GAHHH it is SO HOT. The heat is so uncomfortable that I’m having trouble focusing on finishing my essay. Which is BAD. And it’s so hard to sleep too! I feel like I’m in a slow-cooker, simmering… simmering… it just won’t seem to let up!
How will I ever survive when I get back to Brunei??!
The leaving of a dear friend and sister from Melbourne on Saturday really felt like a turning point in my own life here in Melbourne.
You have no idea how big a part of my life you’ve been, Andrea! I left for the music practice rooms after you and Tim and Yon left for the airport, so I was able to lose myself in the piano for awhile. But the moment I left the rooms, and passed by Uropa, the thought that, “Melbourne feels so different now” hit me like a bolt. You’re gone – and the Melbourne that I’ve come to love and treasure as my second home is no longer the same Melbourne that I know while you were still in it.
I think it’s so true – it’s not actually the place in itself that you will miss – it’s the relationships, the friends, the people, the experiences, the journey that you share together in that place that you will miss the most. And your leaving reminds me that my time here in Melbourne is not going to last forever as well.
Over the years, I’ve seen so many come and go, but none has made such an impact as yours did. But our journey won’t stop just because you left! It still goes on, in spite of the distance between us 
(Thank God for the invention of technology! – in spite of certain inane applications that we can certainly do without! ;p)
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I can’t wait to see you in Singapore again soon.
My exams are over!
Melbourne is the swine flu capital of the world! Okay, that’s not something to be worth getting excited over. But with the laidback atmosphere and easygoing attitudes of people roaming the streets, you’d never think that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’m still healthy. I think.
Some backdated pictures from like… April.
The Jason Mraz concert that I went for with Andrea and Yon How.
As I mentioned, it was a fabulous concert (apart from the horrible rendition of ‘Lucky’ by that cannot-make-it supporting act).
I’m still really glad that we caught the better concert of the two nights! 
One year (:
As you can see, this is a late update from May. We went to The Point at Albert Park Lake. (We got a bit lost initially searching for the place, and spent almost half an hour walking around the Aquatics Centre, trying to figure out our bearings, but that’s another story.) I think The Point specializes in mainly steak; but we both agreed that nothing beats the Wagyu steak we had last year at Rockpool. Prices are fairly standard. Wine is expectedly expensive. The restaurant itself is actually divided into a cafe (downstairs) and fine-dining (upstairs). The setting was quite intimate, dimmed lights and all. Service was quite good, waiters were really helpful.
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I found out about the Light in Winter that is held at Federation Square, and so that was where Yon How and I went on Saturday night.
Volume was the highlight of this event. It’s been running for three years now, and is brought to Melbourne the the United Visual Artists who are based in London or something. It’s basically a setup of these light pillars that each have their own unique music, and the pillars respond to movement! Here’s the snippet taken from the Fed Square website:
Known for their work with U2, Massive Attack, The Arctic Monkeys and Kylie Minogue, UK-based United Visual Artists will launch their latest installation, ‘VOLUME’ on 4 June. With a soundtrack arranged by Neil Davidge and Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, this incredible fusion of light and sound will see a forest of luminous LED columns light up Fed Square during the winter months. The columns respond spectacularly to human movement and visitors are encouraged to walk, crawl, jump and dance their way through this interactive installation.
How cool is that!
The queue wasn’t too long, and I think visitors can stay as long as they want with the lights. Best of all, it’s free. 
With the exhibition set up against the backdrop of St. Paul’s Cathedral, it looks quite beautiful. When we went in, there was a little boy with his mother, and it was really cute and amusing to watch him run around the columns and the lights respond as he moves past them.
It’s worth checking out. It was quite a fun experience, walking, running past the columns and watching it light up and music emitting from them as they respond to movements. I think they must have built-in sensors or something.
When we were satisfied with our light experience, we walked around the rest of the Square to see what else was going on. The other exhibitions weren’t that spectacular, except for this bonfire in the middle:
It’s Aboriginal-related. I didn’t really read the information to find out what it’s about.
And this caught our attention too:
It’s almost inconspicuous – I mean, you wouldn’t think that this ubiquitous bin was actually the exhibition itself, except that it was glowing blue.
Upon closer inspection:
Silhouettes!
As I mentioned, the only highlight is the Volume showcase. The rest of the exhibitions that were supposedly works related to the theme of light were rather average I thought.
And we ended the night with a ride on the Giant Sky Wheel.
And so are exams.
Had my first written paper today, as well as a 5-min test on jazz scales and chords test later in the afternoon; it went by surprisingly fast – the 5-min test, but the written paper wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, considering the amount of preparation I did for it. Only thing left now is to start studying for my 50% Chinese Politics and Society paper that’s in ten days’ time.
KAREN FOONG, I AM JUSTIFIED IN WANTING A DSi!!
Satoru Iwata stated the goal of this handheld is to aid in the transition from “one DS per household” to “one DS per person”.
SEEEEE!!!
Most people are often surprised when they find out that I play console games. Well, granted, I don’t really play that much anymore; I played a lot more before, haven’t been doing so much in recent years, partly because when I get into a game, I really get into it and waste hours trying to complete it, so I try not to dive into that temptation anymore. I’m not really a PC gamer – I’m more into RPGs and fun little adventure or time-wasting games (under which I categorize Puzzle Bobble and the likes). In fact, I spent a fair amount of my years growing up in front of the PlayStation, trying to complete all these RPGs (occasionally using the Gameshark when I felt frustrated!), half of the time watching my brother playing and “spurring” (more often squealing) him on. There were also those moments where I tried to steal opportunities at the Gameboy whenever I could (from my siblings who wanted to hog it all the time too). It was probably prudent of my parents not to have bought Gameboys for each of us (they were already quite stern as it is – sharing one among the four of us was horrible for awhile, until my dad bought my youngest brother the then-latest Gameboy Colour, but even so, everyone abandoned the first-gen Gameboy which now looked outdated by comparison to the smaller, more modern-looking GB Colour that made us all constantly wanted to hog the new toy, much to the irritation of the youngest brother).
Even in the years before I hit my teens, I remember visiting my aunt’s house, where she had a super old-school SNES, and I remember playing equally-old school games with my brother. (Gosh, just thinking of those classic games is making me wish I could play them again…) The only PC-game I really got into was probably The Sims (the Sims 3 is coming out soon, I am actually THIS tempted to wanting to get it… somebody stop me from going back to that uncontrollable game-playing cycle!)
I’m not really that updated anymore with whatever new games are out, or what’s the hottest RPG now. (Well okay, the fact that I know about the DSi and even the upcoming release of Sims 3 is just an anomaly.) Those days are gone (really!). But occasionally, I feel the tease and lure of them ol’ days calling me back…
*follows in an ignorant blissful state of mind*
I shall wait until prices for DSi drop. Maybe end of this year or something.
On the other hand, I think I might not go back to Brunei after all… I’ve been swaying back and forth between whether I should go back or not, and my sister constantly SMS-ing me asking if I was going back kept reminding me. But then today I saw the Singapore MoH notice advising people not to travel to Melbourne if possible, and I think that should probably apply the other way. Considering that Melbourne is a swine flu hotspot, Singapore probably won’t want to welcome me, and what’s more, Brunei will probably quarantine me too. I don’t want to be that “GIRL BRINGS SWINE FLU TO BRUNEI” in the headlines. So thank me for saving you guys from such a situation.
Sorry 
… (Karen, I’ll call home again to confirm la…)
I’m healthy, thankyouverymuch.
Miss you all very much… Sigh. Say hi to the dog and cat for me. And the cars that I miss driving. The good food that I’m craving for. And enjoy all the gadgets and presents that Charles brought back to you all from Manchester (without me, yes). Gah. =/
One more exammmmmm.
Ohh. The worst is finally over, but I still have tons of work to catch up on before it catches up on me and drowns me.
Watched Jason Mraz on Monday night at Palais Theatre in St. Kilda! Awesome!! I’ve got a few pictures, but I’m too lazy to upload.
I was informed by Sam just now that we had the better deal (yay!) since apparently his second performance the following night at West Melbourne Theatre was quite a random one and not as ‘fulfilling’. Haha. But we both agreed on one thing: the girl was HORRIBLE. I’m sorry to any Lisa Mitchell fans, but seriously! She was one of the two supporting acts, and I have absolutely nothing to say about her performance. Actually, wait. Two words: Incomprehensible garble. That’s all I will say. A wikipedia search when I got home Monday night revealed that she was an ex-Australian Idol contestant. Ho-hum.
Eric Hutchinson was good though – look out for him in the near future, he might become big. Very similar to Jason Mraz’s style, but his performance after Lisa was a very much welcomed relief. He had a good rapport with the audience, which was really good; a tough act to perform, considering the sad role that most supporting artists have since we’re not really there for them, you know? But he did a good job in warming up the crowd before Jason Mraz FINALLY came on.
My favourite had to be “You and I Both” (still my favourite song) – I love the acoustic intro; he performed “Lucky”, with THAT GIRL! GAHH. I’m sorry, that was probably the worst bit of the evening. Yon How and I had actually anticipated it; we had the sinking feeling that, in the event that Jason does perform “Lucky”, it’ll be with the horrible supporting artist. Our fears were not unfounded. I had to listen to the original duet between Jason and Colbie afterwards when I got home several good times to get the horrible rendition from the concert out of my head.
The audience participation was awesome – we sang along to most of his hits. Most of the songs are from his latest album – I particularly enjoyed “Live High” and “A Beautiful Mess”. And “I’m Yours”, predictably, featured last on his set list (I thought it will be last, since it’s his biggest hit, and well, you want to end with a ‘bang’). “Remedy” was really good as well, as he incorporated Oasis’ “Wonderwall” while the audience sang the chorus back to him. Jason’s a great live performer who connects with the audience very well.
Today was the last day of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival – went to watch Danny Bhoy with Yon How and his housemate and housemate’s friends (yes, I was so like a plus one). One word: AWESOME. If you EVER get a chance to watch Danny Bhoy’s stand-up act, PLEASE GO. He’s a Scottish comedian and has gone quite international since his breakout. Danny bases a lot of his act on the everyday of life, and draws from his own personal experiences. I’m definitely going again next year if he’s coming back for the Comedy Fest!
Scottish accents are cool. (So are Irish ones.) Haha.
Okay I need to sleep!
