start of the XVIII Commonwealth Games

Yesterday (15/03) was the start of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Though I didn't go for the opening ceremony, which costs a killer of hundred bucks minimum, there was plenty of action around the venue (Melbourne Cricket Ground, or MCG) where the ceremony took place.

caught myself slacking again...

hey but classes only start in the afternoon. anyway, it's only 10.30 here.
Just read an article in Feb's Cleo Australia. There was this disgusting man who knew he got HIV, and went around having unprotected sex with several other women. In the end, 2 of them was reported to be HIV positive and sued him. He was charged with 2 counts of maliciously inflicting a grevious bodily disease but for the 2 women, i guess it's too late now.
Just goes to show that there are plenty of evil and crazy people in this world, and most of the time, they look pretty normal...

ok now's my turn...

to report on the day that's called Sihan's series of unfortunate events.
I just knew it was going to be a bad day when my program adviser turned up at 9 in the morning in a snappy three-piece suit. He was never THAT happy to see me.
Turns out that he totally forgot about our appointment, which incidentally he was late for, and I had to reschedule. Again. Never mind, it was my fault anyway. Should have just gone right back to sleep when the alarm sounded...
Ducked inside one of the labs to do my reading for the day and took some notes. Saw something interesting on the news wires about Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, and decided to search the library catalogue. Starting getting excited when I saw there was one copy available, and quickly rushed down to get the book. After searching high and low, I found the book, along with a few other treasures. Just when I was silently congratulating myself on having the good fortune of getting the bestseller, I was politely informed by the borrowing machine that THIS BOOK IS RESERVED FOR ANOTHER USER. I couldn't believe my luck and checked at the counter. Was told that the book was not supposed to be on the shelf, and would I like to make a reservation for it. Yes... I would...bugger...
If that wasn't bad enough, I was assualted by a flying frisbee which escaped from the clutches of a few energetic Australian males who had the good sense to play the game on the footpath that the innocent public has to use in order to get to class (or home). How's that for a total whammer of a day?
Surprisingly, I am all geared up for the rest of the day after all that earlier "trauma". Guess what doesn't make you angry gets you happy! Or else I'm just a stupid fool all over again hehe. Anyway, I manage to unload my frustrations on my poor housemates when my thoroughly battered self creep home for lunch, and one of them lent me Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which was one of the books that I was looking for. Yeepee!! Guess that wasn't too bad a day. But you never know... Stay tune for more lousy updates folks..

another exhausting day of lessons...

i swear. i am never going to try deleting anything from my laptop. cos the moment i try to get rid of something, it turns out to be something impt :s yesterday i tried to get rid of spyware, and guess what? i end up deleting my sound card! thank god i got a clever and helpful housemate who kindly dug thru the web and download the stuff back for me. otherwise i think i die liao...

hmmn... today was another full day of lectures n tutorials. Things r starting to get into action and very soon we are getting all the asignments and assessed tests n papers. Drowning in the sea (or mountain, depending on whichever u prefer :p) of work, with no friends in sight. help! hehe.. no lah really miss the friends n familiar environment back home. Although I'm starting to get the hang of things n ppl around here, the feeling of being an outsider will always remain. Not that ppl are unfriendly or anything like that, but simply becos they arrive at uni with their group of frens so it's easier for them to integrate with the company of happy frens around. sigh.. oh well i guess everyone who's been to somewhere new will be bound to experience some melancholy. Just trying to look on the bright side, like how lucky i am to meet some very nice ppl such as this Australian girl in my socio class. She was from Uni of Mel doing archi (ah yong!) but transfer over after one sem to RMIT to do intl studies. She's the first Australian, apart from my lecturers, who seems interested in getting to know me outside of class and even offered to show me around Australia. Though I suspect she was just trying to be friendly, I couldn't help feeling touched by the sweet gesture.

And needlesss to say, I thank god for my lovely housemates, for without them, i would feel even more lost than i am. Everytime I feel overwhelmed or lonely, I try to not let myself feel down for long and remind myself that I am not here on holiday. I am here to enrich myself n return home a better version of my old self. Now that I am here alone, removed from the comfort n security of friends and family, i can c myself that much more clearly, and realise that in some ways, i hav an advantage in some areas compared to my peers here. In terms of experience and industry exposure, I am quite experienced in that area but on the other hand, I have to keep abreast of Aust current affairs which can be quite a chore but news is always exciting so that's not too bad. Anyway, I'm keepng myself on top of things by freelancing for a webbie that's based back home, so it always feels like I'm connected to home somehow :)

Will post more updates n pics soon. Meantime, take care!