishing up my enrolment. Paid my fees at Hunter and then headed down town with Lenny and Yared, with the intention to find a pair of futsal shoes so that we could play soccer later in the afternoon. In the end, we could only find a pair of futsal shoes in the whole of Manners mall and Cuba street, much to our disappointment. However, we still played football and it was great playing with a German and an Italian.

Was really exhausted and headed back home to find Jeenia having toast and reading a book. I sat beside her, only to fall asleep to the lethargy. Went down to Willis street later for dinner ad Gin's place and it was awesome. As usual, i had the most rice and food, and everybody seems rather amazed at how much a small guy like me can eat so much and still remain the size i am now. Dinner was great by the way, cheers to Gin, Janie, Caroline, Pearls, Dan and Fabien.

After dinner, we chilled at one of the coffee houses "Coffees and Teas" in Cuba. It was pretty cheap, a glass of Mochacino cost me 4.50 but the time spent there was really well worth it, I could see this group of people hanging out for a really long time together.

Well, here i am typing this post. I am really tired after typing updates for these 2 days. Gonna wash up now and sleep. I'm not sure but i'm slowing losing the Singlish in me. I speak... weird nowadays. Not with a kiwi accent but just weird. Nights people.

Day 3 and 4 : Hi's and Lo's

2009-07-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Orientation day was crazy. Really. Everything just started very badly and just not according to plans. This old hag who was settling my courses really gave me a really hard time. Things like "you're like the smart university student i've ever seen", "Yes, i can read", really made me feel like crap. I haven't lived for 23 years to be humiliated by someone who most probably can't even do half of what i can do. What a bitch. I left Murphy building 5 minutes later for Te Aro, only to be caught in the miserable rain which totally turned me off. Wow. While walking in the light rain, saw this really cool girl, named Brandy. She had a really bad time too but insisted to walk in the rain to finish up her stuff when i asked her to join me in the shelter. Well, i guess i can really feel her. Yes, i had a real long walk to Te Aro campus but in the end, the admin staff got me signed in into the class really quick and i was already heading back to my apartments within 10 minutes of arrival.

The way home was an up slope journey and it was pretty tiring. Nonetheless, i made it back to have lunch and a chat with Maddie, my flatmate. After which, i returned to Murphy to have my classes endorsed and then waited for the insurance paper work. The day was practically all about queueing and thank goodness i had my iphone with me to accompany me during the long and boring queue.

Settled most of the stuff then headed back to the apartment for dinner. Whipped up a really delicious dinner and also chatted for a real long time with Jeenia, Janie, Yared and Pearl. We then headed to flat 2 to meet up with Lenny for drinks, music and a chat. Lorenzo, Georgie, Emily, Johanna, Sampo and Aiko eventually turned up and we had a really good time chillaxing.Even though it was supposed to be a party, i was glad enough to just have a chat and mingle with the rest of the exchange students.

The night ended with me sleeping without bathing. I was a bit tipsy, so i hit the bed really fast, Night.

Day 2: Walking aimlessly - Cooking up my first meal

2009-07-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Walking aimlessly - Cooking up my first meal

Welly is pretty cool, literally. The place's beautiful, seriously, finally put my nikon into pretty good use. Walked through the harbour, Cuba Street and took some fantastic photos. I realised the Kiwis like to say "Awesome" and "Cheers", sounds cool to me, but sounds uncool when i try to say them. A classic failure of adaptation.

Met some really cool people, Americans, Chileans, Germans. My flatmate Maddy had like a really cool house party where her fellow Americans and other friends came over for dinner, while Pearlyn, Daniel and I had a homely dinner of Pasta with Sausages, Egg and some Tomato with whatever sauce. Thanks to Mario who gave me the idea of cooking up this dish. It was pretty "awesome".

Still, there isn't any internet, and i am not very sure why i am typing all these, with the thinking that all these nonsense might not even have a chance to be uploaded to this miserable blog. Well, as least i know that there is broadband at home in Singapore.

The day was pretty alright, visiting some places which we never really planned to go, like the Te Papa Museum. Well, as least we know where the place is located right now. Saw some really cool specimens like the colloqial squid, which was 4.5m long and 400+kg heavy? It was preserved in this glass chamber which everybody were crowding around.

After dinner, we visited the Recreation Centre, played some basketball and then back to our rooms. Gosh, it's already 10.57pm. Time flies really eh. We are always whining about how time seems to creep so slowly that we have to constantly look at our watches, but now, whooosh! Nearing 11pm already.

Well, i think i better wash up and prepare for tomorrow's orientation. Hope my plan will work and courses will be given to me as i wish. Cheers mate.

Day 1

2009-07-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Best ever trip to Changi Airport! Quite a number of friends came to see me off. Amongst them were the physics people, namely Jelvin, Loke and Shida. Was rather sad that Wendy couldn't make it cause she was held in school for something else. Nonetheless, she gave me a ring and.. sobbed! OMG. i was startled and didn't really know how to console her. But i know, she really really wanted to come to see her BFF off. I am glad i have such a good friend in university. However, before the physics kiaz, the indonesians from my BI class came. They were super early, reached even before i reached. That shows how much i mean to them right? LOL.

After that bro mario came with denise, Emz came and then.... my twin min came. I saw her eyes becoming really blood shot, i knew she is gonna cry again. I didn't want her to cry cause i am afraid i will cry too. Luckily, she did not cry in front of me(i don't know if she did after that but.. doesn't really matter).

Thanks to Emz and min for their farewell gifts, i wasn't really expecting them. Anyway, thanks. Departed for Sydney and then transferred to Wellington, nothing really much during the flight, other than me getting to know this lady who is Australia but has British, Irish ancestry and has just came from London and took the connecting flight to Sydney. She told me a lot, we had a long chat and POOM! Here i am in Wellington. The VUW staff were very helpful, really appreciated the pick up service which ultimately saved me quite a lot. Everybody were very friendly, till now. After being dropped off my apartment, Wai-te-ata apartments, Sujay, our RA showed us around and made us feel like home. The room was fantastic, way way better than the rooms in NUS, very spacious, much room for pleasure and also business. LOL. Was utterly famished until like 5+pm NZ time, headed to the city for dinner. We were glad to see some familiarity along the way, like chinese restaurants, cambodian room etc. However, such food in NZ cost a bomb and shall never be tried. We ate Macs in the end, which proved to be much more safe and also cheaper. Looking stupid during my meal, i took off my retainers and had my fantabulous Big Mac and munched it away.

Opposite Macs was this internet cafe which charged 7 cents per minute, a rather bizarre way to charge its customers, nevertheless, i used only for 15 minutes and paid $1.50. Was really worn out and decided not to do anything more on the computer other than saying hi and sending my regards to both my sis and bro, as well as my parents.

Pearls was happily webcaming her friend, so i went down to take a stroll myself. It was a very relaxed and chill walk, literally. Saw shops like Jay Jays, cotton on and Timezone, nothing really different actually, as compared to Singapore and Australia. I guess it's the way of life that is entirely different.

We then headed to the convenience store and bought some staple for ourselves. Bread, margarine, tomatoes, egg and some fruits. The shop attendant was an Indian, i guess it's just another Asian who is trying to seek a living in NZ.

Well, Pearls and I walked back the slope and reached our room ultimately. I went to brush my teeth and suddenly, i realised... EH SHIT, WHERE THE HELL ARE MY RETAINERS! FUCK! Images of Mac and me clearing the tray suddenly flashed past my ageing mind. Shit, i dumped my brush and paste, put on my running shoes, leather jacket, gloves and RAN straight down to Macs.

I approached the manager, the one whom got my order previously, asking if i could dig out my retainers. She offered me a pair of gloves and there i went digging for my 500 bucks. Every dig came a even harder stab to my heart. What if it's gone? OMG. i was distraught. There was nothing much that i could do, other than to just keep on digging till i hit the bottom. Finally, i saw a pink and blue looking plastic thingy. I found it! Thank goodness!

Gosh, my thighs are aching from the slope run and now i'm back recording my adventure. Cheers.