going offline...

ATTENTION! The FORTRESS will be shutting down temporarily...

now that i'm moving to my new place, i had to cancel my internet subscription for the old one and apply for a new connection for the new apartment.
long story short....i will have NO internet for the next couple of weeks. yes, its back to the stone age. no MSN, no friendster, no soccernet, no...erm....porn? ahahahah.

i should be back up and blogging by jan 10th or so...
meanwhile, i will still be checking my email occasionally (every 2 or 3 days) from the computers at melb uni. so u can still send me emails, but i may take a while to reply.

cheers n happy new years to all!

new address

yo peeps.

ive just moved house (or apartment rather). here's my new address, in case anyone feels the urge to mail me a PSP or XBOX 360 for new year's or my birthday.. =p

3911 / 22-24 Jane Bell Lane
Melbourne
Victoria
3000

adios!

wake up, get hacked, sleep, wake up, watch soccer, eat...damn i love the holidays!

what a great sunday.
woke up at 8 plus (thanks to my dad) and got ready for soccer match.
suresh picked me up at 9am....then we drove all the way to frickin clementi!!! (thank u very much mr. govin....booking matches so near your place, forgetting that most of our team lives in the NORTH!!!!!) ah well....
anyways, the game was good, despite the fact that we lost a 2 goal lead and ended up drawing the game, and suresh n i both got our ankles hacked and cut. yay. but still....FUN! too bad that was my last game here....leaving on sat so wont get to play next sun's game.

came home afterwards, ate chicken rice, then proceeded into hibernation for 3-plus hours. (once again, woken up only thanks to my alarm). from the bed, straight to the TV.....EPL highlights!!!

note : i need to somehow persuade/con my dad to get cable TV in melbourne... being back for 2 weeks had made me realise how much soccer i've been missing!!!

lazing ard now waiting for the arsenal/chelsea match to start.... GO ARSENAL!!!! I HEREBY SUPPORT U FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY! may u beat chelsea and also get henry, pires, lampard and terry all injured.... and robben too.

updates!

yes, it has been quite some time since ive posted anything here. rest assured, i'm still alive. And for those of u who wished me dead...TOO BAD! mwahahahahaha. (its past midnight now...a little 'high')

anyways...updates! updates!

1. United just whooped ass. 4-0
2. I have been eating loads n loads of food since i got back, and only been to the gym once. ha.
3. in related news, according to the gym scale, i'm only 67kg!!! (crystal, your toilet scale needs recalibration...hee.)
4. cant find a bloody pirated PS2 shop!! anyone? help?
5. looking forward to the eve of eve 2sb3 gathering!
6. apple is having a trade in deal, but my 4G ipod 20GB is only worth $150!!! what a rip off man!! bought it for $540 last year.... crap.
7. ipod video... *drooooool*
8. PSP.... *droooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!*
9. theres a Star Wars art exhibition at science centre. anyone wanna go with me??
10. my sleep pattern is screwed up.
11. i have a compulsive urge to burst bubble wrap.
12. "all the signs were there for me to see...."
13. i'm still single. ha.
14. stupid fifa 06! why wont u let me manage United!?!?!

sigh...time flies so damn fast. its already been a week since i got back! where the heck did all that time go to!?!? only one more week left!! AHHHH! then its back down under for summer school...noooooooooooo.

going hoooooome!!!

huuurrrraaaaaaaaaah!
finally going hoooooooooooomme!!!
cya all soon!

background music...

khalsom, check out this site...

http://www.ricocheting.com/js/music.html

this will give you the source code to copy into your blog template. As for the music URL, you'll have to find it yourself, depending on what which song u want. easiest way i find is to just search thru google. once u have found the song, right click the link and choose properties. this should display the address(URL) of the music clip. (it should be blahblah.wav or blahblah.mp3). copy this whole URL and paste it into the template accordingly.

freakin flies! shoo! shoo!

omg melbourne must be where all the flies in the world come to spawn.
my friends warned me that during summer there would be lots of flies around. at the time i thought "you pansies...its only a few flies."

but OMG!!! these flies come in swarms!!! and they're freakin HUGE too! (albeit slow also. they can be killed easily, like how you would normally kill a mosquito. aussie flies are big and dumb and dont seem to have the "spider sense" that asian flies do)

anyways, back to my fly-bitching. i went for a walk today (my only form of exercise at the moment) to uni and this grp of like 5-6 flies followed me ALL THE WAY! wah its the most irritating thing!! and when i look ard at other pedestrians, i can see a "halo" of flies around their heads. you can see ppl flaying their hands around for no apparent reason on the streets of melbourne.

this is really giving the pulau tekong mosquitoes a run for their money.

hoooommmee...hooooomee on the range....where the deeeeer and the antelope plaaaaay...

tick tock tick tock.
waiting for time to pass by.... watching the paint peel on the walls....
haa
oh well, i DID wish for my exams to be over, so now that i've got my wish, i really shouldnt be complaining that im STONED BORED! haha. like i said....SHOULDN'T be complaining. but that doesnt mean that i cant.

good thing is, i finally have the time to attend to my comics. more than a month back, i bought this thick comic called Runaways (i mentioned it in one of my posts). thru sheer force of will, i was able to avert myself from reading it before the exams. but now i can relax on my couch and flip thru every glossy page as slowly as i wish, savouring the devine artwork in every panel. ah.... (sigh)

ive also had time to catch up on my own comic lately. been at work on it since last year (june i think). but during term and exam time, ive rarely had the time to sit down and finish it. now looks like hopefully i can get it done by the end of this year! hopefully! im normally very bad at keeping deadlines, especially when they're personal ones...hehe. once its done i'll post it here, or in a new blog or smth....

i'm also starting to miss home... maybe its the solitude of being cooped up in my apartment all day.

ooooo! i think its about time to take a nap! heee.

zzzz, snort snort....zzzzzz
(in his catatonic state, iylia unknowingly puts on 2kg)

past the 70kg mark!...among other things

not been exercising much lately. knee's still in pretty bad shape. =(
yesterday i went out and i ran across the road to beat the flashing crossing light. it mustve been only 15m or so, but afterwards my knee hurt like hell! i just dun understand....one day im running several km with no problem, and the next i make a short dash and end up hobbling the rest of the day. are any of u out there taking medicine as a degree? pls pls invent a way to inject cartilage directly into the knee. i will be eternally grateful...

oh and in related news, i have bypassed the 70kg mark for the first time since 2002. i'd like to think that its all muscle gained, but the fats that are beginning to hang over my waistline suggest otherwise...

supes official site launched..

The official site for Superman Returns has been launched!
and surprise, surprise.... the teaser trailer is coming out on Nov 18th!!

i've added the link to the site under my "Links" column...

i need a job!!!

1st sem of uni is almost over....only one more paper to go! bloody City in History....i hate mugging and memorising dates. We must memorise the names of architects and the buildings that they built. altogether there are about 24 lectures, with about 10 architects n buildings each....so thats 240 things to remember!!!!!
and some of these guys have weird italian names, and greek names and blah blah... AHHHHH!

*change of subject*

dunno why but i feel bad for being overseas and using up my parents money. i mean, i understand when they say that its their job to "give me an education", so i dun mind the fact that they're paying for my school fees. but its them paying for my daily expenses thats beginning to bother me. hai....
dunno if its cos i've been so used to self-sustaining myself during NS (i miss officer pay....), but i feel uncomfortable drawing an allowance from them again.

so to solve this problem....i shall get a job!!! however, first i'll need to apply for a study-cum-work visa, and a tax number (so i can CORNtribute to the aussie govt). will prob do that after my exams. it takes a while to process (about a month)... so i'll most likely look for a job when i come back during summer. hopefully can work at Nike Melbourne(long shot) or Max Brenner (my dream part time job!!!!! though i'll probably end up sampling all the choc in the kitchen and become a fatty-bom-bom). right now i wouldnt mind anything...as long as i can get some cash to spend on myself...and pay for my horrible comic addiction.

oh and my knee is still shit today......

atkins diet here i come.

super low morale...

im in the shits now....

went running just now and my "good" knee just gave way too. dunno y also....sigh. now i have two dodgy knees, and im still only 21.....

so sad right now....dunno wat to do also......

i'll wait a few days b4 i try a slow run again. if it still hurts then thats it, im finished.... will prob have to do something drastic and rest it for half a year or so and keep taking suppliments.

sigh........ i feel like a bird without wings......

nothing will ever be the same...

for those of u non-comic book fans out there, you may not understand the importance of this post, or some of the emotions conveyed in it. but by all means, read on if u want to hear the ramblings of a comic book freak...

HOLY MOLEY SHIT!!!!!
let me say that again.... HOOOLLLYYYY MOOOOOOLLEEEEYYY SSHIIIIIIITTT!!!
i just finished reading the last issue of House of M!!!

background info : House of M is a MARVEL comic book that was hyped up to "completely change the Marvel universe". it was said to be "the Marvel event of the decade"... "nothing will ever be the same".

it was 8 issues long...and i tried so very very hard not to read each issue as it was released every month. i didnt wanna be stuck in the position of waiting one month for a cliffhanger to be resolved, only to be treated to another cliffhanger...
so i waited till i had all 8 issues so i could read them at one go. and that day was TODAY!!!! i have just read possible the single greatest Marvel story EVEEEER!!! and having read Age of Apocalypse and the Galactus saga, that's saying a lot!!

"nothing will ever be the same".... thats not just a cheesy tag line!! those guys at Marvel frickin MEANT EVERY WORD!!! warning...spoilers in the next paragraph...

How could they do that!?!? how could they take away so many A-lister's powers!?!? ICEMAN!! QUICKSILVER!!!.....and most most MOST MOST MOSTEST SHOCKING OF ALL......MAGNETO!!!!!! omg i NEVER saw that one coming!!!!!! they took away magneto's powers!!! we're talking about frickin MAGNETO HERE FOLKS!!!!! in comic book terms, that's like saying hitler's still alive!

wooooo! i'm on cloud nine now! i cant wait for the following issues to come out and see what the after effects of the House of M are. hehehe. at the same time, my exams are taking a significant blow... but in the wake of such comic book goodness, who cares?!?! hahahahaha.

bring on House of M : Decimation!!!!!!!

phew....this is THE reason i read comic books.
yes i am a freak....

warning! warm front...its HERE!!!

its blaaaarrrdddyyyyyy hoooooooooot today!!
just last saturday the weather was a wonderful 20 degrees. today its frickin 30 degrees! aiyoh....
and the melb sun is not like the spore sun. here is burns!!! u can actually feel your skin roasting! i mustve gotten several shades darker today. oh well....embracing my inner mat.

went furniture shopping today! yes, im moving house!!! yay!
well, actually im moving just across the street to my current place. but its a slightly bigger apartment and its much much higher...on the 39th floor! woooo!! i like being hiiiigghh!!!! (easier to commit suicide if need be. currently on the 13th floor its "maybe might survive with a broken neck". but at 39 storeys up....sure die.) haha. ok im sounding a little too grim there. but the view is really sweeeeeet, although partially blocked by this concrete office tower. but beggars cant be choosers as they say.

so, yeah, i needed to buy furniture cos the furniture in my current place belongs to the owner. im renting it. so need to get my own stuff for the new apartment.

while going here n there shopping for furniture, i have completely neglected my EXAMS!!! hahahaha. exams? what exams?? we have exams??? haha. need to start sooooon.

break out the coffee!!

hurrah!
tmr i'll be submitting my last last model for the sem. (yes, trust me this time i mean it. LASTEST!) after that its just mug mug mug for the exams. hmm... mugging...havnt done that in quite a while... about 3 yrs to be exact. haha. have i lost the art of being a chao mugger?? we'll soon find out. but without my Nescafe 3-in-1, who knows? i may be powerless!!

"Caffeine enriches the soul"

The Fortress version_2.0

ive decided to give this blog a little image overhaul.
Tah dah!
its the Fortress of Solitude version_2.0

and this new version is all about building up the hype to Superman Returns.
thats right folks, set your calender reminders to 30 June 2006, cos the Man of Steel is gonna kick ass on the big screen once again!!

countdown to the Return

dunno if u have noticed yet, but there is a new countdown clock under the title of this blog. Unfortunately, it does not countdown in real time, but if u refresh the page, you'll see that the time on the counter has changed.

the date its counting down to is 30th June 2006....the release date for SUPERMAN RETURNS!!!!!!!!

two very disturbing things...

i usually have the TV on while im working on my models. not that i really pay attention to the programs, but i just dont like to work in silence. and occasionally, i might hear something interesting and stop to see what it is. last night, two phrases caught my ear. they were "Melbourne Cup", and "...the round ball...". unfortunately, neither was related to soccer. rather, their subject matter infuriated me quite a bit.

here's what they were:

1. "Melbourne Cup", aka "Let's Cheer While People Torture Animals"
The Melbourne Cup is actually a horse racing tournament. and for some insipid reason, the Aussies LOVE their Melbourne Cup. horse racing has got to be the most idiotic, immoral sport on the planet.
i mean, these jockeys dont do ANYTHING other than strap themselves to the horses and whip them constantly throughout the race. and then when they win, the public bathes the jockey in a shower of congratulations, as if he had anything to do with the victory. COME ON PEOPLE! THE HORSE WON! NOT THE JOCKEY! if they'd strapped a 5-year-old kid to the horse, would u ppl be cheering for the kid instead!?!? JACKASSES!!!
And whats up with whipping the horse?!? does that really make it go faster!??! you dont see coaches whipping atheletes during a race, do you?!?! why then would u whip a horse?!? oh i get it...cos the horse cant whip u back. AARRGH!!! BASTARDS!!! i hope one day a horse realises whats going on and just kicks the living crap out of the jockey.

2. My second story is not one of anger, but of shock.
shock at the sheer stupidity of the sport. i get giggles just thinking about it because it really is THAT DUMB!
okay... heres how it goes. imagine a rugby field, with the rugby posts set up at both ends, BUT with a soccer goal post directly below the rugby post at each end as well. its like back in ACS(i) where they used the soccer field for rugby training, so there would be two sets of goal posts at either end cos ppl were lazy to move the soccer goal post out of the way.
okay (brace yourself)... in THIS sport, u play it with a soccer ball, BUT u are allowed to hold the ball. (yes, HOLD THE BALL). u can pass it with your hands, or with your feet. and the way to score a goal is either to kick it high up thru the rugby posts, or score into the soccer goal like the conventional soccer way. now here's where it gets ridiculous....u can use your hands and THROW THE BALL into the goal!!!!!! i couldnt believe it when i saw it!!! heck, you could even hug the ball and RUN INTO THE GOAL!!!! HAAHAHHAHAHAH! It's so stupid its hillarious!!!

obss...ss.. ssessive.... .c..co..compu.. pulsss..ss.sive....

all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy
all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy

all work and no play make iylia a dull boy
all work and no play make iylia a dull boy

all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy

all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy all work and no play make iylia a dull boy

oh no what have i done?!?!

in the span of 24 hours, i have completely obliterated my chance of doing well in these coming exams. if u recall, about a month ago i was bitching about the fact that ARES (the program i use to download bootleg music n videos) died on me. and that was just about the time that LOST season 2 and SMALLVILLE season 5 were starting. so u can imagine how pissed i was... BUT! on the flip side, it did allow me much needed time to study and concentrate on model-making.

well, fortunately (or unfortunately), ARES has miraculously come back to life. and i have resumed my obsessive compulsive downloading of smallville and lost. "somebody saaaaaaaavveee meeeeeeeee...."

thats not all. to make matters even WORSE, i (for sheer lack of willpower) downloaded the demo of FIFA 2006. (suresh, for your own sake, i warn u DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS DEMO. u dont want to wind up like me......) last night was supposed to be a model-making night, but it quickly turned into hours of FIFA. oh no..... i can forsee it now. my exams are all but DEAD. bye bye "Merit". hellooooooo "Satisfactory", "Pass", and "Ungraded"....

area cleaning

im happy today. i woke up this morning without the pressure of upcoming assignments or dumb models. today is a day of relaxation..... so i decided to do a little spring cleaning! seeing as my parents are coming to visit in 10 days time, i thought it best to tidy up my pad a bit. my mom is impeccably clean, and although my standards of cleanliness will never reach the lofty heights of hers, at least i can avoid certain nagging by showing that i actually DID do some cleaning.

cleaned the toilet this morning and the toilet bowl (which had stains that must've been mutating into new substances by now) and vacuumed my room with my trusty hand held vacuum cleaner. now im just waiting for the toilet floor to dry b4 taking a shower....

oh crap! i left my clothes in the washing machine outside!

i need a break!

i need a break!...and im taking one!! ive decided to reward myself with 2 full days of doing absolutely no studies!
just handed in the model yesterday (finally!) and my design portfolio this afternoon. and with that, i dont have any assignments to hand in till next thursday! and thats a looooong time in this course. gonna take the next two days to just chill and watch DVDs and read comics and catch up on some sleep.

in the beginning, there was a strip footing...

...then there was a timber frame...

...followed by a roof and some walls...

crap...for some reason i cant upload anymore images... i'll add more pics of the completed model in my next post. need sleep now...nite nite ppl...

nocturnal architect-in-training

its been the BUSIEST week EVER!almost all my time this week has been devoted to the MODEL!!! and im not exaggerating when i say "almost ALL my time...". ive stayed in uni past 11pm at least 5 times this week, and the past 2 days ive left uni at 2am and 3am respectively. so drained now.....its true what they say about this architecture course...its full of late hours of work. my frens have sorta given up asking me out at night cos ive been turning them down like every single night.

yes...architecture students have no social life, except maybe with other architecture students with no social life. its sad....BUT! im really really happy with the end result of the model. its like giving birth to a baby... you just want to look at it and admire it and touch it and.... okay maybe that analogy was a little awkward, but u get the idea.

and as if thats not enough, ive got a folio due on tuesday that makes up 100% of my mark for that subject! totally SCREWED!! i need to work like mad tmr after the model presentation. hai.... december....i want to teleport to december.....

model pics coming soon....

4hrs 28mins later.... its finally over!

the face of pain

well, i gotta tell ya...if there's anyone out there planning to do a marathon for the first time, all i can say is "you gotta prepare, prepare, prepare." dun take anyhing for granted, like i did. i only trained up to 26km, and got too cocky thinking "well, its only another 16km...shouldnt be too much of a problem". BIG MISTAKE! haha. the pain....the pain...oh man the pain...

the weather at the start was perfect. it was drizzling ever so slightly and the temp was about 15 degrees. everything was going really well in the beginning, and at the 21km mark, i was at a time of 1hr 40mins. it was at the 27-28 km mark that it all started to go wrong. i experienced something on a run that i had never experienced before...CRAMPS!!! oh my god... its excrutiatingly pain!!! first my right quad cramped up, which made me hobble more on my left leg. then my left cramped up too. so i was reduced to walking and hopping for the remaining 12km or so. sigh.... gotta train harder for next year. gotta start training earlier too.

but when its all said and done, it was a blast!! in a sadist kinda way, i actually enjoyed myself.

and many many thanks to Esther who came all the way down to the finish line to support me.

its time

okay, so my race number is 1625. kind of a bummer. its not a cool number at all. haha. was hoping for 007 or something like that. its 10pm now...gonna get some sleep cos i have to be up at 4.30am tmr morning to catch a bus to the start point. fever's gone down, but still having a bit of a heavy head. hopefully all will be well in the morning.

so excited! hope i can sleep!

no! not now! go away!

ah crap! ah CRAP CRAP CRAP! MEGA CRAP!
there must be some other powers at work that just dont want me to run the marathon!! last year (as well bitch-ed about) was the knee problem. THIS year, its now just two days b4 the marathon, and im down with a friggin fever!! feel so lethargic and weak. crap....

hopefully it will cure soon n not get worse. either way i dun care. im running on sunday no matter what. worse comes to worst, i'll end the race in an ambulance.

crap...

yaaaawn...

its 1.20am and im still awake...
thats very unusual for me. im normally an early bird. (ie: sleep early, wake up early)
stayed up tonite working on a model. yes, ANOTHER one. they just seem to keep on coming. This one was particularly irritating cos it had to be to scale, and the scale was 1:200. to give u an idea, a 6m high wall would only be 3cm on the model! thats freakin small!!! and to build a model with stairs and all at that scale is just crazy!!! had to fiddle with the tweezer and the superglue for ages, which only succeeded in getting me really pissed off. haha.
my model looks like shit. i think its a "guy" thing. we just cant handle such delicate tasks! haha...but then again its probably just me. clumsy me.... heh.

fasting month starts this wed. a good chance to lose weight!! i gained 1.5kg during the 2 wk holiday period... hai. too much chocolate intake was the likely cause. and i was running too, so can imagine how much more i'd gain if i wasnt. i feel the "overlapping tummy" coming. its starting to get really loose down there. haha. and its beginning to "spill over" if u know wat i mean. oh well....middle age beckons. why fight it...

i just got my exam schedule too.... and its GOOD! i end way earlier than originally expected. last paper is on 15th nov! SWEET!! cant wait for this month to be over. so many assignments due soon, and i'm still in slack-mode. its really a blessing in disguise that my playstation2 doesnt work here. if it did, there goes my exams. Note to self : DON'T BUY FIFA 2006 TILL AFTER THE EXAMS.

yawn...okay its waaaaay past my bedtime now. have a constuction drawing test tmr morning...eeekk!!

marathon is this sunday too... i am so not ready. we'll see how it goes. i hope they have sufficient medical coverage cos i have a feeling im gonna be needing it.

nite folks! may the force be with you.

day out

well, the holidays are drawing to a close. its amazing how fast 2 wks can zip by when you're slacking.
went on a day trip to Ballarat yesterday with some frens. its about 1 and a 1/2 hours train ride from melb city. the main attraction at ballarat is this place called Sovereign Hill. It used to be a gold mining town back in the 1900s, but now of course no one mines gold there anymore, so it has been converted into a tourist attraction. its all pretty cool stuff. they created this entire mock-up town that looks just like those old western movies.
i'll let the pics speak for themselves...

all aboard... me, lala, esther n steph (and crystal behind the camera)

ballarat!

chillin out

posers

now, now... pay attention children

hey middle guy...stop acting so stiff!

me and my wax friend

sifting for gooooold!

study or comics? i gotta get my priorities right...

that was easy.... COMICS ARE MY PRIORITY!!!!
these two days have been happy days. yesterday, my weekly comic shipment came in and i had 5 brand-spanking-new titles to read. and to add to my joy, the guy at the comic book shop told me that the trade paperback for 'Runaways' was coming in today!! i had ordered it like one month back and have been eargerly anticipating its release, my excitement growing with each passing day. And today it ARRIVED!!!!! wooooooo! i spared no time in racing down to the comic store to pick it up, all 400+ pages of it!!! it did cost me a whopping 65 bucks, but who cares!?? i calculated that if i drink plain water instead of the usual apple juice for the next 2 months, i would have covered that 65 bucks. so that settles that.

now here's my REAL dilemma. i've got two things staring at me now that require my immediate attention, and i cant do both at once.
and in the BLUE corner, we have (ta-da-da-daaaah!)..... a History Essay!!!
and in the RED corner, we have (ta-da-da-daaaah!)..... Runaways Volume 1.



if u know me, u know what happens next....
bah! history essay can wait till tomorrow!... or the day after, or till watever time it is that i finish reading Runaways.

gotta get my priorities right, eh.....

sleep deprivation...

i am really really shag... i mean it. i literally am about to KO on my keyboard this very moment. if i close my eyes for 5 seconds, theres a high chance i'll slip into a coma.

last nite i participated in a "sleep deprivation" exercise. Esther's psychology course was conducting experiments on students to see how things like reaction time, alertness, etc were affected by lack of sleep, and so i decided to volunteer.

As of this moment, i have not slept for 36 hours. i was awake the whole of last nite at Monash University under close surveilance of esther's psychology tutor. i wasnt alone though, there were about 15 ppl participating, esther included.

After fighting off the zzz-monster thru the night, we were subjected to a bunch of tests in the morning. some of them were irritating, and some downright hillarious. let me give u some examples:

1. sit in a dark room for 10 mins and try to stay awake. during which time your brain wave patterns are being monitored by people in another room, via electrodes stuck to your head.

2. click the mouse as many times as possible in 30 secs.

3. (the most irritating and stupid of them all) Play a 2-d car simulation for 30 mins and avoid cows on the road. yes, u heard that correctly. avoid cows. not traffic, .... but COWS. that was the most utterly wasted 30 mins of my life. the car simulation looks like something from the 1970s (see pic below) and after 5 mins u just want to scream "make it stop! make it STOP!", only to realise that u must endure 25 more mins of torment.

after 36 hours without sleep, you'd look like this too...

eeek! look out! cow on road! AVOID! AVOID!

needless to say, i am gonna take a nice long nap now. with any luck, i'll wake up and it will be sunday afternoon.

Singapore Students Society Ball

glam people

cheers!

orang melayu

esther, me, crystal n sasha

kena bully...

the VIP table

oooo...wats that on the ground??

waiting for the glue to dry...literally

its a wet, cold wednesday night. my preliminary model for the dance production assignment is due tomorrow and low-and-behold, as usual... im doing it at the LAST MINUTE!
just finished gluing most of the darn thing together. now have to wait for 20mins for the glue to set before i can start painting it.
they can put a man on the moon but cant invent a wood glue that dries instantly. sheesh.

oddly enought, i had quite a productive day today. spent researching and starting to plan for my history essay. yknow that clichalmost my entire morning from 9-11.30e that goes "the hardest part is getting started"? well, its all true. i felt much much better after getting started on my essay. for the past few weeks (ever since i got the assignment), ive been worrying non stop cos ive never written this kinda essay before. i was like... 2000 words! how the heck am i gonna do that!?! its like a zillion times longer than anything ive written in NS over the past 2 years. oh wait... there was that PAC lesson plan, but that hardly counts. everything in the army is stupid anyway. oh, where was i? oh yeah, so i was worrying myself sick over this essay. but this morning, after diving into it and actually getting a couple hundred words of text typed out, i realised its not that bad afterall, and felt much better.

BUT! then it sunk in that i only had half a day left to do this darn model. and i began to panic again. i tell u, this course is like riding a rollercoaster.... non stop thrills! there's never a week (much less a day) where i can sit back, relax, and honestly say that i have no studying to do. oh well, i guess thats wat december is for. cant wait....

yet another unproductive day to go with the rest of my unproductive days

yes, today was a very unproductive day - study wise at least. i did almost zero work today. lets recap shall we...

1. got up at 8am
2. had a heavy-ass breakfast of rice, chicken n nuggets
3. read a tiny-weeny bit of history
4. got bored and read about 2 hrs of comics
5. went out to buy more comics
6. came home with new comics and started reading them for another hour.
7. went for 26km run in 2 hrs (which was pain as hell... after the 20km mark, i started to get insanely hungry and began fantasising about potato chips. my mental is weak. dunno how im gonna survive the 42...)
8. came home, hands almost suffering from frostbite, and a bad case of abbrasion in a place where the sun dun shine. (i need to buy tights for the race..)
9. had dinner while watching an old episode of smallville
10. chatted on MSN for a while.
11. now typing this blog post.
12. after this i really really need to get some studying done cos ive got a test tmr. but its raining now and my body feels so shag after the run, and i feel like going to sleep. AHH!!! where's Nescafe when i need it...

its crunch time!

went shopping with esther and a couple of her frens on thursday at this shopping centre called Chadstone. its quite far from the city, but its HUUUUUGEE!! i mean, this place makes suntec n parkway seem small in comparison.
i was shopping for a suit for the spore ball, while the gals were lookin for dresses. haha its damn funny cos we all were moving around together, and everytime i went into a mens clothing shop, they followed me. i mean, its not that awkward when i followed them into a ladies store cos there's 3 of them and only one guy which is me. but when 3 gals follow ONE guy into a mens store.....wah pai seh man. hahhaha. i felt bad that they had to wait for me while i was trying on stuff.
found a nice suit there but they didnt have my size, so i had to come back to their store in the city to get it. and i was shocked to discover that i wear xtra small. hahahahaha. yes, in aussie terms i am xtra small!!!

lots n lots n lots of work to do this weekend. gotta start my research for my history essay pronto!! cant leave that to the last min... (though i forsee myself doing so)
and theres still the site report, and the construction tech model, and the portfolio of 21 drawings, and the roof framing tutorial, and the stupid-as-heck dance stage design. (yes, for one of my projects i have to design a stage set for an aboriginal dance production. i was like "wat the..?!??")
im sure i have more to do but i cant quite recall at this moment. at least term break is coming in a wks time.... i really need it to finish all my work!!

gotta get my game face on... its crunch time!

site visit = 4hrs of my life i'll never get back

yello ppl! sorrie its been a while since my last post. nothin that eventful happening ard here lately... jus more work work work.
this weekend went ard melb looking for cool buildings to draw, cos part of the City In History subject involved diagramming 4 buildings in the melb city area. luckily the weather is getting warmer these days, otherwise i cant imagine sitting is a damp, grassy spot for hours drawing a building and freezing to death!! haha that would be quite hillarious though, a frozen statue of me on the front lawn of a building. shit, im getting high... must be the choc chip cookies ive been eating like crazy lately. hey its not my fault...its the darn supermarket. its their fault they put such low prices on the cookies.

oh today went for a site visit to some ulu estate about 20 mins from the city. spent 4 frickin boring hours there. and we had to wear out "phua chu kang" boots and hardhat too. felt like an idiot (no offense to contractors). the builders hard at work must be thinking "who the hell are these young punks running amok at our construction site?!"

and it didnt help that there were insufficient tutors on site. each tutor had to cater to like 30 students who would crowd around him and attempt to grasp what he's saying. after a few mins of squeezing and pushing, i gave up..... and went to get some ice cream from a van nearby. hahaha i think im so gonna fail this subject.

construction professionals hard at work

ahhhh! so much to do n so little time!! n still have the Singapore Society Ball to attend on the 15th n i havent even bought my suit yet. hai... procrastination, procrastination is my friend.

getting fat...

yeah, it was bound to happen. im putting on weight. and the scary thing is that im training for the marathon now, which means TECHINICALLY, i should be LOSING weight. if i can put on weight during this training time, think about how much fatter i would get after the marathon!! i shudder at the thought. and the tummy is developing too. im beginning to see some serious curvature here. haha.
i'll blame it on the cold. it makes me hungry ALL the time. just last night i ate half a bag of potato wedges AFTER dinner. and over the past week ive eaten two LARGE bags of potato chips while watching DVDs. i have fully embraced my inner couch-potato.
i need a JCC crash course now..........

this thing burnt a big ass hole in my wallet...

wow if there's one thing more expensive than uni semester fees, its the amt of money this freakin course sucks from your wallet!! for example, i just spent a large part of my "free" time this wk working on a model of a homeless shelter in an alleyway. and guess how much the damn thing cost me... about 70 bucks man!! thats for balsa wood, foam cores, paint and some other little nitty-gritty things! shit thats a lot of money to pour into one damn project!! and after all that, u know how much this counts towards my final grade?? a measely 25%..... ho hum...... and thats just for ONE subject. just 25% of ONE subject.... i have FOUR subjects.
oh and it gets better, towards the end of the semester there are going to be two HUGE model assignments. And from what ive heard from senior students, i should be expecting to spend at least $300 on each model!! i was like WHAT THE FWOOSH!??!?
yup so here are some photos of my finished model. pls take some time to look at the pics cos, remember, this is expensive shit! hahaha... haha. heh.....no seriously, it is.

ah, yes. the $70 model. its about A2 size base, and 30cm high.

if you're thinking..."hey, that looks sorta like an a-frame..." well, you're right!

another view

and yet another...

i apologise for the lack of pics of babes in my blog. as u can see, i am married to my work now. and divorce looks a long way off...

work work work

its been a hectic week... or more like a major "arrowing" week. Cos i have so so so many projects to do this weekend. lets recap shall we... ive got 1) site plan for Construction Tech, 2) hard-ass scaffolding alley model for Archi Design, 3) three A3 drawings for the proposed inner paintings in the childrens hospital, 4) on-site diagram drawings for City in History, and 5) Computer Modelling exercises..!!!! AHHH!!!

i havent even played any comp games this entire wk! and i've missed 2 soccer training sessions already. actually, thats my own doing though, cos i spent the time training for the marathon. speaking of training, my knee is starting to hurt a little again. shit. i feel a bit worried cos im only up to 15km now... still got a long way to go to 42... but i shall persevere. remember, this year is PAYBACK TIME... so im gonna go all out till my knees buckle underneath me and i cant walk. but till then i'll give it my best shot... hopefully there wont be any long-term damage... touchwood!

yest nite i ran out of meat in the freezer, so i had to eat pasta with tomato sauce for dinner. and it tasted oddly like combat rations... eeewwwwww. must remember to stock up on more chicken this wk, especially with all the running coming up.

ah, ok ive taken enough break time to write this entry. time to get back to work on my model...

work work work. (keep telling myself that no matter how bad it gets, its better than sitting in an OCS meeting.... and that helps.)

death to ashes

i really hate cricket. im sorry to all u cricket fans out there whom im sure have your own reasons for liking this obscure game.
i was pretty indifferent to the game of cricket up till about 24 hours ago. the reason being? bcos the freakin australian TV network decided to show a cricket game instead of the Man U vs Everton match!!! its supposed to be some HUGE cricket event called the Ashes Test between England and Australia..... BIG DEAL! WHO CARES?! certainly not ME!
All i see is some dude throwing a ball at some other dude and then him hitting that ball. and this goes on for hours and hours and hours and (im sorry cricket fans) but its just BLOODY BORING!! i mean....i could stare at paint peeling on a wall and THAT would be more interesting. alright, i guess my hatred is being incorrectly channelled... i dont hate cricket... its the damn australian TV network i should be lashing out at! HEY u a-holes! have u ever watched the EPL b4??? if u did, you'd probably shoot yourself in the head for airing cricket instead of soccer!! ARHAHRHA!! GAHGHHAGH!!! GAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
im just so frustrated now..... cant wait to go back to spore in november to my beloved ESPN and Star Sports.
sheesh....

listen to the kenyan's advice

sigh.. satiish is right... i have been really slacking off in my fitness routine. last week i only ran 10km once, then this wk onli once also. and ive been eating lots of unhealthy food too!! the other day, went to the supermarket and bought a HUGE bag of salt n vinegar potato chips. its always there on offer on the shelves, but normally i am able to convince myself that i shouldnt be eating it. but this time dunno y leh... i succumbed to temptation and grabbed it off the shelf. after finishing the whole bag in one DVD sitting, i was like.... shit, what did i just do?....

but no longer! the melbourne marathon is less than 2 months away, and if im gonna clock a decent timing, must start training seriously now.. cannot have these DVD snack-athons anymore...

and no more indomee also!!! (well, maybe 2 packets a wk.....hee)

mari kita rakyat singapura...

ok, i admit that this post is one day late.... but still,.... HAPPY NATIONAL DAY ALL U SINGAPOREANS!
I must confess, i woke up yesterday morning and completely forgot that it was national day. it was not till halfway in the day when i was sitting in my lecture theatre that it occured to me. haha. oh well, guess ive never been a very patriotic person to begin with.
I went out with Esther and one of her frens for supper to celebrate. (and yes, we all wore red n white). We went to this place in Crown hotel called Greco (i think)... its some cafe-cum-restaurant a-la NYDC in spore. my gawd, their cakes are soooooooo good! not to mention loaded with calories!! haha... but its national day lah... so can indulge a bit more. =)

drug alley

second wk has just come to an end, and the assignments keep on piling. Now i've got 3 major assignments due next week! and i went for my City In History tutorial yesterday and found out that there's a shit load of reading and researching needed for that subject. I guess the holiday is really over now... time to start getting serious about my work.

My latest project is to do a collage on this alleyway in the city called Hosier Lane. Our tutor gave us a choice of two lanes to visit and research, but Hosier was definitely the more interesting of the two. (see image above). This place is creepy in the day, and down right dangerous at night. Its like THE ghetto alley of melbourne, where ppl sell drugs and stuff. haha. Thats wat makes it so much fun to do a collage on. Well, if you're wondering, i didnt get to see any drug pushers, but thats probably cos i went in the day. And NO WAY am i going there at night!!

On a lighter note, i came home from soccer practice the other day with my t-shirt on backwards the entire journey on the tram. And i dont mean "inside out". I mean BACKWARDS!....... u know that tag on the back of your neckline that shows the size of the t-shirt? it was sticking out from the front collar at my neck!! and this was for the whole journey home! oh and i went to the supermarket on the way home too... so everybody there must have seen it too!!! AAHHH!!! i didnt realise till i got home and looked in the mirror. i was like... WAT THE...!?!?

prata night out!

federation square!

chillin' out!

Yongsi and I... cool backdrop!

Esther and I at federation square!

the FEET shot!

there's always room for dessert!

it looks good. it smells good. it tastes good!

THAT obligatory shot. =)

Yongsi and her HUGE Lassi.

ASSignments...nooooooooo.

the novety of uni is slowly beginning to wear off. Its just like eating sour plums... the outer fruit is nice and sour and sweet at the same time and exciting!... but eventually the sour and sweetness wear off and u get to the hard, inedible seed. (ok that was my poor attempt at an analogy)
its only the first wk, and ive already got ASSignments to do!!! and they're not the particularly easy ones either! im supposed to research on this building by an architect called Toyo Ito, the Sendai Mediotheque. yeah... cheeeeeem. Supposed to find out how the building was made lah... what materials went into making it lah... how the building relates to its surroundings lah... how i feel about the building lah... everything lah lah lah!! and im supposed to hand this in on thurs...noooooooo.
good thing is, i have a good partner (we're supposed to research in pairs). this girl from china, and she's really pleasant, unlike some of the other ppl in the class who look like they will give mono-syllabic answers when u ask them anything. okay, sorry thats a bit harsh.
alrighty, i'd better go to the library now...
oh, side note! i cut my wrist playing soccer yesterday... so now there's a scar on my wrist that looks like i tried to commit suicide. hahaha.

sweeeeeet

omg today has got to be my happiest day since i got here.
I found out that there was a typo on the timetable that i printed out. Initially, i had classes every day, with a total of 20 hrs per wk. That sucked.
BUT! now with my new timetable, i have wednesdays off!!! no school!! freeeeeee!!! and my contact hours have been reduced to 17!!! YAY!
oh this is just too good i simply have to gloat. wed off! wed off! i know some ppl who have like only 3 days of school per wk... that's just crazy. (in a good way) but im more than happy with what i got. What i'm not happy about though, is the price of all the materials needed for this course! already ive spent about $120 on materials, and $100 on textbks, notes, etc. And all this is for just ONE semester! this school's ripping us off! ah well.....
oh and one of my lecturers is called Blair Gardiener.... we call him the Blair Witch cos he's a really freaky guy. He talks in the most boring manner imaginable, and sniggers at his own jokes. eerie....

WinteRACE!!!

From left : Fendi(Indonesian), Me, Mike(Irish), Christopher(Philippino), Grace(S'porean)


Today was a fun day! The most fun of the orientation thus far. My new friends and i decided to take part in the traditional Melbourne Uni WinteRACE organised by the overseas student' union. The WinteRACE is a sort of "Amazing Race" style event where we explore melbourne city looking for checkpoints, and then answering the questions at each stop. At first, the whole concept sounded kinda lame, and we were reluctant to join. But we soon realised that we would have absolutely NOTHING to do on a saturday afternoon anyways, so we decided to give it a try. Luckily we did! It was way more fun than i expected. Partly due to the weather (if this was held in orchard road i think we would have dehydrated) and also the ppl in my group. All were really nice people, and we got along great.
Oh, and its amazing how much fun "topo" can be when its not done in a hot and humid brunei jungle.
But alas, we did not win any prizes in the race. At the endpoint, they announced the top 4 teams, and we were not amongst them. This leads me to believe that we were 5th!!! yes...i believe so! without a shadow of a doubt!

Side note : bcos we did not register earlier and just decided to turn up a the last minute, we did not have to pay the $5 registration fee. Yup, so we enjoyed free pizza and free tram rides! YAY! (see, it pays to procrastinate sometimes. heh heh.)

first day...

yesterday was my first day of orientation. The day started off kinda scary, as i entered this big lecture room (which looked suspiciously like LT5 from ACJC. remember that guys? hehe) and saw hundreds of ppl whom i had never met before. Since this was an international students' briefing, there were students from literally ALL corners of the world. There were some from Sweden, Africa, the Carribean, Philippines, and of course the bulk from South East Asia.
After the customary "Welcome to Melb Uni speech", we split up into our own faculties and got a tour of the campus from some of our seniors. This was the first time that i got to see my coursemates. There were a group of australian girls, but they seemed more interested in mingling amongst themselves. I wonder if thats the way things will be around here - the aussies sick together, and the rest stick together. lets hope not...

Anyways, i was fortunate enough to make a few new friends on the first day. A guy named Chris from Philippines, Fendi from Indonesia, Lynn from Malaysia and Grace from Singapore. Quite an assortment of nationalities eh? haha. They're really nice people, and its good to know that i'll be working closely with them over the next few years. We're meeting up to watch a movie today (cos tuesdays is half-price). Better get going now...im meeting them in the lobby in a few minutes. ciao!

broomstick kid

I was never a fan of the Harry Potter books. I did like watching the movies (thanks in most part to Emma Watson), but i certainly dont qualify as a fan. So, as you might expect, i had no idea that Book6 of the series was released today.

It took me, however, about 10 seconds after stepping out of my apartment building to realise this. As i walked out the front door of the lobby, a mother with two kids walked by me. One of her kids was dressed in a long black cloak with a hood (looking a lot like the Emperor from Star Wars), and for a moment there i thought to myself "shouldnt Episode III fever have died down by now?" But her second son's outfit was a dead giveaway. He was carrying a broom (yes, a broom. not a fancy one like those potter movies, but a REAL HOUSEHOLD BROOM!!) and he was wearing thick rimmed classes and had drawn a scar on his forehead in what looked like brown lipstick.

There was no doubt in my mind after that. Today was the release of Harry Potter 6. You see, i live across the street from the state library. And there was a fair going on in the courtyard....a potter fair as you might expect. And there were people dressed up as witches and wizards and little witches and little wizards, all waiting anxiously in line to get their hands on a copy of the sacred book.

Potter mania is back. hmm... i wonder if Emma Watson will drop by to promote the book? (here's hoping!)

2 more days

yep, only 2 more days till orientation starts. and if u ask me, it couldnt come soon enough! Not that i mind sitting at home all day watching Smallville, but i just feel that precious hours are ticking away and i'm accomplishing nothing new in my life. Oh wait, i DID learn to cook a little. Erm... but that hardly counts.
I went the uni yesterday to collect my orientation booklet. There were senior students there who attended to us, and gave us a little insight into orientation week. The girl who attended to me was from Taiwan, and she was quite....erm...hot. yes. quite hot. But she had way too much make-up on, and that just turns me off.
Where are all the "natural-nice-looking-sporty-kind-warm-funny-sophisticated-down-to-earth" girls in my life? Maybe my standards are too high... i'm looking for the perfect person to match me, when i myself am far from perfect. Its a cliche that there's always someone out there for you... but i dont think its that easy. Ppl say "oh! i found my soul mate!" So what is a soul mate exactly? Is it one person in the entire population of the world who is destined to be with you? If that's the case, then almost everyone who claims to have found their soul mate is full of bullshit. Come on, think about it.... there are 6 billion people on the planet. In your lifetime, you'll have close relations with, say.....200 people? 300? OR sightly more if you're popular. The chance of finding your soul mate in that group of people is close to ZIP!! ZERO! KOSONG!
I think there are two kinds of girls. The ones you grow out of, and the ones you grow into. There's no such thing as a soul mate. And there's no perfect girl out there. Its a long 6 years here... hopefully i'll find someone i can grow into. (of course it would help if her name started with Natalie and ended with Portman).
kidding!

.........but that would be nice!

away with the triangle!

haha. i just realised that today is the one year anniversary of passing my driving test. and u know what that means..... i can now strip off that confounded bright orange and yellow triangle!!! mwahahahaha! no more being bullied on the road by old foggies and taxi drivers! its payback time!

of course it would help if i actually had a car to drive over here.......

apartment tour

my bedroom with a sweeeeeet view.

my "study" desk.

the toilet.

its nice and big with lotsa room to maneuver about.

the Original Trilogy wall.

the Prequel wall.

The kitchen, which is also part of the hall.

This is where the majority of the mishaps in my apartment occur.

the hall.

that little doorway on the left leads to my bedroom.

smallville...SMALLVILLE!!

Wow! i am on cloud nine at the moment! i cant believe how fortunate i am! okok, let me calm down a little and explain what has just transpired. Anyone who knows me knows that i am a big comic book geek. And Superman is my all time fav superhero. Ever since i first got to know the character through the Chris Reeve movies when i was 5 yrs old, i've been simpy fascinated by the Man of Steel. So u can imagine my joy when the Smallville TV series began airing in 2001. i've watched every single episode of all four seasons to date. i also downloaded all four seasons onto my comp. (thanks to KAZAA and ARES). but a year ago, my comp died on me and i lost most of season3 and all of season 1 and 2. i was devastated.

since then, i've been longing to buy the DVD sets but they've always been so darn expensive - in the region of $120 per box set at HMV. late last year i saw season 1 on sale for $69. i was so so tempted to buy it then, but it was still a little too pricey. then when i came to melbourne on holiday in may, i saw the season 1 and season 2 sets for $39.90 each!!! i was like.. omg that is so cheap! but the problem was that the DVDs were code4 (the DVD region for australia), so i couldnt watch it at home. i figured "ok when i come here to study in July, i'll buy a region4 DVD player and then get the DVD sets". that was the plan...

fast forward to July. i came to melb, bought the region4 DVD player and went to HMV to check out my beloved box sets. i nearly screamed when i saw the price... $114 for season 1!!!!! and $89 for season 2!!!! noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! i was cursing at myself!!! "why didnt i just get it in may when it was cheap!?!? why?! WHY?! WHHHYYYYYYYY?!?!?"

but my spirit was unbroken. by hook or by crook, i vowed that one day i would have smallville season 1,2,3 DVD sets in my posession. i figured that sooner or later, there would be another sale and i could get the sets at that insanely cheap price. so since i got here on July 1st, i've been going to various DVD shops all over melbourne every day checking out the DVD prices. EVERY SINGLE DAY. that's commitment for you. (though some my call it borderline insanity)

now comes the juicy part. (drumroll please....)
Yesterday, i went on my usual rounds and checked the price at this store called JB-Hi Fi. they are known to have the best deals in town. but alas, the price was still $114 and $89 for seasons 1 and 2 respectively. that was yesterday. This morning, i went to check it out again...and low and behold!!!!!! there was a clearance sale!!! and the bex sets were going for $32.90 each!!!!! once again, i nearly screamed!!! i wanted to punch my fist into the air and shriek with delirium right there and then. i composed myself, stretched out a trembling hand, and carefully picked the two box sets off the shelf. they were mine now! my own! my precciiooooussssssss....

the guy at the cashier told me that season 3 would be released next month. i wonder if i can get that one cheap too... (heh heh heh)
and the saga continues............

instant chef

i have been very bored lately. cant believe it's still a week before i anything remotely interesting is going to happen here. just how bored am i? here's some evidence : i've watched 13 episodes of smallville in the past 3 days. yes, and i intend to finish the season (22 episodes by wed.) haha. after which i think i'll have to start rewatching Lost Season 1. that should take me through all the way till sunday, just in time for orientation to start on monday.

been experimenting a little in the kitchen lately. (actually, in my hall. bcos my kitchen is my hall, if u get wat i mean...) anyways, i went to this place called Prahan this morning. It's about 15 mins by tram from my place. There's this shop there that sells asian food, as well as Halal stuff. (which is rather difficult to find). I picked up this chicken rice paste thingie...its one of those 'instant' sachets. I came home and tried it and.... boy does it taste good!!! maybe its just that ive been eating sandwiches and indomee for the past 3 days, but the chicken rice really tasted authentic! too bad i only bought 2 packets though. i'm definitely gonna go back for more soon. they also had stuff like 'instant tom yam', 'instant rendang' etc.. gotta try those too!

i also bought a toaster today. planning to buy waffles tmr so i can have (you guessed it) waffle ice-cream! imagine..... hot steamy waffles with cold chocolate ice cream.....oooooh i could just...erm... nevermind lets not go there.

all alone now...

my parents left for the airport this morning. so, yeah, i'm all by my lonesome self now in my little apartment. the weather today just plain sucks. its bloody cold (probably the coldest since i got here) and its raining. oh, and its the kind of rain that doesnt pour, but just falls consistently throughout the day and doesnt seem to stop. y'know the kind i'm talking about right? yeah... sucks, dont it.
just had my lunch. cooked myself a wholesome meal of chicken and indomee. yes, i wouldnt last very long on my own without my indomee. but i must cut down a little.....not healthy. too much MSG. my tastebuds would have something to say about that, though...
its still 5 days before i can collect my orientation guide from the university. 5 more days to do.........nothing. haha. there's only so much half-life2 i can play in one day, and the TV programs here aren't very good. (guess i've been spoilt by cableTV). and they arent airing One Tree Hill here.....sob sob. and the OC is into its season finale. i missed the entire mid-season! damn you channel5...why'd u have to be so slow in airing the episodes. suresh, if you're reading this, dont delete your OC season2!!! i need to watch it when i get back!!! hehe thanks.
hmmm... its 3 oclock now... just about time for my afternoon nap! haha.. fitness dropping rapidly. its so cold that i've got no mood to run, or leave the apartment for that matter. could use some hot cheese prata now.....
mmmm......cheese prata..................damn it!

change of home number...

my home number here in Melb has changed. here's the new number:

61392247732

yup. thats all folks...

down with the Combine!

i still havent got my 'black and white' PS2 issue sorted out yet. its really bugging me. cant believe i carried it all the way here for nothing. grrr.
i was feeling sorta under the weather today (due to the PS2 issue), so i decided to lift my spirits and satisfy my gaming needs. i went to this HUGE gaming store along Bourke St, and bought myself HALF-LIFE 2! yeah baby! and man, i gotta tell you... its freakin ROOOOCKS!!! i did, however have to turn the graphics settings down kinda low, cos my lappie isnt the most powerful PC in the world. but still... it KICKS ASS! hopefully i can complete it before my school term starts. if not, i might not attend orientation at all!!! mwahahaha!
oh, and did i mention it comes bundled with CounterStrike:Source? haha... i forsee many many sleepless nights.

"swanston, we have a problem..."

we have a BIG problem... apparently there are two types of TVs - namely NTSC or PAL. the TVs in singapore are NTSC, and the TVs in australia are PAL. now, you must be wondering, how does this affect me? well, if you use a device that is NTSC on a PAL TV, you will get your images in black and white. so here's my BIG problem.... my Playstation2 is NTSC, and my TV here is PAL. sooo..... all my games are in black and white!!!! AHHHHHHHH! this is horrible! terrible! i have no mood to study anymore! if someone, anyone can help me with this, i will be eternally eternally grateful!! pleeeeease.....my degree depends on it.....

my address and phone numbers in Melb...

hey folks. here's my contact details in Melbourne, just in case anyone feels like shipping me a few presents, erm..... like, say, a PSP for example. *cough cough*

1312/339 Swanston Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
Australia

Hp number :
+61434395337 (dial this if you are calling from singapore)
0434395337 (if you're in australia)

Home number :
+61396377732 (if calling from singapore)
0396377732 (if calling from australia, but outside of Melbourne)
96377732 (if calling from Melbourne)

email : iyliadhamiri@gmail.com

unisex name indeed.

wat the hell man. i registered with this bank called ANZ... and here's my new ATM card. check out the name.... notice anthing wrong with my title!?!? wah....i could just cry....
i keep telling my parents that i have a unisex name, cos i know several female "iylia"s. this pretty much proves it. a unisex name indeed..... oh man..........