Outing with IH Newcomers

The City of Sydney held a Malaysian exhibit 'The Story of Malaysia' to promote the Malaysian culture yesterday, and I decided to go to support my countrymen. Neil and a bunch of IH new residents came along with me [I think because they had nothing better to do...]. Though the exhibit was rather a disappointment as it was small and lacklustre, I thought we all enjoyed ourselves just fooling around. 

I borrowed Jun Ming's Sony NEX-5N with a manual Voigtlander 35mm to play around with for the outing. I loved the manual lens, so fast and so surprisingly easy to focus! It was a shame though, that the 5N had a crop sensor so the effective focal length was actually 52mm. These are the resulting photos. 

L: The Layout of Sydney City inside Customs House. R: Sydney tower!

Met some friends from Macquarie University

Getting bored with the exhibit

Congkak

The City of Sydney

Left to Right: Don, Yang, Motoya, James, Marvin, Jun, Neil

Public buses catered for sightseeing tourists

SSS Weekend Afternoon Sports

Beach Coastal Walk from Bondi to Coogee

It may be Good Friday today but unlike my usual disciplined self, I woke up extremely late -- perhaps that's why it's called 'good' Friday. After lunch, I decided to head to the Eastern beaches for the coastal walk with Han since there wasn't much to do on a public holiday that I didn't celebrate. 

The total distance of the coastal walk was around 6 kilometres. We started at Bondi beach, went by Bronte beach, and ended at Coogee beach. It was a cloudy day, so the temperature was around 22 degrees Celsius, just perfect for an autumn day. The walk itself wasn't exactly rigorous, and we got to enjoy the coastal scenery with wind blowing into our ears. I didn't grow up in cities with beaches, but I find it a rather common pass-time for Sydneysiders to hike around the beaches and enjoy the atmosphere. 

Enjoying It So Far

Despite feeling reluctant to come back to Sydney, I have had quite a lot of fun in the past three weeks -- more fun than I had anticipated. Seamlessly, I have adapted back to living like a young adult -- meeting friends, sports, internet usage, etc. Of course, there are definitely days when I miss my family or worry about my grandparents, but overall it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated.

I still live in International House, though this year's different from last year as I share a room with a fellow resident friend. So far, I have adapted well, as I get a bigger room and I like the new set up of the bed and table compared to last year's single room. My roommate hardly stays around during the day so I tend to get the room all for myself. I also like my room because most of my closer friends live close by. Every time I go for meals, I pass by their rooms and I like to knock on their doors to ask them to come along to the dining hall with me.

This week is the third week of school and as always in university, because everything moves in such a fast pace, I feel that I am already falling behind. With all the O-week distractions, I haven't been able to concentrate well and I find it hard to revise lectures efficiently. My absorption of material has been weak and sometimes I feel like I lost a couple of precious IQ points over my three months summer break doing almost absolutely nothing intellectual. But I'm sure it'd be fine soon enough as my mind assimilate to the studying routine.

During my summer break, I thought that like last semester I'd be working out every morning again with Bo An and Han, but we mutually gave up on that plan and went our own ways to gain fitness. I go to the gym now, at least twice per week, but with the hope of going thrice per week. The gym I go to is actually in a hospital and it costs only $5 per week. But because I tend to work out at night when the staff has long gone home, I have been surreptitiously 'borrowing' my friends' cards for entry. In addition to working out, I have also been trying to play badminton, soccer, and tennis weekly. I seek to gain 5kg by the end of the semester, through however means -- muscle mass or fat mass, it doesn't matter.

Haven't been doing much photography lately. Deep inside, I feel a little guilty. So much equipment, but such low utilisation. Definitely would like to start on something in the coming weeks. For me, the most challenging hurdle to a project is to find models willing to pose for me. Sigh, but honestly, I haven't even tried to ask people. I guess it's mainly my laziness to ask; I should definitely get on with a project and stop complaining.

Good news came last Friday that my application to be a student ambassador for the University was successful. I was happy, as that meant that I can quit my previous photography retail job for this new, refreshing, yet flexible job. I also get to move around more, as well as help prospective students who may need help. Definitely got to thank IH for endorsing me to represent the House to be an ambassador, and I look forward to experience the new job at the end of this week!

I guess that's all, for now.

Birthday Boy, Victor.

Being clumsy

Fist-bumps to the birthday boy

Food at Sydney's Mamak! Mee Goreng, Nasi Lemak, Maggi Goren, Roti Telur!

Shy Chinatown Outing

Angry Chinatown Outing

Chinatown

End of Summer Break, Yet Again

Sigh, what can I say? My summer break is over yet again, and just like the past 8 summer breaks prior to this year's , it went by after weeks of wastefulness.

But come on, a break is a break. And think about it, once I start working full-time, I wouldn't be getting any more 'Summer Breaks'. Might as well continue living the break as a break instead of trying to work and be exhausted by the end of it. This break, I appreciate that I had a couple of relaxing yet exciting travel trips and was able to experience Suzhou from a different perspective. I'm also appreciative of the stress-free lifestyle I was able to have. But perhaps most importantly, I truly treasure the time I spent with my family in China, and with my grandparents here in Malaysia.

Of course, part of me can't wait to go back and get on with the productive stage of life again. Active learning, studying, working, exercising. But the other part of me just can't afford to leave my two old and weak grandparents behind. I guess that's probably the major difference between my reluctance to end my summer break when I was younger and now. Back then, I didn't want to summer break to end because I didn't want to go to school and work hard. I wanted to stay at home, relax, have good food, enjoy myself, visit the cinema, play lots of games and read lots of book. I didn't want to work hard. Those were the naive days. But now I've grown to appreciate life as it should be -- work hard and enjoy the state and rewards of doing so -- yet I still don't want my summer to end, this time because of my ageing grandparents. Potential time spent with them are getting more and more precious as they age. Sooner or later, once they're gone -- touchwood -- the memories of the time spent with them will be luxurious and all I will have left of them. And I can't bear to leave Malaysia and end my time with them this round. But such is life, things have to go on, and I have to live my life. What will come, will come -- I have to go back to Sydney.

Looking on the optimistic side, I look forward to getting back to routine. Study hard, exercise well, and commit enthusiastically to my community. And of course, I look forward to International House's O-week where I will get to meet lots of new people, catch up with old friends, set new goals for myself, and ultimately, have fun. And I'm sure Time will pass faster than I can live it, and the next thing I know it, I'll be boarding a plane again, this time heading back here to Malaysia [it's looking like the end of June].

So with a resilient mood, Sydney here I come.

Holiday in China

It has been almost 3 weeks 4 weeks since I'm here in Suzhou now. Time has once again taken its toll on us: we survived the 'Mayan Apocalypse Day', Christmas has just passed and the New Year [2013!] is just around the corner it's 2013 now. A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. The holiday 'fever' has led me to procrastination -- I started writing this post the day after Christmas but 2 days have already passed since 2013 commenced.

With an average day temperature of 0-3 degrees Celsius, plus occasional wind/rain/and snow(!), winter in Suzhou can feel really cold. I haven't felt this chill for the past 2 years and sometimes it just demotivates me to do anything but stay at home. The shivering is definitely one thing in Suzhou that I didn't miss! But looking at the bright side, it allows me to appreciate Sydney's fine winter [10 degrees Celsius!] so much more.

As it is holiday, everyday feels rather monotonous yet relaxing. Sleeping 10 hours, waking up to do nothing [using the computer but not knowing exactly what you're doing], and sleeping again feels like the holiday that I dreamt about during semester in uni. Sometimes, I might go out to eat or shop, and that contributes to the casual holiday mood. Other times, I might go out to meet up with some few old friends who happened to come back to Suzhou for their respective winter breaks. Sydney and uni suddenly seem so far away in the past now. Just thinking of going back and being proactive/resourceful/productive feels a little overwhelming.

Despite the passive mood, I did end up going to Xi'An with my older brother for a 3-day trip. We visited one of the most well known wonder in China -- the pits where the Terracotta armies were buried. There is a lot of history behind the wonder and if you want to know more about it, Wiki it or go there yourself. Definitely a worthwhile place to go, if you are ever in China. All I dare tell you now is that it was discovered in 1974 by a local farmer and I saw that guy living his now 'comfortable' life sitting in a chair and charging for autographs. Other than the Terracotta army, Xi'An offers some other cultural/historical sites including the Big Wild Goose Pagoda [one of the places where Buddhism first spread into China as it was the pagoda where Xuanzang (the fictitious Monkey King's master) brought his sutras after his journey to India] and the City Wall [a well-survived military defense system from the past]. Some photos follow:


















Due to the cold, I have had second thoughts on travelling, especially anywhere higher in latitude than Suzhou. But on the other hand,  I get to spend more time in Suzhou with my family, which I feel is more important right now. Also, less money spent on travelling also means more money to spare for photographic accessories (:D)!

At times, it feels so cold that I can't wait to go back to Malaysia and bathe in the warm sun. But knowing that I will definitely be leaving in less than 3 weeks from now, I'd better stop thinking about going back and enjoy my days in Suzhou while I still have time. After all, I doubt I'd be coming back to Suzhou for a long while to come.