Another semi-long one

So, I return here having not done this for a while.

It's been pretty bad, to be honest.

Let's start with my birthday.

That was horrible. I had an eye infection, so basically I could only see out of one eye.

Then I found out that my parents hadn't actually gotten me anything, because they were actually serious about paying for my party.

We went out for lunch on Mount Dandenong, which was pretty good, as it usually is.

The day after, we went to Mount Dandenong (yes, again) for breakfast, because apparently it's good to go for a stroll on a mountain on Chinese New Year. Pretty uneventful.

The next day, things got slightly better. My parents decided to get me a suit, and I would pay for my party. Much better. Seriously, I don't know what it is, but I just think that a 21st birthday present should be something lasting.

At least, I thought it was getting better. Little did I know that Chadstone and it's surrounds would get flooded. The signs were all there. The stores below getting flooded. We just didn't know the rain was that bad.

So we finished suit shopping and ran out into the torrential rain. And drove through rivers. Literally. Here's a pic.




Hopefully that's visible to all. We took a few detours, helped a few Koreans drag their car along, and got home in one piece.

And today, my eye has pretty much healed up. The doc gave me some better super magical ointment (different to the super magical ointment he gave me in the first place). Today also marked the start of the Leaders Program. Pretty long day, but petty interesting. Gotta prep for tomorrow when I get home.

Word of the Day: Torrential

The Irene-y of the situation did not escape me

Irene's 20th last Friday, just for a change of scenery after this massive spate of Twenty-Firsts.

It was quite amusing. She told me to sit next to her, presumably because I didn't know many people there. Then she ended up walking for 99% of the night anyway. It was actually pretty ironically funny. Ironic in a good way.

But it worked out well. Like, not that it was good that she wasn't there most of the time, but I got to talk to people sitting opposite me. Not that I wouldn't have if she'd been there.

The words "digging," "myself" and "hole" come to mind here. For some inexplicable reason.

But yeah, I got to talk to the guy opposite me, and his girlfriend, and we got along fairly well. Jake, his name was. As in, Animorphs. I didn't get his girlfriend's name, but one can't have everything in life. It's a shame I didn't get seated next to that Judy girl. She was quite a looker. But, being the non-shallow person that I am, I do not regret this, because I do not know what she is like as a person. Although it would've been nice to have had the opportunity to find out.

Anyway, I love these situations. It's like a challenge, that I fully intend to meet head-on. See, even when I did get to talk to them, it was always a bit weird, because there were times when they were talking to each other and...let's just say I don't think they wanted to be interrupted. So MTV on the screen behind their heads came to my rescue many times. And my phone. Man, I love my phone. It actually gives me a valid reason for looking at it now.

This situation wasn't my own doing. All the people that I actually knew AND talked to didn't turn up on the night, leaving me isolated and bereft of meaningful and intelligent company.

Just kidding. I just felt like writing a hardcore sentence with big words. But you guys did ditch me a little bit.

But yes, I think I actually excelled at said challenge. And now, like some kind of thrill-seeking addict, I want more. More parties with strangers that I've never talked to before in my life. More MTV. More Glen Waverley food.

I think I'll stop now. Not because I want to, but because I think I'm going to fall asleep at my keyboard in about 5 seconds if I don't. And then, next morning, my parents will be all like "What the hell are you doing there [on your very messy workstation]?" Except in Cantonese. To which I will have no reply. Because I don't know the Cantonese word for blogging, but also because even if I did, it's still not a very good excuse.

So I'm going to go now.

Word of the Day: MTV

Doo bee doo doo, doo bee doo bee doo doo

That's the introduction to 'Singing in the Rain'. Duh.

I don't know why I decided to virtually sing that. It just sort of popped into my head.

Moving on. A whole manner of things are annoying me massively at the moment, but I'm not going to write about them, because (a) there's not a whole lot I can do about most of them, and (b) I have firm hope that things will probably change for the better sometime soon, because these things are cyclical in nature.

I should probably write something about Nigel's 21st at Loop last night, but there isn't all that much to say, apart from the fact that I had a bourbon and coke. Or something. And it was fairly disgusting. I didn't think it could get any worse, but one sip of Banh's scotch and coke reminded me of how wrong I can be about things sometimes. We (being Pramuk, Rudra, Banh and I) had massive amounts of bread, due to the fact that a massive platter of it was placed in front of us.

The massive mountain of bread that us fellas powered through.

Good party as well. I wish they had a mic for my use during the speech-making though. Would've been easier on my voice, which is feeling a bit tender after a night and full day of intensive speaking. If you're good friends, you'll remind me not to attempt to shout louder than the thumping music with my tiny voice next time. Highlight of the night: random old dude who came in and started munching our food. I also think he started making inappropriate comments to the ladies after I left, at which stage Nigel got him kicked out. I'm also not sure that I wished Nigel happy birthday last night, so here it is, just in case. Happy Birthday Nigel!

Ok, so I did have a lot to say about it. But I didn't before.

Currently, I am getting quite the lonely pangs again. It's that time again where I wish I had someone to just randomly talk to at anytime about any number of random things, but that person doesn't exist for me, and I just end up blogging instead to siphon some of it off, Pensieve-style. Don't pretend you don't get the reference. I know you're all Harry Potter nerds.

I leave you with this song. And a great song it is. Listen to it when you're feeling a bit down. It'll make you feel better. Like eating chocolate after being swarmed by Dementors. Harry Potter movie reference this time. I think I have just out-lamed myself yet again.

Actually, any song from them is a pretty good pick-me-up. Anyway, I'll really leave this time. Nothing worse than drawn-out goodbyes.

Word of the Day: Pensieve

She wasn't black

The one thing that I gained from Ben's 21st last night:

In case you don't get it right away, I liked the bartender.

She was somewhat sultry, and looked like she had a bit of an attitude. I think she was half-Asian. Kind of ruined it though, what with the lip ring and all. I hate it when that happens. Someone looks awesome, then they go ruin it by doing something stupid like that. Or smoking. Either one is quite bad.

Newaiz. Double 21st yesterday. Kanji's in the arvo, took a carload of people with me, went home to get changed, and went out to play pool with him at some Korean pool place. I think it's a mark of how Korean it was that there were no markings on the tables. Quite confusing for a Westerner such as myself.

To be frank, I was quite disappointed. Many people who I was hoping to catch up with didn't appear, except perhaps for Meng and Vincent.

So after that, Banh and I moseyed on down to Ben's (where the bartender was, incidentally) Interestingly, I got on fairly well with Visa's girlfriend. Friendly type of lass. Good catchup session with some of the lads. Some awkward situations, but they're unavoidable if you're me.

I came home, and watch the Arsenal game. Boy, was that massively depressing. Seriously, games like that make me consider defecting to another team. It's very depressing watching players not even trying, and getting shredded by West Brom, of all teams. If I were Fabregas, I'd want to leave too. They played like utter rubbish.

Now to today. I watched West Side story with my sisters. Wasn't too bad, but I think a tad overrated. Les Miserables was a lot better.

And that's just about that for now. Not particularly interesting or invigorating, but that's life sometimes.

Word of the Day: Sultry

Tied up

Oh, the dilemmas in my life.

Black or blue tie tomorrow night? Black makes me look a lot more dangerous, edgy and sophisticated at the same time, while baby blue conveys an air of partyness and fun. Hard to choose, hard to choose. Might go with the black, because I haven't done it in a while, and it contrasts better with the white jacket. I wish I was one of those people that could wear whatever and look good. Might shock everybody and alternate between the two at the same party. That would be absolutely crazy.

All this at the end of a very, very long week. Today just seemed interminable. Like, for example, I was having fun in the last class of today, but it just seemed to go on and on. Every time I'd check my watch, it seemed that only one minute had gone by since the last time.

Anyway, it's study break now. Time to cram, cram, cram. Right after the hecticness of tomorrow.

Word of the Day: Interminable

I found a pro

What an action-packed weekend this has been. Best one I've had in a while too.

Friday
It all started with the purchase of an iMac on Friday night. Why an iMac, you may ask. Well, my parents decided that my littlest sister, Michelle, needed a computer, and asked me for my professional opinion. I came to the conclusion that, since PCs for the same amount of money pretty much give you the same amount of go, we should get an iMac, just to have something different and more useful for graphic-y stuff. So we moseyed on down to the Apple Store in Shoppo (insert obligatory 'bro' here).

On the way, I almost got into a fight with an Asian in a BMW. He was in the next lane, I cut him off a bit. He had ample time to stop, but he decided to incessantly honk me anyway. My father honked him back, and he swerved at me. After he found out that I would not, unfortunately, be scared of him, he angrily drove off. Jerk. By this time, the rain was getting ridiculously hard. Hard, like Financial Accounting hard.

Anyway, we got there, and scored a bargain. We asked for a change of keyboard, and they decided to just shout us the extra keyboard. The assistant then accidentally took the price of the keyboard off, on top of the student discount. She realised in the end, and we were willing to pay up, but the manager just let it go.

All capped off with coffee from Laurent.

Never going there again, by the way. Parking is just ridiculous. All aspects of it. Every single one. I have not been to a shopping centre with a more ludicrous carpark.

Driving back was an absolute nightmare. Could not see more than two metres ahead of me. Bit like walking around without my glasses.

Saturday
On Saturday morning, the friend who I said was having relationship problems in the last post told me that she had sorted them out. Good-o. I would've liked to point out that what she did was essentially follow my advice, and, fortunately for her, everything worked out fine. Good-o. Glad that it all worked out for her. I also just noticed that I used good-o twice in the same paragraph. What kind of loser says good-o?

Saturday night was Josh's 21st birthday partay. I went for an hour and a bit, completely overdressed, and was planning to go home at around 9:30. I did leave at 9:30, but mainly because Linda had told me she was also leaving a party then, and also sort of maybe needed to go Mother's Day shopping. Longish story short, we went to Burwood K-Mart and she helped me pick out a maddogz cooking book set. Women are good at that sort of thing. We then raided Coles (women are also good at that sort of thing), and went on a run to Maccas.

Maccas was good stuff. Stayed there for an hour and a bit. Seemed a lot shorter than it actually was. With BYO yogurt too. And the final event of the night was this guy I sort of knew, because he looks like his other six siblings, two of which I used to know, asking me for two dollars, which I told him I didn't have. I'd much rather donate it to the Ronald McDonald Charity House then give money to idiot teenagers hanging around McDonald's at 12 at night. I did actually donate money to the Ronald McDonald thing, but that's another story for another time.

And yes, I have no idea why I'm always in a suit either. I think out of the three times we've gone somewhere together, two of those have featured me in a suit. She probably thinks that's what I where casually.

A classic case of the afterparty being better than the party. Not that the actual party wasn't good. Catching up with old friends and all that. But yeah. I'm sure you understand. Happy birthday Josh.

Sunday
Finally set up the iMac after reconfiguring the computer room. Oh, and I also gave mother the gift, on top of the maddogz mug that we bought from T2. She completely overvalued the books. Her rough estimate was 60 bucks. I lol'd. Her price guessing is usually a bit better than that. Better, like how I'm better at seeing with my glasses on than without them on. I think that's about it for Sunday.

I also managed to get a bit of work done this weekend too. Amazing.



I've also been quite profound this week. I think I've almost exhausted my stock of profoundness. But I've had this little nugget stored away for a while, so it doesn't really count. I've just decided that now is an appropriate time to unleash it.

I've just realised that I don't have that much in common with most of my friends. At least, not on a superficial level. Sure, we share some of the same interests, and we do a few things in common. But quite apart from that, there are a few things that make these people my friends:
1. They're there for me. They back me up, and are always willing to lend me a hand, if it's in their power to do so.
2. They make me laugh.
3. I can talk to them, and they can talk to me.
4. They have integrity, and are people with morals and principles which I also share.

I believe that the above four characteristics are the foundations for forming relationships, and that superficial things, such as common interests and tastes, just act as a good starting point. Kind of like a conversation starter, if you will. Even if the person in question listens to the music that I do, follows the same football team that I do, eats the same food I do, and laughs at the same things that I laugh at, it doesn't mean anything if they don't care about you, and aren't there for you when you need them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that having shared interests is kind of like a bonus, and the most important thing is that your principles and moral compass are compatible, and that you care about each other.

I've come to this conclusion through my own bitter experience with a person who seemed made for me, based on commonality, blah, blah, blah. And what ultimately screwed me over was the fact that she didn't care about me one jot. I guess I'd known that from the start, but hey, I do a lot of stupid things, and will likely do many more in the not-too-distant future.

I've also known for a long, long time that I don't have many friends that fit the above four points. And I guess that's what makes them so valuable, rare, and special.

Anyway, if you've made it to this point, I commend you. I really do. I can't even be bothered reading that again. Not that I normally do. But yeah. It's a bit big, isn't it? Kind of like Empire State Building big. Ok, that's enough metaphors for tonight.

Word of the Day: Profound

Christmas 2009

A very Merry Christmas to you all.

I just realised that this has been a very peculiar Christmas period. This Christmas, I've received the least amount of presents since I can remember. And yet, it's also been one of the best Christmas periods I can remember.

The lead-in has been quite awesome, bar a few pangs of loneliness. Kris Kringle on the 17th, and Chen's party last night were a great way to catch up with friends just before today, and were a near-perfect buildup. And for the first time ever, I think I may be properly infatuated. This feels like a culmination of a year, but I'll save that for a more appropriate time.

Today was wonderful as well. After having a lunch of stir-fried Nissin noodles, the Huang family went on a trip to the Melbourne Aquarium and had afternoon tea in the city, then dinner with grandparents as well.

What has become apparent this year, and sort of maybe signals my somewhat maturing, is that friends and family mean so much more to me than 'getting' anything in particular. In fact, I've found that I've derived more joy from giving things to people, and I think I always have. That's not to say that I'm not grateful for the presents that I get. I love the fact that people care enough about me to get something special for me (guitar, and funny little keyring thing, from parents and sister.) It's amazing when you get something that you want/need/like and didn't ask for. I'm a big fan of presents that don't really do anything, but remind me of the person that gave them to me. Wearable things of this ilk take some beating.

But yes. I think I like seeing the smile I elicit from someone when I give them something they like or appreciate.

Family and good friends make this a special time, though. I believe that gifts, and even the giving of gifts, adds gloss to this time. It's like the icing sugar on the funny ninja star windmill pastry things that my mother makes (incidentally, if you haven't had one, let me know, and I'll hook you up. According to those that have had one, or several, or millions, they're quite good, and I think I agree with them). Presents are not essential, but it does give an otherwise great day a certain zing.

Hope you've had as much fun, and experienced as much joy and happiness as I have today.

Word of the Day: Christmas 2009

Block-a-choc

Yes, I've been choc-a-block busy this past week.

After attending some seriously stimulating Ambassador workshops last Wednesday, I decided not to attend the Friday ones for fear of over-stimulation. I felt really bad for doing so, but really could not be motivated for another day at uni.

So on Saturday, Imesha had her 21st, which was pretty awesome, except for the birthday girl turning up late. Actually, that was good in a way, except that everybody bar me was starving to death. That's why I have secrets to save me in these situations. All around, a very good gig to go to.

On Sunday, I had to skip Yvonne's 21st due to my commitment to my Accounting group. We had a group assignment due on Monday. I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it. After apologising many times in many varied ways, I still get harangued for not going. What's a man to do? Buy another present?

Tomorrow, meeting with my GMC homies. Have a very vague idea what's going on, and I hope that someone else will clarify. That will be the agenda for the meeting.

Word of the Day: Workshops

More like...Lie-braries!

Today, I found out that I'd been duped by the Matheson Library. I borrowed a whole bunch of books that I thought were about Hurricane Katrina. Turns out that they're mostly about black people. Not that they're not useful, but still. I'm kinda getting sick of reading about black people and segregation and all that. They're pretty big books after all.

I'm pretty disappointed with my work rate so far. I've written down one thing from the aforementioned books so far. And I've got Banh's BBQ tomorrow, Ambassador stuff the whole day on Wednesday and Friday, and two 21st's to go to on the weekend. Ah well. I'm sure I'll find a way to get through. I always do, more or less.

Word of the Day: Lies

Don't even try G, you ain't got nothin' on me

I am such a rebel.

On Friday night, I smoked a bit of cigar.

Pretty much tasted like burning tea leaves, with a stronger after-taste. Better than cigarettes, I think, not that I've had them before, but not completely bad tasting. Still, probably would not try it again. Unless it was a $3000 Cuban cigar given to me by one of my lawyer friends in the future.

Oh, by the way, the one's Botros and Simon were smoking were $12 for five from 7-11. Real high-class stuff there.

Meng was getting all into it though. I wouldn't be surprised if he went and got some for himself afterwards.

I should rewind a bit. Just so you know where the hell all this happened.

So it was Orrin's birthday party on Friday night. Me, being the astute and meticulous planner that I am, devised a masterplan. For my transportation to his place, that is.

The plan was that Orrin would arrive at Monash at 11, come to my Accounting lecture with me, perhaps meet some people, then leave the joint at 12 to go to Chaddy and buy some stuff and gossip about...things.

The plan screwed up at the first step. To cut a very, very long and expensive story short, Orrin got there at about quarter past 11, I was late to my lecture, we ended up meeting 0 people. The only part that went right was the going to Chaddy at 12 bit. Oh, and laughing at the New Zeland licturer the whole time.

So there we were at Chaddy. We had lunch, went to Koko Black to buy some ridiculously priced drinks (like, really exorbitant pricing), then went to Coles to buy ginger beer "which nobody would drink". Everyone drank ginger beer that night.

After that, we got back in the car. For some reason, Orrin decided to turn on his windscreen wipers. Maybe where he comes from you turn them on when it's sunny outside. Who knows. In between all of this, we talk about everything from weather to girls to why Kanye is such a tool.

So we kip on down to Southland to find some of the hard stuff. After walking back and forth between K Liquor and Liquorland about a million times, we ended deciding to go back to K Liquor anyway, which is what I suggested in the first place. This was where, according to Orrin, the most exciting part of the day happened.

See, there was this alright-looking girl at the counter. Ok, so she was better than alright. And she had a nice smile. And presumably you know how I have a thing for girls with nice smiles.

ANYWAY. So Orrin decided that we needed many cases of beer. He's like "here, slave, carry these while I select some more," so I go "Screw you, I'll put some on the counter first." This was the platform for me to make my first witty remark of the session.

I put one case on the counter, and Countergirl goes "Is that all for today?" or something along those lines. And I go, "Nah, there's still much more to come." Which, for some inexplicable reason, she found amusing.

So I go back, and help the New Zealander with his alcohol. So we ended up with a total of 24 beers. And then Countergirl goes "Is that all for today?" And here's the "punchline." Me, being hilarious and geniusticious in my humour, says (this deserves a whole line to itself):

"Yeah, I think that'll be enough. 12 for me, and 12 for this guy."

Ok, so it was fairly funny at the time. I wouldn't say it was the funniest thing I've ever said. Not by a long shot, if you know anything about me at all. She found it immensely funny. Actually, I don't very clearly remember what happened, but Orrin informs me that she found it immensely funny. And Orrin found it funny.

So apparently (I don't actually know why I have no recollection of this event) she started chatting me up. According to Orrin. Who is always reliable. So blah, blah, blah, have a great night guys. We get in the car, and Mr. Hindsight says, "Man, you should've asked her to MY party." Why the hell would I ask someone to YOUR party man? Whatever Orrin tells you I said after that is pure conjecture and fabrication, and has no truth in it whatsoever. I did not complain about missed opportunities in the slightest.

So we got to his house, blah blah blah. Key points were me setting up music, me showing Orrin how to fill up his tank (even though I've never driven with my Ps on - go figure), me fetching his girlfriend from the train station, and me doing stuff.

Meng arrived, we talked for about 30 seconds. Other people came, we lit a bonfire, got to know other people. More people arrived, night fell, Botros gave me a cigar to try, Meng puffed at it all night, we played Mafia, everybody except me and Meng sucked, Priscilla and Henrick came later, they danced, I brooded about things, played poker, lost to Botros, played Wii, slept for four hours, woke up, played Wii again. All in all, had a good time, and I have never seen a person blow out candles in such a creative way. The man clapped them out. Well done, you tool. Happy 19th.

I think it's time for me to talk about Westgate (ha, geddit? Kanye West? West-gate? Westgate Bridge? Forget it. I think I'll just stick to Kanye West Interruption.)

I found it hilarious. I mean, sure, he was a bit of a tool, and completely unreasonable for doing what he did, but still. It was funny. To be honest, Taylor Swift annoys the hell out of me. She didn't deserve to get served like that, but she could've at least put up a better show of defending herself.

"Yo Meng, I'm really happy for you, imma letchoo finish, but Andrew has one of the best jokes of all time. Of all time!"

Sorry, just couldn't resist slipping a reference there. No hard feelings Meng.

Word of the Day: Cigar

Disaster in the Menzies!

Today, we filmed a disaster movie. In the Menzies.

No, this wasn't for Media. It's International Studies. Go figure.

Basically, our unit's about disasters, so we're making it seem like there's an earthquake under the Menzies building. Apparently I put in a stellar performance, but I won't get to see it until next Monday.

We caused a ridiculous amount of mayhem and madness. We hijacked in elevator, blocked up stairways, stole a fire hydrant, injured ourselves and ran into strangers. Would've been awesome fun if I had known absolutely anybody in my tute. Not that it wasn't fun. I just had to keep it bottled up inside, which makes it less fun.

Anyway, I just figured out that I'm going to have to attend a gazillion parties within the next month. Assuming I'm invited (ha ha ha). Which is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. I just need to plan ahead a bit more. And work a lot harder. And earn more money. And possibly steal a car to get places. Fun times ahead. Watch this space.

Word of the Day: Menzies

Ninja stars...that you can eat!

Handing out pastry ninja stars was the highlight of my week. That pretty much sums up how eventful it was. I mean, I didn't even get given ninja stars, I was doing the giving, and that was the most exciting thing. Ah, the simple joys of life.

The parties/events are coming thick and fast now. Funny how it coincides with busy work periods. Not entirely unexpected. It's my own fault for knowing people of which 90% have birthdays in the latter half of the year.

It's gonna be an awesome two months, and would be made even awesommer if I were to pass the accounting midsem. Please, please let me pass. Not that it matters that much, but my pride and dignity is at stake. Please. I worked hard for it, I don't know why I did that badly. I'm a good person (deep down). Please let me pass.

I don't know who I'm asking to let me pass. God I guess. Not that He would find my blog remotely interesting or informative.

Dinner with Ambassadors should be a blast tomorrow night. Hopefully safety in numbers in the city eh?

Word of the Day: Partay

Parties!!!

True to my reputation as a party animal, this past month has been full of parties. The locations and type of party were many and varied, just like...my spending habits.

First was Chen's on the 3rd of January at Chelsea Beach. Very interesting, given it was a day of sub-zero temperatures. Catching up with friends was very amusing and interesting, as was the semi-cold water and freezing winds. I rediscovered my skill with an AFL ball (strange, as I never actually did play AFL), and found out that volleyballs are better for kicking than footballs. Fun in the not-so-sun. Thank Chen.

Next up was Victor "Yiusless" Yiu's party at his house in Box Hill. The highlight must have been five man FIFA, which pitted me, Victor, Ken "I've never seen a football in my life" Ong (meant in a nice way) against David Lee and Meng (the Meng bit was correct, not sure about the other kid). We won, with both goals scored by me as Drogba. Brilliant defending kept a cleansheet. Next game was not so good, due to Victor's leaving and Ken's inability to identify which goal to attack. We lost 1-0, but only marginally due to a scrambled goal by Meng and co. Thanks Victor.

2nd of Feb was my very own 19th birthday party held at Red Emperor. Although it would have been better if more people were able to make it, it was nonetheless a blast. There were many highlights at this event (from a completely unbiased perspective), one of which was my receiving two versions of Guitar Hero from my friends - one for DS, and one for Wii, each present from a different group of friends who did not consult each other on what to get. What a blast. I'm still on the path to becoming a Guitar Hero, and am almost Guitar Heroed out, and have now got my siblings into the game/s. A very good gift idea, guys. Another highlight was the food, and of course, the mousse cake, which had Banh and others singing its praises. The third highlight was all of us (bar Victor, who doesn't really count) not losing any money at the casino. I came out even, JC won 30 from 100, and Banh won 15 from 30. Victor lost something in the region of 15. This was all from blackjack. A great night. Thanks Andrew, and thanks guys for coming.

Next up was Meng's birthday on the 5th. This had a number of highlights, and probably the most intriguing of all the parties attended, because of it's location (or lack thereof) and interesting personel in attendance. The location was listed as, I quote, "tgif on chapel next to jam factory no need to buy presents." I was going to be shunted out to the city about two hours early, so I decided to meet up with the Orrinator and hang for a bit. He duly bought a card for Meng, signed it and wrapped it in his mX. The more astute of you will see the warning signs there. Anyway, we went upstairs at MC, had a look at the Torres poster which was selling at a ridiculous price of 950, and went back downstairs. On the way, Orrin says "Let me chuck my mX in the bin." You can kind of guess what happened after that. As we approach the train barriers, Orrin goes "You don't have my card, do you?" realises that I don't and, to make a long story short, goes nuts searching at Maccas, Gloria Jean's, and other places, before realising that he had thrown it in the bin along with his mX, and subsequently fetching it out and said bin with suspicious stains. We finally embarked to South Yarra, where we found Victor playing DS in a suit. I don't know why people say I keep weird company. Little did I know that the DS would play a very significant part in the unfolding of the night's events.

We went to tgif, with Meng, David Lee, Victor and Orrin, when Langus just popped out of nowhere on the way. We got there, went in and sat, and along came Anh Ha. He's not that important to this part of the story yet. What was immediately (or relatively immediately) more interesting was Meng's friends, June, or something like that. I have not met anyone that immature for a while, bar myself. No offence. Here we were, talking about Krudd handing out money to all and sundry Anh and I didn't agree with it. June goes "What's wrong with you people, money doesn't grow on trees you know," and "I bet if you got the money as well you wouldn't be complaining." To which we replied "We get the money as well," which I thought was enough to shut her down for the moment. To the former comment, I just laughed, as I couldn't even be bothered explaining. There's nothing to say to people who can only see the immediate gain to be had, rather than the future larger pain that's likely to occur with this indiscriminate and profligate spending. The lesson to be learnt from America is that a little pain should be dealt out now so that larger pain is avoided. All I was trying to say is that there are other ways other than handing out money, and I get savaged. Like I said, immature.

Later in the night, at bowling, I smashed Victor for a six in air hockey, and played DS. Anyway, when we were leaving, Anh, who I always hated, and he has always hated me, bade me farewell. I promptly ignored him, as he didn't even greet me when he arrived, and has always done annoying, deliberately antoginising things to me (i.e kick ball away with insolent stare, throwing ball at me and calling me a tool when I kick said ball away, etc.). I just don't associate with people like that. Thanks Meng.

Last (but not least) was Banh's bash on Friday. Was a delightful event, with many interesting characters turning up, namely Chen and Tallon, and...interesting food, such as the five kilos of potatoes and homemade bread. Thanks Banh.

Well, that's it for party season so far. Hope it was as interesting for you to read/attend as it was for me.

Word of the day: parties

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.

1. It was in a Chinese/Cantonese enclave. Instead of GW, it was in Box Hill.
2. Karaoke again, except this time I skipped it, owing to the physically demanding work I had the following day.

It was nice catching up with everyone, and finding that many people had become more mature and better to talk with, and how incompatible I was with others. A ball of a night. Highlight was the waitress giving us attitude. I thought she knew people on our table. And the lack of air-conditioning made it very atmospheric. So much so that Alyssa got a blood nose. That was kind of bad. But I hear that she's recovered from the loss of blood, so no lasting damage done.

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