Spiderman 3 premiere! What a LONG WAIT!
went to the movies with my 5 flat-mates at southbank cinema...the movie totally ROCKS! been waiting for it for 2 yrs and it's finally here! haha.....highly anticipated movie and it didn't disappoint me!! the CG was wonderful and the actors were still as stunning as ever...with kirsten dunst almost making me faint on the spot with her charm!! oh man.....still feel excited even though i'm like, 5hrs after watching the movie.... if not for some weird caucasians doing some end of show stunts, i wouldn't realise that i'm watching movie in aussie.... i thought i was still enjoying this movie within a golden village cinema!! haha....how i miss my hometown cinema.... it's a pity i can't managed to grab a spidey doll from the game machine to commemorate the day i'm here for the premiere....haiz...too bad.... anyway, the cinema here wasn't so bad afterall...the facilities are good and the screen is gigantic....even the place is pretty clean!! most of the pple seems to follow the social etiquette and bring their rubbish out of the theatre after the show so as not to dirty the place.... perhaps this is what makes the western countries different from asean countries.....the pple here knows more about consideration than our pple back home....singaporeans really got a long way to go to reach this level.....
anyway the movie tix here are pretty affordable.....for student rates i'm only paying A$5 for wkdays and A$5.70 for wkends.... so i can still go to the movies pretty often....just like when i was back in singapore.... still got plenty other movies that're hitting town these couple of months....i've missed TMNT due to some crazy assignments and quizzes...so i've still got Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean and many others..... so i'm really looking forward to having a good time watching these shows...either alone or with someone else!! hehe....
yawnz....pretty tired...still got class on tmr at 9am.....finally it's Friday....... ZZzzzzz...
living in a foreign land
don't really know why i took this long to write this blog...perhaps i was just out of ideas to type out a really long blog...
Living in a foreign land....as much as i wanted to tell myself that it is as easy as typing these 5 words out, i had to admit, it is indeed a tough nut to crack. Not because i am not able to survive by myself handling the accomodation and academic procedures, not because i am struggling to adapt to the slow moving pace here, and definitely NOT because i can't cook myself a decent meal. Instead, it is the PR skills and tolerance level which we all lack by default, that's making us difficult to live in a foreign land where the natives speak a different language from yours.
I had to admit though, army has trained me very well to be who i am now.....not in terms of physical fitness(which i obviously suck at that) but in terms of living in the same conditions with people from different races, background, wealth, habits and most of all, temper. Unfortunately for my female flat-mates, they do not have this valuable 2 yr sharing experience to add on to their armoury and this has now proved to be the contributing factor behind a couple of unhappy incidences within our crib. In the event of such circumstances, guys would either swear at each other, or just leave it be, eventually reaching a point when things cool off and we forget about it. As for girls, what i have saw is that they'll bitch about it with other parties, and then go to their comfort corner quietly, eventually ending up with tears rolling down their cheek and none of the problems solved. The exact details of the grievances i do not really know, but, somehow i feel that it has to do with the difference in living habits and the clash in characters.
Anyway, brushing aside those troublesome issues, i would think that i'm better off staying in my room all the time and only appear for dinner...this would prevent more conflicts than it already has and also allows me to concentrate more on catching up on my studies....somehow, i feel, that i'm lagging quite alot, and i've been huffing and puffing my way through assignments which would not even cause a ripple to me when i was in poly....
sigh...statistics quiz again on mon.... another wkend burnt....
some photos taken during Easter holiday, with benny visiting!!
State Library……No free lunch in this world…. REALLY??
Wonderful things I have to say about the Brisbane State Library… Nice infrastructure, excellent sense of style, high standards of cleanliness, but most of all, the unbeatable attitude towards providing the best service to the public. In this case, I meant the FREE wireless internet service in the library. There’re close to 30 terminals catering free internet usage(terminals with chairs can use for 1 hr, without chairs can be used for 20mins) to any visitors who wish to use the internet either to check mails, chat on msn(no messenger installed, use web messenger), find info, check their banking accounts, or simply just wanna kill some time by surfing the net. Mind you, time is limited though for these stations to protect the rights of others who’re queuing behind.
As wireless internet is available, those who wish to really hog the internet service for long periods may bring their laptops there and stay for as long as they wan…
Well, I’m not really sure if u can munch on stuffs there and surf the net the same time, but I do see a lady gorging on twisties and drinking starbucks coffee right in front of me on my very first day there, while I was reading newspaper… so…well…maybe EATING is possible…not sure though, but any daring ones can just TRY…..haha
Anyway, the librarians there are very helpful becos they keep walking around and will approach anyone who might be experiencing any problems… (dun worry, they’re not spying on u) they also have an IT personnel stationed there too if anyone might need help with any technical problems… it seems….IT personnel is really sought after here… a little hint to my frenz in the IT profession…. Got it guys?? **wink** haha….
I’ve also come to realised that printing is also available there, just that I do not yet know how to do it…perhaps the next time I go there again, I’ll give it a try if it doesn’t costs!! Hee….I know there’s no free lunch in this world, but doesn’t the internet service prove this theory wrong already?? Hee… it’s worth finding out!!
Alinia's relative -- Jimmy and her wife brought us to where their restaurant is(at morningside) and also showed us where to get the asians food... they also treated us to a vegetarian meal(supposed to be Yum Cha but was too overcrowded) which is actually my 1st FULL vegetarian meal in my life!! didn't know i get to eat it here though...was thinking that maybe we would have more of fish & chips than asian food...hee..
anyway, we went to the Regatta Boatshed restaurant to have our first decent dinner since coming here...bumped into the Benson Court(our temp motel) dudes who were also there for a great meal and drink... xiaotong had a barramundi fish w/ rice, alinia had a FULL 100% Australian Lamb sausage and for me, i had a rib fillet steak(beef as usual for me) medium - done!!! we also had a little taste of the garlic prawns as starters and it's simply SENSATIONAL.... the price is abit piercing to the heart, but HEY! u're paying for GOOD quality meat and fish and seafood here..... it doesn't hurt to come once in a while for a celebration.....isn't it??hee~
We also went to check out the indooroopilly shopping mall which is just adjacent to where we live... so we're pretty caught up within the triangular geometric of the Uni of Queensland, Toowong Shopping Village and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre...
anyway, more sightseeing photos within the brisbane city!! be surprised!! beach within the CBD.... hee~ yum yum... bikini babeS!!
Gunners Rocks Man!!! Yoo~ HOO!
Conrad Casino
QUT(Gardens Point)
Botanical Garden
Enjoying the cool breeze here man~~ how relaxing...
Beach in the City
Night View of Brisbane CBD
HOWDY MATE!
It has been awhile… Christmas and New Year day was CRAP for me….so I shan’t tok about it…
Finally I’m in Australia… during this time, I’ve been trying convince myself that I’m really looking forward to this trip, now that I am here, I am really seeing myself adapting well to the Australian way of life. Actually, it isn’t really hard for me to adjust to, compared to my 5 other frenz and the main credits has to go to my parents and my elder sister. It is actually her decision to study in Australia 10 yrs ago that really paved the way for me to know more about this country, and how to adjust myself to the pace of the way of life here.
The “miss home” feeling hasn’t really kicked on me yet, and I certainly do not want it to come now or for the next 2 yrs. I know it sounds pretty heartless but I had to do what I had to do, and to not let them down, I know that I must do what I’ve promised them to do --- study hard and make them proud.
The goodbye scene in the airport was really heart-wrenching for me. Though I managed to shut my tears out, my thoughts ran wild….all I could think of that night was that, I gotta say goodbye to everyone, gotta tell my grandparents to really take good care of themselves for these 2 yrs, gotta tell my grandfather I’m really gonna miss his hainanese chicken rice, gotta tell my parents, though they’ll be joining me and I’ll get to see them soon for awhile, I’m still gonna miss their naggings a lot, gotta tell my cousins to study hard and not make us so worried about them all the time, and finally, gotta tell my frenz, don’t forget me….
So many things were in my mind, but time was short, in the end, the only things I did was waving goodbye and giving them a big smile….
The plane trip was pretty tiring, but fun… the swap-seats plan didn’t managed to work out so I had to sit separate from my frenz. When I move over to my seating, I realised I’m into something really out-of-my-comfort-zone. The night before, I’ve been thinking for very long what kind of a person would sit beside me I can’t swap seats, would it be a guy or girl? Old man or a young woman? Fortunately for me, it’s a young Irish loving couple on a 2-month holiday in Brisbane and the first wonderful thing they did for me, was to lend me a pen to fill out my arrival form. We did not have much of a conversation initially and that’s really got to do with my isolated Singaporean attitude. None will rebuke me when I say that as Singaporeans, we generally do not strike a conversation with anyone unless we need their help because it’s just not part of our culture to say hi and introduce ourselves to someone sitting beside us. A little knock into my sense and the next thing i know, we’re about to take a photo together with my digital camera with the help of the air steward.
The rest of the journey was pretty enriching as we began to chat and the thing about Irish English is that they’re really fast and really takes a master to know how to break the words out and understand them. As much as I’m confident of my ability(learn thru listening to John Dykes in ESPN), I still need to say,” sorry I dun quite understand” to them for a couple of times….it IS embarrassing.....
After declaring my food(pineapple tarts) and contacted our UQ guy, we proceeded to our designated driver who would drive us to our temporary motel for FREE, courtesy of the university. The motel is pretty cosy, looks like a small cottage with a very nice signboard, has wireless internet service within the premises too, just that it is, PREPAID… means I gotta buy internet time to use… anyhow, after staying in this place for the 5th day, I seem reluctant to move out already!
We managed to find a really nice place on our 3rd day here, with the help of the UQ accommodation advisor… a place for 6 isn’t really hard to find cos there’s only the limited choices we have(in our case, just 2 choices). One was really far away from where we currently stay, another is just 3 or maybe 4 bus-stops away from both school and our motel… so we EASILY choose to go to the nearer one first. It took abit of our breath just climbing the slopes, but after we see the place, we realise that this might just be the BETTER choice! (without seeing the other one yet!)
Let me explain….it is within walking distance to school, has a bus-stop nearby that leads to both the city and the Toowong village (self-sufficient shopping town), has a ferry terminal in the park just down the slopes, most of all, the place is fully furnished and all u need to do is move in, activate the fixed telephone line, get an internet connection and you’re ready to RUMBLE….(utilities bill all included in the rent)
After we settled our accommodation issue, we decided to check out the universal travel ticket here in Brisbane. Gandalf said in LOTR,” One Ring To Rule Them All” and here I say, “One Ticket to Travel Them All!!! Wahahahahh”
Alright, scold me crazy, but this is just so convenient! Just need to purchase a daily ticket of 2 zones, and we can travel thru all 3 different transports(train/bus/ferry) till the last service of the day from city to St Lucia! So!! We went abit of sightseeing in the city and also along the river....
Today is Australia Day, a significant day for the Australians and also everyone who’s in Australia right now. But for us, we’re just snoozing on our beds the whole day and enjoying our Stars Wars marathon while munching on some snacks and cup noodles…
Lastly, I finally received my 1st letter in Australia…YEAH!!! but then....now i got another name i can call myself...and it's Shiou Pang(Xiao Pang in hanyu pinyin)...... haiz....sadz.... why not Pang Shiou??(Pang Shao in hanyu pinyin meaning master Pang..)
Alright MATE…gotta Go…..AUSTRALIA DAY~ YEEE HAH!!!
a simple life...
had my first taste of Subway on tuesday with yt..(yeah, i'm most likely to last few rare pple not to have tried it) it tastes GREEAAT!! i can't believe that i'm having a great time eating a whole large chunk of vegetables... the daily set of the day was tuna(combined with oregano bread), and there must have been more than 10 kinds of veggies in there.. with tomatoes, cabbage, olive, and many more which i can't remember, but i do remember that, for the first time in my life, i crave for veggies... the first bite makes me crave for the 2nd bite, and the 3rd bite makes me even hungrier for the 4th bite...as i finished the 6-inches oregano bread and the macademia cookies, my full stomach was the only thing that got in the way of me going for the 2nd set....it's like an addiction...even my tongue is shouting for it now as i was typing...
anyway probably later today i would have it again....oo!! can't wait!!
the exercise with yt was incredible...we did weights training first and then swimming + suntanning and i ended up having terrible muscle-ache for 3 days straight!! can't straighten my arms at all....managed to do so today... seriously, i need to do this more often, i think i'm beginning to like the kicks of this! haha...
managed to string a meeting between my 2 batch of poly classmates... was glad that they somehow knew each other and that they dun have any grudges! haa....the first impression was gd though and they seemed to be able to click.....in any way, i'm glad that things turn out well....
was pretty badly ran down due to the fact that i'm not as financially-strapped.. but hey, i dun need to prove anything about myself to anyone, i know i'm screwed up and has to live off my mum and dad, totally dependent on their money for my studies, but does it mean i should be like the others and start proving myself that i can earn my own keep? hell no... i dun need to do that yet! i dun need to show pple i can do that... becos I KNOW i can do that!!!
my family may not be one that has to worry about daily meals, but we have equal problems to every other families in the world... maybe even more... and sometimes, i can't help but envy those average families....cos at least they do not live under the coloured eyes of those who envy the well-to-dos.... nor do they have the luxury to go thru inheritance lawsuits that causes family break-ups... heck...they can never understand, what it feels like when u see ur family break-up becos "oh, ur uncle demands to have more from the inheritance", "oh, ur aunt thinks she deserves more money becos she's older..." things like that....
anyway, i'm kinda pissed at pple who thinks that, " oh, his dad has more than enough money for him to live off, thus he doesn't understand how badly cash-strapped we are..."
All men and women, regardless of how wealthy or poor they may be, will nonetheless face the same problems, be it family, monetary, friends or work-related. The only difference lies in the form and intensity of the problems in which it surfaces, at a given place and time, due to the fact that, we are afterall, just humans...
something worth pondering over... for those who care...
a whole wk of happiness/frustration/excitement..
just caught the Spiderman-3 Trailer...it was simply mouth-watering!! can't wait to part with my money to catch the show, a pity though that it will premiere on 4th May 2007... i won't be able to catch it in singapore... perhaps it's a good chance for me to ask a girl out if i should meet one in my uni...haha...
met up with nicole, chris, esther and her cousin at Pitstop last sat at a board game shop that's just like The Settlers which i used to go to with loh wei and basu... maybe i am not fated to play the games there becos both times i went there,(first is to meet up with tailin and co. after Lee Hom's concert) i was only there to say hi, had a feel of the chair for 5 mins before they packed up everything and decide to take a photo to end the session... so i told myself that there mustn't be a THIRD time..... haiz... anyway after that, esther and her cousin headed for home and the 3 of us went to have supper at a nearby stall...(actually, it was just the 2 of them eating)
we continued to chill out at TCC and our topics went from back-in-poly days to bras and fashion... no idea why... they are the only ones whom i can really unlock myself and talk to... so easily... just like they can open their hearts and talk to me about those issues which they wouldn't talk about with others.... perhaps it's the triangle trust that we have learnt to build and share ever since we started knowing each other.... however there's just this 1 qns which i can never find the courage to answer them... perhaps one day i would, and we'll see about that...
mum and dad has been bickering for the whole wk... got so affected that i have stopped trying to be the nice middle-man... hope they find the arguments irritating and decide to stop by themselves.... cos i realised the more i try to help, the more reason they have to bring the arguments to the next level... decided, " heck! i quit..." and i leave it all to them to kiss and make up...
got my favourite phone, Sonyericsson W810i...was so ECSTATIC!! got it for merely 88 bucks with the help of a renewed contract and two 100 bucks vouchers... the more i see the phone, the more i'm proud of myself for making the wise choice.... the phone is a perfect replacement for my nokia n-gage...i used to think that it's impossible to find another phone as useful and nearly-perfect like the n-gage, but this phone is EVEN BETTER... just can't find any part of the phone which i'm unhappy about...
the lifeguards at the swimming pool of the tampines safra probably knows me pretty well as the dude who goes there every day for a swim and a tan ever since i started living the life of a civilian again... every mon - fri afternoon, i would be there if it doesn't rain... hoping that i would be able to shed some kilos here to make up for the inactive lifestyle which i predict i would be living in australia... so far so good, looks abit tanner now but still far from how i want myself to be....
might be meeting up with junqiang, tyt and co. this sat afternoon for a sentosa beach outing... have to go IDP in the morning to do my visa stuffs, might have a chance to see weiping and nicole there.... meeting my ex-BMT section mates in the evening at Dbl O... to catch up abit on old times before we start to embark on our own careers.... seems like a very very hectic sat i've got this wkend.... hope i'll be alright when i meet up with liang ting and co. on sunday for kuan thai's birthday celebration...ARGH....horribly busy wkend i'm gonna get..... hope i dun fall sick by the end of all these meetings and partyings....haha...
haiz...shagged...
just came back after watching The Covenant with my tyt,wj and jq.... the show is pretty nice with the special effects and gorgeous stars... and has a good story too.. just hope that there's a sequel to this...
a good thing that tyt drove, managed to get me back home by 12am..hee~ some curfew i promised my mum.... decided that i should behave myself and stop hanging out till so late... made her worried all the time.. so NO MORE nightlife till i leave for Surfer's Paradise....yeah man~ CAN'T WAIT!!!
My dear gunners are really playing badly this wk... having drew their match with lowly everton in EPL and CSKA Moscow in Europe....very depressing results.... i could understand the match with everton...they came to get a point and they got it....as for CSKA Moscow, the gunners really shot themselves in their foot....probably it's the match with everton which has seriously gave them a blow in their confidence to score.... i had to say i was pretty furious throughout the match when they fail to score chance after chance...with each opportunity getting closer and closer to the goal...almost had a breakdown when rosicky failed to score with just 1 metre away from the goalline(he passed back to the keeper)...
the whole of thursday became a dread to me... the game really spoilt all my mood.. i was sleeping in my dad's car in the morning while he went to buy some fried doughstick when a car honked at me(he wanted to leave his parking lot and my dad's car just happens to block him)... i woke up with a really nasty look and if i hadn't had that tiny winy bit of humanity left in me, i would have smashed his side window together with his head... yeah, that's how bad i feel when i have a bad mood and my sleep is seriously disrupted... he could have knocked on the window to wake me up so that i could shift the car, but he chose to honked...i must say he's really LUCKY that day...
anyway, it really took me a long while to tok about the champions league match....if i had blogged immediately after that, i would have said alot of bad and nasty words about my favourite gunners...which i would regret...afterall they're creating chances, which is considered a better thing than not having enough skills and ideas to create chances...they just need to work more on their finishing and i bet that they can go to the top of the group very soon if they continue to create this big load of scoring opportunities...
had a little chat with chinghui.. she seems really enthusiastic in getting me to go for lessons and stuffs.. i understand her efforts but unfortunately those lessons are just not my cup of tea... i'm a pretty stubborn guy and unless i had to, i would not do the things i have no interests to do...in this case, attending the lessons... the makeup sessions sounds fun but unfortunately, i often get this heavy expectation to join her MLM company when i'm with her cliques... they're really nice pple whom i enjoy going out with(esp the genting trip) but i just dun see myself joining their line.... anyway, without any prejudice towards MLM, i hope she really do well in what she's doing, but for now, i dun see myself joining this line...i'm still very optimistic about being able to find the job i like and i just hope that the next time she asks me out, it's purely a date with movies and stuffs and nothing about her company...
headache... its 1 am now...time to crash.....
