Can you feel my World

Making assumptions

2006-11-03T13:56:00.000+10:30

I was having coffee with Bronte yesteday in Gloria Jeans on Rundle St. I was telling him about the conflicts that we had in the past few days. He said something that made me realise why didn't my past relationship work.

The good thing about the conflicts in the past few days is that we were able to talk things out properly and both parties were about to understand each other. Bronte agreed with me, that communication is really important in a relationship. He also told me that the thing that contributes to poor communication is making assumptions.

Making assumptions.. I wonder for a moment. Then he explained to me. He gave me a scenario. If one of you looked upset, you should try to understand by asking yourself, "is she okay?", "maybe she is tired?", "maybe something bad just happened?", then you asked if she is okay; rather than assuming that she is not happy with you, because this makes you upset as well, and it sets up a chain reaction.

Those words struck my mind, and I suddenly realise the biggest problem I had in the past. Making assumptions. It's a real killer man..

It's really important that we always give support to each other. Even when both of us are feeling sad at the same time, it is important to talk things out nicely and try to sort everything out. That's how a relationship should be. It should be based on each other's support, trust and understanding.

It's a learning process.. and I am learning

thoughts

2006-11-01T11:18:00.000+10:30

I have been extra vulnerable these few days. My heart can be very easily affected now. Maybe I care too much about that person that small things that happened can affect me and make me worried. Even seeing the person sad makes me sad as well..

Sometimes I realised that I should be more cheerful and stay stronger when that person is down, at least I can say something to cheer her up. But not being a good actor, I just can pretend to be happy when I am not. And most of the time when I am not happy, I can't concentrate on doing other things that require a lot of concentrate of my mind, e.g. studying. It is SWOT vac now. It's still not too bad yet coz I still have about 9 days till my first paper. but if this keeps going like this I will need to figure out something.

Still remember a friend saying this to me when I was in high school.. you can't live like this, you are someone great and have your own way of doing things but now you are just living your life depending on that person.. it changed you so much and this is not the person that I used to know..

I can't concentrate when i am down doesn't mean that I suck at managing my emotion. It simply means that I care a lot about that person and my mind is occupied by that person. That only happen when I really love someone...

Updates and thoughts

2006-10-27T02:03:00.000+09:30

It has been a while since I last update my life.. A lot of things happen in the past two months..

I am one hour away from the end of second year dentistry.. after that it will be the exams and then holidays.. Time really flies man.. it's just like yesterday that I started second year.. hmm.. I think I learned quite a lot in this year, which is good.. and I am prepared to see patients now.. hehe..

I finished my soccer season, which makes me realise that life without soccer is so boring.. luckily there is an extra addition into my life which makes my life even more interesting now.. There is always something to look forward to everyday..

Although outdoor soccer season ended, I am playing indoor soccer on friday with my classmates.. We formed a team and are taking part in the competition.. it's good fun.. and I get to play my favourite sports.. I am also playing social volleyball with college friends on Thursday nights.. I always feel great playing lots of sports.. it makes me feel good coz I am doing something, rather than just sitting down and grow fat..

College life has been great.. another great year.. We had valedictory dinner last saturday.. it's a night that celebrate the year.. I won a few awards in sports.. Best and fairest in volleyball and athletics.. and also silver award for best sportsman.. Was a bit disappointed not to receive the award for soccer.. and the best sportsman award.. coz I thought I had a pretty good chance.. probably I expected too much... should be grateful with everything I have.. Didn't thought I will do that well in athletics... I finished 15th in the 5km run..and 3rd in 100m.. which were pretty unexpected...

There is an extra addition in my life.. didn't expect it to happen.. but when it happens, it just feel so good.. and I am happy to find that both of us click so well.. a lot of similarity in terms of our thinking and personality, which makes our relationship stronger... It has been great over the past few months.. and I am looking forward for more...

There is also another extra addition in my life, associated with the previous addition... Similarly, didn't expect that to happen too.. in fact.. I told myself that I will never do that.. but I guess He touched my heart.. it all happen so amazingly.. He got to me through someone, gave me the chance to know about Him and talk to people about Him.. and He touched my heart, which was wonderful.. and these are all His miracles... This is so exciting..

Apart from that, I also realised a lot of things over the past two months...

It is really upset to hear from other people about bad stuffs of yourself.. especially when it is not true... the feeling of being betrayed didn't feel good as well.. well, I guess certain people has nothing better to do than being interested about other people's personal life and adding extra ingredient to make the stories even more interesting... Sometimes you feel really frustrated about it and just feel like yelling at them about their stupidity.. but i guess if I really do that, I will be the more stupid one.. we can't control other people and obviously we can't control what they like to say.. we should sympathize them because their life is so miserable that they have to talk about other people's life in order to spice up their day.. that is just pathetic and we should pray for them..

Sometimes we need to be content about what we already have and not expect too much.. I guess I expected way too much during VD for the sports award that it makes me more disappointed when I failed to achieve my aim.. This applies to every single thing in your life... and this is not the first time that I experienced this kind of feeling.. We shouldn't expect too much.. should always be grateful and happy about what we got.. and always look on the bright side of life..

I realised that an effective communication is really important in a relationship.. When problem arise in a relationship, it always good to talk it out and discuss about it.. you wouldn't know how the other party feel if you keep everything to yourself.. Being understanding and trust the other half are also important as part of the development of an effective communication.. I have had experience when there wasn't an effective communication and everytime will just end up with either an unhappy ending, or an unhappy party... Now that I learned from the past mistake, things have been going well currently.. and if it's not for good understanding and effective communciation, there would have been so much more disagreement and things will never be as good as what they are now... This is the best moment of my life.. it has never been that great before...

Sometimes when a relationship does not work out, it is not necessarily someone's fault.. maybe the two of you just not meant to be together.. it takes a lot more than just an affection on the other party to make a relationship happen.. both parties need to be understanding, honest, trust the other party and be able to tolerate each other in order to prevent or solve all the quarrels and disagreement and to make your relationship stronger and stronger.. I had experienced that, no matter how much you love the other half, as long as you are unable to tolerate and live with him/her, it is just not good for both parties...

I also realised that I am actually a very lucky man.. my life has been pretty smooth I would say and I always got the reward that I deserved.. However, sometimes I will get disappointed for not getting certain things that I want because I always expect a lot.. I shouldn't be acting this way coz I know that certain people are not as lucky as I am.. Talked to a college friend in pub just now.. he told me that he is moving out next year.. his reason is because that he doesn't feel that he is getting much of what he deserved in return from what he has contributed to college.. I felt really sorry for him because it must be really disappointing for him when he put in all the effort to serve the community and the community does not recognise his contribution.. that's really sad and that's when I realised how lucky I am..

Overall.. I think I have grown up a bit more.. matured a bit more.. and I am having the best time in my life..

Final game of the season

2006-09-04T09:47:00.000+09:30

It was the last game of the season for the Blacks Division 1 reserves. After playing for them for two months, I got a lot out of this valuable experience.. I believe i improved as a player, know the game better, and I rediscovered my fitness that allow me to run up and down the right or left flank as a winger.. And most importantly, I gain a lot of confidence in my ability.

It was a game against one of the top teams in the league.. For the past four games we played the top 4 teams in the league.. We did very well for the first two and managed to get a draw with both teams. Unfortunately the game last week ended up with a 0-5 result. We travelled all the way to hallett cove and were missing most of our key players. It was really disappointing..

The last game of the season was against St Peters at home.. Everyone was looking forward to that game and spirits were high.. we conceded a goal early in the game.. but we fought back.. hard.. and we controlled the game.. However, we conceded a second goal early into the second half.. We managed to get a goal back but when they scored their third goal.. We kinda give up any chances of fighting back, and the game ended 3-1. It was a tough game.. the weather was so hot, and I was struggling a bit ebcause i have to run back to defend their left winger while sprinting up the field to attack.. and we only have one substitute on the bench..

It was a wonderful experience playing for the Blacks.. I got a lot out of this and it really improve me as a player.. I can't wait till the season to start again next year.. at the mean time I need to keep exercising to keep up with my fitness.. Next week I will go back to Division 2 reserve and play in their final game.. hope it will be good.. It's been really great playing week in week out.. I will definitely miss it when the season is over..

Intercollege soccer week 2

2006-08-20T18:32:00.000+09:30

Finally.. It's all over now.. After two weeks of intensive playing of soccer, I can finally rest my tiring legs..

We played St Anns and Aquinas College today.. We lost both games.. The first game with St Anns was pretty unlucky.. We totally outplayed them and we scored first. But our defense lost their concentration for a second and they scored the equaliser. And they scored their winning goal at the very last minute.. It was my fault, I failed to mark the guy who scored the winning goal, and we lost.. I was quite disappointed..

The second game was against Aquinas.. We were all tired and we conceded three goals.. and in the second half we were playing against the strong wind all the time and for about 10 minutes we couldn't get the ball out of our half.. However, we somehow manage to score a goal.. I can't really remember how did it happen but it lifted the team spirit.. I dropped back to play sweeper and I send a ball over their defense and Rady managed to get through and scored a second goal.. We could probably score a third or fourth but I am happy with the overall performance of the team..

Before this I always thought about winning the game.. but at the end of the day, being able to enjoy the game with the team is the most important thing.. We might not get the results, but we totally enjoy the tournament.. That's what I got out of this wonderful experience of being a captain.

numb

2006-08-15T21:28:00.000+09:30

I just had clinic.. Did an inferior alveolar nerve block, a lower labial infiltration and a long buccal nerve block.. and I had the same three injection done on me..

Now I am numb..on my lips and cheek.. can't even eat properly.. felt like I am tasteless...

I wish my mind is numb as well.. so that I can't think less..

2006-08-13T20:33:00.000+09:30

I thought I understood what was going on, and I kinda predicted what is going to happen.. I thought I could handle it and take it in very well... coz when I first heard about it, I felt pretty bad for what has happened..

But when it really happen, I didn't take it very well..

What is going to happen in the future? What am I gonna do?

Days ahead look so gloomy.. I don't know where to go.. I need guidance..

Intercollege soccer

2006-08-13T20:32:00.000+09:30

Intercollege soccer was good toady, although it didn't start off very well..

I found out that my goalkeeper decided not to turn up today.. for don know what reason, and he didn't even bother about telling me before.. I was quite disappointed.. So we have to find an emergency goalkeeper and reshuffle the team..

It came out pretty well.. we drew with the defending champion, and our defensive line looked awesome!! We lost the second game though, 1-0.. it was really close..

I was quite happy for the performance of the team, but not the performance of myself.. I don think I played my best today.. and I failed as a captain.. I didn't talk enough to my teammates.. I didn't keep trying to lift their spirit when we were one goal down.. And I didn't keep all my players happy, especially the subs... All of them fought like warriors and they deserved an applause..

Next week.. I am going to be a better captain..

Physically exhausted.. Mentally still strong??

2006-08-12T22:08:00.000+09:30

These few days have been really really tiring.. Intercollege soccer will be held tomorrow morning at Flinders, and I am now physically exhausted.. really...

The game is on Sunday, and we had our first proper training on thursday.. I rush back all the way from uni to make it to training.. I really ran to the training ground I am not kidding.. Trained for about half an hour, rush back to college and got ready and left for uni training immediately, didn't even have dinner.. When I got back, I am physically very tired, and I still have to do my tutorial..

Friday, Second training.. Wasn't very happy with myself, coz I kept losing the ball.. and my level of confidence was affected because my best player decided to pull out because of niggling injury.. I am having an injury too.. my shin, my ankle and my groin.. pretty bad, but I am still hanging on to it..

Today, saturday, went to hahndorf for an away game with my uni team.. Althought I sat on the bench, but I played both games as a sub, so in total I still played for about 90 minutes..

I knew it's going to be hectic these few days... and I know I want to do all these.. I kept asking myself in the past few days.. will I be able to make it till sunday? Am I physically strong enough to last till sunday? Especially now I am having several niggling injuries, and I am falling sick too.. Having a cold and I hope it won't develop into a fever tomorrow.. coz I really wanna play for college..

It somehow affect my level of confidence.. after matt decided to pull out, I felt that there is no one there with me to hold the responsibility of the team during the game.. At least I know that he is better than me and I won't feel that much pressure on myself.. But now he pull off, and I haven't been playing very well for the past few days.. I am really thinking if I will be good enough to control the midfield tomorrow.. It's a position where I haven't really played before in competitive matches, not even for my uni team.. But I wanna play there coz I know I can.. initially.. but after matt pull out, I started to doubt my ability.. I really don know..

I really need some support, some mental support..ET.. all the problems seem to be falling onto me at once.. It's so hard to hang on to it.. and tomorrow, I know I have to be positive out there, coz I am the captain.. If I lose my confidence, what will happen to the rest of the team? I might not be a good captain, but I know my role to steer up the spirit in the team.. After listening to all the stories about other teams, I felt a bit worried too.. seriously.. but I can't say that to the team.. in fact, I shouldn't even be thinking about this.. I should believe in my team's ability... I know I should.. but after all these incidence, I am really struggling..ET.. I NEED SUPPORT!!

I am seriously physically exhausted.. totally.. and I can feel that my body is getting weak because of the cold.. On the way back from hahndorf just now, I was thinking about the game tomorrow, and I am not as optimistic anymore.. Am I still be able to hang on, mentally? I need to lift the team.. that is my responsibility..

I am still hanging on.. although I am struggling badly.. I am still fighting hard.. till the last minute.. till I totally break down..

Tough or stupid?

2006-08-03T21:17:00.000+09:30

Just came back from soccer training.. So exhausted coz I put in a lot more effort than usual since I am only able to train once a week due to my night clinic session on Tuesday night.. Have to make up for it..

I think I rolled my ankle while I was running back defending just now.. but I kept on playing.. Well, not sure if this is good or bad, I always tend to carry on even if I pick up an injury (I mean small injuries that will not stop me from running).. and I don't like to seek professional help for my injury coz i don't want to miss the game.. you can say that I am tough, but from the other point of view, I might just be stupid.. I never know how bad my injury is, I might have twisted a bone, and I kept on playing, and I might ended up injuring myseslf even more seriously.. But I just can't force myself to stop playing.. Plus there will be a training for college soccer tomorrow, and a game on saturday.. I am putting ice on my ankle now.. hope it's nothing serious... Fingers crossed..

First Injection

2006-08-02T12:18:00.000+09:30

I had my first injection during clinic last night. It's not the first injection in my mouth, but it's my first injection into other people's mouth.

It is part of our course where we learn about pain control.. We are currently learning about local anaesthesia and we are practicing injecting on each other. Before this first experience of injection, we have to learn a lot of things about the technique, the equipments, and the anatomical landmark in the mouth. It's not easy...

I was quite excited about it at first.. I had no problem loading the LA cartridge into the syringe because I have done this before when I work for Si Jiu.. I was the first in the group to inject.. Well, it's not easy.. especially when you are going to poke a needle into someone else's mouth for the first time.. I realised that I am very afraid of causing pain to other people, I am even very gentle when I do a scaling procedure.. maybe that's why it's even harder for me..

It looked easy when I was practising holding the needle with the cap on.. and my hands were pretty stable.. but once I took the cap off, it's just different.. I couldn't find a finger rest.. and my hands started shaking when I tried to inject the needle into the specific point of entry.. I wasn't scared, I think it just always happened when I tried to concentrate on very small things.. And I failed to insert the needle for the first time.. and then I saw blood coming out.. that makes me a bit nervous.. the next moment, I realised that the blood in my body is rushing to my head, coz I can feel that my face was very warm.. But in the end I manage to place the needle in.. The next two injection was better than the first one, although there are still a lot of blood that came out.. but i can feel that I had improve slightly from the first one.. still have a lot more to improve...

And I think I need to overcome my phobia.. "causing pain phobia".. haha

Worst Defeat

2006-07-30T02:19:00.000+09:30

We had a game with Modbury Jets today. They are the bottom team of the table and they hadn't have a single win before this. For us, after my first game with the team, we didn't really play that well. Lost one and drew the last one. We cut our training session short on thursday so that we can be fresher today on the pitch.

It didn't start off very well, as usual. We were a bit slow to get ourselves into the game.. And we gave away a goal very early.. and after that we are playing a catch-up game again. They started off bravely but slowed down after only about 20 minutes.. and after that we were in total control of the game. We lost the game, even though we don't deserve to lose.. That's football.. No matter how good you play, you can't win without scoring goals... We hit the post three times, and I had two great oppurtunities, which one of them went wide and the other were saved by the keeper..

After the game, the coach yelled at us, and walked away.. We need a wake up call.. we need to get back the spirit that gave us the win during my first game. However, some players blamed on each other.. Some other people blamed on the ref and there were a lot of arguments going on between few of our teammates... Well, I thought this is meant to be a team game, and I was always being told that in a team game, losing is the responsibility of the whole team. You can't just blame an individual for the lost. I remembered in form 5, I was in my school 4x400m relay team and we were in the district athletics. We were one man short and this malay guy volunteered to run.. He looked pretty confident and he was the first runner. He started off well but just totally switched off after that.. I was the second runner and I was about 150m behind the guy in front of me.. We were last.. The three of us have to fight so hard and we finished 4 in the end.. which was pretty good. But we failed to qualify for the final. We were quite disappointed, coz we thought we had a pretty good chance to win.. and if it wasn't because of that guy we would have qualify.. He told me that he got hit by a rock in his head when he was at the turn of the 200m mark.. What kind of bullshit is he talking about.. Well, my coach told me after that I can't blame him for the loss.. it's a team game and everyone should held the responsibility together as a team, as a unit..

Turning against your own teammates after losing the game is not the right thing to do. As a unit, we must bounce back, fight back and win the next game as a unit.

2006-07-28T20:57:00.000+09:30

After 15 months, it all comes to an end.

15 months ago, I never thought this is gonna happen, I thought it's not just gonna be 15 months, and I made a wish, a promise...

Things are very unpredictable.. Things happened.. Misunderstanding... Inappropriate communication.. I break my promise..

I had the responsibility... but sometimes when you know that things are not going to work out very well after trying, you have to make a decision..

I made one, which I thought will be the only way, and the best way to this problem.. you can't please everyone...

I learned.. and I will continue learning..

Scored my first goal in amateur soccer league

2006-07-22T16:15:00.000+09:30

Just came back from the game against Gleeson. We played alright, drew 2-2. and I scored a wonder goal.. haha.. It wasn't meant to be a shot, it was supposed to be a cross from the right flank.. I was about 5 metres away from the goal line after I took a throw in to Lious, and he played a one-two back to me.. I took a touch pass the incoming defender and send in a cross about 2 metres away from the goal line. It wasn't a good cross, I knew it straight away coz it looks like it is going straight above the cross bar. But it didn't, it went over the keeper and dip in just in front of the cross bar and across the line.. Craig tried to get a touch to the ball but it is going in anyway.. haha.. I claimed that.. and it was my first goal after I started playing amateur league soccer..

This is my second year in adelaide.. and after playing soccer regularly with friends in college, I decided to join the university amateur team, just to get some experience in the real soccer match.. and to get myself fit as well.. The first few session didn't go too well, maybe because I wasn't as fit after the long summer break.. BUt luckily I got my chance after that, and I got a spot in the Division 2 reserve team.. The coach wants me to play as a right full back.. Well, I didn't really like that coz I am an attacker.. and I am not very confident in my defending..

Well, we played absolutely well in the first game.. thrashed the opposition team 7-0.. and I am starting to get used to my position.. Actually it's not too bad playing in right back.. Occasionally get the chance to do an overlap with the right midfielder and go up for an attack.. and I don't need to run as much as playing in the midfield.. so it was good.. we lost our second game.. our keeper gave away the ball to their striker and they scored the winning goal right at the end.. But I was man of the match for that game.. I was quite happy with that.. and i started to gain more confidence to myself.. After that, I got man of the match for a few other games as well...

There was a big change few weeks ago. My coach was not at training and we played a game with the guys in Division 1. After the game, the coach asked me to train with them during the next session.. I was kinda in the dilemma that time, on one hand I wish to play with the div 1 guys coz obviously they are a better team and it's good for me, but on the other hand I love playing with my Div 2 team.. The spirit was there and we were doing quite well in the league..

Anyway, I went to training and the first session didn't go that well for me.. I gave away the ball a lot and contributed to some of their goals.. The coach Darren has been great, and he gave me a lot of encouragement.. I played in right midfield on Saturday, and we won the game 1-0.. they told me I played well, but I didn't think so, I wasn't feeling comfortable.. But after that, the next training, everything went well and I am happy to be with this team..

SMILE DR

2006-07-17T23:37:00.000+09:30

I came up to Darwin about two weeks ago to help my uncle as usual. I have been here over the past two years and everytime it was a different experience.

This year, I am glad that I am able to take more responsibility.. Si jiu allows me to follow him all the time and assist him in all the procedures.. and i realised that i am getting more comfortable in doing those things.. In the first few days, I was responsible for handling the instruments and materials to him while he is working in the patient's mouth.. This job requires certain level of knowledge about the instruments and the steps of the procedures.. I handled that quite well because I have done some of the procedures and seen some of the instruments in uni.. But I realised that doing this will not help me much because i wouldn't be able to see what he is doing in the mouth.. so i decided to hold the suction and the triplex.. and so far i have seen a lot of different cases.. and seen some of the procedures for the first time..

As what my uncle used to tell me, I think i am gaining more and more during my visit as I proceed into a more senior year in uni.. The more things that I know, the easier it is to understand what he is doing.. During my first trip, I had no idea what I am looking at.. but now, i started to notice not only things that he does in the patient's mouth, and also a lot of other things that cannot be seen, that contribute to his success..

I remembered Elaine telling me about her interview for dentistry with Adelaide Uni.. They asked her the reason she chose to study dentistry.. She said she wants to give other people a beautiful smile.. that's very true.. I remembered few days ago when I was having a huge mud crab for dinner with Si jiu and Kimberley, and they mentioned to me this lady who used to be shy, lack of confidence, and hardly smile.. My uncle took three years to fix everything in her mouth and she is now full of confidence with a beautiful smile.. As I learn more about dentistry, I started to slowly understand certain things that I would never even think of their true meaning behind them.. Everything just started to come into place now as I move on.. that is something that i learnt from the past few months, from listening about the story of Elaine's interview till the story of the lady, giving people a smile is something that will drive me on when I start working few years later..

"SMILE DR" is my uncle's car plate.. now I fully understood the meaning behind it...

Schedule for the night

2006-07-09T03:02:00.000+09:30

Schedule for the night:

4.30 am - World Cup 3rd Place Playoff - Portugal vs Germany
I seriously hope that Portugal can beat Germany. They lost to France because they do not have enough strikers up front.. Go Portugal!!

Depends on what time the game finish.. Let's say it finishes in 90 minutes

6.30am - Shower and get ready

7.30am - Leave Lincoln to airport (Alex is driving me there)

7.50am - Arrive at the airport

7.55am - Check in at Qantas counter

8.15 am - Board the plane QF 754

8.40am - Plane take off to Darwin

8.45am - Fall asleep in the plane

12.15pm - Touch down at Darwin airport

Walking into Adulthood

2006-07-06T01:12:00.000+09:30

One of the major events in my life, happened two days ago.. Officially on the the 3rd of July 2006, at 6.59pm Malaysia time (8.29pm Adelaide time), I became an adult.

Well, to me, honestly, being 21 doesn't seems to be a very big thing.. and I didn't put up a big celebration party like what most other people would do. For me, birthday is just a day.. a day where life will still go on as normal.. But I am glad that I was able to spend my birthday with some of my friends in college. We had a lot of good food the day before my birthday, and we went to karaoke on my birthday night.. We had a great time and I am very grateful that they spent time with me.. it's kinda sad that on my birthday, not many people is around because it's always during the uni holidays.. people all started leaving few days before my birthday.. but luckily there are still a few of them staying..

Still remember those days in high school where I used to go to Buddhist Fellowship every saturday. We were always being told to be grateful. On your birthday, be grateful to your parents, especially your mum for giving birth to you. One question is always being asked, "have you ever say "I love you" to your parents? It's always easy to say I love you to your bf/gf but have you ever say that to your parents?". Well, I have not... I always think that, I am not used to saying that because I was not being brought up that way. But this is just an excuse...
However I am glad that I made the move.. I finally said that to mum in her mother's day card. Although it's being written down, that's still a very big step for me. Hope it will all get easier next time

Marching into adulthood, I have to act like an adult now. Although I have been staying out by myself for 4 years, I still don't see myself as a fully mature person. Certain decision that I made have not been the best decision. I have to learn to look at all aspect and consider all the circumstances and try to make the best decision for me and other people involved. I am still learning...

Rediscover the joy of blogging?

2006-07-06T01:01:00.000+09:30

It's been almost a year since my previous post. Why? What have I been doing?

I sort of already forgotten about the presence of my blog, till my friend asked me to read her blog. I started thinking what was the purpose of me creating this blog... When I first started, I thought this might be a good way for me to express my thoughts and feelings about my daily adventure in Australia. It has always been the case for me, where at certain times I can be very eager and interested in doing certain things, but at certain times, I just can't be bothered.

Maybe this is one of those "certain times", where there are a lot of thoughts going in my mind, just like when I first started blogging.

A month ago

2005-08-20T10:25:00.000+09:30

It has been a month since I last posted a message. Well, kinda getting a bit lazy lately.. just couldn't be bothered to write anything... It's been really interesting over the past few weeks... After coming back from Darwin, I spent the rest of my holiday in college... with someone very special... I thought it was really short (just a few days)... but when you look from another point of view, the happiest moment will not last forever...

Anyway, uni started... second semester started... I have been really determined to study harder since one of my results doesn't really satisfy me. Even though I pass but it's pretty dangerous if I think that I will just aim for a pass.. Timetable for this semester is quite alright... I have monday afternoon and friday morning off... and wednesday and friday afternoon off every two weeks... Clinical session for this semester is getting interesting as well... We started to do rubber dam application... as well as being introduced to handpieces.. the drill.. For periodontology we have started to learn about scaling... IT's really fun... There are quite a number of assignment to be done this semester... I had already handed in two assignment while there are two more to be submitted soon... Overall, study is busy but not too hectic...

College life is getting more and more interesting.. the past few weeks we have been preparing for inter-college soccer which started last week... I was really looking forward to this tournament because I am more confident in playing soccer compared to basketball.. I am the starting striker for the college... it seems that our team have a pretty high chance of winning the tournament... unfortunately, luck didn't stand on our side... we played two matches last week... and we lost both of them... We were not outclassed by our opponents, but the inability to control the possession of the game, and a few simple defensive error cost us the game.. and the tournament... The first match against St Marks was quite a violent game... tackles flew in all over the park... and the lousy ref did not even bothered to do anything about it... All the frustration, plus a few players of our team who were having a heavy hangover as a results of previous night drinking allow the opponent to get a few easy goal off us... I got a few shots... First one was a curling effort from outside of the box and it was tipped away by the keeper for a corner... another one was a one-on-one with the keeper (which i clearly appeared to be offsided) where I could have done it better...

The second match was against Flinders... Again.. same problem, can't control the game... and we let in another easy goal... The game stopped halfway because of a broken leg of a Flinders' player... The ambulance came... After the restart, we got a goal back... unfortunately another defensive error cost us another goal... and the game was over after they scored the third... I got a few chances as well, but wasn't able to convert them into goals... It was quite disappointing, but it was a good experience... two more matches tomorrow... hopefully we will play better when there is nothing to lose..

The night before the soccer match was the college's music night. The night was full of musical performances from the collegian. There were few classical performances and other modern day music performances... I performed as well... singing a chinese song by David Tao with my guitar.. and I got quite a good response... I saw people holding their mobile phones, waving in the air with the light on, like in a concert... The performance was kinda special because I did that especially for someone special.. and I dedicated the song to her in front of everyone.. it's really awesome... and I got a lot of praise from people for the performance (and the message).. especially from the principal..

Basically, over the last few weeks... I was really enjoying my life... there is always something to look forward to...

Darwin trip

2005-07-15T18:56:00.000+09:30

It's been more than a week in Darwin... Nothing special really.. just go to work everyday.. actually not really working.. it's observing plus helping when I can... Seen quite a lot of interesting stuffs during the past few working days.. and compared to last year it is probably more meaningful for me as I can remember them more... what I learned in the last semester has been really useful.. I got to apply some of the knowledge in what I see and things started to make sense to me... And there are way more things that I haven't seen during my previous visit.. even if I had seen it I don think I will remember much... anyway, I get a closer look on doing basic restoration, root canal treatment, dental implants, cerec.. etc... but one of the things that I remember most is the wisdom teeth extraction...

Why? because i just had my wisdom teeth extracted hours ago... and I witnessed the whole procedure with my own eyes... I only made up my mind yesterday to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out.. Si Jiu gave me two choices.. one is to take all of them out, another one is to take to two upper ones out because they have some caries, and cut away the gum to give more space for the lower ones to grow... well.. I don't really want my gum to be cut away, so I decided to have them all out...

I had a heavy breakfast this morning... and had a lot of food before the extraction just to make sure that I will not feel hungry... they gave me a laser therapy on my lower jaw and muscles to relieve the tension... and I took some antibiotics and neurofen before the extraction... I was called in early... because one of the patient was late.. Si Jiu gave me some injection on the right hand side of my mouth first... it didn't really feel numb enough so he gave me more injection.. and he started the extraction... I didn't really dare to look at it because i thought it might be quite scary looking at your own teeth being taken out and not feeling the pain... but in the end I did look at it... it wasn't that bad actually... well.. because part of my lower wisdom tooth was under the gum so he had to cut away the gum.. can't run away from it.. hehe.. the lower ones were quite hard to be taken out and he had to section the tooth into two... the upper ones were quite easy...

It was quite a long procedure and i was feeling a bit tired... everything was fine till I realised that my eyes were swollen... I thought it might be some allergic reaction so I told Si Jiu... He didn't really know what happened as well... I don't really know what am i allergic to... anyway... I sat on the chair and have some rest... they put some cucumber on my eyes to reduce the swelling... it works actually.. even though it still look a bit swollen now... It's been a hard day... I sat in the chair for 4 hours... Si Jiu sent me back after that... I am still biting on the bite packs... oh yeah... I had a few stitches on my lower gum... it's starting to hurt... have to take some painkillers...

These few days have been really long and hard for me... Initially I was thinking about going back to Adelaide few days earlier to complete my work... Not that I can't do it here... but... well.. I really hope that they can understand... I tried very hard to convince myself to come here because I know I have something important to do.. I know that I have to come here to work... I am expecting myself to at least do something here... but after the first few days of doing nothing it really turned me off because it was not what I had expected... but anyway.. things are getting better now and I feeling much better now... I am looking forward to go back to adelaide on wednesday... looking forward to see someone that i have been missing a lot during the past few days...

I am 20 years old

2005-07-04T12:09:00.000+09:30

Yesterday was my 20th birthday... Well, I can't really believe that I am turning 20 now, although I hope I can get older faster... haha.. anyway, it was just another normal day, nothing special really.. didn't have any special party or celebration.

Most of the people in college had already gone back to their hometown, and most of them left yesterday because it was the last day of the term. I already know that before so didn't really expect a special celebration from all of my friends in college. I finished my exam pretty early so I have an extra week of holidays.. some of them were still having exam... anyway.. They did something for me few days ago.. they roasted a chicken for me.. YES.. chicken.. my favourite.. It was really nice... yum yum...

I was really happy yesterday.. even though my friends can't celebrate with me, but I didn't really care. There was this one special person who spent her whole day with me, and that's the only thing that matters.. To spend every minute every second of your birthday with someone special to you is really meaningful.. Even though it was just like any other normal day, still I enjoyed it very much... we were watching drama most of the time, and we went out for dinner at night in Chinatown...

Looking back at the past 20 years... all of a sudden I am already 20... I like to look back at the past, always refreshing my mind with those wonderful memories in the past.. definitely there were things that I shouldn't do, and somehow I am a little regret about it.. but the most important thing is that I recovered from the sadness and disappointment, turning all these into experiences and became a better person as time passed by. I think this is how a person become mature... learning from the past experiences.. I am really grateful to be able to study in Australia... I never even have a single thought about this three years ago when i was finishing my secondary education in Malaysia. And now this is totally different... I felt really lucky to get so much support from all my family members and it's really important to me.. It drives me forward and I told myself to be grateful about it and do not take it for granted... I know it is not easy but everyone is on the same line as me... With this in mind, I will move on and fight for everything I want...

First step: I am leaving to Darwin on wednesday... to work in Si Jiu's surgery, gain some experience and I believe this will definitely help me with my studies..

Finished exam

2005-07-01T19:43:00.000+09:30

FInally... after three weeks of hard work... I finished all my exam last saturday... It's kinda relief.. it seems that this semester has been going for very very long... anyway, it's been really fun and I really enjoy the course... A lot of hard work had been place in throughout the semester.. It's a totally different learning environment... compared to just attending lectures and study before exam, I have to do my work more consistently in order to reach the requirements... I am slowly trying to change my learning to be more consistent so that I don;t have to do some much work during the study vacation....

I will be going to Darwin next wednesday... to work in Si Jiu's surgery for two weeks... hopefully I will be able to apply all the things that I learnt in the first semester... Even though it's only 3 months but I feel that I had been learning a lot of new things... i am really looking forward for it... it will be a great experience....

International Night

2005-05-29T19:57:00.000+09:30

Last night was International Night in Lincoln College. It is one of the biggest event in the college, especially for all the international students. Everyone was pretty excited about it and obviously everyone dressed in their traditional costumes to the event.

It started off with lion dance performance in the common room. I was part of the performing team, playing the gong. It went really smooth and was really good... Took a video of it... might share it if I can... After that we went down to the dining hall for the real function... There were a lot of performances, including an indian dance by all the Indian ladies, a duet, two malay songs, one japanese song... step dance, performances by all the tutors, and also a play by the exec members... It was quite a great event... I should have sing a chinese song man!! haha...

Other than that, they served some traditional food that we don't normally get during normal uni days... They are mostly Malaysian food and some Japanese food... because the main chef is a Malaysian... he is a student anyway... We had satay, curry chicken, some wantan, spring rolls, Nasi Lemak..etc... It was really nice...

The function ends at about 10pm... and it's the "informal" photo session... Everyone dressed up nicely and it will be wasted if no photo is taken... They even brought the Malaysian and Singaporean flag... and all of us took a group picture according to your nationality... haha... It was really fun... a great night... where everyone hang around together during the photo session... really great... will post some pictures after my test...

Anyway, after all the fun, I am doing my study now... Have a trial test for Dental Clinical Practice tomorrow... even though it's just a trial test but still have to study for it... because the lecturer will ask us to answer the question during the discussion session... Studying about caries now... to prevent caries, don't take too much sugar... drink water (which contain Fluoride) instead of soft drinks or juices... and brush your teeth properly... twice a day... make sure you cover all the areas, along the gum... and you need to floss, to remove the plaque in between the teeth... otherwise, you will get caries, and I will be waiting for you...

Exam is coming

2005-05-24T20:23:00.000+09:30

Haven't been posting any message since the past few weeks... Been quite busy lately.. Final exams are coming soon... and also there are a few things due before the end of the semester... less than two weeks to go and then two weeks of SWOT vac... There will be a trial test for clinical practice next monday, although it's not part of the assessment but it's still important to get things prepared.... Then friday there will be a genetic test... hmm... Have to study a lot for that, even though it's just basic genetics, but don forget I was initially an engineering student and biology was like a stranger to me... haha... anyway.. Also wax carving is due on friday as well... Wax carving... is like doing restoration on a tooth... but by using wax instead of amalgam or composite resin.... It's kinda fun but it can get very hard as well... I am still having problem trying to smooth the surface and to make it look nice... It's not easy... especially when you need to make all the groove and cingulum of the tooth... I think these things need a little bit of artistic ability as well.. which I am lacking of...

Anyway, had clinic this morning... on dental prophylaxis... This was my first time using a handpiece. Slow speed handpiece... I was quite excited... It was tough though... looked easy at first but when you actually try to get your hand on it, it's not that easy... need to get into the right position, get the mirror and the handpiece into the right position, getting a good finger rest to provide stability...etc..etc... it's not easy... that's why dentists are earning so much money!!! haha...

Inter-college basketball had come to an end... we didn't win... we came fourth... out of five teams... which was quite bad... but we lost two matches by a very small margin... In the semi final we played St Marks College... which is the champion eventually... There was no competition at all... we lost by 33 points... Their average height is about 6ft2... and there are two guys who are about 6ft7... from USA... actually most of the players are from USA... no competition at all... But everyone had fun... In the 3rd/4th playoff, we played against Flinders again... our first opponent... Again... we lost by a very tight margin... this time was 2 points... very close... but we weren't that sad compared to the first game... everyone had fun... the atmosphere was amazing... we got the supporters coming from the college... and it's really amazing... I played better this time... got a few shots and got one in... satisfactory performance... miss those games... it's so nice playing with all the players... they were amazing... the bond, the relationship among 9 of us is closer... and one more thing, more people in the college got to know me... haha...

I think that's all for the moment... will try and post more messages in the future.. but it's getting busier nowadays... I will try my best... will send some photos to you guys later... stay tuned... bye for now...

College events

2005-05-09T19:35:00.000+09:30

Last week was a week full of college events. First we had inter-college debating on tuesday, which I didn't participate and also didn't go to watch... I was trying to get most of my work done because I had basketball game on wednesday. Yes, I took part in the inter college basketball. There are ten players in the Lincoln team and we played against Flinders college. I was kinda excited about the game... It was my first participation in college sports, well I know there will be more to come... Anyway, we arrived early at the stadium to do some warming up... There were a numbers of supporters who turned up but it wasn't as many as the swimming event... Probably because of the distance of the stadium...

It wasn't a very great game, we lost by a very small margin of 3 points... I wasn't performing very well that night, I missed all my shots... Compared to my level of performance when we practice, it was really bad... maybe I wasn't used to the atmosphere of the game, haven't been playing any proper basketball match for ages.... Anyway, we were lucky to be able to qualify as the best loser and will play against St Marks college this wednesday... They are a very strong team but we will try our very best to overcome the disadvantages and win the match to get into the final... Most of my friends that turned up to the game said I was quite nervous... some even said that I was nervous because she was there to watch... but I wasn't feeling nervous at all... anyway, hope the next match will be fine...

Friday night, was one of the biggest event in college... the Hens and Bucks pub crawl... well.. unluckily it clashed with the dentistry pub crawl... Pub crawl is an event where people "crawl" from one pub to another... I joined the dentistry pub crawl... didn't follow the whole event but it was really fun... I was planning to go for Hens and Bucks as well, but I was too tired and I was getting lazy... so I came back early to college and took a rest... Well, that night, a lot of people were smashed, as in drunk... and there must be a lot of crazy things happened in the college... This is their culture...

I have a test on friday, it's on tooth identification... it is worth 10 marks of the unit... we were required to identify 5 different teeth, given 2 minutes for each tooth... Sometimes these can get very complicated because there are a lot of variation among people's teeth... Hopefully it will be fine... After that, exam is coming soon... in about a month... Have to increase my workload in order to cope with the exam...

Lovely April

2005-04-21T15:34:00.000+09:30

It has been a while since I last updated my blog.. I am having my mid term holiday now... Kinda relaxing, but I feel bad because I still haven't get to do a lot of work that I planned to do... Well, at least I finished all my homework and only left some studying and catch up work to be done.

The week before the mid term break started was not that hectic... There was a trial test before the end of the 1st term. Well, it's not really a test because there question paper were up on the internet for a while and I think they have been using the same question paper over the years. It's more for us to understand the structure and format of the exam, and what are we required to complete in order to get maximum marks. I actually went for a blood donation the day before the test... haha... mum must be screaming right now... hehe... but it's all good.. I was fine and didn't even have a single sense of dizziness after giving blood. This was my second blood donation, first in Australia. I might consider to be a regular blood donor, because I think I have enough blood for myself and no harm giving some to help other people. I felt really pleased and happy after giving blood, because I have done a good deed that will actually help some of the people in need. The good thing is that they really appreciate the help of the blood donor and take really good care of them...

We went crabbing again on the first saturday of the break. More people went this time. Someone rent a van and we went there pretty early this time... This time we were more prepared after the first experience. The weather that day was not that cold though. I brought my winter clothing along but I didn't even use it. In the end, we got more than 20 crabs. Went back to college at about 4am... They cooked the crab the following night, after I had my kitchen duty. It's really nice.

Well, feel so bad because I didn't do much work on the first week of the holiday. Now is already the second week of the holiday and uni will start again next week.

Mum asked me if I got a girlfriend when I called back few days ago... I say no because I don't have one... After I came away from home, study alone in a different place, I can feel the bond between the two of us is getting stronger. Last time she used to stop me from having a girlfriend, honestly I am still not used to it when she actually ask me about my girlfriend. No mum, I don't have a girlfriend yet, but I found someone that I like... Don't worry, she is neither an australian nor any white or black girl.. she is a chinese, a malaysian chinese... in fact she is from Kluang... Things have been going quite well between the two of us, but there are still several obstacles ahead of us before we can actually get together... She is graduating this year and she wishes to concentrate on her studies first before we talk about relationship stuff. Don't worry mum, if everything goes well, you will see the two of us going back together at the end of the year...

Crabbing

2005-04-03T12:27:00.000+09:30

It was easter break last week, so nice to have 4 days of holiday.. Since the beginning of the semester, I haven't been having any break apart from the weekends... So to have such a long weekend was just so nice.... One more week to go, the mid semester break is going to start too... I am quite looking forward to it... I hope to use the two weeks to catch up with my biology... Things have been slowly getting on track and I just need to keep up with the work...

On Friday night we went to Henley Beach for crabbing....as in catching crabs... We went late at night, at about 11pm... Daniel drove me, Rexson, Elvin and Jolvin there... It was quite a new experience for me.... They bought the net few days ago, and we also bought chicken bone to be used as the bait. We set up everything before we realised that the string we had was not long enough... The net wouldn't get till the base. So Elvin and Daniel went out to the convenient store to try and buy some strings... In the end they didn't get it because it was too late already. We decided to join two nets together in order to make the whole thing longer. The first attempt was good... We got a lot of medium size crab but we threw it back to the sea... The crabs have to be of certain size to be able to take back.

It was so cold during the night... we were all the way down the jetty, in the middle of the sea... The sea breeze was so strong and we were all freezing even with our jumper on... Rexson was wearing shorts and slippers and I think he had a hard time too even though he is a Canadian... We went back at about 3am.. and everyone was so tired... We managed to got a few crabs and we put everything in the kitchen and went to bed...

We cooked the crab the following day... Rexson is a good cook... I don't know what they put in the dish but it tasted really nice, and the crabs were really fresh... of course... The whole trip was alright, but we didn't do enough preparation... Probably because this was the first time so we forgot to consider a lot of things... We didn't estimate the length of the string required, we didn't have gloves to put on to tie the chicken bone onto the net, and we didn't check the tide... We waited there for an hour or two for the high tide to come in... Although we got some crabs, the results were not very good... we only managed to get a few... They said it was probably because of the moon... It's harder to catch crabs in a full moon night...anyway, it was really fun despite the cold... and we will be going again...

Easter Break

2005-03-25T14:15:00.000+10:30

I am so glad that it's easter break... not that I celebrate easter, just glad that there are few days holidays.... I had been looking forward to this break. It's been really packed and busy since the start of the semester. The workload is not that heavy, but there are a lot of pre-reading to be done.. Weekends do not seems to be enough for me, because my weekends always flow past really fast.

I need to do more reading on biology. We had the first tutorial for human biology last week, and it came out to be the scariest. Well, I don't have a strong foundation in human biology, and we were required to complete all the tutorial questions before the class. Apparently I got the most fussy and picky tutor in the school, and I was already feeling the pressure before I go to class. Luckily I am in the college and there are a lot of people who can help me with the questions. I managed to finish them but still not very confident about my answers. Even if I know the answer I wouldn't know how to explain them. It get even worse during the class. The situation became so intense when she walked into the class. I was just afraid that she might call me up and answer the question. I was so nervous throughout the whole class. Luckily nothing happened... and I must study more on biology now...

For the clinic session last tuesday, we looked at dental plaque. In order to do that we were asked not to brush our teeth for two days so that there will be something to see.... The clinic session was quite alright... I was able to learn a lot from it... We also used disclosing solution to stain the plaque and recorded down the location of the plaque. I had some problem controlling the periodontal probe, which is used to check the health of the gum... Overall, it was alright... I got credit for knowing how to use dental floss on the patient.

Have been playing quite a lot of basketball recently... almost every evening... except for yesterday. Sam, the american guy who has the ball went camping, so we played a new game... We tried to play Canadian football... Rexson has the ball and we played 4 on 4... and after that more people join in... I finally understand how they play American football... It was really fun... It's all about teamwork and strategies... The feeling of getting a touchdown and getting the ball in the basket is completely different... It's a team effort and the feeling is just so nice...

Daylight saving is going to start next week... It's gonna get dark early so we can't play that much sport... We used to play basketball till 8pm... when the sky gets dark... Don't think we can do that again next week...

Anyway, easter break... rest plus study..

link to the photos

2005-03-12T14:26:00.000+10:30

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=arjxrak9.aw9jj8ad&x=1&y=-n4xwd4

Week 2 + College Spirit

2005-03-12T13:20:00.000+10:30

This week was an excitng week. Times flew really fast. It was the first week of proper lecture, starting with a lecture in Human Biology. Well, honestly the lecturer is too boring, and I don't really get what she is trying to tell us. And for me who does not have much biology background, I seriously find it a bit hard to cope with. Luckily there will be this extra class on biology for those students who do not have strong biology background. Hopefully that will help. Other than this, the other lectures was pretty interesting. We had Chemistry, the learning system they used in chemistry is a bit different. We were divided into groups and each group is allocated with a topic relating chemistry and dentistry. And each group are required to do some research on their allocated topic and discuss it with the coordinator before they present it to the whole class. That's how we are going to learn all 14 topics. For Dental Health Science, we had Problem based Learning session before the resource session. We were given a scenario and were required to find out all the important points. And after that we were given a group assignment on several topics that are related to the scenario. It's a really new method of learning but I think it will be more effective in this way. WE also have resource session where we learning some basic terminology about the teeth. In Dental Clinical Practice, we learnt about infection control in the clinic, some basic and important procedures and ergonomics.

The fun part of this week is the lab and clinic session. I had my first clinical session on tuesday. I am in a group a two, and we practised on each other teeth. The main objective of this week is to get the right posture and the correct positioning. We played around with two mirror and learnt about different surfaces of the teeth. My tutor also taught us some extra stuffs, such as how to identify restoration on the teeth, demineralisation, etc. It's really fun and interesting. I also had a lab session for DCP, but this was quite boring because it was actually a resource session on ergonomics. I had another lab session on Dental Health Science, we were given the Frasaco teeth model. We had a look at every single tooth and try to identify them according to the special features. It kinda interesting as well learning in a group of two. There were also a lab sessions on Human Biology where we looked at cells using microscope.

Basically we spent most of the time doing practical and group discussion. There are only a few lecture/resource session per week. I prefer this kind of learning because it's more fun and interesting compared to having lecture everyday. It gives you the motivation to learn and help you remember things easily. So far I am doing quite well in DCP and DHS, as well as chemistry, probably because I am really interesting in dental stuffs and have the curiosity to know more. However I do have a bit problem on human biology. I didn't really like biology in high school and that's why I didn't take biology in year 12. I will need to spend more time on it and do more reading. I still have problem memorising all the biological terms but hopefully I can overcome it as soon as possible.

Apart from studying, I am enjoying my life. Not only that, I am leading a very healthy lifestyle. I played basketball almost every evening with other friends from the college. Sometimes I go to gym in the uni after classes. I played soccer with some college friends on friday evening and I went swimming this morning. This was one of the thing that went missing during my stay in Sydney. In fact, it's something that I missed after high school.

The most exciting and interesting part of the week was the intercollege swimming carnival. I didn't participate in the swim but we went there to support our college team. Some of my friends even form a cheerleading team to cheer for the team. There were about 60 of us who went to the carnival, and the atmosphere was really awesome. Our college was the noisiest group with non-stopping cheers. Rexson swam in the competition and he was really good. There was also this guy, Jun Lin. He is a small guy but he is one of the fastest, and I think he was in the Singapore swimming team before. In the end, our college won the trophy by 2 points over Aquinas College. Everyone was so happy, not only the swimmers, but also the cheerleaders and other college people who provided the wonderful vocal support. This is what they called the college spirit, and I really experienced that. This is something that you will never experience if you are not in the college. COLLEGE SPIRIT!

Week 1

2005-03-04T23:04:00.000+10:30

The semester started on Monday, and these are the things that I did throughout the week.

Monday, 28 February 2005

Today was the first day of semester. We were introduced to the problem-based learning method, which is quite new to me. We were divided into groups and are required to work and discuss within our own group. First we started with a brief introduction to all the staffs involved, and an introduction among the group members. For the problem-based learning session, we will be given a situation and required to discuss about the cues, the interpretation, the way of solving it, the problem arose, and the way we respond to the problem. Today we listened to a recorded phone conversation by a dentist with a mother. I had some problem listening to the recorded conversation because it was really muffled. I was not able to write down most of the details of the conversation and had some problem during the discussion. Luckily it was a group discussion and I was able to get some information from other group members. Overall I found this method a good and effective way of learning, it is easier for me to remember all the things that I learned compared to being spoon-fed, but I am still trying to get used to this kind of learning system. I am still lacking of ideas, probably because I am still used to the spoon-feed method. This is one of the things that I hope I can improve on other than my listening ability.
In the afternoon we had a discussion about the group assignment. I was given the task on PBL. We found a lot of information from the internet as well as the displayed poster in the conference room. I was still having problem organizing the key points, because my brain was not functioning at the highest level. I need to catch up as soon as possible.

Tuesday, 1 March 2005

We continued with the problem given on the first day of the problem-based learning. This time we were given more information about the situations. The same methods were carried out to look for significant information, discuss it in the group and with the facilitator. We looked deeper into the situation and sorted out some of the knowledge required to deal with the situation in the problem. I thought I did better than yesterday, because I get a hand on more information and were able to list and group them up. However, I am still having problem participating in the discussion. Even though I was able to give a few ideas, but I thought that was not good enough. One of the factors might be the lack of knowledge in certain areas. We talked about the field that we will come across when dealing with Daniel’s situation, and it involved a lot of biological knowledge. This is one of my weakest areas because I have not done biology for two years. I will need to do more reading and improve on my biology area in order to familiarize myself and get involved in the discussion.
We had another discussion about the group assignment. Basically all the work has been completed. I only found out about the given website on the information sheet today, and I had done my part using information from other sources. Next time I should read carefully.

Wednesday, 2 March 2005

Today was a short day. I really appreciate that because I know we would not have much free time when all the classes actually start. We gathered in the ADH conference for a session on Communication and Learning. We looked a few slides on learning, and were asked to have a discussion in a group on several issues. “What is learning?” is one of the topics given to us. Well, our group had a pretty simple and short answer. However, the outcomes from other groups were really great, good descriptions and interpretation on what is learning. I felt so embarrassed about my poor vocabulary ability and I told myself to improve on it. Basically the whole session was to give us a general overview about learning, and the main objectives, I thought was to explain the advantages of using problem-based learning method. This method is really a new thing to most of the students in the class, even for me who had done a year of university, it is still a brand new method to me. This whole week is about communication and learning, it is to familiarize ourselves to the PBL system.
At the start of the session, we took a questionnaire about the way we learn. It’s just part of the whole online questionnaire, just to give us a brief knowledge about the way we are used to in learning. I fell into the kinesthetic group, which prefers to have more hands on experience. I thought that was quite true. During my first year of university in Aeronautical Engineering, we had a lot of practical session and I really gain a lot of knowledge by actually touching and feeling the things by hand. I know that there will be a lot of clinical sessions where we can get a lot of hands on experience. I thought that will definitely be interesting and will be really helpful on our learning.

Thursday, 3 March, 2005

The day started off with a lecture in the Mawson Theatre. Professor Townsend talked about some of the important advances in dentistry. It was quite interesting to me because I actually know about some of the technologies, such as dental implants, the management in temporomandibular disorder, etc. Of course there are also a few of them which I never heard before. I realized the importance of keeping in touch with the latest technology in dentistry. Even after you graduated as a dentist, it does not mean that you are done with all the learning and does not have to keep in touch with the new information. It is something that I found really essential especially in the dental and medical field. There will be new diseases, new drugs, and new technology that make things easier for you. This is something that I wish to work on. Stay in touch with the latest technology and always update myself. I believe this will be very useful for me in the future.
In the afternoon we had a session with Ms Vivian Joseph on group learning. It was a quite relaxing sessions and we talked about some important issues in group working and learning. I feel quite bad when she talked about the contributing in a group because I know that I had not been talking much in our group discussions. Anyway I did try to improve on that today and I managed to contribute a few ideas during the small discussion, but I thought that was not good enough. I need to open the lock in my mind and start talking. Hopefully I can do better tomorrow.

Friday, 4 March 2005

We had another PBL session in the morning, in the National Wine Centre. Today’s session was about the learning issues assignment that we did during the week. Basically the group members will give a presentation on their allocated topic and we had discussion about it. I was pretty tired this morning, and everyone seemed to be tired too. After a week of hard work, probably everyone just get a bit tired. I can’t really concentrate at the beginning, but it got better after a while. Because of this, I did not really contribute in the discussion again. Well, that can’t be an excuse though. I think I still need some time to adapt to the new system and get myself to speak up. We were asking to complete a survey in the afternoon, about what we think about PBL, and there was another survey for international students on their problem in language. I basically wrote down all the problems I had, including problem in listening, lack of confidence and some minimal problem in vocabulary and expressing things. I hope I will be able to amend these problems as soon as possible so that it won’t affect much of my learning.

After the PBL sessions in the morning there was a session on assessment criteria. I found out that the assessment method used in this course is really different what I had been through. There are a lot of performance assessments which I thought was really good. In the afternoon there was a talk on forensic odontology. It was really interesting and it caught my attention. I was quite amazed by the method they used in identifying victims or criminal through the dental structure, bite marks etc. I might consider doing that as my fifth year selective. Anyway there is still a long way to go. There was another talk by Professor Townsend in one of the researches in twin. It was quite interesting too and I realized the coverage of dentistry in many areas.

After the first week, everything seems to be alright. The only thing I need to improve on is basically my participation in PBL discussions. Other than that, I am ready for the course.

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After the first week, I feel really good. This is the time when I really enjoy university life. Work up early in the morning for breakfast. Walk to uni with a whole bunch of coursemate rather than walking alone.. went to classes, see different people.. go to gym occasionally, come back to college for dinner, play some basketball after dinner, do some work on the computer, study in the library with the medic students and then go to bed.... I am really enjoying it... Comparing it with staying alone, it is way much better... I got friends for gym and for sports, I got friends around to discuss about schoolwork, I have seniors who can guide and give me some advices. Everything is provided and all you need to worry is just your studies... It's just so nice and I am loving it...

Orientation week

2005-02-25T08:13:00.000+10:30

Orientation week started this week, for both uni and college. The college orientation started on Sunday, when most of the people started to move in to the college. There was a fire alarm early in the morning, it should be a prank, even though the fire engines did come and one of the firemen have to come down and switch off the alarm. It happened twice, I think the firemen must be really pissed off. We had our corridor meeting in the afternoon with all the corridor member and the tutor. Most of the member on my corridor are new students. We had some brief introduction about ourselves and planned some activities for the corridor. After that it was the meeting for the whole building. The building I am staying in is called the KMB building. Basically this meeting is about some safety procedures and the inter-building sports games. There was a formal dinner at 6, when everyone sat down together to have dinner. There were some talks given by the principal and some of the senior members, and introduction to the committees and tutors. At night we had a Quiz Night, where we were divided into groups to have the quiz.

The orientation in the uni started on monday too, I went to the Medical School for a briefing from the dental school, nothing much, a brief introduction to the course, and a tour around the medical school and the Adelaide Dental Hospital. Met a lot of new people too... There was another briefing the next day in the National Wine Centre, which is about 10 minutes walk from the uni..

On Monday night, there was a barn dance in the college... Wasn't planning to join initially, but it was too noisy and I decided to go down to the lawn and have a look. Well, in the end I did join the dance and it's really fun... There was another fire alarm on the next morning again. This time was only to wake us up. They brought all the freshers for a tour in North Adelaide in their pyjamas. It was kind of stupid I thought, we didn't benefit from it, they are the only one who are having fun... anyway..

We had a session called "social interaction" on wednesday, for the dental students. It's kind of an ice-breaking session, and I found it really fun and interesting. First we were divided into groups and get to know everyone in our own group. After that the lecturer show us a piece of work on the overhead project and see if we can recognise the word. It's actually the word "fly", but all the letters are in the same colour as the background colour, so I found it hard to see it... After that, he gave us a short passage, and asked us to count the number of "f" in the passage. All of us were holding the same passage but amazingly there were different answers. The reason is because we mis-counted the "f" in the word "of"... I still couldn't believe that I actually mis counted the "f"s in "of"... it's really interesting. We were given a paper to write down the interesting facts about ourselves and stick it on ourselves. Then we had to walk around the room and meet people... It's really useful I thought, and very interesting because I actually get to meet a lot of people, with different background. After this we had this game called "social bingo". Everyone was given a paper with nine boxes on it. Every box has a features about someone, for example, "someone who hates spinach", "someone who born furthest from Adelaide", etc... and we had to find these person and ask them to sign it. The first person who got all nine boxes signed is the winner... It really fun.. and I thought I gained a lot from this ice-breaking thing, it really helps and it's not stupid at all... hehe...

In the afternoon, all the first year dental students has to get their teeth checked by the second year dental students... They were assisted by one real dentist. It's just basically looking at the status of every teeth, checking for fillings and stuffs like that... The two students that done the checkup for me had some problem identifying the fillings I had, but that's part of their learning and I will have to do it next year...

It was pub night on wednesday, almost all the students from the college went down to the pub on Melbourne street. Basically it's just a gathering for all the college students after a week of hard work... It was the first pub night of the year... They were having a boat race, where two teams of 6 person battled to finish a cup of beer each in the shortest time... I didn't join, but I enjoyed watching it...

Overall, it's pretty fun and interesting. I can see very clearly the difference of college life, it's really happening.. and I am really excited and looking forward to the start of the classes next week.

Orientation week

2005-02-25T08:12:00.000+10:30

Getting used to everything

2005-02-19T13:43:00.000+10:30

It's been almost a week in Lincoln College. I had been getting used to everything in the college.. It's pretty good and this makes everything easy and familiar to me before the start of the uni. I went for the enrolment of the dental school on thursday. Basically I had done the enrolment online, just wanted to make sure that I had done the right thing. Saw quite a few people doing dentistry, most of them are from Malaysia and there are a few of them who are staying in Lincoln College as well. I met this girl from Kluang, surprisingly. She is Wai Chia's friend, and Wai Chia actually told her about me before this..

I signed up for the gym in Uni. Think I gonna spend some time in the gym, part of the plan to lead a healthy lifestyle. Besides that, there are people going together with me. Rexson the Canadian guy is one of the expert in doing fitness exercise, can tell from his muscular body. And Daniel, a third year dentistry student from Singapore, he goes with us sometimes. Even before the start of all the sports activities in the uni, I am already having a very healthy lifestyle. We went swimming too, this morning was our second visit to the pool which is about 10 minutes walk from the College.. It's quite relaxing... We do play some table tennis too... Probably that's the good thing staying in the college, there are lots of people around to be your company, especially in doing some sports.

Went for a trip in Victor harbour. It's a trip organised by the international office. Victor Harbour is about one and a half hour drive from the city... We went there by bus, a very big group of all the international student. We went to this wildlife park where we can see a lot of Australian animals, such as Koala, kangaroo, wallabies, wombat, etc... it's not a new thing for me because I had been to this similar park in Sydney last night... Anyway, it's quite funny because the kangaroos will be following you asking for food... Rexson was having his sandwich while walking through the park, and the kangaroos kept following him, one of them is about his shoulder height when it stood up...

It wasn't a wonderful trip because it was raining yesterday.. When we reached Victor Harbour we went into the Subway for shelter... It stopped after a while, but it's not that nice to walk around. Anyway, we strolled around the harbour... There is an island off the coast, which is connected to the land by a long bridge. It really cold when we walk across the bridge, because of the strong breeze on the middle of the sea... There's actually nothing special on the island, they do have penguins, but they only show up at night. Overall, it's not a good and enjoying trip, one thing is the long travel time, and the things weren't that interesting to me too...

Orientation is going to start next week.. looking forward to it...

Adelaide

2005-02-14T23:45:00.000+10:30

Everything went well on the first day in Adelaide. We got to the airport on time, checked in my baggage successfully, they only charge me for 2 extra baggage instead of 3. And they took good care on the CPU.. After that we went for breakfast... I was actually late for departure, I didn't really hear the announcement and I thought it's still early... but when we were walking towards the departure gate, the staff was actually paging me... I was kinda surprise when I heard my name in the announcement, but nothing unwanted happened.

Arrived safely in Adelaideafter a 2 hours flight, the guy from the international office was waiting for me at the arrival hall... I got all 6 of my baggage and we were off to the city... There were two other students as well, one really tall American guy and another girl from Singapore... The guy from the International Office showed us along the way, and he drove us to the university and pointed out some of the important buildings to us... After that he dropped us at our residential places. He first dropped the American guy at St Mark's College before sending me to Lincoln College. I was given my key from one of the duty tutor and got access to my own room. Well, obviously there wasn't anyone around that time and I have to carried all my bags on my own, and I did it in three trips.

Went for brunch after that... met a few people around... there was Gan, a guy from Klang who is a really nice and helpful guy doing Engineering. Tze Ling, from PJ doing final year Pharmacy. Ruben, from KL doing 3rd year dentistry and a lot more people... during the brunch hour... after that I took a walk to the uni, it's about 15 minutes... from the uni I went across the road to Rundle Mall, which is probably the most popular spot in Adelaide... I bought some needed stuffs and walked back to the College.. Unpacked my stuffs and positioned them... I was able to finish it on time.... Had dinner at about 6 and after that I was in my room getting ready for the next day..

There are quite a lot of Malaysian and Singaporean in the College, more than I expected. ANyway, I really love it... on the first day

Woke up pretty early this morning, went for breakfast at 7.30am... Met this Hong Kong-Canadian guy Rexton (not really sure how to spell his name, but this is the way we pronounce it), he is doing medicine... and two Singaporeans Elvin and Wee Keat... I walked to uni for the welcome briefing after breakfast, Caitlin, a Canadian exchange student join me because she said she didn't really know the way.. So we went together, to the welcome briefing, and the campus tour... it's pretty informative but it kinda long... Anyway I got back to college at almost 12... Met Rexton and this Indian Australian guy who is doing third year dentistry.. can't really remember his name, he is from Sydney and he is in the college as well...

There are also a lot of Dentistry students in the college... there's actually a good thing...

I joined Rexton, Elvin and Wee Keat to Glenelg Beach in the afternoon... there were saying to get some sun today, because it was a hot day... up to 38 degrees but I thought that wasn't too bad... We had a great time on the beach, Rexton showed us how to play Canadian football and we actually went down to the water... quite fun and I had a long chat with Rexton on the way back.. He is a decent guy, he is 25... already completed an Engineering degree... and this might be interesting to Sis, he was actually doing a course in the University of Western Ontario from September till December... exactly the same semester when sis went for exchange...

WE came back about 5.30pm... took a shower and had my dinner... after that I join Rexton and Elvin doing some reading in the AIR-CONDITIONED library... hehe... they said it really hot... anyway, they slept halfway and I joined Gan, Luke and Judian the Frenchman playing basketball... it's pretty tiring and I took another shower after that.. WEnt back to the library... sat there for a while and I got back to the room to set up my network and internet... watched tv for w hile in the common room and I am back here doing my enrolment...

That's all I have been doing during the first two days... it's been really fun and interesting... It's really good to stay in a College because you can get to know a lot more people... really really great and I believe I will have a great time here... in fact I am having a good time...

A brand new start of the journey to the future

2005-02-12T21:57:00.000+10:30

In 10 hours time, I will be departing Sydney in a Qantas' Boeing 737 aircraft to Adelaide. My life in Sydney will come to an end, at least in the next 5 years, but it will mark a brand new start in Adelaide. New life, new course, new university, new people, new surrounding... Everything will have to start from the beginning.

I finished packing my stuffs last night. It took me quite a long time to try to fit everything into 4 bags. Two big ones and another two small bags, in addition to that, another two boxes containing the CPU and the LCD monitor. That's all I can bring with me, 1 free check in baggage, 3 extra bags costing $11 each, and two carry on luggage. It wasn't easy packing up stuffs, in fact it took me very long to finally get everything in. Anyway, I am still wondering how am I going to carry everything on my own. Well I guess it won't be a problem in the airport, because there are trollery and someone from the international office of the university will come and pick me up at the airport, for free. But the problem is to carry everything into the hostel.. will figure it out later.

Went Yum Cha this morning with Si Yi's family and Wu Yi at Carlingford. Came back after that and I stayed at home till we went for dinner just now... Didn't really go out today because most of my friends are not back yet and some of them have to go to work... Anyway, already met up with Dick and Bernard the other day...

Well, I am leaving tomorrow, and I am going to start my own new life all by myself, no relatives around me, and no friends except Jia Qi.. But it will be a big challenge for me, and I am looking forward to it... It is something that I really love to do, and all the obstacles that appear in front of me will not be able to stop me from pursuing my dream. I have two weeks before the semester starts, and I wish i could get myself into the studying mood as soon as possible... It is something that i am looking forward to do and i am gonna give my very best to strike for glory... haha...

Actually I don't really know how am I feeling at this moment. I will be sleeping on a different place tomorrow and I had never even seen that place before, but i believe I will enjoy my stay in the residential college.. but definitely I am going to miss Sydney... it has been a wonderful place and I enjoyed every moment of my stay in Si Yi's place... I am gonna miss Si Yi, Wu Yi, KK and Evelyn... gonna miss my friends, Jason, Dick, Bernard, Andrea.... everyone... and everything here... and yeah the chicken shop.. It's been really awesome... and I will come back... definitely..

Tomorrow will be a brand new start of the journey to the future..

A totally different Chinese New Year

2005-02-09T21:37:00.000+10:30

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year... Nothing special... I woke up late in the morning, took a shower and had my lunch at KFC... I was at Dick's place last night... I came home at 1pm... took a rest a read my book... Went to work at 4pm and came back at 9pm...

At this time of the year, normally I will be in Kota Tinggi, with my family, my grandma, and other relatives... Everyone will be back during Chinese New Year... it becomes more and more precious since most of my cousins are already studying or even working in other places... Didn't get much chance to see them thoughout the year.... And because I am studying in Australia, only go back once a year, so Chinese New Year might be the only time for all of us to gather around.. We go back every Chinese New Year, except last year when our family came to Sydney where we held our family gathering with all the relatives on my mum's side...

It was pretty different this year... I am in Sydney by myself, with Si Yi's family and Wu Yi... We will be having our reunion dinner on Saturday.. so I went out with Dick last night... He was all by himself so I decided to accompany him... Although there were only the two of us, it's still better than nothing... We were walking in Chinatown last night... there weren't many people on the street and obviously you can't get that kind of festive feeling... There's this small shop which only own half of the unit selling decorating stuffs and were playing Chinese New Year songs... but it's not big enough to have an impact... However, all the big chinese restaurant were full... and there were lion dancing performances in those restaurant... I looked into the restaurant and I actually saw quite a lot of Caucasian.. and some of the performers of the lion dancing are actually caucasian as well...

We had dinner at this small taiwanese restaurant...After that, we walked through the main street of Chinatown, Dixon Street, wondering if there is any celebration... well, as I said, all the Chinese restaurants were full... but it's quite disappointing because there wasn't any celebration, or special event going on... There was some performances last year... but not this time.. and there isn't many people around... Probably because it's a school day... After that we went back... Dick made a call back to Malaysia... I actually call home before we went out, and they were preparing for reunion dinner... It's really quiet, only the two of us.. It would be better if there are more people with us... We went to Karaoke at night... nothing special... that's what we do on the day before Chinese New Year.... Both of us have work the following day... didn't stay up till late...

I was forced to come back... and after coming back I found out that all my initial worries were actually nothing... been feeling really sad and a bit regret... Sad because I can't be with my family on this important day... regret because I should have make everything clear in the first place... All is said and done... Look forward to the next Chinese New Year... I told grandma I will be back celebrating with her...

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Got back to work

2005-02-06T21:30:00.000+10:30

These two days went past in similar fashion... I did the same thing for in both days... Woke up late in the morning.... took my breakfast (two boiled eggs)... took a shower and off to work... at 12pm.... Came back at about 9, shower, internet, sleep... it's the same story...

Things went pretty smoothly the first day I went back to work.... I thought I will be in a mess but I didn't... hehe... well, most of the old staffs that I work with are not working at the shop anymore... Some went back to their hometown, and some found better job and left... So there are quite a lot of new faces now... There was this 16 years old Chinese boy, Matthew... he is quite an interesting lad, but just a little too noisy... kept talking and disturbing people... He was kinda challenging me because the boss told him that I work really fast... so he was trying to see actually how fast I am.... hehe...

Well, I will be working for the next few days.... Feeling a little weird having to work on CNY... but as what my boss was saying, he never really celebrate CNY since he came to Australia... because it is not one of the big festive events in this country... Although there are a lot of Chinese in Sydney, but everyone get theirselves into the local culture and no one really care about it... To some people who own a shop, or someone who work as a casual worker, taking a day off means no income for the day... I might as well get myself into the culture and do something more practical... rather than give myself a day off and hanging around on my own... Seriously, in Australia you won't be having even a tiny bit of festive mood... a festive event is can be called a festive event when there are actually "people" celebrating it... Anyway, I will still have dinner together with friends and hang out with them after work... Still, as a CHINESE, Chinese New Year is still one of the most important event....

If I could find out about this earlier

2005-02-04T21:42:00.000+10:30

I started working on my visa the following day after my arrival... That's the main reason I am back so early, not even celebrating CNY at home.. Woke up quite late in the morning, probably I haven't really adjust my time so I am still feeling tired all the time... By the way, I walked out of the house and catch a bus to the train station... It was really different from the situation at home... I don't even need to walk when I was in Malaysia, just kept driving around... Well, I knew I will have to walk for the next few years...

The situation of my visa was really confusing.. I went to the immigration office that day, waited for more than half an hour for my turn, made my enquiries, took the forms and was told to call in to make an appointment for an interview... I called in the next morning, requested for an interview but was told by one of the operator I have to apply for a new one... After I hang up the phone I kept thinking back... I called back again... This time the other lady told me that I do not have to apply for a new one, I only have to fill in a form saying I am changing uni and do all of this online... So I went online, followed all the step and in the end it came out telling me that I am not suppose to apply online in my situation... And I called back again... This time it was a guy... he sounded quite confident, telling me I have to apply for a new one, redo my medical checkup and even gave me the number for medical checkup appointment... but when he found out that I am going to change to Adelaide, he gave me another number which is in Adelaide and asked me to do everything when I arrived in Adelaide... In the afternoon I went to the office again in the city, this time I was told that I do not have to do anything, wait till my visa expire and apply for an extension...

I discussed with Si Yi and she actually call the office too... The same guy answer her call and told her the same thing he told me... While we were trying to figure a way out, San Yi called and she said she will ask her colleague in the immigration office... and I will go to the Parramatta office to check it out again... This time was better... probably because the office in Parramatta is not that crowded... The lady was really helpful, she told me to fill a form for a change of uni, and call using the phones provided in the office... So I called, to book my appointment... I was directed to the man in charge of this, and almost booked my appointment... But he corrected me on the last minute, telling me not to do this... ALL I NEED TO DO is to send my new COE to the office and apply for an extension when my visa is going to expire... and he is VERY VERY sure about it... So I trust him... and this is the easiest and cheapest way... hehe...

If I could find out about this earlier... I would still be staying in Malaysia, having dinner with my family, seeing friends who is coming back for holidays... get myself into the festive mood, ready to celebrate Chinese New Year.... but what could I do... things are said and done, cannot be changed...

Back from vacation

2005-02-02T17:32:00.000+10:30

I haven't been posting many messages since I went back to Malaysia for my summer... People has been saying that my blog hasn't have much changes throughout the past few weeks... Well, there is some problem with the internet explorer at home, I can't really post a message in this webpage...

Anyway, I am back in Sydney again... after a long 8 hours flight.. Dad drove us to Changi Airport 2am in the morning, so that we could avoid the traffic jam... Arrived at the airport at 4am, we slept on the car... Mum and I went to check in my luggage at about 7am... luckily my baggage was within the baggage allowance... Had breakfast with mum at one of the cafe in the airport... Sis came at 8am.... Bid farewell, and I was off....

The flight was delayed during departure... it was late for about 20 minutes... Once the plane took off, everything was okay... I was pretty tired so I slept for quite long.... one reason is also because of the movies shown on the plane didn't really impress me at all... Compared to the last flight I took from Sydney to Singapore, the entertainment program suited me more... It was a British Airways' plane, and they showed football... haha... This time it was a Qantas flight... The flight had been a pretty long one for me, although it's only about 8 hours...

The weather in Sydney wasn't really good last night... We experienced some turbulence before we land... I was feeling quite terrible, probably because I was quite full after they served the refreshments... I was trying not to look around so that I can feel better, trying to avoid myself from vomiting... I thought I will stop suffering soon because the plane was going to land... As the plane approached the runway, I heard the sound of the engine was getting louder... and all of a sudden, I felt that we were climbing up again... "OH SHIT" was what I said... Then the captain told us that the plane experienced some turbulence near the runway... I am not sure what was happening actually, didn't really hear what he was saying.... so we had to try to land again... haha.. seriously I was feeling terrible... when it finally landed safely, everyone were clapping their hands, kinda relieved I guess...

It was 40 minutes late when it landed... Si Yi and Wu Yi had already arrived... I walked quickly toward the immigration... there was a really long queue but I was lucky get throught pretty early... However it took me ages to claim my baggage... and after that I have to join the queue to declare some of the goods that I brought... I came out at 9.10pm... almost 2 hours after the scheduled time of arrival...

I was feeling quite different compared to last year when I first came to Sydney... Last year was feeling better because a lot of my relatives were here with me so I didn't feel that "sad".... This time, I admit, I am quite sad.... I miss my family....

Looking forward to the next challenge

2005-01-17T18:06:00.000+10:30

I was at home doing some house chores for the past few days... Nowhere to go actually... Well, I was just thinking that I might be able to help mum and dad with some of the chores before I fly back to Sydney...

During the past few weeks, I had been pretty busy with some troublesome, but have-to-be-done work. From my application to Lincoln College, Enquiries about the important dates in the university, checking the status of my visa, and of course the changing of my flight ticket. Calling people, email, surfed the net...etc.. I am really glad that everything have been completed. Honestly I am pretty annoyed doing these kind of things, although I do not have a choice. All I wish is to get everything done as soon as possible and try to concentrate in my new uni life.

There are still certain things to be done... I have only two weeks left in Malaysia, but I will have to go to KL and sort out things regarding to the loan that I am going to apply for. Didn't get to do it the last time I went to KL because the forms wasn't out yet... And I was thinking to go to Kota Tinggi to visit my grandma.. It will be the second consecutive year where I am not celebrating Chinese New Year with her... Hope to spend some time with her before I go...

Went to my previous secondary school today. Talked to a few teachers, including the advisor of the Prefect Board, Mrs Rahimah.. She had been really important and influential in my secondary school life, and she was the one who appointed me as the Head Prefect. Besides that, talked to several other teachers as well.. It's been really great to go back to your old school, spending time talking to some of the teachers...

It's still quite boring back here.... I am looking forward to the start of university... Looking forward to the next challenge...

An Early return

2005-01-14T02:05:00.000+10:30

I have been busy with things in Adelaide for the past few days... Had been calling to ask about my visa status, and to change my flight. It gave me a big fright at the beginning, when I called my agent in Sydney to ask for a change, they told me there is no seat from 20 Jan till 12 feb... I called the local British Airways office after that and they told me the same story... I thought about two alternatives, one is to book a new ticket, and to get my visa done in malaysia...

Well, mum asked me to go back to the travel agency, who told us there are heaps of seats available the day before... I went back to her, and she tried her best to help me, in the end, she was able to put me on a Qantas flight... Qantas is sharing code with British Airways, so i will be able to do that... Luckily... I will be going back on 1 Feb....

However, I have to get my ticket re-issued in the Singapore office.. So i went to Singapore today, took the morning train, it's really slow... arrived at almost 12pm... Sis came to pick me up... We went to Orchard, where the office is... They were very kind, unlike the person who talked to me on the phone few days ago... Oh yeah, and the lady in the KL Australian High Commission, I really can't stand her attitude... anyway, i think there was some problem at the beginning, they seemed unable to find some of my details, but in the end everything was fine... and I got my ticket.... After that we went for lunch, and went back to Kluang in the afternoon....

I also booked my flight ticket from Sydney to Adelaide... Flying with Qantas on the 13 Feb... Well, have to go back early, can't celebrate CNY in malaysia, this will be the first time i am not celebrating with my family... it wasn't too bad, luckily Si Yi and the rest will be with me.... I can see that mum is not very happy with it... I have no choice... sometimes, I have to know what is more important to be done... I wish I could stay a bit longer for CNY, but I really can't do that...

Visa and Interview

2005-01-10T18:33:00.000+10:30

Another monday afternoon. A start of a new week.. Sent sis to the train station just now, she was going back to Singapore... I was planning to go to JB today, with KC, TL and Shirley, but I cancelled the plan at the last minute. Because there are something for me to be done, and there seems to be causing some inconvenience to mum and sis, because I would not be able to send sis to the station and mum might not be able to get out from school.. Well, I might just be the one who sacrifice, since it's not that important, and I can always go some other day.. anywayl, I am pretty boring now seriously... really didn't know what to do, maybe I will consider going back a little earlier, since i may have to spend a few days to get my visa done.

Just got an email from Sanyi, telling me about the things I need to do on my visa. Well, what I heard from the Sydney office is that i do not have to apply for a new visa, but what the Aus high commission in KL told me is that I have to apply for a new one. Well, and just now Sanyi said that i will have to apply for a new one, paying $500 application fees and probably do a medical checkup. It would probably be better if I apply it in Australia because things might be more direct and quicker, I suppose. And the officer in the KL office wasn't really sure about my situation, so... I haven't decide yet.

I just got a bad news from one of my friends in Sydney, she met an accident. I felt bad because the accident happened when she was on her way to the airport to send me off about a month ago. I was wondering why didn't she turn up in the airport, when she already promise to see me at the airport. Before this i was guessing, but now everything seems to be very clear, and seriously I don't feel good...

I still haven't make up my mind on when to go back to Sydney. Mum was asking me to stay till CNY, but the situation now make it quite impossible. Probably I have to get the more important thing done first. Anyway, have an interview tomorrow morning with the principal of Lincoln College. It's a telephone interview and i will have to call them... Seriously I can't really make up my mind whether to stay in the residential college or just rent a place in the city.. It might be more expensive staying in the RC.. but I will get to experience the real college life... We will see how it goes, just do well in the interview first and we will get to decide which will be the better option.

She is back

2005-01-07T01:10:00.000+10:30

It was supposed to be a big surprise for mum and dad, but in the end, due to certain unexpected reason, it didn't work out.

Few weeks ago, sis told me on the phone that she will be coming back to Malaysia probably few days before the actual day, which is tomorrow, and she asked me not to tell mum and dad. Well, I made my own plan, trying to hide everything away from them and hoping everything will turn out as expected.

I set off to KL on monday, even though i was kinda busy with the application of the residential college and I have to ask dad to send the form for me. Mum was telling me not to go before I get everything done, but well, I have a plan. I checked the timetable of the train before I went there.

Everything went according to my initial plan at the beginning, I arrived in KL on monday morning, went to meet up with my friends, and we watched a football match at the Bukit Jalil stadium. The second day, went out with another friend before Sing Chew, vagnet and I set off to Nilai to meet some of our friends in Inti College. It was part of my plan to stay a night there and go to the airport the following day, because Nilai is near to KLIA. Anyway, things changes after i receive a phone call from sis, she told me her flight from Vancouver was forced to land in Japan instead of Korea due to certain reason, and she will be staying a night in Japan. On the next morning she will take a flight from Japan to Korea to catch her flight to Malaysia. However, she will not be able to reach Korea on time to catch her flight back to Malaysia. That's the main turning point of the whole incident, she was forced to catch a later flight and we can't carry out the initial plan.

Our initial plan was to take a train back to Kluang at night, but because she will only arrived at 10.30pm, we have a problem going back. I thought of a few alternatives, to stay a night in the hotel and go back the following day, or to take a cab back. After deeper thoughts, I don't think these two solutions are not very appropriate, so I decided to tell mum and dad and asked them to fetch us at the airport. I called dad, he was kinda surprise to hear that i guess. It's a little hard for them because they have to go to work early in the morning, but in the end, they came.

I was watching the movie "The Aviator" with Vagnet before we took our dinner. He dropped me at the nearest LRT station in Kerinchi. I travel to KL sentral to take the KLIA express to the airport. It costs me RM35.

She came out at 11pm, and as soon as she was out from the terminal, mum called telling me that they already arrived at the airport. We drove home...

The whole didn't turn out according to our plan, but the more important thing is, she is back.

One month in Malaysia

2005-01-05T05:52:00.000+10:30

It's been almost a month since I was back in Malaysia... well, till now I have seen most of my friends in Kluang... hanging around, going out together... that's what I have been doing for the past few weeks... now most of them are already working, and some of them have gone back to study... guess the next few weeks will be pretty boring...

Normally during Christmas and New Year eve, all of us (my friends) will be gathering together... This year... last year I suppose, it was different from previous years... there were only a few of us celebrating... Like what Shirley always said, we hardly have a chance to have all of us gathered together... Anyway, we didn't really celebrate... Seriously it was quite boring... I didn't really feel like going to the city, taking part into one of the celebration going on in town... well, every year is the same, it's just a beginning of a brand new year, nothing special to celebrate... probably it's just one of the excuses to be able to go out with friends...

One month went past pretty quickly, there is still a month to go... I am in KL now... visiting my friends from Taylors'... Arrived yesterday morning... I went to Sunway pyramid to catch up with Andrea, a friend of mine in Sydney... I might not be seeing her in most probably the next whole year since I will be transferring to Adelaide... btw, I haven't really decide when to go back to Australia yet... People have been asking me this question, but all I can say is February... I am suppose to go back before the orientation starts, which is on Feb 7... it's before Chinese new Year... what I am thinking is to go back few days after CNY, which mean I will be missing some of the orientation... I don't think it is something very important that i must attend, they probably just show us around the campus and the city of Adelaide... I rather spend time with my family and friends during the festive season...

There is still a lot of things to be done before I go back to Australia... I haven really found my accomodation in Adelaide... I was trying to apply for a room in the residential college, but it's probably a little late at this period... and it's really troublesome, have to get a testimonial, answer some question and take an interview... If I can't get it, I don't think I can... I will be renting a place outside the campus.. most probably in the city...

Anyway, I stayed in Vagnet's place last night, in Subang, the place where I spent for my college life... it has all the wonderful memories in college... There is still a few friends that I haven't got a chance to see them... because it's been in a hurry for this trip, there are something else to be done first... probably I will see them the next time... in few weeks time, before I go back to Australia..

I guess tomorrow will be a surprising day...

Update

2004-12-29T18:44:00.000+10:30

It's been almost three weeks since I arrived in Singapore... Haven't really got a chance to post any message due to several reasons... btw... everything's fine... and there will be more to come.. This blog won't die... haha

Pre-departure

2004-12-06T23:11:00.000+10:30

It has been a tiring day, but I am quite excited now.... I went to the Chicken Shop this morning, to inform Peter that I will be moving to Adelaide next year and won't be working for him anymore... He was happy for me, to get into an area with a very promising future... On the other hand, he told me he will miss my service... telling me I was one of his best employee... I was glad to hear that, I wouldn't want to leave if I could, but this time it is too important for me to go... Otherwise I would have stay there... It's not a bad job, although we only get a slightly below average pay, I enjoy working there... That's one of the reason why I didn't look for another better job provided the experience that I already got from there...

Anyway, went to the city after that... I took a train, and I made this mistake which I never done before throughout the whole year.. I forgot to buy a ticket... I only realise it when I go on the train... Quickly get off at North Strathfield, where there is no ticket slot machine in the station, so I would be fine to walk out the station without a ticket... After that I walked to Strathfield station, because I will have to wait for half an hour at North Strathfield for the next train. Anyway, took a lot of wrong turns and I ended up in Strathfield 40 minutes later... Doesn't matter, another experience...

I went to the immigration office, to ask about the changing off my visa... Everything will be fine, I only need a release letter from Sydney Uni and a Confirmation of Enrolment from Adelaide Uni... Next I was in the IDP office, paid the deposit, handed in every single document they need... and I have secure a place in dentistry... Quite happy... Next thing I do is to go to the uni, to the student centre to request for my academic transcript to be sent to IDP, in order for them to submit to UWA... well, I might not accept the offer from UWA anymore, but like what Si Jiu said, always keep you option open... no harm to have another choice...

After that, went around the city to buy some stuffs to bring back home... Didn't really know what to buy though... and I went to the bookstore as well... sat there and read a magazine... Wanted to buy a book to read, but didn't really know what to buy... I bought the autobiography of Roy Keane last week... and I had finish reading it... pretty fast for me... Anyway, was thinking to buy the "Da Vinci Code", but didn't really know what it is like, I afraid that I might not like it...

At night we went for dinner together in this modern Australian restaurant in Top Ryde. We picked up Wu Yi from work at IKEA before we went there... It was quite nice... I had a Steak Diane... marvellous! Went to woolworths after that to buy some chocolate... they don't have much option so I might go to the other chocolate shops in the city tomorrow...

Well, I am getting excited... In 24 hours time, the BA 16 Boeing 747-400 will be landing in Singapore Changi Airport...

Mixed feelings

2004-12-06T00:36:00.000+10:30

I was flying! I still couldn't believe that I am actually going to be a dentist, in 5 years time..(hopefully) hehe.. It's really a dream come true... I wasn't really confident that I will get in this time... I was just giving a try, that's what I thought all the time... Now, when everything became real, I just don't get used to it.. I am still trying to convince myself that I actually got into the course... It's really wonderful! I was so excited throughout the day... It's been really unexpected... I was suppose to be checking my uni results, before I go to sleep, in the morning after arriving from Perth... I was really really tired, especially on the train back to West Ryde. I forced myself not to fall asleep, otherwise I would be going straight to Hornsby, which is the last station of the route. After seeing that letter, I just got too happy and too excited that I hardly fall asleep... Anyway I did slept for while, for less than 50 minutes before sis called me from Canada... I left a message on her MSN and she must had gone back after catching her bus... haha.. Talked for few minutes, I wanted to go back to sleep but I couldn't.. so I took a shower and went out...

Went to Dick's place, he just got back from a job interview.. I am glad that he got a job, which is good.. I waited for him to accompany me for lunch, while he was making soup for his girlfriend... I was telling him there won't be much chance for us to have lunch together in the future, because I am going to the beautiful Adelaide.. haha... The whole day belonged to me, as well as today.. I was the man who make the decision.. I slept for a while in the evening before being awaken by another phone call... Anyway, I went to dinner with Jason, and the there of us went to the usual club at night... Watched a football match, the annoying Chelsea spoiled my lovely evening when they hitted the net four times against Newscastle... haha.. just joking... Went back at 2am... had a taste of the soup that Dick made before I go to bed...

Woke up pretty late today... I had more than enough rest... We went to Fish Market, that's my idea, we cancelled the trip to the beach, with the reason "nothing much to do at the beach" and "the weather forecast said that it will be raining today".. In fact, today was a sunny day... We had a seafood plate, half a lobster and a whole grilled barramundi... It was so nice... After that we went for a movie... didn't really know what to watch actually... but they suggested this, and I have no problem with it... They have been working for 6 days and today is their off day... really like to relax... and one more thing that they said, after I go back, they might not have the chance to spend money, as there will only be the two of us, not much fun... We watched "The Grudge".. it's a horror movie which I think is based on a Japanese horror movie "Ju-On".. Btw, not very nice... I thought.

I have mixed feeling. I am happy, very happy to get the offer, but on the hand, there are a lot of things that I have to sacrifice... Well, I love Sydney, I love the city.. I actually thought about this before, getting into dentistry means that I will be leaving this beautiful city... I couldn't imagine how is it like to be leaving Sydney next year... I have been getting used to the life in Sydney... I am feeling very comfortable.. Everywhere is so accessible even without a car. The place, the people and of course my beautiful University of Sydney... I will definitely miss those days in uni, miss the lunch sessions in Wentworth, lectures in the PNR building, Maths tutorials in Carslaw, the Aeronautical Engineering workshops, badminton in HK Gymnasium...etc..etc... I will be moving from Camperdown campus, to the North Terrace campus... from the Jabiru 400 to dental implants... from Flight Level 370 to Ceramic Reconstruction. I told myself, I will come back to Sydney...

And of course, I will miss my friends... I had make a lot of friends in Sydney, and some of them have been really really good friends... Jason and Dick was my coursemates... Both of them are from Seremban... We got on well, probably because of the similar background, similar culture that we share... Being Malaysian, we have more things to share, more things to talk about... We speak the same language, being with them makes me feel comfortable, feel home... We hang out together most of the time... Mostly during the second semester... Didn't know Dick that well till the end of first semester... We see each other almost everyday, in uni, in lectures, tutorials, workshop, and we had lunch together... my timetable for second semester was exactly the same as Jason's.. We talked about everything, from the toughness of the assignment on Figure of Merit, to the dream of building a satelite in the future... They have been really helpful, they have strongest base in mathematics and I always seek for their help... they have been really great, although they are not that passionate about football as I do, they will still be my company during football matches... wonder if I will find someone who will go for matches with me in Adelaide... I will be missing them... a lot... and also Andrea, who is also with us most of the time... well, I knew this will happen if I got the offer, but it came too quick that I am still not ready to face it yet... anyway, I will get used to it... Jason's number will not be the most frequently dialed number in my mobile phone bill anymore...

Anyway, this will have to happen, sooner or later... it's something that everyone have to face throughout their life... you have to keep on changing, keep on moving, improving... to be better... I am improving, changing to a field that will promise a better future... at the same time I will have to sacrifice... Understand which will be more important, which one will be the main priority... and in this case, of course, my future is my priority.. I have to think what will be the best for myself... choosing dentistry is not only for myself... Apart from doing this for my own future, I am also doing this for my family... For my parents, who put in a lot of effort to send me to Australia, bearing all those criticism... I swear I will repay them for all their love... I won't let them down, and in the future I want to give them everything that I can; For my sister, who missed an opportunity to study dentistry... She has been unlucky to be the first child in the family, without any experience, she might not have chosen the best... but for me, thanks to her, my parents know which is good, which is not... She deserved a lot better than I do... for her, I will work really hard; For my youngest brother, he has to face the pressure of the results shown by his brother and sister... He is smart enough, I think... and I remembered what sis told me before, we have to send him to study overseas.. I will send him to study in overseas...

It's a chance of a lifetime, if I miss it, there might not be a second chance... I will definitely regret... I almost regret for picking up SAM instead of A level, now it proved that I haven't go on the wrong route, I must now let myself regret for the second time... I hate starting everything all over again... Once I got into something, I am in it and I don't want to change... It happened when I took SAM, refuse to change to STPM or A level... but now, I have to change, don want to, but have to start it again... It will be a brand new adventure, I will face it, for my future, and my family... and my dream....

A dream come true

2004-12-04T08:43:00.000+10:30

At last I am back in Sydney, the return flight from Perth to Sydney only takes approximately 4 hours, one hour faster, probably because it is flying in the direction of the wind... Anyway, didn't have much sleep on the plane, don know why, just can't get into sleep... I woke up 20 minutes before landing, observing the movements of the flaps of the aircraft as it landed... Have been watching this for several times, I had been travelling a lot around Australia within the past few months... The first trip was to Darwin, to work at Si Jiu's place, then to Adelaide for the PQA, Darwin again for Si Jiu's wedding, Adelaide again for the interview and now, Perth for an interview...

Basically every trip was about dentistry... trying hard to get into dentistry... I felt pretty good for the first few ones, but this particular one to Perth, I felt that i had wasted all the effort... effort as in money... Well, I didn't really prepare for the interview, as I said... And definitely I didn't do well in the interview... Compared to the one I did in Adelaide I felt that I totally lost the self confidence that I had while I was facing the panel... Their questions were kind of expected, but I actually refuse to expect it to be asked before the interview... Probably I was a bit over confident to myself before the interview... I really had a hard time during the whole session, struggling to get the response that they were looking for... I was wondering what's happening to me... I couldn't really give them a good reply, I thought. After the interview, I felt that everything is over, I will never study in Perth... that's what I thought... it had been really crappy..

After all, it was still an unexpected trip... I didn't really expect to get a chance to go for an interview in Perth... I have stronger chance in Adelaide... I thought I did well, precisely, I was slightly above average, that's what I thought... I was having a lot of confidence, while I was talking to the panel, I have no doubt about the interview, I was almost sure that I can pass it... The only worry was my results... my second semester results, which I think will not be that excellent... This few days will be critical, waiting anxiously for my results to be released.

I said, the only worry "WAS" my results, meaning it is no longer a worry anymore.. I reached home about 8am, turned on the computer trying to check whether my results are available... Surprising I got an email from my agent, Winnie from IDP... She told me to look at the attachment for my Christmas present... I couldn't believe this... I GOT A PLACE IN DENTISTRY!!! In the University of Adelaide!! What a big surprise!!

I was chatting with sis before I opened the email... She went away because she was going to catch a bus, not sure where the hell is she going... Why don't you stay for a little bit longer?? You would have been the first person to share this moment of joy, relief, excitement, and satisfactory!! Haha, anyway, I told Si Yi as soon as I printed out the letter... I called home immediately, dad's handphone actually... Who cares that it's only 5am in Malaysia? Haha... he told me they were still asleep, I said I knew that! Send a text to San Yi and Si Jiu, they have been giving me a lot of support, as well as Si Yi, and Wu Yi, whom I called as well... Especially Si Jiu, he had given me the chance to have a look at the real working environment of a dentist, and seriously I really enjoy my stay in Darwin... I learnt a lot from him, gain a lot of knowledge about dentistry while I was working with him... It really did me a great favour during my interview in Adelaide... Given me the confidence that is required...

Everything is done... All the effort had now receive which it deserves... The next thing that I have to do is to talk to Winnie on monday, get the original copy of the offer letter, sort out every single procedure required to accept the offer... I will have to accept the offer by 13th of december, pay a certain amount of money as deposit to secure a place... And after that, I can go home happily, enjoy my long summer without any worry...

Interview in Perth

2004-12-03T00:33:00.000+10:30

Tuesday was the last day of work.. and I finished off early in the afternoon... I got my wages and I will not be working during my remaining days in Sydney. Went back home after a slacking day, it was pretty hot... took a shower and went to the bank in Eastwood... Caught a train to the city.. the train has no air conditioning system and I couldn't stand the heat in the train.. Got off at Strathfield to wait for another air-conditioned train to the city...

Went to Kinokuniya bookstore... bought an autobiography of Roy Keane, the captain of Manchester United, before I headed to Dick's place... I got all my luggage with me and I was planning to stay at his place... Andrea was leaving at night, we had dinner together and after that me, Jason and Dick sent her to the airport... it was really a hot day... can't stand it... I slept pretty early that night... have to wake up early in the morning to catch the flight to Perth...

Woke up at 5.30am the following day... took a shower and I was off to Central train station... Caught a train to the Dosmestic Terminal... my flight was scheduled to depart at 7.20am.. I slept on the flight... didn't really know the time because I don have a watch... I normally use my handphone as my watch but I can't turn it on on the plane... Was looking outside the window... saw the beautiful coast, all the way... Not quite sure which part it is, but I think it was the southern part of Australia...

Finally arrived at Perth after a long long long 5 hours flight... and it's not even 10am in Perth.. there is a 3 hours time difference. Tin Fei came to the airport and her friend sent us to the city, where I booked my hostel... Checked in to the hostel and we went for "lunch".. It's lunch for me but for them it's only their breakfast... haha... anyway, after lunch we had a walk in the city, went to Kings Park, and several other places... have a brief look at Perth... Tin Fei went back at 4pm... so I was just walking all by myself around the city... My hostel is quite near to the city so it's pretty convenient... There are a lot of facilities available in the hostel... there is a kitchen where you are allowed to cook your own meal, a TV room, bathrooms, and computer access... Not a bad deal i think... it's just that I have to walk for quite a distance from my room to the toilet...

Anyway, I was still trying to cope with the time difference... 3 hours is quite a big margin... I have been keeping to a fixed daily routine before I came here... slept early at night and wake up early in the morning... Furthermore I woke up at 5.30am to catch the flight... I was feeling sleepy at 8.30pm, Perth time... but I still call back home and check my mails before I go to bed at 9 something... Planned to have a long sleep and wake up at 7.30am... but guess what, I was just not used to it... I woke up at 5am... local time, which is about 8am in Sydney... Forced myself to get back to sleep and wait for the alarm clock to ring at 7.30am... However I just can't force myself so I get up at 7am...

Washed up, had my breakfast and get myself ready for the interview... I took a bus to the interview venue... Luckily I din face much problem... It started at 11.30am... I arrived pretty early so I just sat at the waiting room and had a chat with some of the current student... Well, the interview was harder than what I expected... Compared to the one in Adelaide this one is more tricky... The questions that they asked surrounded several topic... or behaviours required for a dental practitioner... I don think I did a good job... so.. well, honestly I didn't really prepare for it, and I actually have nothing to prepare for... just didn't expect it to be that hard... Hopefully everything will be fine... Anyway, I am placing more hope on the application in Adelaide... will have to submit my results before I go back home... and hopefully I won't be disappointed this time... keep fingers crossed...

40 degree celcius

2004-11-28T22:13:00.000+10:30

It's sunday... finally... I am just feeling so good... Apart from the unbearable 40 degree celcius, extremely hot weather, everything was so nice today... I finally got a break after working for 6 days... have been really tiring and it's just so nice to have a break.. Yesterday was already a hot day... While I was working, I can see topless and shoeless guys who walked into the shop, open the fridge and grab themselves a big bottle of cold drinks... the weather was just unbearable... couldn't imagine how would it be if I am going to stay here throughout the whole summer break.. Anyway, I slept over at Dick's place last night... Andrea is going back to Malaysia on tuesday, we went out together last night... Nothing special, just another normal saturday night, the streets are full of people... quite happening...

Woke up pretty early this morning, probably I am getting used to the working days routine... getting up early in the morning... it's just so nice to be up early.. Walking down the streets for breakfast, it was so quiet.. everyone is still in bed after a partying saturday night, i suppose... Anyway, after breakfast, I helped Jason to move his stuffs from his place to Dick's place... He and his housemates are going to return the unit to the owner, so he will move temporarily to Dick's place... There wasn't many things for us to carry, we spent three trips and finished moving everything... basically just his clothes, a study table and a bookshelf... but it's really hot... I was sweating heavily after that and I just couldn't resist to go for a cool shower...

Met Bernard today... a guy from Kota Kinabalu.. He is Andrea's friend. A very nice and fun person, very outgoing... we get along well even though we just got to know each other... Few of us went to The Rocks today... Actually I haven't been to The Rocks since the Chinese New Year trip early this year... probably it's just a bit far away from the city and none of them are interested of going there... Went to this pancake house... heard of this shop before from Jason I think... but never get a chance to try it... anyway, I had a taste of it and it's nice I think.. though I don't really know how to describe it in the best way..

We walked along Circular Quay, all the way to the Sydney Opera House... Same as The Rocks, never been to these two places since Chinese New Year... these places are quite nice actually... relaxing with the beautiful scenery, it's not a bad thing to have a walk here when you are free... but it's too hot today... No choice, because Dick was going to ask for a job at a pub near the Opera House.... didn't get to ask it though because there were too many customer at the pub and they might not have to time to entertain him... By the way, he will try again...

Working again tomorrow, back to normal... but i will only work for two days... Monday and tuesday... will be going to Perth on Wednesday.... have to start preparing for the interview... I don't want to waste all the effort... Hopefully tomorrow will be cooler... Otherwise, I will be suffering...

Treasure behind this unexpected trip??

2004-11-23T21:50:00.000+10:30

It's the second week of my summer holiday.. nothing special throughout the whole week... Didn't have any happening things going on... Yeah, the grand finale of the Australian Idol... in the Opera House... but well, I don't follow that... From the start of my holiday, I have been working working and working... and all in a sudden time just went by... didn't even realise that this is already the second week of the holiday... I am feeling tired everyday, but it's a good thing because I am forced to go to bed earlier... wake up earlier... get myself back to the normal routine.. and so called healthy lifestyle..

Anyway, have been busy preparing and sorting out things regarding my interview in Perth... I booked my plane ticket... cost me few hundred dollars... going to book accomodation soon... shouldn't be a problem... Going there for two days... Will be having a look around the place... Siyi said, since you are going, stay for a few days and have a look around... don waste the trip.. Well, I won't... will be seeing a friend who is studying over there...

Was thinking that I might be possible to save myself a few hundred dollars, or probably even more money for next year.. To buy the very expensive textbooks... Anyway, this unexpected interview almost cost me all of my salary... I know it's something that I have to do.. anyway, probably like what sophia told me, there might be treasure behind this unexpected trip... hehe.. we'll see...

An unexpected letter

2004-11-20T00:34:00.000+10:30

The day has been normal... Nothing special throughout the whole day... Yesterday was so hot in the afternoon. It became even worse staying in the chicken shop, standing next to the stove, next to the hot bar... The air around that particular area was just so hot... and it was so unbearable standing there... I tried to move as close to the salad bar as possible, at least it won't be that hot... It has been a quiet afternoon... The business wasn't too good. Probably everyone was staying in the air con room, refusing to expose themselves under the scorching sun..

I finished at 5.30pm... Went to the city... It was so so so hot on the train, there was no air conditioning on the train... Well, I was going to have dinner with a few friends from the Malaysian Club, together with Jason and Dick... Went to this Korean restaurant in Chinatown... Wasn't too bad... We ordered the Korean Hot pot and some bbq... After that they wanted to go to Star City, the casino... This was the first I ever went into the casino in city... in fact I only been into the casino once, which was in Darwin when San Yi brought me there... We didn't really play, just hanging around and played the poker machine using the free credits given when we applied for the membership.. Dick had a go in the roulette game... well, he was just trying so didn't actually expecting to win...

Had a nice sleep last night... Had been working for few days and it was really tiring... It's so nice to be able to have a long and nice sleep... Working in the afternoon, went out for lunch with Dick and I went straight back to West Ryde to get back to work... Only working for a few hours today...

Reached home at 9.30pm... saw a few letters on the couch... One of them is from the University of Western Australia... Well, af first I was thinking that might be the reject letter, but I was really surprised when I found out that I was called for an INTERVIEW!! Yes another interview... which mean I have to go to Perth... I quickly went online to accept the offer and booked the date for my interview... It will be on the 2nd of December... After confirming the date I booked my plane ticket... Have to spend another few hundred dollars on the plane ticket... but that's alright... it is something that I have to...

Anyway, it's really surprising and I am now looking forward for the day... Hopefully everything will go as smooth as possible....

Happy Birthday Mum!

2004-11-17T22:00:00.000+10:30

I got a haircut today.... Went to Eastwood after work... the shop that I usually go to... It's a hongkies shop... Wasn't too bad... Was thinking to cut it after I go back but it will probably be too late...

I have been working since Monday... Worked the whole day yesterday... From the start till the end... It was really tired... And because it is not that busy in the afternoon, and not so many people come to the shop in the afternoon, it was pretty boring and makes me feel sleepy... It has been pretty hard for me to get up at 7.30am everyday to get ready to work... It's like getting back to school where you have to keep to your schedule everyday... Have been sleeping early recently otherwise I won't be able to stand for the whole day... During the stuvac, I have been having late nights, studying till late and getting up late in the morning... I know it's not healthy but I just can't force myself to sleep early... anyway, it's good to keep myself with the schedule... Working during the holiday makes me more disciplined, and I feel better to have something to do than just hanging around doing nothing... Wasting money too...

Tomorrow I will be having dinner with some friends in the city.. .after work... Won't be coming home I guess...

Yeah and today is mum's birthday... Happy birthday mum...

Below my expectation

2004-11-13T22:52:00.000+10:30

Exam finished... done the last paper of the semester this morning... Statistic, the subject that I was most confident in. I aimed for a high distinction, did enough preparation, done all the past year papers.... Went into the exam hall this morning, the questions seemed to be easier the those in the past year paper, and I cruised through them confidently... Although there were several doubts but I thought I had done the right thing... 15 MCQ and 3 extended answer questions, I finished every single question.. Walked out of the exam hall with great relief, one reason being the end of my final exam, and I thought I did pretty well and there will be no problem getting a HD.

However, after I met up with Jason and Dick, they started discussing about the questions, and then only I found out that I had made some mistakes... A mistake that might be decisive for the whole question. I was wondering about this question, and it proved that I was wrong. I assumed every single difference between two groups of data to be positive, and it was not correct. It affected my observed test statistic, my P-value and obviously my conclusion for that particular part of the question. It became worse when the second and third part of the question are very much depending on the first part, and I definitely got the second one wrong, and for the third one, I was doing the right thing and I got the correct answer, but because of my answer in the first question I changed my answer for the third one and it might be wrong now... Anyway, I probably be marked off for the wrong answer and might still be given marks for all the steps... Hopefully... Otherwise there will be no HD....

Anyway, it is still a big relief... exam finished... Time passed really fast and it had been almost a year... I had finished first year university and will go into second year.... I have three more weeks left... Will be going out tomorrow and start working on Monday... The following three weeks will be reserved for work... Earn some money for next year... It's terrible, the exchange rate has increased to 2.92... today... Better save some money to buy textbooks next year, and at least cover some of my expenses...

2 down, 1 more to go

2004-11-11T01:03:00.000+10:30

I am quite relieved now... the two subjects that I was worried about is over... I had my ELEC1102 exam yesterday, it was not too bad, but I already got a few question wrong... should be able to pass, but what grade will I get is still an unknown... This morning I had my Integral Calculus exam, this one was really hard... someone even lodge a complain on the aerospce student electronic noticeboard, saying this was the hardest ever exam... It's true, compared to the past year exam paper that I did before the exam... Comparatively it is much harder than they are... Hopefully it will be scaled down and I can get better grade... Now there is only statistic left... the exam is on Saturday... get ready... I am more confident in statistic, given that most of the things I already learnt in SAM... this made it much easier for me providing me a better base and a clearer understanding when I learn this for the second time... Although there are still some new stuffs in this unit, everything looks alright to me and hopefully I can get the best out of it...

Something interesting happened during the exam today... the exam was scheduled to be started at 12.00pm... it wasn't too bad that we started 5 minutes late, but we were given 20 minutes more reading time... It should be just 10 minutes... the invigilator didn't got us our calculators and he called and request for them to be sent to the exam venue... The university is not a very small place and obviously it takes time for the calculators to be sent... By the time we got our calculators, it's already 12.30pm... we still get an hour and a half to finish the paper... but anyway, I couldn't finish the paper... there was 15 MCQ and 5 written questions... the 5th written question is always the hardest one and it's set for HD students to attempt... finishing the first 4 questions and the MCQs should be able to get you a Distinction, but well... I can't finished the 5th question, I attempted, but didn't have enough time to think... The first few question was a bit tricky, as I said, harder than all the past year papers that I had done... They required a lot of steps, a lot of procedure and make it very very tedious... some question which only worth 2 or 3 marks will have a very long solution... Anyway, it wasn't that bad at all... The past year papers made things easy for everyone, in fact it turned out to be a big shock... I admit I was pretty confident after doing the past year papers, and I didn't really have a look at the notes again after that... Well, it won't help even if I had studied the notes again.... it wouldn't make any differences I guess.... Everything is over and now... focus on the next one....

This exam has been quite relaxing compared to last semester... there were less things to study this time... only three subjects, and all three of them required mostly the technique... so more reading will not really help to achieve any better... more exercise is needed... Well, I have done a lot of practice... probably still not enough... but at least I understood the whole concept, the whole thing... I have come to a stage where memorising things is not part of your learning anymore... it's the understanding of the concept that is more important... and besides that you will have to be able to apply it into daily life situations... More practises makes it perfect....

I hate STUVAC

2004-11-06T22:20:00.000+10:30

It's saturday, three more days to my first exam... Well, I haven't really finish revising yet... I wasn't at home for the past few days, went to Dick's place and study, stayed there for two nights.. Well, I did study... and it was more effective than studying on my own, I think... At home there are distractions, and mainly came from the computer... The computer is just next to me and it really draw my attention away sometimes... I finished most of the chapters for maths in Dick's place... with two experts helping me, I think I absorbed faster... Jason and Dick are good in Integral Calculus, at least better than I do... and that's the main purpose for me to go there... Well, two more chapters to go and I am done... Have to finish the past year question paper tonight so that I can discuss with them tomorrow...

Anyway, I really hate stuvac... It is the most unbearable period... haha... though it's the most useful period for exam, but I just simply hate it... I hate the process of studying and prefer to go straight to exam... Weird eh... haha... Sometimes I find it hard to concentrate... and I just can't absorb things... but recently I found out a good way... reciting the heart sutra... Heart sutra is one of the buddhist sutra... It gives me a peaceful mind after reciting it... and I can be more focus on what I am doing... It's really useful, I should have find out this earlier... Well, I have been joinning the Buddhist society since I first entered secondary school, but I didn't really keep to all these sutras... probably I was still too young to find out its usefulness at that time... but now, when there are more things for me to think, I need to be able to concentrate...

There will be few more days of tough work to go... I really need to press myself to do the best...

Have to still earn a living no matter what happen

2004-11-01T22:00:00.000+10:30

It's stuvac now... uni finished last friday... I took a day off on Saturday... took a day off from books... yeah... after work on Saturday I went to the city... Went to Dick's place, took my shower and we watch a movie... after movie went out to the pub to watch football... Manchester United vs Portsmouth... Unfortunately Manchester United can't keep their nerves and they lost the game 0-2... It was disappointing because they should have grab hold of the wonderful opportunity to catch up with Arsenal after they beat them last week... Anyway, it's over and let's look forward for the next match....

Slept at 5 sth that day... It was supposed to be 4 sth but because of the daylight saving, we have to shift our time one hour backwards... It wasn't good being taken one precious hour away without any reason... and everything was in a mess... Woke up at 2pm... and felt that time passed really fast.... didn't go for badminton as well... Anyway, I started doing some study on Sunday night... revising my statistic... it's the last subjects in the exam and I will still have time to prepare for it after the other two exams... and I finished going through every chapter this morning.... I woke up pretty late this morning, started to study after my branch and was able to finish them before I went to work...

Today, something happened... It was supposed to be something happy but in the end I was feeling a bit down as well... Few months ago, I met this girl on the train, she is a high school student.. Different from other high school students that I met on the train, she is quiet, didn't talk much... A normal girl without any make ups, and she has her long black hair tied up.. I wished to talk to her but I just didn't have to courage to force myself to do it... I never done this kind of thing before, walked up and talk to a stranger for... nothing... Met her a couple of times after that and the same thing happened again and again... Was quite frustrated with myself so after that last time I met her, I swear I will talk to her the next time I see her... However, I didn't get to see her again for a couple of weeks, even when I took the train that she normally takes... Today, while I was working in the chicken shop, I saw her walking past the same route she used to take... At last I was able to brought myself up to talk to a her... I ran out of the shop, across the road and called her... Well, I wasn't really mentally prepared for this so I didn't really know what to say... It was really awkward and I was feeling weird... Well, able to get her name but I just don't feel right... I felt that everything wasn't really smooth and she was kinda of shocked by this... I might need the next chance to be able to explain to her properly...

Well, I totally lost my mind after that... I walked back to the shop, wasn't feeling really good, and I couldn't concentrate... I just couldn't concentrate on what I am doing... and it gets more frustrating when I have to do more work tonight... There was a new guy working today, and he was doing the closing job with me... Normally there will be two person closing but because he was new, someone will need to teach him... I thought Peter was going to teach him, but when I asked him, he was expecting me to do this... and in the end I kind of did two tasks... showing him how to complete his job while busying doing my own things... In the end we were half an hour late... that was unusual to me because I always finish on time... Was not feeling good...

But I learnt something from this, and it might be a precious lesson for me... I realise that when I am working I couldn't be affected by some personal stuff... Like today, I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing and I really wish I could have just leave the job there and walk away without doing anything... But in reality I can't do that... when I get into the work field my life will be depending on my job, and if I just walk away like this, what am I going to do to support myself?
When I am working, I have to try not to think about all the personal stuff and never let them affect my performance... Have to still earn a living no matter what happen....

The end of Second Semester.

2004-10-29T22:23:00.000+09:30

I had a nice sleep last night, after struggling with my Aero assignment for two nights... I slept at 3am on the first night, after completing the spreadsheet, and the following day I spent 10 hours sitting in front of the computer writing my comments on the performances of the F/A 18 and Mirage III.. finished at 12 sth and went to bed at 1am... Woke up pretty early in the morning... Went for a tute and handed in the assignment... It was a relief.... Handed in one of the annoying assignment... It is roughly the same as the first aero assignment, but both of them were really annoying... We were asked to get all the possible performance data and substitute into the given FOM expressions... what annoyed me was some numbers came out to be quite unreasonable... and didn't make sense... so it took quite a long while to finish the table... Anyway, everything is over... for at least a few months...

Had another two assignments to hand in on the last day... They weren't that hard.... I woke up at 11am this morning... washed up, changed, had my breakfast and said goodbye to Ah Ma who was going to fly back to Penang tonight... I can't sent her off at the airport because I have to go to work... Anyway, I went to the city and met up with Jason... Went for Japanese lunch before we went for the electrical lecture... It was a pretty quick one... After that we headed to the Aeromech building to hand in our assignments... and attend our last tutorial of the semester.. The tutorial ended up really quick... Our tutor is a 4th year student and he is really nice... He is a korean and had been really helpful throughout the semester... Anyway, there was an exhibition running in the Aeromech building... not quite sure what is it about... we saw a sport car being exhibited... I heard that that was one of the project run by the Mech student... it is called the Formula SAE... and there were this UAV model as well... There are quite a lot of projects running by our uni's student... One of the them is the Jabiru construction for the first year aero student, which was what I had been doing... I heard that one of the aircraft built in the previous year will be taking part in the Avalon airshow in Victoria next year... which is really cool... We might have a chance to go to Avalon next year... haven really seen an airshow before....

Well, I wasn't interested in aircraft before I take this course. And I didn't really know why did I choose to do Aeronautical Engineering but I didn't regret at all... Although my main preference is still dentistry... Today is the end of the second semester, and is also the end of first year university... Everything went pretty smoothly... Although it wasn't as fun as what sis had been experiencing in her uni life, it had been a great experience... seeing new people, and knowing people from all around the world... The first year learning had not been very stressful, probably because we were still learning some basic stuffs... and there were a few subjects that are not examination based. Overall it has been satisfying... well, after the exam, I will be looking forward for next year... No matter where will I be, Adelaide or Sydney, it will be a great adventure...

3 more days

2004-10-26T19:05:00.000+09:30

It's the final week of the semester.. and it has reached its climax.. the tension is increasing.. rushing and rushing.. I woke up at 9am today... didn't have to go to the electrical lab because the second group was having their lab test... I had mine last week and it was pretty easy.. Anyway, went out at 9.45am... planned to take the 10am bus and the 10.15am train so that I will be able to go for the 11am maths lecture... Well, I waited and waited for the bus... it didn't come and I took the next bus to the station... and I had already miss the train that I wanted to take... So I have to wait for the next one and by taking this train I still be able to reach there on time... Something was going wrong today, the train was delayed for 8 minutes, and when it arrived, it stopped at the station for more than 20 minutes before it went again... we were told that there was some urgent trackwork running so we were not able to go... What an unlucky day... It's already 11.45am when I arrived at the uni... missed the maths lecture....

Luckily I wasn't late for the next lecture which was more important... The Aero lecture and today we might be having our quiz... and yes there was a quiz today... As usual, the paper wasn't easy... The first one was pretty hard.. and comparatively this one is easier but there were too many question!! The lecturer even told us before the quiz that there are too many questions in this paper and we will not be able to finish it within the given time.. so he advised us to skip those question that we have doubt with it... Basically the quiz went alright... I did okay... just that I forgot some of the things that I had studied and it came out in the quiz... There were more than 20 marks worth question on Flight Instruments and I couldn't really remember their names... Hopefully everything will be fine... AFter the quiz, it's a great relief... It really makes you panic everytime you go into the lecture thinking that there might be a quiz on the day... and you felt pressure having to be ready before every lecture... It's over now... although there is still a possibility of another quiz in the last lecture... because he told us there will be AT LEAST one more quiz after the first quiz... but the probablity is not that high...

Overall the first year of uni went pretty quick... and honestly the workload is not that high yet... I look at the subjects that I will be taking next year, it all required a lot of reading and understanding and the will be exam for every single subject... Whereas for this year, most of the subjects are assignments and quizzes based... Last semester I have 4 exams out of 5 subjects and for this semester I only have 3... and it won't be that stress out during the stuvac because there are only two maths exam and an electrical exam... it should be fine given one week time to finish revising three subjects... after that it will be working working and working before I go back home... Looking forward to it...

Before that, still have two assignments to hand in... there is one on Thursday and I haven't really touch on it yet... The other one, which is Engineering Mechanics is due on Friday and I have more or less finish everything... That wouldn't be a problem... The only worry is the Aero assignment... but everything will be fine in the end...

Glory Glory Man United

2004-10-25T21:38:00.000+09:30

This morning when I wake up, I received a message from Yao Chung, all the way from Malaysia, just to congratulate me because Man United broke Arsenal's unbeaten record by beating them 2-0!!! It was such a good news to me and I was so so so happy... Man United wasn't performing that well for the past few games and if they lose this match they will be out of the title race.... and Arsenal is looking for their 50th unbeaten match in the Premiership... so it's really sweet to beat them... and it will be a big boost to all the players to aim for the title... It might be a good news for Chelsea's fans as well because they have shorten their margin with Arsenal to two points... that's why Yao Chung is so happy... I guess so...

I surf throught the internet in the Engineering Library this morning, reading all the news related to the game... United fielded their best 11... Carroll between the sticks, Ferdinand and Silvestre in the central defence, Gary Neville and Gabriel Heinze as full backs, Phil Neville in the holding midfield role, Paul Scholes as the attacking midfielder, Ronaldo on the right and Giggsy on the left... RVN and Rooney up front in the attack... They are still missing their skipper Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand was the stand in captain... as usual, it was a high tension game... tacklings were everywhere, fouls were called, yellow cards given, and after the match, the Arsene Wenger was complaining that the referee was too unfair in his decision... Things like that.. I wished I could watch the match... Was trying to check the timetable of Foxtel so that I might be able to watch part of the match in the Aquatic Centre... Well, that time doesn't suit my timetable... anyway... United won by 2-0, goals scored by RVN from the spot and Rooney in the last minute of the game... it was wonderful... especially after RVN scored the penalty, it must be a great relief to him... He missed one in last year's match against Arsenal at the same place in the final minutes of the match.. and that leads to a disgraceful display from the Arsenal players... and now he could be able to put those things behind... And for Rooney, this was his first goals for United in the Premier League... Well, he always score against Arsenal... and always destroy their unbeaten run dream...

I wished I could watch the match... when I go back to Malaysia I want to watch every single match... anyway, have to get back to study first... Man United Rocks!!

Badminton tournament

2004-10-24T21:42:00.000+09:30

Since a very long time ago, I haven't been waking up early in the morning, and I don't even know that the sun actually rises so early in the morning... I jumped off my bed yesterday morning when I woke up finding my room being so bright... I thought I was late... in fact, it was only 5.30am... went back to bed for another half an hour before I woke up again at 6am... It's saturday morning, why the hell am I waking up so early in the morning?? Haha... I washed up, get myself breakfast, and got ready to go out... It was so bright out there, the sun was already shining in the sky at 6 sth... I took a bus to West Ryde station... there wasn't any train running due to planned maintenance, but buses were replaced in service.... Got off at Strathfield, took a train to Lidcombe and from Lidcombe another train to Olympic Park...

I arrived pretty early at the badminton hall, no one is there yet... After a short while, I saw Ewjin... Ewjin is a malaysian, he is one of the committee of the Sydney Uni Badminton Club... Ben, the organiser, our coach as well, arrived too... I had a few hits with Ewjin before I sat there and wait for my turn... My first match was an easy one... I won in two sets.... The second one supposed to be easy as well, but again I have too many unforced error and I lost the first set... the score was very close... I fought back the second set and get into the decider. I started to get tired and I think my opponent was tired too... It took a while before I won the third.... It was really tiring... and I don't like the stadium as well, it's so bright and I hardly see the shuttlecock sometimes... Anyway... not long after that, I was called for my third match, which is the semi final... things didn't seems to be good... I was tired... seriously my stamina is getting worse... I lost the first.... trailing at the beginning of the second.. half way through the my racket string broke, and I have to use another one, which is heavier... however I actually fought back and was leading... Unfortunately I didn't grab hold of the chances and I lost the second by three points... and that ended my tournament...

Well, it's a nice experience, first time taking part in a competition in Sydney... It was quite good.. but honestly I wasn't really happy with my performance, I could have win the trophy... But I haven't been doing much training recently and obviously my stamina is giving me trouble... Next time I might be taking part in C grade... and hope it will be better...

I had a wonderful sleep last night... I was so tired and I slept at almost 1am, woke up at almost 12pm... No one's at home when I woke up, I cooked eggs for breakfast, cooked noodles for lunch... Well, actually I took them together, but that's what I had this morning... Watch the cricket match between NSW and Tasmania on the tv... don't quite understand the game... hehe.. Started doing my assignment after that, doing my assignments for Engineering Mechanics... Halfway through that I went out for a while... around 4pm... Went to West Ryde Station to get my weekly ticket, and went to the chicken shop to arrange my working timetable for next week...

It wasn't raining when I came out but it started to rain real heavily when I was in the shop... I called Si Yi to ask her if she can pick me up when she comes back... Peter said he can send me home... but we didn't get to go because it was raining too heavily that we couldn't even get on the car... so I hang around the shop for a while... Not long after that, he was about to send another person back so I asked if I can go along... and he sent me back...

He is really nice... a very nice boss... he is different from other boss (that I heard)... he cares about his workers, he is really flexible with our time... he won't force us to work when we say we can't... and yeah he sent me home everyday... well, when I got this job I was thinking to look for another job while I work there, but I didn't really look for it because he is being so nice... and I love working there... Although the pay is not that high but I enjoy the job... and I know that he is facing problem looking for suitable people working... Since I am considered to be suitable so I might just stay there and help him when i am still here...

Anyway, not gonna work that much for the next two weeks because of exam... and after that it will be all working before I go back....

2004-10-22T22:57:00.000+09:30

I have my final quiz for Engineering Mechanics, and that's near the end of the assessment of this subject, only another assignment to be handed in and that's all about it... Before the quiz everyone was worried about the question that will came out in the quiz because we were told that it will be much more harder... Anyway, the question was not as hard as we expected, but I didn't do a good job... Sigh... Again... well, I think I mess up an equation and couldn't get the right answer, and I also forgot to times 1000 to 1.4 kN/m... so it's not possible for me to get full marks... I had already pass this subject but pass is not what I want... Since young I always aim for the highest, but I admit that sometimes I didn't actually try hard enough to get it... Well, so I can't be the best... Anyway, should still be able to get a Distinction I think... I hope...

Came out pretty late this morning... around 12... went to the uni first to get the AIAA t-shirt.. AIAA is the association for Aerospace and Aeronautical students... I was planning to get the t-shirt as a memory... Just in case that I will not be here again next year, get something related to what I had done is not a bad idea... later on I might go to the campus store to get some t-shirt of the university... well... I always love to keep memories on what I had done, or places that I had been to... That's why I wanted to have a camera. Sis told me that mum is going to get one for me when I go back... but I wish that I will be able to have one here so that I can go around Sydney and take some photos... just in case that I will not be here next year... so... I went to have a look at one of the shops today... Saw a few different models but I have no idea which one is a better one... Haven't really keep in touch with the lastest development of camera... will have to do some research then...

Didn't work that much this week... not working tomorrow because I am taking part in a badminton competition... it is the Sydney Badminton Open... First time and I will be taking part in the D grade... well, just wanted to play in a competition and didn't really set any aim for myself... Just go there and do my best...

Next week will be the last week of the second semester, and after that will be the study week before the exam starts... Still have two assignments and an Aero quiz... Haven't even start doing my assignments... Was preparing for the Mechanics quiz and the Aero spot quiz... will be doing them soon because it's due soon...

Gonna sleep early tonight because have to get up really early in the morning to get to Olympic Park for the tournament...

A dream move to Old Trafford

2004-10-18T22:03:00.000+09:30

The weather in Sydney is really strange... It was scorching hot few days ago, but it was raining cats and dogs today... The temparature dropped from 37 degrees to 14 degrees... What a big change... It was raining since this morning when I woke up... I didn't bring an umbrella with me because the rain stopped when I was about to go out... but I soon regret, because when I arrived at the train station, it started to rain again... and I know I will have to walk in the rain for the rest of the day... it's cold walking in the rain... although it's not that heavy, you get cold when the wind blows on your wet shirt... I missed the first lecture because the train was cancelled... I planned to go but when I got to the train I heard that the train has been cancelled... and the train that I took was slightly delayed as well... so by the time I reached uni, there was only 15 minutes left for the lecture..

I went to the city on Saturday night... went to watch football in a pub... with Jason and Dick.. Dick's housemate Andrea joined us after that... Haven't been watching football since the new season started... One reason is because one of the local tv station that used to show the matches has lost their broadcasting deal... so the matches will only be shown on cable tv.. in Australia... too bad... and I hardly ever go out at night because I am working on Saturday nights... Anyway, can bear any longer... wanted to see the new look of Manchester United... Haven't seen they play for few months... only keep in touch with their news through the internet and their official magazine. I was eager to see their new players, Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney, Gabriel Heinze, Liam Miller... and the return of Rio Ferdinand from his 8 months suspension... Accidently saw the tv magazine saying that the match against Birmingham will be shown on Foxtel, so I decided to watch...

They drew though... 0-0... with the absent of some experienced players like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, their team was still considered to be strong with Roy Carroll between the sticks, Ferdinand and Wes Brown in the defence... Gary Neville and Quinton Fortune as full backs... Three midfielders led by Roy Keane.. with two young lads Kleberson and my favourite Cristiano Ronaldo... There were three strikers on the field, Alan Smith, Lious Saha and of course Ruud Van Nistelrooy... However I think Lious Saha was kinda playing in the left wing position... Anyway... it's not one of their best matches... they were missing some creative movements and the strikers were lack of chances... I had a sense of satisfaction being able to watch Wayne Rooney playing in the last 35 minutes... obviously his form was not as good as in the match against Fenerbance which he scored a hat trick in his infamous debut...

My nose bleed at the start of the match.. probably because of the sudden change in the weather.. get too dry... anyway, everything was alright... we went for supper after the match at Y2K... the city was so crowded... 1 o'clock in the morning... and there were people everywhere... it was as busy as the city in daytime... They told me this is always the case on Friday and Saturday nights... everyone come out to have fun... it's really happening... anyway, went back to Dick's place after supper... Jason came over too... we played cards and chat till 5.30am before we go to bed...

I woke up 11am the next day... went for badminton training in the uni... I will be going for a tournament next Saturday.. it is the Sydney badminton Association Open... This is the first time I take part in a tournament in Sydney.. will be taking part in the lowest grade.. give myself more chances to have a look at the strength of other people... They said I should at least take part in the C grade, which is the second lowest grade... but first time.. doesn't matter... there are still tournaments to come in the future...

Kinda miss those time back in high school, where I always go to tournaments... spent a lot of time practising in the evening... and mum was always nagging at me... Now I reflect back, what's the point of going for all those tournament? I will have this kind of feeling now... once I started to work, started to earn money, you thinking will change... become more realistic... Like the Australian University Games held in Perth, I went for the trials.. Even if I get in, I doubt that I will be going because it required a big amount of money... and I wouldn't go, having to pay for your own and get nothing back in return, what's the point? Anyway, it was a great experience for me and I didn't regret of spending most of my time in training... I got to see different kind of things, being able to go to different places for tournaments and get to know a lot of friends... which was really great... and they will all be kept as part of my sweetest memories in high school...

One of my dreams is to go to Old Trafford... to see my favourite Manchester United playing... I will go one day... once I got the money to go... I will go... give myself a probably once in a lifetime opportunity... but before this, have to study for the electrical lab test tomorrow... hehe...

Aeronautical or Aerospace

2004-10-14T22:22:00.000+09:30

Today's weather in the morning was the same as yesterday... hot and dry... I was dressing very casually to uni... First time ever, I wear slippers to uni... with jeans and a t-shirt with the Sydney University logo on it... I actually woke up pretty early this morning... Heard KK crying when Si Yi went out to work early in the morning... I have a look at the time, it was only 6.45am... Was wondering why I wake up so early in the morning... anyway went back to bed after that and woke up again at 7.30am...

Today was a short day... only two hours.. one tutorial and a lecture... It was really hot when I walked for Redfern Station to the uni... can stand the heat... it's really unbearable... the best place to hang out in the uni during hot days is the library... the air con is just nice... hehe... anyway... Jason went to have his lunch at the Ooni bar, a place selling Japanese food in the uni... This was the first time I ever been there... I didn't eat though since I already had something not long ago... Well, still the same feeling... HOT... I felt that I am back in Malaysia... and it's even hotter than Malaysia... should be above 35 degree celcius... Anyway, I went to Jason's place after that... I did my maths assignment and I actually finished doing it... While I was doing my assignment, the most unthinkable thing happened... It started to RAIN!! and the temperature dropped rapidly... from 30+ degrees down to 20+ degrees at least... I guess... It's really unpredictable... and when I walked to the train station I can feel the breeze, which was really nice and cooling... Heard that tomorrow will be cold as well... hopefully... really can't stand the heat...

Talked to mum and dad just now... Hao refused to talk much with me, as usual... hehe... Had a nice chat with mum, mainly about the course that I am taking currently... She was saying that probably I can transfer to UNSW if I want to do Aerospace Engineering... I wouldn't want to do so... I enjoyed my life in Sydney University, have quite a number of friends and quite familiar to the environment... The staffs and the workshop staffs are really nice and helpful... If I didn't get into dentistry I will keep on doing Aeronautical Engineering... She was saying Aerospace Engineers might deal with Satellite.. which might be a good option... but I don't think it does matter me that much... It will be the same in the end... I will follow what I have chosen and I will not gonna change it... IF I really have to continue with Aeronautical Engineering, it's not a bad choice as well... There are many possible field for Aeronautical Engineering... One of them is become one of the F1 racing team members... which will be really cool... Haven't really think of this though.. Anyway, we will see how things go...

The start of the preparation

2004-10-13T21:12:00.000+09:30

The weather was changing rapidly... It was still fine on Monday... not very cold but there was still breeze that makes you cool... However, it was totally different on Tuesday... I woke up at 7.30am... I was still feeling a little bit cold.. I thought it might be cold so I brought with me a jumper... When I walked out of the house, I started to feel the warm air... I thought that was normal because of the bright sun in the morning... but it's not just what I thought... It was really really hot for the whole day... The first time in more than 5 months, I can feel the dryness of the hot air... it was really unbearable... you always wish to get into an air-conditioned room as soon as possible.. started to sweat after walking for a few metres... I really don't like the hot weather in Australia... it's really hot with no breeze... hot and dry... it changed too fast and I was not able to adapt to it... I was feeling totally different.. getting tired easily and have no energy... probably because I was sweating and most of the water in my body has turned into sweat...

Anyway, I told Peter that I am going to reduce the number of hours I am working... Mum was quite worried about me because I am actually working more than the legal 20 hours for a student visa holder... It doesn't really matter because the boss didn't record down any tax record so they will not be able to find out about it... However, in order not to let her worrying about me, and after Si Yi talked to me about this, I will work less... less than 20 hours a week... Since I have already got enough money to pay my air ticket everything should be alright now... I will cancel my shift on Thursday... I only have two hours of uni on Thursday, but I want to give myself more free time so I chose to abandon Thursday... I rather being busy for the whole day than squeezing a shift into a free day... In this case, i can do more things...

Exam is coming soon... it's week 11 now... two more weeks to go before the start of stuvac... still have several assignments in hand and a few more quizzes to go... So far this semester has been really fruitful... quite productive I think... compared to last semester... I feel that my uni life is getting much more like uni life... getting busy... have been rushing for assignments and quizzes continuously... I have more sense of safisfaction after hand in all those assignments... Looked through the subjects that I am going to take next year if I fail dentistry, well, now I understand the toughness of being in uni... Second year subject is getting more specific and more technical... will be learning a lot more stuff on Aerodynamics and other related concepts... and more exams during the finals... Anyway there will be a new 6 credit points program for us next year, which means all subjects that we take will contain 6 credit points and we will only have to take 4 subjects every semester... and for sure things that we learn will be much more detailed...

It's time to study... have to catch up with most of the subjects as the finals are coming soon... Only have three exams though... the other two are based on assignments and quizzes... have to start preparing...

earn an extra miilion dollars by spending a few more years

2004-10-09T22:08:00.000+09:30

Didn't go for lecture on Friday morning... I was preparing for my quiz the night before, so I was just trying to get more sleep... I called Jason when I was on the train, telling him that I will be going to his place before we go to uni for the quiz... He told that he wasn't feeling well, went into the emergency room the night before because of a serious stomach ache... Well, he called me the night before telling me that he won't be going for lecture, but I didn't expect it to be this serious... Anyway, went to his house, Edison was there as well, he didn't go back the night before because they sent Jason to the hospital... Jason looked very weak, and tired... I thought that he might not been having anything to eat for long... so I cook him some porridge... This was the second time I ever cook porridge... Wasn't really taste good but.. still alright I guess....

I made a mess for the quiz... It was pretty easy... and I was pretty confident with the answer.. but after the quiz I found out the I forgot to square root one of the answer and everything after that will be wrong... Shit... hopefully I can still get marks for the working procedure and calculation...

I went to work this morning... woke up pretty late in the morning... I brought out the laundry, had my breakfast and off to work... I think my interest in my job had reduced... unlike the first few weeks where I was really in for it... I knew it gonna happened one day... doing the same thing again and again... well, before this I set myself some target... like trying to finish my job as quick as possible... or being able to clean faster in order to close the shop on time... I did achieve that, but things just get back to normal and I have to repeat the routine again and again everyday... I think this is normally the case... even when you really get into the working field these things will also happened one day... When you come out to work you will be doing the same things everyday... and definitely you will get bored one day... unless you are really interested in your job... Si Jiu is a really good example... he has been a dentist for more than 20 years at least... and he told me that he really enjoy his job... even though everyday he has to work from 8 to 5... he can do that, even without having a lunch break.. working non stop... He always tell me to choose something that I really enjoy in... because it is your future and it will the thing that earn you a living... without any interest in the thing that you do, you wouldn't be able to achieve as high as you desire... the passion for the job is the key in every profession... I do agree that sometimes we have to be realistic.. if you are not doing something you are interested doesn't mean that you can stop moving on... we still have to earn a living, that's more important... even as a kitchenhand in a chicken shop, I do admit that sometimes things get really boring, but I am not working just for fun... I am working to earn some living expenses...

I am always worried about my future... I always think that as a guy, you have to be more concerned about your own future... because you will hold the responsible to support your partner, and your family... although the current thinking reckons that men and women are at the same level, I still keep to that thinking where men should be more responsible... Once I got into dentistry, I will have almost no worries about my future... I know I will have a bright future... that's why when the interviewer asked me what will I do if I failed, I told her I will keep on trying while moving on with the current Aeronautical Engineering... I am not saying that Aeronautical Engineers do not have a bright future.. they will have, but the chances or the percentage are lower... In Aeronautical Engineering, to excel, you have to be very good in the area... It's something very technical, while certain creativity is also required... If I really wish to keep onto this track, I will really have to put A LOT of effort in it... I am in a disadvantaging position, because I am just being introduced to aircraft, just starting to have interest on aircrafts... Hopefully I will get into dentistry... hopefully... please prove that I didn't take the wrong path... tell me it was a right choice to do a one year SAM programme rather than a one and a half year A level course... I can't blame anyone because it was my own choice.. I can't change anything now... just hope that everything ahead will be as smooth as possible... hopefully I can go through all the obstacles and get what I really want to do... it doesn't matter if I spent a few more years just to get into dentistry... it is worth to sacrifice a few years time, to get a future life that you desire in return... or more realistically, earn an extra miilion dollars by spending a few more years...

What am I going to do next??

2004-10-08T00:49:00.000+09:30

It's the third day of uni after the mid semester break... Actually, I think my holiday only started this week... The mid semester break was really not a break for us... Aero students... with the assignment on regulation to be done.. After handed in the assignment on tuesday, I felt that my holiday had just started... It's kinda relieved... and because monday was a public holiday, so most of the tutorials and labs are cancelled for this week.. On tuesday, normally I have 7 hours for the day... but for this week, the electrical lab was cancelled in the morning and the Aero workshop was cancelled as well... which means I only had 2 hours on Tuesday... Actually not... I had a maths lecture in the morning, and after that I had Aero lecture where we hand in our assignment once we get into the lecture theatre.. After that, he talked for few minutes, asked us to visit the website about the X prize and the lecture had ended... Pretty quick... and for wednesday, the electrical tute was cancelled too so I only had a math lecture at 11am... Today as well, went for the statistic quiz in the morning, supposed to have Aero lecture at 11 but it was cancelled again because the lecture have no voice... Haha... what a week... But there will be a quiz tomorrow... and I will have to study hard tonight to catch up....

The weather is starting to get warm... Now I don have to wear two or three layers of clothes when I go out... Well, it isn't as hot as in the summer or in malaysia... probably just around 20 sth degree celcius... I actually prefer the winter... prefer of being cold rather than being hot... the weather is between 13 to 20 sth degrees celcius.... but sometimes I can't stand it... too hot for me... I haven't been sweating when I walk for ages... since the weather started to get cold... I am not the same as my sister... I don;t like the sun... I prefer to be cold... I like the weather in Sydney... when it is cold... I wonder how am I going to be when I go back to Malaysia... it's 30 degrees everyday... I might need to stay in an air con room...

Anyway, I bought ticket back to malaysia.... already confirm and had paid in full... Flying with British Airway... it's $1000 and I am glad that I was able to pay them all by myself... Although I did borrow a small amount of money from Si Yi, I will be able to pay her back within a month... and after that, all the money that I earn from work will be for other purposes.... I had done the first thing that I want to do... I bought an air ticket.... What am I going to do next??

CASR 1998

2004-10-05T01:27:00.000+09:30

At last!!! I finished my assignment... one which was really troublesome...and boring actually... Had to read through relevant regulations regarding experimental aircraft, and actually also need to modify the current Jabiru 400 into a better one.. or into your dream aeroplane... Oh well, I have to admit that it's my fault for not doing it earlier since it was given two months ago... I actually tried to start it long time ago, but when I saw the 629 pages regulations I almost fainted.. and of course I didn't read that last time... After that there were quizzes and assignments that have been keeping me occupied... and finally came to this short mid semester break which initially I thought will be a nice break for me... However, because of this assignment, I can forget about the break. I didn't really touch it until yesterday... seriously speaking... Although I kept telling myself not to leave till the last minute, I didn't actually have any actual move.. Wasted a lot of time at the start of the holidays, was thinking to have a few days break before I start... and till the day of my interview I only list out the relevant regulations...

I started last night... writing all at a time till 4 am... was able to finish up to part 4 and with only part 5 left, I thought I shall leave it till today... well, this morning I woke up at 10.30am and got to the city... Planned to discuss the last part, which is about designing the aircraft with Jason and Dick... Well, still a bit slack today, even Jason and Dick, who used to more hardworking than me, started to get slacking.. well, Jason and I went for lunch first, and after that went to have a cup of coffee at Starbucks... What a relaxing life.... hehe... Anyway, we still get back on track after that... went to Dick's place... He was still in bed, 2 o' clock in the afternoon... that's nothing surprise... caught him naked in bed again... HAHA... well, after discussion... I have a rough idea in my mind... an overview of my modified design...

Went to work at 5.30pm... the boss was not here today... It's not fair, he get leave on a public holiday and expecting us to work for him... anyway, he said he will increase my wages few days ago... not too bad... although it's still not very much... We finished pretty early today, closed punctually at 8.30pm and I walked back home because the buses operating today were not that frequent. After shower, I started doing my assignment... till now...

Quite relieved... although there will be another assignment coming tomorrow... at least I had completed a boring and troublesome assignment... There will be two quizzes on thursday and friday... have to study after that.... anyway, goodbye CASR 1998... I will see you again if I failed to get into dentistry...

Interview

2004-10-02T00:49:00.000+09:30

Last night I was doing some preparation for the interview... I predicted some of the question they might ask, and wrote down some of the important points that I wanted to say... slept at 12 something... I woke up very early in the morning... 4.15am... long before the sunrise... Washed up, dress up nicely in a formal suit, had a cup of coffee and went out to catch a bus... It's pretty cold in the morning, although wasn't as cold as in the winter... It was raining as well... The bus arrived earlier than it supposed to be, luckily I went out earlier otherwise I would have been late... I took a train from West Ryde Station to Central... and then from Central, change to the airport service to get to the Domestic Terminal. I arrived in the airport a little bit earlier than I expected...

I walked to the Virgin Blue check in counter, was really surprised by the crowd in the area... All 15 counters were opened and each of them had a very long queue... I was wondering why everyone got up so early in the morning like me to catch a flight.... hehe. Anyway, it didn't take long for me to check in... I got one of the best seat, the seat that I wanted... A window seat near the wing.... I had a perfect view on every single movement of the wing left wing... I remembered what Dr KC Wong said about the engine of a Boeing 737, it's known as a big vacuum cleaner... and I actually have a chance to prove that since it was raining today... While the aircraft accelerate, I can actually see the air exhausted from the engine... and there was a huge splash of the water on the ground...

Arrived in Adelaide around 9, the weather was very nice, clear sky with a temperature of 15 degrees... I took a cab to the interview venue, the medical school of the University of Adelaide.. it wasn't that hard to find, it's part of the main campus in the city... Anyway, I was pretty early... My schedule time was 11.20am, but I was two hours earlier... I didn't go in immediately, but I sat outside having my breakfast and reading some of the notes that I made... After that, I walked into the interviewees room.. There were a few students in there, from their conversation I think they are from the same college... and are most probably from Malaysia... anyway I didn't really chat to them... a bit anti social.. hehe... Well, I waited for more than an hour and finally my turn came....

Walked into the room, the interviewer is a lady called Geraldine... she's very nice... She gave me a brief demonstration and we started immediately after that... She asked me about my knowledge about the dentistry course in their university... Haha, luckily I did enough preparation and I was able to list out the objective of their programs, and actually able to relate some of them to the technology used in dentistry... Other questions also include, "why do I choose dentistry?", "what is the best way of learning in my opinion?"... etc...can't really remember... This year they also give several situation based question... we have to imagine ourselves in that kind of situation and answer to their question.... Basically everything seems pretty alright and I think I did much much better than last year... And the thing that allow me to make a difference will definitely be my working experience in Si Jiu's dental surgery... Thank you Si Jiu for giving me the chance.... Hopefully the outcome will be good....

After the interview I went to the city... Walking around while I was waiting for Jia Qi... I called her last night and we planned to meet to have lunch together... She came at 1pm... after handing in her assignment... we went to Chinatown to have lunch, and after that sat on a city bus for an hour... We didn't really know where to go so we just sat on the bus and chat... It was a free bus and it operates in the circles... We get off at her uni for a while, and went to the city, where I had a cup of coffee at Gloria Jeans.... It was almost 5pm.... I took a cab to the airport after that....

I got a really bad news when I was at the airport... My flight was delayed for an hour due to the bad weather in Sydney... Oh my goodness... I sat in the terminal doing nothing for almost two hours... and finally got to board on the flight.... The flight back to Sydney wasn't a pleasant one.. I got a seat down the last row, and when the aircraft was about to land in Sydney, it was affected by a huge turbulence and the aircraft was shaking really seriously... I was feeling very dizzy, and felt like vomit... Luckily I didn't.... It was the worst ever trip I had ever had.... everyone was in a complete silence when the turbulence occurs... When the landing gears touch the ground, the head of the aircraft actually moving left and right.... and when it finally slowed down, everyone broke the silence and started to talk about the incidents... It can be really scary... seriously...

Took a train home, arrived at West Ryde Station around 11pm... Si Yi came and picked me up and I went to buy KFC for my dinner.... I am really tired now... need a good rest.... have to continue with assignments tomorrow... Well, generally I think I did quite well... Hopefully I can get what I want....

Happy Birthday dad

2004-09-29T23:04:00.001+09:30

It was raining today... so the temperature is a bit low... I was expecting a warm day, so I decided to wear shorts to work today... because when I went out this morning it's actually quite hot... anyway, the weather is really unpredictable... Went to uni this morning, to get my blood test results from the health service centre... Well, I was tested negative for all the disease... hehe... so now I had got everything done for the interview... only need to look through some materials, especially the outline of the course offered in the uni...

After that I went to the city to have lunch together with Jason.. They were having a great time last night, celebrating mooncake festival... I had to go to work so I can't join them... Phil asked me the day before whether to join them for dinner... Oh yeah... I went to the city on Monday night as well, celebrating Phil's birthday.. Didn't hang out much with him after he transferred to Macquarie Uni... Went straight after work, reached there around 9.30pm... didn't get to join them for dinner but we went to Karaoke... Slept at his place and I went straight to work again the following day...

It was mooncake festival yesterday... Well, didn't really know till one of my colleague mentioned it to me... I was thinking to ask the boss to close the shop earlier so that we can all go back and celebrate... but he wasn't in the shop yesterday... Anyway, as soon as I reached home I took out the mooncake that mum made from the fridge... It has been in the fridge for a week but I didn't really taste it... Well, the mooncakes were made in Kluang, were sent to Penang and then exported to Darwin, and now they were sent to Sydney.... hehe....

Anyway, called home yesterday, mum was asking me to book my plane ticket... I still haven't decide when to go back... Initially was thinking to go back mid december, but that will be during the peak season.. mum was tellling me to try to avoid the peak season... However, to do that I might have to go back in late november or early december, which I thought is too early... I want to stay here for probably a month after my final exam to work and earn some money... either for the air ticket or for the text books next year... If I go back in January it might be a bit late... because everyone has already start school and we might not be able to go for holidays together... anyway, will think about that... I checked the price online... was around 1500 dollars... or more than that... This morning I went to Student Flight to check the price... they said they will be able to find a cheap one for me.. asking me to put down deposit... I didn't but I will be going there again tomorrow... Hopefully everything will be fine...

Now, what I have to do is prepare for my interview on friday... but at the same time, I have to start writing my assignment.... I am running out of time... Oh yeah.... Happy Birthday Dad!!

I am running out of time

2004-09-29T23:04:00.000+09:30

Assignments

2004-09-26T20:49:00.000+09:30

It's Sunday again... It's the second day of the mid term break... Haven't been doing any uni work even though I have a HUGE assignment to hand in after the break.. Well, definitely for the first few days of holiday I will really give myself a break... that's how I am.. Anyway I still went to work... Will be working a bit more during the holidays... Try to earn more money...

I booked the ticket to Adelaide.. Finally got it... before that was thinking that the ticket is very expensive... Was trying to use Si Yi's frequent Flyer points but couldn't get a place.... The cheapest air fare will be around 450 dollars return.. That's why I need to work more during the holidays... I didn't book few days ago because I was still trying to wait for a cheaper airfare.... anyway, when I decided to book I found out that there wasn't any flight available for returning to Sydney... So I only booked the ticket from Sydney to Adelaide... Waited for a couple of days again and finally there was ticket available again today... Someone must have cancel their flight otherwise I wouldn't be able to get one... Although it's a bit expensive but better than staying overnight in Adelaide... I would definitely be bored hanging around alone... Anyway, since I put in so much effort for this interview, I must try to do my very best in this interview... Will be reading some information about dentistry to make myself more knowledgable... Hopefully this will help me in the interview, I learnt from last year experience so I know what I should do this time...

Took a blood test on friday, it's required for the interview... I have to provide evidence of my Prescribed Communicable Infection (PCI) status.. testing for Hepatatis B, Hepatatis C and HIV.. it is required because in dentistry there will definitely have contact with the patient so they have to make sure that all the dental student do not have these disease.. It was a quick one... took out two test tubes of blood... The pathologist told me not to look if I don't want to but I still look at it... watching him poking the needle into my vein, at least I am more prepared when he poke the needle in... and watching my blood flowing into the test tubes... it was alright... didn't faint.. haha... It was not that serious this time, I didn't feel numb after that and I still have the strength to do some work... he told me not to carry heavy stuff within an hour... I had a two hours tutorial after that, and after the tute I went to work, carry chickens and doing all those heavy job... NO PROBLEM!! It's better than last time, when I went to donate blood in Taylors... that time was a bit worse, I was feeling numb after that and don't even have to strength to hold a snooker cue properly... haha... probably because I took out more blood last time... One whole bag... and last time the needle was thicker... it's like a tiny tube and they first poke a thinner one in before they put the thick one in... and blood started to flow out again... was feeling pretty good after donating blood... Feeling good as in mentally... because I felt that I did something meaningful... at least can help other people...

Didn't post any message for the past few days... It's not that I have nothing to post, but I haven't been online for the past two days I guess... Haha... I was watching drama... It's a set of VCD... San Yi borrowed from her friend for Ah Ma to watch... I watched once with her in Darwin and ended up following the drama... Now the VCD is in Sydney and since I have a short holiday.. why not finish watching it?? Haha... Anyway, will be finishing soon and I will have to force myself to complete my assignment as soon as possible... Don't really like to do last minute work... I normally finish my assignment two days before the due date.. That makes me feel better... At least I won't have to press myself to finish it... I remember when I was in primary school, I used to get a lot of homework during the holidays... And I used to fully enjoy my holidays and left my homework till the last day of the Holidays... I still remember I started doing them the day before the school reopened, and there were more than 14 homeworks for me to do, and I was still in Standard 1... I was in the afternoon session last time so I continued doing them the following morning... I couldn't finish them when the bus came and mum had to send me to school... It was not good leaving everything till the last minute... you have to press yourself very hard and you can't have time to stop and relax... and if anything unexpected happen it will be a big mess.. I see a lot of my uni mates rushing to complete their assignment the day before the due date... start asking things and found out that there are actually a lot of question marks... start to get panic and in this kind of situation you won't be able to do a good job... I learnt that so now I try to finish all my assignment at least two days before the due date... makes me more relax...
It's time to start my assignment...

Two more days to go

2004-09-23T01:19:00.000+09:30

Two more days to go before the mid semester break. I am really looking forward to this short holiday, want to get a break from the busy uni life. Well, the first 4 week of the semester had been quite relax actually, didn't have many test or assignments. However, the next few weeks was really really packed. Since I came back from Adelaide in August, I have been working everyday, non stoppingly on quizzes and assignments.. Apart from working in the chicken shop and going to uni everyday. Came to think about it, I couldn't believe that the time actually passed in just a blink. One good thing is that I had really got myself into the mood of study. Honestly speaking the first few weeks was truely boring, and I actually didn't look forward to go to uni. But straight after I got back from Adelaide, everything changed. Things started to get harder and harder, and there were more work to be done, more things to be learnt. I go to lectures, tutorials, and I put everything into it. We even discuss among each other when we are having lunch or a break. It's really great, I felt that I had been wisely using my time during the past few weeks and I really enjoy it. Sometimes it gets really stressful... The AERO1400 assignment was really a tough job. For the first time, I actually felt the pressure, and actually worried that I might not be able to finish. Seriously all the time, I am quite confident to myself, and I actually never thought of failing in an exam. However, this assignment actually gave me a scare that I might not be able to perform that well, and probably fail the unit. Anyway, I think everything should be working well and I SHOULD be able to pass... hehe..
I am getting a bit tired, after few weeks of constant hard work. Although I can't really get full rest during the holidays, it's good enough for me... I still have an assignment for AERO1400 which is due after the break, and a few more quizzes after the exam. Besides that, I have to work on a few units.. Engineering Mechanics in particular, Integral Calculus and also Electronic circuits... Hopefully I can master these units after the break... hehe... I will try to...
Anyway, it's time for bed... it's not holiday yet... two more days to go...

QF829

2004-09-20T23:04:00.000+09:30

We boarded onto the QF829 flight from Darwin to Sydney at 1.30am, in a Boeing 767 aircraft... Was planning to sleep straight after I entered the aeroplane... but anyway, I was looking outside the window... I got a perfect seat, window seat behind the wings... that's what I requested when I checked in... Was observing the wings, the flaps, the ailerons of the aircraft while it took off... well, can't really see a thing though because it was too dark... They served sandwiches and drink... wasn't really want to have it because of the big feast I had in the restaurant but in the end I ate the sandwiches...

Yesterday was Ah Ma's birthday... In the morning we ate noodles at home....it's called "long life noodles" in mandarin... and also some red eggs and other food... Went to Nightcliff market after that, didn't actually wanted to go but I followed them since I have nothing to do at home... Went to Casuarina Square after that, met Alex and Natalie... They were going to watch a movie... Anyway, came home after shopping... Watched SBS the World Game upstairs on Si Jiu's enormous screen... halfway through that he called me to help him in the surgery to fix KK's tooth...

It took us a very long time to get her teeth done... she was only need two fillings which normally take Si Jiu 5 minutes each... however this takes more than an hour because she was refused to followed what she was asked to do and we kind of have a hard time trying to fix everything in... She even ran away ... In the end Si Yi was able to talk to her and we gotta have them done... It's another thing that I might need to face IF i become a dentist... Dentistry is something that deal with people business, that's what Si Jiu said...

Anyway, we went for dinner in a restaurant at night... Had a really great night... they were all very happy... I had a bottle of beer... didn't want a second one because I have to get on the plane and I have a long day ahead of me the following day... Anyway we went to the airport at about 12am....

After eating the sandwiches I tried to sleep... before that I watched Mr Bean which was showing on the screen... anyway, I didn't really sleep very well throughout the whole night and I didn't really want to wake up in the morning... Have to go to uni... We arrived home at 8am... I decided to skip the first lecture and get some sleep before I go... went there at 10am... had three hours of lectures and tutorials... didn't really want to go to lecture because I knew I will be falling asleep in the lectures... I was really tired.... and sleepy.... didn't go to the lecture in the afternoon... but I went to Dick's place to complete my statistic assignment.... Finally I figured out the question that I wasn't able to solve... after asking the lecturer a few questions...

Went home at 4 something, get changed and I was off to work... Today we did pretty slowly... Me and Ilia, normally we are able to finish all the work by 8.30pm but today we took 20 minutes more... we didn;t know why this happen and Peter was asking why this happen... I... Don;t know...

Really want to get some sleep now... need a fine rest... before I do my report about Boeing 737... and yeah I got electrical lab tomorrow... have to do the prework...

A ride

2004-09-18T16:34:00.000+09:30

Yesterday, I done something which was really a brand new experience to me... I woke up in the morning at about 9... Was sitting on the couch reading newspaper before I made myself something for breakfast... Terry came in and asked me whether to go for a ride on the bicycle with him... I was thinking it's not a bad idea since I didn't have much things to do anyway... So I quickly finish my breakfast and off we went...

We rode out to the main road... crossed the road and get onto a bicycle track... We cycle all the way to the city... It wasn't that far anyway, probably about a few kilometres... From the city we try to get to the harbour... Terry was reckoning to go to the wharf where they had dinner one night... So we rode back to the wharf and grab a bottle of juice... sat by the wharf looking at the beautiful scenery of Darwin Harbour... It's only part of it anyway... Darwin Harbour is really big, probably three times bigger than Sydney... After a while we continue our journey... took a ride back to where we came from, in the city... and followed the bicycle path all the way down to Doctors Gully fish feeding farm... and walked through the bushes, climbed the stairs and ended up in some places where I don't really know... Anyway, we basically just followed the path along the harbour, and we ended up in the Botanic Garden.. I started to remember some of the places.. I remembered that I came to the Botanic Garden last time for Symphony Ochestra... we crossed the main road to the other side of the land... and we reached Mindil Beach... a place famous with its night market... We found a map but it didn't really help us... We were trying to figure out our position in relation to Si Jiu's house... Anyway, we keep on going, went to Cullen Bay and tried to explore the new route... didn't found anything new so took the same way back... and we decided to go back following the city route... We rode till we reached Mitchell street.. I reckon that we should came down and walk because there were people walking along the street.. That street is the entertainment street in Darwin, famous with the night life.. there are pubs, night clubs and cinemas along the street, and also places for backpackers... Quite a nice place... In the end we found the way back and was riding home... Reached home at about 1pm... I had been riding for three hours, which was really amazing to me... I wouldn't have done that on my own.. Terry is really sporting, active... He is 50 but still strong... He does a lot of sports I think.. It was a nice ride, a wonderful experience for me... Sometimes I prefer to explore things on my own, rather than just follow the car and get down at places to have a look... It kinda boring I suppose... I really enjoy the ride....

I went to Palmerston Market at night to have dinner... didn't found things that I like.... have a few satay... came back at 9 sth... Kimberley, and her family, together with Si Jiu were chatting at the back... so I went out and join them... I enjoyed listening to people's stories... Terry was going to leave at midnight... and last night we played pool again... played with Wu Yi and Luke... Didn't go to sleep until Terry left... It's about 1am....

Woke up pretty late today... had my breakfast and went out with Wu Yi and Si Jiu to the surgery... Wu Yi wanted to get her teeth fixed.. I was helping Si Jiu, get the instruments ready and help him at the chairside... Not very good in it but at least I have done that before when I came up last holidays... It's fun anyway... Wu Yi did a regular check up, clean and root canal... Evelyn and KK did the cleaning as well... I asked for some brochure from Si Jiu because I can use them for my interview in Adelaide.. Probably increase my chances by knowing things about dentistry... Last year I didn't really do a good one, I think it's probably because I didn't have much knowledge about it, so I didn't sound really convincing.... Maybe... Hopefully this time I can do a better one... with some of the experience I got here, and some basic knowledge that I got to learn... Let's see how it goes...

A wonderful day

2004-09-17T00:43:00.000+09:30

It has been a wonderful day... Able to get up late this morning... Didn't have to go to uni as usual... I am in Darwin at the moment, having my short "break".... will recharge myself before I get back to the last week of uni before the mid sem break... have another two assignments to hand in before the break...

Anyway, didn't post any messages for the past few days because I was busy doing my assignments... Was kind of rushing because I have less time to complete them.. The night before I departed for Darwin, I was trying to finish my Engineering Mechanics assignment... It was meant to be handed in on friday but I have to finish it before I depart and pass it to either Dick or Jason to hand them in for me.. I was struggling that night, I only have two questions left but it took me 4 hours... and I was only able to finish one of them... The other one was really really tough, I couldn't figure out how it meant to be so I gave up and went to bed... it was 2.30am... I woke up at 7.30am and get ready to uni... Well, get Dick to help me and I was able to figure out how it was... but I was running out of time because I promised Peter to help him out at the chicken shop at 12... so I rushed to the train station and able to get there before 12.. I haven't finish my assignment yet... Anyway I got to complete them in the shop... I finished work at 4pm and I went back home to have my shower to avoid having chicken smell on myself... After that I rushed out and trying to get to the city before I go to the airport... In the end I made it to the city and passed my assignment to Jason, and then went straight to the airport... I was able to reach there on time, luckily...

Got on the plane, there was a slight delay during take off... but it went pretty smoothly... This was my first time travelling on an Qantas aeroplane... and I finally understand why the air fare for Virgin Blue can be that cheap... It much more comfortable travelling with Qantas... Last night I travelled on a Boeing 767... It's a big aircraft, compared to the 737 that I normally travel on with Virgin Blue... and they provide food, that's one of the better part... Well I was reading my United magazine on the plane... planned to have a sleep on the plane after few tiring days but in the end it didn't go as what I had plan.... only slept for about half an hour, or maybe less than that... Anyway, arrived in Darwin around 11... get back to Si Jiu's place and have a good sleep...

Didn't do much things in the day... was spending my time hanging around the place... talked to Kimberley's mum, she is a great woman... really fun... and in the afternoon watched tv with Ah Ma... before we got ready for the wedding... The wedding took place in a cafe ( or a restaurant whatever you call that)... it has a nice view of the sea, and it's next to the museum... Si Jiu brought me here while I was here last July... It was a simple ceremony... but it was great... wish them all the best...

I was able to catch up with few people that I met when I came last time... especially those girls from the surgery... all of them were here... had a chat with Natalie and Alex, and was able to get a short talk with Chantelle... They are doing quite well at the moment and Natalie is going to Melbourne for uni next year... doing psychology in RMIT... good for her... they all love the job... had a short chat with Si as well... Si is Kimberley's son and he is now doing an apprenticeship in bakery... and he is doing very well at the moment... He made the best Apple... pie (can't really remember) in Australia in one of the Australian Awards.... and he is loving what he is doing so I think that would be good for him...

Anyway, we came home at about 9 something... had a chat with Kimberley's brother, Terry on the car... He had been building experimental aircraft and has actually fly in one... it's really cool... that might be useful for my next assignment... hehe... anyway, although he is 50 but he still looks strong and fit... I heard that he is very active in sport, used to be in the Aussie Karate team and is now doing some snowboarding... Had a cup of tea together with others in the house and I played pool with him... everyone was having a great night....

It has been a wonderful day, met a lot of people, and I really enjoy having chats with people... especially the old ones... listen to their experiences... and think about them... they have been through a lot... and different people have different kind of experiences and some of them might be very new to me... communicate with them actually benefits a lot...

Week 8

2004-09-12T19:49:00.000+09:30

Another Sunday... woke up late as usual.. around 10... slept pretty late last night.... I worked from 12pm to 8.30pm yesterday... came back and started doing my homework after having my shower... Didn't really do much of them though.. manage to finish reading the 7 pages long articles which will be needed to summarized into 1 page. Draw out the important points and... I was falling asleep... Forced myself to finish it and then brush my teeth... initially was planning to go to bed but ended up watching tv for a while... and after that surf pointlessly, played some games and get to bed at almost 3...

Went for badminton today... training at 12... today's training was more formal... or should I say more tiring... required a lot of stamina... my fitness has dropped to the lowest level... From being the 1st in my school cross country competition 2 years ago, now I can't really run more than a kilometre... started to get tired after few hundreds metres... Well, haven't been running for ages.. especially after I went to Subang, and now in Australia... I tried to run at the beginning of the year, while being bored at home, but didn't really keep to the schedule... One reason is because of the winter....hehe... and now I don't really have time to run..anyway... Did some physical training at the end of the session... it is meant to work on your leg muscles... so it's pretty tiring... Didn't stay long after the training session... apart from being tired I have assignments to do... Got to know Mel, a girl from Singapore... doing Health Science in Cumberland campus... found out that we actually live quite near to each other so she offered me a lift...

Reached home around 3pm... Saw Evelyn's friend, Andrew at the door... Was even surprise when I saw KK's friend in the house... Everyone has a guest except you... that's what Evelyn said to me... anyway, got something to eat and then got back to work on my assignments... was doing this stupid summary just now... It's really hard to summarize a 7 pages, size 8 documents into one page, with size 12 the fontsize... Halfway through that I fell asleep... for like I think 30 minutes till Wu Yi came back and walk into the garage... I continue with the summary... finished it in two pages... tried to cut down the words and in the end manage to fit it all in one page...

Have to do my maths assignment and Engineering Mechanics assignment after this... Hardly able to post a message recently... too many things to do... and no time to have much thoughts and feeling.... hehe... anyway, hope all this will come to a pause soon... Hopefully...

Time flies... tomorrow is Monday... another new week... it's Week 8... 5 more weeks to exam... and holidays...

Proceed to the final stage

2004-09-10T22:31:00.000+09:30

Had my Engineering Mechanics quiz today... it's was alright... wasn't that hard... hopefully I can get better marks this time... The first two quizzes were only average, so hopefully can catch up as soon as possible... Was pretty tired today, slept at 3am last night doing the questions... Luckily the quiz was not that hard... had a lecture at 11am, then three hours break... slept for 15 minutes in the library... was too tired while I was doing the centroid question...

Went to work after the quiz... I was confused by the schedule... I think there is a slight change, or a mistake on the display screen... I took a train that didn't stop at West Ryde, and get off at meadowbank.. Thought there will be another train coming... but in the end I decided to walk to the chicken shop... It wasn't that far anyway... There were a lot of things to be done today.... First I have to stuff the chicken... Get the chicken out of the cool room... take out all the fats and put the seasoning ingredients into the chicken... After that have to apply salt on the chicken... Did 15 boxes, 150 chickens... took me an hour and 15 minutes... After that have to put the chicken onto the BBQ stick... have 7 boxes to be done... made 14 sticks today... 84 chickens.... took me 35 minutes... I broke my new record... 14 stick in 35 minutes... pretty quick... Normally when there is no pressure I can make one in 3 and a half minutes... appoximately... but today I was rushing with the time, trying to finish by 7.30pm so I manage to do it faster.. I need some pressure in order to effectively complete a task... hehe... Today I am the only one working... normally there is Ilia but he took leave today... An Indian guy suppose to come in tonight, yesterday was his first day... however he broke his promise... didn't turn up and didn't even tell the boss... The boss was saying that he will never employ any Indian worker anymore... because he had this experience before, knowing that Indian guys are irresponsible... not everyone, but most of them... Anyway, had more work to be done today, manage to finish 25 minutes late... it was still alright....

I receive a good news once I open my mailbox... I got a letter from University of Adelaide... and YEAH I passed the PQA test... and I am proceeding to the final stage... the interview... If I pass the interview, I will get a place in the Dentistry... hopefully... have to really prepare for this, will talk more with Si Jiu when I go to Darwin... The interview i did last year wasn't really good, one thing is because I haven't really get in touch with the real dentist job... so hopefully this time will be better... Think about it, I have been travel a lot within these few months... have gone to Darwin and Adelaide... will be going to Melbourne too during the sem break... taking part in the sports carnival organised by the Malaysian Society...

Talked to mum on the phone just now... told her the good news... she was pretty worried about me working for such a long period every week... Well, as I said I need pressure in order to do a better job... the same principle applied in my studies as well... I think I said this a lot of time, I had been more hardworking after I got the job... knowing there is limited time for me, I tend to cherish every second I have and make a very good use of my free time... Things are getting very effective now and I am very happy with what i am doing now... I know what I am up for and I know there is a certain limit in doing certain things... As long as I think I am doing the right thing and are still below the limit, what's wrong with that... Don't worry about me, I am big enough to think wisely... it's not affecting me... Trust me...

Pressure.. motivation

2004-09-10T01:01:00.000+09:30

It's 1.30am now... I am still doing working on my Engineering Mechanics quiz tomorrow... It's hard man... especially those 3 dimension question... normally take ages to complete... I need more exercise on it, and have to try and catch up as soon as possible... There isn't any final exam for this subject so the assessment is based on quizzes and assignments... so have to work hard to be consistent... the first two quizzes wasn't really good... only got 7/10 for both... Anyway...Have been really busy for the past few nights so I hardly post any message...

Went out yesterday after uni... Just want to relax after few days of "tough and torturing" work... haha... I went to sign up a new mobile plan first... got a new handphone for free, which is included in the plan... A brand new Nokia 6220... wasn't that new but good enough I guess... not really want to follow the trend.... My first phone, and I got a new sim card... have been using that Nokia3310 for 2 years... passed down to me by Sis...

Anyway, went to karaoke with Dick, Jason and few of their friends... Haven't been going for quite a while... Sang for almost 5 hours... Crazy... because it's during the special promotion period, where you pay 10 dollars and can sing till 9 pm... Wasn't able to stay till 9 but we left at 7.30pm...

After relaxing for a whole day, I did something at night... Had a deal with Jason and Dick.. the person that don't finish their maths assignment on the following day will have to give a treat... It's my idea... a kind of motivation I think... because there are three assignment to hand in next week, and have to press myself to do it... that's why came out this idea, that will benefit everyone... but I think I am the laziest one... not really the laziest one, but just that I don't have as much time as they have... I am always the last person to finish certain things.... anyway, it's good to have them around.. give me the pressure I need to complete my uni work so that i won't be left behind... It's not good being left out of the conversation when the two of them are discussing about the assignments that I haven't start on...

Had a statistic quiz today... was pretty alright... I think I have to work hard on my statistic in order to get a HD... this is the only subject that I am confident in... thanks to the strong statistic base which was built during SAM... the other 4 subjects are not very consistent I should say.. have to catch up with a lot of things... hopefully things will be ok... especially integral calculus and electronic... and also this engineering mechanics... There two of them seems to have a stronger base in maths and physics... probably because they went to chinese secondary school back in Malaysia... provided a higher level of maths... maybe... otherwise it must be my problem... I can't really remember what I learnt...

Anyway, tried to call sis in Canada... got through and talk for one or two minutes... just testing... She seems to be having a lot of fun over there... staying on campus... I wish I could stay on campus too... but too expensive... I can't even afford to move out... unless I earn more than 400dollars per week, which is almost impossible... forget about it, sometimes we have to satisfy with thing that are given to us... although missing a bit of privacy, I gain a lot actually... save a lot of money is one thing... anyway...

The results for PQA will be out tomorrow... that's what they said in the email... wonder how it goes... Will I get called for an interview?? Let's see

Great relief...

2004-09-07T21:46:00.000+09:30

Finally I am able to have a good rest... Have been struggling with my AERO1400 assignment for the past few days. It was the hardest assignment I have ever done... A lot of assumptions need to be made, a lot of confusion, a lot missing data which were unable to be found... I spent a lot of time just to look for 2 figures... In the end I can't really do it in an accurate way so have to satisfy with an easier way, and make a few assumptions... I finished this assignment last night, handed in today... It was really a great relief... Even though it's tough, but I have to say that this benefits a lot.. I do learn a lot of new stuffs from this assignment, and get myself clearer with things related to aircraft... From zero knowledge at the beginning of the year, till now, am able to tell you that the wing loading of the aircraft have an effect on the aircraft performance.

Can have a day off tomorrow, before I get back to work... Have a statistic quiz on Thursday, and another quiz on Engineering mechanics on Friday... and after that have to hand in three assignment next week... AERO1400 again on Tuesday, Integral Calculus and Engineering Mechanics on Friday.. I will have to finish the Engineering Mechanics quiz early and pass it to Jason on Wednesday.. because I will be going for Si Jiu's wedding on Thursday.. Will be flying to Darwin on Wednesday night... Coming back on Monday morning... and after on week it will be the mid semester break... Looking forward to the one week holidays....

Saw Sis's blog just now, knew that she had arrived in Canada... it must be really great to be there... and it will definitely be a wonderful experience for her... Have fun sis..

Sitting in front of the computer makes you tired

2004-09-05T00:42:00.000+09:30

I saw a miss call on my phone when I woke up this morning... noon actually because it's already 12 o' clock when I woke up. It's Peter, my boss. He left me a voice message asking me to reply his call. He actually wanted to ask me to take over Min's role because he couldn't make it this morning. Of course I didn't go... He called me at 7am in the morning trying to ask me to work at 8.30am.. How is that going to be possible? hehe... At the time he called, I had just got into my dream not long ago...

Well, slept at 5am this morning... Doing assignment for the whole night... searching for information, doing the calculation work and entering all the values into spreadsheet. Well, initially I was trying to work out the zero lift drag coefficient by using the Drag coefficient formula... and after that using simultaneous equation solving method to work out Cd0 and the Oswald span efficiency. In the end, the answer I get for Cd0 is quite different from the value given by the lecturer, so I gave up... have to satisfy with the method that everyone use... anyway... stay up until 4 something and finally I was able to complete the table... finish all the calculation and found out all the figures...

Woke up at 12 this morning... KK came in and wake me up... I was still feeling tired but didn't want to sleep till too late... so i drag myself up and took my branch... after that i was back in front of the computer again... started to do market research, finding information on who bought those two aircraft and try to relate the aims of the airlines with the specification of the aircrafts. Well, can't really concentrate because I was feeling sleepy and had a headache... took a nap, trying to retain my sanity so that I can continue doing my assignment at night...

Went to work at 5 and finished at 9... it was late than usual time... because the cool room that are used to keep all the vegetables and salad broke down so we have to shift everything to another cool room... As soon as I come back, I have pumpkin soup and bread before I get back to the computer. Sitting in front of the computer for a long period makes me tired... Have been really tired for the past few days... haven have enough sleep.... Don't really feel like doing my assignment now... almost finish by the way... hopefully can finish it tomorrow... wanna get some rest now...

Leaving Home

2004-09-03T23:25:00.000+09:30

Read Sis's blog just now, she went to Singapore to catch up with her friends before she depart to Canada on Sunday morning... for her exchange program... Well, somehow it reminds me about the day before I departed to Sydney... I was sort of in a hurry... actually not totally prepared yet... I was really running out of time... I still haven't got to meet some of my friends.... I left before Chinese New Year, honestly i wished I could stay longer... Even after Chinese New Year when everyone went back, I hoped I could have a chance to go back to see some of my friends and get myself ready before the semester starts... Anyway i didn't get to go back... It was kind of sad that time... That feeling was really unbearable, probably because I wasn't used to it... It's not the first time for me to leave home and study in other places... but it is the first time going to a place which is so far away from home... When I was in KL, I can go back every two weeks if I want... but this time, the next time that I will be able to go back home will be the end of the year... ONE YEAR.. staying alone in a totally unfamiliar place... That time was really hard, especially before the start of the semester, staying alone at home when all of them went out to work or to school... having no friends, no particular place to go... it made me think a lot... and seriously I do miss home a lot... I call back home very often... to my family, my friends... just don want to be alone...

But things went out well in the end... Of course, after everything has started, things get back to normal... I started to have things to do, have more friends to hang out with... The transition process, from being really really bored, till busy and being driven crazy by assignments... it's a big difference, not only the situation, but also my own thinking... Once you adapt to the lifestyle in a new place, you won't miss home that often... once you started to get busy with things, you don't have much chance to think...

I was lucky to be able to stay with relatives, at least you still can feel the warmth of family... well, I will look forward to go back in the end of the year... Although not as keen as when I first came here, I want to see my family, my friends, and i want to go around and eat all I can... hehe...

Just some words to my sis, even though you are the first the travel away from home and study, but at least you have not been away from home for more than 6 months like me... It might be hard at the beginning, hard to adapt, feeling homesick and feeling lonely... but once you get yourself into everything, you will definitely enjoy it... I believe you are better than me in getting new friends... so wish you all the best and have fun...

Flight Level 370

2004-09-03T00:43:00.000+09:30

Still haven't work out my assignment... well, it's really tough and complicated... Given data are not sufficient to obtain what I am looking... zero drag coefficient and Oswald span efficiency... There several way to get this by substituting some numbers into an equation to solve that particular unknown... but as I said it's too complicated and the relationship between those unknowns and variables are really hard to determine... Well, as what the lecturer said, it's not that easy to get a high distinction... True, I totally agree... Somehow all the subjects I learn this semester seems to be more difficult than those I did last semester... Probably all the subjects I am doing this semester require a lot of skills and techniques... and they are more specific and more technical.... Have a quiz for AERO1400 today... it's a sudden quiz... didn't get any notice beforehand... I have this in my mind this morning... I was wondering whether the quiz will be held today... anyway I didn't do any reading on the train... and honestly speaking I didn't really study much on all the notes he gave... Well, it's terrible... a lot of wild guesses, some blank space..

Anyway, I learn a lot of new thing during the process of completing my assignment... Jason said this today.. It doesn't matter if you didn't get a HD, at least you learn something from it and have more knowledge about aircraft... True... that's the more important thing... At least we know what will happen during take off and landing... what are the factors that affect the maximum speed of the aircraft... What are the particular features that affect the performance of the aircraft... etc... It's actually a very good thing to prepare us for our future career... as an Aeronautical Engineer... Designing an aircraft is not an easy thing to do... It has to go throught three main stages and each stage contain hundreds procedures... and all these calculation stuffs that we do in this assignment, are pretty much similar to what we are going to do in the future...

I wonder what is the altitude at Flight Level 370... do you know?

Bombardier CRJ200 vs Embraer ERJ145

2004-09-01T22:13:00.000+09:30

I will be driven crazy soon by these two aircraft... actually it's not their fault, it's my assignment... Well, I finally see the tough bit of Aeronautical Engineering, and know why the requirement score will be higher than other engineering stream... The first assignment in second semester is really really tough... It's about comparing two aircraft... using what they call Figure Of Merit (FOM)... well, it's kind of important for an Aeronautical Engineer, being able to choose a well performed and useful aircraft... but to get to that stage really required loads of hardwork...

We were given all the equation we need to obtain all the FOMs... but as I said it's not easy... I still need to work out the zero drag coefficient, the Oswald span efficiency, the stalling speed and fuel consumption... And somehow don't know why these numbers cannot be found in the internet... no one seems to know these figures.... The lecturer actually gave us these numbers, and we can use it but the highest grade we will get is just a PASS... in order to get higher marks, those numbers need to be worked out... Damn... Well, probably by solving several equation I can work out those number, but sadly those equations are extremely complicated.... all those exponential, logarithm, cubic root.... gonna get crazy... good mathematical technique is needed here...

Well, working out all those figure is just a small part of this assignment... After gathering all the numbers, we still have to give comments, comparison, assumptions...etc... and in order to get a HD, have to relate those results to market status.... Damn... well, actually I can just aim for a PASS and make everything easier for myself but I am not going to do that... Always try my best... have to get back to those equations....

Anyway, I receive Jay's new album today... from Ah Yao... the cd is really nice... and Thanks Yao...

BUSY

2004-08-31T21:50:00.000+09:30

I am getting really really busy... Have a lot of things to be complete... The coming two weeks will be really packed... Have a few assignment to be handed in and several quizzes as well... Have to finish all these things before I am off to Darwin for Si Jiu's wedding...

I was almost late today... I have a class at 9 but I woke up at 8... Quickly get ready and went out at 8.20am... Luckily I was able to catch the train at 8.30am and I was only late for few minutes... Normally if I wake up late I would have skip the lecture but I can't do that today... I am having electronics lab and I couldn't afford to miss it because marks will be given... Anyway was lucky... Today was a busy day, have 7 hours of uni and have to get to work at 5.30pm... Today I was early because my workshop session finished early... The boss was not here today... but it doesn't mean that it's more relaxing today...Actually there are more work to be done today...

Anyway, gotta get back to my AERO 1400 assignment... it is due next tuesday and there is a lot of work to do.... Have to search for information and data of two aircrafts, the Bombardier CRJ200 and the Embraer ERJ145, and calculate their particular FOM (figure of Merit) in order to be able to compare these two aircrafts.... and to get a high distinction for this assignment will not be easy and have to put in a lot of hard work... I can actually just satisfy with a pass or a credit, but always aim for the highest...

Integral Calculus

2004-08-29T20:25:00.000+09:30

Woke up at 10 today... washed up and then I was off to uni... Took branch in the city... KFC... and played badminton at 12... Well, I see some improvement in myself... at least I was able to have a tight game with Wilfred today... and the number of unforced error has reduced... He told me to join some competition and start from the lower grade, and it will help me a lot...

Anyway, don't really feel like writing any stuff today... Have a integral Calculus test tomorrow and I am really tired now...

Basketball

2004-08-28T23:09:00.000+09:30

It's another relaxing day... didn't do much things today... I slept pretty late last night watching the Olympics... and woke up at 10.30am today... have to wake up because Evelyn's friend was coming to our place... I had my breakfast and started watching the Olympics again...

Watched the replay match of the Mens Basketball Semi Final between USA and Argentina... The dream team, was unbeaten in the past... but in these few years, other teams started to develop and are able to challenge the US team... well... the US team lost... the third time in this Olympics and they are out of the Final... I am kinda going for the USA team... maybe because I used to watched NBA when I was in primary school and the US players were the only players I know... Although they lost, but they are still the best basketball nation... The dream team is not the best team they have... with only Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan (I only know these two because I haven't been watching NBA for ages) as their star player... Things might be better if Kobe Byrant, Shaq Oneil, and other good players in the NBA join the team... Well, i don't really know what's going on with the team but this is what I will say as a non-expert...

I used to be really crazy about basketball... back in the 90s... hehe... I started playing basketball after watching the National Basketball Tournament which was held in Kluang when I was 9... Was really enthusiastic with it and I got to play for Kluang team when I was 12... and that's almost the end of my basketball career... After I went into secondary school, the chances for me to play basketball become less... and I stopped after I join volleyball... Remember I used to watch NBA... the Chicago Bulls was my favourite team.. and I really enjoyed the game, especially when they play the Utah Jazz in the Grand Final... With Michael Jordan leading the team.. alongside Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Luc Longley and Tony Kukoc... and I stopped watching when Jordan announced his retirement...

After that, I only manage to play basketball once in a while... joined a tournament when I was 16 but didn't play well... I played quite a lot last year in Taylors.. because there is a half court basketball court in the campus and Yao Chung and I used to play during weekends, with Chern Woo and some other friends... That was the only thing you can do for free... hehe...

Learn from Experience

2004-08-27T23:11:00.000+09:30

Had my Engineering Mechanics quiz today, well, I am not very sure how it went... I finished all the parts, but I wasn't really confident with my answer... it's about equilibrium... actually these kind of question is just about the summation of forces and couples... but the harder thing is to analyse the question, determine every single force component that is acting on that object... I got the answer, but I am just worried that I might miss out one or two things... If that's the case the whole question will be wrong... and I got a really short answer... was kinda worried when I looked at Jason, he was writing a lot of thing I guessed... It's not that tough seriously, but this is what that makes me worried... Will it be that easy?? Anyway, can't do anything now... have to move to the next event coming up... integral calculus test on Monday...

I rushed to the train station straight after the test... wanna catch the 5pm train back home... to get to work on time... well... I missed the train by just 30 seconds... I don't wanna wait so I got onto an express train to Strathfield and hope I can catch up with the 5pm train... the train I got onto was going to Mt. Victoria.. but when I jumped onto the train, I saw from the electronic noticeboard saying this train is going some places... Was kinda worried at first, but luckily it stopped at Strathfield... Strathfield is one of the main station, or interchange station... where ppl change for train heading towards different routes...

While I was making chips today, I saw huge fire on the bbq stove... it's BURNING... I quickly drop everything and try to save the chicken... haha.. tried to move the charcoal... but didn't seems to work... make it even worse... Ilia came to the front and help me too.... put some ashes on top and it got under control... The boss just went out for a while and things like this happened... seriously I didn't really know how to handle it because I haven't got through this kind of situation before... he told me what to do if this thing happens again... not to panic... and take the chicken out and put some ashes on top of the fire... He said I can't move the charcoal because oxygen might goes in and make the fire even bigger... Actually there are a lot of things to learn... I came over a few of them... and I know most of the reason behind certain things but I just didn't think about it... maybe I haven't applied all the knowledge I gained from textbook into daily life... that's the thing that I have to learn... and you learn all these from experience...

Experience... Learning from experience... Remember what KC Wong(my lecturer) said... the workshop component that we will be going through during the period of our degree, might be the last chance for us to make any mistake... you may be allowed to make a slight mistake in the workshop session, and you have to learn from it to make sure you won't do it again... Because once you get into the working field, become an Aeronautical Engineer, a very small mistake might lead to a disaster... it's something very serious... it's something that involve people's life... and Aeronautical Engineer will have the responsibility to ensure their safety...

Multi-lingual Malaysian

2004-08-26T23:09:00.000+09:30

Today the AERO1400 lecture was cancelled... Was kind of relieved.. at least I can have few more days to prepare for my "sudden" test... Actually there are a lot of things to be done... I have to prepare for my Engineering Mechanics quiz tomorrow, and on monday there will be an Integral Calculus test... then I will have to get into my AERO1400 assignment.... and at the mean time I will also have to work on my "sudden"test...

Actually I am not that busy... only 22 hours of uni every week.... plus around 18 hours of work... minus my sleeping hours... I still have at least 60 hours free... of course these include time spent on travelling but if I am able to use my time wisely... I should be ok... Worked together with Min today... He is a korean guy who has been working there for 5 months... and he is from Sydney Uni as well... doing Vet Science... and he is much much busier than I am... He has 40 hours every week... WOW... that's crazy... I wonder if I get into dentistry, I might also do 40 hours every week... or even more...

Anyway, had a nice working day together with Min... I find him different from the first time I work him.. that time he was really quiet and really "cool".. hardly talk... but today he was totally different... We had a nice chat, while we were peeling the potatoes... He told me he wants to join the Uni taekwondo club, but because of his packed timetable he couldn't... and he has an enormous dream... He said to me, "4 years later, you might see me representing Australia in Taekwondo in the Olympics..." At the beginning I thought he was joking, but I think he really has the ability to do so... He was second in Australia two years ago, but quit to concentrate on his exam... I really hope he can make it... pray for him... I used to do taekwondo too, when I was in primary school... but I quit to join the basketball team... I was regretting after a few years, I should have continue doing it because if I did so, I might have got the black belt two years later.. I tried to continue 6 years later, but wasn't doing really good, lacked training for such a long time and I have lost all the touch...

I told him I came to Sydney at the beginning of the year, and he said, "Your English is really good".... HAHA... he said I don't have a Malaysian accent... he pointed out, Malaysian used to pronounce "three" as "tree", which is true... I am trying to get all those "th" sound correct... I found out that people don't seems to understand the Malaysian culture, most of them wouldn't believe that Malaysia is a multi-racial country... With different people speaking different language... I am a chinese... but people here don't look at me as a Chinese... but as a Malaysian... a Malay... and some of them were pretty amazed with my Mandarin... Chinese (people from China) always say that my Mandarin is really good, and other people will say my English is good... they seems to think that we speak Malay back in our country, like Indonesia... Jason told me this before... it took him a while to convince his friends, mostly Chinese or Hongkies, that he is a Malaysian Chinese... but one thing to be proud is that Malaysian seems to understand a lot of language... multi-lingual... Mandarin, English, Malay, Cantonese, Hokkien.... some of my friends even speaks Japanese... Sometimes I wish I can speak Cantonese or other dialects... but because I speak mandarin since I was born, I don't really know how to speak those dialects... Now I am trying to learn bit by bit, hopefully one day I can speak to my Grandma in Kota Tinggi in Hakka, and Hokkien with my grandma in Penang...

My future

2004-08-26T00:55:00.000+09:30

Honestly speaking normally at the beginning of the semester I will not have the willingness to take out a book and read it unless there is an exam coming up soon... it's simply because I don't have the mood to do so... and it takes me some time to get into the "study" form... Well, I guess I have slowly develop into that kind of form now... As I said, being busy makes me more hardworking... hehe... Guess what, I was reading my AERO1400 lecture notes on the train... early in the morning... I don't normally do that simply because it's EARLY in the morning... and my mind is still a bit blur and sleepy... so I usually just sit there and look around....

Reading about control surfaces... about how the elevator control the pitch of the aircraft... etc.. etc... One reason is to improve my knowledge in the particular area that I might be ended up working in... since I currently do not have any idea about how an aircraft operates... It's really amazing after I found out bits by bits about the flight of an aeroplane... From the brainstorming till the first flight of an aircraft, it takes a long period and involves a lot of people... not only Aeronautical Engineers, but also other professions as well... Anyway, actually I am also worried about the quiz of this unit... because we will not be given any notice on when the test is going to be held... meaning that the quiz will be held anytime... so better be ready...

It's time to start worrying about the future... you might think it's too late to think about it now.. but for me I don't think so... How many people actually know what they are going to do after the finish their secondary education? Well, I am definitely not one of them.. Obviously my choice is pretty clear now, my first preference is dentistry... but sometimes we have to be satisfied with what is given to us... I can't put all my hopes on getting into the dentistry program and ignore everything else... I don't have a high chance to get in so I have to think of an alternative... If I can't get in I will have to continue with my current degree... and it's important to have a strong base in first year and it will make everything easier for you in the following years... To be consistent is another key to get a high grade so I have to keep on maintaining my performance...

Everything is getting better and I feel that I had used my time wisely... As I said getting busy makes me more hardworking... Well, finished class at 12 today... went for lunch at the usual place....Wentworth building... and as usual with Jason and Dick... After that we planned to go to the library... however our plan changed just steps before we walk into the Engineering Library... hehe... human nature... we saw some students playing football at the lawn in front of the library... and of course what that has attract our attention is a girl.... hehe... Fair skin, red cheeks and cute face... we ended up sitting there for an hour... talking crap while watching her playing... Sometimes we do need to relax from the heavy workload, don't we??

Anyway, after that I was still able to complete my homework... I went to RTA(Motor Registry) to ask something about my upcoming driving test... Don't really feel like taking it because it won't be that useful... anyway haven't make up my mind yet... It's too early and Jason were not back home yet... I wasn't going home because have badminton at night so I wanted to go to his place... probably do some revision... Since he was not at home, I went to Kinokuniya bookstore... grabbed a soccer magazine and sat down.. I don't really agree with an article written by an Aussie analyst... He is critisizing about the players attire... about the way they wear... about the colour of their boots... saying things like, it's a team sports so everyone should be wearing the same...etc...etc... all craps... I don't really think it that way... the players have the right the freedom to choose their own attire... it's not that they are wearing different jersey... They are still wearing the same shorts, same top, same socks... although their boots are different it's none of their business because their boots are given by their sponsors... I think he has nothing better to do... critisizing the colour of the boots they wear, they way the wear their socks... it's stupid... Anyway... after that Jason came and join me... we found some aircraft books and copy down some information for our assignment....

Well, went for dinner with Dick and Jason...after that play badminton... came home at 11... took a shower, checked mails and post this message... and it's time for bed now...

Wonder kid

2004-08-24T00:51:00.000+09:30

I wonder what happened to this webpage again... I posted a message just now but same thing happened... it didn't proceed to the next page and my message is gone... Hopefully it will appear again one day...

Well, I did my statistic assignment just now... Finished all the questions and will be checking the answer with Dick and Jason tomorrow... I did some reading as well... read the article given my my AERO1400 lecturer, Dr KC Wong... I wasn't here during the last lecture because I went to Adelaide... and we were asked to write a summary for that article... it's about airplane design... It's very long and I haven't really finish reading... Anyway, wrote down the dates of every quiz and assignment of every single subject in my university dairy just now... and I will be very busy for the next couple of weeks... A lot of quizzes and assignment coming up...

I called home last night... Surprisingly Bing Hao was in a good mood... hehe... once in a blue moon, he chat with me.... for quite long... Talked about his coming UPSR, and about the present he is going to get if he get 5As.... and he was telling me that he wants to buy a MP3 player... to bring it during his school trip... Well, he is kinda "cool"... doesn''t really talk to me on the phone... It really hard to get him to talk to me normally... and I was really lucky last night because he was in a good mood I guess... It's always good to have a younger brother... or younger sister... even though sometimes they might be really annoying, still, they are cute and always make you happy...

KK is my younger cousin, who stays together with me now... she is 5 years old... really really cute and adorable... Everytime I come back, she will run towards me and hug me... she is really talkative, can talk non-stoppingly... and normally I am awaken by her voice in the morning during weekends... she made me a card and a kite on my birthday... and she welcomed me back from Adelaide by making a card, a present and places some long balloons in my room... it was really warm... hehe... although sometimes she can be annoying, especially when I am doing my work, I am still glad with her presence... Her presence gives a happy and joyful atmosphere....

Back in Sydney

2004-08-22T21:23:00.000+09:30

I am back in Sydney!! Arrived at the Kingsford Smith Airport at 8.38pm last night... They all came to pick me up at the airport... and we went to the city for dinner... I think this was the first time we ever been to the city for dinner... Normally we only go to nearby places if we have dinner outside... Well, went to a Vietnamese Restaurant on George Street... There were cars and people everywhere in the city... at night... and this tells me that I am back in Sydney... hehe...

Anyway, slept pretty late last night... I was watching "Guess" on the tv... normally that show finishes at 2am... but for last night... they have Olympics report in the middle of the show, announcing the silver medal won by the taiwanese Archery team... and the show was also affected by some technical problem so it finished at 2.30am... Well, I watched the Olympics too... saw Grant Hackett won the 1500m freestyle...

Woke up at 10am this morning... Quickly washed up and get ready to go out... Si Yi dropped me at Eastwood station... Today I was going to meet up with Jason... He asked me out for breakfast... actually branch I should say... anyway, went for Yum Cha in Chinatown with him, Stephanie, Dick and two of Jason's friends... After that I went to uni for badminton... I was late for the training session today so the coach advised me not to join in the training to avoid any injuries... So I waited for a while till the social session start... Today I played a singles match with Wilfred... Well, as usual I failed to beat him... hehe... but I am getting closer.. I still need to minimize my unforced error... I can say that I didn't really lose the game to him, but I lose it to myself... That has always been the case.. I have too many unforced error... but now is getting better and better...

Left quite early today... because I have to work at 5pm... Haven been working for the whole week so I asked my boss, Peter to let me work today... One thing is also because I wish I can have enough money to support my expenses for the next whole week... hehe...

Well, have to get back to work... missed few days of uni and have to catch up with all the work that have been given... Have to complete my statistic assignment, my electrical tutorial, the Engineering Mechanics tutorial and also a summary for AERO1400... It's time to get back to normal... it's time to work hard...

A lesson from Failure and Disappointment

2004-08-19T16:55:00.000+09:30

Sometimes I think too much.... that's what I realise.... Normaly I expected something to be in a certain way but normally in the end things don't seem to turn out to be the way I wanted in to be... These things happened many times on me... Well, I admit I am pretty sensitive on what people say, and I am those kind of people that really care about what people said to me or said about me... And after they said certain things to me, I tend to think a lot... Think of what will happen next and normally I am very excited on what I have thought....

However, as I said, things always turn out to be in the opposite way... and normally I am upset and disappointed about the outcome... and I used to act in a way to let people noticed how I feel... Come to think about it now, I find myself acting very childish.. what I think is only what I think, not what people think... and maybe because of my imagination I tend to have high expectation... expectation that always make me sad and disappointed...

I changed my attitude... after I came here I changed a lot I should say... not become bad... but changed to be more mature towards things... All those naive thoughts in the past, and all the heartbreaking outcome made me realise, and help me to grow... and I also realised that when one started to become independent, or should I say when one started to involve himself in the working environment, things will change... attitude will change... and you will have a different view on certain things... I have learnt from experience, and from all those experiences I grow, day by day... Sometimes failure or disappointed will made you realise all those foolish things that you have done... It's not too late to regret, I was lucky that those things were not serious enough to ruin my life, and I am glad that I learnt from all those failure all those experiences... They will made me grow, to be mature, to be more realistic... and to be successful....

Something about Adelaide

2004-08-19T16:32:00.000+09:30

It's pretty weird... During the past few days, when I was still in Sydney, I tried to post a message but somehow I couldn't proceed to the next page... and I have tried for a lot of times and it still didn't work... Even when I open my blog page those messages didn't came out too... However, I was able to post a message last night using Jia Qi's computer... and when I decided to post another message today, I found out that all those messages that I couldn't send out initially were all in my blog page... Well... weird... probably something wrong on my computer at home...

Well, I am still in Adelaide now... Haven't really walk around since Jia Qi still have to go to uni everyday... I took the test yesterday... In the University of Adelaide... I took a bus from her place in the morning and arrived in the city at noon... The exam venue is actually just right across the road but I can't see the name of the building when I walked in... so I walked around the whole campus and get to the other end of the campus until I saw the map... so I have to walk all the way back to the front gate... but anyway that's didn't really matter since I have nothing to do... Well....the test started at 2... I took the test before last year in Sunway so I roughly know about the structure of the whole exam... At the beginning it was alright...but as I proceed, I found those questions pretty familiar.... They are actually the same as last year.... HOHO... but I can't do anything also... because those questions have no right or wrong answer, they are just to ask for your responses on things... so I finish quickly and get out of the exam hall... one reason is because I was hungry... and the other reason is because it's freezing cold in that hall... Well, Adelaide is colder than Sydney... a few degrees differences... I walked around the city while I was waiting for Jia Qi... Obviously the city of Adelaide is not as busy as the city of Sydney, less car, less people... and another thing is the transport fees is much much more lower than in Sydney... one reason is because student in Adelaide can get travel concession whereas student in Sydney can't... Different states have different rules....

2004-08-18T22:15:00.000+09:30

I am in Adelaide now... just took the test today... it's exactly the same as what I did last year... Anyway, didn't post any message for the past few days because I couldn't access the website...

Badminton day

2004-08-15T23:11:00.000+09:30

I wrote something last night, but somehow it was not able to proceed to the next stage when I press the button to publish the page, and the whole thing was gone when I went back to that page... so I didn't bother to write anymore because it was almost 3... I watched tv last night... Watched Taiwanese show until 1.30am... Yesterday I watched a lot of tv... Mostly the Olympic Games... watched the replay of the opening ceremony in the morning... and watched some volleyball before I go to work... And after I failed to post that message, I watched the live telecast of the 400m freestyle final... Ian Thorpe vs Grant Hackett.... and Ian Thorpe won by just 0.26 second... that was close... and it was an emotional moment for him after a disappointing year.... Well, I didn't really follow the swimming competition last time.. and to watched a swimming final at 3am was totally impossible... However that's particular swim was the attention of the Aussie... and it was historical moment for them to finish first and second...
Today I woke up at 9am... to turn my alarm off... and I set it again to 9.30am.... somehow I decided to wake up a little bit earlier so I reset it to 9.20am... However, I opened my eyes again at 9.39am... the alarm wasn't beeping... Weird... I checked my alarm... it was set at 9.50am... I wasn't very sure why did this happen... probably I was blur in the morning and press 5 as 2... anyway... Was definitely late for the bus... I was supposed to play badminton at 12 but before that I want to drop by Jason's place to put my luggage... I was planning to go straight from uni to the airport on Tuesday... Well, I was lucky today because Si Yi was still at home... and they were going to the swimming pool.. So she dropped me at Top Ryde to catch a bus... I think the bus driver went on the wrong route... or maybe that's the usual route... He didn't go to Town Hall and I have to get off at Wynyard... which is quite far away from Jason's place... so I took a train from Wynyard to Town Hall... That's one of the benefits for having a travel pass... don't have to worry about the train fare...
After dropping my luggage, I went straight to uni... Normally there is the training session running from 12 to 2 on Sunday, and a coach will be there to do the coaching... However, the training has been cancelled... Wilfred called me yesterday saying he will be here at 12... so I came to be his company... He is one very hardworking player... I met him on the first day I came for badminton... He is a badminton enthusiast, love to play a lot, and he is an iron man... never feel tired... Anyway, played 4 hours of badminton today... pretty tired and hungry... my leg cramped on the way back home, luckily nothing serious happened...
Wonder how far can the Malaysian badminton players go in the Olympics? haven't been in touch with the latest news since I came here... and how well will Alex Lim perform? well, read the results just now, he is among the top 8 swimmers in the 100m backstroke heats I think... Hopefully they can go as far as possible...

Everything has started

2004-08-15T01:24:00.000+09:30

Another saturday... I watched a lot of tv today... woke up at 11 this morning... started watching the Opening ceremony of the Olympic Games replay around 12... and I couldn't really remember what I did... hehe... Yeah I searched through the net for some information on my assignment... but seriously I didn't really read them... saved them in the computer and planned to read them some other time... Well, went to work at 5...come back at 9... after dinner and shower, started watching tv again until now... almost 2... Wasted another saturday... normally I go out to the city on Saturday, but after I got this job I hardly go anywhere on Saturday... Maybe it's a good thing... save money... hehe....

Well, watched the Olympic Games for almost the whole day... but most of the events that I watched were in the preliminary stages... The main reason is due to the time difference... Saw the Malaysian team in the opening ceremony today... wonder how will they perform this year... One of my friends asked me this question last week during our badminton session... "Who do you think will win the Olympics badminton this year?" " How much chance does Wong Choon Hann has?"... Well, didn't really know how to answer this question as I have not been keeping my eyes on the lastest news in badminton for a long time... Anyway, still hope that they will do well and hopefully they can obtain their first gold medal... I didn't have any information about the malaysian team... didn't even know who is in the team... Besides the internet, searching for Malaysian newspaper, I don't have many sources to obtain the news about Malaysian athletes.. What I got is all about the Aussie team... Oh yeah the main focus tonight is in the pool... Where Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett will battle in the 400m freestyle... I have seen the two of them competing against each other in the Aussie team trials... Ian Thorpe is my sis's favourite... I saw this advertisment board in an Adidas shop in QVB... it states that "Ian Thorpe can swim from here to Museum station in 3 minutes and 40 seconds"... which I found it pretty interesting...

The Olympics started yesterday, and the EPL started today!!! Have been waited for ages for the new season to start... unfortunately I am not able to watch... It's not shown on the tv for these few weeks... hopefully is because of the Olympics... and hope they will show some matches after that... otherwise.................... It will be an interesting season... The EPL is now missing the two most Charming player in England... after David Beckham last season... Michael Owen is also off to Real Madrid... but anyway it will still be interesting for me... because I am not looking for "charming" players... but good players... The new season... some new coach... new players... I would really like to watch... looking forward to go back to Malaysia.....

Everything has started... I have to move on... It's time to go to bed... Tomorrow will be a nice day...

After a certain period, everything get back to normal and all those memories are only memories..

2004-08-13T23:27:00.000+09:30

Friday is always nice because I can sleep till 9am... This morning my alarm started to beep at 9, I turn it off and was lying on the bed... not feeling sleepy but just too lazy to get up... Heard KK was crying... must be refusing to let Wu Yi bring her to school... anyway the next moment I look at the time on my mobile phone, it was 9.45am... and yeah I was going to be late again... hehe... quickly get up, washed up and get ready... after 15 minutes I was off...

Luckily I was only late for 10 minutes... actually 5 minutes because lecture normally starts 5 minutes past 11... However, I don't think I benefit much from the lecture... one thing is because that the lecturer was teaching everything which are in the textbook... and today's lecture ended half an hour earlier... Well, I still have 3 and a half hours before my next class... I went to the International office... submit a few forms for my course transfer and went to Wentworth to have my lunch... I brought lunch today... it was lasagne from the chicken shop... I used to bring lunch to uni at the beginning of last semester, but getting less and less after that... one thing is because of the limited amount of microwave provided... There was only one microwave in the food court... and normally there will be a long queue... However I brought today... because I am a bit broke... I still have money in my account but I don't want to take them out... it's one way to control myself... and since I am working now it should be possible for me to cover my own expenses using my pay... and I wanted to save some money to buy an air ticket... but till now, after getting two weeks of pay, I have save a single cent yet... I think it will become better... because I was being paid 5 dollars for the past two weeks as a trainee, and from this week onward I will be getting 8 dollars per hour... another reason is because it was the beginning of the semester and I spent a lot of money on books and other materials... so things will become better... Trust me.. hehe..

I have a test today... at 4pm... on Engineering Mechanics... well, not very good I should say... it's open book test but normally things will be harder once it is open book... it's a bit confusing and I was not too sure about my answer... it's about moments and 3-dimension stuff... sometimes those 3-dimension stuff can be really frustrating... anyway, it is worth 10% so hopefully I can get at least a few percent... finger crossed...

Got an email from Sherene... she got a new number... last time I used to memorise her phone number... She was the girl that gave me all those wonderful moments in secondary school... and it took me a while to forget her after I found out that things didn't really have a chance to work out... it was really tough... I planned to get her off her mind before I came to Sydney, and I thought it will be easier with the help of distance... However, some words made me change my mind and at the beginning I was still thinking of her... sometimes it kind of turn you off when you found out that the person that you care a lot don't really bother about you... maybe I think too much... I always think of what I hope to happen to us in the future but things always turn out to be the opposite of what I want... That time I was really disappointed and once again I decided to get her off my mind... and this time, I think I finally make it... I haven been in touch with her for few months... at the first few days or weeks it would probably be the hardest time for me, but after a while I had get used to it... not calling, and not sending her mails... It's kind of unfair to her when I think back now... she didn't do anything wrong... It was just all about me... She didn't have to do certain things that I think she will be doing... I will only think like this after I am totally out of it... nothing will affect me... time is the most effective medicine... when time flew passed, things that get stucked in my mind for ages started to follow the flow of time, leaving my mind and after a certain period, everything get back to normal and all those memories are only memories... Take care Sherene, I miss you...

2004-08-12T22:45:00.000+09:30

Well, failed to write something last night... Came home pretty late.... around 11 after playing badminton in the uni... sat down at the dining table having a piece of apple pie with ice cream... went for my shower and after that packed up stuff for the next day and I was off to bed... I slept pretty "early" last night... and it was the first night that I didn't log in the computer... normally I do that everyday...but not last night because I realised the importance of enough sleep.... I had 8am class this morning so I have to sleep in order not to fall asleep in the lecture...

I was able to wake up this morning... hehe... after washing up, I grabbed my breakfast with me and off I went... today Si Yi was going out early too... so she dropped me at the bus stop... actually I shouldn't have follow her...because it was too early and I have to wait for 15 minutes for the bus... well that's not the problem... the problem is the freezing wind in the morning... It was damn cold even though I was wearing three layers... well, able to survive anyway...

However things didn't go well during the first lecture... I was feeling sleepy... probably not used to get up such early in the morning... hehe... This is the third week, the sixth lecture and I had only went to two 8am lecture.... There is another lecture at 11am... normally on wednesday I will go to that lecture, but I can't do that on Thursday because I have another lecture on 11... Anyway, learnt something also... Today was a pretty short day too... I finished at 12 and I went back straight away... I planned to study for the quiz tomorrow at home...

No one was at home when I came home... I wanted to turn on the computer to check my mails and post something... well, maybe I was meant to be studying... the internet was not working this morning... couldn't surf through the net so no choice I have start my revision... Read through the textbook and everything looks fine for me... will do some exercises later and tomorrow... after that I was playing games on the computer... I am not a computer games enthusiast... sometimes is just for spending time...

I went to work at 5.... went out together with Evelyn as she was also going to work at Domino's pizza... We took the same bus but we get off at different stops... Well, today there was a new guy working again... I am working in a big company with many employees... Well, that guy is only 16 but he is huge... he plays Rugby League... I can tell from his well-built body... Rugby League and Rugby Union are two different kind Rugby... The rules are slightly different... Rugby Union is being played worldwide, whereas only a few countries have Rugby League... Well, before I came here I didn't really know about Rugby, but now I have no choice... In Australia you can't get as many soccer games as you would get in Malaysia.. and Rugby is one of the most popular sports in Australia, so I have no choice but to watch that... it is nice though... at least it's better than the Aussie Rules Football...