Had a great steamboat dinner with my housemates last nite!

stella and minghua(mh) were responsible with the shopping of food while john, ting and i waited for their return from clayton town.

they reached home at about 630pm and we were all down cracking to work. as the saying goes "too many cooks spoil the soup", only the girls were responsible for washing the veg, preparing the food and sutff likewise. afterall, the girl housemates are very experienced in food prep stuff unlike the guys...haha! guys contributed their fair bit after the dinner by washing everything....

the dinner was delicious and fun! we shared jokes, talked abt many things and even played games! in short, the 5 of us enjoyed each other's accompany. we were also entertained by music playing from Stella's com....there r so many songs i want to copy over from her com but guess wat...her USB drive is not working...darnz! she has so many of the songs tt i want! *sobz sobz*

after dinner was ice cream! yes, ice cream again! haha! i love ice cream, creamy creamy ice cream, icy icy ice cream..lalalalaz!

here r some pics! enjoy!

Stella, the eldest of us all...muahaha


Ting and John


"Watch tt knife minghua~!"


"John, this is how u chop something.."


3 china debaters...2 from earth china..1 from Mars China (quoted from stella..lol)


Food spread!!!!


Housemates!!!


ting, minghua and stella


john and i


the gluttonous john! lol!


"wat ya doing mate? eating ice cream by the dustbin?!"

just finished my Actuarial Statistics mid sem test...as expected, i m mentally drained from it due to the numerous calculations and brain twisting questions. not too bad overall. sort of expecting this level of difficulty. in fact, im pretty grateful that there were no questions that needed long and extensive workings that some of the tutorial questions required.

thankfully i did some last minute checking, found some errors and quickly changed them before time was up...phewz!

now that this one is over, gotta focus on my intermediate macroecons mid sem test..this paper will need much more preparation time. hopefully, my time management will be perfect. i dun forsee any problems for now....maybe on the exam day itself when i come across tough qns..lolx!

oh ya, one more thing...I SAW MATHEWS THOMAS JUST NOW! mathews thomas was my law lecturer/tutor back in malaysia and has this reputation for terrorising students during lectures and tutorials. i saw him while walking out of the Menzies building and exchanged some words..

"Mr. Thomas?"
(he turns around)
"hi! remember me?"
"ya, u look kinda familiar...which class were u in?"
"u were my tutor for the last 4 weeks after Ms indra left..ya.."
"oh yes! did u pass the paper?"
"yes, even scored a HD! haha!"
"well done! good! so what majors r u doing? accounting and finance?"
"nope, doing econs and stats"
"good, it's a good combi"
"yupz, it complements each other quite well"
"yea, anywayz, my office is on the 5th floor"
(nodds my head, understands his implication tt i can go and visit him some other time. we left for our own separate ways"

muahahaha! it really feels good to see thomas in aussie...a sense of familiarity and friendliness lurks in within me..lolx!

tt's all for now, got a lecture at 2...not too hungry now..guess will have lunch at 3...maybe having late dinner tontie anywayz...having steamboat wif housemates tonite! haha!

courtesy from ian SONG (lolx, i like ppl wif this surname...song bohz?!), i was invited to dinner with the Friday's caregroup at Sophia's restaurant. we had lots of pasta and pizza. although we only ordered 3 plates of big pasta and 2 large pizzas, the food still proved too much for the 17 or 18 of us there....we 'da pao' some food home. ivy was kind to let me take home 2 slices of pizza which i had for lunch today..haha!

dinner was great overall with the girls sitting beside me gossiping abt some stuff (oops!) and me painstakingly explaining y i was under the misperception tt serene and weng keet were a couple.lolx...in case they read this, coz "Both of u display a very natural affection for each other when u r both together".

after dinner, we adjourned to Glen waverly for some ice cream! yahhozz! i m so so so deprived of ice cream. having done a good job for the week, i decided to reward myself with a medium cup of ice cream with 3 flavours. dun ask me wat the flavours are coz i dunno...i just look at the colour and if they look enticing to me, i just choose them...haha!

imagine eating ice cream out in the cold...it's COOL AND CHILLING! this is the so called "chill-out"...lolx!

after ice cream, the 18 of us split our own ways. some went home, some went to continue their program for the nite, which is some mid nite prayer thingy...(caregroup= christians..). serene, rachel, sylvia, weng keet and myself stayed on at waverly for a movie...i have no idea wat the movie name is...since i wasnt the one who suggested watching the movie and oso coz i was not the one who bought the tickets and oso coz the movie for some reason did not display the movie title in the beginning as other movies would...the movie was abt some witchcraft though.

movie was supposed to be a horror film ...but i found it hilarious coz sylvia and serene who were sitting beside me were crouched like some kind of baby during scary scenes...they even let out screams at certain times of the movie...lolx! pretty nice movie though...though i only managed to only 100% comprehend wat the movie was about after some enlightenment from weng keet...haha!

yupz, tt sums up my friday nite outing. enjoyed it...now gotta get back to study coz i have a mid semester exam for Actuarial Statistics on Monday!!!! study study study...

It has become almost a stereotype that all lazy people are unsuccessful and to a certain extent, dumb...

well, i have come to see laziness in another way, thanks to my microecons lecturer.

we were having a lecture on production functions and came across the term "technological advancement". the lecturer, matt, then said something tt struck me hard.

"Laziness is the motivation for technological advancement. Laziness and greed are therefore good for us"

He explained that due to our laziness, people are motivated to invent some innovations to help us in our work. imagine a steel welder. having manually hammered steel for so long, he decided that it was a tiring and mundane job. he created a machine that replaced the physical hammering of steel. his job has now been reduced to pushing a button that will turn the machine on and hammer the steel on his behalf. he can have a cup of coffee and 'supervise' the machine. isnt tt great?

look around us. the cars we drive, the use of word processors, the more advanced cleaning equipment, packaged food tt so many students here in aussie buy....all these exist due to our laziness! lazy to walk, lazy to use the typewriter, lazy to clean, therefore we have a dishwasher, lazy to cook, so here comes packaged food.

so it has certainly been proven that many inventions that exist today are due to our laziness and that laziness can create great things...therefore, do not underestimate lazy people.....

as for me, i rather not be lazy...until i can invent my own clone tt will attend classes and do my exams on my behalf....lol

well, as expected, i DID NOT manage to get a scholarship here. (can hear my parents' hearts breaking...hopes dashed...lol). apparently, there seems to be some sort of quota in place, so some good students (like me!) are left out..sighz..

quite depressing to find out tt i have not been offered a scholarship, given my 3 high distinctions and 1 distinction results for the past 2 sems....average of above 80%. but then, i shall not cry as well. scholarships are not meant to be taken for granted . it's a bonus, not a should have. the only thing that pains me is that i think that the system is rather unfair. i wouldnt bother explaining y it is unfair coz i would be writing a 1000 word essay then..lolx! just kidding..but in my opinion, it's rather unfair.

monash malaysia is so much better in this aspect, a definite yes for scholarships should u perform well...things are not like this over here

below is an extract of the reply i got from the scholarship board...

There are currently no
more of these (Monash University International Scholarship for Excellence) available in 2005 and so unfortunately all scholarship offers have been made ( i did not receive any)However, they will again be available next year and continuing Monash students may be considered for it by the faculties, based on their academic performance (minimum 75% grade average) and the funding available to the faculty. No application is needed.

i've got a goal now....and m fighting for it, like i always have....

Courtesy from Jean, managed to click on her link to check my unofficial exam timetable.

ECC2010 INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS
25/10 morning paper (zzz...zzz....)

ECC2000 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS
3/11 morning paper (zzz...zzz...)

ETC2010 PRACTICAL ECONOMETRICS
7/11 morning paper (zzz...zzz...)

ETC2430 ACTUARIAL STATISTICS
10/11 morning paper (zzz...zzz...)

nb: (zzz...zzz...) = (sleepy jason...)

dun feel too much abt the timetable. used to this kind of timetable...maybe coz this timetable is the best i have so far? at least have breaks in between each paper..but such breaks can make or break u apart...depends on how i deal wif it...shouldnt be a prob though...
the only thing i dun like....my 1st paper is 25/10, which is the 2nd day of exams, which means...no study breaks in between!!!! stupid monash....strike against u oso no use...sighz...

after parking our cars, all of us started to change into our thicker winter
clothings...at the carpark...lolx!


grp of us waiting outside the ski shop...can u spot me? lolx! i have been
blocked


in the process of making snow man...at far right, jane and i (in brown)are
making the head....lolx


Rachel, Ian, jane, Slyvia, Jeffrey and me with our snowman!


Some grp pics

Having not eaten vege for a long time, i decided to cook one for myself. I bought some Kailan veg on sunday and cooked it last nite. it was a great success! haha! tasted very nice! no poorer than my mum's! lolx! so proud of myself...lolx!

p.s. this was cooked before i received the email from my mum teaching me how to cook a veg dish...i.e. i learnt to cook this dish myself from a recipe book..hahaha!

Hi mates! As I have not received the photos from my frens yet (think they r all busy for now…doesn’t mean I m free horz..lolx), I shall just post the pics that I have for the Mt. Buller Trip. Will post the remaining pics at a later date

On the 6th August, 25 of us gathered at the Halls of Residence at 3:30am. The reason why we met so early in the morning is to compensate for the time lost lest we lose our way. We rented 5 Toyata Camry s and the 5 drivers were assigned to pick us up from our homes. Unexpectedly, I overslept. I was supposed to wake up at 210am but I didn’t hear my alarm ring. Luckily for me, Rachel gave me a call at 3:15am and I had a change parade! I was in Ivy’s car by 3:30am.

We set off for Mt Buller from the Halls at 4am and the long journey began. Most of the passengers (including me) were sleeping throughout the journey. Poor drivers…lolx!

We arrived at a ski equipment rental shop at around 7am. We had to rent some equipment in order to get some chains for our cars. The purpose for the chains was to tie them to our car wheels should there be snow on the road as we drove up the mountain later. The chains would prevent the cars from skidding.

We had a brief breakfast at the town where we stopped before continuing our drive to mt. buller.

I took some photos along the highway as we drove the mountain. I was amazed by the green vast land and the animals grazing on the land. It somehow gives me a sense of peacefulness and joy within me, a world far away from the hectic and cruel reality.





The speed limit was ard 35km/h as the drivers battled driving the winding road up the mountain. I would call it a treacherous drive as there were no barricades along the roadside. Any mistake by the driver would cause the vehicle to plunge down the mountain. As we drove higher up, I finally saw snow for myself the 1st time! The snow covered the trees and the sides of the road. It was as though a White Xmas!





We finally arrived at the place and rented our ski equipment. Within an hour, we were taking the lift up the peak to begin our snow skiing. As usual, I was awed by the view that greeted my sight on the way up.

very cold and 'silent' on the way up...




Upon reaching the top, I immediately put my skis on. As soon as my skis were on, I began sliding down a minor slope which I had been standing on and oblivious to! I shouted to my frens asking how do I stop. Someone shouted back “Make a Vshape with ur skis!” true enough, I stopped. Having had a tiny scare, I took off my skis and walked…lolx

People in a snowy environemnt...the photo is not blur..visibility was like that then..lol


As we were too big a group, we were split into 2 groups for the 2 hour free coaching session by the ski staff.

the grp i was in! prepared to ski!


Jane, Ian and Richard


During the 2 hour session, we were taught simple drills that would enable us to ski, turn, brake and walk with our skis on. It was a session filled with laughter as some of us fell. Luckily for me, I did not fall during that 2 hours although there were certain occasions that I nearly fell. However, I cannot say the same after the 2 hour class.

in the process of braking after skiing down a slope...stylo tak? haha!


The guys challenged a slope that spanned about 200-300 metres shortly after the class. As expected for beginners, none of us made it once without falling at the beginning. The main problem was that we were going down too fast and therefore would tend to lose our balance. I thought of a strategy and I went up the slope again.

As I skied down the slope, when my speed became too fast, I turned to the left, then to the right, then to the left again…TADA! I made it down without falling!!!!!! The turnings that I made were intended to slow my speed down and maintain control and it worked out perfectly! Yahooz! However, that turned out to be the only successful ski down for me as I fell for successive attempts. The glad thing was tt there were guys who also finally made it down the slope when I shared the tip with them. One of them was Robby.

After lunch, Rachel, Ian, Christian, Jeffrey, Sylvia, Jane, Ivy, Chung wei, myself and some other ppl whom I cant remember now (sighz..lolx) adjourned to the beginners area to have a snow fight! Haha! It was really fun throwing snow at each other and trying to dodge them! We became more physical when we started to ‘smash’ snow directly onto the person himself! Haha! Jeffrey was very brave to pull off the beanie on my head and smashed one whole chunk of snow onto my head when I was unaware…he paid a very heavy price for that…muahahahaha!

After the exhausting snow fight, we built a snowman and took photos with it. Credits to jane for making our snowman look like a snowman! Haha! Will post the pics of our snowman when I receive them from Christian. I was absolutely elated as tt was the 1st snowman I have ever built!

As we were taking photos with the snowman, antonius came skiing up to us telling us that they had found a slope that was much longer, spacious, snowier and easier to ski than the one we had previously skied on. Apparently, the slope was named “Easiest”. Quite a no. of us hesitated as the slope was steeper and considering that we were beginners, were not confident of making it down safely. In the end, all of us skied down the slope, wanting to experience skiing for one last time and to make our money worth it.

True enough, I fell in every way possible. It was just too difficult to ski down. I tried doing my left and right turn strategy but somehow, the speed got just too fast that I could not turn my heel to change the direction. Therefore, I would keep turning in a certain direction and fall. I must highlight at this juncture that the location of falling and the position of landing are 2 different locations…get wat I mean? Lolx!

The longest distance that I managed to ski down without falling down was about 150-200 metres…not too bad an accomplishment I think. However, the last fall I had was the most serious and worst. After the fall, I had to walk up about 20 metres to collect my spectacles, my 2 skis, my 2 ski poles and the scarf that was originally around my neck. The fall was so bad that one of my skis was spoilt and I could not insert my right boot into the ski. I walked the remaining 100 metres down the slope. Luckily for me, I did not need to pay for the damaged skis…phewz!

Apparently, many people came back having injuries after skiing down that “Easiest” slope. Rachel sprained her thumb, Sylvia had bruises on her back, antonius sprained his neck muscle. I also had a small cut on my face and a small bruise on my left leg. (I am fine mum!). But the bottomline was, everybody returned safely and in one piece.

Well, that sort of wraps up my 1st experience with snow skiing. If u ask me whether I would wanna ski again, I would say YES! But under a professional’s supervision should I ski down a steep slope again. Haha! It was fun and I have no regrets!

my legs are a little aching now (not frm snow skiing..tt ache is over..). i played abt 2.5 hours of badminton on thursday night and played another 2 hours of table tennis last night. this shows tt i have been lacking exercise for the past years and that my stretching exercises are not thorough enough!lol

it's my 3rd time playing badminton in 3 weeks and i m so glad that it's becoming a weekly activity that i can look forward to. the same for table tennis (i joined the table tennis club 3 weeks ago..social sessions every friday night). i stopped playing these 2 sports for a long time (some couple of years..) due to lack of time and oso coz of bowling..and oso coz no one to play table tennis or badminton with..lolx! a whole bunch of reasons!

my passion for these 2 sports have been rekindled. i love the feeling of fast action on the badminton courts and the feeling of doing a top spin smash against my table tennis opponent.

although my badminton is still not good enough, i can sense that my skills are at least improving. getting more confident of my shots. but m still missing simple shots. perhaps too eager to return the shot...hmmz...and my service is a disaster! i must being my low serve training. i shall not serve any more high shots lest i get smashed back!

with regards to table tennis..the feeling is as though i m picking up from where i left off...the only problem i have now is that my reflexes are not fast enough...can only return about 40% of smashes...with regards to my skills and execution, still room for improvement, but not too bad...much better than my badminton skills! muahahahaz! played match games with 3 other frens (2 malaysians and an aussie)last nite...won 2 lost 1. not too bad considering that those 3 frens have been frequently playing table tennis for about a year. haha!

ok, after talking much about table tennis and badminton, time to talk about bowling. i m so so so missing bowling! sighz....miss the feeling of hooking my bowling ball, miss seeing the ball make a hook turn on the lanes, miss the feeling of the sound of the strike, miss the adrenaline rush when u start to string a series of strikes, miss the accompany of my bowling mates. but having said all these, it's time for me to bury the bowling memories i have in a part of my heart and time to create enjoyable moments for badminton and table tennis. cheers!

hahaha! i m so proud of myself! i managed to get my tagboard and links back! lolx!
i m not tt computer command illiterate at all!

big thanks to the blog "knowledge" section!

ok, shall now officially welcome u guys to my upgraded blog.lolx!

oh no...this is bad...i changed the template of my blog and guess wat...i lost all the links to my frens' blog addresses.

ehz, could u all please email me ur blog website please. thanks

wif regards to the message tag board, i have also lost it. i think i need jean's help in this area. in fact, i think i need her help for the tag board and how to create the links..coz i m quite (okz...very) computer command illiterate...sighz...

HELP !!!

Hi guys!
went to mt buller for snow skiing wif a grp of frens (25 in all) last sat. had lots of fun! and it was cold! a fren told me tt the temperature went down to at least a negative reading...coolz..

i will post a blog on this trip at a later date as i m still in the process of gathering all photos taken. i took some wif my cam while some pics were taken by my frens' cameras. so when i have gotten all the pics, i will post them up at 1 shot.

till then, take care!

cheers

rain and fire...get the link? well, most of u will definitely say no..lolx!
it's raining today! well, not as though it never rained b4 in melbourne, but the rain has caused the temperature to be very low. weather forecast today: low of 6degrees and high of 12 degrees. felt so much colder today than when i was at mt. dandenong.in fact, it's the coldest day i have experienced since coming to melbourne.

poor me walked under the rain with my small umbrella for class early this morning. arrived in wet socks and shoes, with a small amt of shivering. and as if the rain ha d not done enough damage, the fire alarm rang during one of my econs lectures.

all students had to evacuate the building and wait outside...in the freezing cold and in the rain drizzle! wat good timing....all i could do was shiver in the cold and watch each breath i took materialise into vapour...tt was the extent of the cold... we were allowed to return to the buidling after 15 agonising minutes...
(Jason ponders*: If it is raining, could the fire come from outside? hmmz...how abt inside? couldnt be...it's only a small building wif 7 lecture theatres only...there's no potential source of fire...tt means...it's only a DRILL! couldnt monash be more considerate and choose a 'warmer' time for the drill?!)

tt was my 2nd fire drill of the week! the 1st was on monday when i was in the middle of my prac econometrics lecture...seems that monash has been going on a drill spree as i had heard the same alarms ring in other buildings...just never thought tt i would be so fortunate to go thru it again..in harsher conditions...

kz..wat m i gonna do with my 5 hour break now? hmmz...W O R K!!!! since i will be going on a snow skiing trip this sat, i will have to compensate for the lost time by doing as much as i can till fri...but oso not tt much to do..but more than the last 2 weeks..hehez..received my 1st assignment (finally..) and will be working on it very very soon...muahahahahaaha!

cheers mates!

This was wat i cooked for dinner last nite...char siew chicken wif tomato wif egg. was very tasty!! haha! think this was the most filling home cooked dinner i have had so far! the char siew may not look like charsiew to some ppl (due to the colour and coz i was lazy to cut it into slices..), but it really tasted like char siew!
big thanks to my mum for the recipe and cooking tip! email me more good recipes if u can and if u dun want ur poor son to lose more weight... (haha! working towards a 65kg target...muahahahahaz)




p.s. not too sure if u guys can read the tag board on my blog. jean and i somehow cant read it as our coms fail to load it...let me know via email/comments section/msn ya? thanks