farfromhome: Month Of Firsts

FARFROMHOME

OK! So here I am again, back into the land of bloggers. As I have been procrastinating this art of "blog writing" for a couple of weeks now. After much persuasion, after much thinking, after much scolding, yes, I have been scolded for not blogging, especially from a friend who's very much taller than everyone else is...hehehe. after much advice, so VOILA, let's start! Why am I not doing it in Friendster? I will be closing down my friendster acc soon anyways, due to certain "pressure groups" forcing me to use facebook. Hmmmm...Well, what's past is past and let's look forward to the future shall we? I am pretty new to this site so, please bear with me!

Over-the-seas

So, I had actually decided to start to blog again a few days before I left to Melbourne, then I decided to blog when I had arrived at Melbourne, then I decided I will blog after my first trip to the city, a week, blah blah blah....so here's to my first month! I shall celebrate that with a glass of wine in a while. hehehe.

So, how has life been for me in Australia...let's see (sounds of crickets.........)nah, it aint that bad! I hope not. Well, first and foremost, the trip to come all the way here was a first for me. I have never been to Australia before, what more travelled so far. The furthest I've been to is to Singapore and to somewhere in Thailand. So, yeah, this is a first time for me. Well, the departing part was kinda difficult, I think I had almost 20 farewells in total. So I figured, either these people really love me, or they really wanna say, BON VOYAGE ADRIAN!!! I think I will stick to the first one...hehehe. So the packing was quite a hassle! I had actually taken in the gigantic luggage I had bought in January (imagine how long I've waited, sometimes I still dont really believe I'm here!) and stuff it in with all sorts of things. Well, 20kg of luggage is quite little I tell you. So I weighed it, I had actually brought back my weighing scales as well. 40!!! I was like damn, ok, let's unpack, and I had taken out so much! And 32! Aiyoh, how la, then I looked closely, real close, 32 POUNDS!!! Hmmmm...travel anxiety. So I had to repack everything again and it went to 22kg.

"Australia's Calling, Matey!"

So we drove to the airport, I had actually brought in quite a lot of books in my hand luggage. ALL BOOKS! Until the customs officer actually asked me to open to check. And it all basically went well. The flight was pretty turbulent I might add, I didnt sleep the whole trip. Well partly due to the weather and this guy, I dont mean to be mean but his mouth was really smelly and he was snoring all the while. So, being a sensitive sleeper, I had none that nite.

Touch down!!!

OK, photos photos. I dont have the pics with me of my family sending me off at the airport. Well, my first dinner was at this Italian restaurant called Columbo's run by a Lebanese family. So Melb is a pretty multicultural place. I had a huge steak and we shared a really huge pizza. Now the pizza here are really full of toppings, not like some back home where u can actually see the dough, OK no names mentioned, dont want to get sued for defamation!

"big time pizza"

"check out the size of the steak"

Far from home, but at home

Well, currently I am living with my aunt, my mom's sister. So it's like having my mom around as well. Hahaha, well it's not a bad thing really. Let's see:

Advantages of living with my aunt:

1. I keep my room clean and tidy. Hey, I make my bad everyday ok, ask my ex girlfriends...hehehe...kidding...and the books are rather neat. (FOR NOW!)
2. My aunt and uncle are great cooks so I get delicious food for dinner every evening.

3. When I'm homesick I still have family here.
4. They are super duper nice!

5. I do not have PSYCHOTIC hannibal lecter housemates. (Jules stop laughing!)

Disadvantages of living with my aunt:

1. Actually none ler...life's good!

Well, I was always told by people, who know how to calculate your fortune, future that sort of stuff, that in my life I will always meet with people who will always help me along the way. Well, I still do believe that it's pretty much God's blessing to be upon me. Hmmm...eh, I am still going to church ok?! Hehe...

Melbourne

I finally understood that Melbourne is the CITY and VICTORIA is the state. I always thought that Melbourne was a state by itself. Nevermind la, now I know. Hehe...So I went to the city for the first time. And believe it or not, I had actually lost 4 kgs, ok la, 3.5 kg, but that's pretty a lot! Well, I've told many people and they do not believe, I should be putting on they say. Well, guess it's due to all the shivering due to the cold, it's winter here actually. I am exercising quite regularly too. Last weekend I went cycling with my little cousins. 10 years since I've cycled! So imagine the torture, but I survived! I also went play badminton once. BUT, cannot la, it was too damn cold. Halfway through I just gave up. Your brain freezes, your body freezes. So now I know why Malaysian players cant perform in cold weather! Hehehe...excuses!

But once again, my uncle is super nice to provide me with a heater. Back home, I normally sleep with a pair of shorts and t shirt. HERE, it's one, two, three layer, track pants plus 2 socks! Feels like Genting most of the time, as if the air con is on all the time, and I never liked aircons, again, ask my ex gfs...hehehe. kidding la. SO, it's really hard to wake up in the mornings, actually it's pretty hard to stay up most of the day! Cos the weather is so cold and the bed is so warm and...and...and....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So back to the city. I guess the weight loss is also due to the fact that I need to walk here and there. No more MYVI, oh I miss u so so so much! I commute using a tram to the city and need to change when I have arrived at the Flinders St Station. The journey takes approximately 1 hours for I need to switch trams at the station. Ok, so another first in my month. Sitting on a tram.

"waiting for the tram for the 1st time...wooohooooooooooooo! kampungnyer! hehehe"

"quite a new tram"

"quite an old tram. this one goes round the city for free."

"flinders st station"

"swanston st stop, this is where I cross over to take a tram to uni. across is Federation Square"

I can't find the pic of the super new tram. Nevermind. So what else is first? OH YES, I saw this while I was on the way to a restaurant named Sofia's.

"pride and joy of Malaysia. Nope, it wasnt a Mitsubishi Evo"

"this is supposed to be for 2, but 5 people shared it! there are about 20 prawns inside!"

"another pizza, bellisima!"

University of Melbourne - The Evolution Starts Here!

OK! Enough about food, I can seriously hear my stomach rioting already! I've also been to my uni I think in the first week I was there. Just jalan jalan around la, checking out the place. It's a pretty old buiding, I think from the end of the 19th century. I havent really explored much of it actually, for I study at home most of the time.Anyhow, I have managed to meet some pretty nice people here. I've also met my supervisor, Dr Audrey already. She's really nice and really supportive. Today I had my second meeting with her. Well we discussed some stuff bout my research etc. I'm pretty much panicking and really confused for I still don't have my research topic. But I'm getting there, I think! Well the uni is pretty much a cluster of buildings. There's a big portion where all the old buildings are clumped together, yes, like the one in Harry Porter films, plus there are other buildings across the street, down the road which houses offices and other faculties as well. I got to know that the uncle I'm living with, his daughter and son have all graduated from UNIMELB. So that makes me number 4 to be studying here!

"ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...welcome to UniMelb!"

"nice scenery 1"

"nice scenery 2"

"nice scenery with me spoiling the pic 3"

"nice scenery 4"

City of Asians....MAKAN!!!

Melbourne also has a great number of Asians living here. I think more than half the people I see are Asians! There are Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, MALAYSIANS!, Indians and also many others from Europe as well. So, if Malaysia is considered multicultural, how do we call Melbourne? Super Multi Cultural? Multi world?! It's also pretty easy getting food that you want from back home, plus food from all around the world. Wanna roti canai, nasi lemak, laksa, asam laksa...memang ada! Wanna wan tan mee, kai fan, ngap fan, YAO AH!!! BUT, hahaha...most of the food here starts at around $5. So, I have become some sort of a mathematical genius, in converting Aus$ to RM. Like, if I were to eat a plate of duck rice, it's $9, so very quickly, $9 X 3 = RM27! Some people will go MAD AH?! WAHLAO WEI! well, I am FARFROMHOME am I not! Just take it as duck rice which is airflown from back home just for you. Plus, they do serve you plain water here in a nice bottle. Some Chinese restaurants do serve you chinese tea for free too. And good chinese tea if I may add. Back home, you get some stares when you ask for Ais Kosong or Air Suam. Well, not all of us would like to spend a hefty price on drinks filled with ice! Plus, I dont wanna get diabetes so soon! The food here is pretty big in portion as well, so I guess $9 isnt too expensive for certain types of food. I mean the portion is really huge!

"hokkien mee @ fukkin min @ tai lok min. my first taste of chinese food in Australia. seriously, this cures depression, homesickness, anxiety and most importantly, HUNGER! although it didnt use lard @ chu yao char @ bak iu, $9, but what the heck! "

"duck rice, $8.50, check out the size of the meat, plus the free tea"

"roti kosong 2, kuah kambing! these were enormous! and the lamb was aplenty! $8.50"

"teh tarik satu, kurang manis! $2.50. well, they call this tea tare! dancing tea?!"

"beef hor fun, $9. a bit too dry though, but a generous amount of beef!"

My stomach's really running riot, be still o ye stomach! Well, the roti canai and teh tarik were sold at this place owned by a Sri Lankan. The place is pretty much decorated ala Malaysia and there was even a Visit Malaysia poster on the wall! So who says that good food can't be found in Australia? Well of course I would have to admit that it isnt as authentic and delicious as the food back home. We need the dust, exhaust fumes and sitting in the open air spaces to make our food delicious!

Jalan-jalan!

Now that I've made you feel hungry, let's go for a walk. Well, I will be blogging the places I've been to in separate blog. Phew, this bloggin is pretty tiring! Hehehe...well, during the first month I think I've managed to travel to quite a few places. Thanks to Sheau Ying for the little travel guide, I've managed to explore quite a few places. There are a few ways of exploring Melbourne. By foot, walk around and feel what a busy city is like. But, I do feel that KL is so much more busier. By bus, there actually are free tourist buses going round the city! By tram, again, you can hop on the free tram and go round for free, or choose to buy the ticket and go round and round the whole day. By car or motorcycle. Well, my aunt has asked me to drive around here and there. But I dont wanna contribute towards the thinning of the ozone layer anymore. Yeah right, no la, I feel that I dont want to start getting dependent on a car again, so walk or move by tram la. Before I started my research, I actually took a tram all around the city. So I have basically seen quite a lot already. I'm pretty tired to actually upload all the pics I have taken of the places I've been to, so I will just put up some which I've been to. Well the most exciting one so far was to Mount Buller, where I had seen and touched snow for the first time! I did want to go skiing, but we only had 2-3 hours so it wouldnt have been worth it. So, maybe another time. Among the places Ive been to are all around Federation Square, Yarra River, St Peter's Cathedral, Ballarat, Sovereign Hill, St Kilda's, Mount Buller, The City Library, Victoria Market, Mount Dangnenong, Crown, Docklands Waterfront and a few others I cant remember! Of course I will try to blog out some other places I have been to in the near future! I'm gonna go for my glass of wine now. It's pretty late already. So, I shall leave this with some nice pictures of the city at nite! So, lots of love to my loved ones back home, missing you so much!

"somewhere in Melbourne!"