Thursday 20 November 2008
One rainy day
Maybe it's 007. Maybe it's the rain. It may even be because it's Thursday, or because it's just me. I think it's just me. Because, quite frankly, I cannot believe that out of the fifteen people I asked, no-one wanted to, or could, go and see Bond. And now I'm really put out and bored. And annoyed. I have no idea why I'm so annoyed. Probably because I'm in shock at my own sheer unluckiness/me-ness.
Monday 10 November 2008
Post-exams number 5, 798, 012
Yes. Post-exams again. Coincidence? Or something more.
Anyway, all this free time has allowed me to think of random things. I was thinking the other day. There are all these inventions - some trivial, some not so trivial - that are pretty awesome, that people don't know the inventor of. Take, for example, the sticky ads on the side of buses (three guesses where I was when I saw this invention). From the outside, they're an almost perfect image of whatever they happen to be spruiking. On the inside, not only do they allow you to see outside, they also act as a massive pair of sunglasses. The only resemblence being the light-filterage that it provides.
The pencil in itself is a great invention. Even greater, however, is the pencil sharpener. Presumably, people would have had to use a knife to sharpen their pencils. This would have been fine, albeit a little cumbersome. Therefore, it takes no small amount of resourcefullness, initiative and creativity to stick a blade on a solid piece of something and poke a pencil sized hole in for pencil sharpening purposes. Since the creation of the pencil sharpener, knife sales have irreversibly spiralled downwards, limited only to kitchens and ghettos, while sharpener sales have soared. A further inovation, the two-holed sharpener, widened the gap between the redundant knife and the chic new sharpening implement.
A not-so-great, but world-changing, anonymous invention, is the examination. Evidently, somebody, presumably a teacher, somewhere along the line in history, decided that there had to a be a morale-sapping, anxiety-inducing, insomnia-causing method to seperate the best from the rest. Clearly a very sadistic, disturbed person. Now, you can see its effects everywhere. From is traditional acedemic sanctuary, to driving, music, entry into an obscure clique. Everywhere. Anywhere. Thanks Mr. Exam.
Whoopie cushions. Someone clearly thought that people sitting down and making farting noises was funny. It is not.
Swimming pools. Although not a great leap of creativity ('hey, instead of us going to the water, why don't we bring the water to us'), it nevertheless took brains to turn it into a business venture. And we still have to go to the water.
Anyway, there'll be more posts like this in the coming weeks and months, due to excessive boredom. If it floats your boat, stick around.
Word of the Day: Inventions
Anyway, all this free time has allowed me to think of random things. I was thinking the other day. There are all these inventions - some trivial, some not so trivial - that are pretty awesome, that people don't know the inventor of. Take, for example, the sticky ads on the side of buses (three guesses where I was when I saw this invention). From the outside, they're an almost perfect image of whatever they happen to be spruiking. On the inside, not only do they allow you to see outside, they also act as a massive pair of sunglasses. The only resemblence being the light-filterage that it provides.
The pencil in itself is a great invention. Even greater, however, is the pencil sharpener. Presumably, people would have had to use a knife to sharpen their pencils. This would have been fine, albeit a little cumbersome. Therefore, it takes no small amount of resourcefullness, initiative and creativity to stick a blade on a solid piece of something and poke a pencil sized hole in for pencil sharpening purposes. Since the creation of the pencil sharpener, knife sales have irreversibly spiralled downwards, limited only to kitchens and ghettos, while sharpener sales have soared. A further inovation, the two-holed sharpener, widened the gap between the redundant knife and the chic new sharpening implement.
A not-so-great, but world-changing, anonymous invention, is the examination. Evidently, somebody, presumably a teacher, somewhere along the line in history, decided that there had to a be a morale-sapping, anxiety-inducing, insomnia-causing method to seperate the best from the rest. Clearly a very sadistic, disturbed person. Now, you can see its effects everywhere. From is traditional acedemic sanctuary, to driving, music, entry into an obscure clique. Everywhere. Anywhere. Thanks Mr. Exam.
Whoopie cushions. Someone clearly thought that people sitting down and making farting noises was funny. It is not.
Swimming pools. Although not a great leap of creativity ('hey, instead of us going to the water, why don't we bring the water to us'), it nevertheless took brains to turn it into a business venture. And we still have to go to the water.
Anyway, there'll be more posts like this in the coming weeks and months, due to excessive boredom. If it floats your boat, stick around.
Word of the Day: Inventions
Monday 29 September 2008
My wild, delinquent ways
Woo, mid-sem break, and I've been a party boy in recent weeks. I've been to...would you believe it... two parties in the last two weeks! I should really cut back on my party-going. At least that's what my parents say. I think that this mandate has an element of self-interest, in that they wouldn't care if I didn't get them to pick me up at night. More on driving later.
So first up, on the Saturday night before mid-sem break, it was Orrin's 18th! About time too. I thought I was young. It was held at this Korean bbq/karaoke place called 'Four Seasons' in Glen Waverley, which charged ridiculous prices. Anyway, it was kind of me-and-Meng time more than Orrin time, as he was was too busy 'entertaining' his friends. Incidentally, me and Meng got him a soccer ball, which he seemed fairly pleased about. At the place, we met a bunch of new people, who were quite nice, albeit a bit odd. Oh, and Orrin's girlfriend. No comment.
A good night though. Karaoke was...meh. It's not really singing when you have to shout over twelve-odd people. How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
Next up was JC's 19th birthday dinner on last Saturday at the mysterious-sounding 'The Booth'. 19th isn't highlighted because it's really a nowhere birthday. Anyway, this gig had a sense of deja vu about it.
Eugene and I got JC a pen and pacer set. Much more practical than 'The Biggest Loser' book with James Cheng photos pasted all over it.
I skipped on K because I was going to work with my Dad the next day. And work I did. I was completely knackered by the end. My thighs still hurt.
About that driving. I have completed my seventh lesson, and, according to driving instructor, should be on a road near you come Christmas. Bet you're all looking forward to that. And that way, I won't get any complaints even if I go to a party before breakfast, and one after dinner, each and every day.
Word of the day: Party Animal
So first up, on the Saturday night before mid-sem break, it was Orrin's 18th! About time too. I thought I was young. It was held at this Korean bbq/karaoke place called 'Four Seasons' in Glen Waverley, which charged ridiculous prices. Anyway, it was kind of me-and-Meng time more than Orrin time, as he was was too busy 'entertaining' his friends. Incidentally, me and Meng got him a soccer ball, which he seemed fairly pleased about. At the place, we met a bunch of new people, who were quite nice, albeit a bit odd. Oh, and Orrin's girlfriend. No comment.
A good night though. Karaoke was...meh. It's not really singing when you have to shout over twelve-odd people. How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
Next up was JC's 19th birthday dinner on last Saturday at the mysterious-sounding 'The Booth'. 19th isn't highlighted because it's really a nowhere birthday. Anyway, this gig had a sense of deja vu about it.
- It was in a Chinese/Cantonese enclave. Instead of GW, it was in Box Hill.
- Karaoke again, except this time I skipped it, owing to the physically demanding work I had the following day.
Eugene and I got JC a pen and pacer set. Much more practical than 'The Biggest Loser' book with James Cheng photos pasted all over it.
I skipped on K because I was going to work with my Dad the next day. And work I did. I was completely knackered by the end. My thighs still hurt.
About that driving. I have completed my seventh lesson, and, according to driving instructor, should be on a road near you come Christmas. Bet you're all looking forward to that. And that way, I won't get any complaints even if I go to a party before breakfast, and one after dinner, each and every day.
Word of the day: Party Animal
Sunday 14 September 2008
Changeling
What's better than a midnight snack? A midnight post, of course. Duh.
Yesterday was a strange day. Well, not really. Just very...I dunno. I'm bad at English, and I have limited vocabulary, so leave me alone.
Anyway, last night we had dinner at a friend's house to celebrate Moon Cake Day, for want of better words. Incidentally, we also caught up with some old friends at said person's house. It was fun, because we kept bombarding balloons at Whitney, who offered no resistence at all, and I absolutely dominated some self-professed table tennis professionals with my disproportionately quick reflexes.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Some people change a lot in a very short time, some people change a lot in a long time, and some people are like a rock. They never change. Take Jono, for instance. He'll always be a pyromaniac. And Zorba will always be...idiosynchratic. But...I dunno. Everyone had changed since last I saw them. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I think I should've gone to Nigel's barbecue instead. Shame he called me when the snags were already getting cold. Anyway, continuing on, I've observed change in many people apart from those already mentioned. In some ways, it's good. I mean, you don't want a person to stay the way they are forever. That'd just be bad, not to mention boring. But some just change too much, so much so that you don't know how you could have liked (or hated, I'm not always pessimistic) that person in the first place.
Strange creatures, humans.
Word of the day: change
Yesterday was a strange day. Well, not really. Just very...I dunno. I'm bad at English, and I have limited vocabulary, so leave me alone.
Anyway, last night we had dinner at a friend's house to celebrate Moon Cake Day, for want of better words. Incidentally, we also caught up with some old friends at said person's house. It was fun, because we kept bombarding balloons at Whitney, who offered no resistence at all, and I absolutely dominated some self-professed table tennis professionals with my disproportionately quick reflexes.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Some people change a lot in a very short time, some people change a lot in a long time, and some people are like a rock. They never change. Take Jono, for instance. He'll always be a pyromaniac. And Zorba will always be...idiosynchratic. But...I dunno. Everyone had changed since last I saw them. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but I think I should've gone to Nigel's barbecue instead. Shame he called me when the snags were already getting cold. Anyway, continuing on, I've observed change in many people apart from those already mentioned. In some ways, it's good. I mean, you don't want a person to stay the way they are forever. That'd just be bad, not to mention boring. But some just change too much, so much so that you don't know how you could have liked (or hated, I'm not always pessimistic) that person in the first place.
Strange creatures, humans.
Word of the day: change
Friday 12 September 2008
Joy
What an explosive three weeks it has been. Huge. Absolutely epic. Let me take you back to the start of this horror three week period.
I had a three thousand word essay due, a macro mid-sem test, and an International Studies presentation to set up, and prepare for my clarinet exam. All in the one week. So basically, I stayed up until 1 o'clock every night from Sunday through to Tuesday night piecing together what should have been a very straightforward essay for biz law. The reason why it was unneccesarily complicated was because my partner was supposed to have written half. It turns out that not only did she not contribute any opinions, she also was unable to do her half because she had a mid-sem test, which the rest of us do not have. And the strange thing is, I still cannot figure out what she's busy doing, since Victor has informed me that she doesn't do her Accounting homework either. The macro mid-sem went surprisingly well, given that I hardly did any study. I ended up getting 28/40, which I thought was alright, because it makes up 20%, so it's really 14/20. That sounds much better. International studies presentation preparation was just that, except lacking the preparation. I thought I was bad, because I'd only done the speech and not the powerpoint slides like we had agreed on. End result was I was ahead of the whole group because I had done my speech, and they hadn't done anything. Not surprisingly, I completely screwed up my clarinet exam on Saturday, seeing as I hadn't practiced for pretty much the whole week, and owing to the fact that I'm a dud.
Week 2 was a blast. Tuesday was my International Studies presentation. I think I might have dragged the whole team down, because I take my speeches too casually. However, I think I may have dominated the individual mark, because I answered about 95% of the questions directed at us with my trademark witty/cutting/sarcastic/not funny humour, mixed in with some real information and puffery. And one of my group members, Steph, informed me that someone gave me a 10 out of 10 for individual effort, so I hope that's the average mark they all give me. Which brings me to one of the good points of group assignments: making new friends, like aforementioned group member. In that same tute, I also got my last essay back with an A written on the back. Naturally, I was stoked. Until I read the name up the top of the marking sheet. It said Joanna. I almost died of disappointment, because I knew my name wasn't Joanna. I informed my tutor, who told me that I got 'approximately' the same mark as Joanna. Whoever she is. Later, she emailed me (the tutor, that is) and told me I got B++. Which is not the same as A, whatever she might say. B++, in case you're wondering, because I have no idea why they use A's and B's, is 75 - 79.
After those two action-packed weeks, I thought I was going to get some respite. But, as with most bad things in life, work never ends. I now have two assignments due next week. And to compound my misery, I found out that next week is in fact not the last week of term, and that everyone had been misleading me when they told me we had two weeks of break. The week after the essays, I have another macro test. The joys that life brings.
Word of the day: Disappoinment
I had a three thousand word essay due, a macro mid-sem test, and an International Studies presentation to set up, and prepare for my clarinet exam. All in the one week. So basically, I stayed up until 1 o'clock every night from Sunday through to Tuesday night piecing together what should have been a very straightforward essay for biz law. The reason why it was unneccesarily complicated was because my partner was supposed to have written half. It turns out that not only did she not contribute any opinions, she also was unable to do her half because she had a mid-sem test, which the rest of us do not have. And the strange thing is, I still cannot figure out what she's busy doing, since Victor has informed me that she doesn't do her Accounting homework either. The macro mid-sem went surprisingly well, given that I hardly did any study. I ended up getting 28/40, which I thought was alright, because it makes up 20%, so it's really 14/20. That sounds much better. International studies presentation preparation was just that, except lacking the preparation. I thought I was bad, because I'd only done the speech and not the powerpoint slides like we had agreed on. End result was I was ahead of the whole group because I had done my speech, and they hadn't done anything. Not surprisingly, I completely screwed up my clarinet exam on Saturday, seeing as I hadn't practiced for pretty much the whole week, and owing to the fact that I'm a dud.
Week 2 was a blast. Tuesday was my International Studies presentation. I think I might have dragged the whole team down, because I take my speeches too casually. However, I think I may have dominated the individual mark, because I answered about 95% of the questions directed at us with my trademark witty/cutting/sarcastic/not funny humour, mixed in with some real information and puffery. And one of my group members, Steph, informed me that someone gave me a 10 out of 10 for individual effort, so I hope that's the average mark they all give me. Which brings me to one of the good points of group assignments: making new friends, like aforementioned group member. In that same tute, I also got my last essay back with an A written on the back. Naturally, I was stoked. Until I read the name up the top of the marking sheet. It said Joanna. I almost died of disappointment, because I knew my name wasn't Joanna. I informed my tutor, who told me that I got 'approximately' the same mark as Joanna. Whoever she is. Later, she emailed me (the tutor, that is) and told me I got B++. Which is not the same as A, whatever she might say. B++, in case you're wondering, because I have no idea why they use A's and B's, is 75 - 79.
After those two action-packed weeks, I thought I was going to get some respite. But, as with most bad things in life, work never ends. I now have two assignments due next week. And to compound my misery, I found out that next week is in fact not the last week of term, and that everyone had been misleading me when they told me we had two weeks of break. The week after the essays, I have another macro test. The joys that life brings.
Word of the day: Disappoinment
Monday 25 August 2008
The Holidays that Never Were
It's not like I never had a holiday. Quite the opposite. It's just that I seemed to have omitted them in my posting, and now my life is out of chronological order. I'm sure you'll get over it. I'm sure I will. Eventually.
I think I forgot about them because they weren't really that eventful. It doesn't mean they were boring. Just not very exciting. Basically went out with various people doing various things. All very fun and amusing. But there was always something I felt that was missing. Element of my existence, even amongst all that happiness of catching up with old buds.
On this theme of reunions, I saw Si-Yuan at the bus stoppo today. It's weird. I go to uni with these guys, but I hardly ever see them. Maybe I just don't make the effort.
Closing Ceremony last night. I think I started falling asleep halfway through. Really, it wasn't that exciting. I was slightly awake when Leona Lewis came out, then fell asleep halfway through the song. Very good games. Not from the point of view of an Australian, but a neutral spectator.
I read in the paper today that they spent billions of dollars on the Games. Or a billion. I can't remember. Exorbitant, that's all I remember. I still maintain that could have spent at least half of that on something more tangible.
I have so much stuff to get through this week, I don't even know why I'm blogging. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. Like that TKD guy said before kicking the ref.
Word of the day: Olympics
I think I forgot about them because they weren't really that eventful. It doesn't mean they were boring. Just not very exciting. Basically went out with various people doing various things. All very fun and amusing. But there was always something I felt that was missing. Element of my existence, even amongst all that happiness of catching up with old buds.
On this theme of reunions, I saw Si-Yuan at the bus stoppo today. It's weird. I go to uni with these guys, but I hardly ever see them. Maybe I just don't make the effort.
Closing Ceremony last night. I think I started falling asleep halfway through. Really, it wasn't that exciting. I was slightly awake when Leona Lewis came out, then fell asleep halfway through the song. Very good games. Not from the point of view of an Australian, but a neutral spectator.
I read in the paper today that they spent billions of dollars on the Games. Or a billion. I can't remember. Exorbitant, that's all I remember. I still maintain that could have spent at least half of that on something more tangible.
I have so much stuff to get through this week, I don't even know why I'm blogging. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. Like that TKD guy said before kicking the ref.
Word of the day: Olympics
Tuesday 19 August 2008
Deja Vu
A new semester, but, in a sense, more or less like the one before. The more astute of you will pick up on the delay between the start of semester and this post, but in case you haven't, there it is: this post is late. Again. Which fits in nicely with this repetition theme I have going on here. Repetition theme.
Anyway, about Batman first. So yeah. I saw Batman with the Victor on...some Friday, can't remember which. I was really hyped up for it, because other people were. So anyway, we went in and came back out. To be honest, it didn't really live up to my (ridiculously high) expectations. I really expected to be fully blown out of the water. But I guess the premise already determined that Batman couldn't be better than The Godfather. It's a sequel for one. And it's constrained by the fact that it has to be about this guy, with certain characteristics and features. And then there's the fact that it's based on a comic book. Don't get me wrong, though. It was a great movie. Just not the best of all time, in my opinion. Hell, stuff the my opinion. Everything here is my opinion. Obviously not yours. Anyway, Heath Ledger was awesome, because I surmise that he's already half-gone by that stage in his life. Worth going to.
Then there was this business of the Olympic Games. I watched the Opening Ceremony at 8:08pm, on the 08/08/2008. It was amazing. The Australian team uniform was a huge letdown. Huge. So ugly. Like some cheap tracksuit 10 years out of style. And even they don't have pants that are the same colour as the jacket. Even amongst all the fanfare and hoo-hah, you can't help but wonder what all that money could've done for education and the medical system. Such is the conundrum of China.
Some highlights (or otherwise) so far:
- Phelps winning his eighth. However, I still believe that that does not make him the greatest Olympian of all time, due to the comparative ease with which multiple medals can be obtained in swimming. In swimming, if you can last the distance, all you basically have to do is change your stroke for different events. However, in something like 100 metre sprint, you can't also go for the 1500m as well. It doesn't work like that. An even more extreme example is sports like football or basketball, where there is only the possibility of getting one per Olympics. So no, he's not the greatest. It's just that other athletes are limited by practical complications.
- Usain Bolt winning 100m sprint. Even though I didn't watch it, I heard all about it and the exquisite ease with which he won gold.
- Nadal. Pure perfection and power. Awesome display in destroying Gonza. He's improved out of sight since the Australian Open.
- Lowlight was Grant Hackett. I watched the live as well.
- On the subject of lowlights, Olyroos. Enough said.
- Phelps and his iPod was another lowlight.
- Lowlight no. 4: Asafa who?
At this very moment, I'm watching Argentina vs Brazil. They have Messi. Game over. Unless Brazil put Pato on.
I love the smell of the new football season. New players, new teams, new spirit. And Arsenal have three points from their first game, with Nasri scoring the first goal of the season on four minutes. Good team, that Arsenal.
So back to this semester of uni. I thank the friends that still remain by my side, because a lot have not. You know who you are. I can't really blame them. I mean, it's me. I think it's something inherently "me" that turns people off me. I just get these looks from certain camps, and friends are hard to make. People just aren't interested in talking to me. Maybe I should improve me as a person. Or get plastic surgery. Or something of the sort. Whatever. At least I've met a few new people, who still do not seem interested in sustaining a conversation with me, bar a couple. Maybe my humour's to dry. That could be it. Maybe I should smile to take the bite off my humour. Maybe I should stop speculating about what's wrong with me, because I'll probably never find out.
Assignments coming on thick and fast now, mid-sem test soon, stressed-out people. Deja Vu. Again.
Anyway, about Batman first. So yeah. I saw Batman with the Victor on...some Friday, can't remember which. I was really hyped up for it, because other people were. So anyway, we went in and came back out. To be honest, it didn't really live up to my (ridiculously high) expectations. I really expected to be fully blown out of the water. But I guess the premise already determined that Batman couldn't be better than The Godfather. It's a sequel for one. And it's constrained by the fact that it has to be about this guy, with certain characteristics and features. And then there's the fact that it's based on a comic book. Don't get me wrong, though. It was a great movie. Just not the best of all time, in my opinion. Hell, stuff the my opinion. Everything here is my opinion. Obviously not yours. Anyway, Heath Ledger was awesome, because I surmise that he's already half-gone by that stage in his life. Worth going to.
Then there was this business of the Olympic Games. I watched the Opening Ceremony at 8:08pm, on the 08/08/2008. It was amazing. The Australian team uniform was a huge letdown. Huge. So ugly. Like some cheap tracksuit 10 years out of style. And even they don't have pants that are the same colour as the jacket. Even amongst all the fanfare and hoo-hah, you can't help but wonder what all that money could've done for education and the medical system. Such is the conundrum of China.
Some highlights (or otherwise) so far:
- Phelps winning his eighth. However, I still believe that that does not make him the greatest Olympian of all time, due to the comparative ease with which multiple medals can be obtained in swimming. In swimming, if you can last the distance, all you basically have to do is change your stroke for different events. However, in something like 100 metre sprint, you can't also go for the 1500m as well. It doesn't work like that. An even more extreme example is sports like football or basketball, where there is only the possibility of getting one per Olympics. So no, he's not the greatest. It's just that other athletes are limited by practical complications.
- Usain Bolt winning 100m sprint. Even though I didn't watch it, I heard all about it and the exquisite ease with which he won gold.
- Nadal. Pure perfection and power. Awesome display in destroying Gonza. He's improved out of sight since the Australian Open.
- Lowlight was Grant Hackett. I watched the live as well.
- On the subject of lowlights, Olyroos. Enough said.
- Phelps and his iPod was another lowlight.
- Lowlight no. 4: Asafa who?
At this very moment, I'm watching Argentina vs Brazil. They have Messi. Game over. Unless Brazil put Pato on.
I love the smell of the new football season. New players, new teams, new spirit. And Arsenal have three points from their first game, with Nasri scoring the first goal of the season on four minutes. Good team, that Arsenal.
So back to this semester of uni. I thank the friends that still remain by my side, because a lot have not. You know who you are. I can't really blame them. I mean, it's me. I think it's something inherently "me" that turns people off me. I just get these looks from certain camps, and friends are hard to make. People just aren't interested in talking to me. Maybe I should improve me as a person. Or get plastic surgery. Or something of the sort. Whatever. At least I've met a few new people, who still do not seem interested in sustaining a conversation with me, bar a couple. Maybe my humour's to dry. That could be it. Maybe I should smile to take the bite off my humour. Maybe I should stop speculating about what's wrong with me, because I'll probably never find out.
Assignments coming on thick and fast now, mid-sem test soon, stressed-out people. Deja Vu. Again.
Monday 30 June 2008
Euro 08 Final
And the winner is Spain!Not that it was entirely unexpected. It leaves me with a disappointed feeling that if I had bet on Spain, I would've won money. But I also know that if I had actually bet on them, they would've lost, so it's all the same in the end.
Enough about my luck (or lack thereof). On about the final.
It was a good final, but I was expecting a scoreline in the vicinity of 3-2 in Spain's favour. Turns out the Germans struggle to get a flowing attacking move together at all, and a moment of pace and brilliance from Torres (the boy has exquisite touch) was enough to separate the two teams with a 1-0 scoreline. Here's the goal:
I was pretty happy about Fabregas getting a run, but not happy about him getting subbed off on 60 minutes. But coaches make strange decisions that us mere mortals cannot comprehend.
Word of the day: Spain
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Post-exams...again
It's a sobering thought, but this "post-exam period" will be the first of many. In many ways, these exams actually matter more than the one's during high school, save the VCE ones.
I could leave it at that, and say that I've updated due to popular demand, but I'm a nice guy, so I'll write some more.
During this after-exam period, I have been gravitating between sitting around at home playing brainless games (The Sims Unleashed, hell yeah) and going out and spending too much money.
Just on that money business, I visited Crown Casino last Friday for a quick liaison with Lady Luck. This was my first time, as you can tell by my making it a blog post. As you (hopefully) know, Lady Luck is unbeatable at casinos, especially on pokies. I really didn't want to, but I blew a massive fifteen bucks on pokies. My original plan was to spend $50 in $10 increments on blackjack, but the lowest bid was 50. So I played pokies. Even though I knew I had no chance of winning. After blowing all of 15 bucks, the 15 dollar blackjack tables opened. I'm a dapper hand at blackjack, so I though I'd take the dealer on. I laid down 15 bucks. I think I got like a 17 or something. The dealer went bust. Then mum was like "Let's scram!" The dealer pretty much cracked up. I was gonna go another one, purely because luck was with me, but mum said just keep the luck and you'll be fine.
Euro 08. It's been pretty bad for my fantasy team so far. I doubt it'll get much better. Big names underperforming, idiot managers screwing around, and random teams winning. It hasn't been pretty. I'm supporting Spain, by the way, and have done for the whole tournament. In between raging about why the Spanish coach isn't playing Fabregas and wondering why on Earth Italy can't defend and why the hell Cronaldo and Torres don't score, I managed to watch one game. The Netherlands vs France. Although it wasn't really a game to remember (unlike Arsenal vs Liverpool, second leg of Champions League), I witnessed the perfection of Dutchness. They're a great team. It's a shame they got knocked out. I would have loved to watch Spain vs Holland for the finals.
In other football news, it turns out that the Arsenal jersey IS the one that it was rumoured to be. Now I'll have to get it. Stupid Nike. I figured out why they don't care about what they release. Because they know idiots like me will get it regardless.
I'm looking for a new job, by the way. This one's giving me the irrates. A lot of work for very little return. Give us a heads up if you've got anything to recommend. No-one seems to want to hire my services, and I understand that. It's me.
Word of the day: Hola
I could leave it at that, and say that I've updated due to popular demand, but I'm a nice guy, so I'll write some more.
During this after-exam period, I have been gravitating between sitting around at home playing brainless games (The Sims Unleashed, hell yeah) and going out and spending too much money.
Just on that money business, I visited Crown Casino last Friday for a quick liaison with Lady Luck. This was my first time, as you can tell by my making it a blog post. As you (hopefully) know, Lady Luck is unbeatable at casinos, especially on pokies. I really didn't want to, but I blew a massive fifteen bucks on pokies. My original plan was to spend $50 in $10 increments on blackjack, but the lowest bid was 50. So I played pokies. Even though I knew I had no chance of winning. After blowing all of 15 bucks, the 15 dollar blackjack tables opened. I'm a dapper hand at blackjack, so I though I'd take the dealer on. I laid down 15 bucks. I think I got like a 17 or something. The dealer went bust. Then mum was like "Let's scram!" The dealer pretty much cracked up. I was gonna go another one, purely because luck was with me, but mum said just keep the luck and you'll be fine.
Euro 08. It's been pretty bad for my fantasy team so far. I doubt it'll get much better. Big names underperforming, idiot managers screwing around, and random teams winning. It hasn't been pretty. I'm supporting Spain, by the way, and have done for the whole tournament. In between raging about why the Spanish coach isn't playing Fabregas and wondering why on Earth Italy can't defend and why the hell Cronaldo and Torres don't score, I managed to watch one game. The Netherlands vs France. Although it wasn't really a game to remember (unlike Arsenal vs Liverpool, second leg of Champions League), I witnessed the perfection of Dutchness. They're a great team. It's a shame they got knocked out. I would have loved to watch Spain vs Holland for the finals.
In other football news, it turns out that the Arsenal jersey IS the one that it was rumoured to be. Now I'll have to get it. Stupid Nike. I figured out why they don't care about what they release. Because they know idiots like me will get it regardless.
I'm looking for a new job, by the way. This one's giving me the irrates. A lot of work for very little return. Give us a heads up if you've got anything to recommend. No-one seems to want to hire my services, and I understand that. It's me.
Word of the day: Hola
Monday 26 May 2008
Champions League Final 2008
It was a dark and stormy night.
At least it was in Moscow, where the 2008 Champions League Final was to be played.
Well it wasn't that dark and stormy, but it did start raining in the middle of the match.
And what a match it was. The best player from each of the sides (Man Utd and Chelsea) scored to effectively cancel each other out. Header from Cronaldo, then a way-too-easy goal for Lampard.
In all fairness, Chelsea should have won it, even though I hate them. They were the better team. But football doesn't work that way. If you win, you win.
The reason I say Chelsea should have won was because, out of nowhere, Drogba pulls off a rocket from 20 metres out and hits the post. Then Lampard does pretty much the same thing in extra time.
Drogba got sent off for slapping Vidic. That was pretty anti-climatic. Then penalties.
There must be a better way to decide who wins a tied game. Surely. I can't think of a better way, but someone, somewhere in the world should be able to. Something that tests skill, teamwork, creativity, endurance and heart, rather than a spin of the wheel of luck.
What happened during the penalty shootout was both ironic and unfair. Cronaldo, 42 goals for the season, almost never misses a penalty, decides to unleash the tool within on the third Man Utd penalty. He tries to fake the keeper, who, after watching him jig around for about five minutes, knows he's going to go right, because he can't possibly hit it left. So he saves. And Cronaldo falls to the ground, crying. Then on the fifth Chelsea penalty, el Capitano dos Chelsea, John Terry, takes the penalty for the win. Except he slips. And the ball goes out off the right post. John Terry, who tries his heart out every game for Chelsea, misses the penalty that would have given Chelsea they're first ever Champions League trophy.
Sorry, this is a bit of a delayed post. I kind of forgot about it, then remembered about it today. I'm sure you've all been hanging out for it. Enjoy.
At least it was in Moscow, where the 2008 Champions League Final was to be played.
Well it wasn't that dark and stormy, but it did start raining in the middle of the match.
And what a match it was. The best player from each of the sides (Man Utd and Chelsea) scored to effectively cancel each other out. Header from Cronaldo, then a way-too-easy goal for Lampard.
In all fairness, Chelsea should have won it, even though I hate them. They were the better team. But football doesn't work that way. If you win, you win.
The reason I say Chelsea should have won was because, out of nowhere, Drogba pulls off a rocket from 20 metres out and hits the post. Then Lampard does pretty much the same thing in extra time.
Drogba got sent off for slapping Vidic. That was pretty anti-climatic. Then penalties.
There must be a better way to decide who wins a tied game. Surely. I can't think of a better way, but someone, somewhere in the world should be able to. Something that tests skill, teamwork, creativity, endurance and heart, rather than a spin of the wheel of luck.
What happened during the penalty shootout was both ironic and unfair. Cronaldo, 42 goals for the season, almost never misses a penalty, decides to unleash the tool within on the third Man Utd penalty. He tries to fake the keeper, who, after watching him jig around for about five minutes, knows he's going to go right, because he can't possibly hit it left. So he saves. And Cronaldo falls to the ground, crying. Then on the fifth Chelsea penalty, el Capitano dos Chelsea, John Terry, takes the penalty for the win. Except he slips. And the ball goes out off the right post. John Terry, who tries his heart out every game for Chelsea, misses the penalty that would have given Chelsea they're first ever Champions League trophy.
Sorry, this is a bit of a delayed post. I kind of forgot about it, then remembered about it today. I'm sure you've all been hanging out for it. Enjoy.
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Stuff
Yeah, stuff happens at uni. Uni's like a catalyst for random happenings. Take, for instance, the following incident.
So me and Chen were on the bus, enjoying ourselves, having a good time. Or, a good a time as you can have taking a bus to uni. So yeah, we were happy. Or at least I was. Then we got to uni, and got off the bus. What happened next was weird. This then-unknown girl got off the bus as well and asked us for our numbers. Chen and I, being the obliging fellows that we are, said yes. Upon reflection, we're too nice to people. So after grabbing our numbers, she asks us for our names. Andrew x 2. That'd be alright. Except now that she's armed with our numbers, we get a call on our phones at about 11 the next week. So I ignored it (as you do). And all was well.
Then last week, somebody with the initials JC who does law-commerce and shall remain unnamed, stole my phone and messaged her. And now all hell will break loose because of that one message. Just because of that one message, I'm forever in fear of her (name's Jing, by the way) finding me. Sleepless nights from fear of my phone going off. I hope your conscience eats at you, JC.
In other news, I've supposedly seen the new Arsenal Jersey. It's supposed to look like this:
I don't like it. I like the old one more. I don't know who the hell designs these things or if they have a brain. I hope it's fake.
So me and Chen were on the bus, enjoying ourselves, having a good time. Or, a good a time as you can have taking a bus to uni. So yeah, we were happy. Or at least I was. Then we got to uni, and got off the bus. What happened next was weird. This then-unknown girl got off the bus as well and asked us for our numbers. Chen and I, being the obliging fellows that we are, said yes. Upon reflection, we're too nice to people. So after grabbing our numbers, she asks us for our names. Andrew x 2. That'd be alright. Except now that she's armed with our numbers, we get a call on our phones at about 11 the next week. So I ignored it (as you do). And all was well.
Then last week, somebody with the initials JC who does law-commerce and shall remain unnamed, stole my phone and messaged her. And now all hell will break loose because of that one message. Just because of that one message, I'm forever in fear of her (name's Jing, by the way) finding me. Sleepless nights from fear of my phone going off. I hope your conscience eats at you, JC.
In other news, I've supposedly seen the new Arsenal Jersey. It's supposed to look like this:
I don't like it. I like the old one more. I don't know who the hell designs these things or if they have a brain. I hope it's fake.
Monday 28 April 2008
Pho-am
The title is not pho-am, contrary to what any sane person would think. As in, you'd think it was pronounced [fo - am]. But no. According to Nigel, Master of Unlame Jokes, it's pronounced FOAM. Like, I was made to think it was pho, with added amness. But apparently not.
Now, how did we get into this dumb conversation about pho-am? Banh's pho party, of course. The 18th that never was. All very exciting stuff. Location: Banh's house. Time: 7 o' clock Friday. How to find it: invisible balloons tied outside the house. And car with headlights on.
So I got there, chilled with Jono and Tim(?) for a bit, watching 30 Rock. Then Nigelz rocked up in his scarf. After everyone got there (I can't be stuffed naming all of them), we rocked the party of pho. Yeah. We all got pho. Of the chicken variety. And ate. Then spring rolls. It was good. Thanks Banh's mum for the spring rolls.
Harry Potter was up next. It seems so much funnier when you have a bunch of sick-minded freaks in the same room watching it. A good laugh.
Before I knew it, Meng was calling me on Banh's phone. Dot dot dot, you might say. Well, I say that Banh's house has no reception, except on his phone. Anyway, Meng was calling me to tell me to call my mother because she was looking for me. What do you know? Anyway, it was time for me to go. So I said some tearful farewells, and promptly left the party. I was the first one out of there, but you know what they say. You should leave a party before you're the last one there. Or something like that. Thanks Banh.
In other news, nothing much else has happened. Upset a few people, futilely looked for a new pair of jeans, etc. I must work on my social life.
Now, how did we get into this dumb conversation about pho-am? Banh's pho party, of course. The 18th that never was. All very exciting stuff. Location: Banh's house. Time: 7 o' clock Friday. How to find it: invisible balloons tied outside the house. And car with headlights on.
So I got there, chilled with Jono and Tim(?) for a bit, watching 30 Rock. Then Nigelz rocked up in his scarf. After everyone got there (I can't be stuffed naming all of them), we rocked the party of pho. Yeah. We all got pho. Of the chicken variety. And ate. Then spring rolls. It was good. Thanks Banh's mum for the spring rolls.
Harry Potter was up next. It seems so much funnier when you have a bunch of sick-minded freaks in the same room watching it. A good laugh.
Before I knew it, Meng was calling me on Banh's phone. Dot dot dot, you might say. Well, I say that Banh's house has no reception, except on his phone. Anyway, Meng was calling me to tell me to call my mother because she was looking for me. What do you know? Anyway, it was time for me to go. So I said some tearful farewells, and promptly left the party. I was the first one out of there, but you know what they say. You should leave a party before you're the last one there. Or something like that. Thanks Banh.
In other news, nothing much else has happened. Upset a few people, futilely looked for a new pair of jeans, etc. I must work on my social life.
Friday 18 April 2008
It's been a while
Hey friends. Long time no see. A lot has happened in the 3 months (I think) since I blogged. To put that in to perspective, that's a quarter of a year. It's a long time. Basically, this blog will just sum up all the stuff that's happened so that I can get on to some actual stuff of interest.
So after our interesting journey to Harbin, we came back to GZ. Then we took off to Macau. I'm not going to go in to much detail there, because it's Macau, and frankly, it wasn't that interesting. We went there for a day, we didn't gamble, we went to a swanky hotel, had Boost there (we met an Australian lady there) and ate some Fat Burgers. Later on, we went to a place were they sold pork burgers and were my dad claimed he and Michelle got food-poisoned. Photos will be up on my Flickr page.
So after coming back to GZ yet again, we left to return to Australia. There were many tearful farewells, due to the fact that Carmen, my cousin/aunty (caunty? ausin?) was coming with us to study in Oz. Pretty much everyone cried, due to various reasons. But, I'm a man, and everybody knows that men don't cry. They can't afford to.
So yeah, back in Australia, we realised how lucky we were to be living in somewhere clean, mostly thief-free and just generally nice.
So yeah, birthday party on the 1st of February, 2008. The big one-eight. Basically, not that much to say. Like, basically everybody who reads this blog attended, plus others who don't. Just some thank-yous to be expressed to the people who attended the small humble get-together and thank-you for the gifts. Sorry to those who couldn't come. I tried.
2nd of February was my real birthday. So me and my family, and family friend, went out to dinner. While there, who did I see but Mr. Stalker himself...I mean, Banh. Again. Twice in two days. It was good though. Actually seeing a friend on my birthday. Anyway, dinner was good, along with Banh wishing me happy birthday. An enjoyable day, all in all. Must visit the casino when I get the chance.
Then uni. I'm doing Arts/Commerce, by the way. At Monash, Clayton. Enrolment was terrible. Like, no friends, had to find my way around the freaking place, all that jazz. Orientation was pretty cool. Caught up with a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while. Had to go in twice due to double degree.
Then it began. The first week was a bludge. all introductory stuff. I wonder why. People (namely Meng) were all pumped about first lecture, first tute, first lunch at uni, first instance of falling on the ground at uni, first visit to the toilet. I just couldn't understand that. I mean, it doesn't have the same zing as high school. Maybe because we've already been forced through that whole acclimatisation process twice now. But then again, so has Meng. So I still don't understand.
I dunno. The moment before the first lecture was exciting, because I got lost along with Stef, so I met my first friend at uni. Then the lecture was riveting. For about the first five seconds. Then I was like: "She keeps going on about coffee and chocolate." That was microeconomics. I'm doing Accounting, Micro, International Studies, and Linguistics. There's a clash between Linguistics and Accounting lecture, so I'm supposed to be in two places at once. I was going to be like "Stuff you, accounting," but the bogan of a lecturer doesn't record lectures. I don't understand that either. Like, he says it's to stop people wagging. Why does he care? I'm understanding less and less.
So yeah, met a few new people. Not that many though. Basically because everywhere I go, I meet comrades who have been through many a battle with me. Not that I go that many places. Law Library, ftw.
Easter break was dumb. Seriously, a week. I have Mondays and Fridays off anyway.
Work's ridiculous right now. That's why I'm blogging. Remember how I had that ridiculous habit, where the amount of blogging that I do has a direct positive correlation to the amount of work I have due. I'm starting to settle into uni life, and starting to feel comfortable with new friends. I'll start blogging regularly from now on. I promise.
So after our interesting journey to Harbin, we came back to GZ. Then we took off to Macau. I'm not going to go in to much detail there, because it's Macau, and frankly, it wasn't that interesting. We went there for a day, we didn't gamble, we went to a swanky hotel, had Boost there (we met an Australian lady there) and ate some Fat Burgers. Later on, we went to a place were they sold pork burgers and were my dad claimed he and Michelle got food-poisoned. Photos will be up on my Flickr page.
So after coming back to GZ yet again, we left to return to Australia. There were many tearful farewells, due to the fact that Carmen, my cousin/aunty (caunty? ausin?) was coming with us to study in Oz. Pretty much everyone cried, due to various reasons. But, I'm a man, and everybody knows that men don't cry. They can't afford to.
So yeah, back in Australia, we realised how lucky we were to be living in somewhere clean, mostly thief-free and just generally nice.
So yeah, birthday party on the 1st of February, 2008. The big one-eight. Basically, not that much to say. Like, basically everybody who reads this blog attended, plus others who don't. Just some thank-yous to be expressed to the people who attended the small humble get-together and thank-you for the gifts. Sorry to those who couldn't come. I tried.
2nd of February was my real birthday. So me and my family, and family friend, went out to dinner. While there, who did I see but Mr. Stalker himself...I mean, Banh. Again. Twice in two days. It was good though. Actually seeing a friend on my birthday. Anyway, dinner was good, along with Banh wishing me happy birthday. An enjoyable day, all in all. Must visit the casino when I get the chance.
Then uni. I'm doing Arts/Commerce, by the way. At Monash, Clayton. Enrolment was terrible. Like, no friends, had to find my way around the freaking place, all that jazz. Orientation was pretty cool. Caught up with a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while. Had to go in twice due to double degree.
Then it began. The first week was a bludge. all introductory stuff. I wonder why. People (namely Meng) were all pumped about first lecture, first tute, first lunch at uni, first instance of falling on the ground at uni, first visit to the toilet. I just couldn't understand that. I mean, it doesn't have the same zing as high school. Maybe because we've already been forced through that whole acclimatisation process twice now. But then again, so has Meng. So I still don't understand.
I dunno. The moment before the first lecture was exciting, because I got lost along with Stef, so I met my first friend at uni. Then the lecture was riveting. For about the first five seconds. Then I was like: "She keeps going on about coffee and chocolate." That was microeconomics. I'm doing Accounting, Micro, International Studies, and Linguistics. There's a clash between Linguistics and Accounting lecture, so I'm supposed to be in two places at once. I was going to be like "Stuff you, accounting," but the bogan of a lecturer doesn't record lectures. I don't understand that either. Like, he says it's to stop people wagging. Why does he care? I'm understanding less and less.
So yeah, met a few new people. Not that many though. Basically because everywhere I go, I meet comrades who have been through many a battle with me. Not that I go that many places. Law Library, ftw.
Easter break was dumb. Seriously, a week. I have Mondays and Fridays off anyway.
Work's ridiculous right now. That's why I'm blogging. Remember how I had that ridiculous habit, where the amount of blogging that I do has a direct positive correlation to the amount of work I have due. I'm starting to settle into uni life, and starting to feel comfortable with new friends. I'll start blogging regularly from now on. I promise.
Sunday 27 January 2008
Harbin - the cold, the freezing, freezing cold
Hmm. Where to begin. A lot has happened in the past four weeks. As in, a lot. I can't even remember half of it. So I guess I better begin where I left off. I'll make it quick because I want to rave about Corey Delaney and his ill-bred antics.
So, I went to Harbin and some nearby states in China's frigid, frozen north with family and extended non-essential others for a week.
Day 1
Basically, it was alright the day we got off the plane. Had a bit of a wander around town. A very dynamic picture of the first day:
Day 2
Not so alright. We got snap-frozen. The temperature dropped to about negative 15. Like, it was cold. It's kinda hard to describe without using cliches. I felt like I was freezing from the inside. I thought it was cold then. I didn't know what was coming the next day. Anyway, on Day 2, we went to, I think it was, the biggest snow ranch in Asia. It was big, but there was nothing there. So we opted to go on a cable car up to the top of the mountain and back down on toboggans. The cable car was downright dangerous. What they did was, the cable car's coming, then they push you on to it. So I got pushed on to it, then I saw these support poles that were leaning at very dangerous angles. Plus my car was broken. Here are some photos taken from there:
This one's of my broken car:
After that debacle, we went on the toboggans. Even our native tour guide, who foolishly followed us up, complained of how cold it was on the way down. My nose was about to fall off after it. If you've ever been to Gumbuya Park, it's like those toboggans, except for the inexplicable stopping and starting. But yeah. It was cold. Like riding a bike in negative degree weather. Here's a picture I took during one of the stops.
It was so cold, my dad got a head cold, which resulted in him dressing up, as he described it, "like Arafat."
Yes, I am a merciless papparazo. My thought/question for that day was: "Why does it seem like midnight at 4 P.M???"
Day 3
We went to a country town in the mountains. The bus ride was adventure enough, with a combination of shoddy suspension and poor road building playing havoc with my brain and the food I was trying to hold down in my stomach. My head hit the roof three times. No joke. Like, I bounced up and hit the roof. From a sitting down position. Stationary. Probably because I was sitting in the back. Then we got off the bus. I felt like there were shards of ice sticking out from my body. There was wind. Fierce, fierce, bone chilling, freezing, arctic-grade winds, combined with negative 20-something temperature. It was cold. Then we six of us had to sleep in a bed for five. Yes. One bed for six people. As shown below:
Best sleeping conditions ever. They tried to split the men (me and dad) off from our family to sleep with other men, which was as scary as it sounded. My dad flatly refused, while making the point that we were already helping them out by only taking a five person bed for the six of us.
I also took these pictures:
Let me tell you how hard it was to take it. It was snowing, freezing and the wind was howling. My glasses had steamed up, which, in normal weather, wouldn't have been that bad. But in this place, the lenses on my glasses frosted over. So basically, those photos above were taken when I was half-blind.
Well, anyway that was pretty fun. Except for the fact that I had wind blowing on my freaking ear for the whole night. And the fact that the log fire under the bed stopped burning in the middle of the night. And the lack of showering facilities and minimal toilet facilities. So really, it wasn't all that fun. But it was all for the sake of the views that we attained. I'd like to tell you it was all worth it, but it really wasn't. I mean, I weathered torrential snow and painful cold to bring you photos like this (these were taken the next morning when it wasn't so bad):
Random photos taken when we were pretty damn bored:
Plenty more at my Flickr. Also, there were many fireworks. I think it was because it was approaching New Years Day, and government officials had siphoned off enough money to leave some over. This photo was taken at the mountain:
while this was taken somewhere the day before:
Day 4
After taking some photos in the morning, we hopped back on the bus, but not on the back this time. Then we found out sitting in the middle was almost as bad as the back, except the ceiling was higher, so you couldn't hit your head. When we arrived at our destination, we found that it was at a frozen waterfall. It was actually pretty nice.
Then we went to this frozen lake, which was also pretty nice.
Me being fully tank and chopping a board of snow:
Then we went to a hotel with a communal cat. Then we had a full-on laughing session after my cousin said to the cat "Luckily for you, we're not you're typical Cantonese people, otherwise you'd already be supper." But in all seriousness, the cat wouldn't leave even when we wanted it to. It curled up and slept. Like so:
I mean, what if someone had a cat allergy?
Day 5
Alright, I wiped up some coffee with a towel on Night 4 (or the night of Day 4, to simplify things...or not). So the next day, the hotel tries to make us pay for it. Then my parents had a massive tiff with management. I mean, get over it. It's a coffee stain on an already ragged looking towel. I'm sure they would've preferred it if we left it to drip on to the carpet. So after we overcame that adversity, we trundled on to our next destination - Long White Mountain (direct translation). But first, a photo from the hotel that morning:
I also found a fake palm tree outside the hotel, which was really quite amusing. At least I thought so.
Fir trees I understand, but one should not dream of the impossible (palm trees in a frozen wasteland).
So we went to Long White Mountain, which was pretty much touted as the highlight of the trip. I was quite happy with it, and felt that we could've gone there for an extra day and skipped out on the five-person bed experience. We saw the Olympic snow statue thingo...
...and one with TB's posing in front (that's supposed to be a heart shape formed by the arms)...
...found out that even the bins look prettier there than the rest of the north-eastern bins...
...and met a neo-John Lennon wannabe on the way.
So we took a car up Long White Mountain to see the much-acclaimed frozen lake up there. And here is a picture I took while up there:
I risked my life (and my camera) taking that photo. The wind was huge. It was like a hurricane. And my glasses kept fogging up and frosting over. Did I mention is was cold? So I almost stepped on a rock and fell off the cliff. Just to bring y'all this photo. And another one:
This was another one that I took in the relative safety of the car back down:
As you can see, the shots aren't so great when I don't risk my life to take them. I say "relative safety" because we were lucky to be able to go up in a 4WD that day. See, when the path is snowed over, what they do is shove thirty people into an equivalent of a 4WD sized box with a shovel out the front and drive through the snow. We heard horror stories of people fainting of suffocation. Then I raised a point. Since they have snow shovelling machines, why couldn't they just shovel away the snow and let the 4WDs go through? It turns out they stole my brilliant innovation before I had even thought out it. So this year they actually did that. So we were lucky it was a non-snowing day, otherwise we wouldn't have gone up, because it cost a mint of money just to go up in one of those boxes with snow shovels. But it was a pretty good view on the peak of the mountain though.
A photo of me taking a free kick on a snowballish thing and generally being an idiot after we reached the foot of the mountain again:
Our next stop was the waterfall, which also happening to be on the mountain. So we trekked up a slope for about half an hour, beating everyone in our tour group in the process, and saw the promised waterfall. We walked past hot springs/rivers in the process:
I know, some of them aren't springs and stuff, but get over it.
Anyway, when we got there, we had trouble finding the actual waterfall. Truth be told, it was kinda hard to see. I had to use the zoom lens on my dad's camera to see it. Here we go with the photos. The first sight I got of the waterfall:
...and that's about as close as I got. In fact, I seem to have gotten further away from it:
When we went back down, we noticed a novel way that people were cooking eggs and corn, like so:
However, being China, I don't how real that was. Maybe they pre-cooked the eggs/corn and then kept them warm in the springs, instead of actually cooking them in the springs. Who knows. Not me. Anyway, we bought some corn and eggs because it was cold. If there's one thing I learned during my trip to the North-East, it's that anything tastes good when the constituency of your body is more icy-pole than human.
Day 6
Owing to the spectacular breaking down of our top-drawer 50-year-old antique tour bus overnight, we spent most of the morning waiting for it to be repaired. So we took photos in the hotel lobby of course. What better past-time.
There's a rainbow in that pic above. It's on the right.
So around lunch, our tour bus got fixed, so we hopped on and went to lunch. Outside the restaurant, we saw a "snowman":
I say that with sarcasm, but that's just the way I am. It's actually a pretty good snowman and you can see that a lot of effort has gone into it, indicated by the tin hat and red scarf and all. Like, you'll never see one like in the movies unless someone specially sculpts it with professional equipment (funny, sounds like something Hollywood would do). At any rate, it's better than any snowmen that we created.
Then we buckled in for a six-hour drive, stopping by to purchase some Chinese medicine. It was here that I took some very innocuous-looking photos, one of which is here:
However, I was informed by certain people that, had the people in the shop not been busy flogging their goods of dubious usefulness to our group, they would've charged me ten dollars per photo that I took of the plane. And there was also a sign there saying so, which of course, I couldn't read. Almost owned hard was I.
So at about seven that night, we got to Kunming, which was the next state. Anyhow, they still somehow managed to take us to the places that the promised to, in roughly 25% of the original planned time. So we didn't get any money back. So then we went out for supper of sorts. It was really, really cheap. Like, we fed our whole family for like 20 AUS dollars.
Day 7
This was the penultimate day. For this last day, we experienced the splendour and wealth of China by visiting a square that they had built for the people, all while the said people were starving and cold. Then we went and toured a picturesque river thing. Photos below.
We then visited this temple thing, which was next to the lake thing (man my vocab is huge). There, I took awesome photos of pegs:
Well, we flew back to GZ that night and, even though it was 15 degrees, it felt sweltering. Anyway, just a thought: The presence of snow usually indicates very cold temperatures. Should've thought about that before we went there. But it was fun. I'll leave y'all with this photo and see you on my next post.
So, I went to Harbin and some nearby states in China's frigid, frozen north with family and extended non-essential others for a week.
Day 1
Basically, it was alright the day we got off the plane. Had a bit of a wander around town. A very dynamic picture of the first day:
Day 2
Not so alright. We got snap-frozen. The temperature dropped to about negative 15. Like, it was cold. It's kinda hard to describe without using cliches. I felt like I was freezing from the inside. I thought it was cold then. I didn't know what was coming the next day. Anyway, on Day 2, we went to, I think it was, the biggest snow ranch in Asia. It was big, but there was nothing there. So we opted to go on a cable car up to the top of the mountain and back down on toboggans. The cable car was downright dangerous. What they did was, the cable car's coming, then they push you on to it. So I got pushed on to it, then I saw these support poles that were leaning at very dangerous angles. Plus my car was broken. Here are some photos taken from there:
This one's of my broken car:
After that debacle, we went on the toboggans. Even our native tour guide, who foolishly followed us up, complained of how cold it was on the way down. My nose was about to fall off after it. If you've ever been to Gumbuya Park, it's like those toboggans, except for the inexplicable stopping and starting. But yeah. It was cold. Like riding a bike in negative degree weather. Here's a picture I took during one of the stops.
It was so cold, my dad got a head cold, which resulted in him dressing up, as he described it, "like Arafat."
Yes, I am a merciless papparazo. My thought/question for that day was: "Why does it seem like midnight at 4 P.M???"Day 3
We went to a country town in the mountains. The bus ride was adventure enough, with a combination of shoddy suspension and poor road building playing havoc with my brain and the food I was trying to hold down in my stomach. My head hit the roof three times. No joke. Like, I bounced up and hit the roof. From a sitting down position. Stationary. Probably because I was sitting in the back. Then we got off the bus. I felt like there were shards of ice sticking out from my body. There was wind. Fierce, fierce, bone chilling, freezing, arctic-grade winds, combined with negative 20-something temperature. It was cold. Then we six of us had to sleep in a bed for five. Yes. One bed for six people. As shown below:
Best sleeping conditions ever. They tried to split the men (me and dad) off from our family to sleep with other men, which was as scary as it sounded. My dad flatly refused, while making the point that we were already helping them out by only taking a five person bed for the six of us.I also took these pictures:
Let me tell you how hard it was to take it. It was snowing, freezing and the wind was howling. My glasses had steamed up, which, in normal weather, wouldn't have been that bad. But in this place, the lenses on my glasses frosted over. So basically, those photos above were taken when I was half-blind.
Well, anyway that was pretty fun. Except for the fact that I had wind blowing on my freaking ear for the whole night. And the fact that the log fire under the bed stopped burning in the middle of the night. And the lack of showering facilities and minimal toilet facilities. So really, it wasn't all that fun. But it was all for the sake of the views that we attained. I'd like to tell you it was all worth it, but it really wasn't. I mean, I weathered torrential snow and painful cold to bring you photos like this (these were taken the next morning when it wasn't so bad):
Random photos taken when we were pretty damn bored:
Plenty more at my Flickr. Also, there were many fireworks. I think it was because it was approaching New Years Day, and government officials had siphoned off enough money to leave some over. This photo was taken at the mountain:
while this was taken somewhere the day before:
Day 4After taking some photos in the morning, we hopped back on the bus, but not on the back this time. Then we found out sitting in the middle was almost as bad as the back, except the ceiling was higher, so you couldn't hit your head. When we arrived at our destination, we found that it was at a frozen waterfall. It was actually pretty nice.
Then we went to this frozen lake, which was also pretty nice.
Me being fully tank and chopping a board of snow:
Then we went to a hotel with a communal cat. Then we had a full-on laughing session after my cousin said to the cat "Luckily for you, we're not you're typical Cantonese people, otherwise you'd already be supper." But in all seriousness, the cat wouldn't leave even when we wanted it to. It curled up and slept. Like so:
I mean, what if someone had a cat allergy?
Day 5
Alright, I wiped up some coffee with a towel on Night 4 (or the night of Day 4, to simplify things...or not). So the next day, the hotel tries to make us pay for it. Then my parents had a massive tiff with management. I mean, get over it. It's a coffee stain on an already ragged looking towel. I'm sure they would've preferred it if we left it to drip on to the carpet. So after we overcame that adversity, we trundled on to our next destination - Long White Mountain (direct translation). But first, a photo from the hotel that morning:
I also found a fake palm tree outside the hotel, which was really quite amusing. At least I thought so.
Fir trees I understand, but one should not dream of the impossible (palm trees in a frozen wasteland).
So we went to Long White Mountain, which was pretty much touted as the highlight of the trip. I was quite happy with it, and felt that we could've gone there for an extra day and skipped out on the five-person bed experience. We saw the Olympic snow statue thingo...
...and one with TB's posing in front (that's supposed to be a heart shape formed by the arms)...
...found out that even the bins look prettier there than the rest of the north-eastern bins...
...and met a neo-John Lennon wannabe on the way.
So we took a car up Long White Mountain to see the much-acclaimed frozen lake up there. And here is a picture I took while up there:
I risked my life (and my camera) taking that photo. The wind was huge. It was like a hurricane. And my glasses kept fogging up and frosting over. Did I mention is was cold? So I almost stepped on a rock and fell off the cliff. Just to bring y'all this photo. And another one:
This was another one that I took in the relative safety of the car back down:
As you can see, the shots aren't so great when I don't risk my life to take them. I say "relative safety" because we were lucky to be able to go up in a 4WD that day. See, when the path is snowed over, what they do is shove thirty people into an equivalent of a 4WD sized box with a shovel out the front and drive through the snow. We heard horror stories of people fainting of suffocation. Then I raised a point. Since they have snow shovelling machines, why couldn't they just shovel away the snow and let the 4WDs go through? It turns out they stole my brilliant innovation before I had even thought out it. So this year they actually did that. So we were lucky it was a non-snowing day, otherwise we wouldn't have gone up, because it cost a mint of money just to go up in one of those boxes with snow shovels. But it was a pretty good view on the peak of the mountain though.
A photo of me taking a free kick on a snowballish thing and generally being an idiot after we reached the foot of the mountain again:
Our next stop was the waterfall, which also happening to be on the mountain. So we trekked up a slope for about half an hour, beating everyone in our tour group in the process, and saw the promised waterfall. We walked past hot springs/rivers in the process:
I know, some of them aren't springs and stuff, but get over it.
Anyway, when we got there, we had trouble finding the actual waterfall. Truth be told, it was kinda hard to see. I had to use the zoom lens on my dad's camera to see it. Here we go with the photos. The first sight I got of the waterfall:
...and that's about as close as I got. In fact, I seem to have gotten further away from it:
When we went back down, we noticed a novel way that people were cooking eggs and corn, like so:
However, being China, I don't how real that was. Maybe they pre-cooked the eggs/corn and then kept them warm in the springs, instead of actually cooking them in the springs. Who knows. Not me. Anyway, we bought some corn and eggs because it was cold. If there's one thing I learned during my trip to the North-East, it's that anything tastes good when the constituency of your body is more icy-pole than human.
Day 6
Owing to the spectacular breaking down of our top-drawer 50-year-old antique tour bus overnight, we spent most of the morning waiting for it to be repaired. So we took photos in the hotel lobby of course. What better past-time.
There's a rainbow in that pic above. It's on the right.
So around lunch, our tour bus got fixed, so we hopped on and went to lunch. Outside the restaurant, we saw a "snowman":
I say that with sarcasm, but that's just the way I am. It's actually a pretty good snowman and you can see that a lot of effort has gone into it, indicated by the tin hat and red scarf and all. Like, you'll never see one like in the movies unless someone specially sculpts it with professional equipment (funny, sounds like something Hollywood would do). At any rate, it's better than any snowmen that we created.
Then we buckled in for a six-hour drive, stopping by to purchase some Chinese medicine. It was here that I took some very innocuous-looking photos, one of which is here:
However, I was informed by certain people that, had the people in the shop not been busy flogging their goods of dubious usefulness to our group, they would've charged me ten dollars per photo that I took of the plane. And there was also a sign there saying so, which of course, I couldn't read. Almost owned hard was I.So at about seven that night, we got to Kunming, which was the next state. Anyhow, they still somehow managed to take us to the places that the promised to, in roughly 25% of the original planned time. So we didn't get any money back. So then we went out for supper of sorts. It was really, really cheap. Like, we fed our whole family for like 20 AUS dollars.
Day 7
This was the penultimate day. For this last day, we experienced the splendour and wealth of China by visiting a square that they had built for the people, all while the said people were starving and cold. Then we went and toured a picturesque river thing. Photos below.
We then visited this temple thing, which was next to the lake thing (man my vocab is huge). There, I took awesome photos of pegs:
Well, we flew back to GZ that night and, even though it was 15 degrees, it felt sweltering. Anyway, just a thought: The presence of snow usually indicates very cold temperatures. Should've thought about that before we went there. But it was fun. I'll leave y'all with this photo and see you on my next post.
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