tardato update...

dearest all (maybe only to my only reader ms pang), a big apology for not updating for a very very long time. it is not an excuse. it seemed i have not updated since the start of my holidays.

holidays. this holiday was not very adventurous for me at all, probably due to it being such a short one and time has really just flown by. my holidays were spent mainly shopping in brisbane and harbourtown in gold coast with my neighbour, elaine. managed to buy 2 country road polo t-shirts for only thirty dollars. i also went up to eumundi to its famous market. eunumdi is a small little town and the wednesdays and saturdays-only market has hundred of stalls. thousands of ppl throng there weekly. i like it. mornings are spent trying the various different breakfast cafes in brisbane and there's only three places which i deemed worth going. they are alberto's shot espresso bar in west end, cirque in new farm and italian la famiglia cafe at sanders street (will definitely bring you there, if you come). my weekends were fully occupied with work at don's place and i am glad that i worked as i have sufficient cash to buy a return ticket back to singapore, not that i want to go back.

weather. first time experiencing winter. hmmm it was not as cold as i had expected. had a week in both july and early august where temperatures were at a low of three to five degrees at night. that was probably the coldest it got to. other places in queensland were freezing cold where snow was reported. down south in canberra and melbourne, temperatures were at max ten degrees or lower. i am glad that i am in queensland where theres sunshine (hence the sunshine state) becoz at least if you are under the sun, you will not feel that cold when theres wind. think i have acclimatise to the cool temperatures. when temperatures suddenly rise to around twenty-three degrees on some days, i will feel warm. wonder whats going to happen when i return to singapore. well, winter is ending and very much looking forward to spring when first of september arrives as it means i can go out and exercise again. just hope that there are no signs of laziness.

ekka. went to my first ekka with izaeel, her dad and her sister, cynthia. it was a week-long carnival where there is a public holiday so that queenslanders can bring their family to enjoy. it has various activities and entertainments, ranging from crazy amusement rides to animal shows (horse riding competition, cow milking show, sheep dog competititons) to different variety of fresh produce and meat talks. the most important thing are the showbags which people here are crazy about.

went horse-riding with izaeel's dad and cynthia in mount tamborine. always wanted to do this and i must say it was quite fun. it was a guided tour around the state forest. after which we went up to the town area of the mountain where we had delicious pies for lunch. a very relaxing getaway from the hustling and bustling city life for the weekend.

uni. second semester began about a month ago. doing financial accounting, financial management, microeconomics and management information system. so far so good, have been a very obedient boy doing consistent work. however, i totally hate information system. still got to scrap through it and hope i will do exceptionally well for the other three subjects to make up for my predicted low grades in information system. o yes, quite pleased with my first semester grades, considering the fact i did not manage to complete my paper. i need to start practising to complete questions in exam time mode so that i can try to get into the dean's list. work hard boy...

olympics. i have been watching a lot of the olympics since theres stephanie rice and natalie coughlin in the pool. phew... however, the best moment of this olympic will not be michael phelps achieving eight gold medals or usain bolt's world record breaking run, but german weightlifter matthias steiner's gold medal win for his beloved wife who died in a car crash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4JnDn7bls

another moving moment of the olympic spirit: derek redmond's fallen-and-injured-but-determined-to-finish run in barcelona:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zi0_LjHHN4&feature=related