Bushwalking

Being extremely free the last weekend (26 July), i took a morning and went bushwalking.

My destination??

<----- Mt Gravatt in Toohey Forest.

This post is mainly a photo post, just enjoy the green and the scenery. Bit disappointed though, cause i didn't get many good photos...

However...

There were 2 big highlights of the day :



1. I was chased by a turkey.

I'm pretty sure most of you'll are going either "Huh?" or "What?" and will most likely be laughing your butts off after reading that sentence.

Anyway, i was chased by a Bush Turkey. And if you're wondering where are it's photos, i can say i was too busy trying to get away from it. (How does a bush turkey look? Check back one of my old posts. There's a photo there)

Actually I'm not very sure if it was chasing me at all. But I'm pretty sure it was. It all started when i was walking down one of the trails when i noticed this turkey in the bushes.

Well, i see them pretty often so i just ignored. Then suddenly i charged at me. I guess it was some sort of surprise attack and yes, it did surprise me very much.

Then i did what usually works in Malaysia for scaring off animals, stomping my foot and going "shoo!" It did help a little. It would just back off for a little bit.

The scary part was, everytime i turned my back and started walking off. It would chase and follow. For every step i took, it in turn would take 2 steps (Hey, it's smaller ok?). Naturally i was spooked. I tried chasing it off a few times but it kept coming back. At one stage i just became so pissed and evil, i just wanted nothing more than to give it a good kick in the face (oh yeah~~) but I'm Lai Jian Wei la, please, i don't do such things.

After a while, i started sending out mental messages to the bird (yes it sounds stupid, but i seriously didn't feel like hurting the bird) " don't force me, or i am really going give you a good kick in the butt" In the end it did work (thankfully) and the ******* stopped following me. (*sighs in relief*)


Before i go on, the city you see in the photos? That is Brisbane city, seen from the peak of Mt Gravatt.












And this shiny area near the horizon? That's Moreton Bay. Beyond that is Moreton Island, one of my target destinations. XD










Anyway, here's the second interesting event...

For all my peers and the slightly older friends, I'm pretty sure you have read the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. For my kids, just go and find a Form 5 Literature Book then you can read the poem or just go and Google the poem.

I must say this poem has really inspired me in many ways. It also is very like me. I don't like to do what everyone does.

As i was walking around Mt Gravatt, there were many choice of trails. There was this point i reached a fork in the trail. And as the poem goes,

"Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear:
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,"


I took the path that was less travelled, had more grass, was more cramped....


And got lost.

Why? I made one of the most stupid mistakes. I can't believe i forgot to do this.

To all my kids, please please please don't forget this when you'll go jungle trekking. Always look back. Sometimes when you look in front, you think you see a trail but in reality it might not be one. The best way to check if you are really on a trail is to look back. Once you check and you cannot see a trail anymore, quickly turn back.

The reason i couldn't turn back was i forged a trail on my own for more than 5mins. When i finally discovered something wrong and look back, i had already lost my bearings and certainly the trail. As i was climbing, i became overly engrossed in my surroundings and forgot to check.

I will admit that i was EXTREMELY scared. Why? Not because i was lost, but because of the landscape. That day was a nice hot sunny day. The landscape had a lot of fallen logs and thick shrub. And do you know why these factors made me scared?

Snakes.

Australia has 9 of 10 most deadly snakes in the world. And i was stuck in the middle of bushland - prime snake territory. I tread very very lightly. The terrain certainly didn't help. It was full of good snake hiding places. Not to mention spiders. If i was bitten you certainly wouldn't be reading this entry now.

Anyway, since you are reading this i did make it out alive. How did i get out? Well, it wasn't that hard actually. Since i was on the slope of the mountain, i decided a forge a trail straight up. After all there was a lookout point on the peak. After about 15mins of pushing through dead fallen branches and shrubs, i reached a trail just below the mountain's peak.

It was fun all in all. Getting lost and being chased. But i can't stop stressing my friends and kids, please always go out prepared bring water and anything you might need etc. Also inform somebody where you are going and what time you should expect to get back.

Stick to clear well cut trails. I was lucky in a sense that the forest was small, so if i just kept of walking i would sooner or later find a way out. But please don't be like me and go do silly things. Silly things should be left to crazy people like me.

=D

Relatives, Moving, Australians, Malaysians

It's been quite a while since i last made a post. Anyway, I'm just taking a break from my form 6 story for the time being. Sorry to one of my kids, coz i haven't written the section of the story down yet. Well, in the meantime, let me just tell you'll about my past few days in Australia.

First of all, on Saturday, i went to my Granduncle & Grandaunty's house. It was very very nice of them, they came all the way across Brisbane to fetch me to their place, which by car, took about half an hour (it was a weekend, the traffic was wonderful, i can't imagine on a working day =S)

Well, their house is, how do i put it? Very beautiful. Especially the garden. I also regretted not taking any photographs, damn it la... The next time i visit their place i am definitely going to take some photos of their place.

Their house is near a forest reserve also. In the immediate area there are a lot and i mean A LOT of birds. More than what i get on campus. They also have birds such as cockatoos and many other birds from the same family in addition to all the common birds. They have a creek flowing nearby which according to the locals have platypuses in the waters, very very rare though. According to my granduncle, there have also been sightings of kangaroos in the area once but have since stopped.

They treated me very well there. Most of the meals i had were Malaysian (yay!). They also had a dog, a white one and i can't remember the breed thought. It was cute, furry, bouncy, and spoiled. Haha... She was fun to play with, by the way, her name is Whisky. She's very old though, 12 years and getting slightly blind.

They also brought me sight-seeing a bit at nearby Mount Cootha. Spectacular sight of Brisbane. I was also taken on a tour to my "rival" university, the one which i couldn't go due to my results, University of Queensland which is colossal. I thought my university was already huge. Here was just... You really need a bicycle to travel around.

On Sunday, they sent me all the way back to the campus again... They're so nice i feel very paiseh leh... They also gave me some food for me to keep, a can of peanuts, a box of muesli bars and a bottle of acar(there's more about the bottle of acar).

On Sunday itself, i had to move over to my permanent accommodation in the neighbouring campus. Here, the rooms are bigger and there are a lot more closets. So far, the neighbours here are more civic minded, not to mention quite a few of them are a lot friendlier than in the previous campus.

Well, I've pretty much unpacked already if you are wondering. If there's one thing i like about this place, it is the fact that it is quieter than the previous college (like i said, more civic conscious). My room is on the 5th floor facing away from the university. I get a pretty good view of some of the Brisbane suburbs as well as the distant mountains. Too bad my windows are so damn dirty that i can't take a photo to show you'll.

Another annoying thing about this place, is there is no place for you to hang out your clothes. Yes, they have dryers, but frankly, i don't like the smell of the clothes after they come out of the dryers. This is the time i was happy i packed along one of my scout strings. I'm going to pull up a clothes line in my room. XD

Like i was saying, the people here are much friendlier. Well, yesterday i was asked out to join some of the current students to go for a movie. I accepted, and went to watch Batman. We left the college at about 5pm and took a bus down to South Bank where there was a cinema. We haven't had our dinner when we left, so after we arrived and got our tickets, one of them said, "I'm hungry, lets go get something to eat".

We then walked over to one of the local convenience shops and i got my first true case of "damn I'm away from Malaysia". I was walking around the shop looking for those Gardenia Sambal Ikan Bilis Buns. I was walking in circles and just when i was about to ask the shop attendant where they were, I suddenly remembered "shit la, this is Australia" and sighed. I was also looking around in the cooler for a Justea and realized that it wasn't just there isn't this drink but a lot our local Malaysian soft drinks.... Haih... Come on Malaysia, do your business internationally, export our yummy food!!!

In the end, i bought myself a packet of chips and a bottle of Ribena. That was my dinner mind you, and i tell you this for experience. No matter how good it may look on TV, it is not fun having potato chips as your dinner, trust me. It is also not as tasty as you may have hoped.

After the movie, which was good by the way, they started looking for dinner. It was 9 something already, for me it was more like supper. We searched around the immediate area but most of the shops were closed with the exception of the pubs and some of the specialty shops. No wonder a lot of people told me there isn't much night life here in Brisbane. In fact, most shops will close by 5.30pm. We took a bus then straight into town center.

There we had Subway for dinner(supper in my case). Quite nice, i think when i eat out, this place will become one of my staple restaurants also. They serve sandwiches, healthy and rather cheap also. We took a bus back to campus after that.

Did you'll know, there is something we all Malaysians have which i like to call Kebangaan Malaysia? Once you reach a foreign country, you really start noticing how remarkable Malaysians are in this aspect.

All Malaysians, please do this now, count how many languages can you speak? Including dialects of each major branch of language. Well? How many did you get?

I for one, got :-
1. English
2. Malay
3. Mandarin
4. Cantonese
5. Hakka
6. A slight comprehension of Hokkien

Are you'll seeing the direction we are heading yet? Haha... I have met countless other people that have already said "Cool man... Damn cool..."

Then there's the second part to this.
Try this, think of a really long sentence. REALLY LONG. Then quickly say the sentence and in between just switch between the languages you know.

Notice how quickly we can change the languages? In fact for me, i don't need too much of an effort to do it. I can change almost instantly. What? I'm pretty sure you're thinking "Hey, this is no big deal". Let me give you an example. There was this Hongkie to challenged me to this. She can speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Let's just say she can't switch languages as fast.

Another worthy mention is the standard of English we Malaysians have. I think many of us have been brain washed to believe that in comparison to most of the world, Malaysians have lousy English. It is true to a certain extent. We certainly pale in comparison to the West. But as i have seen so far, our English is certainly much much better than a lot of the Far East and Middle East Asians. No, I'm not talking based on my standards. =P I'm talking based on my friends in Malaysia. Most of the Band 3s in my form 6 class can easily beat about a third of those people in terms of standards of English. Some of the people i have met, can barely even speak a proper sentence with accurate pronunciation. Whereas, even though our vocabulary may be weak, we at least speak in relative accuracy.

Coming back to the acar mentioned earlier, do you know how valuable it is having just a little bottle of Malaysian food?

Me and 3 others (2 Malaysians and 1 Indonesian) are all new students here at the university. Generally, me and one of the Malaysians are faring much better off due to the fact we can still get Asian cooking in the dining hall. The other 2 however, stay off campus and are desperately missing South East Asian cooking (Malaysian cooking in other words la, but got one Indon ma....)

Yesterday, they visited my room. I was actually going to bring the acar out to share with them later. Anyway, they paid a visit to my room as they wanted to have a look at the condition of the hostel. So i took out the bottle and offered some of it to them. I can see the expression of the Indon girl's face when she saw it, "Ooo... Is that Acar?"

Anyway, they all enjoyed it very much. The Korean couple that came with them also liked it.

Me? I still have some left. I was just eating some of it before i started on this blog. It is nice i tell you. ALL Malaysian food is nice when most of the time you just have roast or baked stuff to eat.... Lol...

Enjoy your Malaysian food, =P

5.17pm
23 July 2008

My form 6 life (Part I-ii : People i met)

This is just a little part i want to add on. I suddenly remembered this other teacher i would love to mention.

I am i strong advocate of equal rights amongst men and women. Both sexes should be given equal opportunities in life doing what they please, be it a homemaker, a teacher, a soldier, a manager etc. Additionally, education and the right to socialize and and mix around as they please. Freedom to do what either sex wants in moderation.

However, i believe that both sides should preserve the traits or characteristics that make them who they are. No, i don't mean that men should always act rough and tough or women acting soft and loving. I believe that both men and women can be equally loving and tough when the situation arises.

What i mean is preserving those distinctive personality traits that each person has to be bring out the best of them from a gender point of view.

Take for example this female friend of mine. She loves to play sports, she has a strong fiery personality and would fight and argue for what she believes is right. She sometimes acts a bit too rough, a bit too tomboy-ish for my liking (note : my liking. But i still think it's fine). But on her soft side, she's a very loyal & loving girl. She will let her heart out and run to you for support.

By preserving traits, i actually mean just be yourself. Why should you always act tough when you know very well you are not? Why should you not dare to show your love and caring just because you "shouldn't"?

By learning to accept who we are, and living our lives as who WE are, this to me is the best imagine one can show, no matter whether you are a guy or a girl.

But i still believe in chivalry and "ladies first" =D

Wah... Damn far off topic, i was supposed to talk about a teacher not gender equalities. But the teacher i want to talk about is some what related to this topic.

Anyway, coming back....

This particular teacher, she is in charge of the Girls Club, the club formed to take care and manage the welfare of the girl students in the school.

She too, strongly believed in equal gender rights for girls, the emancipation of the weaker sex!!

Right...

Yes, she did do a lot of things for the girls, trying to provided them with extra privileges and also trying to protect them.

Then she implemented new rules. Rules like "girls cannot sit on the floor", "girls cannot wear short pants to sports, only track bottoms" and quite a few more rather loony ones which i can't remember. Girls girls, if you can remember the rules, can post em up for me ah?

Anyway, in her attempt to to get gender equality, i felt that she became more sexist. In more than one occasion, she certain made it very clear that she thinks most men are horrible (including her own husband, why marry him in the first place then?). Yes, i understand that she is trying to preserve modesty for this girls, but in most of her attempts, all i see her achieving is further widening the gap between men and women.

This is why i always believe that we should never push too hard for something. If we become over zealous in doing something, we will soon lose sight of reason and moderation.

In her mind, she believes she is doing the right thing. Yes i agree, she was never wrong. But maybe she just went a bit too far and a bit over protective. I don't know, but perhaps it is just me that thinks along these lines (or maybe it's over open-mindedness). But i would love to hear views on this topic.

Alright, it's officially 10.35pm in Brisbane. I'm also getting quite sleepy. The story still isn't finished yet, especially the very important part i promised I'll write for my kids. I didn't realize that once i put the story and experience down on words, it would be so long.

Anyway, goodnight and sweet dreams to all my buddies. I know it's still early over the =P Don't sleep late.

;-)

My form 6 life (Part II : The essence of of life then)

If there's one thing i learned from my life in form 6, the most important would be that you are responsible to manage your own life.

Before i proceed, let me first share my STPM results :-
Pengajian Am (General Studies) : B+
Mathematics : D
Chemistry : C+
Biology : B+

(C and above are considered principal passes. C- and below are half fails. F is considered complete fail)

To me i am satisfied with the results. But I'll be honest with you, this are actually extremely lousy grades.

If the CGPA is calculated, my CGPA is only 2.58. Yes, i still managed to get local university with these grades, Environmental Science at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. But most people who get such a course would have turned it down immediately, appealed or EXTREMELY reluctantly gone and taken the course.

Nonetheless, with these grades i managed to get into University. I'm now in Australia, for those that didn't know, doing the exact same course that i was offered, Environmental Science. But that's not my topic today.

Like i was saying, i am satisfied with my grades. With my biology marks to be specific. With the other three subjects though, it's a different story.

Why am i satisfied? To honestly tell you, i have never put so much effort before in my life in my studies. The amount of time and work i put into my Biology, i managed to change my grade from an F to a B+. I have a feeling my biology teacher was thanking her lucky stars that she didn't make the "if you pass / get good grades, I'll eat my shoe" bet with me.

In fact, most people that didn't see the effort i put into my this subject were very shocked by that grade i got. I surpassed quite a few other students and matched another few.

As for the other three subjects, my PA (Pengajian Am) was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for at least an A- in it, but i suppose the silly mistake i made cost me the grade. For my chemistry and mathematics, i really have no excuse for it.

I know how much effort i put into those 2 subjects, and it wasn't much mind you. Take my chemistry for example. I know how much better i could have scored if i studied harder. You know why i say that? Cause i looked through my exam paper and i laughed. I knew about 60 - 70% of the paper, but i couldn't answer most of it because i never studied enough for it. In the last few weeks before my exam, i can shamefully say i was very negligent of my studies. Not to mention in the many months before it.

My maths was in an even worse off shape. From back in Form 4, i never put in enough effort to do my maths properly. An vicious cycle came along - The maths was hard, i didn't bother working hard to try and the maths became even harder. This cycle continued into my Form 6 and it really caused me hell.

Despite all the good support and help given by my friends, most of the time i never even attempted to try to do the maths. Subsequently the work load just overwhelmed me and i just gave up on the subject. See what happened in the end?

Looking at some of my friends in school, their maths initially was just as bad as mine. But through hard work and dedication, many later got satisfactory or even good grades. See the power of effort?

I am ashamed of myself. Guess it takes a really hard lesson before one sees the light. But at least in these 2 years, i learned that "if you want something, you work for it" the hard way.

Another piece of advice i want to share is please please please don't give up. I gave up on my maths and i paid for it. Now, even in university, that decision is coming back to haunt me. I just flipped through my Statistics textbook today, and all i could do was sigh....

Independence - the ability to take initiative and do something yourself - as how i define it.

Well, the school really thought us this lesson. I'm not bad mouthing the teachers or what, but seriously, I have never met such lazy teachers before.

So lazy that the amount of times she ever came into class for the entire year was less than 30 (maybe even less, i counted back then. I forgot now.). So lazy that he never even bothered to mark our trial papers. So lazy that even a signature would take too much effort for him.

Amazing really, in fact so amazing that a lot of people i tell to these stories don't believe me. Would you believe that? Need proof? Just ask any of my form 6 class mates.

Then from my juniors, i only learned this is mostly the case with the teachers of this school. Students run their clubs almost totally independent of the teachers. Students find their own ways and means to study and do well in exams. Student use only their own wits and effort to conjure amazing performances and works.

To me, that is just cool.

The other rude awakening i got, in fact most of us Form 6 got was how bad discrimination can get.

Most 6 formers in the school come from their own secondary schools where they did their form 1 - 5. As a result, the 6 formers in the school was separated into two groups. The first being their "true" students which are student that we originally studying in the school and the second as the "non-true" students who me and a few other friends would fondly call "fakes". In fact, many of us took pride in calling ourselves fakes.

The "non-true" groups were also subsequently divided further. I forgot to mention that school was a boys school for the lower forms and co-ed was only for form 6. Subsequently, we were further divided into the two sexes. The girls would have equal privilege to the "true" students. We, the remaining boys, how should i put it? Treated like shit.

Have any of you'll ever felt the pain of not being acknowledged? Not matter how hard you tried to mix in or tried to be like them. Even if people don't accept you into their circle, i feel the least someone can do is acknowledge that you exist also.

At one of the speeches made by the seniors, he said something that really made us fakes burn in our seat and it was probably the worst instance of insult and discrimination that ever occurred. He was about to graduate and this was his farewell speech. In his own words :
".... To all the True XXXX, and also all the girls, these 2 years will be the best two years of your school life. Enjoy it......"
I have nothing to say. He was the person elected to take care of us the form 6s. I don't know if it was a genuine mistake or he purposely left the extra part out.

The evening on that day, i swore myself as a True SMKBBSP-ian.

Things certainly didn't get any better when it came to the faculty. Although many of the teacher preferred us fakes because we tend to respect the teachers more and were less disruptive (the teacher's words, not mine i have witnesses). Like the students themselves, much of the faculty only saw the trues and the girls in their eyes. Us? We were just extras. When they needed us they would approach us saying we are part of the school and we should help out and support the school activities (mind you, a lot of us did). When they didn't need us, they would find all reasons to criticize us and blame us for certain things that go wrong.

I feel that some of the most pitiful people around around those that are living in denial or those that have no choice but to do so. Imagine having to live a life that is nothing more than a lie and having to believe that lie... Just sad..

Sometimes a fact is just a fact. No matter how much you try to deny it, it will forever be a fact. Yes, in your mind, if you persuade it enough it will most certainly be good, but reality won't budge no matter how hard you try to think it away.

I certainly understand the glorious days that the school once had. Those days even just uttering the name would have inspired awe amongst the people. But nowadays, only in the older generation's eye the school still has the glory. Amongst the youth, the school has become nothing more than a mockery of it's former glory.

Is it so hard to just accept the fact and then take action and improve it? If you did that certain you would command even more respect. I don't deny that in certain aspects the school still does wonderfully, but truly, is it enough?

Respect is earned not demanded. If any people should know this, I am one of those that know this all too well (right dou kei-s?).

Getting people to listen to you or follow your instructions is certainly not hard. Trust me, i know. Getting them to respect you to a very different ball game.

From where i come from ( as in SMKBBSP) and in most schools, to really control the students as a prefect, you must really earn the respect of the students. If i tried what the prefects in my form 6 school did, the instance i stepped out of school i would have a committee waiting for me to give some "love".

I realize that each school will have it's own sets of cultures and practices. I don't criticize the way the prefects of my form 6 school do their job, i just feel there are better and more practical ways to do things. Tradition is something, but it is not everything.

For clarification sake, let me just tell you how the prefects treat us. First of all, they come around screaming and shouting. This is traditionally how they do their job (sometimes though, i just think they take this as an excuse to go around screaming at others and enjoying it while at the job). They kind of act like how gangsters do. When they find some one that opposes them, they will come in a group to confront that student. A few of them, much to our chagrin, does more than scream. They even kick or punch the students that disobey them.

To tell the truth, I'm actually extremely grateful that i went to this school. For all the bad that i feel this school had, it actually did the greatest good for me.

It made me matured.

I have never ever EVER been so patient and tolerant throughout my entire life. Haha... Learning how to swallow down that feeling of discontent, smile and move on with life was probably one of the best lessons the school gave me.

The overall environment of the school is a good reflection of society. By being so materialistic, so judgmental, so discriminative and so unfair, it is a preparation for us to enter society. Maybe this is the true reason why so many students of this school can become so successful. From young, they are taught to be independent, hardworking, optimistic and tolerant. All key traits to be successful. Maybe this is why...

Maybe this is why we should all be thankful to the school...

My form 6 life (Part I : People i met)

This is the story about my form 6 life. I must mention before hand here, that what i write may offend certain people. I will stress that sometimes this is fact and what i can see from my perspective. Whether you want to accept it or not, it's up to you. Also do remember I'm not out to bad mouth anyone or anything, I'm just telling the story from my point of view.

On May 15 2006, i took my first step into this new school where i would be spending the next one and a half years doing my form 6. Before this, i was in a dilemma on where go for my for six, whether i should do it in a public secondary school or a private college.

I have had plenty of warnings and advice from my seniors from coming to this public school. The school despite having a reputation of being one of the premier schools in Malaysia, had a lousy faculty (generally speaking with exceptions) and many problems such as discrimination and bullying among the student body.

Yet i choose to come here and also stay. Why? One reason i must admit was for the name of the school. The other reason is because I have been instilled with the belief that anyone can succeed anywhere with the right amount dedication and hard work.

When i arrived, i had only one of my darlings with me. He too was not one of those i was especially close with. Nonetheless, he proved a great source of comfort, friendship and support throughout my choppy life there. For this I am extremely grateful to him, and because of all that we had to go through together in this school, we subsequently became very close (please stop your dirty thought NOW, thank you).

In my form 6 was the first time i had to chance to interact with people from so many various backgrounds - different schools, different family upbringings, different community background. In a way it helped me expand my horizon greatly. Here i must mention a lovely young lady from my class. Her openness initially left me extremely shocked, which led me to think she would be those wild type of girls and.... You get the idea. Yet as time went by, i came to greatly respect her. She was an extremely friendly girl, she would make friends with you without prejudice and most importantly was her sincerity even in those short moments she came and said "Hi".

She was the first person that truly thought me that we should never judge someone from what we can see. Even after we graduated, the fact that she still took the time to care about us, left me hanging my head in shame.

I also met another person who shared as much passion as me for the world around us. I really salute him. Like me, he decided to break free from convention and follow his heart and dreams. He went and took up a degree in forestry in the university in Sabah. In Malaysia, courses such as forestry, environmental science etc are considered cold courses. Courses that are left only for those with mediocre results, those who just want to waste their time and those that have no other choice in degrees to pursue.

Yet, he took up this course with passion. When people criticized him, he just took it in his stride and stuck with his guns. He's now there, preparing to go (or already gone) for a field research in Tenom, Sabah. He too, became one of my very good friends within this short time. He to me is an excellent role model. The most important trait being have to courage to pursue one's dreams despite the stigma from the people around him. Extremely responsible and friendly, he too, like the lady mentioned earlier, had no prejudice when it came to making friends.

I must admit, for my class in form 6, most individuals in my opinion are very materialistic. A lot of them become extremely selfish when the time arises. I always wonder is it just that I myself am very naive in thinking that everyone is this world should act so and so then we can all live in peace and happiness? I don't know. But studying in this school has truly shown me how harsh society can get.

From where i come from for my last 5 years of secondary school study, we never had such serious problems of backstabbing, boycotting. No matter who lousy our teachers were back then, we always showed a minimum amount of respect towards them. Here, if the students don't a teacher, they can total ignore his/her existence. But when the time comes and the teacher's help is required, they got back and start licking the teacher's boot madly.

Then there is teacher which will be forever burned into my mind. As of my 19years and 7months of life, i have never met a teacher as irresponsible as him. Have you ever met a teacher that goes, "i didn't have my breakfast today, i can't teach, will you please study on your own". He too was also the teacher advisor for my society. If we, the committee did anything successfully, he would immediately take credit for it saying that it was his idea and without his help we could never had done it. If something screws up, he will blame us for not asking his opinion before making a decision. If the things screws up because of his advice, he will immediately deny any involvement and say he never said anything of such a nature.

I always wonder, how do people like my teacher above sleep at night. How do they answer to their conscience? How? If it's me and i do something small, i will already have a hard time sleeping and just having that dreaded feeling that it will come back around to me....

Another thing that always lingers on my mind is "am i crazy? is something wrong with me?" The reason is due to my kids. To clarify this once and for all, my kids are the collective term i use for my scout juniors. The main reason i call them my kids is because they act like a bunch of them (crap, I'm gonna get beaten up once i get back to Malaysia) and because usually it's my responsibility to teach them and get them to behave.

Anyway, coming back, i used to think i was crazy because i would get so concerned and worried over them. Then i met this guy. He too had a bunch of "kids" (he called his juniors). Like me he was just as passionate about them as me (not as caring though). Among his juniors, he commanded respect and awe. In contrast to me i think i mostly projected an image of being a nice big brother which resulted in more often than not my kids scrambling all over my head. =S

Don't get me wrong, we both enjoyed how own respective groups treated us. What I'm trying to say is, for both me and him, these are people who much of our lives are centered around. And to people out there, it just shows I'm not alone and certainly not fully crazy (partly maybe XD).

Of cause i met more people in the one and half years there. These are the few along with their traits that have left a strong impression on me. Everyone i meet leaves a strong impression on me, but sadly, i can never finish telling you'll about them One, because I'm lazy. Two, also cause it's not practical to write out everyone cause you won't want to read it.

In the mean time this is just one part of the story. There are a few more parts, which i will write about later. Then also from this story comes one very important thing which you will find out in due time.

Yes, yes. I know, here they are.

What do i know?
I know you want photos. =P
There are not many. I only picked the better ones. Another reason is because all the times i saw good stuff, i didn't have the camera with me T.T and the phone's camera ain't good enough quality to capture the photos... This is something you hear every evening. It goes "eeee ooooohhhh aaaahhhhhh" and it is LOUD. The bird is no where in the vicinity but you can still hear it's cry. Very creepy to hear it's cry, it sounds something like a cross between a madman and a monkey. It's a kookaburra. I don't know why, but i have a liking for this bird.

Well these i don't know what their names are. They are actually a resident flock of ducks living in the lake on campus. (Yes, we have a lake on campus, how cool is that??) There's a photo of the lake later. This particular flock, because i have been going to the lake every evening, have seem to get rather used to me. I took this photo pretty up close.
Here's another bird. It spends it's time eating all those cute little fishies in the lake =(
Now this, is just... This is a turkey ( i think) and guess what? It just walks around campus like it owns it =.= This was taken by my phone and uh, the bird was right smack in front of my face.
This is a "jagung" like plant found around the campus. Haven't researched the name yet either. But they look extremely beautiful. This was one of the few that those little purple ends on the hairs.
Ooo... And this is a photo of the lake at the campus. I have a panorama shot of the lake but i don't know how to upload it, haih.... Of all the single shots of the lake i have, this is the best i suppose. I'll get a better one and upload it in the future.
Deng deng~~ Sunset from the top of my residential college... I purposely underexposed the photo a bit to bring out the energy in the shot.
This is a shot of the Brisbane skyline, taken from the top of the hill of the University campus (I'll do a post on the university later. I'll explain and tell more about the university then.)
Nothing to say, I just like this photo la....

Lastly, a shot of the area of the residential colleges in this particular campus. Also where I'm temporary putting up until i move into my permanent residence.

Before i get more photos. I'll tell you'll a bit more on the surroundings and the bird life in this area.

Well, one of the more delightful birds in this area are know as the Rainbow Lorikeets (why do i know the name? Because i got a brochure about the surrounding forest reserve). They are well, like a name states, rainbow in colour (very colourful actually). The look like a parakeet and about the same size.

Next are the crows in this area. Of cause there are your standard black in colour ones. FYI they are about the size or maybe bigger than those kampung chicken you see. Then there are the black and white variety. Not as common as their black counterparts and also about a quarter the size smaller. I'm not sure about the black-white types, but the standard black ones have a caw that is ear piercing. I was talking to my mother over the phone and she could hear it caw clearly.

Very common also are the yellow-faced honeyeaters. They fly around in pairs and are the hardest to photograph. All the birds are plentiful here, it's just that my camera can't zoom enough to catch good photos of them T.T These are the times i wish i had a DSLR instead....

My university campus itself is in the heart of a forest reserve. The forest reserve is a good representation of how the forest that once covered Brisbane looks like. The grass trees here (damn, i forgot to take photos of it) are quite an interesting sight.

Oh, and the other day (last Friday to be exact). I saw a koala bear!!! Where? In the heart of the campus. I was EXTREMELY lucky as they are supposedly very very rare in this area. I couldn't a photo of cause i was in the bus at that time. Thanks a lot to the bus driver, as he stopped by the road side for a moment for us catch a glimpse of the animal. The one i saw was brownish and sleeping (-.-").... Oh well, better than not seeing one at all.

That's all for now. Enjoy the photos, I'll upload more once I've shot more. =P

Of cold clammy hands, Jian LAI & shared toilets

The first day in Australia, and it had to be the coldest....

Well, according to the locals, today has been the coldest day of winter in Brisbane yet. This to me, is relief~~ Now I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle most of the weather that is thrown at me.

Don't get me wrong, it's is still D*** cold, just now as i was walking to dinner, i was so cold that when i got in to the canteen, my hands were shivering so badly that you could see the tea cup i was holding wobbling and drops of teh falling out... Brr....

Despite that, i find the weather pleasing. There's quite a bit of sunshine and it just brings out the adventurous spirit within oneself. I spend most of my time between lunch and dinner just exploring around campus.

The first thing you notice are... Ooo~~ Pretty flowers~~ Ooo~~ Lots of trees~~ Yup, i can say the campus is actually much more beautiful than i imagined. The whole place is just bursting with nature. The next thing you see are all the pretty and colourful birds flying round the place. The best part is, they're not even scared of you. They're big, pigeon or crow sized, and they land just less that an arm length to you...

Yes i know, where are the pictures. I got lazy, lets put it this way. I was busy admiring the surroundings myself that just didn't feel like taking pictures.

Oh, and my new name is Jian LAI. Well, at least that's what written on my student card. Sometimes i just don't understand those ang mo kia, can't they put in the middle name also?? =.= It's not just me too, there was another girl who also had a mistake with her ID card, her name on the card wasn't even a legal name, just a preferred name... Kesian those people at the student administration, they have to go and edit the data all over again.

Anyone heard of communal toilets? Toilets that are shared? Sure you have, most probably you might have even used one before. But have you ever been into a communal one that is shared? Yes, i see the repetition there also. This second share however, is with members of the opposite sex.

The latrines (the place where you bang sai) have wall that don't block all the way up or down. If you jump lightly or bend down... Well... You might get lucky la, lets just put it. The showers are slightly better though. The have a curtain there, but most of the showers have the curtain missing... So... heh heh... Need i say more?

I'll just say, it was a very uneasy experience. I had a VERY STRONG motivation before i used the latrines (and i mean really strong pushing, pressuring sensation) and i finished up as fast as possible... And the shower was probably one of the quickest in my life.

That's all la for now, still plenty of stories, won't finish writing them all tonight. I'm gonna leave them for another day.

A new world, A new life

Hmm... First post in this blog, but it is also most likely the last post I make in Malaysia for quite some time.
In less than 48 hours, I'll be boarding a flight off to Brisbane. Why? Going there for my tertiary education.

These last two weeks for me have been hectic and fun for me. Packing, shopping, meeting up with old friends...

Been having quite a few sleepless nights due to all the thinking, trying to come to terms with the loneliness, the things i had to put down...

But for now accompanying me on this new journey of mine are...
- Lots and lots of photos from my farewells. (my kids, my darlings, my friends, old schoolmates, classmates, family....)
- My new laptop! (beautiful beautiful VAIO~~) XD
- PAWNING camera (Canon G9)
- Ipod Nano. (Gift from my brother, badly scratched though >.<)
- My trusted Nokia 6260 (please don't die, i love you very much), although i might decide to get another phone before i go
- Lotsa medicine... (For people that don't understand why, i'm pretty lazy to explain =P)
- My clothes (duh~~), there's a SMKBBSP shirt (SMKBBSP Cemerlang Gemilang!!), all the shirts i received as gifts, limited edition ones as well as normal ones.
- A Jalur Gemilang (O.o haven't packed this in yet, still thinking if i will just pack a small one or a big one along with it)
- Trusty old Tupperware, water tumbler and chopsticks
- And of cause... All the wishes from everyone ;)

Many people say I'm lucky, i agree.
Many people say I'm brave, i also agree.

Of cause I'm lucky, not many people get the chance to go abroad to study, for this I'm extremely grateful to my parents.
Brave though, I'm not that sure actually. To tell the truth, i have many worries on my mind. Most which i will share as i continue down this path of mine.

On this post however, i must make this special effort to these few people :

1. The first is Wai Yen from IDP Subang Jaya, for all the effort and care in helping me with all the arrangements for my studies in Australia. Thank you very very much, without you i would have had A LOT more trouble in my arrangements
2. Next is my Granduncle Joseph and Grandaunty Vivienne in Brisbane for taking so much concern towards me as well as providing me with a lot of useful information about Brisbane.
3. Last of all is my Ah Yee in UK who has been very diligently following my progress in these few months.

Thank you very much for all your time and effort over this rocky period of my life...

Well, i think that's all i want to write for now. For some details of prior to this post, feel free to go here and have a look.

About my University and course, I'll post about them once i have actually experienced it. And well... I'm not sure what to expect honestly, a lot of things playing on my mind.

p/s : To everyone right, take care and all the best. I may be going far far away but that doesn't mean i have forgotten you all or have stopped caring. My Digi number will be brought over with me. Feel free to SMS me (don't worry, you are charged with the normal rates of SMS to Digi) with any problems or email me if you need me. I promise i will respond with, well, my "Jian Wei" type of advice and patience. Haha...

Lai Jian Wei
12.38AM
Tuesday, July 8 2008