Newcastle

Today I shall write on the place I spent most of my time in when I was in Australia, a suburb called Newcastle. It is quite a boring place if you're thinking of exploring but it certainly is a nice and peaceful place to live in. There aren't many people around, so walking around means you can just take your time and enjoy the serene environment, not having to worry about "siaming" anyone. Furthermore, there are not many ugly tall buildings around to block the beautiful sky and at night the dim town will allow the starry starry night sky to show! How I miss these nature wonders!


Most of the "tourist" attractions in Newcastle seems to be made touristy by force as there aren't much amazing stuff to see.


Our first close encounter with a koala. They are such lazy and gentle creatures that spent most of their time sleeping and chewing leaves.



One of the places we frequently visit in Newcastle are the beaches. Like everywhere else in Australia, the beaches are really clean and are awesome places to chill and relax. Soaking up the sun is one of our favorite past times.



We love the houses around Newcastle too. Each of them have their own backyard of beautiful flowers. There is always plenty of room around when you walk on the streets so you don't feel all cluttered and caged up.




Haircut is pretty expensive in Australia. And one day, I felt brave and decided to visit a local hairdresser which cost 27AUD and it was disastrous. It was indeed true that Ang Mohs do not know how to cut Asian's hair. Throughout the whole haircut, she kept asking me questions of how she should cut and in the end what was left on my head was long fringe and short everywhere else with a distinctly odd difference.


After a month of bad hair days, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Bought this hair clipper at just 7AUD. I have always wanted to give my hair a good shave after army, as not having to bother about messy hair will make life so much easier. Moreover, summer is coming so hair will be a hassle. Then, with the help of my 3 Hong Kee friends, I'm botak again! :) Hehe

Campus Life

Most of the friends I made during exchange came from Edwards hall and are mostly international students. I find it easier to relate to them. Hall activities will usually be parties and booze, which kind of lacks variety. For me, occasionally having these are okay, but not everyday, which is why I find it hard to mingle with the locals. Also, it is their semester 2, so most of them already have their cliques. But still, I'm glad I've made some really good friends, and been to some interesting events which really allowed me to experience different cultures. Staying in hall also has its good and bad, sometimes it can get really rowdy at night when every room turns into a nightclub of their own with drunk people shouting across the hallway. Two events that I remembered most vividly are some random room blasting porn video sound at its max across the hallway with the sound of women moaning and also a drunk girl who thought the pantry's trashcan was her toilet bowl, whereby she just took off her undies and sat right into it!! But overall I am glad I'm staying on campus!




Here is one of our first parties during O week. At first we blended quite well with the locals, we even knocked at their doors and joined them in games and craziness. But as time goes by, we couldn't keep up with their partying ways.


Our first and last partying experience at a Newcastle nightclub. Didn't really like it as it was too bright and run down, with booze spills all over, non-cooling air conditioner, etc.


Back to school party when school just started, where we all tried very hard to act cute and look like little students.

There are also various events organized by the school or my hall which added colors to my campus life. One of them is the international food festival which I remembered trying kangaroo and alligator meat for the first time, while alligator meat was awesome (tasted like frog leg), kangaroo tasted really bitter and tough. Other events include: Ocktober Fest, Halloween Party, Free Surf lesson, Hunter Valley Wine/beer Tasting, Performance night, Inter-hall Art Exhibition, etc.



Mooncake Party with awesome mooncakes baked by Adele





A visit to Hunter Valley wineries/breweries with free booze. Aussie trip has really brought my alcohol tolerance to a whole new level, although it is still no where as compared to the locals.


Last but not least, our awesome halloween party at Jacky's room. My first time dressing up for Halloween! We often had drinking games at Jacky's room or Bel's place whereby many interesting things will happen when people get high and so on. At this particular party, we had a flasher in the room who keeps letting everyone see her undies by purposely opening up her legs all the time!! What a joke for the night!

Orientation

After a few days of touring Sydney and its surrounds, my parents left me at Newcastle where I begin my school orientation. It was quite disappointing as there wasn't any icebreaker activities, most of it were talks and intro to the school surroundings. But I was glad I met Bel and Adele, who are fellow Singaporeans and we quickly became really good friends. We all live nearby on campus and I would go to Bel's place for weekday lunches where we'll share cooking chores and groceries. Adele is my dinner buddy and we'll often meet to go dining hall together and she often bakes/ cooks delicious stuff for us and guides me for my keyboard module. Lucky me to have met them both.


I was provided with 16 meals a week in Edwards hall, but breakfast was kind of the same everyday with cereal, toast and yoghurt, weekend brunch will always be what was left over the entire week or cold sandwich, other then that, dinner was pretty decent. Mixed-gender toilet there was like new thing to me, was quite weird to go into a toilet and see a female.


My school is located in the suburbs, and on campus you can see lots of trees, birds: parrots, ducks, etc and I really enjoyed the peace. School was like a breeze because I only needed to pass, also I was having a 3 day work week, which gives me lots of free time to travel, gym and do my own things.

A new beginning

I am back and I have a hell lot to blog about. I have been really lazy. Let me rewind time back to July 2011 when I first arrived in Australia. I was still this insecure and uncertain kid, who needed my parents to come along with me. Worries of whether I'll be able to adapt, whether I'll meet nice people and so on flooded my mind back then and I didn't really enjoy the tour with my parents much. One thing is because of that, another is that the tour which was planned for us turned out quite boring.

OFF I GO!!!

Last post before I leave for Sydney! Starting to feel very excited, I hope life will be good over there! My back's still straining and just this morning my nose bled! I went to see the doctor, luckily it's just some minor sickness not related to my back injury. :) I'm really thankful to all my friends, especially those who came and visit me when i was resting at home! Very touched, I'll miss you guys! I'll be back as a better man! BYE SINGAPORE AND FRIENDS! :)

Near Death Experience

It had been a dramatic day for me yesterday as I nearly died or get paralyzed. It all started when I decided to go rock climbing with Gina since we were given free passes after completing the level one course which would have expired when I come back from Australia. It was all fun and challenging at first as I managed to conquer 2 walls. When I was about to descend from the 2nd wall, I shouted to Gina to get ready before I let go for her to lower me down slowly. Initially, it was still find as I slowly abseil down with my legs still on the wall. Then all of a sudden without any warning, I was at free fall! And it seems very high, somewhere around half the wall's height, 9m which I was told was about 3 storeys high!! And at a blink I was on the ground, cringing and moaning in extreme pain! I could not recall much as things happened too fast but i think I landed on my butt, and at the moment I thought I die le, I was so damn worried! The impact was so great that I screamed my lungs off, I think I shouted FUCK one million times! lol But the pain was unbearable, I felt my spine bend after the impact.

Moments after, a few SAC staff ran over and helped me to the bench and laid icepack at my back as I laid down. They tried to comfort me as I remained traumatized. I really didn't expect the fall, I am really quite angry with Gina, I mean how could she just let go, I could have died. I trusted her with my life, but I guess I'm at fault too, she's such a small girl, I could have climbed down slowly instead of trusting her completely. But what is done can't be undone, so no point pointing fingers. This is really a huge lesson learnt man!

I tried asking for assurance from the staff asking what will happen and all that as they did their best to comfort me. Then I was helped over to a wheel chair, initially their plan was to wheel chair me to the nearby hospital. But that was a stupid idea, as i felt very uncomfortable and and strained sitting up straight and I was worried further damage might occur. Then they called for the ambulance. What an experience being geared all over with strange back/neck protecting gears before being carried onto the ambulance with a stretcher.

Upon reaching the A&E department, I was taken to the x-ray room to check if anything serious happened. At that point, my back feels very strained and I dared not move. Aside from worrying that my upcoming trip might be affected, I felt super sian that all my plans before I fly are ruined. I can't do anything active for a long long time. :( Then there's a policeman who came to ask questions! haha so drama. My parents came soon after and they are very worried.

Later the doctor came with the results, and it was good news! He was quite surprised with the results also as nothing major happened after falling from such height and my spine remains intact. I heaved a sigh of relief then, I felt so fortunate. :) I guess training the butt and lower back kinda paid off as they managed to protect my spine and break my fall! Thereafter I have to stay in the hospital for further observation.

I was in my underwear the whole time as my pants were taken off once I reached the hospital, damn weird. And I have to pee on the bed twice! haha, at first I was hesitant. How could one pee properly when on the bed? But I can't tahan anymore and decided to try as the nurse passed me a bottle and I managed to master the skill! lol The whole bedridden experience in the hospital lasted all the way to the night around 10 something, as The docs and nurses ran occasional tests. Yishun hospital was quite a nice hospital as there aren't many people there. Hehe.

Finally I am discharged with 3 days MC and some medication. The doc says I should be good to go in about a week or 2, hope recovery is fast. If not i will feel so strange and fat leading an inactive lifestyle! Got a lecture from the doc, followed by my parents on the way home. I guess I really learnt a huge lesson and safety is not to be taken lightly!

I love random!

Monday was great! Was supposed to go kayaking but it ended up to be another random outing with Qi. After traveling all the way to Bedok Reservoir, we realized water ventures are closed on Mondays, just like most sports facilities in Singapore! Damn sian, so we decided to cab to Sentosa after playing with swing and cat!

Upon arrival to Vivo, our minds changed and we're off to explore the southern ridges! It's my first time there, what a nice and serene place. The air feels so great and just lying there against the bridge feels so good. We had a little picnic there and waved at random people who responded with friendliness! There are friendly people around here after all! Feels so heartwarming, haha Most of the people we waved at when we were on a bus there cringe at the sight of us!

Finally we headed to Ikea for some tasty meatballs! Walked around afterwards to fantasize about owning those beautiful furnitures! haha. I think I'll miss these random outings so much when I'm in Australia!

WHEEEE!!

Past few days have been quite eventful. Last Thursday went to Underwater World as there was a so called "50 percent discount" which includes a return cable car ride and a visit to the "1st ever" cable car museum. The highlight was of course dolphin lagoon as I've never been there before and I was initially very excited about seeing the dolphins and seals! I was hoping I get to take pictures with them and view them up close. To my disappointment, the dolphin and seal show only lasted for 20 minutes, showcasing the usual stuff with not much surprises. And only 2 dolphins and seals were performing, I was expecting a viewing area with more of them but the "lagoon" is just too small. The show ended with not much of a climax and we were told that we need to pay 16 dollars for a photo with the dolphin, what a rip off. Haha. Nevertheless I love the dolphins' smiles and the adorable sea lions! A good sneak peek for what's in store for me when I go Australia! :D

Underwater World is still the same. My favorites are still the jellyfishes and the magical underwater tunnel! Somehow it feels weird to be back there again as it holds lots of beautiful memories for me.

The trip ended earlier than expected. The cable car museum was crap. It is just a small room where they put all the old stuff with old newspaper articles being framed up on the walls, trying to cheat who? Haha. The cable car ride back was pretty short too with ugly sceneries of construction sites.

Saturday we had a gathering at Judy's place, having steamboat and mahjong. Felt really cosy and it was fun playing with her baby! Makes me wanna have a baby soon! lol. Unfortunately I've to leave early even though I was winning at mahjong as the next day I've rock climbing course.

The course was awesome as we get lots of climbing time and it wasn't a stressful one. I'm glad I finally got my level one cert, can belay people already! :) Suffered lots of painful blisters on the hand too, I think i still need to climb more. :p

Qi is finally back from the US, so happy to meet her yesterday after more than half a year! Really miss her randomness and we had an awesome random outing yet again! :) We headed to the Lim Chu Kang farms in the morning at the risk of getting lost but we managed to find what looks like a farm and we went in to feed kois!! They look really fat and gross when they come snatching for the food you throw into the pond! haha. Had fun playing soccer machine there too!

Hay Dairies Farm was just down the road and I am so happy to be able to drink goat's milk once again! Love the foul smell the milk evokes!

It feels so out of Singapore, so serene, I like! :D

The goats were caged up quite a distance from us, quite sad can't go near them. There seems to be some overcrowding problem going on too! Still it was really interesting observing the goats, as we came up with our own weird scientific theories to explain some of the oddness we noticed! haha

Initially the plan was to explore more farms and hopefully eat at one which offers food but the shutter bus was to comfy for us to get off so we travelled all the way to Kranji MRT and decided to set off to west coast park instead! Been wanting to go there to see how it had changed over the years, hoping that there'll be something fun to do.

We took a break at macs, playing silly word games and laughed like crazy people. After enjoying enough air con, we explored the place to see what's there to do. Played playground, chopped an ant and found this interesting sign board! :)

The highlight of the day was really the go kart ride which we happen to pass by the store and decided to give it a try to satisfy our desires for cheap thrills. It was super fun riding really fast, going down slope, riding though bumpy obstacles and doing sharp turns which make us go WHEEEEE all the way. People must have thought that we're insane and we seem to have helped the store advertised their go karts! lol

At the end of the day we spotted a confused black rooster strolling around the corner! LOL wtf is a rooster doing at west coast park?! What a random sighting to end the day. :D

Art Therapy

Did my first ever volunteering work on Saturday. The event was conducted by Social Creatives to raise funds to build the first ever void deck children's art gallery at Macpherson and also to promote art to the general public. It was quite a meaningful one, being able to paint and raise awareness for art at the same time. The booth was situated beside Starbucks at Millenia Walk and the area was quite small. Some of us have to help out with guiding children to paint, while the rest of us try to do some painting so as to attract the attention of the public. I'm glad we don't have to deal with the kids, we get to sit down and paint all day! It was really fun, painting without having to use much brain as the drawings are already done, we just have to fill in the colors and outline it. :)

I started with these 2 hands.

Then the shopping lady.

These 2 were initially done by 2 girls speaking in a weird language and they disappeared halfway through the event after messing up the 2 panels! Their painting were terrible, some kids can do better. We had a hard time cleaning up their mess, but it was fun. Good times past by in a flash too. I don't mind doing something like that again next time, so therapeutic. :D

Nature Therapy

It was a great journey to the east on Tuesday, spending the entire day close to mother nature! :D I won a ticket to the Forest Adventure Grand Course at Bedok Reservoir and decided to give it a try. It was awesome being back once again after a year, miss the days of traveling far far away for canoe polo trainings there. The sky was incredibly beautiful with the saturated blues and cute fluffy white clouds floating around, simply brought a smile to my face :).

The obstacle course wasn't that amazing, it promised more than 2 hours of adventure but we ended it in less than 2 hours. Moreover the price for a student entry is 36 dollars, what an extortion. It was made better because I split the cost with Gina, thanks to my free ticket. There was a half hour briefing at the start, then we were more or less by ourselves to explore the 4 sites in the forest.

Each site were connected by a zip line where we do our "flying fox" stunt across. Only the 1st 2 which were longer were fun, the last 2 zip lines were too short and will be over in a blink. It was a little scary for me at first as I was injured by the steel wire of the zip line at KL before, haha. Later I realized it was no kick as the short distance isn't scream worthy at all.

Site 2 was the most challenging one as it requires alot of upper body strength and core stability. Everything there is so shaky and we're disadvantaged with short legs and arms. haha The above one is the most difficult for me as the logs are spaced so wide apart and there's fear of falling any moment. But we conquered it in the end! The subsequent sites were anti climax when compared to the challenging site 2. Maybe they should have put site 2 as last. Actually the area is so big they could have expanded the course and built much more exciting courses and extended the zip lines, etc. No wonder we were the only 2 visitors at that time, felt a bit cheated at the end, just not satisfied enough. Haha Nonetheless it was an interesting experience!

We decide to trek 1 round around the reservoir to feel better. Great sceneries, away from the hustle and bustle of hectic city life felt so great and we managed to "conquer" Bedok Reservoir. We also played swing and see saw!! Must admit that we're a bit too old for the swing, totally no stamina to keep the high momentum swing going! I didn't know see-saw can be so fun when you use your legs to kick up from the sand, it feels like flying! :D Heartwarming to see that a sandy playground still exist today, the kids there all look so joyful and carefree.

Next we headed to Temasek Poly for shower and dinner and we decided to explore the place thereafter. What a nice place to study in, so close to nature and the interior was quite beautiful too. Love the design school, they have students works pasted everywhere. That is so unlike our lousy ADM which don't seem to value our works as much.

Finally we came back to the reservoir. It got even more ravishing as the sun sets. The trees were illuminated by the orange glow from the sun and it felt like a magic garden.

I have always thought that sun sets in the east won't be as pretty as sun always set in the west. And I haven't seen one which is more beautiful than the ones at Tuas Naval Base. So touched to see the amazing scenery once again, the vast contrasting sky of saturated blue and orange with streaks of clouds that resembled a stairway to heaven, together with the crystal-clear reflected colors on the calm waters seem to make up a painting mater piece so mesmerizing. Just standing there to admire this natural phenomenon makes me throw all worries and woes to the back of my mind. I fell in love with the east once again! :D

Now I must rant!! haha. Results are out, and to my disappointment, my GPA dropped again. This is the worse overall sem GPA I've ever gotten which tipped at only 4.0 and pulled my overall down. I really couldn't understand why, I only took 5 modules, I dropped Canoe Polo, by right there should be an improvement and this is devastating. It was the first time I checked my results in the following morning, usually do so in the midnight once it's out. I regretted doing so as I was unable to sleep well the entire night even thought it was raining. When I logged in first thing in the morning, my heart sank. The worst disappointment came from graphic storytelling, a module which I put in all my heart and soul, much more effort than the rest and I've been pretty consistent in all the projects. I don't understand why.

For the rest, I kinda given up on viscomm modules already, always unable to score in those. Not that I've much interest in them. :p Why do ADM have to do this to me every sem? Stupid school, so glad I don't have to see you for the rest of the year. I shall start comparing standards when i study in Australia. haha On a brighter side, A+ for painting! :D I should really go into fine art right?

Uncle

Here to blog again! Had an awesome saturday out with my long time friend, marg. It had been a few months since we last met, had damn a lot to talk about. We watched Hangover 2. Wanted to catch it in town initially but all timings are booked by 3pm and it will only be till 9 onwards for any available tickets. Really quite scary, the no. of people watching movie in town. haha. Thus we headed to Causeway Point, the shopping centre which looks like a maze. The movie isn't as great and funny, the jokes were quite lame and after watching the 1st, the 2nd one doesn't seem refreshing anymore. Some scenes were quite unbelievable, lol. I think the cute monkey saved the show a bit. :P And we were being mistaken as teens, the guy asked for our I/C. It haven't happened to me for quite some time already. Amazingly this time round I feel rather excited, I guess I've really aged, that's why being treated young once again can be a joyful thing.



Talking about aging, I really miss the younger days man. Now I'm so easily tired, my eyes turn red at around late afternoon and I feel like going home already. The days of staying up damn late at night to party, mahjong, chalet, loiter, chit-chat, do crazy stuff, etc are so over and they seem kinda impossible for us now. Marg and I decided to give it a try some time before I fly off, haha I wonder how long it'll take for us to KO. Well, everyone have to grow up one day. I do feel quite uncle now. Things like eating healthy food, always looking for great deals, ending the day early, etc. are really what uncles do. Haha. Anyway, GSS is happening everywhere! Haha, bought quite a few items and I'm thinking of revamping my wardrobe. It's really time to throw away all the kiddy clothes, I feel quite embarrassed if I were to wear them now. And I must stop the temptation to buy tee shirts, too many already and I've the tendency to look at those cute or fanciful ones. Shall replace them all with shirts, collar tees and plain tees from now on! :)

The 9pm police show really brings back memories of TDS days when they show about the police coast guards. I really miss the adrenaline rush when driving the speed boat! When can I do so again?

闷

I've sent out my letter of rejection, glad that she understands that love can't be forced. Anyway I'm rotting at home, become a 宅男 already. I realized my confidence is dwindling, I don't feel at ease meeting people anymore. My friend has pointed out it's weird that I don't look at her when I talk. Probably because I'm having issues with my self esteem. Been feeling really lousy of late, and I must try to change this! Hopefully by next week everything will go in the right direction and I'll be able to drive this annoying boredom away! :)