sNaPshOts of tHe triP - sYd

so...

Yuan and i spent a good ten days together.

just the two of us.

SIN - SYD - MEL - SIN

good trip.

her first trip DownUnder since... 2001!!!

and to think i've been there on/off since 2002!

how could she huh?!

she never once visited when i was in Perth...

what with her exchange to Germany and all.

and then when i was in Sydney?

:p

oh nOOOoooooooooo!

that missy was too busy working in London and touring Europe.

anyways,

to keep things short,

the Syd leg of our trip:

bad weather made going out hard.

we had to give Bondi a miss... :( that means no ribs from Hurricanes! SADNESS!!

and we didn't make it to the Botanic Gardens and Woolloomooloo for Harry's Pies!

managed to make it to the ABSOLUTELY MUST-GO places - the Fish Markets, The Rocks, Opera House, Paddington...

*@ the Sydney Opera House*

*from the top of Pylon Lookout*

*halfway up/down the 200 step Lookout -- i is tired. hurhur. fat lah you know? plus short legs. makes climbing stairs damn tiring. ha!*

also found time to go round to Darling Harbour once during the day, and again, another night...

*the lights reflecting off the waters @ Darling Harbour*

oh! and Yuan managed to take time out to chill with a book in Hyde Park Saturday afternoon while the ex-housies and i went to Marigold for what else..? YUM CHA!!!

it being (possibly) my last trip to Syd for a while, i also managed to catch up with a bunch of peeps at the Kyra/Stella/Cindy housewarming party :)

**photos in Kyra's facebook account, so... log-in to FB peeps. hurhur!

on top of these, there was the convo.

and the shoe-shopping i managed to do on the first day we landed in Syd... hurhur! YES we hit Pitt St. Mall less than *counts* 4 hours after landing.

it was all good in Syd.

considering the bad weather we had :p

the day we left Syd, the weather was like this.

rainy and gloomy.

*** more on the Melb leg of the trip another day. im exhausted. ***

mUmmY's lOve

Specially prepared Bird's Nest Soup before bed, on the night before i officially head back to work :)

HAPPINESS!!!

one whole cup of goodness ok??!!!

don't play play hor... not the coffeeshop/pasar malam/whatever lup-sup kind of Bird's Nest Soup... it's the 'every-gulp-i-take-i-taste-all-that-nutrients-and-goodness' kind of homemade Soup :)))

so loved.

heeee!

Fat PenGuiN oN thE lOose

monday

140408

UNSW - Syd, AU

convocation ceremony

(probably my last ever... seeing as i don't have plans to do a PhD...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it was raining so hard at noon that day, i was so afraid i wasn't going to get a chance to go round taking pictures with Yuan!! Thank God, for He cleared the skies and provide plenty of glorious sunlight later that afternoon :))) too windy for Yuan's liking though...

so, anyways...

Yuan & i, together with the ex-housies, Yanis & Wilson, went round Uni ard 3-ish... along the way, the rest of the peeps came by to take photos. some came later that night after the ceremony. a couple came after work! *sniff sniff* touched!

i have about 300 photos... can't possibly post 'em all!!

so... here are just some of my fav. peeps!

**with Yuan; not the best pic but it does overlook the whole Quad. which was pretty much 'home' for a good part of my year(s) at UNSW**

**with the ex-housies -- Ian & Malcolm (also affectionately known as 'the didi(s) i live with') -- at Quad Lawn**

** twos company, threes a crowd?? no way!!! Yanis & Wilson were just sharing with me some of their sweet lurrrrrrrve**

**Athena Fung!! MY MENTOR when i started the MCom program in '06. love you babe!!**

**along the main walkway -- the path i sometimes walk along 7 days a week to go for class, meetings and gossip/bitching sessions. hurhur!**

**the sisters :))) messy hair and all**

**outside the new ASB bldg; the place where i spent most of my last sem -- COMPEC meetings, Capstone meetings, 'waste-time-doing-nothing-but-just-sit-around-gossiping' meeting place... haha**

**with Estee, who popped out of her office to take pictures :) i'll be seeing you in HK girl! promise!!**

**with my girl**

**Carrie mei-mei**

**Heidi! sweet, innocent, always happy & smiley Heidi Hariyano :) i can't wait for you to drop by again on your way back to Indo! i can imagine us spending all our time visiting shoe shops and going makan again. haha!**

**with Olivia -- MY MENTEE turned classmate turned groupmate turned bestie :))) girl i hope things turn out well for you this year. you DESERVE something good in your life!!**

**Jonathan 'johnnie walker' Park, who never fails to make me smile**

**Daniel Chien -- one of my fav. people in Syd.; he's one of those peeps i always count myself so, so lucky to have met since O-week '06**

**the "StraTourismMkting" Blue Mtns and 100% Pure NZ proj grp peeps -- Olivia, Theresa, Frances & Michelle)

**one of my fav. photo that day - of me and my darling Yuan, who was exhausted that day from all that walking around campus. oh and from the chilling winds that day**

**with YT, Daniel, Lisa & Edward; YT was supposed to be in his regalia as well... but he changed out of his BEFORE coming to meet us for photos! duh!! :p so i missed the chance to take pictures of him in his regalia, oh, and with Whitney too!!!**

**with Sophie, Ian & Malcolm at the Library Lawn -- one of my fav. pics with the ex-housies**

**after the Ceremony; with That piece of paper in hand**

**Jeremy, who was sick, but yet came to Uni that evening to take pictures; just for that, i'll bake more yummy cakes for you when you come home 'Jerm!!**

**with Jessica & Wendy, who both came over after work; THANK YOU GIRLS!!!**

**with Bonny, who rushed down just for a hug and this photo opp. after her class; much love**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so many other people i have to thank for popping by that day to take photos... Annie, Tracy, Suhendry, Happy, Thu, Rina... and those who text-messaged, including Ting & John who were both at work.

Ian, Malcolm, Sophie... i so, so appreciate you three for hanging round a good part of the afternoon to take pictures. And Ian, for popping OUT of lecture even... haha! Don't worry lah... you are so smart... Distinction student leh... never attend class also nairmind lah...

Carrie!! one of my 'appointed' photographers :) and a jolly good one toooooo!! much, much, MUCH LOVE <3>

Yanis & Wilson -- the sweetest couple around; some of my bestest friends since the first Sem in '06.

Heidi! who doesn't like to wear high heels, yet wore them to the ceremony that day to take pictures with me :))) so touched!

and how can i forget... my darling girl Yuan!! for taking that 10days leave from work to travel back to AU with me, "only because i'm your sister"... for braving the rains and winds with me during our trip... for being so, so patient that day while the friends and i went around busy taking pictures and standing round catching up with our lives while you got colder and colder from the chilly winds that was blowing... honestly i could go on and on... but to keep it short, THANK YOU. For being my girl. LOVE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i miss Uni.

i miss Syd.

i miss the peeps.

but i guess with the convo over, this officially marks the end of a chapter of my life... and begins another!

FeeLinG liGht-heAded...

... because i just went and chopped a good 4-5 inches off my hair!!!

i can't even do a MINI ponytail no more... not even one of those that look like a rabbit's tail!

OH NO, WHAT HAVE I DONE???!!!!!!!!!

tHe PareNts

i love my parents. I DO!! but they are so weird sometimes :p i mean that in a good, affectionate way of 'cos!! duh!!

way back last Dec when the dates for convo came out, i told them all the important details they were gonna need to know:- date, day, time, venue, logistics involved if i decided to attend the ceremony, logistics involved if they decided to go too... stuff like that.

they 'errm-ed' and 'ahhh-ed' and 'hmmm-ed' before deciding not to go because:-

1) the babies (i.e. Louis AND Ting --- not that Ting is that young anymore, but... a baby to them still. obviously.) at home needed looking-after;

2) cost involved (i.e. air tix for 2, additional hotel room, shopping... hurhurhur...!);

3) work.

so yea.

i decided i'll head back to Syd on my own.

then the sis (Yuan) decided she'll go with me :))) hurraaaaay!!

we got our tix.

we arranged accom.

we mapped out where to go, shop, eat...

we're leaving tomorrow by the way :)

THEN!!!

... ... today! the parents decided they wanted to go tooooooo!

like, hello! the sister and i leave tomorrow! and you're telling me you want to go only, NOW??? i spent a good hour (almost two!) checking on available air tix, accom, visas... but freaking hell!! if they get their tix now, it'll cost more than double the price Yuan and i got ours for!! we're talking at least $5K for 2-way tix for 2!! economy! to SYD!!!

i told them not to get it.

it's waaaaaaaay too much to pay for, just to go attend a 90min ceremony where they'll watch me walk up that stage dressed like a fat penguin (yes, i bet i'll look very much like a fat penguin in that regalia/hood/hat), go shake someone's hand, receive The Cert., turn, face the audience, smile for the camera, then leave the stage. :p

daddy said they feel bad not being there for my Masters grad.

'so proud of me' ma says. *sniff sniff*

'we really want to be there for you'. that came from daddy.

ma asked if i would blame them for not going.

-.-

honestly, i don't quite know what to do with them. sometimes they are sooooooo... argh! they say the cutest stuff and with such innocence! is it possibly true that as one grows older (oh horrors! I DON'T WANT THEM TO GROW OLD!!), they tend to get more child-like???

no doubt i wished they were going too... hell, of 'cos i'll love for them to be there! but there are some things you just gotta be 'big' and matured about! like not having the folks spend $5K just on flights alone!!! duh! that money can be put to better use for the whole family!

but! guess this is how my parents show their love. haha!

and i love them so much tooooo! God knows i love them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

daddy, mummy, if you EVER come across this entry, well... THANK YOU BOTH! just the fact that you were even considering spending that much to watch me walk up to get that piece of paper i worked my ass off for over the past 18months... well, that's enough for me :))) now... with that money saved, we could maybe, take a family trip somewhere later this year? the last time we travelled as a family (all 5 of us. same time. same place. sorry jie! :p you're married.) was... 2005??

*fingers crossed*

haha!!

tHis... oR tHat...

Dilemma

DiffeRenCe betWeEn Man & wiFe

... both return home on Friday night to declare themselves exhausted from that week's work/activities.

... both decide to turn in early.

... yet the wife still makes the effort to wakeup in the wee hours of the morning to make herbal soup in time for the husband to have soup for brekkie before leaving the house again on Saturday --- fresh start to the weekend.

i don't know about you... but acts like these? i've only ever seen come from the fairer sex. God probably gave us more Heart; oh the lengths we go to, to make our man happy and express our love & concern and all that crap :p

Happy '18th' Lynn!

yea right.....! you wish bebe... you WISH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date.

030408 - 040408.

Dinner.

Hog's Breath Cafe

Cake.

Coffee Club

Drinks.

Tango's Holland V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

other stuff that happened earlier that day - the memorable AND not so memorable ones >__<

East Coast Park.

Bike Hire.

Birthday girl's first attempt to ride!!!

Hilarious :)))

No cuts, bruises etcetcetc.

Just LOTSSSSSSS of LAUGHS!

WAHAHA!!

Parklane Wanton Noodles. Yum!

the looooong bus ride home in the horrendous storm.

the trip from Jurong East to Holland V that took Jaime and i 90minutes! wtf!!

105 broke down.

52 broke down tooooooo!!!

WTF!

a 'complimentary' bus ride slip worth only 67cts!!!

3 STARVING women.

ssssssssssmooooooth ice cold erdinger weissbier :)

lychee martinis.

sour apple shooters! wooohoooo!! i LOVE!

strawberry margaritas.

Birthday girl who just turned '18' gets high and starts talking too much and too loudly to cab driver uncle. hurhurhur!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hope you had fun girl!!

WE LOVE YOU!

muSic PuuuuuuuuLLeaSeeee ^^

The baby headed straight for my radio, pointed at it and went, "music puuuulleeassssseee!!" when he came in this morning.

The clever boy :)

We then spent a good 30 minutes dancing to Belinda Carlisle, me still in my ol' pjys - i woke up only when he came thru' the door. Hehe!

***What a way to start my day; the baby and i twirling round the room till we get breathless to Belinda Carlisle :)))

lizaRds On da rUn!!!

waaaaaaaalau!!!

ever since the neighbours started moving out last week, we have got lizards of all sizes turning up in OUR HOUSE!!! wtf!!!

we're getting them in the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedrooms, service balcony, dining hall... they're coming in through the windows along the common corridor outside!!!

damn irritating i tell 'ya.

I HATE LIZARDS!!! so disgusting!! to see 'em on the walls and ceilings of my room. hate. hate. HATE!

ma says they're turning up now cos the neighbours have moved their stuff away and these creepy, yucky THINGS have no food in that Unit anymore PLUS they don't have anymore corners and spaces to hide in no more... that's why we get 'em turning up at our place these few days.

eeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuwwwwwwww!!

DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!

i've been very generous in using that 'ol can of Bygon the past 2 days. i hope they all die soon. DIE damnit!! DIE!