Lost In Translation

As I was packing up my stuff, putting them all in a box to be brought over to my new apartment, I stumbled upon a huge stack of letters, a mooncake box stuffed with little gifts and photos taken when I was back in Malaysia before I left for Melbourne, and my high school year books. And as I flipped through the pages, I couldn't help but laugh about the old days when my friends and I would do the dumbest things possible and get away with them. Like the pathetic Tennis Club Annual General Meeting, when the whole voting poll was rigged by ourselves to choose the board of directors, simply because its president was my crooked buddy Vivek. And the other time when another friend of mine was learning how to drive in a wide open space in Vivek's car, and thought that driving a car was really like it was in Daytona (the arcade game), so he didn't bother to use the breaks when cutting corners.

Aw shucks... those were the days. The days I miss so sorely.
The freedom. The innocence. The naiveness of our words and actions.
Those were the days when we were really 'growing up'.

So I thought that maybe I'd compile a little tribute kind of a thing here. To my closest buddies whom I grew up with in high school, back in little old Kluang.

In brutal honesty, I could go on forever. The list is a long one and I can't fit everybody in it. Not even Jia Wei, the shy stuttering humble dude who used to sit next to me in form 2 (though I'm not too sure about the stuttering bit anymore. I heard lately that he could rap a rapidfire of nuisance after a couple of drinks). Not even my best friend Syikin, whom ironically of all people, I don't have a proper picture of her at all and we spent the least time hanging out during my high school days.

But they're all there.
Friends, brothers and sisters whom I grew up learning about life with over mamak food at 1:30a.m at Ah Seng's.
All buried in memories that will never leave me till I grow old and senile maybe.

God, I love you guys.

It's been raining for the past two days, but it looks like it's been going for ages. It seemed as if the weather during the past week has been on either ends of the extremes. Just about this time last week, it was streaking hot and sunny and now, just last night, the whole region of Melbourne was wrecked by a horrible storm.

I was totally unaware of the raging winds last night as I slept soundly through it all, only to discover the horror of the true nature of it all this morning as I was heading down to my high school for an awards ceremony for past year students.

It was horrific.
So on my way back from school, my parents and I decided to go a little flood-scouting, taking photos as we came along the terrorized scenes.

Apparently, news report says that a teenage boy has been reported to be swept away by the rushing current of the water somewhere near Monee Ponds. His body has yet to be found.
Another house in Eltham has been drowned, as it was located near a creek passing throughout the suburb (as seen in above picture).

As we headed along the suburbs from Research all the way to Eltham, we could see the obvious impact of the floods to the society. Traffic, businesses and even schools have been affected. A bridge in Eltham had to be closed down because the local council thinks that it's about to be overflowed by the running water beneath it.

Man... what a sight.
Weather reports say that the weather will only be clearing up tomorrow.
Let's hope it clears sooner than forecasted.

i feel like crumpled paper
words in white
plain on sheet
meshed up into a jargon
of random syllables,
oblique vowels and exclamation marks
a mess of language
in the heart
that can never be perfect again
like crumpled paper

So as many of you may have guessed or noticed by now, I'm moving to the city.
After an incredible 2 years+ of the suburban life, where the air is fresh and the world seems green, I'm moving to the place where big slabs of concrete seem to be higher than mountains and the air a little brown at times.
City life, here I come.

I've found a pretty nice 2-bedroom apartment located just at the back of Victoria Market and next to the Flagstaff Garden, off LaTrobe St. I'll be sharing it with KG once he moves in in June, but till then, I'll be living there with my parents before they head back to Malaysia for good coming April. It's really nice, really. I don't really know how else to describe it, but I think that it's a pretty spot 5 levels above the ground. Maybe I'll post some pics sometime soon, when we've really moved in.

So now, tonight will be my last night in Greensborough before the movers help us move all the furniture there tomorrow morning, together with all our other stuff including this computer. So I guess I'll not be having any internet access for the following couple of days (hopefully not weeks) before my new internet access in the city kicks in. So.... no new posts till then!

:(

Oh well, I guess I'll have to learn to deal.
Either that or I go to Isaac's or Esther's to steal their internet. Then maybe I can sneak in a few posts every once in a while before I go solo again. But if that doesn't happen, please don't abandon this blog leaving it static. I'll be back soon!

Well, I guess that's that for now. Till I blog again, let alone come online, I'll see you all soon. Take care, and wish me luck. For a smalltown boy like me to survive in the concrete jungles of the city, it would take a whole lot of oxygen tanks and Indomee.
It won't be easy...

Adios, amigos.

.............................

P/s: IRIS! KG! I'm hoping that either one of you will read this! The both of you are arriving at Melb on the same flight! So please, upon landing at the airport, give me a call on my mobile phone so that I can pick you guys up. And stick together!! Don't be straying around so it'd be easier to pick you guys up! Thanks!!

Ah, the internet's finally up and running. I think Optus has a lot of explaining to do. Firstly, their customer services sucks. There's always a 'delay', and the average length of time they put me on hold because their lines are busy goes to about 10-15 minutes. So what I have to do is to usually put the phone on speakers and let the baroque music play in the background till I hear somebody pick it up on the other side. This way, I wouldn't have to wait by the phone all the time. The day the modem's supposed to arrive got mixed up 3 times, and the day it arrived (yesterday) wasn't even on the right day scheduled with me. It was firstly scheduled to be earlier than supposedly, then delayed, then earlier again but not as early as it was the first time. Optus needs to do something about their management of customers. They should hire me. I bet I can do better. And get paid at that too...

But the funny thing is that we discovered the internet speed of the plan that I received upon installation yesterday (thanks to none other than Isaac, again) was faster than the one I ordered as well. I don't know if this is a good thing. The plan that I ordered was supposed to be on a 512k speed, whereas today, we discovered that we're running at 1.5megs speed. That's good, I know. According to Aaron's calculations, I can download an mp3 song faster than the length of the song if played at the same time. I just hope we're not paying extra for it...

So anyways, life in the city is turning out quite interesting. The new apartment is fantastic. It turned out to be bigger than I thought it was as we were able to fit in the furnitures we had in our previous living room and kitchen in one living room here. Sure, it can be quite a cram, but still quite comfortably livable. The only thing is the bathroom, it has so little storage space, it's so packed, seeing that my parents and I all have to share this one place.

The downside of it though is that our washing machine couldn't fit in the space of the cabinet prepared for it here, so the doors have to be left open, and that there's no space in it for the dryer as well unless we install brackets for it to be hung on top of the washing machine. Besides those things, all seems to be simply awesome. I'm living closer to my church, uni, and girlfriend now, which makes life so much simpler. And everything we need, let it be groceries, shopping centres, movies, etc, are just a walking distance from my apartment! Talk about some exercise I'll be getting.
P/s: Interesting fact I found out. It appears that the apartment I'm currently living in right now was partially designed by a team which my architect friend Sue Lee was in! Cool stuff!

Anyway, the Chinese New Year has just begun a few days ago, and the family has been pretty busy running about at that. On the eve itself, we had a (traditional?) 'reunion' dinner at my new place with Esther and the Su's, followed by a session of Kill Bill Vol.2. Talk about traditions. More details on that night here. Following that was a dinner organised by the church which in my opinion, was quite a blast. The best dinner by church thus far (in terms of food, at least. other aspects are arguably good as well). Unfortunately I regretfully forgot to bring my camera along that night, so I don't have any pics to show. :(

But the highlight of my Chinese New Year thus far has to be the walk at Southbank, I think. It was quite fascinating to me because I've never really spent Chinese New Year here in Melbourne before, and being the first time spending it here this year, I discovered that there're many activities organised here. One being the many stalls set up along the Yarra River, just outside the Crown complex. As me and Esther we walking along the stalls just 2 days ago, we discovered some really interesting things there.

Firstly, Ashley's family and marketing hooligans, setting up a stall selling some really delicious mee siam and laksa which we had for dinner that night.

We also later stumbled upon the ACCF posse, squatting by the side of the stalls like the true Asians we are, eating the same thing we had as well. The food was really good.

The whole atmosphere was simply amazing. I felt so much at home, being surrounded by so many Asians or even Aussies who're into the festivities as well there. It was like being in a pasar malam, except that it was much cleaner and they had outdoor karaoke sessions there as well...
It was a beautiful cool night, perfect for a walk for the both of us, exploring the many stores, offering the many delicacies I so miss like taufu fa, ba kwa's and even massages. The colours splashed everywhere by the laterns lit and fire licking up the woks of Chinese dishes prepared all around were mesmerising. 'Home' wasn't too far away after all...

What a night.

Anyways, as a conclusion thus far, life in the city has offered many things to do. A life that can be kept busy and content, even without an internet connection, dare I say. The convenience of it all is the key aspect of it, I guess. A 10-minute walk to Esther's place, church, as well as Chinatown, 5 minutes to JB Hi-Fi or Rose Garden, and 15 minutes to uni. Almost everything I need at a stone's throw.

Oh, and it saved me so much time and effort on preparing for Valentine's Day as well. But that's a story to tell for another time.

*Yawn. Goodnight, folks.

So recently, my life has been packed with activities. Not necessarily wholesome for the family, but it's definitely going on pretty well for me. Among such things would include Zakky's 21st birthday on Tuesday. Quite some fun there that I haven't had the chance to experience in quite a while. Pure genuine fun with friends, simply fellowshipping with each other with no ulterior agenda, but just to celebrate a friend. That's all. I had the most laughs in one night in many months that night, and it'll be one to remember. Cheers, Isaac. It was fun that I've been deprived of for quite a while.

But the fun didn't end that night, I'd say. This week, since Tuesday morning, has been O-week in Melbourne Uni. Wrapping up tomorrow with an awesome show tomorrow night featuring bands, comedians and movies, I'd have to say that I'm pretty geared up now for uni. Although some have said that orientation at Melbourne Uni would have to be the most serious orientation among all other uni's around (which I agree with that statement, I think), I also think that our orientation's the most fun. Sure, we had our 'trial' lectures and tutes where we had some serious introduction lectures to our course ahead, but we also had loads of games and activities. Mostly today.

After a 45-minute trial lecture this morning, all hell broke lose. I'd have to say that I'm pretty impressed by the students of the Commerce faculty. With the proper proof of ID at just a stand outside our building, we were ready to party.

the stamp as proof of our age

Free beer.
Free hotdogs.
Xbox games.
A surfing simulator.
Pub crawl.
And have I mentioned free beer? Yep. VB for everyone, and so much more.

They also handed out these cool magnetized Xbox necklaces that glow in the dark. Me being the cheapo that I am got second serves for that. :P

Oh and the many societies to join...
From fencing to skiing to horseriding, the choices were neverending. And the offers and freebies that come along? Whoaaaa. So far, by joining 2 societies, I've got pens, vouchers for clubs, bowling and drinks, notebooks, and much much more. Nyahahahaha!! And the fun for the day hasn't ended yet. Tonight, there's gonna be some parties at a few clubs where me and some of my friends, being Commerce students at Melbourne, get to enter in for free and get free drinks and food. How cool's that? Still, I'm not going tonight, though. I've decided to dedicate tonight to spending some quality time with my dear Esther instead. Sigh, what an awesome boyfriend she's got.
;)

Ah well. As the uni life begins to unveil, much is to be expected. But all play and no work makes Jack a dumb boy. So wish me luck and pray that I'll make it through this tempting new year. I suspect I'll be needing it quite badly...
:P

The fun never [edit] ceases.

Today had to be the geekiest day so far this year for me along with a few of the Bunch. With newcomer Yiping in town, the geekdom threshold just went up a couple of notches, and what a way to kick it off with a Starcraft session at Zakky's new apartment.

That's right, folks. Once our notebooks//PC were linked up, all war broke lose. We first started out with 2 warm-up sessions where all 5 of us teamed up against the computer. Unfair, yes. But nevertheless fun; Aaron and Yiping proving themselves to be the biggest Starcraft geeks at that. Then we went head on on a 3-on-2 battle, whereby the Su's and Winnie battled Yiping and I.

As maths may prove to make sense here, the latter team lost, despite having the reigning champ on my side. Oh, and did I mentioned just how badly I got beaten up? Even Winnie scored higher than me. But it's ok. My pride shall be restored when we have a CS round another time, perhaps.

All in all, it was absolutely fun. The kan cheong-ness (apparently. i didn't have the pleasure of being kan cheong cuz i was always the one dying or doing nothing), silliness, and simply the geekiness of it all was quite the experience.

Geekdom is prospering well this year.