A Whole New World ~

Movieworld! Happy memories from 4 years ago revisited. This time with four other Sporeans, three French and two Malaysians.

The french guys tower a head above every one else.

We made sure that we got our money worth for our very expensive ticket. This meant:

Taking lethal weapon twice...

Look at peiqi (in purple) screaming her head out. hahaa!

Taking Scooby-Doo twice...

And taking Wild Wild West thrice..yes 3 times!


All daredevils by the third time..haha!


Another group photo.


The SCI gang (also known as camera whores to the very amused french).


See how excited Peiqi and Bernie got..hahaa..girls it's just a toilet sign!


Aaron and Jason need a real mummy!


Inside the world of Harry Potter and the Magic School...


We even took pictures at the train station! Trying to form a V shape here, and me, being the most important person of all, had to stand in the middle.


Even the sunset at the train station is so pretty!


Bernie and i went for Cathrine's birthday celebration at night at a nearby Italian restaurant. It was what Bernie calls a mini UN conference.


Countries represented: Bermuda (that's in the Bermuda triangle! like duh..), Singapore, Norway, Australia, USA, Russia, Canada, India, Guam.

Somebody give me a world map!

One week in Brisbane

Went to Brisbane two weeks ago for my internship at Courier Mail. For what was normally a one hour journey, it took me three hours that day because of the screwed up train system. The train literally shut down all its lights and aircon for five minutes at every single station before the power came back up and then it would inch along to the next station where we had to go through the whole routine again. How i miss the MRT...

Visited the famous University of Queensland (UQ) which i've been told to go several times if only just to look-see, and its stone pillars and grassy courtyard didn't disappoint indeed.


Guess what peiqi and i did on my very first night there. We sewed -- for two hours straight! All because my new workpants were too long (the things you have to go through as a not-so-tall person..argh) and my bag was falling apart. It was hilarious how my pants had different workmanship because peiqi and i both took a leg each. No prizes for guessing who the better one was...

Of course it was peiqi lah! haha but for all those who had (even for a fraction of a second) thought it might be me, thank you for your faith in me! Yes calling to all guys out there: Peiqi is still single and available...hahaa!

I also cooked and baked for the very first time since coming to Australia! See how peiqi and i are working hard in the kitchen. We did try our best to keep it in one piece. It was a miracle that her housemates didn't throw us out of the house.

I had to walk past this construction site on my way to work. And the flowers always stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder.

A newspaper clipping pinned to the wall of the desk i was working on. A piece of Aussie humour for ya!

Here's how my newspaper looks like. It's a tabloid which converted from the broadsheet format a year ago.


And of course, my very first byline! On page 3 somemore! Cool huh? hehe..

Didn't think that a chess tournment for primary school kids would have made it there, but i guess the pictures were the reason for its page 3 spot!

And coincidentally, the boy in the picture was the nephew of our health correspondent. She went around showing the article to everyone in the newsroom..haha. Free publicity never hurts, i say.

Surfers and Brides and All Things Nice

Now that you've seen me in action on the surfboard, it's time to show you what the real thing looks like. Here you go...

These were taken during the Pro surf tournament held at Coolangatta quite a few weeks ago. Yes i'm lagging terribly in my posts. But I'll get them up. Bit by bit.

Know the trick behind those surfing stunts? Start young!


A picture of Andrea at the beach at Coolangatta. Crystal clear water, azure blue skies, and huge rolling waves. What more can one ask for?



They have really innovative ways of advertising!

Went to Burleigh Heads beach after that. Climbed up the hill instead of taking a level route because Bernie said we're still young. Kind of doubt it now after those killer steps!

Preparing to jump in...

Saw lots of weddings that day, with at least 3 couples at that beach.


And at the end of the day, there's nothing better than to just sit down with a loved one and watch the waves roll in, with nary a worry in the world.

Byron Bay

Cockroaches -- the bane of my existence

A cockroach crept onto my bed this morning, just half an hour ago.

We stared at each other.

It contemplated its next path.

I considered my options:

a) Scream and wake Andrea up.
b) Hit it hard and let it die on my bed. eww.
c) Boil water and scald it to death.

None of them was really viable. I stood there and said a silent prayer: Lord please take the cockroach away without me having to do anything.

And the cockroach started twitching its digustingly long feelers. It began to move -- towards my pillow! Grabbing my pillow and flinging it to a safer corner of my bed, i swept the cockroach onto the floor with a piece of paper.

Quickly running to my bathroom, i retrieved the plastic cup that i've just thrown away yesterday. An action plan was quickly forming in my head. I could always trap the cockroach first and then ask Andrea to kill it when she wakes up.

It was now on the floor. Not moving, but still twitching its feelers. I aimed for it.

Darn! Missed it.

It was running fast this time, running for its life. I screamed.

Andrea, still half asleep, opened an eye. I looked at her in desperation: "Andrea, we've a cockroach in our room!"

She calmly sat up on her bed, tied her hair, and reached for her specs.

Valiantly holding a shoe in each hand, she lowered herself and peered into the dark corner of the wardrobe where it was now hiding.

Whack. Whack. Whack. She hit hard at the cockroach. Dragging the cockroach out with a shoe, she said: "I think it's dead now."

She took some tissues, collected the carcass and threw it away.

Yay! Andrea vs Cockroach: 1-0.

I'm just hoping now that the dirty fella doesn't have any kids.

A Time of Thanksgiving

God has manifested Himself in a way so real here that i just want to give thanks for what He has done. I'm thankful for:

1. Internship opportunity.
I've managed to get an internship here with one of the newspapers in Brisbane -- the Courier Mail. It wasn't easy. I had gone to see the school internship coordinator way after applications for internships had closed, but she was nice enough to bend the rules slightly. After which, i had to convince the head of journalism in my school that i was good enough and would be totally committed to it during the internship, because they don't normally send exchange students to their industry contacts. My journalism tutor helped me a great deal. Even though it's only a week, it's good enough for someone who hasn't even written for any school newspaper at all. Thank God for the open doors!

2. Peiqi and her housemates.
She managed to get out of a really bad housing contract and found a good place with two Singaporeans whom she subsequently realized that i knew! I had met them before when they came to my church once. They're in the Brisbane branch of my church. Isn't it just amazing?

And it's great that peiqi is in Brisbane and staying with people i know, so i knew where i was going to stay the moment i got the internship (Brisbane is an hour plus away from Gold Coast so i definitely had to get accommodation nearer to the Courier Mail office). Everything just fell nicely into place :)

3. Good grades.
I confess that i haven't been studying very hard. I still study, just maybe not as mug as in s'pore. But thank God that i've been achieving higher than average grades. Even if the grades don't count ultimately.

4. Awesome sister with awesome friends!
I've been working very hard on an investigative feature last week about Australian universities and foreign students. My awesome younger sis in Melbourne provided me her friends for me to interview, and also got her friend from Monash University to obtain a journal article that i was desperately looking for but couldn't find anywhere in my school database. It was an interstate effort which accomplished what my school librarians couldn't do. Thank God for a wonderful sister and her wonderful friends :)

5. My parents.
I wouldn't have been able to come here and enjoyed myelf so much if not for the efforts of my parents who always scrimp and save to give my sisters and i the best they can. Thank God too for self-sacrificing parents!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Suggestions needed!

I am now onto my fourth article in my journalism class, and this is my assignment brief:

Use yourself as the subject of the story: what is a completely improbable thing for you to do, an improbable place to go, an improbable subject for you to encounter? Get out there, try it and write a first person account of your experiences.

I'm nearly going crazy trying to think of something that i can do, and getting desperate because i have to get one by wed!

Any suggestions please? :)

Of Fleas...

I was just telling Peiqi last Friday how i've never got lost in Gold Coast before, and the very next day, i ended up being stranded by the road in the middle of nowhere...



Ok i exaggerated. It wasn't exactly "nowhere". I was going to a flea market with Bernie (who was supposed to lead the way!) and we dropped off the bus a stop too late.

So we had to take a long walk back to the flea market, where we found treasures like...



This! No i don't need this! :)

I love this photo frame.
Found didges -- those musical instruments you see in the Ricola advertisements.


Racks and racks of sunglassses.

"Bacteria resistant" chopping boards!

Windchimes.
Garden figurines.

And lots of other pretty little stuff!

If you one of those "bacteria-resistant" chopping boards or one of those things to keep your mouth shut, just tag me and i'll be more than happy to get it for you!

Don't i look pretty in this cap? :)

Just before we left the market, we stumbled upon this man who's the best multi-tasker i've ever seen. Look at him play all 5 instruments at the same time!

...And Sandflies

Went to Brisbane for the second time last Friday (the first time being the very exciting Australia Day) and met up with Peiqi, fellow exchange student from SCI who's finally here -- almost 2 months after Bernie and i came!

Pretty models endorsing the ubiquitous kebab wraps here :) If you look carefully, the shopfront is just behind us!


The terribly homesick and angbao-sick us (plus Kim from Texas) went to Chinatown in the hope of capturing the CNY atmosphere, or whatever was left of it. This was the entrance, which is probably the most impressive part already. And nope, we didn't find our bakkwa, pineapple tarts and CNY goodies :(

We decided to give up on the most hopeless Chinatown we've ever seen (Kim said even the one in Texas is better than this!) and went shopping at Queen Street Mall, where we made a guest appearance on TV. Not a bad start to fame for someone who was once told she has a Paris Hilton nose. hahaa..

After which we went Barefoot Bowling with Peiqi's housemate and her friends. We realized upon arriving at the club that it was a game for what peiqi terms "the older generation". Well i guess it's never too early to start planning retirement activities :) Look at how strong me and Kim are.

In Barefoot Bowling, the first person will throw a small white ball out into the field, and subsequent players will then try to throw their balls closest to the white ball.

Below: Me in intense concentration, mentally willing my ball to go the right way.

Other than getting bitten by sandflies, we had a great time there, where i made a new discovery about myself -- i can't bowl for nuts...hahaa! Kim and i left early to catch the last train home. The train station was sooo ulu...

But at least the train came, and we got back to Bond without unexpected adventures. Thank God for that!