The trip there was definitely worth it and so convenient! Its at Fortitude Valley so it's really near the city which is near where i'm staying. And there was this Valley Market as i was walking to Chinatown and they sell the most quirky and intricate things for a really good price. Would probably go back there on the weekends when i have nothing better to do.

Oh, i should probably update on my adventures there. Well, it was not much actually. The whole Chinatown was mostly filled with asian restaurants which sells asian food for a surprisingly reasonable price. Not sure about the portion and taste though. I shall go and try one of them someday.

I was mainly excited by the 2 supermarkets i went to. So many asian stuff to get from there! The first one i stepped into got me really excited for i was seeing familiar food stuff after 2 weeks here. So before i went on my shopping spree, i decided to check out the other supermarket. And they sold familiar stuff at an even cheaper price! So there i went on my shopping spree. Bought a whole load of stuff such as sesame oil, oyster sauce, dark and light soy sauce, xiao bai cai! dried mushrooms! hello panda! and Yeo's wintermelon drink! I also bought pandan man tou and yam paste pau. Not exactly necessary food items. It was probably an impulse buy from my high of seeing so many familiar foods.

Okay. I know i sound a little crazy for sounding so excited at being able to get these sort of everyday stuff but you would be amazed at the amount of stuff they DO NOT sell at the local supermarts.

So back i went, happy at the thought that i would be finally able to eat some authentic chinese food, lugging all the heavy, heavy bottles of sauces and oil that i bought. Happily started cooking the rice and it was disastrous! For one, i did not have a rice cooker. Secondly, i had no experience of cooking rice on a stove top. I ended up with soggy and sticky rice. Don't be quick to judge me because nobody ever succeeds at their first attempt at cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen without the necessary equipment.

But for the record, i want to say that i did manage to enjoy the meal. With my stir fried bak choy and stir fried mushrooms with chicken in dark sauce. I will get better with practice!

Now, if only the fish they sold in the supermarts were not that expensive...

-Sensitive Doer-

Thursday, July 24, 2008

-Oh. My Gawd!-

Seriously? Get over it already. It has been far too long for you to still continue moping over. Rejoice in the new world you are in now. Enjoy yourself and prove it that you are totally moving on. What's the point in dragging your feet over this and in the process dragging yourself down? So? Move on already!

Damn! It is still freaking cold here. Remember what i said about me getting somewhat used to the cold here? Well i changed my mind. I am so not getting used to it. I am practically freezing to death and I am not getting a good night's sleep at all. And today is such a gloomy day. It has been raining since the wee hours of the morning and it hasn't stopped till now. Makes me feel like skippig school all together just because of the wet weather and the cold.

And why does it rain in winter? Like its not cold enough already?

Oh wells. Cold weather makes me a very grumpy girl. And i am not eating properly. So that just adds to the grumpiness.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

-Sense of Accomplishment-

Travelled by myself all the way to IKEA last Saturday after searching online for the directions on how to get there. Got myself a bedside table and bookshelf and it got sent to the house yesterday. Managed to finish putting both of them together this morning. I am a handyman! Or rather, handywoman. I don't need a guy by my side. Now my room is so much neater.

It is still really cold here. Temperature now is 15.2 degrees! I am going to die of hypothermia or something. Even when i'm awake, i will keep thinking where is the remote control for the air con so i can turn it up. But then i would realise that there isn't one! Its the freaking weather and i am stuck in the cold. =(

Sook Hui is not a happy girl in cold weather.

And the thing which makes it worse is that my classes are all in the night. And that is when the temperature is the lowest. So after class, i am practically running back to the station to catch the bus back home. And my lips are starting to crack. So much for my daily mantra of putting on lip balm.

I had rice today! And fish! For the first time in a very long while. The rice tasted really sweet. And i mean literally. It was as though they dowsed it in syrup or something. But it is better than having pasta or salad or sandwich everyday. I am seriously missing singapore food already. Roti Prata! Fish Soup! You Mian! Duck Rice! Old Chang Kee! And strangely, MOS burger and McDonald's breakfast. All the glorious food. Sigh.

Although school has started, i still seem to be on holiday mode. It has not sunk in for me that i am studying in a different country and will have to stay here for one and a half years. I am not homesick at all, except maybe for the food part. I think its due to the advance in technology. With MSN and webchat so easily available, i don't feel like i have left home at all. It's kind of like staying in a hostel in a Singapore university.

Shall travel to Chinatown this weekend to try and get some chinese food to cook. Its weird travelling alone but at the same time exciting because i get to experience different things. So we shall see what stories i come back with from Chinatown.

Friday, July 18, 2008

-Freezing to Death-

I know i promised to upload the pictures but uploading them to blogger is taking far too long. Coupled with the terrible internet connection here, it really puts me off. So decided not to upload them till i can get a faster internet speed.

Thus, I shall try and describe to the best of my ability what is happening to me here in Brisbane.

First of all, although the weather is getting warmer by the day, and i am getting somewhat used to the cold here, i am still getting frozen to death when i sleep at night. The miserably small heater which i bought is useful but it does not switch itself off so i woke up in the middle of the night yesterday thinking i smelt something burning. I had no choice but to switch it off, which caused me to shiver in bed. I am so miserable in cold weather!

Today was the last of orientation week. The whole week was just a repetition of me waking up, walking to the bus stop near my house, getting to King George Square station, walking past Queen Street Mall, walking past four streets before getting to my school and walking even more to reach the business block. I tell you! I'm not going to gain weight, even though i eat much more now, because of all the walking i have to do. And after the series of boring talks, its more walking to get to Woolworths to get my grocery, then back to King George Square to catch the bus back home.

Yup. As you can tell, my life here is really boring. I can't wait for school to start because hopefully, by then, i would be able make more friends and hang out after school so that i would not have such a non-existent life.

School is only for 3hours each day, 4 days a week. But they are all late afternoon tutorials and night lectures. Which makes it very scary for me to walk home because the street leading to my house is real dark. And my attempts to look for a personal alarm [is that what its called?] is to no avail.

And through all the talks, i realise that the studying system here is quite the same as in poly. The only difference is that their lectures are 2hours while their tutorials are only an hour each. Hopefully i would be able to cope with everything and score well here.

Since its winter, it gets dark real early. At 6pm, the sky here is already as dark as 8pm in Singapore. And this actually affects my body clock. I actually feel sleepy by 10pm when i usually stay awake till 2am in Singapore. Sigh, the changes you have to adapt to.

This is a really long post with no pictures which means it is a real boring post. But i needed to write down my experiences here so that i would not forget it.

P/S: Thanks FMC for the jacket! It helped me keep warm while i was here. Practically kept me from freezing to death. Love you guys loads! :)

Monday, July 14, 2008

-I'm in Brisbane!-

Finally settled down after one week. The mum and cousin is gone and tonight will be the 1st night that i am going to spend alone here. Don't know what to feel. But with the advance in technology and the web cam that i have now i should not be missig them so much. So lets hope that i will get used to the kind of life here.

Am suppose to update with pictures but i'm kinda lazy to pick and choose from the whole load of photo that i have so i guess the brisbane entry will be split into multiple entries. I have not had my dinner! And i am so missing Singapore food now. Or just chinese food in general. The chinese food here is damn expensive. And after just the first two days of eating their food here i'm already sick of it. Its either fast food, fried food, wraps, kebabs or horrible stuff passing off as asian food.

I shall live on a daily diet of yoghurt so i will slim down even more while i'm here. Things are real pricey here so its might as well that i eat less and save more. LOL.

Ok let the pictures do the talking.

Babe! I'm missing you!

Yah. We were so amused by the HUGE flower behind us.

Daddy! I'm missing you too!

Daddy, I and the sister. With a little extra.

With all my little kids.

Okay. The uploading of the photos are taking too long and it makes my laptop a little laggy. SO pictures shall stop here for today. Yes i know, some of them are not turned. I cant figure out how to turn them so you guys just tilt your head. Till the next post then.

Which will be tomorrow since i am always back before nightfall. Which is freaking 6pm aussie time. Equivalent to S'pore 4pm!!!