I have this group of friends from UQ who are in some of my lectures and are also from Singapore. They are actually my juniors from SP who had just graduated. The coincidence thing is that they stayed at an unit just 3 mins walk away from mine.
Today, I went over to their house to complete an online assignment together and they invited me to stay for dinner too. I shamelessly went over empty-handed. Their style of cooking is very different from my housemates. I seldom get to eat eggs here as my housemates think eggs are really expensive and they cook very sparingly. As for my friends, they actually used 6 eggs to cook an omelette for 5 person! Was so excited when I saw them cook. Haha... Oh yah, I had sambal kangkong, baked chicken and omelette for dinner. After dinner, there was apple pie as dessert. I enjoyed my dinner very much as my friends were quite funny and entertaining. Maybe because there is more of them (4 in a house) so there's some quite lively bantering among them.
As for their house, although its smaller than mine, I quite like it. It's kind of cosy and not as empty. But then again, they had some problems with their house too. I heard the flushing system is not working very well so I did not dare to use their toilet throughout my visit. Then, there's a crack on the wall of one of their rooms. From what I know, having a crack on the wall is a very serious thing. And the biggest bad point is that they have to share 1 bathroom between the 4 of them. I actually don't mind sharing bathroom but 4 is a bit too many. At least now I have my own bathroom but it won't be for long. I've already informed my housemates that I'll be moving out next semester.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
7月8日- 机场(8)
ME, 四叔and四婶, parents of my Ah Lian cousin. Haha...
Used to go stay over at their house when I was much younger because of my cousin. They sell really delicious 'Bak Chou Mee' (肉脞面). You seldom get to see me eat that outside because I always feel like I'm being disloyal if I eat those cooked by others. Anyway, I think other people's really cannot compare to theirs.
Have to wait for a year before I can eat it again. I seldom get to eat pork here too. Not only is it more expensive, it stinks too!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
I've got Mail (3)
This was waiting for me when I got home from another frustrating practical session today. What a nice surprise! My dearest friend even sent a packet of stickers together with her postcard. The most amazing thing was, I was just thinking of the stickers during lecture this afternoon! Before I came over, I had wanted to get some of the stickers but there wasn't enough time for me to get it. I thought of writing it in my birthday list this year but there is no need now. That's right, I have a birthday list every year specially for my friends so they will not get headache trying to think of what to get for me. So considerate of me... Haha...

I had the same sentiments too... Wish you all were here.

You do know me very well. I love dogs!

I'm crazy over Disney Princesses now. I know, I need to grow up but who cares? My favourite is Cinderella. When is my Prince Charming coming?

I had the same sentiments too... Wish you all were here.

You do know me very well. I love dogs!

I'm crazy over Disney Princesses now. I know, I need to grow up but who cares? My favourite is Cinderella. When is my Prince Charming coming?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Lasagne - 2nd Attempt

This looks much better than the previous attempt right? At least it's recognisable although the standard is not there yet. I'm sure my housemates will improve with more practice. As for me, I'll just continue to stand aside and provide moral support and of course, wash the dishes.
Well, they took my advice and soaked the supposingly instant fuss-free lasagne sheets before use. At least its softer and edible this time but my housemates attribute that to the change in recipe. Oh well...
Monday, August 27, 2007
7月8日- 机场(7)
From Left: My always smiling cousin (although he's not smiling now, don't know why the boys in my family simply don't like to smile when taking photos) - Jia Jun, ME, 五婶,很随和又有时很搞笑的五叔,another very cool cousin who seldom talks - Jia Wei.
五叔很喜欢叫我,‘乘四加十’或‘乘四加三’或‘乘四加五’。。。应该猜得出为什么吧?因为我的名字的谐音,后面的数字就照他的心情加的。这样也想得出,真应该佩服他!
I think most of you might have forgotten that I used to teach tuition to one of my cousins a few years back for a few months. That cousin is Jia Jun and I have to admit that I did a lousy job of tutoring him. Anyway, now he has found his goal in life and is doing very well, topping his class more than a few times. I am so proud of him!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
7月8日- 机场(6)
From Left: My youngest aunt from my mum's side, uncle, cousin Xinyi, mum, ME and cousin Jingyi.
Thank you for helping me to look after my luggage when I went for dinner that day at the airport. Although I'm sure you will say that we are all family and stuff so there's no need for the formalities.
Due to some misinformations, my aunt's family were wrongly informed of my departure time and they arrived super early at the airport. Besides looking after my luggage, my uncle also went with me to the counter to check in my luggage. Did I mention before that my total luggage weight was 33kg? It was 3kg overweight but luckily, I was not fined for the excess luggage weight. A friend of mine had her luggage overweight by 8kg and she managed to get in without any fine too. I think they were really lenient with students going overseas to study.
A bit of family history... You might not believe it but I did helped to take care of my two cousins when they were still babies. I was quite a baby-sitter when I was younger but out of practice now. They were so cute and chubby when they were little. Haha... My uncle loves photography and he's one of the relatives who caused me to be so natural in front of a camera. He and my aunt used to bring me out often when I was little. Speaking of my aunt, she's the one who taught me a very important surviving skill - how to cook instant noodles. I can still remember clearly that episode. My two grandmas took care of me alternatively when my mum was working at that time. One day, my aunt suddenly told me that I need to learn a very useful skill and then she proceeded to teach me how to cook instant noodles. That was a very wise move and I knew how to cook instant noodles when I was only 7 years old!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Milo Siao

Impressive? Before I came over, my mum and my aunts kept telling me that I should drink more milo here. According to them, milo is cheap here and is of a higher quality than those sold in Singapore. However, when I reached here, my housemates told me that milo is very expensive. Actually I have no idea how much is a can of milo in Singapore. I never have to remember the price of groceries back home but I'm an expert when it comes to tidbits. It's still the same here, I can only remember the price of tidbits. For other things, I would have forgotten their price by the time I reach the next aisle. Anyway, I didn't dare to drink milo initially when I came over as I did not want to incure more costs for my housemates. I'm already eating way more than them but I did have my own supply of tidbits and biscuits so that I can eat freely and they won't have to pay for things they don't eat.
Usually, a 450g of milo costs $4+. This week, one of the big supermarket - Woolworth, is having a promotion for 450g milo. One can only cost $2.99 and so, we bought 4 cans. And that packet of milo cereal was also on promotion. Usually one packet will cost $4.89 but we bought this twin pack at only $4.30! Initially, my housemates was still considering if should buy or not. I told her that if it's me, I'll surely buy. If she did not buy that packet, I would have bought it and add to my collection of private tidbits supply. Although I do share some of my tidbits with them, it's still not the same if I buy it for my private use. They wouldn't be able to eat it freely and they would feel the temptation of eating when they see me eat.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Cookie Day
Today, my housemates suddenly decided to bake cookies. I didn't help much as they did not inform me of their plan beforehand. I was happily chatting with one of my BFF, yl, on the phone for 2 hours when they suddenly started preparing. I realised that talking and messaging is really very different so I'll be calling up my friends often. Think I need the other calling card with a longer talk time. Hehe...
Actually, I do not mind not helping to bake as I'm a lazy bum. Also, they are food students and they cook so they tend to have a higher standard towards food. I'm actually quite apprehensive about cooking or baking for them. They expect me to bake for them some times but I really don't feel like it. Had told them early on that I do not cook but I should have told them that I do not know how to bake as well. I hate it when I bake/cook something for someone and that person criticized it. Whoever dare criticise will not have a second chance of tasting my food again. Well, someone did criticised my baking before and that was the only time she got to taste my food. Not a great lost for her anyway.
My BFFs will never dare to say that food is not nice. I still remember that for Ivy's (aka Keroppi) birthday, yl and I baked her a cake. The cake was rock hard but she still gobbled it down happily and told us it tasted good. I think she appreciate the effort more than the taste. My most loyal fan is of course my mum. Whatever I cook and no matter how it tasted like, my mum will tell me that it's good. She's biased. I will gladly cook for my dad too. Even though he never complimented me, he did not complain either. He'll just eat everything quietly, just like what a dad should do.
You all must be thinking, how can there be improvements if there are no feedbacks? Believe me, I do know what my food taste like. I actually have quite high expectations of myself so I'll improve when I feel like it. Haha...

烘烤前

能吃了!
Actually, I do not mind not helping to bake as I'm a lazy bum. Also, they are food students and they cook so they tend to have a higher standard towards food. I'm actually quite apprehensive about cooking or baking for them. They expect me to bake for them some times but I really don't feel like it. Had told them early on that I do not cook but I should have told them that I do not know how to bake as well. I hate it when I bake/cook something for someone and that person criticized it. Whoever dare criticise will not have a second chance of tasting my food again. Well, someone did criticised my baking before and that was the only time she got to taste my food. Not a great lost for her anyway.
My BFFs will never dare to say that food is not nice. I still remember that for Ivy's (aka Keroppi) birthday, yl and I baked her a cake. The cake was rock hard but she still gobbled it down happily and told us it tasted good. I think she appreciate the effort more than the taste. My most loyal fan is of course my mum. Whatever I cook and no matter how it tasted like, my mum will tell me that it's good. She's biased. I will gladly cook for my dad too. Even though he never complimented me, he did not complain either. He'll just eat everything quietly, just like what a dad should do.
You all must be thinking, how can there be improvements if there are no feedbacks? Believe me, I do know what my food taste like. I actually have quite high expectations of myself so I'll improve when I feel like it. Haha...

烘烤前

能吃了!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Practical Results
My first practical was marked and my lecturer showed me my results. Guess what? Even though I got an almost impossible answer, I still managed to get 14/20. For that practical, I had to analyse how much iron is in a commercial iron supplement tablet. I got 0.000003755%. My lecturer even sent an email to us saying that it's impossible to get that kind of results. If that's the case, we can send the manufacturing company to court for cheating the public.
Later on, while discussing the results with me, my lecturer then told me that although my calculations were correct, my results were wrong. I shouldn't have gotten such a low result from my samples so that affected my calculations. Don't know which idiot sabotaged me! I left my samples to heat and went to do something else. When I got back to the heater, someone had taken them off and left it to cool. I thought it was the work of some good samaritan. Turns out my sample was not boiled and so my iron was not synthesized out from the tablets.
Too late to do anything about that and I was quite happy with my marks. Initially thought I would fail and get a scolding from the lecturer. My lecturer is quite a good and caring person who looks a lot like KFC's colonel with less wrinkles and a smaller stomach, of course. The day before I went to him for help with my calculations and I think he remembers me.
Yesterday was his practical class again and as usual, there was something wrong with my results. I couldn't get a stable reading for my titration results and cannot repeat the titrations as my solutions were all used up. I thought of making more solution but was not allowed. Anyway, it was already quite late and I was not actually very enthusiastic about making up the solution. So, it was with some relief when my lecturer asked me to just make do with the results I got.
After all these practicals, I realised one thing - I can NEVER be an analytical chemist. I seemed to be quite bad at getting an accurate result. I'm more of a production person so I most probably will look for jobs in the production line.
The above was supposed to be posted yesterday but something was wrong with blogspot. Luckily, I saved a copy so I didn't have to type again. Posted it today instead...
Later on, while discussing the results with me, my lecturer then told me that although my calculations were correct, my results were wrong. I shouldn't have gotten such a low result from my samples so that affected my calculations. Don't know which idiot sabotaged me! I left my samples to heat and went to do something else. When I got back to the heater, someone had taken them off and left it to cool. I thought it was the work of some good samaritan. Turns out my sample was not boiled and so my iron was not synthesized out from the tablets.
Too late to do anything about that and I was quite happy with my marks. Initially thought I would fail and get a scolding from the lecturer. My lecturer is quite a good and caring person who looks a lot like KFC's colonel with less wrinkles and a smaller stomach, of course. The day before I went to him for help with my calculations and I think he remembers me.
Yesterday was his practical class again and as usual, there was something wrong with my results. I couldn't get a stable reading for my titration results and cannot repeat the titrations as my solutions were all used up. I thought of making more solution but was not allowed. Anyway, it was already quite late and I was not actually very enthusiastic about making up the solution. So, it was with some relief when my lecturer asked me to just make do with the results I got.
After all these practicals, I realised one thing - I can NEVER be an analytical chemist. I seemed to be quite bad at getting an accurate result. I'm more of a production person so I most probably will look for jobs in the production line.
The above was supposed to be posted yesterday but something was wrong with blogspot. Luckily, I saved a copy so I didn't have to type again. Posted it today instead...
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Happy Birthday, Cutest!

Today is my cutest cousin's, Adeline aka Minkz, 18th birthday. I bought a super big card as it was on sales, $1. Very very worth it right? Everything is expensive in Aussie, except for cards. You can easily get a very nice card for only $1 and the best thing is, the cards don't look cheap. So, if I send a card to any of you, don't feel like I'm wasting money. Your card did not set me back much financially. Always remember, it's the thought that counts.
Anyway, after buying the card, I realised that it was too big and costed two problems. One, how am I going to fill up the inside of the card? So, I attached the photo in the hope it'll take up more space. After pasting the photo and writing my message, there were still too much empty spaces. I remembered all the coloured highlighters, took them out and started decorating. I actually had 6 different coloured highlighters! The end result was the above photo. Who would have guessed the card came from the hands of a 24 year old? I was so amazed by myself. Seems like my 'artistic talent' stopped developing since secondary school.
I mentioned two problems right? The other problem was of course, mailing. I forgot that since it's so big, it's won't be able to get into her mail-box. And there's a size restriction to sending letters, not everything in an envelope is considered a letter. My super big card exceeded the maximum size of a letter and had to be mailed as a parcel. Of course, there's a big price difference but luckily, I always had a big budget. Anyway, I can always console myself that the original price of the super big card would have exceeded the postage cost. My only regret was the card did not arrive in time for her birthday party.
Monday, August 20, 2007
EKKA - continued

How can there not be photos of beautiful ME? I'm so glad my housemate decided to go to the show with me. If not, there won't be anyone taking photos for me. Haha... This was taken outside the hall where we bought the super un-believably cheap pasta sauce.

Me and my Cleo show bag. I was very happy when I bought the show bag as just the magazine cost AUD$6.90. Singapore's Cleo cost only SGD$4.20 and I used to buy it religiously back then. What am I going to do without it?

These were some of the smaller cattle in the exhibition. There were some species almost two times the size of these. I didn't dare to go near them so didn't get any photos of them. By the way, those bags I were holding in the photos did not belong to me. Honestly, I didn't splurge too much money during the show, I merely helped a friend to buy those bags.

In the animal boulevard were all the smaller farm animals. There were chicken, ducks, goats, pigs, dairy cows and so on. Some of the animals were allowed to roam freely and you get to feed them if you purchase a cup of feeds at AUD$2. There was milking demostrations at certain times of the day and I saw some children holding little chicks in their laps for a feel. My dear camera had no battery left and so we didn't take any photos inside. What a waste!
After this, we also went to see a fashion parade. There were 8 female and 2 male models and they changed real fast. The 2 male models made the show really amusing by disturbing the female models whenever they walked past them. Towards the end of the show, they even made fun of themselves. One of them wore his shirt with the buttons at the back and purposely left his front zip open. The other wore a shirt and a pair of boxers with a fake bare butt attached to the back.
This was the first time I had sat down and watched a real fashion parade. Since young, I had always been fascinated by the modelling industry. There was a time I watched America's Next Top Model quite faithfully and idolised Tyra Banks. Too bad I was not 10cm taller. If I was, I would be earning big bucks now by modelling. I have the figure and I'm photogenic enough.
Then again, I might not be able to get onstage with my present weight. At some shows, models had to be weighed and they were not permitted to go onstage if they did not pass the minimum required weight. They are trying to eliminate the thought that thin is beautiful so that there won't be so many anorexic girls in the world, trying to achieve the 'beauty standard'.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
EKKA

Went to Ekka with one of my housemate, Adeline, yesterday. Ekka, also known as The Royal Queensland Show, is an annual big event in Brisbane. It's like a big carnival and has its own dedicated site. This year's the 131th Ekka show. Tickets were $22 for adults and $16 for students. Initially, I was pondering over whether I should go or not. I'm glad I went. It was an eye-opening experience and quite worth the ticket money.

There was this hall with stalls selling show bags. All the show bags were from different companies and the contents varied. They all claimed that the selling price of the show bags were cheaper than the original retail price and it was. However, most of the show bags did not seem to be worth the price so I was not really that tempted. Luckily...

Many many chocolate and candy stalls...

There were some stalls selling stuffed toys too. Some of them were really cute, like care bears. There's this 7-inch purple colour care bear selling at $5 but I managed to control myself.

Ekka is also a place where people bring their livestocks and pets to exhibit. There's this hall with many cattle, sheeps and goats. The cattle were really huge and they were not fenced in. You can just step in and touch them. I even petted a sheep and I thought I was petting a carpet. This calf here was only 10 days old and born on the eve of Ekka, which started in 9th August.

How can a carnival be completed without fun rides and games? However, the rides cost at least $7 each. Luckily I don't have the guts to go on such rides.

Cleo show bag. I got all these for $10. Just the Cleo magazine alone cost $6.90 here so I think this was quite a good bargain.

And I got all these for another $5. Just the magazine alone cost $6.40.

We bought these 12 bottles of pasta sauce at only $4! The Ekka was a 10 day event and yesterday was the last day of the event. Most of the booths were marking down their items and we heard about this promotion just before we were about to leave the place. At first, we bought only 6 bottles. Then, I saw the expiry and realised it's good till year 2009 and we decided to buy another 6 bottles. Anyway, we ate a lot of pasta here so we should be able to finish before next July.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Super Size Me
Yesterday, my housemate borrowed a documentary movie called 'Super Size Me' and we watched it together during dinner. Amazingly, the DVD was borrowed from the school's library. That means, I don't have to worry about being too bored during the summer holidays. I can just go to the school's library and borrow whatever DVDs I want to watch. Fortunately, I like to watch documentary films.
This documentary was about an American guy taking on a challenge of eating McDonald's every day for 1 whole month. Sounds simple? Not really, as he had to eat it for every meal, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Furthermore, he was not allowed to exercise in that duration and that included walking. At that time, McDonald's in US had this super-size meal which is much bigger than large. If he was asked by the McDonald's staff whether he wants to upsize to super-size, he had to accept the upsize. Also, he had to try everything on the menu at least once.
After that one month, he gained 25 pounds and damaged his liver in the process. He had mood swings and often felt depressed which became better after he had eaten his Big Mac. According to this guy, he filmed this movie because of the outrageous amount of obese people in US and also because of a lawsuit against McDonald's.
Two overweight girls sued McDonald's for making them obese. That was simply too ridiculous! I mean, no one forced them to eat McDonald's. Everyone knew too much fast food is bad for them. Sometimes, I'm really appalled by the actions of people nowadays. Didn't anyone teach them how to think? And I believe there's this thing called 'self-responsibility' which means that one should always take responsibility for their own actions. They seemed to only know how to blame others when they screwed themselves up. Anyway that two girls lost the case, which I think was a resonable outcome.
During the filming, that guy tried to contact McDonald's representative but to no avail. After the film was screened, McDonald's took away the super-size option but claimed the decision had nothing to do with the film.
After watching the show, my housemates and I were talking about it and I told them I wouldn't mind taking on the challenge of eating McDonald's for a month, if I got paid and it's fully sponsored. I'm serious! Maybe then I would gain more weight.
For those who wished I would get fat in Aussie, I think I'll have to disappoint you. The portion of a meal in Aussie is not very big. In fact, I seldom feel satisfied after eating here. The 6-inch Subway sandwich is smaller here compared to Singapore so most Aussie buy the foot-long sandwich instead. The McDonald's burgers here is the same size as Singapore's and you actually need to pay for chilli sauce!
This documentary was about an American guy taking on a challenge of eating McDonald's every day for 1 whole month. Sounds simple? Not really, as he had to eat it for every meal, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Furthermore, he was not allowed to exercise in that duration and that included walking. At that time, McDonald's in US had this super-size meal which is much bigger than large. If he was asked by the McDonald's staff whether he wants to upsize to super-size, he had to accept the upsize. Also, he had to try everything on the menu at least once.
After that one month, he gained 25 pounds and damaged his liver in the process. He had mood swings and often felt depressed which became better after he had eaten his Big Mac. According to this guy, he filmed this movie because of the outrageous amount of obese people in US and also because of a lawsuit against McDonald's.
Two overweight girls sued McDonald's for making them obese. That was simply too ridiculous! I mean, no one forced them to eat McDonald's. Everyone knew too much fast food is bad for them. Sometimes, I'm really appalled by the actions of people nowadays. Didn't anyone teach them how to think? And I believe there's this thing called 'self-responsibility' which means that one should always take responsibility for their own actions. They seemed to only know how to blame others when they screwed themselves up. Anyway that two girls lost the case, which I think was a resonable outcome.
During the filming, that guy tried to contact McDonald's representative but to no avail. After the film was screened, McDonald's took away the super-size option but claimed the decision had nothing to do with the film.
After watching the show, my housemates and I were talking about it and I told them I wouldn't mind taking on the challenge of eating McDonald's for a month, if I got paid and it's fully sponsored. I'm serious! Maybe then I would gain more weight.
For those who wished I would get fat in Aussie, I think I'll have to disappoint you. The portion of a meal in Aussie is not very big. In fact, I seldom feel satisfied after eating here. The 6-inch Subway sandwich is smaller here compared to Singapore so most Aussie buy the foot-long sandwich instead. The McDonald's burgers here is the same size as Singapore's and you actually need to pay for chilli sauce!
Friday, August 17, 2007
7月8日- 机场(5)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Carelessness
I nearly lost my thumb drive this afternoon and I'm so glad I found it. Thumb drives are very expensive over here. A 1GB thumb drive usually cost $30+ each but I bought mine at a special offer of $19.95.
After my practical session, I put all my things on the bench and slowly packed everything away, except my thumb drive. Don't ask me why. Sometimes, I really have no idea what I was thinking. And after packing, I got distracted and forgot all about my poor thumb drive. I happily leave the building and went to the photocopy shop which is around 5 mins away. Actually, on the way to the shop, I had a nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. I thought maybe it's my handphone but it was still in my bag when I checked. At the shop, I realised that I could not find my thumb drive. I rushed back to the Chemistry building and it was still lying there on the bench, waiting for me to collect it. Finally, some good luck after all the bad luck episodes.
I realised that most of you were quite apalled and felt heart ache over my bad luck episodes, especially about the bird-drop ice-cream. Well, just to make you all feel better, I realised that this is kind of normal to me. While growing up, I had my share of bad luck, stepping onto cat's or dog's excrement, losing things etc. In fact, this was not the first time a bird decided that I lok like a good toilet. However, the previous time, the bird landed his droppings on a book I was reading. When I was very very little, I bumped into my brother's head while walking and one of my tooth dropped off! That fellow has a really hard head. Then there's this time I fell when playing with my cousin and promptly broke my elbow. Ended up with a cast around my left elbow for a few months.
Losing things is even more common to me but I do hate it when I lost something, be it an item, a game or someone...
After my practical session, I put all my things on the bench and slowly packed everything away, except my thumb drive. Don't ask me why. Sometimes, I really have no idea what I was thinking. And after packing, I got distracted and forgot all about my poor thumb drive. I happily leave the building and went to the photocopy shop which is around 5 mins away. Actually, on the way to the shop, I had a nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. I thought maybe it's my handphone but it was still in my bag when I checked. At the shop, I realised that I could not find my thumb drive. I rushed back to the Chemistry building and it was still lying there on the bench, waiting for me to collect it. Finally, some good luck after all the bad luck episodes.
I realised that most of you were quite apalled and felt heart ache over my bad luck episodes, especially about the bird-drop ice-cream. Well, just to make you all feel better, I realised that this is kind of normal to me. While growing up, I had my share of bad luck, stepping onto cat's or dog's excrement, losing things etc. In fact, this was not the first time a bird decided that I lok like a good toilet. However, the previous time, the bird landed his droppings on a book I was reading. When I was very very little, I bumped into my brother's head while walking and one of my tooth dropped off! That fellow has a really hard head. Then there's this time I fell when playing with my cousin and promptly broke my elbow. Ended up with a cast around my left elbow for a few months.
Losing things is even more common to me but I do hate it when I lost something, be it an item, a game or someone...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Ekka Holiday
Today is Ekka Holiday and it's a public holiday so there's no school. Woke up at 12 noon and felt very satisfied. After lunch, I had an one hour telephone conversation with one of my best friends, Sinn. Felt really good after that one hour bitching session.
There's something new for dinner again. My housemates bought a box of instant lasagne sheets and attempted to make our own.

Don't be mistaken, the lasagne was not burnt badly. The dark colour was the result of the chocolate milk we used to make the cheese sauce. The recipe asked for milk and we only have chocolate milk so... However, the lasagne sheets were still unacceptably hard after baking for around 40 minutes. I think the sauce was not moist enough for the lasagne sheets to soak and we did put too many sheets in one layer. The recipe instructed one sheet for each layer but we went and put 2 sheets instead. In the end, we had no choice but to dig out the hard lasagne sheets, add water and pasta sauce to it and microwaved.

Above is what the lasagne looked like after it was dug around by us. Looks a bit digusting right?

For those who had no idea what a lasagne looks like, above is a picture I copied from the internet. Haha...

And this is a cross-section of the lasagne we made. The layers were still too hard but we were too hungry by then to care. Luckily, we had toasted bread and garlic bread too.
There's something new for dinner again. My housemates bought a box of instant lasagne sheets and attempted to make our own.

Don't be mistaken, the lasagne was not burnt badly. The dark colour was the result of the chocolate milk we used to make the cheese sauce. The recipe asked for milk and we only have chocolate milk so... However, the lasagne sheets were still unacceptably hard after baking for around 40 minutes. I think the sauce was not moist enough for the lasagne sheets to soak and we did put too many sheets in one layer. The recipe instructed one sheet for each layer but we went and put 2 sheets instead. In the end, we had no choice but to dig out the hard lasagne sheets, add water and pasta sauce to it and microwaved.

Above is what the lasagne looked like after it was dug around by us. Looks a bit digusting right?

For those who had no idea what a lasagne looks like, above is a picture I copied from the internet. Haha...

And this is a cross-section of the lasagne we made. The layers were still too hard but we were too hungry by then to care. Luckily, we had toasted bread and garlic bread too.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
New Blog Layout
Finally my blog has some new designs. Many people complained that it's too plain and I did try to make it more interesting but I'm hopeless at such things. So, my cutest cousin came to the rescue again. Initially, she tried to make me do it myself by introducing me to websites which offer free blogskins. After a few days of searching, I still haven't figure out how to use the blogskins so I gave up. And being the narcist that I am, I decided to put my own beautiful photo instead. I was quite amazed with myself actually. I managed to make a mess just by uploading my own photo. The uploaded photo turned out to be very very very big and I was too tired to correct it. My cousin helped me resize the photo and threw in a few things too. So now, there's the chatterbox at the side so that you all can comment without having to go to another page.
This morning, I had moldy bread for breakfast. Just kidding... Even in my half-awake/half-asleep state, I still managed to see the white colour mold and I woke up. After deliberating for a while, I decided to tear away the moldy part and continue eating. I did learn not to be so wasteful here. Back home, I would just throw the whole bread away.
Every Monday and Tuesday are high stress days. Tuesday is the day I have to do my Analytical Chemistry practicals and Monday is the day when I have to hand in my practical report. Remember my last Tuesday I was the last to go back? Well, my report for that practical was a total disaster too. I think I miscalculated some values and correction fluid was not allowed so my whole results sheet was a mess. I expect to get very low marks for that first practical report. Anyway, the professor did say that he'll only use 7 best marks out of the 8 practical reports. I just have to ensure that I did better for the next 7 practicals. I'm happy today as I was not the last to complete the practical! I managed to complete everything and left on the dot.
This morning, I had moldy bread for breakfast. Just kidding... Even in my half-awake/half-asleep state, I still managed to see the white colour mold and I woke up. After deliberating for a while, I decided to tear away the moldy part and continue eating. I did learn not to be so wasteful here. Back home, I would just throw the whole bread away.
Every Monday and Tuesday are high stress days. Tuesday is the day I have to do my Analytical Chemistry practicals and Monday is the day when I have to hand in my practical report. Remember my last Tuesday I was the last to go back? Well, my report for that practical was a total disaster too. I think I miscalculated some values and correction fluid was not allowed so my whole results sheet was a mess. I expect to get very low marks for that first practical report. Anyway, the professor did say that he'll only use 7 best marks out of the 8 practical reports. I just have to ensure that I did better for the next 7 practicals. I'm happy today as I was not the last to complete the practical! I managed to complete everything and left on the dot.
Monday, August 13, 2007
I've got Mail

Woke up to a pleasant surprise this morning. I've got a parcel from my cutest cousin, Adeline Koo. According to my housemates, the postman arrived with the parcel at around 8.30am. Luckily, they had not left the house yet as I was still sleeping and couldn't possibly hear the postman knocking.

This little chicky was in the parcel, reminds me a lot of Chicken Little. After winding it, I have to press on its head before it can start walking about. Looking at this chicky reminds me of my electronic walking toy dogs. Yes, I know those toys are for children but I can't help it. Those things are so cute and they roused my childhood memories.

This is a pair of earrings, also sent by my cousin. Made me hungry when I saw it. I heard Singapore is still going through the doughnut craze phase. There's no queue for doughnuts here. The doughnut brand with the biggest chain of shops is 'Doughnut King'. One small doughnut costs AUD$1.20. My housemates and I rather buy from the supermarket which sells 12 doughnuts a pack for less than AUD$3 (offer price, of course).
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Dory Fish

Actually not everything is ridiculously expensive here. This piece of dory fish cost less than $2. Bought it at West End market and I was quite stunned when I heard the price. I think that platter would cost at least $8 in both Singapore and Australia. It tasted quite good and my housemates even created a sauce to go with the fish.
Singaporeans are really very 'kiasu'. It's only mid August but the air tickets back to Singapore for December are already fully booked! I think next year I'll have to book my air tickets really early.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Mood Report for Today - Very HAPPY
After so many days of stress, I finally managed to de-stress. Most people de-stress either by eating or shopping. I did both today! After waking up early at a digustingly early time for grocery shopping, we went back to the house to dump all the goods and went to West End for lunch. Lunch was at a restaurant selling both chinese and japanese food and it's buffet style! We ate till very full and satisfied but I couldn't help worrying about something. It seems like my eating capacity had become smaller. In the past, this amount of food wouldn't have made me full at all. Sigh... Below is a photo of our round one food.

The plate on the right is mine. After this plate, I only ate one more sushi, another helping of fried rice, chawamushi (japanese steam egg), a green bean pastry, a small piece of green tea jelly, a small cup of jasmine tea and a couple of things which I had no idea what they really are.

Me and my round two food.

After the buffet, we went to the city for some shopping. I bought a new jacket and immediately wore it. This photo was taken in South Bank at 7.15pm. Looks like it's already 9+pm right? It really gets dark very early here. But the night scene at South Bank is really nice and quite romantic. Too bad I don't have a beau to stroll the sidewalks with me. Haha...

Water fountains at South Bank. Sometimes, I'm really confused by the water restrictions in Brisbane. Since there's a drought, shouldn't they stop the water fountains?

But then I'm glad they didn't as I get to benefit from it. The water fountains are quite pretty actually but my camera is not powerful enough to capture the beauty. The night scene mode in my camera is such a fraud!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this locker. Initially, I thought South Bank is a combination of Kallang river and Vivo city as it reminds me of these places. When I saw this row of lockers, I realised that South Bank is quite like Singapore's Clarke Quay. There's the river, the pubs, the ang mohs and of course, the locker. I was quite familiar with this locker during my initial clubbing years at Clarke Quay (or was it Boat Quay)? Back in Singapore, we thought $2 for one use of the locker was expensive? Guess what? This locker here cost AUD$3 for 3 hours and AUD$6 for 6 hours. Siao!

My dinner for the night - ice cream! After the buffet lunch, we were too full to have dinner. However, I got hungry again at around 8pm and the ice cream looks so nice. That was a stupid decision anyway as I almost became frozen after savouring it. Anyway, bad luck struck again while I was eating my ice cream. A bird flew by and decided to bomb my ice cream. I was so angry that I nearly let off all my '@#$%*#$!' in front of my housemates. In fact, I couldn't control myself and let off a bit of the more minor ones. As the ice cream was not cheap and there was still a lot left, I scooped off the part with the bird dropping and continue eating. If I was back in Singapore, I would have just threw the whole thing away but here, I learnt not to be so wasteful.

The plate on the right is mine. After this plate, I only ate one more sushi, another helping of fried rice, chawamushi (japanese steam egg), a green bean pastry, a small piece of green tea jelly, a small cup of jasmine tea and a couple of things which I had no idea what they really are.

Me and my round two food.

After the buffet, we went to the city for some shopping. I bought a new jacket and immediately wore it. This photo was taken in South Bank at 7.15pm. Looks like it's already 9+pm right? It really gets dark very early here. But the night scene at South Bank is really nice and quite romantic. Too bad I don't have a beau to stroll the sidewalks with me. Haha...

Water fountains at South Bank. Sometimes, I'm really confused by the water restrictions in Brisbane. Since there's a drought, shouldn't they stop the water fountains?

But then I'm glad they didn't as I get to benefit from it. The water fountains are quite pretty actually but my camera is not powerful enough to capture the beauty. The night scene mode in my camera is such a fraud!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this locker. Initially, I thought South Bank is a combination of Kallang river and Vivo city as it reminds me of these places. When I saw this row of lockers, I realised that South Bank is quite like Singapore's Clarke Quay. There's the river, the pubs, the ang mohs and of course, the locker. I was quite familiar with this locker during my initial clubbing years at Clarke Quay (or was it Boat Quay)? Back in Singapore, we thought $2 for one use of the locker was expensive? Guess what? This locker here cost AUD$3 for 3 hours and AUD$6 for 6 hours. Siao!

My dinner for the night - ice cream! After the buffet lunch, we were too full to have dinner. However, I got hungry again at around 8pm and the ice cream looks so nice. That was a stupid decision anyway as I almost became frozen after savouring it. Anyway, bad luck struck again while I was eating my ice cream. A bird flew by and decided to bomb my ice cream. I was so angry that I nearly let off all my '@#$%*#$!' in front of my housemates. In fact, I couldn't control myself and let off a bit of the more minor ones. As the ice cream was not cheap and there was still a lot left, I scooped off the part with the bird dropping and continue eating. If I was back in Singapore, I would have just threw the whole thing away but here, I learnt not to be so wasteful.
Friday, August 10, 2007
New Slippers
I bought a new pair of slippers today but not at my own free will. The straps of my original slippers snapped while I was walking back to the house from school. Initially, I thought I can still slowly drag myself back. Just 5mins from the house, the remaining straps snapped too. I thought of just walking back bare-footed but then I remembered that the stretch of road was littered with glass fragments. People here like to host late night parties and sometimes, the road will be littered with broken glass bottles in the mornings. Unlike Singapore, there's no cleaner on the streets to sweep up the mess. Someone shattered a glass bottle at the traffic light near my house just a few days after I arrived. Till now, the same glass fragments are still lying there! Anyway, I was just outside the neighbourhood convenience store so I went in to buy a pair of slippers which costs me $5.

That's my new slippers, not something I will choose but I had no choice. That's the only type sold in the store.

That's my new slippers, not something I will choose but I had no choice. That's the only type sold in the store.
Still in very good condition right? Bought it during the Metro Sales just before I came over and had only worn it twice.
Seems like I've been going through bad luck recently. First my bedroom light, then my hot water tap and now my slippers. Things alway happen in threes so that should signal the end of my streak of bad luck.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Happy National Day!!!
I mentioned yesterday that I'll be going to this NDP gathering held by Brisbane's Singaporean Student Society right? Well, we did go but the food was such a complete let down that my housemates and I left before the screening of NDP starts. The promised authentic Singaporean cruisine turns out to be fried bee hoon and chicken wings. No, I did not miss anything out. That's all that were available. That was truly authentic Singaporean food alright but the word 'cruisine' was too misleading. Before we went to the gathering, we already told ourselves not to expect too much as too high an expectation will only lead to a big disappointment. We shouldn't have expect at all.
Typical of all Singapore dinners, the original 6pm commencement of dinner ended up starting at 7pm. I was already so weak with hunger that I can't talk at all. When I saw the 'cruisine', I almost fainted from frustration and starvation. There were two guys serving the fried bee hoon and you know me, of course I chose the good-looking one. Big mistake. That good-looking guy gave me such a miserably small portion that I thought he was going to give me another serving. Wrong! Good-looking guys should not be so stingy. There should be a rule against that. I absolutely cannot stand stingy guys...
Anyway, my dear Tan family went on a family picnic today, without me. It was not a full family gathering so the size was not that intimidating but still, it should be very fun. And from what my mum and cutest cousin told me, it was fun. Sigh... I miss those outings.
By the way, my hot water tap is working now.
Typical of all Singapore dinners, the original 6pm commencement of dinner ended up starting at 7pm. I was already so weak with hunger that I can't talk at all. When I saw the 'cruisine', I almost fainted from frustration and starvation. There were two guys serving the fried bee hoon and you know me, of course I chose the good-looking one. Big mistake. That good-looking guy gave me such a miserably small portion that I thought he was going to give me another serving. Wrong! Good-looking guys should not be so stingy. There should be a rule against that. I absolutely cannot stand stingy guys...
Anyway, my dear Tan family went on a family picnic today, without me. It was not a full family gathering so the size was not that intimidating but still, it should be very fun. And from what my mum and cutest cousin told me, it was fun. Sigh... I miss those outings.
By the way, my hot water tap is working now.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Left Singapore - 1 month
I left Singapore on 8th July and today is 8th August and in case anyone can't count, I've been gone for exactly a month now. If everything goes smoothly, I'll be back home in another eleven and a half months. Graduation ceremony will be in mid July 2008.
Tomorrow is Singapore's National Day and of course, I'll be wearing red. I like to think of myself as a patriot. Haha... Brisbane's Singapore Student Society will be hosting a gathering in QUT (Queensland University of Technology) tomorrow night. There'll be authentic Singapore cruisine and afterwards, screening of NDP. Hope it'll be fun and I can take lots of photos to upload here.

Tried new recipe again tonight for dinner. The above plate consists of garlic bread, crumbered fish and spaghetti fritters. We mixed spaghetti, egg and some seasoning and then fried the mixture. It's a bit too oily and because of the frying, the spaghetti is a bit too hard for my liking. But then, it's a new experiment and I like to try out new things. Did I mention before that my housemates are studying 'Food Science and Nutrition'? They love cooking so lucky me get to benefit from it.
Tomorrow is Singapore's National Day and of course, I'll be wearing red. I like to think of myself as a patriot. Haha... Brisbane's Singapore Student Society will be hosting a gathering in QUT (Queensland University of Technology) tomorrow night. There'll be authentic Singapore cruisine and afterwards, screening of NDP. Hope it'll be fun and I can take lots of photos to upload here.

Tried new recipe again tonight for dinner. The above plate consists of garlic bread, crumbered fish and spaghetti fritters. We mixed spaghetti, egg and some seasoning and then fried the mixture. It's a bit too oily and because of the frying, the spaghetti is a bit too hard for my liking. But then, it's a new experiment and I like to try out new things. Did I mention before that my housemates are studying 'Food Science and Nutrition'? They love cooking so lucky me get to benefit from it.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
I suck at Analytical Chemistry!
I had my first official practical session for Analytical Chemistry today. Judging from today's title, you can see that everything is not smooth. It's a complete disaster and I was the last to leave the lab, again. The lab session was supposed to end at 5pm but I took 40 minutes longer to complete. One of the tutors, a ph.D student, had to stay back with me and I was really grateful to her. She's really nice and I feel so bad for dragging her time as she had to travel around an hour to get home. She even helped me search for the required instruments and washed a few of it for me at the end.
Actually, it's kind of embarrassing to admit it but I had done dozens of similar experiments before. Then again, it had been five years since I had done any practicals so my techniques are a bit rusty now. Furthermore, in polytechnic, practicals were done in groups of four or five so work was split and it took less time to complete an experiment. Here, practicals are done individually and you are expected to prepare the required reagents yourself. Unlike in polytechnic, all the reagents were already prepared by the lab technician. I should have prepared all my reagents before I start doing the experiment. However, I had already start preparing my samples before I heard that bit of 'news'. Imagine the shock I got when I heard that. I was totally unprepared and went into a mad rush after that. And to make things worse, I was new to the lab and totally had no idea where everything is. I couldn't even find a simple measuring cylinder and had no idea where to top up my distilled water bottle! Everyone else were like so familiar with everything. I'm the only third year student in that class who is also a new student. Guess that's the only disadvantage of getting exemptions.
By the end of the practical, my haphazardly tied hair had come undone and I think I looked like a mad woman. I expect myself to get very low marks for this experiment as my accuracy was not there. I overshot the make-up mark a couple of times and did not bother to re-do the sample. My only aim then was to complete the experiment and get some results.
The sky was already dark when I left the school compound at nearly 6pm. I gave my housemates quite a scare as I did not inform them that I'll be late. They called me on my handphone but I did not answer because I did not hear it ring. Next time, I better inform them if I'll be late. Then again, I hope there won't be a next time. I aim to finish earlier for the next experiment.
By the way, my hot water tap is still not working. No one came to see to it yet. Sigh...
Actually, it's kind of embarrassing to admit it but I had done dozens of similar experiments before. Then again, it had been five years since I had done any practicals so my techniques are a bit rusty now. Furthermore, in polytechnic, practicals were done in groups of four or five so work was split and it took less time to complete an experiment. Here, practicals are done individually and you are expected to prepare the required reagents yourself. Unlike in polytechnic, all the reagents were already prepared by the lab technician. I should have prepared all my reagents before I start doing the experiment. However, I had already start preparing my samples before I heard that bit of 'news'. Imagine the shock I got when I heard that. I was totally unprepared and went into a mad rush after that. And to make things worse, I was new to the lab and totally had no idea where everything is. I couldn't even find a simple measuring cylinder and had no idea where to top up my distilled water bottle! Everyone else were like so familiar with everything. I'm the only third year student in that class who is also a new student. Guess that's the only disadvantage of getting exemptions.
By the end of the practical, my haphazardly tied hair had come undone and I think I looked like a mad woman. I expect myself to get very low marks for this experiment as my accuracy was not there. I overshot the make-up mark a couple of times and did not bother to re-do the sample. My only aim then was to complete the experiment and get some results.
The sky was already dark when I left the school compound at nearly 6pm. I gave my housemates quite a scare as I did not inform them that I'll be late. They called me on my handphone but I did not answer because I did not hear it ring. Next time, I better inform them if I'll be late. Then again, I hope there won't be a next time. I aim to finish earlier for the next experiment.
By the way, my hot water tap is still not working. No one came to see to it yet. Sigh...
Monday, August 6, 2007
7月8日- 机场(4)
From Left: My very modern 小婶 who's very good with handicrafts, my very chubby and too energetic cousin - Bryan, my youngest and very eloquent cousin - Eunice, my very handsome (you only get to see me say it once) 小叔 who's super good at making us laugh, ME and my dear 阿嫲.
My very funny 小叔 who always like to crack crappy jokes (now you know why I crack so much crappy jokes) and disturb us even when we are eating. Well, happy kids grow up to be happy adults so maybe we should thank him for that. Haha...
小婶 is the aunt who knitted that purple jacket for me. I was so touched when I saw the purple knitted jacket and it's the exact shade of purple that I like. I still haven't wear it as I'm scared of soiling it. But, I certainly will wear it at least once before I come back and will take lots of photos with it. Realised I did not take any solo photos with her. Sigh... I really didn't know what I was doing at the airport. There were so many things I want to and should do but did not do...
Sunday, August 5, 2007
4th Sunday in Australia
Although this house is big and quite comfortable, it has been giving us lots of problems. First, the light in my housemate's toilet blew. Then, my bedroom light went out. Now, my hot water tap is not working. There's a hot water tap and a cold water tap. Just like in the hotel bathrooms, you have to turn both to get the water temperature right. Initially, I was not familiar with the water taps and would either scald or freeze myself. Now, hot water refuse to come out no matter how I turn. I end up using my housemate's bathroom to shower. Of course, I'll have to call the real estate people again tomorrow. I wonder how long they'll take to send a plumber over this time.
Lunch today was 'Meatball Carbonara Pasta'. My housemates bought a recipe book recently and this was made by a combination of two different recipes. The meatball was made ourselves using lamb meat mince, bread crumbs and onions. Adeline minced the lamb meat herself and Jie Ying tried to make bread crumbs by toasting the bread and crushing it. Half-way through the preparation, we decided that next time we should just buy those ready made bread crumbs instead. It's not really expensive ($0.89 for a big packet) and would save us a lot of time and trouble. The end result was quite worth the trouble though. The pasta and meatball taste is almost restaurant standard and is much much better than Pastamania. Although like all cream-based pasta, always eat in moderation.
Dessert after dinner was 'Banana Split'. We really do know how to pamper ourselves. Haha... However, this dessert is not likely to be seen again anytime soon as bananas is really very expensive over here. Usually, 1kg of banana cost at least $6. We went supermarket on Thursday and saw this banana offer going on at $3.99 per kg. We were really very excited and bought a bunch. Guess what? That bunch of six bananas cost us almost $6, which means each single banana is almost $1! I think my blood potassium level is going to be low again by the end of the year.
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