~Cracks_de_Rainbowz~: February 2006

~off to MelboUrNe~

cycling at east coast park cum steamboat farewell dinner with OAC!!! =) had lotsa fun & a satisfying meal. really missed the times together..missing u all now already! =P

making of "dan chao fan" - rice fried with egg meat veg & zhengwei's pose to suggest that it's really nice???!!! =P

meiting, me & con!

at the airport: flight [23 40 SQ 237 ] I remembered that I was doing some last minute packing, stuffing of misc stuff into my bags & was then "dragged" out of my house ~ won't be back for 11mths!~ After passing through the gate, with all my hand-carry lugguages, I turned back and waved goodbye..felt so lost suddenly..realised that I'm indeed stepping out of my comfort zone & that I'm definitely gonna miss my family and friends. can't believe at that moment that all these are happening for ReAl ~~ thx so much to all who had come to send me off! & to those who can't make it but had sent me well-wishes! love ya all lots!!! =)

my 2 uncles, mum, me, bro, uncle jeremy & auntie theresa

collage of some of the photos taken at the airport =) wanna post more hahaz but i'll be flooding my blog =P

melbourne sights

we ate at this chinese restaurant for lunch.. the 1st chinese food that we patronaged in Melbourne! haha it's nice but it's ex =S heard that a basic meal here in melb when eating out is ard 7-8 bucks?? arghz yar & it's true.. the dishes that we ordered:

clockwise: hor fun (they call it flat noodles!)
chicken rice (really fat & thick slices of chicken meat)
roasted duck & pork wit rice (really nice!)
a self home-cooked dinner (cheese marcononi, eggs, mashed potato, mushroom sauce, & sausages that "exploded" heehz coz forgot to make holes in them b4 placing them inside the microwave oven)

State Library - superb nice building!

nice church where we witness a brief wedding ceremony - tink they played some kind of scottish music =P

chinatown

Queen Victoria Market, tried American donuts that was being freshly made & sold in a van - delicious!

nice & cool graffiti along a sloping alley..heez a rather common sight though

at the Yarra River

Top 2 pics: Federation Sq, Bottom 2: a shopping street in CBD, Flinders Station (got blocked hence the shadows =S )

went into this shopping area, really like the design of the interior!
shop window of a shop that sells intricately painted easter eggs & dolls
cute horses along the road! didn't get to sit in the horse carriages though would like to try..hahaz guess it'll be really ex

on the way to chinatown, we saw this street performance. there's a big crowd & an old man was dancing along to the music with his walking stick?!? it's really cool =)

2 motorcycles with a big advertising poster travelling along the road at Federation Square

International House!

the building I live in: Scheps Wing

really like it here - they call it the pizza-shaped building .. the corridors outside my room is not juz one long corridor but one that's rounded..tink it's really unique heez but all the doors are green in colour including the lift and toilet and shower area..so ws kinda confused in the beginning =P

the view outside my room

the new apartment building that the senior students get to live in ~ it's really nice inside =P

my room has a sink! surprisingly! coz it was mentioned on the website that it's only available upon request by the senior students.. guess I'm really lucky =) was told that coz a lot of the senior students get to move into the new apartments in IH so it ended up that there were quite a no. of rooms with sinks available ~~ it's carpeted & a big wardrobe!

me & my room-mate nex door: a fellow singaporean too =)

shall take a photo of my room after I've tidied it up =P it's really messy at the moment..with papers brochures stuff etc. being strewn all over my study table and some on e floor =P

this's e paper that the O-weeker for my grp drew & pasted on my door.. in which they are supposed to create smthg tt rhymes with my name??? hahaz

1st few days in Melbourne

haven update since Chinese New Year! arghz gonna write abt it some other time =P ever since cny, time flies like maddddd.. juz can't believe tt I'm in melbourne now and had been so busy either going for gatherings or packing & buying stuff.. all i can say abt packing is that it's really not FUN at all..hahaz. I really do wanna bring so many stuff over & all of my fav soft toys & stuff etc. hmz but seems like I've to be really selective abt it so that I can keep within my luggage allowance.packing & re-packin so many times. changing luggages here & there heez but finally it's over seems like I've at least settled it now.. though forgot to some misc stuff.. & waiting for my winter clothing to be shipped over =P (it's a 5-7 wks wait manz)

reached Melbourne at ard 10am melb time..here's later by 3hrs as compared to s'pore. had a nice plane trip in SQ 237. there's so many movies on e plane! shiok hahaz a personal tv screen in front of you. I watched "The Incredibles" and this chinese movie 'Qian1 Bei1 bu4 Jiu4".. ws sitting at e back row where there's only 2 seats & beside me was a Malaysian gal who's flying back for her 3rd yr in RMIT. =) had a nice chat with her & got quite lotsa advice & tips from her =) heard from the airport PA system that it's in fact 16 degrees outside & yes..it's rather sunny outside but the wind's sooo chilly *brrrr*

it's been almost a wk from the day I arrived in Melb.. gonna recap briefly wat's happened for the past few days...one word -- it's overwhelming but FUN! =D

It's very true that the weather here' so unpredictable. For the 1st 2 days, it was so cloudy and windy throughout. =) heez really like dis kind of weather and we were exploring the city, our surroundings, the uni & almost everywhere. the college I lived in is really far from my school..25-30min walk??? but at least for my 1st semester I'll be taking lectures in a nearer building so may not be tt worst yet. I did so much walking or "urban hiking" on the 1st 3 days..continuously from early afternoon to almost nite time (in melb now, it's still very bright even when it's reaching 8pm). & went grocery shopping that I'd to end up carrying them all the way back to IH. hahaz tink we've really trekked for many km.. partly also becoz we got lost somehow when on our way back to IH or ended up taking a longer route =P went deeper and deeper into the city day by day and finally reaching the CBD at Yarra River / Crown entertainment complex on fri =) felt a really great sense of achievement. hahaz when we were like armed with only maps occasionally & even avoided taking e expensive tram rides *blehz* coz no concession prices for international students

shall continue again tmlo..2pm now. exhausted from the party juz now..taking photos talking, dancing & dancing hahahz

stay in ntu hall

went to stay over in qianru's hall in ntu on tuesday nite. the halls in ntu looked so nice & "romantic" at nite hahaz esp the newer halls. went to meet up with hsiu huan 1st b4 going over to qianru's room. qianru, yuet ting, ee fung & man mi were playing snake & ladder when I arrived =) hahaz didn't continue on for long though den ended up chatting.. & taking photos! had lotsa fun =) thx qianru for inviting me over! *luv ya all* =D