package/timeline/yet-another-book-finished

my package FINALLY arrived!

thanks and *hugs*

It was mistakenly sent by sea-mail (stop laughing!) and I almost gave up hope of it arriving before I returned home for the hols. Yes, it was that late.

The reason why I was eagerly awaiting it was for this item -

a precious pack of ---- Ipoh Old Town white coffee :)

ey I'm quite particular about my coffee. Its either this brand or Chek Hup (preferably), but other brands taste different. Previously when K.L. tried bringing in a pack for me in July, it was barred at Customs. Thing is, they allow AikCheong/SuperBrand/Nescafe/Nestum to export to Australia, with just about the same ingredients but they don't let people bring this in. Case of double standards.

Today's photography club meeting was a lengthy affair. It ran on from 11am till almost 3pm, about 2 hours over schedule. Simply because there was so much to discuss and so much to reflect on. To sum it up, the club's in a mess this year. Those of us "outsiders" (who're either ex-committee or non-committee) came together to discuss plans for next year. Instead of dwelling on a bad year, we hope next year things are improved on. And that leaves us with the issue of continuity since most of them are graduating and hence leaving...

Over the late lunch, some of us discussed abit more, on the club and on other things. Yeah when I think about it, I do like Caulfield campus. Although smaller than Clayton, we're alot more international. Eg at lunch today, all 5 of us came from different backgrounds..

Great to gain abit of insight and learn from others about how they think organisations or clubs work. Often, people simply refuse to acknowledge mistakes or inadequacies for fear of appearing weak. But its only when we tackle things head on and take the time to step back and listen to others' opinions, that we can improve and make positive changes.

Have got THREE separate timelines these few weeks, dealing with separate things. Extra things to complete tonight, making me doubt whether I can get any sleep later.

Updated timeline:

• Sept 30 - MPC draft of recruitment criteria + overall reflections on the year (positives/negatives)
• Oct 3 - Desiyah board meeting + report draft due + BTF3931 assignment DUE
• Oct 7 - MPC meeting with potential candidates + briefing
• Oct 10 - liquidate (?)
• Oct 13 - BPOY Presentation in City
• Oct 14 - MPC AGM
• Oct 17 - INT Quiz + Report(s) submission
• Oct 21 - INT Report 2
• Oct 28 - INT Report 3 40%

Fortunately I like what I'm currently doing. Yes, all of it. Although it makes life harried sometimes..

* The amount of reading I've been doing this half-year seems crazy. As if I'm trying to make up for lost time over the past 2 'n half years. Just finished another book, this time its just Harry Potter, not anything serious. The thick tome is quite disappointing. Some parts are just so draggy/meaningless. She could've removed at least 30 pages and it wouldn't have affected the storyline. Now resuming on another book on the UN and changing world politics. The content's very interesting, but really the font is sooooo small I have to strain my eyes to read properly. So it takes alot more time to digest lar..

* I need a longer hols!!! was just ranting to a friend on MSN -- "people got hols I got hols but my hols not like hols". Weather fine/not-so-fine = I stay home and try to get some work done. Was up till 4+am yesterday trying to readup tax law. It is so not-fun I kid you not. Cos I still don't get what he wants.

Cleanup-beach photos

Sandringham beach, 10am Sunday


Bright and sunny day - perfect weather




somehow was fixated with this stairs along the beach


l-r MunYee Laura Shaz Julianne & Di


being wary of rats..


the end of the day

random shots::

plasticky-looking flowers which interested me. never growing in clusters, they're all single blooms





i believe i can fly..?

I did a count

...
8
11
15
equals 34.

Thats the number of train stations I travelled throught today -- ONE way. Double that for the amount of time I've spent travelling on the Met this glorious Sunday.

Stop 1 on the bright and sunny Sunday - Sandringham. As part of Desiyah's commitment to supporting environmental sustainability, we headed to Sandringham beach for some clean-up activities. Minus the guys, that is. Since all the guys were MIA and left the girls with only some rats to keep us company. Yes thats right - rats. Apparently its a known fact that there's rats around the pathway + bushes. So be warned - the rats are mostly at the walkpath area and not the beach down there.

We saw 3 rats in a space of less than 2 hours. O M I G O D. yuck. Made my skin tingle. The lengths we go to, for the program hahha.. could include that in our submission for year-end. Unfortunately no pics of the gray-brown rats.

Photos will be up soon. Took the opportunity to take some shots. Sandringham's a really nice beach. Being abit jakun and anti-social lately, haven't been roaming around Melb as much as I'd like to.

Having a raging headache now. Its the hols but I still don't have time to sleep. &$@%$% tomorrow morning heading to uni. Then hopefully go salon for a haircut (seriously haven't had time to go for one recently), then if there's time, pop by the NGV Intl. Then meeting in Clayton as usual. Or maybe I should just come back and get some sleep before the meeting?

aahh decide tomorrow le. Tonight staying up again doing some work..

before I end:
Recommended book/reading for the day is "Double Vision: Asian Accounts of Australia", edited by Alison Broinowski 2004. refer PandanusBooks for more info.

Basically its a collection of short essays on how Australia's perceived by people from the Asian region. I managed to finish the entire book while travelling on the Met today (waiting/on train) so it's considered "light" reading material. Only 161 pages, it provides a glimpse into how Aus is viewed by Asians. But the main limitation is that essays don't come from all over the Asian region. There's nothing substantial from South-East Asia for instance. But otherwise it provides a sufficient intro to raise the reader's interest.

Was most interested in this essay "Haigui: A Keyword for 2003" by Ouyang Yu. "Haigui" is a new Chinese word combination that means a return to China from overseas. Previously I've heard some talk on this new "word". Interestingly Ouyang Yu further explores "banhaigui" (half-hai gui) meaning people who shuttle between China and another country, or people who have dual citizenship / PR. He also talks about "buhaigui" phenomenon meaning refusing to return to China. To know more bout what he observed, read the book!

988FM & Emil Chau / H O L I D A Y S

It was yesterday afternoon, and as usual the e-radio's on while I did my work. Radio station's 988 FM (Malaysian chinese radio). I turned up the volume when I heard some jolly laughter, which sounded vaguely familiar. Indeed, it was Emil Chau on air with the DJ.

The mood was happily infectious, as they went through the hour's plan of calling a guy to allow his girlfriend to propose on-air. To those familiar with Emil Chau, he has this song which goes something like "明天请你嫁给我" (will you marry me...). At first the guy was abit sceptical whether it was 988 & Emil or someone pranking him. After Emil sang a few lines he was convinced. And yes, he accepted the proposal. So nice right? to have EmilChau becoming the witness (证婚人）, at least for the proposal, if not the ceremony.

^For once I have no plans for the hols. Not going anywhere, 乖乖的留在(staying in) Melbourne.

Reasons being:
1. uni workload - massive. To say there's a backlog seems such an understatement.
2. have explored Victoria enough over the past year.
3. Money, or rather the lack of (since I spent so much in June/July for Sydney etc)

But that doesn't mean I'm impartial to some coffee in the city/suburbs, or any day outings. Particularly interested to take some time off for a spate of photography, if the weather allows it. Its really been ages since I've taken snapshots for things other than events. Anyone with any ideas, u know who to call.

^ Still trying to catch up with uni work and therefore staying at home during the weekends. Tomorrow morning till mid-afternoon members of Desiyah will be at the Sandringham beach doing a clean-up as part of our environmental commitment to each T-Bag (our product) sold. We look set to be there till at least 2 pm. Hope weather doesn't turn "funny" on us..as in 10 minutes sunny, 15 minutes rain, 10 minutes sunny, 10 minutes rain (you get what I mean).

^ Just got the details for an additional commitment next month -- have to prepare a short presentation in mid-October. Powerpoint etc's prohibited hence its more a preparation of speaking skills, and of thinking on my feet. After the presentation, there'll be a further Q&A by the judges, estimated to be 10 minutes. The funny thing, as I mentioned in the previous post, is that results won't be announced till sometime in Nov, and I have plans to leave right after the announcement, the day after in fact. So if anything extraordinary happens, it'll stuff up my flight plans. But I'm pretty sure nothing extraordinary would happen, so not changing my plans.

^ Been watching 妙手人心3 (Healing Hands 3) --a Hong Kong TVB drama during my free time. This time they've retained part of the cast (Bowie Lam, Lawrence Ng Kai Wah, Moses Chan, Maggie Siu) and added new faces (Gigi Lai, Melissa Ng, Bernice Liu). Total of 40 episodes. Story can be abit draggy at times (this's tvb after all). The humorous Dr Lai (Bowie Lam) is still there. He's one of my fave characters cos of his personality - dry humour + intelligent. But my more 喜欢 characters have gone -- Annie (Flora Chan) and Jackie (Ada Choi). The new cast is alright and the series this time covers different scenarios. Overall its watchable, but I prefer part one.

gtg, back to my IB readings. This week full of FDI, exporting, strategies, entry modes, globalisation, more globalisation.

Next week will catch up with Tax Law, anti-globalisation movement and Advanced Fin Acc Theory and Practice. AND NGV Intl's Dutch Masters exhibition AND 2 meetings, or 3?? also, catch up on some much needed sleep, if possible.

oh what a wonderful week ahead.

rain rain go away

Kebelakangan ini sering berlaku kejadian "kehujanan" yang tidak terhenti-henti di Melb. Mula-mulanya bosan dengan cuaca begini, sehingga saya memikirkan keadaan di Kuala Lumpur - lagi "worse" kerana KL hujan lebat hingga tak boleh tengok Astro, tak boleh keluar, jikalau keluar pun akan "stuck" dalam trafik yang jam gila, buat apa pun tak boleh. Okei (substitute for "okay") jika memikirkan keadaan di KL, cuaca di sini tidak begini teruk.

O M G my BM is so bad. Been years since I've conversed or tried typing in BM. Have to think awhile before forming sentences. 12 years of BM education gone down the drain.

Still as busy as ever here. Last week had some not-so-happy news. This week has turned up some surprises.

(i) don't want to elaborate much since its not really significant. But the irony is I'm already set on going home at XX November. And unless something extraordinary happens, thats the plan.

(ii) heard my grandma's illness was wrongly diagnosed by the small-town doctor. O M G i was amazed at how wrong they could get. Imagine telling someone they only have months to live and 2 years later, the person's told it was wrongly diagnosed. I mean sick is sick la, but not THAT major.

Had a nice conversation with Gita today after class. She's Slovakian, married an Aussie and now my tute mate =) We were talking abit about what people make of their life. Choices in abundance, but not everyone wants more out of life. Some are comfortable with what they have, too comfortable in fact.. reminder to self -- never ever think that way. else life'll just be stagnanted.

Simply put -- life's short. Do what you like.

*passed by the Natl Gallery of Victoria (International). they've got the "Dutch Masters" exhibition on till the 2nd October. Melburnians, grab the chance to see some great works! I'll prob be going next week, one of the weekdays. Had a memorable "experience" with the "Impressionists" exhibition last year when I went on the last weekend and the crowd was massive. Lucky me got in early and evaded most of 'em. So this year not leaving it to the last weekend ;P

**got hold of this book Chris Weston's "The Essential Wildlife Photography Manual". Haven't finished it yet but he's giving me great reasons to pack my bag and roam the er.. Royal Botanic Gardens in search of some (sic) wildlife.. no fancy cheetahs or elephants there but I figure at least some swans/ducks??

Mid sem break next week! (going only if I can finish up the readings and assignments and reports and other work).. which may mean a disappointing no.. and there's always the roll of slide film Michelle gave me. Aww I wonder if I might end up taking it back to Msia in Nov. Been a coupla months since I last took the baby (my camera la) out for rayau-rayau..

irony / lyrics / being Asian

So ironic. Less than an hour after I posted my last post, 3 people from Desiyah chose to quit the group, reason given being that of workload. Such a waste, since we're only a few weeks away from liquidation. But its their decision and I respect it.

Talked to CL for awhile yesterday and feel much better after that. He's more experienced and I feel, more adapt at handling things than me. Its nice to have an old buddy I can count on at times like this! Thanks ya ;)

Lately been listening to this song - 孤单北半球 林依晨. Used to hear it all the time but never realised who sang this. OMG now I now. Hahha AK I finally stop going "weyy who sang this song??" in front of you. You must be tired of me asking and asking for the umpteenth time this year plus..

用你的早安陪我吃晚餐
记得把想念存进扑满
我望着满天星在闪
听牛郎对织女说要勇敢
不怕我们在地球的两端
看你的问候骑着魔毯
飞用光速飞到我面前
你让我看到北极星有十字星作伴
少了你的手臂当枕头
我还不习惯
你的望远镜望不到
我北半球的孤单
太平洋的潮水跟着地球来回旋转
我会耐心的等
等你有一天靠岸
少了你的怀抱当暖炉
我还不习惯
e给你照片看不到
我北半球的孤单
世界再大两颗真心就能互相取暖
想念不会偷懒
我的梦通通给你保管
不怕我们在地球的两端
看你的问候骑着魔毯
飞用光速飞到我面前
你让我看到北极星有十字星作伴

少了你的手臂当枕头
我还不习惯
你的望远镜望不到
我北半球的孤单
太平洋的潮水跟着地球来回旋转
我会耐心的等
随时等你靠岸
少了你的怀抱当暖炉
我还不习惯
e给你照片看不到
我北半球的孤单
世界再大两颗真心就能互相取暖
想念不会偷懒
我的梦通通给你保管

And yes, for those who don't really know me, I'm quite "Asian". It was something discussed with a friend in the past weeks. Discussion in uni today was on ideologies. The future of ideologies, whether attainment of global civil society is possible? What of culture? Are people willing to let go and converge? Highly unlikely I think. It is possible to have global civil society without equality, some of them concluded. As for me, I just think -- global civil society seems an impossibility, as least on our country's part whilst the petty bickering continues amongst the politicians back home.

With never ending sagas over issues that mean nothing to the rakyat, the really important issues are brushed aside. Most countries are thinking/implementing ways to remain competitive in the era of globalisation, lest be left behind.. Our local politicians seem too caught up in their own petty interests. Hardly anyone notable coming out to say - what of our economic policies? what of future development strategies. How're we going to compete with the rest of the world in the immediate future? We speak of the emergence of China, don't forget India. With these 2 behemoths breathing down our necks, its likely to be us that suffer if lacksaidal attitudes continue.

Eerr got abit distracted. Back to me being "Asian". When I say "Asian" I mean it from all aspects. Immersed in Asian culture/entertainment/music/food, interested in Asian economies/politics and generally the region as a whole - a focus in my readings. Not a big fan of "western culture" hence you won't really catch me blogging about the latest tv shows ala the apprentice etc.

Europe, especially the emerging markets of Eastern Europe seems interesting, but just "feels" too far away and too foreign. Have no knowledge of their culture at all and there's no base to begin with. Asia, although large, seems more familiar territory. I must add though, that TV programs during our growing-up years are largely responsible for "us" knowing more about "them" than the other way round. Zoe found it quite funny that I'd actually know some of the HK places she was talking about. I told her - "Thank TVB" =)

tiredDi

So many things to do I don't even know where to begin. Could've been notified about some things earlier, but was not. Nobody seems to know whats going on. Decisions made aren't followed through. Promises not kept. Everyone's getting disillusioned, including me. But something in me still goes -- I'm not a quitter. I hope the rest aren't too.

Slept half the weekend away bcos the changing weather's made me sick. Have heard alot about aspirin/panadol/paracetamol being harmful to the body eg takes 5 years for it to completely pass from our system etc. Any truth in all that? It triggers abit of asthma, that I know (hence ppl with serious asthma shouldn't take paracetamol) but its like abit of a tradeoff for me..

To-do-list for next 9 hours:
~5 chapters of IB (if I don't get bored ,that is)
~Fukuyama article "The End of History?" + Singh article "Against Nuclear Apartheid"
~make more coffee
~readup on Joint Ventures
~settle some company stuff

Really felt like chatting with someone just now, but she was on-call in the hospital. If I think my days are busy, I guess its an overstatement compared to hers. Miss my friends back home. There are friends here too, but almost everyone is busy with their own lives. Alot of things have changed this year, in terms of personal development, its been more fulfilling but with a lot more negatives as well. Difficult to elaborate, since I don't treat my blog as a journal..

Random photo

Cactus Farm, Cameron May 2004

This is my Friday night

Almost 10pm - still in uni. Going back soon and gosh its been freezing cold outside. Spring in Melbourne is just like winter, cept its abit worse sometimes, cos it rains all the time. I'm too comfy in the library, don't feel like braving the cold outside tonight. Its the mid-autumn (chinese) festival this weekend, with many things going on. Too many things in fact. For now, I just want to concentrate on uni work. If you can't reach me on my mobile - I don't want to be disturbed.

God I hate technology sometimes. Don't like the ability of being able to be contacted all the time.

Next week:
*Conservation talk
*Meet with Dot (I hope)
*IB assignment 35%. Lots of research to be done.

October -
*Taxation Law assignment 20%? or 30%?
*INT Quiz
*INT Report 2 30% - the anti-globalisation movement
*INT Report 3 40% - haven't decided topic, either UN or India and offshoring.
*Desiyah final manufacturing batch and preparing for liquidation.
*Desiyah board meeting
*Desiyah annual report to be prepared (finance)
*E X A M S

Then -- going back!

"W A H H H" / Jacky Cheung concert

AUD 60 = RM 180 per kg.

That was the first "WAHH".

Something else made me go "WAHHH" again that day - Jacky Cheung's "Snow Wolf Lake" musical tickets in November. Have a look at the seating plan at Putra Stadium here.

Tickets have been on sale only since yesterday and RM140 tickets are sold out. Thats the cheapest tickets btw.

Tickets are F R E A K I N G E X P E N S I V E.

RM690 for the best seats. No, let me rephrase, thats the best "for-sale" seats after the astounding number of VVIPs, VIPs plus corporate sponsor's seats (sarcasm intended).

Most likely getting the RM390 ones. When I first heard 390, thought it was decent seats but looking at the seating plan it seems sooo far away. For that kind of price, the seating's rather disappointing. But nonetheless I'm going anyways. Demand high, prices go sky-high. Its been ages since Snow Wolf Lake was performed in KL.

What bugs me is when converted to AUD, its still a wallet-hurting $130 plus. Thats more than enough to catch big-name acts touring in Aus. I heard Ja Rule's concert tickets went for less than AUD70. Even the major act now- Broadway's Lion King musical tickets are going for less than AUD100.

=(

On a brighter note, me blogging about going for the event on 25th/26th Nov means I'm going to be back in KL by then..thats the only uplifting news I've had for weeks. Contrary to belief, I have my bad days too...

With spring comes the rain

*yet another dodgy post title to add to the collection!

Thunderstorm in my area right now. I heard (gasp!) thunder and saw lightning! Something I've (not actually) missed seeing since February in Msia. Strong winds and cold fronts are very common here, not flashes in the sky. Rain is awfully common though, remember it raining veryy often in spring.

Its officially spring. Flowers are blooming, reminding me I better go take pics of the huge botak tree at the train station before its leaves all "sprout" in a matter of days. Everyday as I take the 10 minute walk to the train station, I notice flowering buds that resemble those chinese blossoms we see during Chinese New Year, no idea what its called, but looks really pretty. No time to stop and look properly, no time to notice ongoing changes.

No time no time no time I usually say. But am in the midst of rearranging my priorities. Lets just say my hols at the end of the month will be pretty much spent on research, reading and more reading. Probably will hug my tax law book to sleep each night.

Just finished the MAJOR test at 8 plus. Bcos of it, had to miss the "family" dinner at home. Didn't really know what occasion this feast was for, apparently its just a get-together for housemates and also cos MoonCake festival's this weekend (I think). Besides hsemates, some church directors were here as well as a coupla guests. They kept a share of dinner for me so I had all the typical Msian yummy party food -- curry, beehoon, mee, dumplings, duck etc etc, plus dessert! Bishop Ha's wife cooks really good food! =)

~ on other things..Rebecca went to Sydney last week and got back to Seoul a coupla days ago. I must really say I kinda miss her presence around. She's been in Melb for a coupla months, a few months in Cairns before this, and a few months in New Zealand before that. Hahha as if life's a perpetual holiday. But still had to return to Seoul. They've this very open attitude to taking a gap year travelling after graduating from uni. This's the same thing Min's doing and also what most Aussies do. I think most Malaysian parents would be freaked out at this idea of a "gap year". Very often parents go "graduate already must start work blahblahblah"..

Rebecca, Min and I watch dramas together sometimes, or I get them to help me with my pronounciation occasionally. Intro-ed Chinese mooncakes to them awhile back, plus I get to pepper them with questions about Korea. Call it cultural interaction. After all, I'm not finding out much about Aussie culture here. To generalise, Aussies mix mostly with Aussies over here and other communities mix with their own communities. One can survive over here without needing to speak to any other Australian besides your lecturer or tutor.

Diverting abit from my original paragraph, I've asked my tutorial mates (all Australians) in INT (the globalisation unit I'm taking in uni) about this. Their reply as to why there's this segregation "We don't understand what they're thinking". By "they", my tute mates mean Asian Aussies (when they were in high school) and other Asian students. Multi-cultural Australia?

Back to topic::

On language, moving beyond "on-ma" (mother), "op-pa" (brother), "on-ni"(sister), "ap-pa"(father),"ya-pe-se-yo"(general greeting hello/how are you), "sarang-e-yo" (i love you)..

Try guessing what this means:
"kook-ki-di"
"na-bi"
"cha-dok-cha"
"nam-ja"
"yo-ja"

(answers in next post) ;P

ramblings/going home!

As I'm studying, my eyes pauses on a photo on my desk. Taken 2 years ago during a road trip to Malaysia's east coast, it shows me surrounded by a sea of wild yellow flowers in the early morning hour, just after sunrise. I remember us stopping by the road side after witnessing sunrise at Kerteh. Li Kai held the camera at an angle, beautiful cloud formations in the distance..

Brings back alot of good memories. Seems a lifetime ago when we went on all those trips. Where all we needed was petrol in the car and a healthy curiosity (plus money of course). Now, most of them are working full time and its not very possible to take a week off to travel. But nonetheless I'll be trying to pull them away from work when I'm back.

Yupp ahhahhah I'm going back!! Booked my flight recently and if we count in weeks, its real soon! Melbourne in summer is hot, with HORDES of flies. Plus when there's nothing much to occupy life eg uni, its better to go back and bum at home instead.

Looking forward to -- mamak (I am known for being a mamak freak), yamcha, family, cheaper stuff, late nights out, trip (?), conversations in cars...

Not looking forward to -- humid weather, highly dangerous PJ (my area's extremely prone to snatch thefts, carjackings, robberies etc etc etc), traffic (urghh), lizards (hate 'em), mosquitoes, limited internet access...

~Bummer weather here is really weird lately. We had very strong winds for a coupla days. Then these few days hot (fairly) as in low 20s. This morning I was shivering in lecture. Afternoon was blazing HOT. Night is back to cold again. And the wind's howling now like nobody's business. Weird fluctuating weather, but is normal for Melb I suppose..

~Photography club competition on Saturday. But checked weather and apparently it'll be thunderstorms plus possible hail? omg wrong day

~ a word I've used frequently lately - boh chap - "don't care". Some things have made me wonder why I bother sometimes. Over the year, more and more reasons justifying apathy for those circumstances are justified.

~ About reading -- recently finished Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones", "Tuesdays with Morrie", "The Rise of China". How I managed to do that was by bringing the book everywhere. Read on trains, on platforms, at bus stops, while waiting for people and on breaks between classes (see how much time one can waste just waiting for public transport)..

Just started on "Global Instability: the political economy of world economic governance" (1999) Michie & Smith. First 2 articles are on the Asian financial crisis. A different perspective on the causes of it, compared to my previous readings. I gather from it - the crisis was partly aggravated by over reactions. Its the designated "bedtime reading" now and most days I just read till I fall asleep, clutching the book on one hand and my cuteee piggy cushion on another.

time to continue studying. MAJOR test tmrw. Average marks are a fail grade.
diediediediedie

thursday!

An intense few days (or weeks rather).. Dropped by Clayton campus during my break today to take a look at the Photography Club's mini-exhibition. Actually its Caulfield's photography club but due to the extreme scarcity of wall-space in Caulfield to hang a few pictures, its been moved to Clayton. Have got 2 pics in it, taken during the winery tour in autumn.

If you're on Clayton campus, check it out! Located at the "Airport Lounge" (wonder whoever came up with this name) on 1st flr Campus Centre. Many events going on today, with a few stalls blocking views of the pics ("Make Poverty History" campaigners, a free performance (jazz?), someone was juggling plus a coupla people banging away on African drums). Throw in dozens of people lounging on the floor/stage area/chairs etc, you get an idea of busy campus lunch-hour.

mm..any developments lately..preparing for a major test tomorrow, so don't have much of a life at the moment. Talked to Gita today about our volunteering progress here in. Both of us expressed interest at about the same time and as the semester progresses, we're inching along, updating each other when we meet. Alot of people go for high-profile organisations eg Red Cross and Salvation Army, but the process is quite lengthy. Besides submitting your coupla-pages application form, there's a police check required. Gita says they'll probably contact you in a coupla months(!). Have the application kit etc for these 2 organisations cos went for an information session recently, but the information session itself irritated me.

The group consists of Monash students liaising with the organisations. All a noble idea. What irks me was how the whole event was promoted. The words "employability" was used more than "volunteering". I know its seen by many as enhancing employment prospects but seriously that was an OVERemphasis on that aspect of volunteering. Why do people do what they do? I believe thats more important.

Some other organisations have looser requirements. Am involving myself with some other things now. Yesterday morning had a surprise call from Parkinsons Victoria cos they needed someone bilingual to greet delegates arriving for the Asian n Intl Symposium next month. Initially declined cos the HK delegates were arriving at the airport at 6plus in the morning. But the nice thing abt these people - she's gonna come pick me up and drop me to uni afterwards. This also shows one thing - everyone can volunteer. There're simply too many options available, with the process (usually) simple. Check out www.volunteer.com.au for opportunities.

Hiatus

Been on an extended hiatus from blogging since last week. Was supposed to blog in BM but the post never materialised, sorry.

Days are busy, filled with some mind-numbing stuff. I have suddenly becomed very inefficient + not productive these few weeks. Took a day off from it all (though I really feel like taking a permanent break from all of this) last Friday and ended up in Lygon St with SW.

Somehow we ended up abit lost in Carlton and wandered over to Nicholson St. Traipsed around Rathdowne St, strolled through the Melbourne Museum park, got startled by the many possums, had a nice dinner at one of those places and adjourned to Brunetti's.

God I need to get out more.