Bridging Fantasy & Reality

Monday, March 24, 2008

Sneak Preview

1:55 PM

Coming Soon.....

Four girls, an ultimate journey......

endless blue skies...........

Scenic Docks and.....

never ending blue seas.......

picturesque lakes.........

and awesome beaches with..........

Rolling waves.......

soft white sand accompanying.....

crystal clear waters..........

breathtaking waterfalls........

crashing currents.......

stunning views.........

basking in God's creation.......

Stay tuned! Hope you enjoyed the sneak preview of what is to come.

You know you love me!

xoxo

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Lazy Weekend

2:54 PM

Familiarity breeds contempt

Do you find as much truth in that phrase as I do?

It's a windy Sunday morning in Auckland. Was supposed to go for a jog this morning but I succumbed to temptation and slept in. Yes, I have those moments. Trying to shake off the feeling of guilt. Especially since Joanna has been feeding me almost too much. Instead of feeling undernourished, I suddenly feel over nourished. I think she has a secret ploy to make me eat until i become a giant walrus, incapable of clobbering out of bed to do anything. Amongst the things she has offered me are tim tams, kettle potatoe chips with extra salt, ritz biscuits, chocolate ice cream, bread, rice, potatoes, raisin and oat cookies (which I swear, are the yummiest things around). She even taught me how to do the tim tam slam. Google it if you're curious... Evil Joanna! So, I've decided that when it comes to food, Joanna and I have our differences, i.e. she NEEDs to eat and I don't.

On the up side, I've finally found a swimming pool in this land where water is almost sparse... But the rates are crazy. It's NZD 6.50 for a swim (you can swim to your hearts content) and the water reeks of chlorine, you can smell it from a kilometre away!! I suppose if I can squeeze in a swim every once a week and make myself lunch throughout the entire week, I will be able to scrimp and save on other expenditures while fulfilling my desire....

Studies wise, things have been looking up.. I am beginning to fall in deep, unrelenting love with econs. There's something about those demand and supply curves that gets me ticking. I know this is making me sound like a freak.. Am seriously considering the conjoint at this point. I was also really tempted to submit my name as a volunteer for Craccum, which is the ultimate student magazine over here. Considering I've always been a part of the editorial board no matter where I go, I thought it would be ridiculous if I didn't sign up. But after one glance at the magazine, all intentions to sign up vanished. *Kapoof* The content of the mag is pure crap. I wish there were some other form of literary pursuit for me over here... I guess I have to keep myself contented with blogging for a while... Job search hasn't been too successful either. Bubble tea man replied stating that he would call me in if help was needed. And I've been told about the extra tax charges for students without an IRD number... I will keep looking, and hopefully be able to find something that's not too taxing....

Easter break's coming up... And I am using this time to visit places with the other students here. Will take loads of pictures and put them up here....

So this is pretty much what I've been up to this week, or rather a couple of days this week....

On thursday, I went out with Su Lyn. We both finish early on thursdays, so we made it a point to make thursday afternoons adventurous. But not anymore! Thanks to my politics tutorial which had to go and spoil the entire thing! Sheesh. The tutorial is optional though.....*evil laughter* Anyway, we decided to meet up with Judy and Quinyee for lunch at Wendy's. Quinyee brought a couple of friends as well... Traipsed along Queen Street after that while waiting for Judy's classes at AUT to begin... Went to this super huge shoe shop and started trying on all their shoes coz Su Lyn wanted to get a pair of bedroom slippers.

So we tried bedroom slippers.......

.....which transformed our feet into paws... *roar*

My Siberian tiger paws....

Su Lyn trying on another pair of boot leg bedroom slippers

Then we headed back to Su Lyn's place to install her Woosh software, which she in all her genius-ness, managed to install at the end of the day despite the minor glitches that cropped up during the process. Su Lyn had a craving for ice cream later, so we were off again to New Zealand Naturals at the uni where we bumped into Michelle and her bf....

Su Lyn with her Mocha(was it??) ice cream

I promised Su Lyn that I wouldn't put this up, hahahahh, but here it is..... Miss eyes wide shut and Miss wagging tongue....

And there, a perfect one..... Happy now Cassie??

Went vintage clothes shopping with Joanna on Friday at K Road. I personally enjoyed it coz the clothes are SUPER cheap (duh, they're second hand!) and you never know what you're gonna find.... Kinda triggered my sinus but I enjoyed it anyhow. I managed to find a white hooded top for NZD 6.50...

Went to short loans on Saturday to get my stats reading over and done with. That's one thing off my shoulders... Phew! And then we headed to the flea market next to Imax. We just pretty much browsed through coz everything was much to expensive to buy.

Saturday flea market.....

The booths were arranged in a very odd manner.... We didn't know where to start and end..

But we managed to find our way......

I was SO tempted to get one of these stress balls.... but then I stopped and asked myself, "is it really necessary?" Daaamn! I'm growingup... When did that happen? And how do I make it stop?

Going off to foodtown for crocery shopping soon so I shall stop here.... Sundays are our grocery shopping days... The most exciting day of the week! *jumps up and down and tumbles over*

ps: I, unlike Michael Woo, happen to find captions under pictures adorable....

you know you love me!

xoxo

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

Deep in Thought

4:04 PM

Here are some pictures of our great cookout on Friday... I am proud to say that the operation was a huge success and I am no longer a novice in the kitchen. We made chicken curry (...which started off a little dodgy but after some kind curry powder contribution from Trish and further meddling, it tasted superb!!!!), two types of fried rice (the guys made this one, with a medley of spices and God knows what else!) and stir fry vegetables with tofu (super yummy!!!!). We all sat in the common room and ate to our hearts content. Absolutely delish!

Master chef Tuan, working his magic on the fried rice with Florence looking over

There's the first batch of fried rice (less spicy, lighter in colour)

Vim, doing something with the 2nd bath of fried rice

Everything laid out on the table at the common room, I wish the table weren't so icky bluE!

And another one....

The curry in the making......

My favorite, the stir fry dish - they got the tofu courtesy of me......

Tuan and Vim, in deep thought about the rice...

Random picture...

Better view of the curry.........

I had nasi lemak this morning for brunch. It was not even remotely close to the one sold back home in the kertas lilin but it sure did taste a little Malaysian. What's ironic is, back in Malaysia I used to avoid nasi lemak... the name says it all - direct translation, "rice fat/fat rice". And now, here I am, judging it on a scale of one to ten..

Attended the UMSA (Malaysian club) orientation barbeque yesterday and I met, more Malaysians... We had to participate in some odd scavenger hunt interlaced with lame tasks at the check points. Most involved singing primitive nursery rhymes and gesturing wildly in sync to lyrics, all done in the direct view of the public. Thankfully, NZ citizens aren't the type who stop, stare and giggle in amusement when anything remotely unusual occurs in the middle of the street. When an accident takes place, people here don't deliberately crowd around the victims and start whispering and oggling without offering much assistance..

That said, I would like to applaud UMSA for the effort in bringing us Malaysians together (...not that we don't already stick to each other like peanut butter and jelly within slices of fresh bread). Managed to socialize quite a bit over satay sticks and ubi cake (...which I had a little too much off and Joanna and I demanded to pack home). Evidently, the Malaysians here are split into two very distinct groups although there remain quite a number of odd ones who don't fit into the picture.... The guys - engineering students and the ladies - Tesol (???) students/pursuing some sorta teaching course... I've yet to meet a Malaysian psych major. And when I tell people that I'm doing psych, I get the same reactions. The wide eyed "owh" with a slight retreat which i tend to interpret as "wth is she thinking??"... But then again, maybe I'm being too cynical? Maybe they're retaliating in awe. Forgive my wishful thinking.... LOL.

Question : Why is psychology always linked to psychiatry? It's 2 different fields people....

Anyways, I met Roger at the UMSA bbq, (yep, Jacintha....) and he didn't recognize me til I asked him if he did.... Also met Jie Huei there from the BRATs camp in Kuching which we attended together.. She recognized me immediately and honestly, I was pretty shocked to see her there... And I did like the ice breaking session which was like a round of speed dating. (only diff was it allowed social interaction between similar genders)

I've been handed assignments already and yesterday, a few of us went down K street to get a printer at Dick's Smith to print out assignments and slides. Don't worry mummy! I spent NZD 11 for the printer plus paper coz at least 6 of us are sharing it.... Been taking it easy this past one week, but I will start taking my studies seriously from next week on wards. Tutorials and labs start next week too. And I've actually passed my CV out to certain places so fingers crossed, I will be able to find a job some time soon and then find a balance between the job and my schedule. Trish was kind enough to let me in on some of her working experiences and she's been giving me tips on where to look for jobs and course selection, all those small little important details. I seriously owe it to her for making my life a tad easier. I owe it to a lot of people over here actually. Everytime something crops up, there's always someone there to help get me through it. God's definitely watching over me....

Been feeling particularly reflective of late... I've been caught up with my thoughts a lot. It's not making me feel glum but there's certainly so much more to think about compared to the past 7 months in Malaysia where I just got through the days without even remembering the dates. I've never been one to say much, always been more of an observer/listener. But here, I feel the need to observe and listen more intently.... I still giggle as much though, annoying as it may be. Thanks to the fancy quips of Joanna, the antiques of my other resident mates here and our little wine fests with the Grafton guys...

Life is a summer fest. Live it, learn it then discard it...

ps : I am hoping to go somewhere during the upcoming Easter break. There's so much in NZ that I've yet to explore!!! Please take me somewhere....inexpensive!!! LOL.

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

A home Away from Home

11:37 AM

When life gets unfamiliar, all you can do is make the best out of it....

After some good probing from the mother, I have decided to put up pictures of my room (....regardless of how messy i still think it is).. You should know that this makes me feel somewhat exposed... Whatever the case, I still feel pretty cozy in this quaint little room that I now call home...

There's my feature wall, the most fav part of my room, I have a piece of everyone back home with me here....

That's my rather messy bed.....

And the desk with laptop and the works..........

Fridge by the window.....

Closet and room door.....

And the inside of the closet.....

I had my first politics class today. And it was everything I expected it to be. I suddenly feel this urge to watch 300. It was all about Sparta. How war was such an important element of life back then. I suppose it was just the beginning of everything I was about to learn in the next few months, but I was intrigued right away. And happy, that maybe this was just one of the better decisions that I had made. The past few weeks, post enrolment, I was still in a daze, tryin to figure out if my choices wouldn't spark my interest... I'm pretty glad that that's not the case...

Met up with Su Lyn after lunch and once again we took the streets by storm. Walked to Foodtown, nearer to campus where I stocked up on food... I hope I don't finish it too fast.. I've developed a larger appetite, thanks to endless walks and colder weather... Oh, and apparently, also an obesession with milo powder!! Seriously, stick a spoonful into your mouth and let it melt! Heaven!

Anyways, my outings with Su Lyn are always fun fun fun... She invited me for dinner with her and Queenie on Friday but I had to turn it down, coz am supposed to be cooking with some of the residents then. Fingers crossed, our meal tomorrow will be safe to consume.

Been going for morning jogs at the domain pretty frequently. If I'm lucky, I get to catch the sunrise, which, honestly, is an awesome sight! The jogs also help me channel my pent up energy. The craggy tracks are refreshing to take on. Now, if only I could get my Ipod to work like I want it to....

Thinking of walking to the harbour tomorrow by myself after my stats class to get some studying done... The view of the sea and the wind blowing against my skin sounds very appealing... And the walk will do me good too..

Other than that, things here have been moving pretty slowly... Lectures are so huge that it's impossible to find any friends in them. I got to know yet another Malaysian who's in both my econs and psych classes and we've been hanging out, but most of the time, I prefer to keep to myself during lectures... It helps me focus more too. I believe that finding good friends takes time (...despite my need for affiliation, as quipped by Cassie) so I am not stressing the small stuff.

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Monday, March 3, 2008

Here's my Now

5:06 PM

Classes have finally begun at Uni. So I am officially experiencing, first hand, the life of a full fledged uni student. Orientation week came and went in a blink of an eye... I wouldn't have considered it particularly helpful in generating friendships... but I was happy to have witnessed the whole Haere Mai welcome dance, and to have mingled around, if not much, a bit... Plus, I now more or less, know how to navigate my way through the uni... Ultimately, the best tips I received were from people who I actually made friends with. Like short loans, or whether or not to get textbooks and which floor were the quietest hence the most conducive study environments....

I've joined only UMSA so far, which is the Malaysian students Association. There's an orientation BBq coming up this sat. And they have random activities spread out through the year... Finally cleaned my room. So it doesn't really look like a pig sty anymore.

My schedule this semester is pretty relaxed... On Mon and Wed I start at three and finish at six, with n hour break in between. On tuesdays, I have a class at ten and then nothing til around 5 pm. Thursdays, I start at ten and finish at 1 pm and on Fridays, I have a ridiculously sparse timetable. Still tryin to figure out what to squeeze within the hour breaks... Although, I'm pretty sure I'll be sitting down somewhere (....if i can find a place to sit down) and studying... My subject combination's pretty random too. I decided to do one psych paper and one stats paper which are the prerequisited to go on to psych stage two. And I'm also taking an Econs paper and a Politics paper to fulfill my general education requirement. I wanted to get into the spanish class badly but they fill up real fast and I left enrolment to the last minute, so yea......

Somehow, I find myself slowly dwindling back into that life of routine.... I guess, this time, no matter how much I want to, I can't fight it. This is something I have to do. I should be feeling lucky. After all, how many people actually get to come here and experience what I am... But at times, I don't feel that way. Studying abroad is a test of your patience, your financial prudence, your ability to cope with a new and challenging environment. It's a growing process like no other... So no matter how lucky I should feel, there's always that nagging feeling within me, asking what now? Where do I go from here? Is that it? As far as now goes, that's never "it".....

Here're some pictures that I owe you guys....

Lantern Festival at Albert Park, day 2 upon arriving....

The throngs of people and the stalls that were set up during the lantern fest

F&PAA, this is the brand new business building at UoA... it's where I have most of my lectures....

The view from F&PAA (Fisher and Paykel)

This was the outdoor orchestra that I went to at the Auckland Domain, sorry, there're barriers blocking the view....

The throngs of people that turned up, all sitting on the grass which doesn't turn soggy no matter what....

....and there're no mosquitoes at all!

Our own little gathering, from left is Caroline fm Germany, me (yes, I know, my hair looks disgustingly flat....), one of the floor RAs, Trishvin (my RA) and one of the Swedish residents.

The view from Su Lyn's apartment at The Quadrant.... the green roofed building's the law faculty...

More buildings... I like the red roof ones!!

And there's the quay, amidst the construction..... See any cows yet?? No?? Thank you very much!!

Those are the kinds of roads I'm talking about... they're all like that... This one's in the city center....

This one was taken at the Harbour, down Quay street... From left, Joanna, me, Ashish, Vim and Jack

And again.... these are a few of my closest friends here... Joanna's a M'sian fm Perth, Ash is from India, Vim and Jack are both JPA scholars from M'sia

There's me and Trish... She's such a great company with loads of great advice to boot. Trish is a JPA scholar from Malaysia too.....

There's me and Joanna. Joanna's a biomed student who lived in Perth for 3 years. She looks so Malay right? But she's chinese and about 18 years old this year. She's so adorably cute!!