The Start of the Winter Break

Hey all,

Roughly 4 months ago, when I left Malaysia, I thought I would pay the trip to go back to Malaysia for the winter due to the high living expenses here -- 4 weeks of rent > plane ticket -- but I guess things didn't turn out the way I imagined it would.

The last week has definitely been eventful and packed. My brother came over from Melbourne the day I finished my exams and together we've walked pretty much all that Sydney CBD has had to offer.

View from Sydney Fish Market

Shun Wei posing while the sun sets

After my brother went back, I just hung out with David and some other friends. Yesterday, Lisa invited Par, David and I for a "short" hike at the Sydney Royal National Park. We didn't know what to expect and didn't prepare much for the trip -- no compass, not much food, nothing. This resulted in one and a half hours of panic as we got lost among the woods. We lost our trail many times and I even got one whole foot soaked with water as we tried crossing a rock-bridge in our attempt to find our bearings. Fortunately, we did manage to get out of the woods right before the sun set. Gotta be extremely grateful for that!

Par safely crosses the rock-bridge that I got my foot soaked in...

The crew (excluding me of course!)

David meditating...or is he?

I'm currently staying at David's sister's place, temporarily taking up her other housemates rooms while they are away on holiday in Europe. Rent's cheap, and it's actually quite a comfortable and clean place. The only problem is the insulation. As we don't have a heater, the place feels like an ice box. The only protection we have against that is simply to wear more or to go for a hot shower. Here are some photos of the place:

 I have a balcony!

The bed

The SSIS Graduting Class of 2011 Blanket has served me real well this winter break!

The view from the balcony

The balcony

The street by the house

The house

Living with an extremely thin budget of $500 for the month, I have to spend my money wisely. While this was thought to mean more cooking at home, so far I've been out for most of my meals and spending loads more than I should. Definitely need to get the initiative to cook more often...!

As the winter break last for a month, I'm on the lookout for jobs. I've applied to several places already with not much success. Recently, I've been trying to land jobs in McDonalds (which hopefully pays minimum wage -- which is decent at around $17 p/h) and some other casual places. Fingers crossed, I do get a job to support my living expenses.

On a last note, I'll be off to Santi Forest Monastery at Bundanoon tomorrow morning for a 10-day meditation retreat. That'll mean money off food and accommodation, as well as the acquisition of wisdom, calmness and peacefulness. May all be well.