Melbourne

Just finished enrolment and got my student card. I'm now officially a student of the University of Melbourne.

Arrived here at 10am, Wednesday 20 Jan, and it was raining. Rained until errmmm..... 5pm i think. Then the next day was HOT!! And it's cloudy today. What'll it be tomorrow?

My room here at International House. The Internet here is crappy though. The quota's only 200 Mb per week (and A$0.05 per extra Mb). And I can only go online 5 hours at a time. What else? oh yeah, apparently "action will be taken if this limit is unacceptably exceeded". !@#$%

The House has about 240 students here. At today's breakfast alone I think i met more people than I actually want to. There's Shunsuke and Yuni (i think) from Japan, both exchange students, Michael, a soft-spoken Aussie chap, Dorm ( I think, really unsure how to spell it) from Mauritius, Charlie, no idea where he's from, yet, Alex, an American Vietnamese from Seattle, a Singaporean girl whose name i either dont remember or she didnt say. Damn. I'm not even sure I can remember their faces. And that was only half my table of 8. And there are more students coming. Info overload!

The briefings at the University was rubbish. So boring I fell asleep. Met another (!) Singaporean there and saw a few old schoolmates. But it was mostly a waste of time. At least the accounting lecturer was animated and lively, not the dead-man walking for Econs while the Finance fellow was somewhere in between. Too bored to continue after that.

Gonna nap now..... Until next time....

Monday 18th February 2008. The day of my driving exam.

Woke up damn early, at 6 a.m., which was already later than planned (5.30 a.m.). Anyway, since I woke up late, I had to go without breakfast. No problem there. Then the instructor came at 6.30 to fetch me to the office, where we were supposed to wait for the gal who was taking the exam on that day too. She arrived at 7.20. I could have made my breakfast, eaten it, and even slept a fair bit more. But the worst was yet to come.

We left the office at 7.30 (or thereabouts). Then we went on the NKVE. And the car broke down.
We were going for a driving exam and the car broke down. If that’s not ironic, I don’t know what is.

Anyways, turns out the bloody car was out of petrol. Something so avoidable, something so basic, and it happens. Murphy’s Law or Sod’s Law, whichever name you use, was at work. “What can go wrong will go wrong, at the worst possible moment.”

The car finally started at 8.20 or so. Next stop, Transport Department Headquarters. Apparently our request to take the exam on Monday was rejected and therefore we had to appeal. Another hour wasted there.

We finally reached the examination center at about 10. Then another long wait.
At 11, I took the on-the-road test. (I’m not admitting to any knowledge of any bribery or anything here.) The examiner was an idiot with an attitude problem. When I was turning out of the exam center, I had to stop at the junction because there was a jam. There was a garbage truck directly in front of me, obviously blocking my turn to the left. And what did the idiot say? “Move-lah!! What are you waiting for?”

Anyway, I was the last person to finish the exam (at about 3) because I was the last to register, due to the bloody rejection and subsequent appeal.

Passed.

Read a letter to the editor in the papers last week. This Malaysian who had been working overseas was pissed off because he wasn't allowed to bring his nephew and niece in to watch Meet The Spartans. Obviously they were under 18 and thus not allowed to watch it due to the Malaysian 18PL rating for it. In my opinion he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Fool. He said that the impression given by the trailer was that of a wholesome family movie. Idiot. If the cinema people let him and his relations in, he would have complained that he was misled. I haven't seen a movie so full of lewd, sexual jokes in a long while. If he hadn't watched the movie beforehand, why did he want to bring them to watch it? And he didn't check the cinema listings in the papers first. ~speechless~

About that case of the child-porn-possessing pilot, how in the world did they know he had that in his laptop in the first place? Invasion of privacy, that's what it is. Why is there such a fuss? If it was normal, heterosexual porn no one would give a damn. His sexual preferences aren't anyone else's business. Although I agree that child porn is abhorrent and disgusting, the blatant disrespect for his privacy is worse. And don't forget, out of the 3 clips they found, only 1 was child porn. The offence was for that and that alone.

On a lighter note....... WHY COULDN'T JAY CHOU'S CONCERT BE 1 WEEK EARLIER? I wanna go....... TT__TT . It's been ages since he last came to Malaysia for a concert and I have to miss it just because I have to go to Melbourne to start university. The most talented person in the Asian music scene is coming and I'm not going to his concert. WHHYYYY?????

One of my all-time favourite songs (if not THE favourite song) must be Jay's Nocturne. (It's on my playlist, 3rd song). Wonderful tune, combining rap and R&B. Lyrics a little unwieldy, but good enough to bring out the story of mourning for a dead lover. Which reminds me. Sadly, I'm free on Valentine's Day.

WHHYYYYYY?????

Fur trade=sick

Pledge to go fur-free at PETA.org

This is NOT recommended viewing. This video just shows how sick people can become when motivated by money.

I remember doing a presentation on animal abuse last year, I thought I was disgusted. I was wrong. This is much, much worse than what I came across during my research.

The sick flers in the video can go to hell.

Cynic,Inc.

Suharto's dead. And what did Badawi say? "We're damn sad"...... I didn't elect him as my spokesperson..... Of course he's sad, without him (Suharto) Indonesia has less political problems. Less problems means less opportunities to take advantage of. Anyway his death was so protracted everyone was just waiting for him to die. How sad. When I go I don't want to go that way. No relying on machines to keep me alive.

We know the election is coming soon. Why don't the BN just announce it and be done with the mess? Set a date and at least we won't have to put up with the hype about nothing. Everyone's already sniping at each other, why not just declare outright war? Or are they scared that they'll lose?

Watched the finale of Amazing Race Asia 1 again. Incredible, not in a good way. Ridiculous, actually. How could the weakest team win? Means that the others sucked, not that the winners were any good.

The Greenpeace idiots protesting against whaling had to turn back because they ran out of fuel. That's the dumbest thing I've heard. Since you guys love the environment, shouldn't you be in a sailboat or something? Not in a ship that pollutes the environment. Then you run out of fuel. Fools. If you want to catch something you've got to make sure you can keep up with it.

Hate first gear, love the third. Of what? Cars, duh! I still don't understand why they need us to learn manual driving. Go look at the stats, probably 80% at least of new car sales are automatic cars. Grrrr.......

To bribe or not to bribe? I can't afford NOT to. I just don't have the time for it. Have to pass before I leave for Melbourne, so I've got 1 shot at the license. Can't mess it up. A shame really, I'd prefer to pass on my own ability.

Suddenly thinking of going to LSE instead of Melbourne. A credit transfer in my 2nd year, maybe? Then I'll get to watch Arsenal in action! :) Any advice?

Pangkor + "Cloverfield" + "American Gangster"

Back from Pangkor on a trip with my SAM class. Really enjoyed it, too bad the water wasn’t that clear during snorkeling. Guess you cant have everything . Finally got on a bike after, oh, I dunno… 9- 10 years? Still can’t ride one properly, still having problems with cornering/ changing directions .

Almost got drunk on Saturday night, luckily I didn’t push myself too hard. Learned to play a drinking game, definitely more fun than just sitting and talking , but i really not recommended for those with a low tolerance for alcohol.

Lesson 1: Vodka goes better when mixed with Sprite than when mixed with Coke.

Lesson 2: Flavored vodka is actually a waste of time. The flavor isn’t strong enough for my liking after diluting it with soft drinks. Couldn’t taste the difference between non-flavored and flavored vodka.

Note to self: Bring nose plugs when going to the sea. I think I swallowed enough seawater to fill a 1.5 liter bottle. And that was just during snorkeling. The masks provided were leaky, so I ended up having to spit out seawater every 2 minutes. Then of course I sometimes dove a little too deep, so the water came into the breathing pipe, straight into my mouth. How exhilarating. Of course, it was worse during the banana boat ride. But then again, it’s all in the name of fun.

Fishing would have been really fun had there been more time. I’m still sore about not getting a catch! Can’t remember what happened to the fish my classmates caught though. Don’t think we ate them. Poor fish, dying for our pleasure, not even contributing to our energy reserves. Then again, I don’t really care.

Watched “Cloverfield” on Monday. Great CGI, great acting. Unfortunately, it’s a chick flick masquerading as a monster movie. I really felt cheated ‘cos I was expecting a Godzilla style action movie. Guys, don’t watch it unless you are with a girl (or girls). I went in there after reading a review of the show, so I roughly knew the format the movie would be in (video camera style). I just didn’t expect it to be so sucky. Monster? What monster? Couldn’t see it properly for 3 quarters of the movie. Since the movie is barely one and a half hours long, that really rankles with me. And it cost US$ 30 million to make? That’s $1 mil for 3 minutes! But maybe I’m just griping because it’s really not such a bad movie after all, just that it could have been better by:

1) Making it a little longer

2) Having an ending that gives a few more answers (my main problem with the movie)

3) Showing the monster in its full glory, not the tiny glimpses we got

I sense a huge wasted opportunity in “Cloverfield”. It could have been great, a classic, but ended up as a slightly above average movie.

I recommend “American Gangster” instead. The acting is even better and the movie is two and a half hours long. Denzel Washington is really intense in this show. But if “Cloverfield” was too short, “American Gangster” was too long. And it’s so choppy that I almost got seasick (alright, maybe I’m exaggerating). But if you have to watch a sucky movie, at least you get to enjoy the air-con an hour longer. Just goes to show that great acting can’t save a movie from a lousy script. Another wasted opportunity here. We get a turkey from an eagle egg.

Dork post+nostalgia

Happy New Year! Writing this on 2 Jan, 2:30 a.m., posting it later though. Seems like I'm still functioning on Egyptian time (i.e. 8:30 p.m.).

Got a camera for my birthday. Probably could have gotten one with better specs (on paper) for less money but Sony products always cost more for less. Still, most of us are suckers for Sony. Not complaining here, I got it for free.

Had a nice time using it on tour in Egypt. Thing is, I'm bored of it now. That's the problem with boys' toys. The excitement lasts a maximum of 3 weeks. Then everything's back to normal and the toy ends up in storage, to be used only occasionally. Plus, it's a camera, and:
(a) I'm not a camwhore
(b) I'm not a pro photographer (nor is it a pro's camera)
(c) there's just about nothing to photograph in daily life
(d) I'm too lazy to charge the battery regularly

Getting nostalgic thinking about my toys. Time was when I could while away afternoons playing with plastic figurines... I remember when I was about 6-8, I had 1 Optimus Prime figure (there was another one, but it was too bulky and unposeable to "fight" properly) and 2 or 3 Decepticon figures. Then I could spend hours playacting grand battles which Optimus would always win, sometimes courtesy of Spiderman's or Robocop's timely assistance.


And then there were my Lego bricks. With one big bucket and 1 or 2 small ones, I had an entire space fleet. Built it up, then kept it until I was about 9 or 10. Or was it 8? Anyway, I deconstructed that fleet and built another one, the remains of which are still in my room.

I also had (and still have) this Lego castle with a motley collection of little Lego figures (quite sure I got this when I was 3). I remember mock battles on my bedroom floor during quiet (?) afternoons. That's still in my room, I think I only stopped playing with those in Standard 5.

I could go on and on about my Lego collection. I think my parents must have spent a few thousand ringgit on it. And I don't think even 30% remains. What a waste. Could have become family heirlooms. :p

Ah-ha, I remember when I was 8 or 9, the second (or maybe 3rd) Transformers craze came, around the time of Digimon's first wave too. This time, instead of transforming into vehicles, they transformed into animals! I think I had around 10 of those toys too (including my brother's). Another few hundred ringgit there.

Speaking about Transformers, I used to wonder why there weren't any Megatron figures ( or why I couldn't find any. Or maybe I had eyes only for Optimus). I think I know why now. You see, Megatron used to transform into a gun small enough to fit into another Decepticon's hand. I think those marketing fellows thought it wasn't exciting enough for small kids. Anyway the latest Megatron's a fighter jet (after becoming a cannon, a tank, a dragon and who knows what else), which is easy enough to market.

ADDED LATER: Apparently there WAS a gun-shaped Megatron figure. It was illegal in some Australian states because it looked quite real.

Feeling a little crappy now. The effing Egypt Air flight back from Cairo was delayed by about 1 1/2 hours.(original time:2.50am New take off time:4.15am). The freaking airport was damn small, the airline didn't offer so much as an apology until we were on the plane, and it was 2:20 am when we first found out. Plus there was no announcement of the flight delay.

The flight from Cairo to Bombay was 5 hours, 1 hour plus to stopover at Mumbai/Bombay/whatever and another 6 hours from there to KLIA. Add on another 6 hours (for the time difference), plus 2 hours ( travelling time from KLIA to home+baggage reclaim+Immigration+chocolate/liqour shopping) and I made it home 5 minutes before New Year's Day with an almost dead cell phone battery. Made it to the charger in time for midnight but the New Year SMSes just kept failing to send. Stress after a stress-busting holiday.