Byee Melbourne..!

Time to say goodbye. It's been 1 year to the day that i've been in Melbourne – arrived on 1st Jan, leaving on 31st Dec. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that this time i'll really be gone for quite a long while. I'll definitely miss this city, but even more so the friends who've made my time here so special and enjoyable. Don't worry, i'll be back in due time...

Btw, my hiding in a tempurung due to the lack of an internet connection has been the cause of the long hiatus since the last update. Many belated posts to come. And by the time you read this it's prob time to wish everyone a Happy New Year!! Oh, and a belated Merry Christmas too.

Packing and moving woes

I never realised how extremely horrible, tiring, and time consuming moving apartment could be. In IH all we had to do was pack up all our stuff in boxes, and that was that. No need to worry about furniture, about plates, pans and cockery, or cleaning up. And looks can be deceiving. Whilst it looks simple enough to pack, the actual reality dictates that one has to slog and slave to pack up the most mundane of things. It's the small items that are especially irritating. And whilst packing up, there is a tendency for one to constantly seem to misplace things - packing tape, scissors, wiping cloth, all have been lost numerous times.

4 years worth of notes thrown away

Once the packing was done, it was time to call the movers. And this is where it might sometimes have been better to call in the professionals, not cheap Chinaman movers. The apartment had to be vacated by Friday, so we thought it was best to move on Wednesday. Few hours before they were supposed to arrive, they call up saying that their lorry had "broken down". After much deciphering what they were trying to convey, as they only spoke a smattering of English, they promised that they would come the next day at noon. Once bitten, twice shy, the adage goes. But we still trusted that they would deliver as promised. 10am the next day they call up again to say that their lorry was still broken. Being in an immense quandary as we had to be out by the next day we were very fortunate to be able to get another mover as a replacement immediately, which came at a slight premium.

Anyway, moving all the boxes, furniture, white goods, and odds and ends all the way down the corridor, into the lift, out along little Lonsdale, and up into the lorry also proved to be a lot more time consuming than expected. 4.5 hours of lifting, heaving, moving, and dragging, and all our belongings were safely in their new home of Temple Court, which is on Collins and Queens St. Took that long even with a manpower of 7 (Thanx Erwin, 24, and Anand who helped out).

Super tired, but that was not the end of it. There was still the trivial matter of restoring the apartment to its original pristine state. Which meant a lot of cleaning, scrubbing, scouring, vacuuming, moping, and wiping down surfaces. Fighting with dirt, grime, grease, and stains. Bathtub has never looked so white, or glass panes so transparent. Thanx Michelle for volunteering to help out at 3am in the morning.

So more than 20-30 hours invested over the past few days to pack, move out, and clean. Result is an immaculate apartment sparkling clean.

Adieu to my home for the past year, it's been a great place to stay. The envy of many a friend. The convenience of staying less than a minute's walk from Safeway. The convenienve of being loacated right in the heart of the city. And a pretty decent view to boot.

Time to start restoring order to my new home for now.

[Updating from Damien's place whilst watching the double header matches of Man U vs Liverpool and Chelsea vs Arsenal. Having no internet connection totally sucks =(]

Elf Yourself

Veron sent this link to me, and then i was hooked. First i started making one, then one thing led to another and i found myself having fun elfing everyone. Jobless i know, but the payoff is when you see the smile (sometimes uncontrollable laughter) it inevitably brings to everyone's faces. Reactions tend to go along the lines of "WTF.. HAHAHHAAA. OMG OMG OMG.. DAMN FUNNY.. HAHAA" or "DAMN CUTE.. " as well as illiciting responses of "i look like an idiot laughing alone in my room". It's extra funny coz each character's dance moves are uncoordinated. Click the following links, and be prepared to be amused.

Me, Mel, Cliffe, Erwin
Kai, August, Hung, PY
Michelle, Emily, Su Ann, Jerome
Damien, Kee Hong, CC, Ken
Kee Win, Jeannie
Heidi, Sabs, Liss, Veron
Omega, Ah Ma, Chong Shen
Jo, Dharen
My siblings

Results..

So, i've gotten my results, which means i can gradute. Somehow managed to do reasonably well in my final year. Honours score = 2nd class upper, which i guess i should be happy with considering my 2nd and 3rd year results averaged in the low 70s. Now, if only my 85 average in first year was taken into account. *wishful thinking*... hahaa..

Holidays so far..

Okay, I shall try to satiate the clamours for an update. So, holidays so far has been pretty mundane and boring, even though I’ve somehow managed to be out of my house almost all the time. And I’ve been totally nocturnal, sleeping late and waking up late. Anyway, the events of the past few weeks....

• Chong Shen’s birthday – ambushed and carried him across the road to the park, tied him to a pole with cling wrap, and then it was free for all. Flour, eggs, coke with mentos, you name it. Think he enjoyed it. =P
  

• Jerome’s birthday – a pajama party, which ended with us 'conteng'-ing on his leg and painting his nails with nailpolish.

• Kai's birthday whereby we had a surprise party for him at Uropa function room, though he had to spoil it by claiming he saw it coming..

• Liss' birthday – dinner comprised Mexican food at Los Amates. Food was nice, albeit pricey, and portions were quite small. Adjourned to Red Hummingbird, a bar on Russell Lonsdale. Nice and cosy ambience, the open-air rooftop was even better.
Los Amates



Red Hummingbird

• Then there was the AIESEC mini get-together. We went to the Vic Mart night market for dinner, and then adjourned to my place for a game of Taboo! Notable for Nirm’s "drunken" episode. And some funny descriptions. For example, try guessing Sabs question of “What is my piano teacher’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher”? The only person capable of getting -4 each turn. =P haha. Round 2 is on the cards hopefully sometime soon.

• Bought jeans at Levi’s in DFO Spencer St. Everything in the shop was going for half price. Bought myself 2 pairs – the one on the left cost $35 and the other one $25. Quite a bargain.

• One day whilst walking around Melbourne Central walked past Armani Exchange. What at first glance appeared to be mannequins dressed in the latest men's underwear turned out to be real-life models. Suffice to say, that caught the girls' attention.
  
Su Ann, the bravest who was the first to ask the models for a photo

August shocked to discover someone with a better body than him.. =P


Jo couldn't stop drooling, or tear herself away from her eye candy

• A bit of Dota, though im not too addicted to it.

• Poker. Yes, the ubiquitous past time that brings everyone together. There has been quite a number of home games. And then there were ppl like Cliffe, August, Kai, PY, and Erwin who've been to Crown to satisfy their poker cravings. Though my standing at the sidelines means i've not lost a cent. Pub poker in The Club in Caroline Springs. Nice experience. Top 20 out of 100+ ppl.
  

• Explored a few new restaurants, though something has to be done about always ending up in Wing Loong more often than not.
  

• Frisbee in the park. Fun game indeed. CC, go organise again, get more ppl. =)
  

• Weekly soccer at Royal Park, often under the scorching sun, which is not fun at all. I'm a lot darker now.
  

• Cleaning my messy house somewhat, and starting to pack up. Sigh, just over more than a week before I have to move out, and packing up and having to scrub and clean every single surface seems a sufficiently daunting task. Btw, I’ll be homeless after, anyone willing to take pity and provide a roof over my head? I’ll be nice, I promise. =)

I should get a casual job. Though there's prob not many availabilities at this time.

Free Rice for the needy

Busyness. I seem to have more time to update during the exam period than after exams. I think the word procrastination springs to mind. Sorry to those who've been pestering for an update.

In the meantime, whoever's bored and looking for something to do, check out www.freerice.com. I just started playing it, and it's a fun and addictive vocabulary game which not only tests and improves your vocab, but for every correct answer, 10 grains of rice is donated through the UN to end world hunger. It gets quite tricky above level 30, and so far i've only managed to reach level 40.

If you're still really bored check out this online store selling good quality shirts, www.threadless.com. As a bonus, there's a sale now with shirts going for only US10. The flipside to that is that this means many of the nice designs have sold out. Well, check back in the future, as even at the normal price, it's still relatively cheap, and there's a constant influx of new, cute designs, like these....

Percintaan Tan Hong Ming

In a similar vein to the "Whatever.." girl... Small kids can sometimes be very cute..

One of the best Merdeka TV commercials. Race doesn't matter when we are young, so why does it matter when we grow up??

Melbourne Cup

Okay, about time i got around to detailing my maiden Melbourne Cup outing.

So this was last Tuesday, right after i had an exam in the morning, and having had just 3 hours of sleep the previous night. Rushed home from REB to quickly get changed, and off we went to Flemington Racecourse.

Before i go further i must admit my total lack of knowledge as to anything horse racing related, apart from Makybe Diva’s record breaking feat of winning 3 consecutive Melbourne Cups. Whilst on the train there i was asking how many horses would be out on track, as i presumed it would be something like swimming or athletics, whereby there are preliminary rounds eliminating all but the best 8 horses. Little did I know there would actually be 22 horses on track.

Anyway, arrived at about 2pm, by which time the sun was shining down radiating its heat and the sky devoid of any protective cloud cover. What struck me at first was the very raw smell permeating the racecourse. I’ve no idea where that smell emanated from, maybe horse droppings, who knows, but it sure wasn’t a very pleasant smell.

Made our way to a small patch of grass which had been reserved by the rest who had arrived in the morning. This was our tiny spot...

Amongst the vast multitude of people.

There were only 4 races left by the time I got there, the next one being the much vaunted Melbourne Cup. Decided to randomly place some bets, which didn't go too well considering my betting knowledge was zilch. I was confronted with a plethora of betting options such as trifecta, quieniala, exacta, win and place. Decided to play safe and went with the 3 favourites – Purple Moon, Master O’ Reilly, and Zipping. Well, i didn’t know that i had to state the horse number to place my bet, so i went up to the counter and said “Can i place a bet on Purple Moon, Master O’....” But before i could complete my sentence, the cashier interjected, “What’s the horse number?” which obviously i didn’t know. Had to hold up the queue momentarily while i found out the horse numbers. Silliness. Betting can be stressful. Haha.

Anyway, i spent a grand total of... wait for it..... $8, which is a pittance when compared to everyone else who seem to be whipping out wads of $50 notes. I guess it's no surprise then that Australian punters bet a total of $145 million on the outcome of just this 200 second race.

Anyway, as the race time approached, we pushed our way to the front of the open area to get a better view, and this is what we saw..

The horses coming around the corner...

Running right by us

And then they were gone.

Just like that, in less than 10 seconds, and i couldn’t even tell who was ahead. All the horses looked the same. Seriously. haha.

Some pictures...

Beautiful AIESEC girls..

Ex-IHers..

AIESEC contingent

A portion of the more than 100,000 people in attendance

Oh, and a mention should also go to Tristan’s bout of ingenuity. You see, the racecourse has a rule whereby no outside alcohol is allowed in, my guess being so that the concession stands can milk even more money out of everyone. So what did Tristan do? He filled zip lock sandwich bags with alcohol, and disguised them by putting them inside Shapes boxes. There was even a bun in which he cut out the insides so that he could hide a Tupperware of alcohol in it. Might be silly, but pure genius. haha.

So yeah, I managed to garner a return of $4.10 from my intial outlay of $8, with Purple Moon coming in 2nd, and Zipping narrowly missing out on 3rd place, which undoubtedly is a loss. I didn’t realise how unpredictable horse racing is, unlike say football whereby there is a pretty high chance that the favourite will win. Which reminds me, i still haven’t collected my winnings....

Overall, it was a decent experience. At least i’ve now gotten a feel of what goes on in “the race that stops a nation”. I guess most of the ppl who attended too didn't turn up so much for the horses than for the one a year chance to dress up to the nines, have a good time, and maybe consume copious amounts of alcohol. The temperature was probably a bit too hot for to be dressed in a suit, and causing the girls sun-burnt shoulders, but it was fun... =)

Other photos of the girls in their lovely dresses, hats, and fascinators.

Bizazrre Laws

Came across this excerpt in yesterday's MX, which lists some of the most bizarre laws around the world.

1. In the UK, people are prohibited to from dying whilst in the Houses of Parliament. (So what, you expect someone in the throes of death to have the capacity to quietly excuse himself just so he can die outside and not disturb the session?)
2. In the US state of Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk. (Is that even possible...)
3. Only a clerk in a tropical fish store has permission to be topless in Liverpool.
4. In UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet. (Oh, so a non-pregnant woman can't? And why the precise mention of a policeman's helmet of all places.)
5. In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation. (Hmm. The dilemma they face. Self pleasure, or getting their heads chopped off.)
6. A male doctor in Bahrain can examine the genitals of a woman only in the reflection of the mirror.
7. In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm.
8. It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving in Alabama. (Need that be said?)
   
9. In Florida, unwed women who parachute on a Sunday risk jail. (Haha. This is just plain funny.)
10. Women in Vermont must obtain permission from their husbands to have false teeth.
11. In Milan, you must smile except at funerals or hospital visits.
12. Japan has no age of consent. (Explains the adult industry's fascination with Japanese schoolgirls)
13. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napolean.

Cracked me up. I have no idea how lawmakers could be so silly to even contemplate drafting and passing such absurd laws. Some of these are just plain logical-no-need-to-be-said type of laws, whilst others border on the comical and nonsensical. And to think an entire parliament has to waste time to debate and vote on whether to pass these laws.

My Marketing Plan Assignment

Went to uni with Mel just now to collect my Strategic Marketing assignment. Well besides the added incentive of picking up a free Slurpee on Happy 7-11 Day. =) Anyway, remember the 12,000 word 70 pages assignment that i was complaining and whinging about how difficult, and totally illogical it was for them to expect such a comprehensive and detailed marketing plan from undergraduate students? Yes, THAT assignment. Picked the assignment up from Alan Gilbert.

And we both stood there not wanting to check our marks. "You go first," I said. "No, you go first," she replied. Impasse. "How about i check your marks and you check mine?" suggested Mel. Which was even scarier to than checking it myself.

So, with great trepiadation, i turned over to the last page to check my mark. Guess what i got?? [Highlight the blank space..]

28/30

I was quite shocked. I mean, not that i didn't invest hours and hours of effort into the assignment, but I am not a marketing student. I had no prior knowledge of Porter's 5 forces, the GE/BCG/McKinsey model, the meaning of critical success factors, how to propose a budget, and other marketing lingo. And due to lack of time, I thought that leaving out certain parts and writing half a page for each section towards the end would have an adverse effect on my mark. Not to mention having a referencing system that merely consisted of copying and pasting URLs into footnotes and leaving it at that.

Oh well, i guess the many sleepless nights paid off. And due to students' complains the weightage of the assignment has been increased to 60% of the overall mark. =) To cap it off the tutor's feedback reads:

• An excellent strategic plan for IKEA. A very comprehensive, well researched + considered analysis.
• Very good supporting recommendations for your marketing mix, budget, implementation + evaluation + control.
• Overall, you have presented a very intensive + intelligent plan.
• Astonishingly high level of course understanding.

I'm not even convinced myself about the validity of those comments, but i'm not complaining.. And not as upset with my decision to take this elective. =)

Experiment 101

Jo's idea of an experiment at 3am in the morning, a break from the monotony of looking at her law notes the past 1 week. What happens when you have too many leftover birthday balloons? You release them back into the wild, to fend for itself. The balloon was released into the early Melbourne sky, defenseless and lonesome, awaiting a random stranger to pick it up and care for it, and give it a home.

Unfortunately, the balloon settled into the shadows of the bushes outside the state library, hidden from view. It's fate unbeknown, forever condemned to join the ranks of the lost and the forgotten...