Its 3.11 a.m.

A smile, slowly spreading across my face

I would really like to thank:
My family, my aunts and uncles- Aunty Elaine, Aunty Mag, WC and Uncle Brian.


My 'naughty' Flat 6 & Co.
ShuDuan! Fish! LeeLing! PC! Esther! Cindy! Nelson!


My lovable friends:
Esther, Phoebe, Pris (so finally, we meet!), Fi and Meng (I loved the little Q travelling everywhr!), Lyon (such a crazy one!), Chen Ting (applehead!), Nicholas (U too jia you in UK),
JENABI (so skillful ! -_-), JASON (hope u had a great time in Italy!), Vivian, Shirley,
Yvonne! (long time no see gal!), Feng Chyuan, Sharon (So Cute!), My Love Dan Ting, SIN LING, MILLIE GIRL, NYCE DARL, ING ING, RUEY SHIAN, TECK MING, WAH WAH, AH HONG n Ah Hong's Friend (SORRY! Forgot ur name!), LC, FANG, LUULUU, WALLACE, XUN (SHE:) Min Yew, John, Teck Seng!, Emily and April, Daniel (sorry! will col u back soon!) Veronica, Rachel, Jessica,
VTing & Clinton (didn't get yr card, did u send it to hotmail?)!


My Curtin Darlings:
Melissa (have a great semester! Enjoy it to the max!), Adeline (miss you!),
Jackson, Curby, Carmen (I will surely visit u guys in KK some day!),
Ke Han, Heng Siang and Co. Calvin, Tony, Joanne, Siaw Fen...
Miss Fayrene and Miss Fidella ( u guys were so cute!)
Sham -_-
Miz Anita again!
And the ever lovable and adorable Miss Azlyn (Welcome back!)


(P/S: I want to see the new building)


And everyone else:
Sussan, Wndr, Han Chen, Calvin, Colin! Andrea, Doreen, Damien, Small Cindy, Dragon @ Tatsu, Xiao Ming, Christina, Alene, Florence, Wen Yee, WENDY!, Vincent, Lily, James, Ronald, Daphne, Rudi, Annie, Maurice, Kheng Wei, Kelvin, Joanne, Wan Sin,Yung Leong, Oi Yee, Kelvin Kian, Oliver, Chiew Sing, Michele, Jaclyn, YeePing, LeeMoi, Jessica, Uncle Ng and Fam & Tony!



And the 'evil' collaborators in this:
What am I without you girls?
JIUN AND CHEN!
MUACKS MUACKS!


For making this birthday, my most unforgettable one!

I heart April 2nd, 2009!

We do Dinner.

Yes, apparently I can cook! And apparently, so can my adorable flatmates! Erm... (shifty eyes) after all my failures in Miri, I seem to be the type who learns from mistakes! Mother dearest, do not fret! I can survive on my own!!!


So, since we have established (in the short one month of living together) that we are quite adept in the art of throwing things together to make something edible- what better thing to do than COOK a potluck on Saturday!


I am so lucky to be in a flat full of people who eat and love to eat. Hahah, pun intended. My dear coursemates always complain of flatties on diets, flatties who always eat out and what nots. So, I'm in a lovable food environment! Proof:

The girl who started it all!
She googled for a recipe to cook Enoki Mushrooms.
Hence, the tip of the iceberg: Enoki Mushrooms!

I am veering off topic BUT...BUT...
I must introduce this piece of heaven to as many people possible!
Rocklea Road from Darrell Lea!
From the Seven Deadly Sins-
This is my LUST.

;)

From Enoki Mushroom,
it turned into Vietnames Spring Roll...
To Potatoes,
and ended with Soup!


Bacon, Chinese Cabbage, Enoki Mushroom Rolls by Fish and ShuDuan!

This is so delicious and So Very Yummy!
(capitalized because it deserves Capitals!)
Ingredients: Bacon strips, Enoki Mushrooms/ Jin-Zhen-Gu, Chinese Cabbage.
Cut into long strips. Roll and hold with wooden sticks.
Steam for approx. 20 minutes.


Variation:
Bacon and Enoki Mushrooms.
Same preparation.
Bake with cheese as toppings for 30 minutes.














Spring Rolls by Me and Esther!

A very satisfying Saturday evening indeed! We voted Potluck as a Saturday Flat 6 Flat Tradition from today onwards! Hehhehe, more interesting recipes to try out...and try very hard to not burn down the kitchen! Fish almost set a tea towel on fire and the fire lighter dropped to the back of the stove!


On a random note, I am actually eating muesli and apples with yoghurt as we speak, in vain effort of trying to keep myself awake so that I can study! One more mid-term and assignment respectively to go before Easter hols! I can't wait! Know how they say the grass is always greener on the other side? Well, the air is always fresher to me on holidays! If that makes sense... ;P


Going off to slug at minute words and random diagrams with too many arrows...While marveling at the human element called human nature. Gambarimasu!

Listening:
Fish Leong and her many love songs

Thinking:
Of the winter jacket I saw the other day!
& why is autumn so cold?

Wanting:
To watch Confessions of a Shopaholic.
Shopping is an art.

Dreaming:
Of next Friday's planned outing!

To a Fairytale Ending

Here's to new beginnings
And even better endings:



To a dear old friend,
I'm puzzled as how to begin;
This special birthday wish,
As significant as it is.

The rudimentary greetings,
The good luck wishing,
The All the Best hugging,
The flying-kiss kissing.



This year,
When all the wishes has been said and done;
I reserve one more special wish for you-
From me.

I promise to be there for you,
stay still and strong by your side,
To listen and not judge,
To see and not go 'tsk-tsk'.

To provide comfort and peace of mind,
To embrace and find solace,
To tell you a reassuring word,
To tease you to coax a laugh.

To share girly gossip,
To entertain beauty tips,
To ascertain our other halves (not that I have one),
Stay by our side forever and ever!

From me,
to you,
I have a simple wish:
"To our friendship!"



So, dearest one,
May you have a memorable 21,
With all your closest friends,
Wishing you 'All the Best!'



Happy, Happy Birthday!

Pictures:
Jen and Poladroid

Appetizer- First Week

Like the title suggests-
let's do this nice and slow.

First up- a mish mash with brusting flavours for you to savor:
The First Week.

There is just so much to update! I've been really bad with keeping track of all the places I've been to these past few weeks, but... I'm gonna have to try really hard with categorizing them tonite! So there will be sporadic updates to this loooong post now and again when I remember something that I want to add!


First off, my journey down under began with a 3 day 2 night camp at Busselton! Many fellow international students have exclaimed their surprise that I've actually visited Busselton just a mere one day after I landed in Perth! Busselton is more of a 'Its Summer Hols Lets Go On a Road Trip' kind of thing for students- so thanks JCUS for this great opportunity to enjoy Perth's spectacular beaches!


Busselton is located in between Margaret River and Augusta, along the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. It was also my first dip in the Pacific Ocean! Erm, not really significant that, its just the nerd in me showing through- what with a geographic lesson to boot.

Pacific Ocean glinting just for me and Fish!
We were stoked when we finally saw the pic on the comp.
It was completely unedited.

The Five of Us (Introducing my flatmates- Me, Fish, LeeLing, Esther and PeiChee) had a really swell time getting to know each other and making new friends with very welcoming and friendly aussie students. We even celebrated Chap Goh Meh (15th Day of CNY) with all of our fellow camp mates who were so kind and wished us all Happy CNY!

Scenic and relaxing Busselton.
The sky was so blue.
I love blue skies but I miss my clouds...

From Busselton, we then went on to Yallingup for a day trip. Gosh, Aussies really love their beaches and sport. During that short time at camp, we learned how to play beach volleyball, cricket and erm...a chocolate game which was actually an excuse to eat choc. Heheheh! Loads of experimental fun!

Fish bersemangat during Balloon Time.
Why?
Because she finally figured out how to twist a balloon into a fish.
-_-

Balloon fun time. That is the Sydney Opera House, mind you.
It is a work of art!

For me, it was a comfort to be with so many people. It was the first time away from home for me (nope, National Service does not count) and I think my homesickness was delayed. It really hit the second day and I would have wallowed in self pity and extreme depression if not for the sunny, fun people and crazy activities in store for us! It was relaxing and a really great way for me to come to terms with my new found independence while banishing my homesickness away!

Short stop-over at Simmo's for Ice Cream.
Yummy Yummy.
We were all well-fed and well-rested by the time we got back to Curtin Bentley.
Thanks so much, JCUS!

Right. I had better explain about JCUS for a bit. Its actually called the John Curtin Leadership Scholarship. John Curtin is the founder of Curtin University, which I am currently attending. In his honor, this scholarship is awarded to 6 outstanding australians every year. It was these new scholars that were at camp with us and made sure we had a blast for our very first few days in Aus.

PC at Yallingup.
He is the kindest and cutest flat mate a Gal could ask for.

Happy Flatties at Yallingup.
Love the crystal clear water and the Rock Pools.
I'll def head back there!

No Pics of the other campers cos they were all in beach gear playing cricket.
We were out exploring on our own because Yallingup, to them, is a local thing.
Hahahha! For us, the beautiful waters won us over!

So after the whole journey down south (if I'm not mistaken), LeeLing's Sis took us on a tour organized by her church. Hehhehe, believe me, there is no shortage of religious refuge here in Perth, all religious outlets are allowed to advertise (freedom of media, freedom of speech...) and trust me when I say they use it to their advantage!


Anyway, it was a nice way of seeing Perth's many main spots, complete with many new friends and yummy BBQ! Me and Fish fell in love with the many parks and Freo (Fremantle). Summer is actually coming to an end in Australia and thus, the leaves have started to change color- picture time!

Finally- A Flat 6 Flat Pic.
(Omg. Sound so horrible- Flat 6 Flat)
L-R, LeeLing.Esther.PC.Fish.Me.

Out spying on the locals.
Victoria Gardens is actually a park in one of the more upscale housing suburbs of Perth.
Unlike New York upper east side elegance,
Victoria Gardens has a more quaint, softly upscale look.
I like.

Evil amytheyst that is taller than me in Freo.
Freo is my relaxation zone.
More on that in another post!
In actual fact, there are just so many nice spots in Perth,
with so many interesting details,
I have no idea when I will finish posting my 'First Few Weeks in Perth' thing.

There are so many, many more pictures that I want to share with you guys- its a real pity that my hostel bandwidth is holding me back, so in a win-win situation... head over to Facebook (Click! Its linked!) to view all the pics.


So, there you have it, my eventful first week that didn't give me a chance to mourn my bed/blanket/TV/various stuff I could not bring over...and my family. I'm slowly adjusting to student life away from home, cooking, cleaning, having late nite conversations etc etc...and I am enjoying every moment of it. Workload this semester is also heavier but we're all going to support and motivate one another! Seriously, I could not be happier at the friends and strangers that have welcomed me into Perth. Sincerely, I say thank you.


For all my friends at various locations in the world! Woot, truly global! I miss you guys! Take care, stay strong and I can't wait for you guys to come visit! Next up: City Life and Cindy!

Waiting:
For my hectic class schedule to really start.

Missing:
My mom's cooking. I think I'm thinner.

Wanting:
Unlimited allowance = unlimited spending.

Hoping:
For a smooth semester and a great 2009!



Pictures Credits:
Qing or Fish

Dinner Leftovers.

As promised, I'm going to jumble all the left behind posts of yesteryear into one whole big post.


Be warned. Extreme word counts' arise...and I thought I hated word counts after all my bloody assignments.


First up, MY 20th Birthday!


It was a really very, very busy month and as procrastination would have it, I delayed and delayed this post till, well, now... I must say, I'm not one to fret about aging. Its a natural process. Yet, thank god we have so many anti-aging miracles in the market these days...so much so that people might still mistake me for a 30 year old when I'm 40. -__- Its an ongoing joke. I swear, with each birthday, I seem to look more childish.


Egad. Sexy 20 year old I am not.


To quote Chen: "Qing, you will always be the sweetest!"


Okay...So I'm stuck to the 'sweet, cute, cuddly' tags for the rest of my life. Tell me please, should I feel traumatized? Or absolutely bushed that somehow, my aging hormones haven't kicked into action yet? Let's look at this in a positive way- at least I can still get away with wearing kiddy clothes! Errrmmm, not that I actually own kiddy clothes...

Its time I actually posted a picture of him.
AERON WONG WAI LEONG!
Can you believe it?
After 4 whole semesters together,
there ain't one picture of you in my blog?
You, who cheated me on my birthday!
You owe me loads of movies, my friend!

Basically, all I felt on my birthday,
was a gratifying sense of being loved.
From the closest family members and friends to friendly acquaintances,
it seemed that everyone was there on that special day!
Thank you!

Erm, sadly, it wasn't any sexy lingerie in that La Senza bag.
Again, I emphasize sadly. Hahahah!

:-:-:-:


Moving on...Part 2 of my Brisbane Trip! For a refresher course: Here's Part 1.

Brisbane City has so many alleys that one needs a whole 2 days of relentless walking to cover the whole city! Hmm... maybe 2 days isn't even enough, especially if you really want to take in the whole city 'feel'.


I only spent a day in the City since we were short on time. It was amazing! Like I said in the earlier post, Brisbane's City reminds me of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam because of all the alleyways that lead to wonderful surprises. HCM's whole city is much alike Bris in the sense that all the shop houses are sandwiched together but there will always be little crooks and alleys that lead to a whole new section that you wouldn't have known existed unless you'd walked trough the narrow little road!


Little loves I discovered along the way:

Dreamy Donuts.
Hands down, the best tasting donuts to me!
This yummy fella beats Krispy Kreme, which is a little too sweet for my liking!
Plus factor: Dreamy uses Lindt chocolate for their coating and fillings.
Lindt, people. It doesn't get better than that!

The picture above is from my aunt's suburb. In Australia, a suburb is a housing estate. Equivalent to Pujut in Miri or Bandar Utama in KL. There's this little town square in the middle of her suburb where people do shopping or just gather around for a drink. The gem in this town square is this whole row of artists' warehouse! The snapshot above is a cute little window from one of the display warehouses! Basically, one can find painting/ pottery making/ any type of creative classes in that whole row! There are even knitting classes for the interested.


I was wont to take picture of these people attending classes because it seemed like I was intruding upon some great creative scheme that was ongoing. Seriously, it felt as if they were pouring their heart and their soul into their paintings...


Flowers that we (my aunt, my Mama and I) picked up while grocery shopping:

Fresh Lavender from the garden!

My beautiful Mama and the flowers!
These bougainvilleas have quite a story:
Its a known fact that Australia is very strict with any food items
you want to bring into their country. Plants are a no-no.
But my aunt managed to smuggle in these bougainvilleas,
(don't ask me how-I really don't want to know!)
taken from my Mama's garden in Miri!

I LoveLove my aunt's patio. Her whole house exudes a modern-ish cum country style feel.
Her patio really plays up the wonderful slope behind her house that leads to the local river.
You can sit there in the morning and take in the breeze
and it gifts you with breath-taking sunsets in the evenings.
The little joys of life.

The other side of her patio.
When my whole family visited in 2004, we used to love breakfasting there.
But in winter-time, I am glad for central heating!
Brrr!

Taking advantage of the one sunny day we had in one whole week,
to sunbath on the patio.

The back view of my aunt's place. These are the first steps that lead down to the riverside.
Its a really interesting climb/ walk from the top to the bottom,
then from the bottom back up to the top.
It gives you a workout and you get to see so many wild turkeys/ other wildlife around you.
Seriously, those turkeys are like chickens.
They wake you up in the morning.
-_-

Arrows to guide you along the path!
This shot was taken from the Patio.
See how amazing a view it gives you?
You can see if there are any thieves coming to get you!

A wider view.
Its a pity that its was winter when I was there,
because all the flowers weren't in bloom.
In spring and summer, instead of only green,
you see a rainbow of colors!



The Bird of Paradise.
Along with the bougainvilleas, these were the other flowers in bloom.
I think due to the fact that both are tropical flowers,
they don't follow the 4 season routine!



I have no idea what these tree is called-
I just like patterns along its trunk!



Majestic Gum Trees dotting the sidelines of my aunt's home.
These giants are actually a pest, according to my aunt,
because when they start to die/ rot,
they die from the inside.
So you don't know which are the danger spots...
even worse, you can't tell when they are going to fall...
So my aunt had tree-lobbers come and chop them down.
Luckily, I managed to snap this picture before they got to them!



Cobwebs dotting the sky.
The beginnings of a beautiful sunset.



Lovely Mama says 'Till next time!'