Moving around

Random : One thing I've noticed, is that most houses in Melbourne look tiny from the outside, but are MASSIVE inside. How do they do it?!

On the 25th, I accompanied Aunt S who I was staying with to drop my cousin for his first day at Swinburne Uni and to run an errand for the family business - dropping off supplies.

Don't you just love Australian GPS? We found that out of the way, wilderness surrounded place in no time at all! Along the way, I saw a Gribbles transport car. Brought back a lot of memories from my 8 months stint there.


The reverse camera :

After that, we got back to the mansion house to get ready for lunch, and pack since it was our last day staying there. We met two aunts : Aunt C (refer to last post), and another cousin aunt, Aunt S2. We had lunch at Replete which is opposite MLC, and my cousin came to join us during his lunch break. We also had their award winning brownies for dessert!


After lunch, Aunt S2 took us back to her place. On the way we stopped to pick up her daughter from school - a grand old centenarian building along the full-of-big-ass-houses Albert Road.






Aunt S2 makes the best brownies I've ever tasted anywhere in my life! I gave some to Tse Han and he loved them too! After tea, she dropped us back at our place.

Next up, is Orientation Week! I think you guys will find that more to your taste :)

Holiness

Heyya guys!!! Taking off from where I last left you, here ya go :

On Sunday the 24th of February, we went to the church that my family friend's (remember them?) dad built when he was living in Melbourne.



OMG. I didn't realise that man was looking straight into the camera!

Wanna hear a joke?

Pastor : Who was the fattest woman in the Bible? The woman from Samaria. Afterall, she occupied some-area.
Me : *what the?!*

After service, and some refreshments in the hall, my cousin aunt - let's call her Aunt C - took us to her house where we watched the cricket, and later went out for dinner in Burwood! I've forgotten the name of the Pizza place, but it was good!



My cousin (who started studying at Monash this year) was a guest at the dinner for the Sri Lankan cricketers after their cricket match, and Dhoni hit one her! She was quite proud of that. Hehehe.

I'll be squeezing in a much longer update tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it :)

And again.

Heyyo! So, I'm back for a short update! So sorry for my absence, but I happened to fall ill. What's more, it happened the same day my mom left for Sydney, so yeah. It's been a long week.

Also, I've had SO MUCH WORK to do. But I've been GOING OUT SO MUCH too. All in all, I've had no time to blog - even when I had the will to do so. This week is pretty hectic for me, and I leave for Sydney at the end of the week, but I'll try squeeze in an update before I go.

This is just a filler : Easter. Today I was watching the TV while at a friends place, and it was about a small girl talking to her mom.

Just so you know, I hate this commercial. Makes the whole thing seem so UNIMPORTANT, while the magnitude is really too great to handle.


Small Girl : Hey mommy, is that Jesus on TV? What's he doing there?
Mom : Yeah. He gave his blood to save us all.
SG : Oh really? Does that mean I don't have to give any more blood? Do you give blood Mommy?

Voice Over : Jesus Christ gave his blood to save all of us. So give your blood too. This message is by the Church of Latter Day Saints in conjuction with the Red Cross Society.



Yeah. "=.=

Anyway, see ya soon! By the way, I slept at 5.30am yesterday :)

Filling

I have about 6 more posts to put up in order to bring you up to date. But I'm going to post up a current post in lieu of the rest because I'm just so happy about it.


I LOVE BUSINESS LAW!!!


Okay. It has nothing to do with the totally awesome Law building at Melbourne Uni, or the wonderful sandwhiches and coffee at the Law Building Cafe, or the fully equipped, wonderfully arranged, state of the art lecture theatre. Nothing. Okay, maybe 40%. But the subject is just so interesting! And fun! And WONDERFUL!!!

When we did our first case study, I actually broke out into an unstoppable smile. I hope no one thought I had gone mad or something. I LOVE the subject. Wheee!!!

My lecturer is really mental - in a good way. Before and after class, and during breaks, he plays Australian rock music for us to chill to. He takes the time to answer questions, and he obviously doesn't listen to the music since he's 60+, but he thinks it helps us - and I think it does! It sets the mood!


AND THE SUBJECT IS SO DAMN INTERESTING!!! :D


Ok ok. Will get back to regular posting. Just had to get it out of my system. Oh btw, classes haven't even started properly yet, but I already have 3 assignments "=.=

The Suburbs

My mom and I decided that we needed a break from being in close proximity to the Uni and Safeway, so we finally decided to accept my cousin's aunt's offer to stay at her MASSIVE house in the suburbs. But first things first :

Thursday, the 21st was the International Student Briefing. I met old friends! I think that Melbourne should be given to Malaysia or Hong Kong "=.= The Aussies are the minorities in this colony of ours. 60% are non-Caucasians!

The next day (Friday the 22nd) we met N (remember her?) for lunch, and we went to the Korean place next to my place. IT WAS REALLY GOOD. It's called Big Ma Ma!




The wind was so bloody strong that the paper bag I was carrying (which was filled with food) was flying out behind me. N took us back to her house to give us some home appliances she did not need anymore since she's moving.




One box load later, and also one Godiva box later (yum!), we got picked up in this AWESOME, BODY HUGGING, POWERFUL Mercedes R500, and were whisked away to my aunt's house. Let's call her S.

Ok. I won't be able to explain how big this house is on my own, so here's a case study :

On Orientation day, my host group leader asked me where I went over the weekend.

Me : Donvale.
HGL : Wow...Wow. I have a cousin who lives in Donvale, and she has a horse!
Me : Uhuh.


And their son's (my age) S500L.



Anyway, S's husband is quite well...to be nice and not use bad words, he's incredibly, unfairly controlling and strict. So, I didn't dare take any pictures incase it was against his holy regime. But here are some random ones (of roofs etc.)





It's a 5 storey house, with a fireplace with their initials engraved in gold, 2 entrances, 2 halls, 2 dining rooms (one a formal one), a movie theatre, a heated pool, a fully equipped gym, an outdoor and indoor jacuzzi, 6 rooms, an office upstairs, a pool house...need I say more?

I stayed there for 3 days, and on the 2nd night there was a combined birthday party for my 2 cousins. One turns 15, one turns 17.


Before the party I witnessed my uncles military regime. All 4 kids were given a task to do, even the birthday kids! And they had to be done so well, and according to a schedule. The 15 year old's job was vacuuming and washing off any dirt or bird droppings in the main garden. I helped with the latter, cause I was feeling sorry for him. And then they all felt sorry for me, and refused to let me do more than stand with the pail and slosh some water for him on cue.





S and another two of my cousins! :




My uncle, his son, and their Greek neighbours :






After a very resort-like stay with maximum comfort, style and pomp, we returned back on Monday. But on the way we met some relatives for lunch at a cafe.

But that's a WHOLE other post :)

Safeway (and my apartment!)

The first few days that we were in Melbourne I was kind of in a daze. I didn't feel depressed or sad, but I didn't feel like myself. It was as if some light inside of me had fused or been blown out. On the 3rd day I was back to normal :)

On the 20th we went to Safeway! I know you're probably going "What? Go supermarket also must blog ah?", but it's just the beginning of the post, and it's no ordinary trip to the supermarket.

Because THERE WERE SPARROWS INVOLVED!



We heard this frantic voice over intercom saying "all available staff please report to the front counter NOW!", and then suddenly there were sparrows everywhere! OK, I exaggerate. There were about 10 sparrows. Some flying around and some standing along the isles looking blur. They were just like the Malaysian ones - brown and small.

I bought a lot of stuff for my apartment! I didn't know where they would all fit, and I still don't know how they are fitting wherever they are "=.=.

Here's my apartment! Don't be shocked by the minuteness of it all!







It's already small, and the pics make it look smaller "=.=


Later that night my family friends picked us up and took us for dinner to Universal Pizza on Lygon Street. The food was really good, but the servings were monstrous! I really tried to force down the rest of my pasta but ended up leaving half. It was so cheesy and creamy - this was medium size - that if I forced myself to eat anymore, I think I would have been sick. But the pasta was good though!




She's the organiser for Monash :P





It was really good that they took us out because it was nice to have family and friends around again. It made me feel normal again - inside. Cheh. Soppy betul.

Till next time! - I'll leave you with pics of the hamper they gave me! It's so delicious. Yum.