Ah! Readership has nosedived! Time to pick up the pace!

I would like to share with my readers about something which I don’t think I have ever shared before… *a quick check proves I haven’t* let’s run along now. The story begins.

The taxi is honking. My friend’s housemate checks if it’s the taxi. They help me carry my stuff down, I struggle to get my overweight luggage down a flight of stairs. The taxi driver offers his help. They load the stuff into the taxi. I drop the postcards into the mail box and a thought runs through my mind “The postcards will be in Australia longer than I will”. I bid goodbye to Aza and her housemates. My phone is ringing as I get into the taxi. That few minutes are up very quickly and the taxi pulls away from the driveway as I wave to Aza and her housemates. Lian…. calls me. She missed the farewell party. It’s 9:11pm. I receive another call, wishing me goodbye.

I leave with a heavy heart and wonder if I’ll cry in the plane. I sit in the taxi looking out. I go over the hills and curves that the 412 always goes over. The taxi stops at the lights at Toowong, Coronation Drive. I give Toowong village one last look. The lights turn green and the taxi moves along giving me a full view of the Brisbane river. I don’t remember if there was a citycat on the river when I was looking out at it. But my mind began to wonder, thinking that this is the last time I’ll be able to enjoy this scenery. Bicycle lanes and Jacaranda trees * I assume* that line the road and river. The river glimmering in the dark and the city not far away with it’s bright lights. The Regatta with a long line snaking around it. College students going out to party.

Postcards going out to the people with interesting stamps!

Approximately 12 hours before. It’s the 1st of August. I wake up and head out to the market. It’s a Saturday, have breakfast and have a last walk around the market at West End. The food stalls have changed from the first day I came. They have Japanese food now. The crepe stall is still there, so is the kebab stall and the Hungarian food stall. The buskers are still at it. A lot of dust is still kicked up when we head down towards the lower part of the market, the “free samples” apple store is still around. They have more hot dog stalls now. Hmm…

Went to the City with Aza after that. Had my last cup of Boost juice. Ordered from Top Sushi for the last time. Took pictures of the names of stores that mean something to me. Went to the Museum of Brisbane and got myself a “I <3 BNE” shirt. Waited at the bridge *Yikes! Forgot the name of the bridge* and took pictures of the sunset. Since it was winter The Sun went down rather abruptly. Headed back and started writing the postcards.

My last Boost Juice

The last Brisbane Sunset in my eyes

Fast forward to approximately 2200 hours. I’m at the airport checking in my luggage. Being the law abiding citizens they are, I get charged for excess baggage. Obviously. Was thinking “Should have shipped my luggage back.” Went through duty free and now I’m regretting why I didn’t get some stuff then. Soon enough I’m boarding the plane, finding my seat, pushing my bag into the overhead storage, the plane lifts off and the last image of Brisbane is *probably* the dock which slowly fades into darkness.

Bye bye Brisbane.

The title makes me sound old… as if I’m reminiscing about something so long gone and forgotten and suddenly crept up into my mind and “oh my” what a wonderful image!

Anyway.. enough of me babbling. Before I officially graduated (convocation) we *Housemates, I and a college mate* made our way to NZ amidst the H1N1 Hoo-Hah! Boy was it a wonderful trip. Did amazing things that I actually never thought of wanting to do until we planned to go, saw scenery that I never knew could be so darn real but it looks so fake! had various issues here and there, some biggies and maybe a few small ones which makes it even more memorable.

I will never forget the time when we missed the all important bus to Christchurch. I won’t miss the last night in Christchurch too… when the “bells” were ringing oh so loudly. Boy must I say that the natural water features(ie lakes, rivers…) are unbelievable. There are the muddy rivers, brown murky, the cleaner rivers, greenish plus a little hint of brown, the clean ones bluish green and there are the NZ rivers. As pure as can be. As blue as it gets. It looks so darn inviting. Can I please take a dip?

And the STARS!!! Oh my goodness gracious me! I have never seen so many stars lighting up the sky before. The sky was practically filled with stars! AMAZING really. We could actually see Jupiter! Wow….

Anyway… I had chosen a couple of nice pictures for awhile now… just didn’t upload it. Anyway… Ta-DA!

Stacked stones along the beach heading to Queenstown.

A vineyard with the picturesque snow capped mountains as a backdrop.

The hill just got a haircut. Check out the blue sky.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

The view from inside YHA Lake Tekapo

Looks really fake huh? But it's seriously as real as it gets... wow....

A nice place for a nice hot mug of Hot Chocolate...

Some red berry like fruit? maybe?

The Church of the Good Shepherd, the most photographed church in NZ.

As blue as can be...

Up Close and Personal with Snow

Ah…. what lovely memories… most of the pictures were from Tekapo, cause that was the only place where we had time to hang around and chill out. The other days were packed with activities… Unforgettable activities really…

Anyway, hope my dear beloved readers like the pictures… Cheerios now. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

I’ll miss receiving the weekly emails, I’ll miss anticipating the next game, I’ll miss the fun throws and great catches, I’ll miss wearing my team colours, I’ll miss coming out from the house at 6 and cross the road to the brightly lit Oval 7, I’ll miss everything about Oval 7 (from the grass to the flood lights), I’ll miss throwing the disc to warm up, I’ll miss team time, I’ll miss the drills that we do, I’ll miss running till I run outta breath (almost out of breath), I’ll miss my team mates, I’ll miss my team captain (captains, ex and current), I’ll miss everyone in the league even if I don’t know you, I’ll miss the times when I had no idea what was happening when someone called a foul and I ended up standing there wondering what was happening, I’ll miss huddling after each game and shouting “hooray!” *although I might stand next to a guy who well.. has… well…. hmmm….*, I’ll miss playing frisbee, I’ll miss Wednesdays!!!!!

Oh man… this is really saddening… depressing… sigh…. Hmmm.. Let’s get on with this…

Tonight! Was the finals of the UQ Ultimate League  *The Autumn one?* and we were in it again! Wow! Imagine that! It surprised us too.. but it’s still great! We lost… but “we were already winners”… hahahhaha

It was an amazing league, week after week (even though there were some weeks which it rained and the field was water logged and all.. and there was a week where the lights didn’t come on.. hahaha) it was great fun, there were downs.. but there were definitely more ups… we started the league a little shaky.. but we pulled through with some great comebacks leading towards the finals! Amazing stuff! But very nerve wrecking…

Eventhough we lost… I’ll still say we are Purely Awesome…

Pure Awesomeness!!!

It was a great team.. small but awesome!

I’ll honestly miss you guys. I’ll miss the great games we had together *although I wasn’t that good.. but.. I’ll still miss it*, who cares if we lost? It’s the great fun and great memories that last forever… *Why am I being so sentimental*

Honestly.. It’s pretty sentimental… It’s our last game in Brisbane. I’ll always remember it.

Woohoo! Pure Awesomeness!!!!

Remember 2 entries ago where I talked about the words “Step 1″ reminded me of The Fray’s “How to Save a Life”, when it was said by my tutor? Well… this time he said “Heaven Forbid” & yes. “Heaven Forbid” came to my mind indeed…

“Heaven forbid you end up alone and you don’t know why…
hold on tight wait for tomorrow you’ll be alright “

It’s either the lead singer in The Fray sings as if he’s talking or my tutor talks as if he’s singing… hmmm….

on an unrelated note, Coldplay’s live album “LeftRightLeftRightLeft” is Awesome! *with a capital A*

on another unrelated note, The Windupdeads’ “No Denial” was stuck in my head until Secondhand Serenades “Fall for you” crept in and encrypted itself into my mind. Darn! I would have preferred “No Denial”… for reasons unknown…

Oh dear! Time to flick the lights and hit the bed… LOL *some description…*

This here post is for everyone that takes/ has taken/ will take the 412 bus from Brisbane CBD to St Lucia. Or for anyone else who just wants to know what’s my favourite part of the 412 route.

My favourite part is when it’s late afternoon, probabaly 2-4ish… get on the 412 at the city, it’ll turn left once… then after awhile it’ll turn left again to get on the “highway”, this turning is crucial because it’s my favourite part. The bus would be in the shade of buildings after the first turning then after the 2nd left turn as the bus turns out to join the highway, the bus loses the shade and the Sun just SHINES straight through the bus…

You’ll probably get blinded by the Sun’s sheer brightness but it’s really magnificent.. too me. Shade one minute and direct sunlight the next. But I normally just cover my eyes… I don’t wanna get blind so early in life…. maybe I like it cause it makes you appreciate the shade / the Sun… hmmm….

hmmm.. maybe I should film that part… but it might be a little odd….

anyway, the next time you take the 412 from the city, do enjoy the shade of the buildings and the sheer brightness of the Sun.

P.S. Boy! The violins in Rilo Kiley’s Does He Love You is really superb.

Yes! The piemaker makes me wanna eat pie!

What piemaker? What pie?

Ned the piemaker at “The Pie Hole”. Any kinda pie, preferably with fruit in it.

Who’s Ned? Where’s this “Pie Hole?” What about rhubarb pie?

*About here, you would be thinking, what the hell is this darned robbstar talking bout?*

The cast of the Pushing Daisies outside the Pie Hole

I’m talking about “Pushing Daisies”, the tv series where the main character, Ned bakes pies and makes the dead, whoops… wakes the dead. The only catch in waking up the dead is that he can only wake them up for a minute or a living thing would die to take the place of the “dead awaken”. His pie shop is called “The Pie Hole”, looks like a really comfy place to have pie… and get fat maybe.. ahahhahah

That’s Ned  at the front, with his childhood love / First love / his one true love maybe?, “Chuck”, and the other characters that brings colour and humour to the series.

Just when I find a tv series that I would religiously follow, it gets cancelled… saddening news. My guess is it came out at the wrong time. The first season was interrupted by the writer’s strike and the second season lost quite a lot in the viewership. Maybe that’s why the axe fell faster than it should have. It was a nice series. Witty, lots of alliterations, tongue twisters galore… and… they speak fairly fast, not “Gilmore Girls” fast, but still fairly fast sometimes… and then “Olive”, the lady in pink, breaks out in song occasionally… that is fun! what tv series suddenly has a character starts singing her emotions out?

Anyway… apart from making me want to eat pie, the piemaker has also made me want to buy the DVD for the series… is USD53 too much for 2 seasons of Pushing Daisies? I have no idea… will I watch it over and over again? I have no idea…. I’m just so tempted to get it! Man! I wonder how much it is in Malaysia… hmmm….

anyway… what pie should I eat? I only have Apple Berry Custard Pie. Apple Berry Custard Pie it is.

hmm…. but Wesak Day isn’t here yet… nvm that, I guess Brisbanites celebrate it earlier! Anyway, time for pictures and less “talk”.

Oh… before I begin, I must say….

Nudie Crushie called Karma.

Nice packaging, cute little human like mascot, looks really good to drink and Yes. Yes. Yes. It’s the best darn juice EVER! No seriously. It is! No wonder it’s expensive… hmmm….

Anyway.. get back to the main topic.

A storm is coming... will it be a wash out?

The lanterns at Southbank

The lanterns were deliberately put up for Wesak Day, they didn’t even hang them out during CNY, odd odd… it felt more like Chinese New Year on Wesak Day. hehehe…

There were many stalls selling erm… chinese food? Asian food I would say. Carrot cake… mmm… Bachang… mmm… not exactly mmm… in Malaysian standards but it would do for now. Better than nothing mate…

The Sun goes down on the lanterns, and me.... =(

After eating, eating and more eating.. oh yes… and taking pictures, pictures & more pictures, it was 7 ish and the fireworks are about to start.

Double fireworks... hmmm maybe quadraple.

Yes Australians like fireworks, or could it be the Asians that like it and they just put it up for us… hmmm… highly unlikely… They have fireworks on Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Riverfest, Buddha’s Birthday, Australia Day.. and many more which I don’t recall… or could it be all?

Up, up and away we go...

Looks like stars in the galaxy, if you ask me.

I like that green and orange one at the bottom, looks very “star” like…. I think I’m getting better at capturing a picture of the fireworks, timing wise. I just use the “fireworks” so it’s nothing great, it’s all in timing I think.. hahahha.. Ok time to flee…. Cheerios peeps!

Oh dear! I won’t be a student in weeks… =( I was studying half way… *ok.. maybe trying to study* and then BHAM! It occured to me… I only have 4 weeks or less of lectures left! =( this is not good…

I still want to be a student!

I don’t want to face reality.

I don’t want to find a job and be working for the next 30+ years of the rest of my life not realising what life really is.

I wanna travel the world.

I don’t want a dead end job.

What if I can’t find a job in this current economic situation, which isn’t looking very good with the “swine” flu spreading?

What if I get to find a job, but I hate it?

What if I quit that much hated job and can’t figure out what I want to be?

What if I never find out what I want to be?

What if I get stuck in a rut and never get out of it?

What if I never get to figure out the purpose of my life, or the purpose of mankind in general?

The Earth is dying as we speak.

*What exactly was the topic of the day again? Oh yeah.*

The semester is ending! Have I accomplished anything?

What was I set out to do here anyway. I have come to realise that I didn’t quite set a target for the purpose of me studying here… I should have thought about it real hard. It just felt like a really good experience. It is a good experience, but I still feel like my old self, I don’t feel like I have grown or have I? There isn’t really a gauge for things like this now is there? Here, I get much more independence, I have to make good / bad decisions on my own, get to travel where ever and whenever I want, have to take care of myself and hopefully there are people looking out for you.

What about my studies? The main thing that I was set out to do?

It isn’t as smooth as should be. I’m jsut putting the same effort I have been when I was back in Malaysia, heck maybe even more, but it doesn’t seem reflect on my studies. Maybe cause when I’m supposed to study I start to think about things like this and have that sudden urge to blog and that darn internet and laptop is so darn assessable!

What about friends?

Well… let’s see…. I’ve kinda kept myself to Malaysian friends… then again, I don’t really have foreign friends, it ain’t that easy… maybe a handful… but Malaysian friends are always there.. and again so darn assessable! hahaha… just kiddin… I guess there are pros and cons to it. One, you’re in a foreign land, you should mix around with people of different nationalities, if you wanted to make Malaysian friend’s stay in Malaysia! Secondly, with Malaysian friends, they understand what you’re going through cause u’re in the same situation. Others might not understand, and they might think ur english is horrible.

What about life as a whole?

I think I talked about it under the first question. *Hey! How did I end up here? Forget about the main topic, this sounds more interesting!* My life like I said, feels the same, I get to buy what ever I want, eat whatever junk I want, eat all the chocolate to myself, though sharing would be so much better, trying out different things, trying things that I would not have tried *did I? hmmm…. example? hmmm… rollercoaster?” I got to go hiking and visit beaches and man! Australia has so many beaches! Tried all kinds of different food! Seen so many sights, touched a kangaroo & koala. Heck! I even fed a kangaroo and I’m terrified of animals! So it’s good so far, just that by being here, I gotta buy my own groceries, which makes me feel like an auntie. Then again since I’m buying it myself, I get to eat whatever I want… hyuk hyuk hyuk….

What about Brisbane itself?

Frankly, I’ll miss this place when I go back. From the citycat, to the punctual buses, to my classes, to picturesque UQ, to the food, to the markets, to the lazing at home and doing nothing, to having gatherings for no particular reason, to the easy availability of pork to it’s peace and safety.

It’s a nice place, it’s not a city kinda city, but I’m not a city kind of person. Maybe cause I’ve been staying here so I prefer here to Sydney/ Melbourne though each has it’s pros and cons. Brisbane is more country like, but I like the fact that it’s more nature-ish. Plenty of places for you to hike, climb, do stuff outdoors, camp & fishing? Plenty of beaches to hang out at… though they aren’t that near. It can be pretty dull at times, but I’m a rather dull person who spends so much time at the laptop I wonder why I off it sometimes.. hahahahhaha….

Brisbane has it’s own charm, it ain’t a city like how Sydney is, it ain’t a happening place like Melbourne, but it’s a quiet and peaceful place which suits me just fine. The interesting stuff is fairly easily assessable. *I wonder how many times I used assessable in this entry, all because of that darn assessable income!*

Whoops! looks like I outdid myself by not getting back into topic and talking bout a whole different topic all together!

I’ve began to take pictures of things that are a huge part of my life here but cannot be found in Malaysia. I might take pictures of my everyday life, to document what I do everyday, however mundane. My time in Australia is running out, though there are still a couple of months, but they can’t be done in a day. It takes time.

Alright! I’m starting to ge t a little emo-ish, so I better get back to studying and erm… yeah! study it is!

in an apple slice.

Blissfully delicous

bibimbap has compelled me to….

I have no idea why I like bibimbap so much. Probabaly it’s because I always wondered what was that mixed up red rice, which looks horrible but looks really delicious, that the actors/actresses in the korean serials were eating.

I have no idea either whether it was bibimbap or something else… but forget about the past, what is important now is that I LOVE bibimbap! LOL so I was compelled to…

well… make it myself.. ehehehe… hehe… cause i haven’t eaten it for a long time and everytime I enter the korean restaurant there is always some obstacle between me and my bibimbap.

Actually an important event led me to want to make my own bibimbap. One fine day, while I was busy “networking” with an old friend, she suddenly gave me a link to a website which teaches one how to cook korean food. *actually i forgot the reason why she gave the link to me, but nvm.. doesn’t matter* I saw the bibimbap recipe and thought.. hmmm sounds easy… so a week or so later I was making it for myself… ehehehhe

ok.. enough of my long winded stories which doesn’t seem to flow well. Here are some pictures instead…

Let's line up bibimbaps!

Give it a good mix and

Let's dig in!

WALA! *bowl was a little small so it was a little hard to mix, doesn’t matter though, still delicious to my tastebuds*

Turns out that bibimbap was really pretty simple to make, so let’s give a toast to more bibimbaps to come. *kling-kling-kling* Oh I feel the important part of the bibimbap is the gochujang sauce, so without good gochujang, there can’t be good bibimbap? Thank you lovely gochujang sauce.