Deloittering about the city.

So I took an action-packed journey out to the city last night to have dinner with a few Deloitte friends.

And it was action-packed. Some guy got sick on the train, so we had to stop for about fifteen minutes. Pretty full-on stuff. Had to call an ambulance for him. Felt pretty bad for him, then felt kind of guilty because I started being slightly concerned about being late, then finally settled for feeling bad about both. Making it doubly bad. Or bad squared.

Anyway, I hope he's alright.

Dinner was good. Wish there could've been a few more people there. Not for the sake of having more people, but just because there were people that I wanted to catch up with that weren't there.

Not that I didn't want to catch up with the people that were there. And great people they were. And probably still are. In fact, we had such a good time, that three hours flew by like...a spaceship. On high speed. Or something.

Getting a Charmander plushie (all the way from Japan!) from Phuong last night was pretty much the highlight of this midsem break. Either I don't have very exciting breaks, or Charmander's just that awesome that he has the ability to change my psyche. For the sake of my pride, we'll go with the latter. Cheers Phuong!

(I'm still pretty excited about it).

There's the little fella. Isn't he just adorbs?

In other news, I finished the Huanger Hunger Games trilogy last night. Took me about a week all up.

If you think that's an amazing feat, try it for yourself. Really not that hard, and I'm a fairly slow, albeit dedicated, reader. There's a lot of space in between sentences, the font's big, and there's a lot of action that frankly, doesn't make much sense even when I read it carefully, so I just skim over it.

If I were to plot the books on a chart, the resultant curve would be a negative linear line. For those that are not mathematically inclined (like me), that means that they got progressively worse.

The first one was good. I loved the first one.

The second one was like, wow, you just spent half the book touring the country, and the other half going through the Hunger Games again. Except this time, in less detail, because you've already done it once.

Third one was pretty excruciating. Katniss spends half the time either insane or wallowing in a very deep well of self-pity and pain. I actually derived very little enjoyment from reading it, because the whole thing is just too much death and destruction raining down on one poor soul. The ending is also pretty bad. She tries to tie it all off in one chapter, which, to me, seems too cursory and casual.

Looking forward to the next movie though. Should be better than the book anyhow.

Probably a good idea to go sleep now.

Word of the Day: Charmander

It's better than chocolate

Ah. Retail therapy. Nothing makes you happy/less mopey more quickly than retail therapy.

Yes, I bought my leather jacket. My wardrobe is close to complete.

Having my sister's French exchange student around - Marie is her name, saves me typing/copying and pasting 'my sister's French exchange student' - is also quite fun, as you're kind of always out and about. There's also a certain sense of satisfaction and zing that can be derived from seeing people find delight in things that we take for granted. Certainly takes the mind off things somewhat.

Maybe takes the mind off things a little too much. I also forgot to buy Lily's birthday present, despite my outing to Southbank today. And I had a whole plan hatched out about how to get it too. Sigh.

That was a little lie about retail therapy, by the way. There are many, many things that make/could make me much, much happier. With these things, there's no slight depression stage after the splurge involved. Depression brought on, after the purchase, by the realisation that you have to find a way to pay off this credit card debt.

Word of the Day: Southbank

Terry Lau leaving Melbourne!

So I've just come back from Terry Lau's going away party.

He's going away for a pretty substantial period of time. Like, at least a few years.

I meant what I wrote on his card. He's one of those people which I wish I'd gotten to know better. It's a real shame. He's a good kid, and I'll miss him. Have a safe trip Terry.

It's also good to see that, almost one year on from Ambassador camp, we can still get this many of them together in one hit, and get along with each other. It's great. I love that common bond that we had.

Anyway, it wasn't all about Terry. I learnt a lot too. Discussions in bars. They're great.

I think everybody thinks I'm some emo depressed kid who doesn't like talking. There were, upon reflection, a few reasons why I wasn't too talkative (in no particular order):

1. The music was drowning out my voice, and my voice doesn't penetrate through white noise all that well, and I don't like shouting.

2. Too busy listening.

3. I had quite a bit on my mind, and was thinking things through in my head.

4. I didn't really want to directly answer the girl question, so I sort of evaded it (although what I said, the part about reciprocation and mutual attraction, was the truth). Just easier for everyone that way.

I think the answer to that question (the direct answer) is fairly self-evident anyway. I think it's pretty clear for everyone to see, except, from what I can see, the person in question. Either that, or they're deliberately ignoring it. Which is fine. It's a lot better than not talking to me. Like, much, much better.

Amongst the many things I'm scared of, I'm scared of being wrong again. I don't I'll be able to get it wrong many more times before I completely lose it. Or give up. One or the other. It's just, when you try so many times, and you end up screwing up every time, it's really kicks the morale out of you.

I think I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'm just not a good person. I don't think there's really any other explanation. You know, not just good, as in a decent person good, like, just good in other aspects. I think I'm just lacking.

Having said that, I hope I haven't screwed it up. But if I have, now you, and I, both pretty much know why.

Also, on a side note, it's good to know I have good taste, in that everybody agrees on who the hottest girl on Ambassador camp was. Was. As in past tense. Once you find out a person's true colours, that either enhances their beauty or detracts from it. In this case, it would be the latter.

Finally, thanks for the 21st birthday speech Meng. Just replicate it on the big day, eh?

Word of the Day: Terry

KPMGizzle

So yeah, I had Summer Vacation job interviews at KPMG today. Very enlightening experience. Surprisingly, turned out to be one of the best days I've had in a long, long time.

The day did not get off to a fantastic start, actually. Got up an hour later than I would've liked. I wanted to get up at 6, ended up getting up at 7, which was a miracle in itself, because I somehow innately realised that I was late. So I hurriedly got suited up, and dashed to the train station. In my car. If you can dash in a car.

On the train, I listened to Wonderwall, as is customary where I come from. Well, not really. But I like to think it is, and that it's not just some weird superstitious ritual that I go through before doing anything of even the most mild importance. But somehow, I doubt that people in Footscray listen to Wonderwall on their iPods before job interviews and exams.

This next part is just what happened at KPMG. You can skip it. Where you can start reading from again will be bolded too. It's fairly tedious, but I thought that I'd include it anyway.

Got there without too much fuss. Hung around and made awkward conversation with other candidates. The building was very nice. After that, went upstairs, chilled with employees of KPMG. There were drinks, which I didn't drink. In hindsight, this turned out to be a wise decision, due to what was to follow.

So first up, 45 minute presentation about themselves. After that, had an interview with a manager. It could've done better, and talked about more, but that's always the case. After that, break. Nothing to do, so drank a Coke Zero.

After that, another interview. This one was a bit more critical, but I think I went alright. I hope. After that, another break, another drink. This time a San Pelligrino.

After the drink, off I went to the written exercise. This was the one I was most disappointed with. I'm usually good at writing stuff. And I feel that the time given to me was ample. I just spent a bit too much time thinking every little thing through. Oh well. It was supposed to be fairly hard, and not very many people finished.

After that, another break, another drink. I think I had a Coke proper this time. Wandered over to yet another ability test. This was actually a fair bit easier than the online one. Just like the first interview, I finished way earlier than everyone else, which makes me worry that I missed something. Then we had a mini-lunch. It was a mini-lunch because I made it so. Didn't seem proper to eat a lot in those circumstances. And I drank another Coke.

You can start reading from now.

As soon as the opportunity arose, I scrammed from the building. Right on cue, Linda dawgz messages me for lunchez. Man, was I glad to get that message. I so needed a pick-me-up after that gig with quite a few obnoxious and in-your-face people. So, like the cool cat I am, I waited for her under the clock at MC. For about fifteen minutes. Couldn't contact her because she was shopping in the underground, and because her reception with Virgin is so awesome, she couldn't receive my calls. So I went to the toilet. I actually went to the toilet five times more than I usually do in a day today, mostly owing to the drinks that I had. If you think that's too much detail, too bad. Deal with it. Don't read it.

After I finally found her (she's a really hard person to find, and an even harder person to sneak up on. Amazing peripheral vision), we went to Vic Market for lunchez. I was amazed that she could talk, as she had just had her wisdom teeth removed. Amazing. Got lost on the way there, which seems to be a habit of ours. No wonder we got lost in Sydney. We can't even find our way around Melbourne. So we got to Vic Market eventually, and had barak (barack? barac? mince in pastry? arabic? dunno) and yet another drink. Went to a few stores, including a pet store (?). Kipped on home after that. Was a great, great afternoon. Laughed a lot more than I have in a while. I've had many good conversation days this week, this one inclusive.

After I got home, went straight to Knox with family. That was great. Had a Macca's dinner, and yet another drink. Also, we bought a new camera which actually takes photos with very minimal lag time. Amazing.

A big shout out to Imesha and Davy for messaging me before and after the gig. Good effort waking up that early, and an even greater effort to remember me. And thanks goes out to all my other friends who wished me luck. James Cheng, Orrin, Banh, Yvonne, Meng. If I've left out anybody, my excuse is that I only remember people that have said it within the last two days. If I have left you out even then, sincere apologies. Anyway, thanks guys. I probably place too much emphasis on people wishing me luck, but to me, it means a lot. It shows that people care.

Wonderwall may or may not have gotten me the job. But it did give me quite an unexpectedly fantastic day. I'm going to have another drink now.

Word of the Day: Drink

Me. The City.

Ok, so it doesn't look like I'll be going out to the city at all for New Year's Eve. People either have better people to hang out with, or have made their own thing to do, or just generally can't be stuffed going out to the city. Which is understandable. I mean, it is me. And the city. It's like, two negatives in one. Which is not good. At all. If I were given the choice, I wouldn't want to spend the night with me. Especially in the city. On New Year's Eve.

My main motivation for going out to the city was originally to get Linda to come along. Failing that, spending time with friends would've been nice. But seeing as she's spending the night with her family, and I have approximately 0 friends who want to come out to the city, with me, I guess I'll do the same, and see if I can find something to do with my homies during the day. With me. Possibly in the city.

Look for my Batlight thing...you know, that light that Batman shines on the clouds to get everybody's attention...ok, forget it. It's not important anyway. Just look out for it. It might be in the shape of me. And it may or may not be in the city.

Word of the Day: City

Wow, no wind at all today

In a sudden reversal of normality, Monash wasn't windy while the rest of Victoria was being whipped by gale-force winds.

That's what I'd like to one day say truthfully.

In actual fact, while Victoria was being whipped by gale-force winds, Monash was caught in a TORNADO. I swear I'm still shivering from the cold. Maybe it was a stupid idea to wait outside the French room 15 mins early.

Uni was a lonely affair during my first break at 11 - 12. No one there. So I did something I normally don't do, because I consider it an utter waste of time, on par with sleeping. I stared out the window in the law library for at least half an hour. And I had my laptop on me as well. Just general ceebs I guess.

So it was that I went to my French room 15 minutes early in the the vague hope that Irene would be there early. Turned out to be a bad idea. Irene, like a sane person, turned up just when class was about to start, and I had been blown five metres from my original standing position by the ridiculous winds.

Reflections from uni today:
- lack of friends during break highlight how miserable uni would be without friends.
- friends seem to come in floods. I either don't see anyone for a whole hour, or I see friends from all different social groups in one place, whereby I have to talk to multiple people who don't know each other.
- Some one at Monash must have upset the wind gods once upon a time.

ANYWAY. In keeping my current fascination with time travel, I'm now going to talk about the dinner that happened last night.

Before that, I'm going to go on about my lost scarf for a bit.

So on Friday, I left my scarf outside Nando's at Melbourne Central. I called them a couple of hours later, told them I had left a black and white striped scarf out the front, they said no worries, we've got it.

I rock up there yesterday arvo, spirits sky high, then I get shot down because not only do they bring out a scarf which isn't mine, but it's a girl's scarf. I mean sure, it was black and white, but it was checkered. And girl-like. I knew I couldn't be so lucky.

So "Ambassadors" dinner, and pre-dinner snacks, and more pre-dinner snacks was a blast. It was so awesome. I dunno why. I mean, I could still barely walk.

What happened is as follows. James and I (yeah, correct grammar, take that!) caught the Glen line, headed out to MC and to Nando's (worst Nando's ever by the way). Scarfgate occurred, I had a sulk, hardened up, and we met Hayley up there. A few moments later, who did we espy but Elena and Stef with an F downstairs. They told us they were coming up. However, girls' attraction to shoes will never cease to amaze me. On the way to meeting us, they manage to stop off at a shoe shop and try some out. And we're all like, "Sooooo...where are they?"

We ended up looking for them, found them and walked to Myer so James and I could buy ice-cream (random much?) The girls then decided they wanted Max Brenner/Bubblecup/Grill'd, so where else but QV next. James, Hayley and I bought chips, Stef with an F bought waffles (I think) and some strawberry stuff with Elena, all of which made us very full.

AND THEN. Kevin Hu sneak attack! The guy full ambushed us in Grill'd. He just HAPPENS to wander into Grill'd. So we ended up having high times with Big Kev and the rest of us.

So back to Melbourne Central to meet with Kanji "I was half an hour late" Low and David "I'm twenty minutes away from MC" Meng. Meng ended up being about 20 mins off his ETA, while Kanji...met us at the restaurant.

AND THEN. The 5 billionth random thing of the day happened. Ran into Orrin and Cathy AND Tom at MC. They decided to join us for dinner cos their friend Kate didn't rock up.

So off to Chinatown we went. Meng and I got lost because Meng has no idea where he's going at the best of times, and I was following him. Also because we were seeing Kevin off while the rest of the traitorous scum left us. So after about 10 minutes sauntering (or, in my case, shuffling awkwardly) around the bad streets of Chinatown, we got there.

For some strange reason, there were stairs everywhere in that restaurant. Food wasn't too bad, we'll leave it at that.

Afterwards, caught up with Ray at Fed Square, and also met Seb. On the way, guess what, something random happened. Michael Phan popped up out of nowhere. Good times all around.

The girls wanted to go Maccas, Tom wanted to go Starbucks. We went to Maccas first, I entertained everyone with my trademark humour, then we went our separate ways because Tom has shares in Starbucks so he only buys food and drink from there. Bye Orrin and Co.

After chilling at Maccas, went to Flinders and randomly met Ray and Co there. All the cool people caught the Glen Waverley back (James was reflecting on whether it would pay more to bet on a triple in the dice game at Crown or me catching the Glen twice in a day), and more good times ensued, mostly due to Ray and his awesome English ("Wait...what you just said...was that in Latin or English?") If only more people had turned up *cough* not naming anyone because I'm a nice guy *cough*, would've been an absolute highlight of this half of the year...because it's been so long since this half of the year started.

I'm sure I didn't do the night justice, as I definitely left stuff out. Probably all my awesome jokes and all the bad ones that Meng made. Should do it again sometime, but not on a Friday.

Word of the Day: Dinner