Sydney

Traveling to Sydney was quite frequent when I was in Australia. It's the nearest city from Newcastle and as there's nothing much in New, we will often go Sydney for a short getaway. It is a dreadful 3 hours train ride away though. The good thing is that the train is quite comfy to sleep in and food is allowed. I love the seats design where you can just push it in any orientation you desire. The scenery along the way also provide some form of entertainment, because you don't get such view in Singapore.

The thing about 3 hours train rides is that we've to set off really early to make our day trip worth which is quite impossible for some of my nocturnal friends. Some of the trips are cancelled due to oversleeping, but one fine day we finally made it to Sydney, with Bel, Adele, Sarah and I.



The locals are really hospitable, offering to take photos for us and even playfully hopping into this candid shot. I really miss the smiles on peoples' faces and the greetings from random strangers, cos back at home, what we get is mostly a foul face.


And on our very first trip, we got stranded bad as we took the wrong train. Look how sad and tired we were, haha. After much hassle, we made it back alive at 3am.


Another memorable trip to Sydney took place during our recess week. It was the best recess week ever just because it is a long 2 weeks break with almost no assignments to worry about! We went to Sydney's famous beach, Bondi. I wanted to see what's so great about it, but it turns out to be just another beach. But still way more awesome then any beaches in Sg! The weather was unfortunately chilly and windy so we couldn't really enjoy the beach the "beachy" way.


Got myself a new disciple! haha


Then we explored Hyde Park. We met this crazy old man who started shouting vulgarities at us for no apparent reason.



We ended the night with beautiful touristy places, Habour Bridge and the Opera House.

I spent my last few days of Aussie trip in Sydney too. It was kind of inflexible as I have to fly back from Sydney no matter what as the ticket is already bought. Otherwise I would have gone to more places and just flew home from there.

Darling Habour is quite a nice place to go to. It's quite a romantic place to bring a date.



Chrismas decos were not as plentiful as what we can see in Orchard road, but they kind of give a warm cosy Chrismasty feel like no other. I love the giant Santa hanging at the edge of the building, lol.


Sydney often has fireworks display even though there isn't any special occasions. I managed to catch one in my last few days there and it was quite spectacular. A great sight to conclude this wonderful journey.

Surfing

I'm glad I get to try this popular sport in Australia, surfing. Not only that, I get to learn it for free! I guess it's my lucky year, before I came to Australia, I won some 200 dollar voucher for furniture which I didn't had a chance to use, then I survived a deadly fall off the rock wall. Next, during my orientation week, I won the first price, which is a 2 day 2 night surf camp! Lucky me :)

We were brought to this private beach far far away which had no reception from the outside world. I think everyone else who signed up paid for this trip and were all in their cliques, so it was kinda hard to blend in with them. Nonetheless, it was awesome experience picking up something new!


This trip was during winter, when we haven't been out in the sun for darn long. It feels even better when we get to soak up the sun! Surfing really isn't an easy task! Especially during winter. The first day had no sun and it was freaking cold! While the second day was sunny, the waves were much stronger which makes it hard to get through the waves. For me, I find it really tough to walk my surf board to the wavy part of the sea, as the current is like 1000 times stronger than what we have in our wave pool. Then after all the effort to get there, we get washed back in a split second after catching the wave. If u get it right, u get to stand up on the board to enjoy a few moments of glory. If not u get hit down into the currents. I managed to stand for only a while with the help of the instructor's guidance.




Towards the end of the camp, I got lazy and decided to just chill on the beach and take some pics.

Some time later, I got a chance to surf again! Our hall organized a free surf session for us internationals. Unfortunately, we were late and didn't get to take the wet suits. The surfboards provided were rough and nasty which induce so much pain when it hit you! After a few tries, I decided to call it a day.

Newcastle

Today I shall write on the place I spent most of my time in when I was in Australia, a suburb called Newcastle. It is quite a boring place if you're thinking of exploring but it certainly is a nice and peaceful place to live in. There aren't many people around, so walking around means you can just take your time and enjoy the serene environment, not having to worry about "siaming" anyone. Furthermore, there are not many ugly tall buildings around to block the beautiful sky and at night the dim town will allow the starry starry night sky to show! How I miss these nature wonders!


Most of the "tourist" attractions in Newcastle seems to be made touristy by force as there aren't much amazing stuff to see.


Our first close encounter with a koala. They are such lazy and gentle creatures that spent most of their time sleeping and chewing leaves.



One of the places we frequently visit in Newcastle are the beaches. Like everywhere else in Australia, the beaches are really clean and are awesome places to chill and relax. Soaking up the sun is one of our favorite past times.



We love the houses around Newcastle too. Each of them have their own backyard of beautiful flowers. There is always plenty of room around when you walk on the streets so you don't feel all cluttered and caged up.




Haircut is pretty expensive in Australia. And one day, I felt brave and decided to visit a local hairdresser which cost 27AUD and it was disastrous. It was indeed true that Ang Mohs do not know how to cut Asian's hair. Throughout the whole haircut, she kept asking me questions of how she should cut and in the end what was left on my head was long fringe and short everywhere else with a distinctly odd difference.


After a month of bad hair days, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Bought this hair clipper at just 7AUD. I have always wanted to give my hair a good shave after army, as not having to bother about messy hair will make life so much easier. Moreover, summer is coming so hair will be a hassle. Then, with the help of my 3 Hong Kee friends, I'm botak again! :) Hehe

Campus Life

Most of the friends I made during exchange came from Edwards hall and are mostly international students. I find it easier to relate to them. Hall activities will usually be parties and booze, which kind of lacks variety. For me, occasionally having these are okay, but not everyday, which is why I find it hard to mingle with the locals. Also, it is their semester 2, so most of them already have their cliques. But still, I'm glad I've made some really good friends, and been to some interesting events which really allowed me to experience different cultures. Staying in hall also has its good and bad, sometimes it can get really rowdy at night when every room turns into a nightclub of their own with drunk people shouting across the hallway. Two events that I remembered most vividly are some random room blasting porn video sound at its max across the hallway with the sound of women moaning and also a drunk girl who thought the pantry's trashcan was her toilet bowl, whereby she just took off her undies and sat right into it!! But overall I am glad I'm staying on campus!




Here is one of our first parties during O week. At first we blended quite well with the locals, we even knocked at their doors and joined them in games and craziness. But as time goes by, we couldn't keep up with their partying ways.


Our first and last partying experience at a Newcastle nightclub. Didn't really like it as it was too bright and run down, with booze spills all over, non-cooling air conditioner, etc.


Back to school party when school just started, where we all tried very hard to act cute and look like little students.

There are also various events organized by the school or my hall which added colors to my campus life. One of them is the international food festival which I remembered trying kangaroo and alligator meat for the first time, while alligator meat was awesome (tasted like frog leg), kangaroo tasted really bitter and tough. Other events include: Ocktober Fest, Halloween Party, Free Surf lesson, Hunter Valley Wine/beer Tasting, Performance night, Inter-hall Art Exhibition, etc.



Mooncake Party with awesome mooncakes baked by Adele





A visit to Hunter Valley wineries/breweries with free booze. Aussie trip has really brought my alcohol tolerance to a whole new level, although it is still no where as compared to the locals.


Last but not least, our awesome halloween party at Jacky's room. My first time dressing up for Halloween! We often had drinking games at Jacky's room or Bel's place whereby many interesting things will happen when people get high and so on. At this particular party, we had a flasher in the room who keeps letting everyone see her undies by purposely opening up her legs all the time!! What a joke for the night!

Orientation

After a few days of touring Sydney and its surrounds, my parents left me at Newcastle where I begin my school orientation. It was quite disappointing as there wasn't any icebreaker activities, most of it were talks and intro to the school surroundings. But I was glad I met Bel and Adele, who are fellow Singaporeans and we quickly became really good friends. We all live nearby on campus and I would go to Bel's place for weekday lunches where we'll share cooking chores and groceries. Adele is my dinner buddy and we'll often meet to go dining hall together and she often bakes/ cooks delicious stuff for us and guides me for my keyboard module. Lucky me to have met them both.


I was provided with 16 meals a week in Edwards hall, but breakfast was kind of the same everyday with cereal, toast and yoghurt, weekend brunch will always be what was left over the entire week or cold sandwich, other then that, dinner was pretty decent. Mixed-gender toilet there was like new thing to me, was quite weird to go into a toilet and see a female.


My school is located in the suburbs, and on campus you can see lots of trees, birds: parrots, ducks, etc and I really enjoyed the peace. School was like a breeze because I only needed to pass, also I was having a 3 day work week, which gives me lots of free time to travel, gym and do my own things.

A new beginning

I am back and I have a hell lot to blog about. I have been really lazy. Let me rewind time back to July 2011 when I first arrived in Australia. I was still this insecure and uncertain kid, who needed my parents to come along with me. Worries of whether I'll be able to adapt, whether I'll meet nice people and so on flooded my mind back then and I didn't really enjoy the tour with my parents much. One thing is because of that, another is that the tour which was planned for us turned out quite boring.

OFF I GO!!!

Last post before I leave for Sydney! Starting to feel very excited, I hope life will be good over there! My back's still straining and just this morning my nose bled! I went to see the doctor, luckily it's just some minor sickness not related to my back injury. :) I'm really thankful to all my friends, especially those who came and visit me when i was resting at home! Very touched, I'll miss you guys! I'll be back as a better man! BYE SINGAPORE AND FRIENDS! :)

Near Death Experience

It had been a dramatic day for me yesterday as I nearly died or get paralyzed. It all started when I decided to go rock climbing with Gina since we were given free passes after completing the level one course which would have expired when I come back from Australia. It was all fun and challenging at first as I managed to conquer 2 walls. When I was about to descend from the 2nd wall, I shouted to Gina to get ready before I let go for her to lower me down slowly. Initially, it was still find as I slowly abseil down with my legs still on the wall. Then all of a sudden without any warning, I was at free fall! And it seems very high, somewhere around half the wall's height, 9m which I was told was about 3 storeys high!! And at a blink I was on the ground, cringing and moaning in extreme pain! I could not recall much as things happened too fast but i think I landed on my butt, and at the moment I thought I die le, I was so damn worried! The impact was so great that I screamed my lungs off, I think I shouted FUCK one million times! lol But the pain was unbearable, I felt my spine bend after the impact.

Moments after, a few SAC staff ran over and helped me to the bench and laid icepack at my back as I laid down. They tried to comfort me as I remained traumatized. I really didn't expect the fall, I am really quite angry with Gina, I mean how could she just let go, I could have died. I trusted her with my life, but I guess I'm at fault too, she's such a small girl, I could have climbed down slowly instead of trusting her completely. But what is done can't be undone, so no point pointing fingers. This is really a huge lesson learnt man!

I tried asking for assurance from the staff asking what will happen and all that as they did their best to comfort me. Then I was helped over to a wheel chair, initially their plan was to wheel chair me to the nearby hospital. But that was a stupid idea, as i felt very uncomfortable and and strained sitting up straight and I was worried further damage might occur. Then they called for the ambulance. What an experience being geared all over with strange back/neck protecting gears before being carried onto the ambulance with a stretcher.

Upon reaching the A&E department, I was taken to the x-ray room to check if anything serious happened. At that point, my back feels very strained and I dared not move. Aside from worrying that my upcoming trip might be affected, I felt super sian that all my plans before I fly are ruined. I can't do anything active for a long long time. :( Then there's a policeman who came to ask questions! haha so drama. My parents came soon after and they are very worried.

Later the doctor came with the results, and it was good news! He was quite surprised with the results also as nothing major happened after falling from such height and my spine remains intact. I heaved a sigh of relief then, I felt so fortunate. :) I guess training the butt and lower back kinda paid off as they managed to protect my spine and break my fall! Thereafter I have to stay in the hospital for further observation.

I was in my underwear the whole time as my pants were taken off once I reached the hospital, damn weird. And I have to pee on the bed twice! haha, at first I was hesitant. How could one pee properly when on the bed? But I can't tahan anymore and decided to try as the nurse passed me a bottle and I managed to master the skill! lol The whole bedridden experience in the hospital lasted all the way to the night around 10 something, as The docs and nurses ran occasional tests. Yishun hospital was quite a nice hospital as there aren't many people there. Hehe.

Finally I am discharged with 3 days MC and some medication. The doc says I should be good to go in about a week or 2, hope recovery is fast. If not i will feel so strange and fat leading an inactive lifestyle! Got a lecture from the doc, followed by my parents on the way home. I guess I really learnt a huge lesson and safety is not to be taken lightly!

I love random!

Monday was great! Was supposed to go kayaking but it ended up to be another random outing with Qi. After traveling all the way to Bedok Reservoir, we realized water ventures are closed on Mondays, just like most sports facilities in Singapore! Damn sian, so we decided to cab to Sentosa after playing with swing and cat!

Upon arrival to Vivo, our minds changed and we're off to explore the southern ridges! It's my first time there, what a nice and serene place. The air feels so great and just lying there against the bridge feels so good. We had a little picnic there and waved at random people who responded with friendliness! There are friendly people around here after all! Feels so heartwarming, haha Most of the people we waved at when we were on a bus there cringe at the sight of us!

Finally we headed to Ikea for some tasty meatballs! Walked around afterwards to fantasize about owning those beautiful furnitures! haha. I think I'll miss these random outings so much when I'm in Australia!

WHEEEE!!

Past few days have been quite eventful. Last Thursday went to Underwater World as there was a so called "50 percent discount" which includes a return cable car ride and a visit to the "1st ever" cable car museum. The highlight was of course dolphin lagoon as I've never been there before and I was initially very excited about seeing the dolphins and seals! I was hoping I get to take pictures with them and view them up close. To my disappointment, the dolphin and seal show only lasted for 20 minutes, showcasing the usual stuff with not much surprises. And only 2 dolphins and seals were performing, I was expecting a viewing area with more of them but the "lagoon" is just too small. The show ended with not much of a climax and we were told that we need to pay 16 dollars for a photo with the dolphin, what a rip off. Haha. Nevertheless I love the dolphins' smiles and the adorable sea lions! A good sneak peek for what's in store for me when I go Australia! :D

Underwater World is still the same. My favorites are still the jellyfishes and the magical underwater tunnel! Somehow it feels weird to be back there again as it holds lots of beautiful memories for me.

The trip ended earlier than expected. The cable car museum was crap. It is just a small room where they put all the old stuff with old newspaper articles being framed up on the walls, trying to cheat who? Haha. The cable car ride back was pretty short too with ugly sceneries of construction sites.

Saturday we had a gathering at Judy's place, having steamboat and mahjong. Felt really cosy and it was fun playing with her baby! Makes me wanna have a baby soon! lol. Unfortunately I've to leave early even though I was winning at mahjong as the next day I've rock climbing course.

The course was awesome as we get lots of climbing time and it wasn't a stressful one. I'm glad I finally got my level one cert, can belay people already! :) Suffered lots of painful blisters on the hand too, I think i still need to climb more. :p

Qi is finally back from the US, so happy to meet her yesterday after more than half a year! Really miss her randomness and we had an awesome random outing yet again! :) We headed to the Lim Chu Kang farms in the morning at the risk of getting lost but we managed to find what looks like a farm and we went in to feed kois!! They look really fat and gross when they come snatching for the food you throw into the pond! haha. Had fun playing soccer machine there too!

Hay Dairies Farm was just down the road and I am so happy to be able to drink goat's milk once again! Love the foul smell the milk evokes!

It feels so out of Singapore, so serene, I like! :D

The goats were caged up quite a distance from us, quite sad can't go near them. There seems to be some overcrowding problem going on too! Still it was really interesting observing the goats, as we came up with our own weird scientific theories to explain some of the oddness we noticed! haha

Initially the plan was to explore more farms and hopefully eat at one which offers food but the shutter bus was to comfy for us to get off so we travelled all the way to Kranji MRT and decided to set off to west coast park instead! Been wanting to go there to see how it had changed over the years, hoping that there'll be something fun to do.

We took a break at macs, playing silly word games and laughed like crazy people. After enjoying enough air con, we explored the place to see what's there to do. Played playground, chopped an ant and found this interesting sign board! :)

The highlight of the day was really the go kart ride which we happen to pass by the store and decided to give it a try to satisfy our desires for cheap thrills. It was super fun riding really fast, going down slope, riding though bumpy obstacles and doing sharp turns which make us go WHEEEEE all the way. People must have thought that we're insane and we seem to have helped the store advertised their go karts! lol

At the end of the day we spotted a confused black rooster strolling around the corner! LOL wtf is a rooster doing at west coast park?! What a random sighting to end the day. :D