BAN!

Just checked my uni mail, our results' release are now presumably delayed. Excerpts from the mail:

"...the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) who are the union which represent academic and general staff at Monash University have implemented workbans on the processing of students' semester two results...The bans are in relation to a current enterprise bargaining related dispute between the university and the NTEU..."

First heard about it coupla days ago, cos Carol had to submit a form for exemption but this's the first official confirmation we've had from the uni. Hopefully its approved, cos she's scheduled to graduate in 2 weeks time!! Pretty powerful, the unions here. During the 2nd sem we already had a day of industrial action, but this's truly inconveniencing many students..

Odd weather here in Melb as usual. I'm fortunate not to be in Sydney now, tomorrow/today? forecasted to be 42 degrees, VERY HOT! Can't help but cringe when I think of a friend now playing golf there in the mad mad heat =P

Been a tiring few days

Melbourne is hot. Very hot indeed. Tomorrow's forecasted to be 34 degrees. Yes THIRTY-FOUR!!

Today was 32degrees, and it was bad enough. I'm back home now with abit of a sunburn. Gallivanting about the city with LeeInn today..more on that later..

Tuesday took the chance to go Great Ocean Rd and unfortunately was sitting at the wrong side (right) of the bus when the ocean was to our left. Sigh missed out on alotttt of views. It was a pretty rushed affair, where we had multiple stops eg Apollo Bay, Loch Ard Gorge etc. Views were certainly pretty, but didn't take that many pics. I suppose there's only so many pics one can take of rock formations. All the time it was from a distance. And the sun oh the sweltering sun! Can really feel the heat piercing thru my skin, came back with really flushed skin..aduh..summer in Melb isn't so fun..

A special memory from that trip - Apollo Bay. The mountains are right next to the sea! Looked alittle unreal for me as I'd never seen anything like that. For lunch we ended up having gelati (oooh whisky and rumraisin) at the beach.. =)

Then yesterday, my dear MinHui had her 21st! (Shall wish you only on the real day ya)..Anyways I had the pleasure of sharing a night out with some great people (MinHui-of course, LeeInn,Yan (?), Mel, GaikChee, Kenny, Bryan, Tim,Nicholas and Alan (?)), at Riva in St Kilda. It isn't near the pier, more to the marina side where the yachts are docked i think.

View from the deck was gorgeous, with a stunning sunset yesterday. Unfortunately we were dining inside =) But thats not to detract from a lovely night out in good company. The place was jam packed with patrons and according to MH she made the reservation weeks in advance, and thats for a weeknight! We also had glimpses of a VERY cozy-looking lounge with a nice fireplace on the grd floor on our way up. Food was good and service was great. Would be a nice place to go next year sometimes..

I'm now pretty much sleep-deprived. Yesterday when we got back to her place, it was already 12.30ish and by the time I dozed off it was 2 plus. Had a coupla hours sleep and then went for some nice coffee with LeeInn who's visiting from Adelaide. Spent my day with her, rather fulfilling, by strolling the Botanic Gardens (yes, again. Extremely sunny!) and just rayau-ing around..and tomorrow morning shall be waking up early again..for a good reason this time. Instead of cash outflow and more outflow, tomorrow will be finally an inflow =P

I'm working this weekend! Although its just 2 days, well something's better than nothing. Wish me luck!!

Job(s)!!

Now - I wouldn't mind a job, or two, or three.

Its a matter of getting one.

Been bumming around mindlessly for the past week plus.. Can't bring myself to seriously job search..

No job = no experience gained (in Melb)
but
No experience = no job

That. Is exactly my dilemma now.

My housemate is much more rajin than me in her quest for a job. Me.. walking in Melbourne Central, instead of looking for vacancies, starts to wander into Borders and spending more $$.. sigh..this is badddd.

But on the plus side, I've finally gotten a copy of *The Life of Pi* (!) ahhhah I've been waiting sooo long to lay my hands on that..and finally last week couldn't resist getting it.. =) Shall post a short review on it soon.

oop got abit distracted from today's topic. Just a little while ago, I was slightly panicking. Because I've gotten myself into an interview at 9am Wed, at a place called Moorabbin. Problem was (and very major it was too) that I have 0 (zero.zilch.nada) idea where's the place. Its for a job this weekend (unfortunately its only a 2 day job) and I've gotta be there for an interview and test. The lady called at 4 plus in the evening, and I happened to be stuck in Carnegie. I tried to sound as though I knew where the location was. She mentioned Warrigal Rd and me in my moment of blurness thought *oh that sounds familiar, there's one warrigal road in caulfield...* Then she mentioned "Its opposite the Bunnings Warehouse" and I went *Oh, right..okay..*...........

Problem is, Warrigal Road is reaaaallly longgggg. Imagine. Something like the LDP (but not as long le). It actually criss-crosses zone1 and 2. The nearest railway station from the office is more than 3km away - Cheltenham.

Arhhhhhh I went in my mind (in a marvellous long unfelt state of panic)

Die die die die die. No car. No time to go rayau and find that place. Why? Because in a coupla hours I'm going on a trip and I won't be back till late at night tomorrow.

But then again. Forgot I was in Melbourne, and there's something known as public transport!
Hehhhe problem solved. After much searching using online maps and routes. I've figured out how to get there (I hope!)

Really hoping to get the job (pays well =P) and I need a reason to stay in Melbourne. Am awaiting news from another application. Last weekend, did think of going home next week if I'm not working here..

StrayThought:.
*Monash International is doing a great job here. When the semester ended I thought all activities for intl students ended. Instead, now they're even organising a Christmas lunch (a traditional one, with turkey, puddings etc) for intl students who's still in Melb. Abit early though, its on the 15th Dec. Christmas Day won't be too bad here either, I've got a dinner date =)

Munch, and alittle more..

Managed to pop by the NGV last Friday to see the Edvard Munch exhibition. Titled "Edvard Munch: The Frieze of Life", it was personally fulfilling for me. Having had no exposure to an art education, I didn't know much about Munch, except that he painted the Scream. Looking thru the more than 80 paintings, I feel I understand a little better now, how he produced such works.

The version of The Scream in the exhibit is the lithograph version (he produced a total of 4) and is much smaller than I expected. The first of his comments displayed in the gallery were that *he inherited consumption and madness from his parents* (or words to that effect). I felt as if I was walking through stages of his life when passing the pictures (due to the way they arranged) one by one. Paintings/lithographs/etchings which particularly caught my attention was most of his self-potraits, of which there were quite a few. There was a set of 3 paintings displayed next to each other, titled Jealousy II, Jealousy, and the other (can't remember the title). Memorable in the sense that the emotion was really evident in the art. Some other famous works incl Madonna, The Dance of Life, Vampire, Loneliness etc are all shown..

My favourites were his self potraits. Captivating, and at the same time a little haunting...The first one was *Self Potrait with Cigarette*. He painted many more in his lifetime..There were 2 almost identical self potraits, with one titled *Self Potrait with Skeleton Arm*, a lithograph. The other one was without the skeleton arm. Both are almost entirely similar. The one with the skeleton arm was accompanied by some comments by the curators (very useful for people like me who's pretty blur about art stuff) which provided a viewpoint on why he added the skeleton arm. It signifies a link between man and art (art symbolised as being created from the hands of man). While man eventually dies, art lives on.. (summarising their comments in my own limited words)..

There was also an amusing comment on a potrait he produced for a gentleman of that age. The canvas is very large, more than 6 feet in height. It turned out that the gentleman's presence couldn't fit into the initial canvas (there wasn't enough space to fit his left foot hahhha). So when they exhibited it (in the early 1900s), they rolled it and exhibited it at halve's length. A few years later, Munch added on to the piece and finally added the missing foot..

Must read!

Click here for this article - "It's a case of deja vu all over again in Iraq" by Thomas L. Friedman.

A simple, straightforward article, asking some important questions.

Someone broke my spoon (and i must add, a very long post today)

Yes, someone in my big ol' house, came upstairs to the pantry, broke my spoon, and left it on the drying rack hidden beneath the other cutlery, hoping I'd never notice it.

Bah!! I'm so annoyed. Over a small spoon. Yupp.

The spoon's the one I use for making/stirring my daily doses of coffee. For the past month or so, I've been consuming more coffee than h2o. For once I left it outside yesterday night and this morning only woke up to find it broken in half. The top half's metal and bottom is something *glassy-looking*, transparent and *does not look easily broken*. I really have no idea how it got broken. It definitely ain't any of the 4 of us staying upstairs. Besides, the other guy who stays on my floor only ever cooks instant noodles (thou he's a cook hahhha).

Weirder still, today my housemate came over my room to use the net for awhile, and when she got back to her room, found it smelling of cigarettes. Strange, and pretty scary. To think there's some stranger walking around the house. Actually we think we know who it could be. A friend of one of my housemate downstairs, who comes over all the time and makes all of us uncomfortable with his behaviour. For the past few nights (as in middle of the night to 4 plus am) there's someone walking up and down the stairs, past my corridor sometimes, to the pantry etc. Used to think it was my housemate till today, when I was talking to them, then realised it was prob that fella again. Sigh..staying in a big house like this, really can't control who comes in and out..

The occupants of the house is now pretty cosmo. Last week, some ppl shifted in, temporarily. So now we have us 4 Malaysians upstairs, downstairs 2 koreans, 2 girls from China, 1 taiwanese and 2 sri lankans. Hmm Msians are prob more safety-conscious/paranoid. We all took the upstairs rooms, cos the windows all have no grilles or locks. Its those old fashioned windows, offering a great view of the outside. Mine's more than 6 feet high..oh wait I have a pic of it..


and a few more pics..


This's part of the interior, main door leading to stairs.


This's the rear of the house.


My desk!

Really need to get a digicam...Without a scanner, its so difficult to post any pics online..

Now that I'm done with my exams (finally!!) there's much to be done in Melbourne. Besides my usual time for dramas, this much free time (at least till I get a job) means I can catch up on my readings! What I mean is, these books I've borrowed from the library but casually left neglected for weeks and weeks.

1. The Enigma Of Anger: Essays On A Sometime Deadly Sin, by Garret Keizer. "A Vermont minister takes on anger as an inescapable, yet paradoxical, part ofhuman life and views the cluster of emotions and associations surrounding it.This literary, thoughtful, and sometimes-funny book will not fail to surprisewith its simple wisdom and keen insight." Click here for a review.
2. The New Asian House, by Robert Powell. Has great pictures, and includes 2 houses in KL (I think both houses are located at Sierramas, more commonly known as Sg Buloh (?)). Click here for a review.
3. The Villas of Palladio, by Giovanni Giaconi. Couldn't resist picking this up. Andrea Palladio was a Renaissance architect and builder. Reknowned for his sixteenth century villas in the Italian Veneto. One of his villas, *Villa Rotonda* was one of the first structures I was introduced to, during my brief association with architecture 2 years ago. This book contains "a collection of exquisite large-format pen-and-ink watercolor renderings of all of Palladio's villas...including a brief description of each villa, samples of artist Giovanni Giaconi's preparatory sketches and Palladio's own woodcuts reproduced for comparison..." Really, this is a gorgeous book. I think I'm prob the only person in Caulfield interested in these stuff, the books seems brand new. Gorg. drawings..Click here for a review.
4. Twentieth-Century Architecture, by Dennis P. Doordan. Mentioned on my previous post. This book's giving me a very good introduction to architecture in most facets of life in the past century. From the lapel - "Dennis Doordan discusses the form, function, materials and technologies of domestic and recreational spaces, workplaces and buildings that reflect the chosen image of the state..." This book's about 300 pages thick, def need more time to digest its contents. Click here for a review.
5. Dream Home, by Mark Wakely. From the back cover - "Dream Home asks what our homes mean to us. But not from the rarefied view of the architect's drafting table nor from the set of the TV renovation show. It takes as its starting point everyday people and their everyday houses. Looking at the way we've made ourselves at home through history and across cultures, Mark Wakely asks many questions: Why do children all over the world draw houses the same way? What's it like to work with an architect on a multi-million dollar house? Why would a family of five choose to live in one room? Can you build a house out of cardboard?..." Click here for its homepage. The site even lets you download the introduction as a pdf file. I was pretty curious, wanting to know why do we all (most) draw houses typically as having 2 windows and a rectangular door, and the roof's usually red. If you ever want to know the answers to these questions, message me =)

Indeed its good to have time to not think about uni life. Being in Melbourne has its pros. When a friend asked my opinion last week as to what one can do in KL, suddenly, I could think of no more than *makan* and shopping. Granted, our malls are our pride and vital signs of our robust economy. But after some thought..what else is there to do if you're in KL? Mamak. Coffee. Movies. Clubbing. ..........

What's there to do in Melbourne now? With time and cash. Plus accessible transport..?

I can think of a few:

• Shopping in the city etc. But I'm not such a big fan of shopping though..
• Browsing in the bookstores. Borders is the equivalent of Kinokuniya. And ppl read much more here, than in Msia. There's some 2nd hand bookshops here too..plus op shops.
• Rayau at the botanic gardens. One of my fave things to do now. (at least its safe here, provided its not raining)
• Visit the galleries! Oh that is such a *must-do* in Melbourne. Just checked out the National Gallery of Victoria site (clickable) and realised the Edvard Munch exhibition is still on. And it'll only cost me $10 (concession) to get into that.. =P

From the NGV site, here's a look at what they have to offer (they offer more than just paintings/drawings/sculptures etc, they've movies, talks, tours etc in conjuction with exhibition themes and also public lecture series):

• Edvard Munch: The Frieze of Life "His images of existential dread, anxiety, loneliness and the complex emotions of human sexuality have become icons of our era. Munch developed these great themes during the 1890s in a project he called the Frieze of Life." Prob will go tomorrow, if its not raining too heavily. Wanna see *The Scream* for myself. Hope its in the exhibit. Cost: $15 adult, $10 concession.
• The Power of Ideas: An Introduction to Philosophy "The first in a series of courses centred around philosophy and the beauty and value of art.Philosophy is what we do when we try to think seriously about what is important to us. We look at some of the key ideas and disputes in the history of thinking..."Cost: $20 adult, $15 concession. This Saturday's lecture - "Lock or Kant?" Fascinating stuff.
• 15 Minutes of Fame: 20 Years of Pop Prints. "Pop art emerged as a dynamic force in England and America during the 1960s and 1970s. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Eduardo Paolozzi and David Hockney were inspired by images from popular culture and the mass-media to create art that engaged directly with the contemporary world in a new and exciting way." Cost: zilch.Its FREE. Will I be seeing some soup cans soon...?
• Crown and Camera: Photographs of Colonial India. Yup this is FREE too.
• Hunters and Collections: Wardrobe of the International Fashion and Textiles Collection. FREE admission. Looks like there's something for everyone. This one's great for fashionistas. Features personal wardrobes of 4 Australians who collected Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren.

So my dear Melburnians, please don't say there's nothing to do in Melbourne. When stuff like these go for free, its well worth taking a look. Doubt we can get it in KL.

There - end of a very long post today. Oh, did I mention the weather? Last week plus this week totalled, we prob only had one lonely sunny day. Its been raining on and on and on....and on.

1 more!

What I mean is *only* one more to go! my exams, that is..

Been doing a spate of cooking this weekend. Cooked:
-curry
-chinese-style beef
-lotsa vege
-red bean dessert
=)

All the above foodstuff meant to feed me thru the next two days. The red bean took a lot of time but it was entirely worth it due to today's (in fact, the past week) non-stop rain and more rain. Thats what we currently have in common with KL now. Aahhh the happiness a simple bowl of warm red bean soup can give during a rainy day.. should have taken a pic of how happpy my housemate and me were..easily contented people we are..

My sleeping habits have turned lopsided over here. The weather, dreary as it is, forms perfect excuses for one to snuggle in under a warm quilt and just forget about the day. Under the cozy quilt, life seems so much simpler. All I see when I gaze out of my >6 feet high windows is part of a tree, and the biggg blue (mostly gray) sky. I simply love the skies (not only the ones in Melb, also back in KL)..

Fell asleep at dawn today clutching this book - Twentieth-Century Architecture by Dennis P. Doordan.

The book is divided into 3 sections:

• "Confronting Modernity" which surveys four discrete domains of professional design activity in the period 1900-1940: urban architecture, domestic architecture, the architecture of industry and transportation, and political architecture.
• "Modernist Hegemony" which review developments during the period 1940-1965.
• "An era of pluralism" covers 1965-2000. It calls into question the spectrum of modernism and reviews the spectrum of design movements.

Instead of using biographies of great designers, or the programs of significant artistic movements, this author uses an unconventional approach. He reviews "critical sets" of buildings to tell its story, consisting of 3 or more projects that demonstrate a range of responses to a common design issue.

The author included an excerpt from All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, where cultural historian Marshall Berman characterized modern life as filled with paradoxical relationships between disparate facets of experience:

"To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment which promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world -- and, at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are. Modern experiences and experiences cut across all boundaries of geography and ethnicity, of class and nationality, of religion and ideology: in this sense, modernity can be said to unite all mankind. But it is a paradoxical unity, a unity of disunity: it pours us all into a maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal, of struggle and contradiction, of ambiguity and anguish. To be modern is to be part of a universe in which, as Marx said, "all that is solid melts into air."

Also in the introduction by Doordan - "By its very nature, architecture serves as a manifestation of the factors that shape the modern experience. Architecture begins as a process of design that gives form to a wide range of aesthetic and cultural issues, and concludes as a process of construction intimately connected with economic and material concerns. The study of architectural history, therefore, offers a unique opportunity to gauge the relationships among the cultural, economic and political dimensions of modernity."

... to be continued...

The things I hear in the middle of the night.

At c. 4.35am on 988FM (Malaysian chinese radio station), there's this conversation:

Girl : I have a problem. 我失恋了 (meaning "I'm heartbroken").
DJ (female) : What happened?
Girl : He told me I'm ugly and he wants to break up.
DJ (sympathetically) : When did that happen?
Girl : The break-up? A few months ago..when we met for the first time..
DJ : Erm how did you all break up when you just met?
Girl : Actually we've been together for half a year.
DJ : How's you know each other then?
Girl : He called my handphone randomly and we started chatting. 本来是玩玩下，后来真的日久生情 (meaning *at first play-play, then really liked him)
DJ : Did you all meet up during that half year?
Girl : No, only through the phone..
DJ : ...pause.................how old are you now?
Girl : I'm 22 this year
DJ (fairly straightforward) : I must assume you're not very mature in terms of relationships? I thought you were in your teens.
Girl (slightly sheepish) : err..
DJ : You're still abit 天真 (naive)
Girl : But I'm so sad le, still crying over it.
DJ : Strictly speaking, this does not even constitute a real relationship. I think you've been watching too many dramas le. How long's it been since the *break-up*?
Girl : Its been a few months..
DJ (Slightly lost for words) : Do you know nowadays there are many cases of girls getting duped? Although I'm not saying the guy is out to dupe you..bla bla bla about the dangers of meeting strangers.. be careful next time
Girl : I know, thank you..
DJ (by now very bemused at the gullibility of 22 year old girls) : Ok, the next song is......


OMG I was laughing out loud when I heard this while studying for my law exam in a few hours time. Simply had to blog about this ahhhhahhhha the things ppl say to DJs in the middle of the night.

I always like to have music on when I'm up studying, wth chinese radio my fave companion (yupp I'm very *easternised*). At night, they have nice DJs (usually) who hold decent conversations with their listeners (norm) BUT occasionally you get all sorts of people ranting about all sorts of problems. There was this lady who spent more than 20 minutes on air crying about her probs (hubby left her, severely ill children, paranoid neighbours etc) - serious. I left the radio on then as backgrd noise.. I think when they recruit DJs, they need to add an extra requirement - backgrd in counselling essential.

10.16pm

Getting disenchanted with alotta things. not much to blog about..
time to make coffee! (i absolutely thrive on this liquid essence)

Paper's on Wed and Fri. But I'm not freaking out yet, though if you're in my circumstances, you should and would be. How I wish..

To live a life without regrets, easier said than done.