Post-CA-exam list #3.

I think this is probably the third iteration of my semi-bi-annual post-CA exam to-do list. Here it goes (in no particular order):

1. Have a decent lunch with people outside of my immediate family. Not that there' anything wrong with them. Just gotta keep it fresh.
2. Build the Lego set that I got for my birthday. (Man, that seems like ages ago. Oh wait, it was).
3. Shopping. H&M, Emporium, Chadstone, the list goes on. Camberwell Markets is probably overdue for a visit as well.
4. Photo trips. Mount Dandenong autumn run, the city, maybe somewhere a bit further out as well.
5. Seeing my neglected friends.
6. Clean my room.

I think that'll do for the time being.

Word of the Day: List

Camberwell Market + Jetting off.

Chronologically jumping all over the place here, but on Sunday, I went to Camberwell Market. I thought it'd be a good idea to share some reflections upon the event. Dunno why, but then again, do I ever?

First thing is: people there are really cool. Like, they dress, and look, cool. I guess you'd call it a little bit kooky, but it just works.

Second thing: People sell second-hand stuff for a lot there. Stupidest thing I saw there was a lady selling 2 Chinese dollars or however much it was for $180 AUD or something. Like, what the hell.

But yeah, interesting place. Might visit again one day after my trip to Europe.

Which brings me (seamlessly, I might add) to my next point.

I am leaving for Europe tomorrow. In case you're interested, I'll be trying to blog along the way, time/wi-fi/motivation permitting. Again, in case you're interested my itinerary is as follows (I'm not posting dates because a) I can't be bothered and b) you most likely don't care):

• London for three nights;
• Paris for four nights;
• Bordeaux for two nights;
• Milan for a night;
• Venice for a night;
• Rome for two nights;
• Florence for a night;
• Prato for two nights;
• Milan again for a day;
• Berlin for a night or two;
• Poland for the next week and a bit; 
• Lithuania for a night sometime during that period of time; and
• Hong Kong for three nights. 

I may have posted this previously, but whatever. Again, if you need/want anything from any of the above places, let me know soon. Like, before tomorrow afternoon.

Catch up after I get back and all that. xoxoxoxo

Word of the Day: Camberwell
 

Merry Christmas 2010

While this Christmas has been relatively uneventful compared to the last few, I reckon it's actually been good that we've been able to just enjoy some family time together. Would've been a lot better had Sarah not been in France, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I'm fairly disappointed that Kris Kringle didn't go ahead this year, but again, in many ways, it's not such a bad thing. Although I do like exchanging presents, but there's no real point to it if nobody's up for it.

I was tossing up whether to go to Boxing Day 'sales' tomorrow or not. I'm now leaning heavily towards the 'not', mainly because I don't really have all that much to buy, or all that much money to spend. And really, the 'sales' that most stores offer are either on one or two dodgy items, or they're sales you can find at any time of the year. Also, too many people. I have a mild phobia of crowds. A mild, mild phobia. And it's not irrational. I think it's an extremely rational fear.

Plus, it's either sales or working for dad tomorrow. I think I know where my loyalties lie. And possibly, if we smash out enough work tomorrow, I might be able to catch the Arsenal game on Tuesday. Not that that has anything to do with me wanting to work tomorrow or anything.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all. Hope you all had a fantastic day today, full of laughter, quality time with friends and family, and, most importantly of all, love.

Word of the Day: Phobia

G-Star Shmee Star

I have no idea why I'm still awake at this time, but I am. I'm being kept awake by this weird unsettling feeling unease I get every now and again. I think it's to do with the fear of results this time around.

Anyway. I should be tired, due to lack of sleep, but I'm not. Well, not at the moment anyway. I was a few hours ago.

So I might as well talk about today while I'm here.

Today was the induction into the Leader's Program. We finally found out what we signed up for, and it doesn't seem half-bad. Kind of looking forward to it actually.

So yeah. I kind of got to know a friend that I didn't know so well before a little bit better, which is excellent. I love it when that happens.

Afterwards, Victor, Kanji and I went shopping at Chaddy. Looked at some overpriced G-Star stuff, bought some stuff, and stuff like that. Stuff.

Alright. I think that'll be it for now. Probably should go to bed. Maroon 5 tickets to buy and all tomorrow morning.

Word of the Day: Stuff

They should start calling them Nadals

I always feel like a failure when I return from Chadstone empty-handed. Girl-wise or shopping-wise.

Annnnyyyway. Just an idle thought. I really needed/wanted a fedora. That Bruno Mars video really makes me want one, because now I associate being a billionaire with wearing a fedora. My cause and effect sequence may or may not be a little bit messed up there, but my care factor is so low that it's negative approaching infinity.

I also like his shirt. And his aviators. And I already have what he's wearing under his shirt. And I have non-brown aviators. And I have shirts. And the jeans that he's wearing. So really, all I need is a fedora. And maybe a flannel shirt with bigger checks. And a lot more money than I am currently in possession of. Not that I want to dress like him or anything.

Word of the Day: Fedora

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

Le Coupe du Monde

So, like, I'm all done with exams. Man, it was exhausting. I'm 99% sure I failed Accounting, and I'm trying to work out how to work around it.

The hardest part was telling my parents. They reacted surprisingly well to it (well, I only told mother). Once that was over, it was alright. I wouldn't say their opinions are the only ones that matter, but they're definitely up there.

So I've been mentally beating myself up, and resolving to work a lot harder. I guess I'm just frustrated that I'll have to go through that living hell again. Ah well. What's done is done.

I've now moved on to vegging in front of the television.

"What? You don't watch TV!" I hear you exclaim.

Let me clarify that.

I watch Man vs Wild, Flight of the Conchords, and football.

The reason for my vegging is because of the latter.

Yes, after four years of waiting, the World Cup is back. Yes, I watched Australia lose this morning. It was embarrassing, to be honest. I don't know what happened to the Australia of four years ago. We had more fire back then. I'm afraid to say it, but I don't see us getting out of the group stages.

That red card against Cahill was very harsh. He was pulling out of the tackle, and hit the guy with his thigh. Surely a yellow would've been more than enough. Stupid card-happy ref.

Other matches...hmm. Let's do a list.

South Africa 1 : Mexico 1
Surprisingly impressive. Both were trying to go for each other's throats, and played some great attacking football. A very enjoyable opening game, marred slightly by the fact that South Africa almost won but didn't.

England 1 : USA 1
Another draw, this one much, much less entertaining, apart from England keeper Robert Green throwing the ball into his own net. Didn't help that I missed the Gerrard goal that happened in, like, the first five seconds of play.

Australia 0 : Germany 4
The less said about this game the better I think. Australia were lacking in attack, lacking in defense, were missing star players, getting sliced apart by the German machine, and generally doing a really good impression of fish milling around in a bowl of water. Fish that were completely out of their depth. I don't think anybody played well. Lucas Neill was calling non-existent offsides. The offside trap was clearly not working, because they were continually failing to pick up the man who was not offside making the run from deep. Fairly rudimentary schoolboy errors, like not playing the ref's whistle, like Neill and his shadow offside call. Yeah. That's about it really.

Netherlands 2 : 0 Denmark
Was really, really looking forward to this one because a) it's the Netherlands and b) it was an early game, and I really needed one just then, because I am slightly tired from having a total of eight hours sleep over two nights. Anyway, what a game. Certainly didn't disappoint. The movement, passing and vision of the Dutch team is just magnificent. What a joy to watch. Their ball control is also sublime. The way they play is a thing of beauty. They may just be my next favourite outside-of-Australia team, the top one being Spain. I'm still trying to decide whether to buy a Spain jersey or Australia. Perhaps both, perhaps neither. Perhaps I need more money. It's just that, if Spain win this cup, it will be the crowning moment for one of the greatest, if not the greatest, national football sides of all time. I mean, Fabregas and Torres are on the bench for them. That says enough.


And that's mostly it for now. Watched a bit of Greece vs South Korea, got bored so kept playing monopoly.

Just to finish, a comment about the match ball. The scientists and whatnot who designed/engineered/lovingly handcrafted these balls are coming out and defending it, saying things such as "it flies the straightest out of any ball" and "the players just aren't used to it yet." They use these as defences and justifications for why players are complaining about it.

I don't know about you, but I have never heard this many players complain about a World Cup match ball. At the end of the day, if the players, who have spent the better part of their lives playing this sport, say that it doesn't feel right, no matter how perfectly round the ball is, or how aerodynamically awesome it is, the fact remains that the players don't enjoy using it, and engineers and such cannot claim that technological perfection in a ball equates to something exactly the same as balls that these guys have been using since they've been kicking balls.

I also don't understand why they have to keep changing the ball. It's not exactly like loads of people were demanding a massive overhaul of the football. Clearly the ones they use every day are just fine. Maybe their imperfections are what makes them a true football. In a sense, they're used to their imperfections, and have already adjusted to them. What does the new ball add anyway, apart from an alarmingly high frequency of over-hit passes, and ridiculous keeper fumbles? What's it's purpose? Greater speed? Because that's the only thing I can see it maybe doing better in.

Anyway, sleep beckons. Got a big day of buying stuff tomorrow.

Word of the Day: World Cup

It seemed like a good idea at the time

Oh, how I laughed when I saw a guy with a cast on his wrist walking around with a t-shirt saying "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Presumably he had broken his wrist, or something similar, or maybe he's just wearing it to go with the t-shirt. More likely though that he is wearing the t-shirt to make light of his injury. Or perhaps he's clueless, and doesn't realise how ironic, and funny, his t-shirt is.

On a side note, this saying is like, the story of my life. Before I do something that turns out to be stupid, I reason it out in my mind, and it seems to make logical sense before I do it. I like it when things make logical sense. Then, afterwards, I realise how stupid it was, and wonder how I ever thought that it was a good idea in the first place. Usually, in hindsight, I can't find one reason why it would've turned out good.

But I digress. Where I saw this t-shirt is the key to this post.

See, I was Boxing Day shopping at Chadstone.

Yes, I was at Chadstone again. That was, I think, the third time in two weeks. I'm becoming a bit of an addict.

It's funny, because:
a) I vowed never to go Boxing Day shopping, because of it's sheer pointlessness and crazy number of people, and
b) I ended up buying something that I'm fairly sure cost that much normally anyway.

I bought a tank top from Mossimo. So worth driving 30 minutes and swimming through a sea of people. The queues outside some stores were just ridiculous. There was like a dragon of people outside adidas. I have a general phobia of crowds in places where there shouldn't be crowds, like shopping centres. I think there were already not that many people during the time that we went (around 7:30 p.m.) Can't imagine what it would be like earlier.

Sarah got an awesome Calvin Klein handbag for 40% off, which was quite swell. I found it, too. Go me. My mother also bought a Guess handbag, for half price, which I also found. Go me x 2.

But yeah. As I said, not much to be gained. In fact, one could argue, there's a lot to be lost. Such as money.

Not a bad outing though. Quite interesting, especially observing how many more people turn up on Boxing Day as compared to pre-Christmas. Weird. So many more people today. Might go next year with someone closer to my age.

Word of the Day: Crowds

Chad's Stone

Retail therapy is so detrimental in so many ways, yet it provides so much lift for a short amount of time.

I'm serious. It can make you forget almost all your problems.

It's not like I went of a psycho, compulsive, uncontrolled, extremely money-draining splurge on all things branded. I just bought an on-sale pair of jeans from Mossimo. I don't even remember the last time I bought something for myself. I'm fairly sure that most of my money is spent on other people.

It's not something I mind. It's weird. Like, I don't mind spending a lot of money on somebody if they mean something to me, but I'm very loathe to spend money on myself. I'm fine with buying expensive jewelery for others. I like seeing the smile on their face, amongst other things. But myself, I usually wait for the sales, or shop around a bit.

I'm also quite a snob. I don't like buying just anything. It has to be good. That, mixed with an almost unqualified refusal to pay for overpriced goods, is generally not a good mix.

But yes. I bought a pair of jeans. And now I am quite happy. Hopefully this will carry me until Chen's shindig, which will carry me til past Christmas. Goodo.

Word of the Day: Retail

An excess of goodness

I think I can now form a rainbow with my casual shirts, which oddly enough, outnumber my business shirts. Probably because I'm more into casual exploits than business exploits at this stage of my life.

I have:
-one pink shirt
-one red checkered shirt
-two grey shirts
-one black shirt
-one black checkered shirt
-one blue one
-and I feel like I've left one or two out, and I can't be bothered checking.

Which begs the question: why do I keep buying them? I bought another two today.

The answer is, I don't know. Probably something along the lines of me liking colours and things on sale.

Word of the Day: Shirts

Christmas Message 2007 from The Andrew

Merry Christmas to all of y'all on this fine day. Hell, it's even a fine day in GZ. The first in a while, from what I've heard. I actually saw a blue sky today. I think it's cleared away now.

Anyway, I've spent the last 4 days in Hong Kong, shopping, walking, eating, shopping, shopping, eating, walking, talking, and shopping. Basically, I bought shoes (LeBron shoes, because I play basketball - don't ask), a Swatch, and other various items from Disneyland. I'll probably fill in the rest of the details in the next few days.

Have a great day, and I hope you had as much fun and happiness receiving presents as you did giving them to people (I can dream). Have a good one.

Suspicious

Some people who were very suspicious today. Not as in they were suspicious. Suspicious as in they suspected me and my crew of...something.

First incidence: Me, Banh, Yappo and random significant others at Myer purchased something. Stupid shop attendant guy comes along and asks us if we would like to purchase that. In an extremely accusatory tone. Number of flaws in the accusation (that's what it was):

1. Myer bag usually indicates purchase from Myer.

2. We were mucking around with it in the store, but why would we be if we were going to thief it?

3. The aforementioned product is kept under lock and key.

4. We were smiling.

I think it's basically because we were:

1. Asian

2. Students

3. In a group.

Something of a similar calibre happened but it was even weirder. I was in the canteen, trying to make a phone call (as you do) when the teacher tells me it's illegal. I stare at her, because I'd never heard anything so ludicrous in my life. Then she thinks I'm trying to be smart. "It's lunchtime," I say, trying to defend my rights. "Don't use your phone in the canteen in front of me," says she. What the hell. What else can I do? Coming back to suspicion and numbers, she probably thought I was either:

1. Trying to organise under-the-table canteen money laundering

2. Arranging for someone to be hurt

3. Trying to detonate a bomb, in which case she could stop me from doing so by telling me to put my phone away.

Anyway, it irks me. Until next time.