Month: September 2002

A visit to Segambut – to check out my car

A moment of silence for those who died in the September 11 tragedy.
– 6:53PM
Happy Birthday to Ben Hon!! May all your dreams come true! (except for the wet dreams and horny dreams of yours!)
– 5:45PM
My dad and I went to check out my car at Segambut this morning (note: it was involved in an accident couple of weeks ago, someone crashed into it when my tenant was driving it). The workshop is located in a secluded area without proper access to it. We had to brave through potholes and rocky road.
It seems that the workshop hasn’t started repairing my car yet and therefore I was able to see the condition of the car. My god, the front part was badly smashed but the engine wasn’t badly affected (but everything around it was smashed), the wheels of my car crooked and uneven, etc.
Fortunately, my tenant, Mei Mei wasn’t injured at all and dad even praised her for her crisis management. Right after the accident, she didn’t even break down and cry or even panic, the first thing she did was called my dad and everyone else for help. But for me, I will be car-less for the rest of my remaining summer holiday.

Dad brought me to the accident site after that, it was just a straight road, I wonder how that fellow could cause so much damage. Dad then showed me the police station and complained about it. Dad had to wait hours just to make a report because the sergeant wasn’t around. Malaysian police are really an inefficient bunch.

Dad also complained about the tow trucks operators. They are an unscrupulous bunch. They wanted to tow my car away and kept on pressuring and pestering my dad to do so. Dad ignored them and called Honda?s tow truck. According to Dad, the unscrupulous tow truck drivers will rip you off. They will replace your spare parts with cheap and low quality parts and charge you at a higher price.

Oh yeah, we finally fixed our main gate. We’re going to replace it will a new one soon!
– 4:24PM

Sent laptop for repairs.

I hate waiting in the airport especially the time before departure. My dad always advises me to check-in 2 hours before departure so that I would be guaranteed a seat. I arrived in Melbourne Airport 45 minutes departure and I was the second last one to check-in. The stewardess told me that I don’t have a choice for my seat location and there isn’t anymore window or aisle seat. I will be stuck in the middle for the 8 hours flight to Singapore. However, it seems that the seat I was given was one of the best seats! No chairs in front of me and therefore plenty of leg space! It was a comfortable journey.

It’s not the first time that I was given a good seat even though I’m late. During my trip back to Malaysia from Manchester, my friends and I arrived at the airport ½ before departure (we were late because Chuo Ming forgot his passport, we had to turn back to get it). We thought we are gonna be given horrible seats, but it was the other way round, Frederick and I were given seats with plenty of leg space!

I was looking forward for the in-flight movies on the plane. However, they played lousy shows or some shows that I’ve watched. I barely finish 2 movies before dozing off.
The transit time for my connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur took me 1 ½ hour. I heard that we could go online in the airport for free. All you need to do is just plug in a network cable into your laptop and into a docking station. I wanted to go online since I have some time to spare but I don’t have a network cable.

The flight to Kuala Lumpur took me 1 hour. It was pleasant, great view except for a rude Caucasian lady who mistakenly sat on my seat. She didn’t even apologise and gave me an unpleasant look. I had to say sorry and thank her for giving me my seat. What a bitch!

Things started to get bad as soon as I touch down in KL. Firstly, I missed my train to KL sentral. It wasn’t entirely my fault. I didn’t know that only certain lifts goes to the station’s entrance. I took the other lift that is just opposite the lift to the entrance and ended up stranded on the other side of train station’s floor (the floor is divided by the rail tracks). I was looking for the entrance to the other side but it seems there wasnt one. I had to take a lift back to the top floor and get to the station’s lift but the train left as soon as I got into the lift. However, another train arrived 3 minutes after the other train left.

The high-speed train ride takes only about 28 minutes. Tickets must go through a scanner to exit. However, the ticket I was given doesn’t work and I had to wait till one of the staffs sort it out for me.
I was glad that the trip back was almost over. I walked out from the station happily and waved for one of the many taxis parked outside. But they didn’t seem to respond. I asked one of the drivers and they told me to get a ticket inside the station in order to take a taxi. The cost of the ticket? FUCKING RM20!

It’s only been 1 ½ months since I left Kuala Lumpur but it seems there are heaps of changes. The old wooden shop houses in Batu 4 have been demolished to make way for the new highway. The coffeeshop I always go to for lunch has been renovated and added few new hawker stalls. The area around Yaohan OUG changed dramatically, all the trees have been chopped and even Restaurant 88 has been demolished. Worst of all, my house’s main gate fell off due to rust!

I took a nap as soon as I unpack my stuff and have lunch. Woke up at 6pm, watched tv and had dinner. Spoke to Melody after that. Good news, she’s coming back to Malaysia in 1 week time, hurraay!! Esmund dropped by to say hi and collected the duty free cigarettes I bought. Moments later, it’s ‘yamcha’ session. I showed Soon Yean, Gin Yew and Pao the photos I took in Aussie. They couldn’t stop laughing at the photos I took with my friends in Brisbane. It was hilarious to them especially everyone’s hairstyle. To them, everyone in Brisbane seems to be having fun rather than studying. hehe
– 3:28PMBad news. My laptop broke down! I was happily playing with it yesterday until suddenly the laptop shut down. I tried restarting it by pressing on the ‘on’ button but it just couldn’t start. I was so depressed! However, thank god my dad has a computer in his room otherwise I’ll be bored to death. My car hasn’t been repaired yet and the only source of transport for me in the evening is mum’s car.

I sent my laptop for repairs at this place called Wisma Academic. There are two sections in this building, the office section and the warehouse section. I stupidly end up in the warehouse section with a Malay man. The warehouse section is poorly maintained, dirty, graffiti every where and virtually deserted. It took us a while to realise that we went to the wrong place
The fellow in the laptop repair centre gave me a positive answer. He could repair it within days and it’s possible to fix it. Hurray!

Tsuen Hang called me this morning. He used to stay in my house when he was in college and now he’s a District Judge in Singapore. I was to be pretty close to him when I was a kid. He taught me how to play basketball and would sometimes play with him.
He was giving me tons of advises on the legal profession. I told him that I wanted to work in a small law firm and work my way up. However, he strongly advice me to get a job in a large law firm, so that I could extend my network and by the time I reach my 30s, I should go for a career switch. He offered to get his friends in Kuala Lumpur to get me a job after i graduate. Hurray!!
– 1:12PM

Melbourne 28

Melody and I had dim sum with Wei Chen and Ben at Sharkfin’s. The food was great. Ben was suffering from a hangover from last night’s clubbing session with his friends. Apparently, his friends were forcing him to drink because his birthday is next week (on the unfortunate September 11). He had to down a bottle of Black Label for 21 seconds (in conjunction with his 21st birthday). Wei Chen on the other hand passed me the anime that he burned for me. Thanks mannnn!

My dad recommended the Chinese museum in Chinatown for us to visit. After Ben and Wei Chen left, we headed to the museum which is just few blocks away. The entrance fee was $4.50.

The displays wasn’t that good. There are loads of things missing and not properly maintained and preserved. The lower floor exhibition was the worst. It was totally empty and deserted. The lights were dim and sounds of the Chinese opera playing. Back in Malaysia, the only time I get to listen to Chinese opera is during the Chinese ghost festival. The opera is held in an open space; up on a man made stage; with chairs arranged in order. The first few rows are usually empty. Apparently, it’s for the dead to sit.

They designed the place in to a replica of old Chinese ghetto. As we enter one of the exhibitions, 2 Chinese opera singer dummies freaked me out. It was so spooky that at one point I did not dare to enter one of the exhibitions. We quickly headed back to the ground floor.

The museum has 4 floors. The ground floor is basically the reception area with some souvenirs for sale.

The 2nd floor is a small art exhibition room and the 3rd floor is where all the important stuffs are. However, the 3rd floor exhibitions are not properly maintained. Some of the displays are broken and no proper security is installed. Anyone could just take anything back home.

But there were couple of interesting displays. Racism towards the Chinese immigrants was not bad. There had couple of degrading cartoons drawn by white extremists ie comparing rabbits with Chinese (on the terms of overpopulated), images of Chinese taking advantage of poor helpless white ladies, social ills brought by the Chinese. On the other hand, it seems that the Chinese population helped the Australian army during WWII by providing minor services.

After museum, we headed back to the city. Melody shopped again. I had to follow her around because I’m running out of money. I cant shop!!!

We had McDonalds for dinner. I had to budget myself.

However, I still could afford to watch a movie. Insomnia, based on Stephen King’s novel, was bad. The story line was boring but the cinematography was great! The movie is based in Alaska and the sceneries were great. Couple of months ago, I visited a website maintained by a girl who is living in Alaska. She had couple of beautiful pictures of Alaska. Unfortunately, I lost her url.

I’m leaving tomorrow night. It’s been 1 month 3 weeks ever since I got here. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Melody and I decided to go to Sandringham tomorrow. For your information, Sandringham is the train line we always take to go back home. Sandringham is located on the beach. We’re gonna picnic there!
A little bit of info on Sandringham http://www.bayside.vic.gov.au

The itinerary for tomorrow:

Wake up early for English breakfast in the city.
Go home, do laundry and pack up.
Head to Sandringham.
Dinner.
Airport and leave Melbourne 🙁
– 3:00AM

Melbourne 26

It’s been a long day. Melody didn’t sleep a wink but I dozed off at 4am (Melody was doing her assignment). She finally finished it at 3pm. I woke up at 2:30PM, cooked lunch and headed to Melbourne Uni to hand up the assignment.

We bumped into Ben while we’re on the way to the city after handing up the assignment. Ben is going to Irene’s party tonight but Melody and I decided not to.

We walked around the city and Melody did some shopping. As the sun is about to set, we headed to Flinders St. Station and Yarra River to take some photos. Hopefully they’ll turn out well.
We had dinner at Greco’s in Crown. It was good but we had to rush a little bit cause we’re watching a movie in an hour time.

The Sums Of All Fears was good, really really good! However, I felt uncomfortable throughout the movie. There was this old lady who kept on coughing and coughing, irritating, and worst of all, she smelled bad. I couldn’t stand it!

After the movie, we had cake and coffee at Greco’s again. The waitress who served us the previous time was surprised to see us again. Greco’s food and drinks (especially their café latte!) are good but sometimes it’s horrible. We had chocolate cheesecake which was really really good! But my Irish coffee was horrible. It was alcoholic and very bitter. To add salt to wound, it cost a bomb! Last week, the day where I spilled by coffee in Greco’s and was given a free cake and drinks in return, I had the most horrible tiramisu. It was soggy. It was as if it has been dipped into bucket of water.
– 11:22PMIt’s 3am and Melody and I are still awake. Dont think Melody will be sleeping tonight.
– 3:00AM

Melbourne 25

Irene is having a BBQ at her place tomorrow. I might drop by and say hi

grrr, i couldnt break the apple into perfect half again.
– 11:40PM
I’m in Melbourne Uni’s computer lab again. The mouse i’m using now is darn sticky. I wonder how many hands touched it. Imagine what they did before that, ie masturbated in the toilet, dig their nose, euw euw euw!!

Melody is trying to finish another assignment again. I guess we’ll stay up the whole night again…

I bumped into Kwok Hoong again in Bluezone cafe. We chatted for a while. It seems that he has a new girl in his life now (not to say very new but recently). That’s quick, he broke up with Irene (it’s Irene’s birthday today, Happy birthday! :P) a month ago! Kwok Hoong was eager to show me his new girlfriend. Probably we’ll have dinner this weekend.

The Bluezone cafe boss seems to like Melody and I very much. A Chinese man with huge glasses and unshaved moustache and speaks with a heavily Chinese accentted English, he’s always smiling whenever he sees us. And today, he gave us a discount for the muffin we bought (wee!). Even though he seems like a nice man, he’s somehow dangerous. He could split an apple into half with his bare hands! And it’s perfect half! According to Melody, the boss studied Shaolin Kungfu in China for 10 years.
And last night, i tried splitting a small apple with my bare hands. I grasped the apple and pulled it with all my strength. The apple did not split but the top part came off. I tried again and it split! However, it was perfectly half, only a quarter of the apple came off. I’ll try again tonight.

Interesting website, http://nowayjose.blogspot.com/ – traveller on the move!
– 3:54PM

Melbourne 24

I’m in Melbourne Uni’s library computer lab. Just had lunch with Melody and now i’m waiting for her to finish classes so that we could go home together and cook. I still have about an hour to go, i guess i’ll head down to the arcade. What a boring day (oh what a boring postt…)!
– 3:44PM

Melbourne 23

Melody stayed up till 9am to do her assignment but I only lasted till 6am.
I watched 5 episods of The Simpsons today. madness…

I found some interesting juice recipes while shopping for groceries at Coles.
Pineapple, Lime and apple.
Peel and chop ¼ pineapple. Using a juice extractor, process pineapple, 1 lime and 1 green apple.

Raspberry, orange and Passionfruit
Using a juice extractor, process 1 punnet fresh raspberries and 2 peeled oranges. Pour into glasses over crushed ice and stir in pulp of 2 passionfruit.

Tropical Blend
Using a juice extractor, process 1 chopped mango, 2 peeled kiwi fruit, ¼ pineapple and ¼ cup fresh mint.

Citrus blend
Using a juice extractor, process 2 large oranges, ½ lemon and 3 large apples. Serve immediately.

Carrot, Apple, Pear and Lemon
Using a juice extractor, process 2 carrots, 1 apple, 1 pear and ½ peeled lemon. Serve immediately.

Grape, Kiwi Fruit and Berry
Using a juice extractor, process 500g of seedless grapes, 2 peeled kiwi fruit and 1 punnet strawberries. Stir in low-fat milk and crushed ice.

Pineapple, Rockmelon and Grape
Peel and roughly chop ¼ pineapple and ¼ rockmelon. Using a juice extractor, process pineapple, rockmelon and 1 cup of seedless green grapes. Serve immediately over ice

Vegie Juices (euw!!)
Beetroot, Celery, Ginger and Pear
Using a juice extractor, process 2 large beetroots, sterns removed, 4 sticks celery, 1 small piece of fresh ginger ad 1 pear. Serve immediately over crushed ice.

Capsicum, Celery, Cucumber and Lemon
Remove seeds and membranes from 1 red capsicum, chop roughly. Using a juice extractor process capsicum, 4 stalks celery, 1 Lebanese cucumber and ½ peeled lemon. Serve immediately.
– 11:50PM

Melbourne 22 – 100th entry!

Melody is rushing her assignment tonight. She’s not going to sleep until she finishes. I guess I’ll accompany until I fall asleep.

Nothing particular happened today. All I did was just having lunch in Melbourne Uni, went online in the library, went to the arcade and cooked.

I cooked pasta. It was easy. All I did was just fry garlic, onions, mushrooms and minced meat. At the beginning, everything turned out fine but after I put in the sauce, Melody found out that I put in the wrong sauce! It was some instant pasta packet rather than the pasta sauce! Thank god she managed to recoup it otherwise her housemate would hate me even more.
– 9:38PM

Melbourne 21

Hen joined the Daytona I competition at Russell St. today. The entry fee was free but there weren’t much people (about 16 contestants). There are only 2 rounds, the qualifying round and the finals. The former is where 2 racers will be competing with each other and the winner goes to the finals. The latter is where all the 8 winners of the qualifying match compete with each other for the 1st prize. The winner will be presented with a small trophy.

Hen’s first match was exciting. Initially, he seems to be losing and the other player was much better than him. The other player kept on banging and overturning Hen’s car but Hen still could catch up with him. At the final stage, Hen was still behind, but within a twist of luck, the other player’s car crashed and Hen managed to win!

However, the finals wasn’t interesting. Cars just kept on crashing and cars kept on overtaking each other. Hen finished 7th out of the 8 contestants. Boo hoo.
– 10:50PMUpdated album section with Easter Break Melbourne trip pictures.
– 9:22PM