I've really got to update my blog on what's happening in my life, IT'S BEEN TOO LONG INDEED! (Thanks for the 'complaints', HEE! :D )

I'll update more on what happened last year and the beginning of this year, as for now, shift your attention to the next post, on my first week in Melbourne! :)

First Day in Melbourne University!

My first day was a Thrusday, the 18th and I woke up at 8am from a wonderful sleep induced by the awesome pub meal i had the last night (A huge beef steak, chicken parmigiana, calamari and lots of fries) and started getting ready to go to the university. I was planning to take the 8.35am train to the city which would give me enough time to catch a tram and reach the university on time at 9am, however, i found out that that particular train was cancelled and the next train would be 15 minutes later when i reach the station. Panic! Shock! I would be 15 minutes late on my first day!!! Then i decided to run back to the house and quickly get my dad to drive me there instead, since we still had my uncle's car. For a moment, i thought: 'PHEW! I could still reach there in time!' But the panic continued when we were out on the road and there were more (unusual) traffic jams, as if suddenly everybody in melbourne were heading towards the university! It was 10 minutes past 9 and i quickly rushed out of the car and ran towards the commerce faculty building…only to find out that they pushed the schedule back by half an hour and the first briefing won't start till 9.30am! O.o

I finally managed to catch my breath, lined up to collect my enrollment pack and entered the basement theatre for the international students' briefing. The basement theatre was so cool! It has a futuristic design with all the lights on the ceiling being like big keys on a keyboard and the overall feel is that the whole lecture theatre is a time warp machine (if you know what i mean, i'll try to get a photo of it soon). As i entered, i spotted Lin In, a JPA scholar and found that she was sitting with a few more familiar faces from Taylor's. It turned out to be Victor from A levels that i met some time back, Avinash, a Sime Darby scholar I met at the pre-departure briefing and Hafiz, another scholar not from Taylors. It was The briefing was so-so, informing me things that i already knew so we quickly left after that and i brought Victor and Nash around the university campus since they just arrived the day before. We walked out through the ICT building and headed towards the main university grounds. (A little background info: the new commerce faculty, is the latest building on the block and it's situated a block away from the main university grounds. It was completely built just a week ago and it's more impressive than Lakeside Campus and it has a facade with lots of spots hence the building is aptly called 'The Spot', i personally think it should be called Spotty, LOL!)

Back to my day, we were walking through the front entrance of the university (my first time actually) and we saw the huge garden and the old arts building with the clock tower in the distance and we all felt as if we were in Cambridge or Oxford, the truly AWESOME red brick and old school feeling of a university (it finally hit me that i am so lucky to be here, to study in this prestigious university and i can't wait for what is going to happen in the next three years! :D ) I continued bringing Victor and Nash around the university, showing them around and going to Wilson Hall where the welcome centre is, only to be turned down from collecting our student ID, diary and healthcare card because we have to enrol first. (Argh, i hate PROCEDURES!!!) We continued on to the phone shop and the bank to get a phone plan and open a bank account for themselves and after that, we met up with another friend from Victor's hometown of Ipoh, WaiYee (a Shell scholar, do you realize that almost all the Malaysians i meet in Melb U are SCHOLARS??!! It's so depressing that i am only on 'FAMA' scholarship! *Sighs*) and went for the engineering briefing in the old red brick engineering building. It was the same Malaysian professor who came to Taylor's during the Placement Day to talk about engineering in Melb U and he gave the same amusing talk about what we should expect in the engineering faculty and we all had a good laugh! Hahah! At the end of the talk, we were given a tour of the building, and all the labs and workspace were so modern and cool compared to the old facade of the building, it's really where old meets new! :) Next, our tummies were rumbling so we decided to grab a pizza at the Union House! It was AUD2.50 for a slice of pizza!!! (Can you imagine, it's RM7.50 for a thin crust slice of pizza??!! i still need to get used to ignoring the conversion rate! O.O) But we got a whole pizza for 10 bucks and shared, which was quite worth it! Yay! (A tip, always buy the whole pizza here in aus and share, it's much cheaper) :D

After a satisfying first lunch in the university, we headed back to the Spot to attend more talks on the commerce subjects like Accounting, Actuarial Science, Economics, Finance, Management & Marketing. We actually missed 90% of the Accounting talk cause we were not interested in boring accounting (no offense) and we were so awed with what the Actuarial Science lecturer had to say, but were discouraged when we were told of all the passion and mathematics that was required to pursue this super rewarding course! (I really hate mathematics but being an actuarial scientist is so cool and it's one of the most demanded high paying jobs) Next, judging by the fuzzy white-haired Econs lecturer, you can see that Economics is a really boring subject and it really dries the juice from life! This was followed by the best talk of the day, which is my favourite commerce field, Finance! The Finance guy was so witty and he kept on rubbishing the other commerce subjects and made the house roared with laughter! (A quote from him: "Many smart economists are always trying to find ways and regulations to save money, but they don't have money to begin with! You need very smart finance people like us to make the money today and run away with the cash!" LOL! )

Lastly, it was the Management & Marketing talk and it got me interested in probably taking up a elective in that to hone my management skills and gain entrepreneurial skills that would really be useful! After that, we met Kershia (Bank Negara scholar) and Yee Wen (JPA scholar) (MORE SCHOLARS! ARGH!) and went to register for an appointment for course advice the next day. After that, we all went down Swanston Street towards Big W and Woolworths (one of the supermarkets in Melbourne, the other two are Coles and Target) for groceries and home accessories shopping! :) I was leading them most of the day as they were quite new to Melbourne and i was already quite familiar with Melbourne and they called me the helpful 'GPS' throughout the day, ahahaha! XD

After the shopping, the rest went home, leaving me, wai yee and nash. So we continue walking down Swanston Street (this street is like the main street that i will be walking up and down for many times in the next three years cause it's starts at the university, goes through Melbourne Central, all the shopping areas, makan areas, Chinatown, hotels and ends up in Federation Square and Flinders Street station, which is a landmark that is always used to portray Melbourne), up Chinatown street and continue exploring the place looking for cheap eats. But in the end, we settle for this sandwich and wrap that served schnitzel (german for thin slices of meat covered in bread crumbs and fried), it wasn't that fantastic but it was still a nice meal after all (not taking into account the price, i have to stop eating out and eat at home everyday! no money!). Finally after a day of briefing, walking, talks, walking, shopping and more walking, we finally made our way home. We walked all the way back up Swanston Street (it's a very very long street), said goodbye to nash who is staying in a hotel with his parents halfway up Swanston and then i continued walking with Wai Yee back to her place, which is College Square, a nice accommodation right opposite the university. I went up to have a look, said hi to her roommate, Lauren and said goodbye and head back home. Phew, what a long and eventful day! That's it for my first day in Melbourne Uni! Stay tuned for more! :D

A summing up of a getaway trip that I was supposed to do...five months ago

Hey peeps! I admit that I am a terrible blogger and some of you have been waiting for updates for my blog for like ages! Many sincere apologies and I'm really sorry! Now, let me sum up the getaway trip to the tiny little red dot in June with some photos and let the photos do the 'talking' since this was some time ago and I really can't remember everything that happened. Many thanks to the anonymous person who said that 'a picture can tell a thousand words', hahahaha!

Had dinner at Thai Express with my two best Thai friends

Group photo with Thai besties! :)

Me, Happy with the getaway trip and Mcflurries!

My two wonderful Thai girl friends again!

My two buddies from high school and beers (we are legal already, haha!)

What's with the smug face, LiYuan?

Me and Victor, my best buddy and gracious host while I was in Singapore

Some of my Malaysian juniors at the hostel canteen: Ravjit, Aaron and Carey

Here's Nicholas, another junior with his laptop and the SAJC polo tee. Go SA! XD

Had sushi buffet at Sakai Sushi with Liyuan, my gastronomic 'partner in crime'

Played 7 rounds of bowling with my old bowling buddy, Shafiq (Can you imagine our bruised thumbs? Haha)

A random shot of the tree in the middle of my old hostel

My best gal friend, Denise and I at Aston's (the wonderful Western food place with excellent prices)

Our Western meals at Astons, simply sumptious! :P

A group photo with my Malaysian girl friends, Ruth and Denise after a night of good food and shopping

Clarke Quay at night with my Hokkaido ice cream

Victor again, at Starbucks

Look at the number of cuppa of coffees we had at Starbucks! (We felt rich that day, hahaha!)

And finally, the bus ride home.... Not really looking forward to the second half of the busy and hectic college life that was about to come :(

But all in all, it was a very satisfying and wonderful one week in Singapore that left me refreshed and happy again! :D

*There were many other friends that I met and places that I went to during the one week, but there were no photos, only memories that I shall keep! Now, I finally summed up this trip, time for my next post! :P

Day 2: Back to college and Meet-the-juniors Day

"Eric! You got to wake up! You got a nice treat waiting for you!!!"

I reluctantly got up, got change and caught a bus to Orchard Road. Headed to Elizabeth Hotel behind Paragon where my good friend, Nick was waiting for me to go for a buffet breakfast at his hotel. It's been ages since I last ate a nice Continental buffet breakfast at a hotel and the best part of all - BACON STRIPS!!! (You can't get bacon in Malaysia because of ... You-know-whos) I ate to my heart's content and it was just superb!!! Thanks Nick! *Thumbs up and gleeful smile*

After breakfast, I made my way to Boon Keng MRT, where I changed into my old school pants and a Saints tee and waited for my friends to take the MRT to Potong Pasir. It's been half a year since I left St Andrew's Junior College, but it felt so good 'to be home' and feel part of the Saints family again, it's an indescribable feeling that only a fellow Saint will understand. Soon, I was walking through the familiar corridors again, and met a few friends and lecturers who were shocked and happy at the same time to see me again, we talked a bit and it felt as if it was just yesterday that I left St Andrews. I continue to meet a lot of familiar faces and finally, I made my way to the classroom where my ex-class was having their tutorial. Didn't want to disturb them in the first place, but they spotted me and told Mrs Cheng (my ex-Chemistry lecturer) that 'Eric's outside!!Look, look!!'. So I went in, sat down and joined my ex-classmates for a tutorial session and a Chemistry lecture in the Cultural Centre later on. I blended in with my old cohort of JC peers, took out my non-existent notes and experienced a routine lecture in JC. (I know it sounds funny, but I really do miss those lectures and tutorials that I used to fall asleep in last year. Should have paid more attention and stayed on, but that's too late now..sighs)

After the tiring lecture, I made my way to the Cafe (it's pronounced 'Caf' by Saints) where I enjoyed a lychee milk ice blended drink (it's really milky and heavenly, my usual drink in SA last time) and catch up on old times with my ex-classmates and friends who were also there. It was really nice seeing my fellow Saints again, and I was accompanied by a good friend of mine from student council, XinYing, as I was leaving college and heading towards the MRT to go back to my old hostel. She was telling all the things that happened in council and college while I was gone and it was also lovely talking with her again, just like old times.

Back in the hostel, most of JC2 peers were still in college, but my old roommate and good buddy, Ricky was there to chill with me in the hostel canteen and introduced me to our Malaysian juniors who were also in the canteen. I met Ravjit, Aaron, Carey, Caesar, Nicholas, Adelyn and Shao Wen. (Hope I didn't leave anybody's name out)

We (my newly acquainted juniors and I) continued chilling out in the canteen until night fall (it's amazing how you can just sit there and chat and stare at things until the time passes by so fast) and then, we decided to grab some food. First, we took a peek at the hostel food (if you have stayed in the reputably bad hostel of mine, you would have known that the food sucks so bad that you would rather die of hunger than eat the food, literally) and then we decided to go where all Malaysians love to hang out! (Let me give you a clue, it's starts with 'M', LOL!)

We went to this old Mamak joint near the hostel called Yassin and fluently ordered our roti prata and teh tariks in Malay (because we are proud to call ourselves 'anak Malaysia'! even though you know how bad our G_V_R_M_N_ treats us XD), we had a ball of a time talking and laughing about all things Malaysia and also how college and school life is so different as compared to Malaysia until it was close to curfew time and my juniors and i needed to go back to have some shut eye. It was an eventful day, nonetheless, and this is where i shall end. More to come! Nitez! :)

*Point to note: The Roti Canai as we know it is called Roti Prata in Singapore and it's more buttery than our Malaysian one. The Singaporeans have no clue as to what is roti canai and there is no point in trying to explain it to them, so just give Singaporeans some glory in their 'national food' and call it Roti Prata the next time you're in Singapore!

My First Blog Post in a Long, Long Time

My blog has been stagnant and considered 'closed' for a very very long time and I never had the time nor the drive to restart my blog (I know it's a bad excuse)And today, on the first day of June, a brand new day in a brand new month in the middle of the year, I shall 'reopen my blog for business'. I don't know why I have this feeling, but the 1st of June feels like a significant day to me to blog again, an important time for me to reflect upon the half a year that has passed by in a blink of an eye ; to reflect on how much and how well have I accomplished my goals set for this year and either continue motivating myself or giving myself a big slap on the face, to 'wake me up'!However, before i dwell into that reflection of the past half year (I'm procrastinating again...sighs...got to change this bad habit of mine!), do allow me to have a small opening ceremony to officiate and resume this personal blog of mine!

*DRUMROLLS*

Eric's Window of the World is officially reopened!!!



As for the content of my first blog post in a long, long time, I would like to write about the first day of my holiday trip down to that tiny little red dot at the bottom of the Malaysian Peninsular
---Singapore.

I arrived at Singapore at 5am in the morning after taking a midnight bus that sped through the North-South Highway like mad, thinking I could fully utilise my holiday time in Singapore. But, to my disappointment, I was trapped outside the locked down Harbourfront MRT station as the first train to leave the station was only at 6 in the morning! Hence, an hour of wasting my time away and chit chatting with strangers who were trapped with me and didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices of taking a taxi home.



Finally, the long awaited 6am came and I rushed to the station to topped up the value in my Ezlink card (similar to the Touch n' Go card) and I was off to roam the Singapore that was my 'home' for the past 5 years.

First stop: My good friend, Victor's house. Reached his house at 7am in the morning and settled down as I would be staying there for the next few days, had a simple breakfast in his dining area and catch up on our life's happenings so far.

Then, I was off to Orchard Road to meet up with Nicholas, my classmate from Taylors, who so happened was in Singapore for holidays with his family. Since it was his first time in Singapore, I did what I do best and brought him around Singapore on a half day tour as his free tour guide (Hey! There's nothing like a free lunch nowadays...So Nick, I guess you know what to do then...Hahaha).

Took him on a double decker bus ride which gave us a clear view of the city as the bus went through downtown Singapore, and did my usual tour-guide-kind-of-explanation about Singapore (The Singapore Tourism Board should pay me for being their free ambassador!), went to a hawker centre in the heartland for a simple hawker fare, went to Vivocity at the Southern tip of Singapore (the LARGEST shopping centre in Singapore)(Which is only one and a half the size of a football field, not that BIG actually)


Bought chocolates and nice candies at my favourite shop there, Candy Empire (imagine, stacks and stacks of chocs and candy spreaded all over the shop, with discounts!)



From there, we went back to the centre of the island where Plaza Singapura (a hotspot with many students and youngsters) is located and toured around even more.

And then, it was time for.....LUNCH!

We went to this favourite restaurant of mine called Aston's in the Cathay Cinneplex Building where the chicken chops and Western cuisine is awesome and never fails to impress my taste buds and my wallet :D

After completing this half day tour with Nick, we went our separate ways and I headed for the hostel that I lived in last year. Coming out of Boon Keng MRT and walking through that very familiar pathway to Mcnair Lodge, the nostalgic past of the good ol' times last year came flooding back to my mind...Met the same old guard and hostel manager, talked them into allowing me to enter Mcnair again...

Ahh...The wonderful memories I had there, had the funnest time of my life there so far, and i got to relive it all today, by meeting up and chatting with all my scholar friends and peers (All shocked to hear familiar thunderous laughther of mine and actually see me sitting there in the canteen after my half a year absence) and having a fun game of Murderer and Captain's Ball by the pool. Never had so much FUN and EXERCISE in a LONG, LONG TIME!

Tasted the sucky hostel food and went out to Carl's Jr to indulge in gastronomical delight with a senior friend, Chen Kim who so happened was in Singapore too. It's been ages since I last ate a Carl's Jr meal and it was simply lips-smacking delicious to me...Mmm mm!

Finally made my way back to Victor's house to have a good rest. A big thanks to Victor and his family for their friendly and warm hospitality, allowing me to stay in before I join my mates and nice juniors (that i just had the privilege to know today and want to get to know more) on wednesday.

Alright people, it's been a very tiring yet fulfilling first day on my one week Singapore getaway holiday. Hope the remaining six days will be as fun as today! :D