Week one in a foreign land...

It's been A week since I have been away from Singapore, the place where I called home and will only revisit in ten months' time. There have been plenty of tears accompanied with the bitter cold which this new place brings, both literally and not.

Warning, this may be a picture heavy post.

Day 0

It was horrid. The sending off at the airport made me cry buckets. Seeing my mum cry was such a heartache. As I hugged each of my friend goodbye, a part of me just want to stay on and not go through the gates. Thank you all who came by and those who send me well wishes through smes. I am sorry for not replying. The entire event was such a rush.

Must show you this meaningful memoirs which my dear Hildya and Poh Yian gave me. Thank you girls it must have been a tough ride. And, of course, thank you to the creator of the little black photo album by which contains fond memories. Seeing it brings more tears to my eyes. Am so very touched. Imagine me sitting by the window seat, looking into my bag and tearing, it was a tad embarassing.To make things worse, the turbulence on the plane made me sick. And sitting by the window seat did not make things easier when I had a minor disagreement with my digestive system. I had a rough time cleaning up my mess and fell asleep after I took some pills. Thus just one picture aboard the aircraft. Note to self, sit by the aisle in future when travelling alone.

Day 1

Upon arrival, I was greeted by long queues at the immigration. When I have finally clear the custom, I thought everything will go on smoothly from here. But, no, I was wrong. Silly me did not bring the documents to show the chauffeur. Thankfully, the guy was helpful enough to assist me to sort it out with the headquarters. He was real sweet too as he helped me bring my humogous luggage to the door of my house.

The empty house greeted me. I left my luggages and shortly after I headed out to explore the neighbourhood a little. Found a petrol kiosk with a 7/11 and a telco office which immediately

remind me to get a prepaid card. Afterwhich, I took a hot shower and slept like a child till the evening. I met Ben and friend Yim. They brought me to places around the city. Soon, I am aware of the places with good dumplings, dim sum, chicken, cheap groceries, etc etc. Somehow, I cannot escape good food.

Me after a nap and freshening up.

The first night was terrible. Shall not talk about that.

Anyway I have decided to let the photos do the talking. So, sit back and enjoy the picturesque log..

Day 2: Macdonalds for lunch near my school

Day 3: Le Tian is home-d! We're on the way to...

... Suzuki Night Market @ Queen Victoria Market ie. only available during summer on Wednesday nights (The substitute for Mambo)

... Yummy-licious grilled fish & huge succulent and juciy scallops!

Various kind of patties for the burgers. Are you game?

Introducing... Italian seafood with rice, some Italian potato dish (similar to carrot cake), honey dumplings with chocolate syrup & seasame seeds & lastly, the ROO burger! We were too hungry and end up with too much food. But the food was good. The honey dumplings reminded me so much of our deep fried hum-chee-peng, just that now it's with ice-cream and chocolate syrup.

Day 4: The divine experience of tasting the famous KOKO Black. Met up with Tavis and friend Lawrence. They laughed at me for being so touristy =( coz I was snapping pictures of almost everything.

Day 6: Max Brenner's brought me back to life after a whole morning of inspection for houses (P.S: I will do a comparison of the two popular chocolate spots at a later date.)

Day 7: St Kilda's beach. That was a blazing hot Sunday. Was suppose to explore the place but the merciless Sun kept me sitted under the shelter and I refused to barge. Met up with Ling, Dion and Tavis.

To date, I have inspected more than 10 houses, applied for 5, been rejected by 3 and searching the website for more suitable choices but to no avail. Wish me luck peeps! School is starting 26th Feb, Tues. I managed to sort out my timetable and get the modules I want (which includes an internship). Being so, I only have 3 examinable modules thus a 3-day week wee! Will apply for a work permit in time to come and start looking for jobs once I'm more settled. So all is well for now other than the fact that I am home-less.

Oh, did I mention I tried experimenting in the kitchen? Proud to say, the food is turning out edible and surprisingly pretty yummy under the supervision of Master Chef Lee Le Tian. More pictures and updates at a later time. Please make do for now and stay tune for more.

Meanwhile, I am missing you... miss me too okie?

gong xi gong xi

It's Chinese New Year! GONG XI GONG XI everyone =)

A brand new year means a brand new start. Certainly hope so for my friends out there who had a rough year and now it's time to start life afresh! And for those who had it good, I wish you will have a even better year this time round! May good health and prosperity bestowed on you this new year!

For me, it means starting everything from scratch as I will be going to Melbourne for a year to complete my studies. It's a totally new experience for me and definitely an adventure. I am looking forward to it, now that I have my first 2 weeks accommodation settled. So glad that I have Le Tian to offer me his place as his housemates are not around till end of Feb. Have to faster start searching for a place.

I am a little afraid as I have no idea what to expect. It's like leaving a place where you're familiar with and placing yourself in an entirely different environment. The culture, the place, the people, the pace of life.. It will be a whole new idealogy I have to live with for the next 10 months or so. Wish me luck people! I shall tell myself, "Anticipate the unexpected."

It is a good opportunity for me to widen my horizon and at the same time, learn to be more adaptive to changes. I will definitely survive it! Just hope I won't get too homesick.

Anyway, it's time to set my resolutions for the year..

1) Learn to cook 10 dishes at least (No, not fried eggs and fried rice. The more complicated sort.)
2) Participate in a run in Melbourne (10K, 20K or even a marathon)
3) Score distinctions!

Okay, that shall be it for now. Shall not be too greedy. Adios my friends! My apologies if I haven't been able to meet up with you. Will do so next year k? Meanwhile, I will try my best to upload my escapade in the new city as much as I can.

Best wishes for the new year!

xoxo