Gathering

I have underestimated this place, seriously. You would think that social life would go downhill, but apparently not! There are so many colleagues in here and you can easily lose track who is who. The turnover rates for staffs are also high. Just only 2 weeks living in here, I attended 2 farewells, and this week alone, there’s another two coming. Oh, and did I mention that this town is pretty small. You just bump into them, like almost everywhere? For example I went jogging the other Sunday and I met my preceptor. Did grocery shopping saw a few familiar faces. Hmm... privacy is definitely limited here.

Relax and admire the splendid sky blue background

I had a WONDERFUL time at a recent Saturday gathering. The host was a Malaysian GP and she is super down-to-earth. Her Caucasian husband is amazing! An anaesthetist, multilingual – Italian, French, Japanese and a very good COOK!!! What’s even more shocking is when his eldest son came up to me and greeted, “Ni hao! Wo shi Wu Kong”. I was too surprised to say anything back. His Mandarin intonation was far FAR better than mine. Honestly, I felt quite embarrassed of myself T_T Huuhuu... He’s only 7 years old.

Four kiddos in the house

Random pics in the house

Boys will be boys =)

The journey to her house (aka mansion) left me in awe. She lives 45 minutes away from the town. All 6 of us hopped into her truck and took us there. Along out way, we passed this place called Honeymoon Gap. A big gap between two humungous rocks. She said it was a romantic hang out place for couples to watch the sunset =)

Although her place was rather isolated, at the same time I felt total serenity and calmness. They had two horses as naturally lawn mowers! Cute, hey?

Food brings everyone together! Housemates made Nasi Lemak! Yums!

I think this probably happens in this state- there were so many annoying flies. I couldn’t eat properly with one hand frantically trying to fan them away. Grrrggrrhh... Kacau saja.

Interestingly, this place houses many insects! Stink bugs, is a famous one. I will take a picture of it the next time to show you how it looks like. It is a pretty emerald green in colour but don’t be fooled by it. If you step on it, they emit smelly stuff as self-defence and you’ll stink badly. That’s how it got its name from.

One of the guests is a dance teacher. He specializes in Tango and told us about its history as well as revealed secrets to the seemingly difficult footwork! Really enjoyed watching the Tango performance and we joined in to have some fun! What a good way to end the day!

All of us loved this air-conditioned thingy. Instead of the ones that you normally see up on the ceiling, this comes from below. Can do the Marilyn Monroe pose! So syiok! Hahaha...

Tree silhouette, nearing sunset

That night, there were no clouds and it was dark enough to see the shining stars and a bright half moon. Although stars were not as sparkly as the ones I saw in the Kangaroo Island trip (South Australia back in December 2008), I was glad I had the opportunity to see them again.

Remarkably beautiful and mysterious.

Outback Australia is...

is probably not as 'ulu' as I'd imagined. However, I'm still in the adjusting phase, trying to settle in as much as I can.

I didn't notice the sky at all while I was taking this picture because I had my sunglasses on and my focus was the aeroplane that I came out from. Looking back at this picture struck me in awe! The white fluffy clouds against the brilliant blue sky looked more like a painting to me!



It rained heavily the day before I arrived and continued for two more days. Along my way to the town, I saw many children and adults happily playing around Todd River.

I couldn't appreciate the whole concept like why they seem so excited about it. So after much explanation from my preceptor, it's usually a dry river bed and according to my housemates whom have been here for a year , they haven't seen the river flow before. So this is a very SPECIAL occasion!! Hence, you can imagine why people here were exhilarated when the river started flowing as of the following short clip (there were more people at the bridge area)



There's still some water around for now. But it dries up so fast and it saddens me everytime I cross this bridge. They say, sooner later you will see a very barren area, all brown and red =(

Just digressing, I've cut my hair three times within a month!! The first time I looked like lala mui, the second time was for my graduation and then I figured that I needed to cut even shorter co'z it will be crazily hot in here. At least I save on shampoo and conditioner =)

Captured this beautiful reflection of the house door @ 7.30am while I was having my breakfast. Reminds me of the magic rose in the jar from Beauty and the Beast, my favourite Disney fairy tale.


Till then, off to work on Monday. Happy working, everyone!


Cheers,

Merry New Year!

It’s the BRAND New Year, 2010!!! Happy New Year peeps!

Have been busy packing (and repacking...grrrggrh) for the past few days and in just a few hours, I’ll be off to the bush.

I've got so much mixed feeling about going away.

Happy/Excited because my brain can no longer be idle (Been holiday-ing for the past 2 months..Wee!). At the new place, I’ll be mentally & environmentally challenged. Oh, and of course, I'll officially be receiving $$$ XD though not a registered one yet.

Sad because I’m leaving the city and my hotel-like apartment =( I’ll miss Chinatown! Apprehensive because I've never been there! The most 'kampung' area I've been to is Taiping.

Just digressing a little bit, I was just thinking of my recent trip to Sydney and I never had so much FUN with so many relatives at one go! It feels like Chinese New Year where everyone from everywhere meet up at a place. I missed CNY with family twice already. This year is going to be my third, unfortunately. It was so good to meet up with four of my dear cousins and cousins’ cousin (Do you call them second cousin?) - cracking up jokes, teasing each other, girly talks, playing Guitar Hero ( I’m horrible at it! I got a BOO from the crowd =S, Wii, taking heaps of frivolous photos etc etc.

Okay, on the more interesting part –FOOD! The Christmas dinner that my aunt and uncle prepared was just superbly scrumptious - especially the turkey! They roasted it with bacon pieces on top of the turkey =)

But what I really REALLY like most of all was my uncle’s Mashed Potatoes! I even licked the bowl, ok!... It was different from the ones that I make. The texture was soft, creamy and flavourful! YUM!!!

Miss Cousin made a gingerbread house! How adorable =) With M&M's & Gummy bears

Summary of events: A day before Christmas, we travelled to Hunter Valley for their vineyards, and wine & cheese tasting. We went for a bus tour around Sydney & the famous Bondi Beach on Christmas day and on Boxing day, we went for apricot & plum plucking!

I find it very fascinating to see little children frolicking in the beach. Miss Cousin in the picture (middle) is trying to make some mochi balls. Master Cousin on the far right is trying to bury himself -_- See the extra pair of hands? I suspect that's Mr Cousin's. Two years ago, I couldn't understand what fun there was with playing SAND! Sand = dirt. You'll get chided if you ever play sand in the garden. I think I'm already falling in love with the beach slowly. More so since I'll be living in the desert in the coming months.

Leaving you with another picture of food. Another talented aunt who cooked Har Mee, her specialty. I've got so much to learn from them!

See the missing yolk? There's an inside joke about it.

Will tell you next time ;P

Cheers,