"Regret is a very easy word to spell, yet it is one of the most heartwrenching

experiences one has to bear...."

went to the 12 Apostles on the 2nd day my parents arrived here in aussie (Sat). i must say tt it was a long and tiring drive. driving from melbourne to Geelong and from Geelong to Torquay and from Torquay to the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road was about 4 hours. i was my dad's navigator...looking at the map and directing him when he needed directions...strainful on the eyes though..lolx!

anwyayz, it was a long but rewarding drive as we were treated to the wonders of nature and humbled by the magnificience of mother nature. we r really weak in the prescence of nature's fury. kz, took many many photos (31 in all). therefore, will only show some...enjoy. will post pics of other trips some other time (and if i have the mood/time..lolx)...













this photo is especially for jacqualine...MUAHAHAHAHAZ!

i was saying to my econs tutor "Do unto others as you would others do unto you."

My tutor replied "Wrong. Do unto others BEFORE others do unto you."

Period....

I was so estatic when Jun Wei gave me 2 boxes of kueys! malaysian traditional kueys! really brightened up my day! thanks u so much jun wei! u r such a wonderful and generous gal! haha!

the kueys tasted really nice! could sense the malaysian taste...a taste of family, a taste of familiarity...i shall share this blessing wif my housemates tonite...haha!

thanks again jun wei!

as part of our celebration for the mid autumn festival, my housemates and i made dumplings...a lot of dumplings..well, actually, it was supposed to be today but the girls decided to have it yesterday..haha! too excited to cook for me...lolx!

yea, so as usual, the girls were responsible for preparing all the necessary ingredients while i had the easy job of peeling garlic...haha! oh ya, when the girls had dificulty in shredding the raddish, they asked me to help them since i have more strength than them..lolx!

we were in the midst of preparing when suddenly, there was a power outage! my 1st thought "OMG! this cant be happening...power outages back in malaysia, power outage in aussie?! common', u gotta be kidding.."

went to check the main switch..it was on...but there was no electricity...walked onto the streets and soon, i saw ppl walking out of their homes...

i asked one resident "Hey mate! is there electricity in your home?"

"No, the tree has fallen and landed on the power cable..." (points at a tree a few houses away from mine...

the tree was uprooted (due to the strong winds...and i do mean very strong winds) and was literally leaning against the suspended electric cables....impressive isnt it? so went back to the house and waited for the electricity to be restored...unlike malaysia, power was restored in less than an hour....not bad...

anywayz, back to the dumpling, i actually made my first dumplings! haha! stella taught me how to wrap the fillings and fold them...quite cool..but too bad i do not have a talent in cooking, so my dumplings look like fans...lolx! but was realli fun!
never had the chance to make any before...was really a cool experience!

think we made about more than a hundred dumplings...coz there is still so much leftover in the fridge despite eating a lot yesterday! haha! had some for my lunch just now...hehez!

here r some photos taken...not too many taken since i was busy making dumplings as well..haha!

dumplings ready to be cooked!

in the midst of preparation

Stella and john

Ting folding the dumpling

cooking the dumplings

yumilicious!

UFO dumplings....

mid sem break is just after next week and yet i feel that the pace of uni is getting faster..and harder....have no idea...i remembered last yr at this pt, i would have switched to low gear and start to countdown to the break...

at this very moment, i have 3 assignments on hand..1 is due next fri and things are not looking too good.

i had initially completed abt 75% of the assignment. but after hearing some pointers the tutor gave this morning (Fri morning), i realised tt i had answered about 50% of the assignment only. more was expected...more depth was required...shocked i was, but expected i did...monash malaysia stats assignment standard is not as high as here...it's not just explaining the facts.. u have gotta go into the theoretical explanation as well.

i spent the fri afternoon improving my assignment and when i tot i had done a good job, horror struck...my data is incomplete! for the latter part of the assignment, i m supposed to have 474 data observations, but my data analysis had only 435..the remaining data had gotten lost while highlighting and copying them here and there...sighz...gotta redo 1 whole qn and a small part of another qn...which means i had to delete all the answers i had painstakingly written out since they were based on incomplete data...sighz...

to make matters worse, i can only continue on monday since i dun have the computer software to analyse the data and since the business com labs dun open on sat (i think..checking it out tml..)

things may sound awkful, but i m not too worried...coz i know i m still on schedule. it's just tt i m putting a lot of pressure on myself to complete the other assignments i have on hand as soon as possible so tt i can enjoy my break and oso to focus on studying for the exams instead of being tied down by these assignments at the closing stages of the semester...

this weekend is gonna be crucial to me....pray for me...

when the going gets tough, the tough gets going....i m on the go!!!

Been infactuated with this song lately. It's a single word title, "ling" which means zero in chinese. the lyrics somehow connect to my thoughts..dunno y...just some kind of invisibe link tt resonates with my heart...hmmz..the lyrics are chinese, if u cant read them, right click on ur mouse, click on encoding and change to Chinese (Big 5 or traditional or something like tt...just make sure it's chinese). If still cant read, then sorry lorz...u can scroll down the blog and read my brief explanation of the song..enjoy! (p.s. i m not too confident of explaining, i m just interpreting in a way tt seems to be the way i think it is...)

零

从来不相信我的世界可以有多完美
痛苦　寂寞　还有一些疲惫
不允许它人随意进入我的零度空间
宁愿　孤独　懒的再去想谁

俩个人一起是否只是得到一种安慰
挣脱　过去　然后忘记一切
没想过有天我的结局忽然全部改变
谁会　抓住　我的无力双臂

怎么　会哭
(谁错谁对　为谁抱歉)
不会　再哭
(谁错谁对　为谁憔悴)

走入零度空间　等到一切分裂
就算爱的危险　我们一起面对
来不及的防备　没听过的誓言
要我怎么学会　多了爱的明天

走出零度空间　终于一切分裂
就算爱的很累　我却不会后悔
放下所有防备　一切都无所谓
逃出黑暗世界　开始新的明天


The 4 words tt appear often is 零度空间, "ling du kong jian". A direct translation would be zero degree space. In chinese, there isnt a term called ling du kong jian. but after taking the whole song into consideration, my best guess of the meaning is "Your personal sacred space that is not influenced by any external forces".

The 1st para of the song mentions of the writer's skeptical view of the world. He prefers to be lonely, marginalised and not be interferred. He explicitly makes it known tt he has no intention of letting anyone enter his sacred space (ling du kong jian).

IN the 2nd para, the writer questions whether couples are together just for consolation/healing. Consolation/healing because lovers can try to forget about their unpleasant past and try to start anew with their new partners. The writer experiences an unexpected change in his life and needs someone to support his feeble shoulders.

The writer unexpectedly cries in the 3rd para...he insists of not crying anymore.

The chorus is the tough part to explain now...but i shall try my best. (bear in mind tt i m interpreting it in the way i deem it to be. it may be right or wrong...too bad i dunno the writer..lolx)

The 3rd para: When the writer finally allows his partner to enter his ling du kong jian, everything looks set to break apart. Despite the danger or obstacles their love may face, they are prepared to deal with them together. however, the writer is unprepared and does not know how to deal with a tomorrow that suddenly has love and promises.

The 4th para: When the couple walks out of the ling du kong jian, everything finally breaks apart. The writer does not regret loving his partner despite his energy being drained away. The writer learns how to let go of everything, leaves the world of darkness to a bright tomorrow.

yupz, tt;s the whole gist of the song. besides the lyrics, the other thing tt strikes me is the tune of the song. u can sense the suppression and arrogance of the writer initally (the tune is soft in the beginning). during the chorus (the rock music comes in), u can suddenly feel the adrenaline rush when the writer suddenly yearns to retaliate, get out and start out life anew...

hope tt u enjoyed it. just doing somethings i like in my free time...reading lyrics..lolx

Looking out of my window, pink petals scatter the backyard of my house. Ahz, the tree has blossomed. what bright flowers that greet my sight. 7 days was what it took for nature to do its magic. yet i failed to reciprocate nature's magical show...

Looking out of my window, the rain clouds have come and gone. rain drops fall from time to time. sunshine seems to be playing hide and seek. unpredictable, people say. so unpredictable like the weather. arent i like tt too i wonder? unpredictable thoughts, unpredictable words, unpredictable actions, unpredictable habits, unpredictable character.... an unpredictable destiny.

Looking out of my window, Ahz, the rain clouds have gone. the sun is out. the clouds are moving to my east. when will they stop? they never stop.just like us, we never stop. the world is revolving me everyday. just like the world revolves the sun. just like people revolve around you.....without you realising.

Looking out of my window, indulging in my favourite music, letting my thoughts wander in the sky, i enjoy this feeling. i am still here....where will i be? where would u be? where would we be?

goodbye to all my mid sem tests! they r all over! yeaz! so happy! no need to study so much now...well, not as though i have been studying much either...lolx! can slacken a tiny winy bit now...

just had my intermediate macro econs test. the essay qns were not too bad, had expected the kind of questions tt were set..well basically, coz those were the only content that was worth writing an essay! lolx!

mcqs were a little tricky though...some qns were a little ambiguous due to the wording of the question, which led me to ask myself "Are u asking for the short run or the medium run? or r u asking for both?" or maybe, the question was supposed to be a simple one but i think too much...sighz...wat to do? i m just like tt...have a complex mind....hard to phantom...MUAHAHAHAZ!

i gotta start on my assignment liaoz...received one last week but have not even downloaded the data (stats subj)...just read thru the questions...A LOT OF ANALYSIS TO BE DONE! ahzz...gotta take a lot of time liaoz...things not made better when i have to do the whole assignment in uni coz only the uni com lab has the program to analyse the data...

actuarial stats lecturer said he's gonna give the assignment out tml....sighz...yet another assignment to do....so i have 2 to do! but i m not too worried abt it..haha! got plenty of time to complete them...just need to plan well...yes ppl, PLAN!!!

tt's all for now...tata, sayonara!

Being curious in what tennis is all about, i joined thomas this morning for a 1 hour tennis coaching lesson provided by Sam's Tennis. yupz, sam conducts a tennis coaching club since it has an ABN no. in the information sheet. btw, thomas has experience in tennis and is an intermediate player, that's y i accepted his suggestion to join him today and experience tennis.

i must say that i really had a great time at tennis today. firstly, there were only 3 of us this morning, including thomas and i, therefore we had very close attention by the coach. The weather was fine too! although i was just wearing a t shirt and a knee length pants, i did not feel cold at all. i just felt cool and comfortable with the temperature.

The coach taught me how to grip the tennis racket and we went thru the forehand, backhand, volleys, smashes and serves. It's been a long time since i perspired immensely, so i must admit the running i had today was great exercise! Being just a beginner player, i was not too good at first. but i slowly grapsed the technique and could hit the ball well and low with my forehand and backhand. i just need to have the 'elegance' and correct 'style' to hit the ball back. thomas said tt my backhand was good but for my forehand, i tended to shift my body weight backwards instead of forward.

my serves were a disaster as i could not even toss the ball up properly! i tended to throw the ball backwards due to releasing the ball late. the coach then asked me to put my racket on the ground just beside my left foot and told me tt when i throw the ball up, it should land on the racket. guess wat, of abt 10 throws, only abt 2-3 balls did hit the racket. the rest were haywire! but still, i managed to have a couple of decent serves. i must admit i never thought i could actually serve a tennis ball!

today's lesson was just a trial run, an experience for me to decide whether i want to attend formal lessons. while, sam is conducting a beginners class with 4 lessons in sept and is charging $40. m thinking abt it. thomas will be joining the intermediate lesson and he's gonna join the monash tennis club, since in my opinion, he plays quite well. i sort of like tennis (since thomas praised me tt i was good today given tt i m just a beginner...lolx). but i m rather lost in whether i m gonna take it up as a serious sport.

m currently playing badminton and table tennis, will most prob continue with my swimming when my parents bring my swimming trunks over...dun think i can play tt much sports...think i have to give up one...somehow i think it's gonna be table tennis...wanna try something new...

need time...time to think...

It wouldnt be an understatement to say that, had the news channel not mentioned the country, you wouldnt have believed the gruesome images u r seeing on tv are actually from Unites States of America, the strongest and wealthiest country in the world. Yes, I m referring to the widespread damage Hurricane Katrina has done to New Orleans.

We have watched Hollywood movies such as Day After Tomorrow that featured USA being attacked by some global catastrophic event and being able to recover from it as one strong country. Guess what, movies and reality are opposite sides of the coin after all.

If u remembered the last part of Day After Tomorrow where there were many choppers flying into New York to rescue those survivers who managed to ride out the cold, those choppers were visibly non-existent in New Orleans. Where are they? People in New Orleans are standing on top of their roofs, waiting for helicopter rescue as they would expect from the movies. Their endless waiting is a tight slap to their faces. Time to wake up...sad to say.

When asked why the rescue efforts were so slow, Bush replied that they have sent all the helicopters, ships, boats and buses, except tt "It takes time to float there" He said it with a smile on his face, intending it to be a joke. My response "yea rite..." It has been 3 days since the people of New Orleans were told that they would be rescued out of New Orleans, do buses, boats, ships and helocopters need more than 3 days to get there? What are they running on? 1900s engines?

What pains me was to watch news images and hear the survivers outside the New Orleans convention centre, shouting in unison " HELP! HELP! HELP!" and "WE NEED HELP!" It is ironic to see the USA, having tried to help other countries adopt democracy, to be unable to help their own kind. It's sad, real sad. What we are seeing today is a 3rd world USA, collapsed.

If you think that i m being anti-american, i m not. i feel the pain, no less the pain i felt for the victims of the Tsunami last year. I m being frustrated and hurt that our own kind are having to put up with no water and food. Images of the elderly, babies, the sick and the injured, all being unattended to. it's everyone for himself.

The image that stuck me most was an elderly man laying on a grass patch, struggling to get himself up, only to feebly lay back down again. His face was as white as a sheet, with his lips shaking at the ends. As the news reporter said "It was as though he was taking his last breath". My tears nearly flowed out upon seeing that image.

I have always thought that Americans would stand together in adversity. I was wrong, utterly wrong. Survival is the ultimate goal. Being deprived of food and portable water, people have resorted to looting, robbery and stealing. For some reason, I dont blame them. They need to survive! They are not receiving any food or water from the rescue teams! However, they now have to fend against the National guards who have been given the authority to shoot and kill any looters. The people are simply driven to desperation. It's only a matter of time before the ferocious beast in mankind is unleashed.

Or perhaps man's innate evil has surfaced. If not, how does one explain the rampant rapes and murders that are going on? New Orleans has plunged into a state of turmoil, devastation and utter physical and moral degradation.

I am scared. This event has shown that the strongest country in the world, having been prosperous for a long period of time, is unable to cope with disaster. Would I be able to tackle such a calamity should one befall on us all? I dare not imagine. For if it does happen, I m scared that even if i survive the calamity, I may not survive against our own kind, mankind...

Hi guys! My internet connection is officially operational. my online days are finally back!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAZ!

Anyone that has skype and wants to talk to me can add me. my user name is jaszu85 . so see ya around then!