g'day mate!

g'day mate!

on saturday, opened a bank account with commonwealth. the interest rates are quite high. thus, i am considering converting all my singapore dollars to australian dollars and do a term deposit for four months and get some extra cash of about seven hundred just in time for second semester. or maybe one of you would like to lend me the money so that i can earn the interest from the bank. come to think of it, the interest rates in singapore are pathetic, almost negligible.

dinner was at this area called rosalie. had fish and chips from 'the fish lovers'. they have a very good way of reserving tables for customers. maybe ms sandy would like to try this method for her dad's restaurant.

as you can see, what they did was to use thick paper as the 'table cloth', then write the customer's name, number of people and the reservation time. thus in this way, the customers will just have to come and search for their table. i think this is quite a good concept. however, other customers must have the integrity of not 'stealing' the table.

sunday morning went to ikea in the suburb of logan to get a study table. had a cheap two dollars breakkie which consists of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown and bacon. you do not get such breakkie for that price in singapore. after which we headed back home to prepare for a cosy barberque lunch with ranger's mates.

shall now talk about the place that i am living in. i am living in a two-room apartment in the suburb of upper mount gravatt. this is the address which you can dhl, fedex or mail to me: unit 15, 8 mascar street, upper mount gravatt, queensland 4122, australia. the place that i am residing is quite hilly thus i think it is good for me to do my runs and trainings. a short five minutes walk away is 'garden city shopping centre' where i can get everything i want. this is where i take buses to UQ or city. journey time is a fast fifteen-minute ride as the buses travel on busways. busways are roads specially constructed solely for buses. hence traffic is smooth and fast. below are photos of my journey back home:

before i forgotten, do take note of my aussie mobile @ +61421759083. till next time, ciao!

valentine's day - the day I left

woke up to the smell of valentine, feeling nervous for the first time. not because i am nervous of giving flowers to my valentine but it was due to me departing for australia that very night. for the days leading up to this long awaited day, i was all cool. but suddenly, when i woke up, i felt nervous.

this year's valentine's day will i not forget for my life. had my wish of a lunch date with this lovely lady, whom i shall not reveal her name, before i left. well, it breaks my heart to let her have a lonely lunch though. went to eat at 'the sandwich shop' at oligvy centre. not forgetting a lovely orange daisy with green ribbons for the lady. a warm melt-my-heart hug was her farewell goodbye to me as she had to rush back to office. below are the photos which she requested to be uploaded. do note that this was the first time my camera phone was being tested for its camera ability.

someone's hand itchy

smile without flash

smile with flash

her own photography skill: one

her own photography skill: two

my favourite

Packed my bags and left for terminal one. apart from my family, 04S07 classmates, ashish, hitesh and ritesh came to send me off. it was a tiring flight as i only slept for two hours. ranger picked me up and off we went back home. walked with izaeel to the bus stop to see where it is. bought a mac breakkie takeaway and went home to unpack my stuff and then take a short nap. after which i took a bus to UQ to obtain my student card and walked around the campus. the campus is humongous but beautiful. will upload photos of my campus next week. had authentic vietnamese dinner at market's place in a suburb called sunnybank. market's place consists of a group of asian eateries and grocery shops. updates to be continued...

the day i became a 'brother'

sunday the twenty-seventh of january was the chinese customary wedding for my cousin and brother, Ranger, and his wife Izaeel. they had registered their marriage on second of june last year so now is to complete the whole traditional wedding. this is the first time that a cousin of mine is getting married and so it was quite a big preparation from all in the family. i was asked to become one of the 'band of brothers' to pick up the bride at her house. the chinese tradition of picking up the bride is to have to go through a series of 'obstacles' that the 'band of sisters' have in store for us.

Band Of Brothers' Power!

Dancing Kings!

Did the Ladies got such a big 'hongbao'?

after much 'bloodshed', we won the battle into the bride's room. somewhat i feel that we got off very lightly, cannot imagine what will mine be like. after which, we proceeded back to the groom's place for the tea ceremony and boy o boy my family has a very very very long tea ceremony. beware my future wife! relatives from australia, indonesia and malaysia had come to welcome the new addition, Izaeel, into our big family. i cannot imagine when it is my turn to serve tea to the elders. i think this will turn me off to get married. but come to think of the quantity and quality of the 'hongbao' contents, i guess i will just have to make a little sacrifice.

Some photos of the brothers and sisters with the bride and groom:

dinner was at Conrad Centennial Hotel. i was given the cannot-screw-up-task of mr 'photo+montage' and luckily all went smoothly. Food was good, wine was good, the crowd look great but sigh, i did not take a photo with one of the 'sisters'.

that's all folks. will be leaving singapore for brisbane on valentine's day. terminal 1, qf52 departing at 2115hrs.

two thousand and eight

where shall i begin with? let's just look forward to a good two zero zero eight and not what we have done last year.

this year, it will be a year of new experiences for me as i will be packing my bags and leaving on a jetplane to australia. everything's been settled except for my luggage. even though i will not miss you people, i will definitely be sharing my life there with you people on this blog.

life has been pretty good to date. presently working at global refund as an operations assistant. updating of foreign exchange rates, bank reconciliation, bank payments are just some of the work i do. kinda like the job but sad to say, i will be leaving end of this month. kinda feel attached to the company as i have made new friends or colleagues. not forgetting some of the pretty ladies in the office too. maybe when i am back for my summer breaks i shall work temporary there.

so what do i hope for this year? one - utmost important will be to do well for my first year while adapting to a new environment. it will be difficult but i must do it. two - to converse and write in italian. what a romantic language. three - keep fit. one hundred push-ups a day is a must. runs, gyms and sports should be in it too. four - enjoy my new 'life' in down under and make as many international friends as possible so that i have free accomodation when i am in their home country.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007

second december two thousand seven. the day had come. after six months of training, pounding on the streets of the island for hundreds of kilometres before the break of dawn and after the setting of the sun, this was it. starting with a short 8.4km "Mainly I Love Kids" run, to completing the rigorous 21km Army Half Marathon and then the 15km Real Run under the scorching sun, the 42.195km Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 was 'the' race.

taking it easy throughout the race was my game plan. after the eighth kilometre, it became too bored for me as my friends were chasing down the kenyans, leaving me alone behind. out came my music player with high tempo music to activate my adrenaline and give me the push that i wanted. effective it is and off i was running with a faster pace. the encouragement from strangers along the race route also gave me the extra strength. thoughts of reaching the finish point with people cheering me of this feat made me emotional but it spurred me to run faster. an achievement for already running continuously for about twenty-six kilometres, energy was zapping away from me. there was no turning back, the only sight was city hall - the finish point. ankle was giving way too. i struggled, running and walking and thinking of my own words "the road is long but the heart is strong. i must not give up" to finish it.

i thought i was in front of a 5h 30min pacer when he past me. my mind was shattered as my goal was to complete before that. i tried to catch up with him but my legs just could not move as fast. i walked. then another 5h 30min pacer from behind asked me to run with him. i asked him why he was behind when i saw his pacer mate in front. he replied that the runners between them will complete around that time. upon hearing that, my strength returned and off i was running continuosly. running past the first pacer and other runners one after another injected more mental strength in me. soon, i reached the esplanade and after which the crowd was there to cheer me on. once i past the bend at the singapore cricket club, i sprinted to the end with a time of 5h 15min 56sec.
all the trainings have paid off. at times, i will ask myself why am i exerting myself. back then, my answer is i do not know. after this 5h 15min 56sec, i know. however, i am unable to explain in words. i jus know it inside me. i believe only a finisher of 42.195km will know how it feels. shiok.