Friday, August 26, 2011

The tea cupboard.

The one so fondly remembered. The one poink and i used to sneak into to make ourselves warm cups of tea in the wee early hours of the morning was still there.

It still held the tea leaves.

Steady old tea cupboard.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Takeaway oxymorons.

You don't have to be drunk. but high enough to know who you are, be brave enough to pursue it...




And recognize it stupid to go out with only a windbreaker on a winter's night.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011


Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.
All your life,
you were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird, fly.
Blackbird, fly.

Into the light of the dark black night.

Monday, August 08, 2011


Another bout of cold turkey. I feel like so many metaphors.

Like in a rehabilitation against drugs. Or worse yet.. Like a werewolf unwilling to morph into this strange, ugly creature when the night creeps by.

Waves of calmness surges through me every once in a while and I get awed by the power of it. These surges comes in more often now.. But when the "addiction" kicks in, it's stronger too. It's like each night u gotta let this amount out. If u keep it in too much in the day, it bites harder at night. I Rrmember. And then fall aslp, dream of these ridiculous dreams and wake up with "sinuses."

So cold turkey feels like this.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

什么是话?

So much so the eyes can't open and the head lays heavy.
And the rays sting and the breath musty.

it's the weekend.

Jlim and Lisa brought me to many markets and through an unofficial walking tour around circular quay yesterday. Many picture perfect opportunities. Beautiful skyline. and jlim knew lotsa history that made most landmark even more prominent. Trick is to remember everything he shared though. Heh.

We headed home after to rest before Lisa and I made tortillas for dinner (thank god for yellowstone!) while justin set up inception.

Subconsciously, they lost me half way into the movie. And consciously, I was an empty shell some 30 mins into the next French movie.

Only thing I could remember was the massive shivering bout I had on the walk back to the room. Weather is forecasted to turn wet and cold next week. Shit.

Its been one of the most preculious trip I've ever had:

1) kettle died day two
2) router died day three
3) heater died day four
4) day 7 laptop died
5) day 8 camera broke
6) day 9 all phone contacts mysteriously disappeared!
7) day 8.5 so did the lady.

They say bad luck comes in threes. Mine came in 2 sets of threes. Plus one.

There should be a cap on these things.

Phone call home yesterday's yesterday was very emotional.

U know how I always feel like we're closer whenever I'm away? Same again.

But this time, i was also feeling bad because Ah ma was very emo. After asking and saying the same things over again, she stunned me with a " ah ma 很想你. " and asked at least five times if I could go back sooner.

Ah ma always feels like ah ma only when I'm far away. She asks the right qns that most ppl won't ask/realize. Well, Maybe it's also because she's well travelled herself.. But her care seems genuine whenever I'm away.

It was interesting talking to jlim n Lisa over coffee-slash-tea yesterday. He has grown into a fine man. We introduced Lisa to the Singapore culture and it was really noteworthy to see Justin being able to quote housing and car prices in Singapore. Beyond that, he was able to compare the lifestyles of both Singapore n Australia and point out how that affects our differences in culture. It really isn't that a big a deal knowing all these.. But it's the way he put it that made it beautiful. (and impressive to the girl.)

The art of communication. Never my cuppa tea.

Lisa was great as well. She was very acceptive to what we're saying and she was playing a very good host.

I just wish I could talk better so I get to understand their lifestyle here as well. But lately, I've been choking up more than I did before n tt's not good. Note to self: overcome this before heading back.

Jlim n Lisa often reminds me of charlene n xie. Same same. Minus xie's drama bimbo moments.

Maybe because everyone of them knows what they want in life. And their purpose is to primarily strive towards what they want and to complement each other and be genuinely supportive of each other.. That's why they are so similar.

Jlim resigned 2 days ago. Whilst driving, I overheard him telling Lisa about his dreams and his path thr. There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice when he said that though.. Like a small amt of dejection. Lisa must've felt it as well as she started comforting and assuring him that he's gonna be fine. I know and he knows he's gonna be fine too. Guess he just needed to mourn a little. I only had the chance.. And voice to ask him yesterday if he was worried abt losing his job. He said he was more excited than sad. It's his one step closer to his ideal job.

What an opportunist. What a learning point.

Think I've got what it takes? :

1) kettle spoil? Now everyone knows we gotta PUSH THE TOP IN before boiling the water. Kettle works fine ever since.
2) router crashed? New router! Wei had been complaining abt their router since before I stepped into their house anyway. And wifi is stable now.
3) heater - bought one replacement and lugged it alllll the way back. Now I'm more than just a freeloader.
4) laptop - learnt that it might be cheaper getting a mac here. Mum gave the ok. Might be gg home with a new toy!
5) jlim lent me his cheap cam for now. And his defn of a cheap cam is a canon 400d.
6) lose thy chains.
7) ... new gf? Independence. Grenade.

Heh. Worth a shot.

This trip lacks some hands on adventure.

I get knocked down,
But I get up again.
You're never gonna keep me down!
(and everybody hits me down?)


Ps, you seriously confuse the crap outta me.

Friday, August 05, 2011

Barf barf puke barf. Blweh.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

A darker shade of grey.

On the ferry to manly. After yesterday's leg and shoulder painful walk through e city, I've decided to ditch the crumpler bag and adopt a more tourist look of carrying my backpack. Wei couldn't stop laughing at how I was yelling 'tourist!' just by appearance alone but I didn't think too much of it until I caught a glimpse of my own reflection on a glass door........ Zomg.

But it's only day 5! I'm not hurting my back so early into the trip. Sigh. price u gotta pay for carrying a dslr.

The sun's bright out today. Perfect day for the beach. Wei and I went to the city for some mediterranean breakfast. For her at least. I stuck to the traditional scrambled eggs and toast since I didn't understand half the menu. We took a short walk to another cafe for tea and coffee thereafter before she headed off for school while i made my way to circular quay.

It's one of those wake-up-feel-like-shit days today. But wei's suggestion of sitting in the sun for some drinks helped. Right now I'm enjoying the light, heat, breeze and fresh air. Which makes diving really tempting.

Fast forward. Done with manly. Initial thoughts? Nothing compared to bondi. It was smaller, the beach smelt of ECP and was littered with seaweed. The seagulls were bold and fish n chips friendly. All in all, nothing Spectacular. but you see, i had to make my $17 fast ferry ticket there worth it so I took off my shoes and started walking along the shores.. TWICE! Namely because I realized I lost my lens cap halfway through e first walk. Probably would be smarter of me to pee before stepping into the water but still, the walk was nice. Comforting. Love beaches. Sun n sea.

Manly itself was like a mini coybow town. Somewhat like Jackson Hole where the five of us used to go to on our off days at yellowstone, only without the cowboys. They had more souvenir stores than what I expected Chinatown to have but the things they have were pretty repetative.

Made my way back for dinner after docking at circular quay. Dua Kim cooked steak today and it was SO good. Medium rare finished with mushrooms, potatoes and a huge bowl of salad. Yum.

Its been only less than a wk here but it alrdy seems like a long time. It's official now. I only like days. The sun makes the cold air just cool. And I enjoy walking to the train station every morning. It's about a 10 min walk.. Ok, maybe 15 for my legs but regardless of how I feel when I wake up, the walk plus the radio channel I listen to blends together to give a very hopeful and powerful sensation.

The same walk many many hours later, though, brings about an opposite emotion. The night gives a sense of hopelessness. And the winter amplifies it.

I don't like that.

So it's hard to say if I'm enjoying or not enjoying my trip so far. I hate how I feel every morn when I wake up, I feel excited (albeit tired!) for the day's adventure when I head out and it gets blue when night falls. Some would say it's a fair mix, no? Well i dont know. Like it when i like it, dont hate it when i dont like it. And we learn smth new everyday eh?

Regardless though, I'm alrdy here so I have to brave on the days and deal with it. It definitely isn't a wasted trip though. I still think it's an experience travelling ard and I did want to put myself to e test so.. Haha. It's the winter la. Gung Ho only.

It's day 6. (wah Liao, one post 3 days.) And I still don't like how it felt when I woke up.

So I'll leave you with a quote:

Focus not on what you don't have but on what you have.

Oh emo hour.

Have a gd day mate!

Oz 1024hrs.

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Wanted to put pictures but been too lazy..

It's freezing today!

The thermometer read 13 degrees and e Internet casted a 19 degree but wei and I both agreed that something must be wrong with the reads as we found ourselves hiding behind 2 layers of blankets. Well, 2 for me at least (up to my ears!) and one for her.. On top of our sweater and thick socks.

It's mee goreng (ie indomie) Sunday so we stayed home and got drunk on movies, huge servings of indomie and orange juice. Movie theatre and dinner tonight! All the food and still no warmth.

After exploring cockle bay warf the other night, I headed out to hard rock cafe to meet JLim, Lisa and their friends for Mat's bday celebration. Mat was JLim's best mate ( just a pretty name for BFF. ) and he had this huge desk of friends there to mingle with. I was skeptical at first and really afraid of mtg so many ppl with my weird singlish accent but it wasn't that bad. Actually it wasn't bad at all. I wasn't able and wasn't willing to jump among friends like they did but those ard me were friendly enough and that's good enough for me. Any more that night and I might be frightened away, actually. Esp when I wasn't too friendly with them.

Wei came down to meet us after her dinner with her friends and a grp of us headed back to tokio bar for a few rounds of drinks. I was also formally acquainted to Lisa, JLim's gf and she's very hospitable. And apparantly also very comfortable ard the home.

The 4 of us shared a cab back and that cost us.... $99.90!! Finally not complaining about comfort cabs.

Yesterday wei brought me down to bondi beach after jlim's big breakfast and a huge bowl of Vietnamese pho (pronounced "furrrr.") for lunch. We strolled on the sand to the other end where we climbed to bondi lookout just in time for sunset. Our new proclaimed emo spot. Really beautiful.

Next was home for Dua kim's lagsana then movie marathon alllllllll the way.

31 July 2011. unknown oz time.