Day out at Yarra Valley

Today, my dad's family friend brought us around Yarra Valley. It was a long and hot ride there because I was sitting on the side where the sun was shining directly on my face the entire time. We visited a number of factories and wineries there. I think I put on a little weight because all we ate were bread, cheese and chocolate. I am not an alcohol person, but I decided to do some of the beer/wine tasting since you don't get to do tasting very often. Although most of the beers/wine did not really sit well with my palette, I actually liked the Apple & Pear Cider. It was slightly bitter but it was not as strong as the other alcoholic beverages. We tried at least 10 different types of cheeses, which names I am unable to recall. Some were very strong, so I think I will still stick to Cheddar and Mozzarella.

Yarra Valley is very scenic, with lots of hills and scenery, which was a great place for me to grab some awesome shots. We also passed by a couple of cows, goats, and sheep. I think one of the highlights was the chocolate factory, because there was free flow of chocolate that did not cost a single cent. You can take as much as you'd like! I remember walking into the store and I was so excited to see rows and rows of shelf filled with chocolates of various flavors and sizes. The place was also packed with people. In fact, all the places we've visited in Yarra Valley was filled with people.

On the side note, our timetables was released. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone, whom I have already met, who has the same timetable as me. On the other hand, no one else was able to find someone with the same timetable as them. However, I am only in the same lecture with maybe one or two people for like one day. I was thinking of maybe switching around my lectures if the lecturers are not so strict on finding out who is attending which lecture.

The Journey so far

So it has been almost a week since I last posted. I have been through the three days of orientation at Monash, and have made many new friends. There were some Singaporeans, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean and Indian. It was really interesting to find out more about them and their different cultures. I will briefly go through what we did during the three days.

On the first day, we basically had like a welcome talk where the staff introduced to us about what we would expect when we start our education at Monash College. This was then followed by lunch where we were free to mix around with other students over a meal. This was where I was able to pick up a few friends. We were also given three cards, each with random names of businesses and their discount prices. We were expected to collect a set of three cards with the same businesses, but with different shapes. So each name has a shape surrounding it, namely, square, circle and hexagon. We will get an additional total of six cards during the next two days. This will let us mingle around to find the cards we need and to give us an incentive to attend every day's orientation. Fun fact, previous orientations actually lasted five days. However, due to the fall in attendance, they decided to shorten it. 

On the second day, the entire cohort was divided into groups of 23 to have some ice-breaking activities. Everyone was given a sticker to write their names on, and we had a game of bingo. Everyone was given a piece of paper with grids of topics that were listed on them. Some of the topics were "Find someone with the same number of brothers/sisters as you" (which I had difficulty finding because everyone had nearly one or two), or "Find someone who arrived in the past 72 hours". This game allowed us to get to know each other. Personally, I feel that this is a really good ice-breaker, as many times people are unable to come up with questions to find out more about the other when they first meet. Following that, we were further broken up into three groups to complete a quiz. Once all the activities were completed, we had a short morning tea, and then proceeded to go for a goal setting talk at the cinema.

On the third day, we went to the chapel to attend a talk to find out more about our diplomas. Including information like the percentages for each assignment or exam for the various modules. Or the percentage cut off to enter the various business degrees at the different campuses. Following that, we were brought to the banquet room, where booths were set up for us to find out more about the various clubs and associations within the institute. In some way it felt kind of like a carnival, because they were giving out free food, had someone to do face painting and a lady who was bending balloons into various objects like hats, wands, and swords. I got a monster hat and a sword to take a photo with. 

Also, I actually lost three of my cards, and did not collect the other three cards for the third day. Fortunately, I still had the two most important cards with me, and I happened to see one guy inquire about the cards at one of the booths. I glanced over his shoulder, and as he was sorting through his cards, I saw that last card that I needed to complete my set! So I tapped his shoulder, introduced myself, and asked if he could kindly trade me that one card that I needed. He was kind enough to trade it for a card that he didn't really need, and that was how I got a discount card for 25% off at the sports center. 

Later that evening, I had dinner with some of my new found friends, and arranged to go to the city the next day, with them plus some other Indonesian students. 

So I'm glad to say that it has been pretty good so far. Tomorrow is Saturday, which is the day when we receive our individual timetables. I am kind of excited and anxious at the same time, because I really want to be in the same class as some of my friends. So hopefully, at least one or two of them will become my classmates.

P.S. There are so many Chinese and Indonesians in the cohort. I have only found like five other Singaporeans. I am certain that there will be more but we are definitely the minority in this cohort. XD

Move In Day

Today is move in day. I brought the remaining items to the townhouse which I was going to live in for the next 9 months. It's a little déjà vu. I dragged my luggage from the service apartment to the new place. It was in the evening. The sun was setting but it was still relatively bright. It was really cloudy, and the walk to the townhouse was a really quiet one.

After putting aside the remaining items and testing out the printer, it was time to say goodbye. I saw my parents out the house. I walked up to my new bedroom window. In the darkness I could see my mother putting on her coat and waving goodbye to me. My father joined her a minute later, and proceeded down the driveway.

As I watched them disappear into the darkness, I felt a little choked up inside. It's like one of those scenes in a drama where two people separates and are not going to see each other for a long time. The only difference is that I'm going to see my parents again tomorrow. Dramatic right? They will by flying back to Singapore on the 18th October, which is 10 days from now. So that will give me time to adjust to not living with my parents.

There was a period of time where I lived overseas without my parents. That was when I went to Virginia USA to perform with my SPDS squad. I was not anxious or worried about separating from my parents, because I was with people I knew and am familiar with.

Tomorrow morning, I will be heading down to the campus for my orientation. Hopefully I will meet some nice and friendly people there and not be so awkward. Haha

Fear of change

Today is the 13th day of my stay here in Melbourne. The furniture have been fixed up and I have finished purchasing most of the items that I would need during my stay. Today we went to Harvey Norman to grab a printer. Finally I have a printer which prints double sided, because there were many cases where I printed documents the wrong side up on the one sided printer.

I was intending to move in earlier, but there were just so many things that I need to move over. On the other hand, still feeling a little anxious. It is mostly because of my fear of change. I experienced this before leaving Singapore, and now that I have settled into the service apartment with my parents. Albeit, being more familiar with my surroundings, I still have a number of concerns about living on my own with five other students and life in college.

A week before Orientation

I usually have a physical diary where I write some of my posts in, but I do not have it with me now. Therefore, I decided to write it on this blog that I have not touched in over year. I will be attending the orientation at Monash College in a week's time.

Before my flight on 23 September, it felt surreal. It was a similar feeling I had before I enlisted for my National Service (which I finished a month ago). I always have this thought: "Is this really happening? It feels like a dream". Today is the ninth day of my stay here in Melbourne. My parents traveled along with me to help me to adapt into the culture here in Australia, as well as to help me prepare all the administrative stuff before my semester begins.

Over the course of the last week, I have visited the place that I will be staying with over the next 9 months. I am currently staying at a service apartment with my parents. Initially, I wanted to apply for an on-campus accommodation, but the school had a long waiting list. I only received an offer the week before my flight. By then, I have already searched for an alternative place to stay that was about 10 minutes away from the campus. It is a townhouse with six bedrooms, five of which are already occupied by other students.

We explored one of the shopping malls in Chadstone, to get familiarised with the various stores that are located inside as well as with the public transport. Public transport here is very different as compared to Singapore. There is a fixed timing for every bus, and the waiting time in between bus can be between 20-30 minutes. I used to think that this waiting time was atrociously long back home, but coming here really made me appreciate the 5 minute waiting time for buses in Singapore. Even trains here take roughly 20 minutes. The longest I have ever waited for the MRT train was four minutes, unless the train was full of course.

I have bought a number of furniture from Ikea that needs to be assembled at the townhouse. I have a couple other things, including my clothes that have not been moved to the house yet. I am going to have to do that over the next few days, and probably move in in the next two to three days. I have met the students already staying there and they seem to be nice people. I am a person who gets anxious easily, and tend to over think. So I would probably need some time to get used to the environment there.

A trip to Australia 2015 - Day 3 to 5 (A summary)

Today is Day 5, I have been really tired the past three days as it was packed with activities. Therefore, I decided to compile a summary of these three days in one post instead.

Day 3

We walked from our apartment to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens today. It was almost 12 pm but there were a lot of people strolling or jogging on the paths in the park. Either Australians were very cautious about their physical fitness, or it's because the cool whether invites people to take a nice walk in the park. Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant experience.

We walked to the end of botanical gardens and the Queensland University of Technology was just around the corner. Just opposite the university was a bridge that took us across the Brisbane River. We started to feel hungry so we started to stroll along the other side of the river to find something we could eat for lunch. We passed the Griffith University and found a couple of restaurants and cafes. The first one that caught our eye was Burger Urge. We took a seat inside and I ordered a "Cheese Louis". It was one of the best burgers I have ever eaten.

After lunch we walked passed the Wheel of Brisbane again.

I had lasagna and broccoli for dinner.

Day 4

Today we checked out of the apartment at around 10 am while my dad grabbed a rental car. We were moving to Gold Coast today. After loading the luggage on the car, my dad had some problems with the GPS system in the car because it was unlike the GPS system we used in Singapore. We left about half an hour later. As the GPS lagged a little bit and the GPS voice system was really soft, we went off route a number of time. However, we managed to reach the Meriton Service Apartment safely within a couple of hours.

The View from the Meriton Service Apartment Gold Coast

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom

Tiny Study Room

After exploring the room, we went downstairs in the search of food. There were a number of restaurants but they were slightly pricey. We settled on McDonalds. I was thinking of getting the Double Cheeseburger like always but then my eyes shifted down a line and I saw "Triple Cheeseburger". That's definitely what I'm going for. The McDonalds here had a slightly different collection system, whereby we were given numbers and it'll be displayed on a screen for collection.

Like what it's name suggests, three beef patties and three layers of cheese. I'm in paradise. Just writing about this makes me hungry,

I finally decided that it was a good time to start jogging again before I lose my stamina by the end of the trip. We walked down to Surfer's Paradise Beach and I did my running there. The air was very chilly so my throat got dry easily, but it was overall a very enjoyable run. 

After the thirty minutes run, we walked to one of the restaurants nearby that we crossed earlier in the day. The "Rock at Broad Beach" restaurant. My dad ordered some fish dish (forgot the name), my mum order the Spaghetti Bolognese and I ordered the Ceaser Salad.

After the dinner, we visited the Jupiter Casino a few streets down. It was the first time I actually entered a casino.

Day 5

I woke up at around 10 am today. Had noodles with eggs and broccoli. My dad wanted to bring me to Sea World today because apparently, I went there when I was about 3 years old. The entire place was filled with the laughing and chatter among children and adults. We watched a number of shows there including a Ski Jet show, a Sea Lion show, and a Dolphin Show. Between those shows, we visited the polar bear and shark exhibition.

The park closed at 5.30 pm but most of the stores have already closed. Hence, we had to drive to another location to eat dinner. We drove to the Pacific Fair town center. Although the shopping mall had only 2 stories, it was very long. We nearly gave up finding a place to eat in Pacific Fair because all we could see were rows and rows of shop. Fortunately, we came across a big food court after a long walk. My mum and I ordered a Kutsu Don each which came with Miso Soup and my dad ordered Kutsu Curry. The food here is delicious!

After dinner, we bought some groceries and headed back to the apartment.

A trip to Australia 2015 - Day 2 - Exploring the City

I woke up at around 10 am today because I slept late last night. It was bright and sunny today. My hair was in a total mess. it was like my hair had a a party while I was asleep and ended up drunk. My hair refused to go down without a fight. I pulled, pressed and used water before it finally died down.

City View from the Apartment

Today, we were going to explore the city surrounding the apartment. We stayed near the Brisbane River, and a number of joggers and cyclists zipped passed us on the path located beside the river.

We passed by a convenience store along the way and I decided to pick up a Birthday Card for my friend's daughter who lives in Brisbane. I was unable to visit them because of we are only staying in Brisbane for approximately one more day, and then we had to leave for Gold Coast. I thought it was only right if I could at least mail a card to their place since I was not able to see them.

I dropped off the card at a mail office located around the corner. It had a self service mailing counter which provides us the stamp required to mail the card. We were not as "tech-savvy" as we thought. Thankfully, a cheerful woman was there to help us through all the steps. The system required us to place whatever we were mailing onto the glass panel provided, which would determine the weight of the object. It will then show us the amount we needed to pay based on the weight on the item. Once payment was made, a sticker was printed out and it is pasted onto the mail.

We strolled out of the mail office and we saw an Apple flag fluttering proudly in the wind. We have arrived at one of the Apple outlets. The store was huge, with multiple tables displaying rows and rows of iPhones, iPads and Apple watches. The shop assistants were standing beside the displays with an iPad in hand, waiting to serve any customer that walks through the entrance.

The Apple Store

As we continued down the street, we came across a building called Winter Garden Brisbane, Queen Street Mall. It was lunch time so we entered to find something to eat. There was a food court on the bottom floor. Mum and I decided to share four massive sushi rolls. She also ordered a cup of miso soup as well. The miso soup was literally served in a coffee cup, and it displayed the nutritional values on the label. Pretty unique. My dad ordered a Tokyo Beef Rice and Laksa,

While we were consuming our meal, we were questioning ourselves if we were sitting at the right place because everyone sitting around us were eating McDonalds. Another interesting thing we've discovered is that vending machines here not only sell food and drinks, but they also sell phone accessories. The one we came across sold iPhone cables, earphones and portable chargers.

Once we were done with our meal, we wanted to visit the park that was located across the river. We zig-zagged through the multiple skyscrapers in the vicinity and finally saw a bridge that led to the other side of the river.

The Treasury Building

The highway. while crossing the Brisbane River

The Brisbane River

By the time we "finished" walking along the park, we decided to head back to the apartment, and grab some groceries on the way. Most of the shops started closing, as most of them get off work around 5.30 pm.

For dinner, I shared Spaghetti and Meatballs, with a side of boiled broccoli with my dad. My mum decided that she would just fancy a couple slices of toast and strawberry jam. I was shattered, having to walk up and down hills of streets with groceries in both hands. On the bright side, it was a good work out.

I thought that I would be able to wake up early every day to go jogging like I was used to in Singapore. However, I am not really confident about that since the jogging path was located a few streets away from the apartment. People might say that I could jog along the streets, but it's hard to do so when there are students and workers swarming the sidewalks of the streets. Besides, who would want to breathe in the exhaust that is given out my motor vehicles on the streets.

But hey, it might not stay that way, once we are in Gold Coast, I am looking forward to waking up every morning and jogging along the beach. It would be perfect!