{SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW.}

Saturday, July 29, 2006

{}

Am tired. Just finished 2 weeks of laundry at one go. It seems pretty silly though, doing your laundry in the death of the night -- but who cares? The clothes still come out dry! Oh, speaking of which, i still haven figured out where is a certain piece of cloth article aired out a couple days ago....hmm....certainly dun wish that someone mistook it and is wearing it now....

[Went grocery shopping in the morning. Reach home eat, entertain kids. Entertain kids more. Entertian kids even more. Did laundry.] Hah, feels like a housewife already, but actually, i don't mind. In fact, after 3 weeks of such mundane activities, im beginning to enjoy it. Selecting veggies is so fun! You get to compare prices, check out the smell/taste of it, sample it sometimes, maybe even bargain...alright, shall not bore you with such trvial stuff...hahaha.....

West End is real cool! Its like a big carnival, with food stalls, fruit and veggie stalls, trinklets booth, somewhat similar to pasar malam -- but its in the morning though. We hopped on the Citycat, discussed abt s'pore vs aussie kids whilst waiting 4 Eileen to appear. After watching dogs go by, twins and triplets, she finally appeared and we hopped on the bus to the market. Xuan and me had trouble in the selection of veggies and some Jack guy came to our rescue...." You shld choose one that is greener....", "That's not good..." He knows his veggies like a pro man, puts us the ladies to shame, tsk tsk. Quite a nice guy, chatted up with him, carried our stuff for us -- and xuan was like, "you go get his no." So evil lah! Ask such an innocent and shy me to do such things....luckily yee wan was there 4 such situations, HAHAHA! Trust her to be the bold and unsuspecting one!

Raymond dropped me off at Valley for friday cell group. Realised that he has a limited vocabulary. He was quite akin to those rapper guys in school who punctuate every sentence with the four letter word. Seems like most guys here have limited vocabulary.

It was sushi nite 4 cell. Played a couple of games which reminded me of CF, my dear dear sweet little club back in polytechnic. Ooh, how I miss thee. Went to sleepover at xuan's place. Didnt get a backache dis time round; think my body has adapted well to the floor, hah. Stole her secret cheese omelette recipe while she was preparing brekkie 4 me...sobz...so touched...She's more like "naima" to me than im to her lah!

Hafta start studying tml. Time to get the ball rolling!!

10:59 PM;

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

{A Prayer for Mom}

25th July. Mom's birthday.

A prayer 4 Mom.

"May God's grace shine upon you,
As you start each day a new.
And as you sing to little ones,
May joy burst forth a song in your heart.
May each step of your way be light and merry,
I'll pray too for peace and safety.
As each action of yours pours forth love,
I'll pray too, for divine love that fills you.
Just as stars light up the heavens,
Ur my mum who lights up my life."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

10:10 PM;

Monday, July 24, 2006

{School Starts -- Officially!}

24 July-- the first day of school. Over the past 2 weeks, I've been to UQ almost every day, and today is finally the day that I'm goin to study again. I've met a couple of ppl, CCM friends and from their sharing, found out that most of them do not have the opportunity to further studies immediately after polytechnic, and this made me treasure the learning opportunity that I have now even more.

Well, there were 2 lectures today, Microbes and Health, as well as Microbial Biotech. Both seemed rather new stuff, even though Im supposed to be grounded in the latter (Bt it was a greg poi module, and seriously, i didnt learn much...). Peixuan was worse, she was scratching her head throughout the entire lecture, and it certainly didnt help when d lecturer is a monotonous aging guy droning abt something so chim....in a bid to keep students awake, perhaps the school shld consider a policy whereby only young, cute, interesting lecturers can take such chim modules....

Went to the library aft lunch. Was utterly disappointed when I realised it was just a small room with just a couple of shelves. Hello?? Do u call this a uni library?Even SP has a much better library lah! Haiz...miss SP library leh (This was the only thing that xuan missed too...)

Visited the highest point in Brisbane, Mt. Cootha on Fri nite (Compliments of YH). Splendid view of the entire city! Other than d house, this must be the most most romantic and best best scenery/view in entire Brisbane! I must go visit again! Hahahaha =D
Climbed around the fences of my neighbourhood that nite too. So there is indeed a castle in the neighbourhood. And now I know how my lodging looks like form the back too! Bet even its inhabitants have not seen how their house looks like from the back! Yea, that's 1-nil!

Oh, and i've a 4 day week! Rox!

11:00 PM;

Saturday, July 22, 2006

{}

The newer parts of school -- The Queensland Bioscience Precint

"Check out the school and trees..."

The tree and I

10:56 PM;

Thursday, July 20, 2006

{School!}

This is wad my sch looks like!! This old old ancient bldgs is the Great Court, where students always picnic or roll around on the grass. Look at us! On the grass too!

10:59 PM;

{a day in my life}

Whew......just finished a session wif Derek...this kid is damn (pardon me for dis word) smart, damn hyperactive man.....I am so so exhausted after just barely an hour with him!! First i hafta con him away from his snack to the the study table, nxt i had to play around the story book that he was supposed to read, scream at him when he kept pushing his chair around, hide under a book to show him the meaning of "under", and finally coax him to play his piano by telling him "that's the easiest piece in the book" (of coz its not!) etc. etc.

Think I've aged in just a couple of hrs. Anyway, I stayed at home the entire day -- and i was nearly bored to death... bt think i shld do so, to neutralise the amt of time i spent outside. I've been a really bad girl lately, ahnging out the streets till late. Just caught "Pirates" on tues nite and was nearly trapped in the city streets!! Had to rush like mad to catch the last bus home.... Marlene was saying i've been very "bad"..haha But it was a great show, and a great nite out, a great home-cooked pasta dinner (my chest swells wif pride everytime i think i was part of the cooking team), so its worth the mad rush, haha...

Oh, and Jenny brought me out 4 dinner last nite. Best beef noodle soup I've had in ages. My mouth is watering at the thought of it now. Just too bad i didnt get the name and addy of the restaurant...was stil planning to go back dere there 4 my birthday. Hmm...nvrmind, i'll have nearly 2 months to get the name of the restaurant.

Hmmm....yea, u know wad?? after all this hoohah, i still miss home. Nothing compares or even comes close to home. Dad, Mom, can u hear me??

Well... that's all, im goin to have dinner alone now.....

7:45 PM;

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

{}

The water's edge at the end of the path

A view of the surrounding suburbs from the street I stay in

View of the Brisbane River from the same spot

12:39 AM;

{我的第一次}

The very first meal that 3 of us cooked, r u drooling already?

My very first cuppa tea in Brisbane -- taken at airport

12:29 AM;

Monday, July 17, 2006

{每逢佳节倍思亲？？？}

Today was Samantha's birthday....I just came out from the toilet when sherlene (another daughter) went, "hey today is Sam's birthday!" This sorta caught me by surprise....i really hate such "surprise attacks" -- can't she see im trying to make myself less visible?? I still dun feel comfortable hanging arnd dem leh....

Anyway, she didn't stop here. She went like "oh, we're going up to cut the cake.."
Aargh. Double aargh.
So I followed her to the dining room where the entire family was gathered-- its the ENTIRE family, with ex-girlfriends, future husbands etc. etc. gathered around. I felt so awkward. It seems that everybody was linked to somebody in the room, with me as the "extra" hanging around. And I had no idea wad to do, where to stand, whu to talk to (or listen to, for that matter)...so i just smiled "mian qiang" smile and sang birthday song loudly (its the least i can do). Oh, and the aussies have a birthday lingo "hip hip hooray" which is screamed twice after the birthday song. Next they took pics, you know, that sorta stuff, and somehow i actualli found myself being included in the pics....

Yah, they are pretty sweet, imust admit, trying to get me involved and inviting me etc. Still...its not my family. And guess wad? After all the birthday hoo-hah, i headed back to my room with a strange, "sour sour" feeling. The "每逢佳节倍思亲" feeling. I just felt so sad. And when i popped the "团契的心声” cd into my lappie, it came. Tears just rolled down, and dun understand why... well, i had no reason to be sad, and birthdays are supposed to be happy occasions afterall.

Haiz...it still feels so sour. And to think of the times i've forgotten or didn't take much notice of my family members' birthdays...

Called up people next -- if i dun talk to a familiar voice, think i'll go crazy. Call was interuppted halfway, which meant that my handphone had no more credit. And i was still planning to call up some frens lor. Calling is super-ex sia...I've used up $60 in just 8 days time. Scary~~

So many things have happened. Next, i went to coach Derek, and the worst happened. He complained and cried at the piano. And i didn't know how to console (or bluff) him. Even the nephew heard him. Thank goodness its his mum who was the main culprit for making him cry.
Still... AARGH!!! wad if he cries nxt time when im coaching him???!! I think i shld cry too...hopefully it'll seem like he's bullying me...
haiz...all this, in just the past 2 hours...and its just the beginning...

10:54 PM;

Saturday, July 15, 2006

{A week in brisbane}

Its been a week...a long, exhausting week. Went to UQ everyday -- which journey consists of taking 2 bus trips that can take up to an hr and half. The public transport here is lousy lah, the buses only appear once in 15mins, and sometimes they are severely off schedule summore...i had to wait 4 public bus for 45 mins a few days ago...bad experience...And whoever says that ang mohs are very "gentlemen" shld come stay here lah. Gentlemen their head..they are impatient and scream at you. Yvonne had such an unfortunate experience. Now i really appreciate the bus service back home.

Home. As defined by the wikipedia dict as "place where a person or family lives, perhaps spends much of their time, or where a person is comfortable being. While a house (or other residential dwelling) is often referred to as a home, the concept of "home" is broader than a physical dwelling. Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus."

Absence really makes the heart fonder. I still miss home.

11:15 PM;

Friday, July 14, 2006

{}

Hmm, so how do ya insert audio clip?? I was trying to insert the audio clip for the song previously.....

Its 4.30pm right now, friday afternoon. Will be going to a cell grp later on in UQ. Speaking of cell group, its really quite amazing how i got to a church, a fellowship so soon after landing in Brisbane. Turns out that peixuan and yvonne's senior is a christian!! hahahahh, jackpot!!

Its also freaking amazing how i found out....afterall, im shy one, esp in front of strangers, so i would never have dreamt of opening my "golden mouth" and asking him. It was juz a few hrs after we had landed, and yvonne called up ying hao (that's him) to bring us arnd. We went to a shopping centre, had lunch. I was about to dig into my pizza when ying hao suddenly quiet down and PRAYED!!! I "chua dio" and suddenly remembered that I shld say grace too.....hah...

Anyway, dis was how i found out, and finally i asked him. He invited me to service the following day... till now i still can't fathom how easily i managed to find a church, or how gracious God has been to me...leading me all the way...

And speaking of leading, its even more amazing how i managed to find my way to service. On sunday morn, i woke up early, only to find that i was locked in the house!! Can't go anywhere, can't see my roomie anywhere, can't see any window which i can climb out from, infact, i was prepared to miss service. But hey, God can open even "locked" doors!! My roomie suddenly appeared from nowhere, and even volunteered to drive me out. hah, no worries then, i can make it on time and in comfort.

Hmm...i still find it amazing... an amazing friend in high places...

4:12 PM;

{A song to share}

在寂寞，冰冷的时刻，这首歌配我过了难眠夜晚。。。。

主耶稣你从来都没放弃
等候我再回到你怀里
当我开始寻觅，
你就向我显明你踪影。

主圣灵你听见我的呻吟
你用那说不出的叹息
安慰着我的心，抱着我哭泣，
一只受伤心灵。

主啊，求你领充满我心
除去我心中所有无法喜悦你的思绪。
主啊，在你我找到安息
你的爱赐我勇气，
在站立向着标杆奔去。

主啊，我要全心敬拜你，
荣耀尊贵都属于我上帝
我的拯救和公益。

3:40 PM;

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

{The house on top of the hill}

Alright, been here for more than 24 hrs and I haven even covered half the property. Bt its enuff I think, this half that I know is already creepy enuff….whu knows wads in the other half. Oil paintings every corner, even the garage. Dun they know that an overdose of anything, no matter how “classy” the things are, will bring about just the opp effects?? Cheapens the paintings and every corner u turn, some eyes are always watching you.

Oh, and the lights!!! They trail movement and switch on when u move across the otherwise dead corridors. Creepy!! I got a terrible shock the first few times when I entered some passageways and the light flickered on!! I half expected someone to appear – but of course not.

Back to the paintings. The owner is such a narcissist that he even commissioned the painter to include him and his wife in a wall mural (It gets worse… it’s a mural dis time). Er xin. And he even has his own coat-of-arms….who does he think he is? Prince William?? Sheesh….

Enuff abt the house. Thankfully, my room has been spared from the oil paintings. And I plan to do it up (my corner, that is) very nicely, with pics of nice ppl.

Now, the inhabitants. So far, I’ve only seen my roomie and the nephew. They are really nice people (no sarcasm, pure sincerity dis time). Helped me a lot, especially my roomie, whu drove me around yest. The nephew too. Generous, didn’t think twice abt asking me join him and his gf for dinner. And the gf is really nice too… took good care of me, fed me, clothe me (wif her jacket). And their royal highnesses, whu had never used public transport in brisbane before, actually took bus wif me to UQ so that I’ll know how to travel by bus nxt time. So honoured eh? One thing though, the nephew is some porn addict. At dinner, he and his kakis were so “high” discussing such stuff, even the gf has to calm him down. DISGUSTING. I had to pray 4 holy cleansing of my ears after that meal.

This is just the start...i wonder wad will come nxt....

10:49 PM;

{}

Below an outdated post, written 24 hrs after reaching brisbane...

9/7/2006 Sunday Morning

Wad a miserable morning as I sat locked in dis big, cold (cold is understatement – freezing more likely), creepy house. My roomie has to go missing of all things dis morning. Now I had already missed the only public bus time slot, and may have to miss church too – that IS if she still dun wake up soon. Its sickening, how ppl can slp thru SIX MISS CALLS!!

Haiz, really miss home leh. As I was uploading pics from my cam, I dun even dare to take 1 more glance at the pics as I was scared I may tear (dun wish my roomie to think im some kind of emotional freak)…. So here I am, stuck in this house and furiously typing.

God save me…..

10:44 PM;

{prologue}

Okie guys, im so excited! finalli got my internet access and blog setup. Yesh!! MSN's next. Okie, i've got lotsa pics to share, and each tells a different story. Will post them up next.
Gosh!! i've so much stuff to blog!!! So much has been seen and heard-- and i've just been here lest than a week?? Hah

9:53 PM;