NZ blues

I am currently waiting in Auckland's international airport...

It's 12.49 am here, 10.49 pm in Melbourne and 7.49pm in Malaysia

4 more hours to check in

Time flies when you're having a blast!

Will post more once I reach Melbourne *been socially derprived as my Australian network doesn't work here in NZ:(*

I'm starting to miss NZ already:(

Then it's hello scrotching hot weather and relentless flies

holiday

It's officially been 1 month and 6 days of PURE JOY!

Holiday, holiday, HOLIDAY!

It's been crazy, one thing after another...

Sis's wedding, exams, my parents over in Melbourne, Goldcoast*catches breath*

busy, busy, BUSY

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving for NZ, my biggest adventure yet:)YAY!

*promise to post pics when I get back!*

domo-nation

While I was 'studying'... (notice the extremely clean and empty notepad)-well at least I tried!

Was it a figment of the imagination or caffience overdose or having way-too-little-sleep-I-can't-see-anything-right?*2 furry feet appeared*

AHA! look what I found finding behind the lamp

Innocent, domokun?

Well, the lights couldn't have gone off by itself...or could it?

Probably we all need to get some rest, as for me...probably my sanity too*lolx*For all of you who are still having exams...GOOD LUCK, you poor souls!and for those who ARE DONE WITH IT, GOOD RIDDENS AND HELLO HOLIDAYS!

bangkok

hi all,

I'm currently in Bangkok waiting for my flight back to M'sia in 3 hours.
Can't wait!!!*bak kut teh here i come!!!*

p/s: new airport rules forbid ANY liquid on board so I had to throw my water away, now I'm waterless and without any baht:(*doubt they'll accept credit card for a bottle of water*

it's october again

It's October again
Leaves are coming down
One more year's come and gone
And nothing's changed at all
Wasn't I supposed to be someone
Who can face the things that I've been running from...

Let me feel, I don't care if I breakdown
Let me fall, even if I hit the ground
And if I...
Cry a little
Die a little
At least I know I lived, just a little...

I've become much too good at being invincible
I'm an expert at play it safe, and keep it cool
But I swear this isn't who I'm meant to be
I refuse to let my life roll all over me...

Let me feel, I don't care if I breakdown
Let me fall, even if I hit the ground
And if I...
Cry a little
Die a little
At least I know I lived, just a little...

I wanna be somebody
I, I wanna be somebody
I wanna be somebody
I, I wanna be somebody who can face the things that I've been running from

Let me feel, I don't care if I breakdown
Let me fall, even if I hit the ground
And if I
Cry a little
Die a little
At least I know I lived...

It's October again
Leaves are coming down
One more year's come and gone
And nothing's changed at all

'Let me fall' by Bethany Joy Lenz

october

Dear October,

You did me proud today:)

On your very first day, I handed in my LAST assignment for the semester

Hopefully everyday gets better...keep up the good work

*counting down the days to go home...18 more days to go!!!*

september

Dear September,

I wished I had more of you,you're so much fun, it has only been a day since you're gone and I'm already missing you so. Why did you have to leave so soon?

Do you remember the snow patrol concert?*my very first concert*

The arena was only 1/3 of the capacity when the first act began, then it started filling up during the second act but when SNOW PATROL played, Rod Laver was jam packed. We were only 7 meters away from the stage!!! I can still remember the crowd singing along to 'If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?'

The best part was when the crowd thunderously screamed encore and Snow Patrol came back with a BANG! singing my favourite song 'Open your eyes' *beautiful moments*

P/S: 7 meters!!! *fai, too bad, you were SO FAR AWAY, hehe!!

How about the trip to 'Holland'?

Yeaps, picturesque view, tulips in every colour imaginable...

Tulip paradise *the whole place was filled with nothing but tulips and well, us of course:)*


Beautiful *ahem* people scenery, windmills in 'Holland'

Did I mention it was actually a trip to the Tulip farm on Australian soil:)*I got ya didn't I, hehe*

Last but not least, dum da da dah dum!!!

The phantom of the opera was staged at Princess Theater *for ANYONE who is in Melbourne, or is planning to come over, this show is a MUST!!!*


The costume was AMAZING, the choreography was flawless, the stage design was extravagant and breathtaking *esp the part where the phantom takes Christine to his hiding place, the candles, the boat, the mist, the piano...everything was so surreal* the singing was mesmerising...everything was simply PERFECT!!!

Thank you, September!!!

P/S: I'll miss you so and hopefully October can learn a thing or two from you:) *prays hard*

mooncakes

The search for mooncakes begins at Springvale...*a suburb known best for their Vietnamese settlement, good Asian food, cheap fresh produce and...well...more CHEAP stuff*



They had so MANY choices...

*We didn't want to blow a hole in our pocket nor did we want to eat lousy mooncakes*

Thus, we went for the best of both worlds, Fai and I bought one box moderately priced and another one box from Oversea restaurant:) *we're damn patriotic when it comes to mooncakes, lolx*. As you can see below, I have two China made mooncakes and another two from Malaysia's own Oversea restaurant:)

My precious...

I'm savoring each bite...*As the saying goes, you won't miss till it's gone*

Updates

What has Kathryn been doing?

1. I moved (I'm now staying near uni:)

2. Arranging my flight to go back to Malaysia from my sister's wedding *so I'll be back on the 20th of Oct then I'll be coming back to Melbourne on the 28th of Oct to sit for my first paper on the 29th. Madness I tell you!!!*

3. Mid terms

4. Assignments

What is Kathryn anticipating in September?

1. Phantom of the Opera

2. Snow Patrol concert

(I'm loving September!!!)

Invisible

Have you ever looked into a window from the outside?

You see everything,

Yet you play no role in the scenes unfolding in front of you,

You stand there, observing yet not participating,

You feel invisible,

No matter how loud you scream,

No one would listen nor care to,

You are there, but no one sees you,

They just see right through you but not at you,

It hurts to be invisible…

Great expectations

I have learnt,

With each expectation,

Comes a chance of disappointment,

For each expectation,

We can only hope,

But when all hope is lost,

Disappointment emerges, sadness follows,

More so, when it’s the people dearest to us,

So, I’ve learnt not to expect,

To look beyond their shortcomings,

To draw upon their strengths,

For perfection is just for the naïve.

white july

I know it's already August:) Sorry but I haven't had the time to blog about my ski trip to Falls Creek *sue me, I do have a life*

Anyway, the trip was organised by Swinburne University's Chilsom Ski club. 3 days and 2 nights at Mt Beauty Lodge with around 40 participants. Su lin, Hui ling and myself were the only participants from Monash. *we felt alienated cause we were not only from a different uni but we were the only Asians there excluding this ABC*, but we did make friends along the way:)

Below, the view from our lodge, *did you notice there's no snow?*...

That's because the journey from our place to the mountain is around 1.5 hours by bus...

After 1.5 hours on the bus...

Up up and away on the ski lift

Our skis:)

The scenery...I love snow, it makes everything so pretty:)

Some people ski down this hill *this including lil kids from ages of 9*madness!

Beanie us

We had a few hours before our official lesson, hence Phil *a guy from the trip* was nice enough to teach us a thing or two. We practiced skiing, falling on our butts, screaming like hell when we lost control/ when we couldn't stop and for my part, crashing into the gate. *don't you dare laugh if you haven't skied before! rawwrrr*

Anyway, after practicing on the slope, we went to the top using this enclosed ski tube called 'the mouse trap'. It operates the same way as shopping cart on the escalators but instead of grills, the magnetic surface holds the skis:)

The beginner runs ' green runs' which then separates into two routes, wombat ramble and drover's dream. It was extremely tough without formal training. I kept falling and no one helped me out..sniff sniff *and I was so sick that day, down with flu, slight fever, sore throat..you name it I had it*

Despite the first day's shortcomings, I had a blast at the lesson and I kicked ass on the second day:) I didn't fall on any of the runs after we went on a blue run 'intermediate', which had these 'monkey bars' whereby you could put your leg between this pole and it would take you to the top instead of the conventional ski lift. I swore that the slope was almost 90 degrees!!! But after that whole ordeal we had fun going up on the monkey bar and any slope after that seemed like babies!



The trip was so fun towards the end, I did not want it to end. I felt like dying the first day because I was extremely tired from getting up after falling and constantly blowing my nose.:( Luckily the second day was so much fun:) Would I go skiing again?

On the first day I would have said : 'You siaw ah! you want me to die?!?!'

On the very next day: ' In a heart beat!'

The few days after the trip, my body ached from my toe to my head but hey, it was worth it!

*Boys and girls go skiing if you do have a chance, it would be an experience you'll never forget!*

P/S: remember to invite me too:)

Sydney (beware : pics, pics and more pics)

Vibrant Sydney (at least 4 times bigger than melbourne)



Our first stop, (Harry's pie), noted to serve the BEST pie in Australia



The house specialty, pie with pies and mash potato



Chinatown, Jessica indulging in the famous emperor's puff



The queue was CRAZY!!!! (it's not that nice, emperor's puff is well overrated)
*OoO..look at the line..it must be good..thus the line grows and grows*-'krispy kreme syndrome'



Pancakes on the ROCKS!* we had chocolate pancake, strawberry pancake and pork ribs:)*DELICIOUS!



We went on the rocks walking tour (the tour was excellent, highly recommended!)



Pictures taken on the cruise around circular quay



More pictures on the cruise



Us (Esther, Jessica and myself) waiting to get into the Sydney Opera House for the tour



The Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Mrs Macquarie's chair during sunset



Watson's bay, just 15 minutes away by ferry from circular quay, a well kept secret and the birth place of the famous Doyle's restaurant



Lunch,
Imagine fighting with 100 seagulls to eat your lunch...*Jessica's face got scratched in the process because the seagulls took the food right from her hands*..(word of advice: eat indoors!)



Watson's bay has the best of both worlds, the best view of the city and the ocean



'The Gap' national park's ocean view (watson's bay)


The famous Bondi Beach



'Fried mars bar'

The owner of the restaurant claims that he sells the most mars bars in the region per day, more than 100 (not surprising because it's AMAZING!)



Dinner,
We had to wait around 45 minutes to get seats at 'Hurricane'...(I tell you, it's one of the BEST pork ribs I had, BEST, BEST!!!) OMG..it's sooo freaking good (Dad, if you're reading this..I think this could be as good or better than Tony Roma)..and the serving is HUGE...wait..ENORMOUS *enough for 3 people!!!*




Sydney fish market *you can buy your seafood straight from the market then cook it at a restaurant or just buy seafood straight from the restaurant*



These happy campers had one seafood platter, oysters and lobster..yum yum :)



The government house (NSW's governor is a lady) *ahem ahem* girl power! (no pictures were allowed inside, sniff sniff)



Paddy's market


Look at who we meet in Paddy's...(Sponge Bob and gang was there too)



Our last dinner in Sydney, Korean restaurant (Seoul Ria) in the city
*look how happy they are cause the food was really good or maybe cause we were really hungry*



On the way back, I thought learning how to play the guitar was hard, imagine playing the guitar and balancing another on your head..*salutes*



One for the album, *us before leaving Sydney, bags packed, anticipating 11 hours on the trains*