I went for powered paragliding

and yes, it was the best thing to do before the end of my study break!!
it started early morning at 830am down a 45mins drive to Burns Beach
the weather was cloudy and cold, and silly me did not wear enough clothings to keep warm
there we were introduced to Richard, my housemate's fren, who was going to carry us up into the air with his trusty paramotor and parachute

check this out

before flying, we had to do some checks:
-wind check
-weight check
-petrol check

it wasn't easy for Richard to bring us up, seeing that he was carrying a 30kg paramotor, and another additional weight infront of him (me and my frens- guilty)
for me, it took abt 3trials before I could fly because I was too light and had no ability to pull forward to run when the paramotor was started. =(

despite that, the view from the top was AWESOME!!!
it's like watching a National Geographic documentary from my own eyes, not from the TV
the 0h-so-blue waters,
my friends became ant-size,
the houses and roads are all so small
I could see the far horizon and much further away (darn, i should have worn my contacts)
one word to describe it- FANTASTIC!!!!

but later, the flight became abit too much for me to handle
nauseated, I could feel my salivary glands overproducing sour juice that could induce vomit fairly soon
I signaled that to Richard and that was the end of my flight

I believe that I was about 500 feet about sea level, another awesomeness!!
my first daredevil stunt ever!

"I believe I can fly"

pardon the poor quality of the video, it was taken with my hp =)
more picts later

Rants

hello blog,

I am tired. But in a good way.
I've finished a 3000 words essay,
complete my neuroscience group work,
worked for 5 hours &
managed to catch up with friends over dinner and supper at Greens and CO.
all in a day
tiring, but satisfying =)

I been wanting to blog about my work,
I actually feel really proud with the fact that I can cope with full time uni and approximately 15 hours of work a week
the reason for working is not that I'm hard on cash
My parents manage my education overseas expenses within their means
however the fact that I can meet and interact with other people, and exposing me to other cultures is so much more interesting than staying in my room during my free time
And being appreciated at work feels so good.
Yes, there's sacrifices I have to make
I no longer have much free time at all
it's really just uni-work-home
I have to really priortise my time so that I can cope with studying
And I reflect on it.
I think i'm cool, having the ability to cope with all these and maintaining a rather average grade =P
.........
actually, alot of my course mates are doing the same, coping with work and uni
it's the culture in Australia
self-reliance and independence is a BIG thing for the teens here
they dislike to use their parents money once they reach 17-18.
when they borrow money from their parents, it's like another debt that they have to pay off
they are so lucky to have a government who gives out money to teenagers living out of family
imagine being in Singapore=)

Anyways, you have to catch this
it's so hilarious, I never knew that Singaporean kids are so reslient to stress until I watch the World's Strictest Parents.
The Aussies kids in the show are absolutely going nuts living just 1 week of our student life
Yeah to Kiasu Singapore!!

Oh sweet,
I'm on my uni study break now=)

My fren's feet

BeforeAfter

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

oh dear, I am supposed to be studying for a test tmr
but here I am =)
oh wells, hee
because it's a really special day today.....

it's National Day
Happy 44th Birthday Singapore!!

And how did I celebrate this day?
I had dinner with other Singaporeans in a cafe along Albany Hwy, Perth
at a place named Makan2, how apt =)
Most of us dressed in REDs and WHITEs. So Patriotic!
Singaporeans from UWA and Curtin
and to digress, UWA boys are so CUTE!! =)
it's a pity that the webcast of the NDP was not avaliable due to the organisers not preparing the internet
nevertheless, it was fun cos we said our pledges together and yumseng real loud =P
and!!!!
we had Singapore goodie bags airflown, DHL to us
and I have one too (I shall post the picture soon), without having to attend the real NDP
yipee!

PS: sigh, missed NDP for the 3rd year already

The princess and the pea

One of my favourite children stories

Hans Christian Andersen

There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess. He travelled right around the world to find one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about them. So at last he had come home again, and he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so badly.

One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightninged and the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night.

In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the old King himself sent to open it.

It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she said that she was a real princess.

'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bed clothes off and laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning they asked her how she slept.

'Oh terribly bad!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'

They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin.

So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.

Wikipedia

Researcher Jack Zipes notes that the tale is told tongue-in-cheek, with Andersen poking fun at the "curious and ridiculous" measures taken by the nobility to establish the value of bloodlines. He also notes that the author makes a case for sensitivity being the decisive factor in determining royal authenticity and that Andersen "never tired of glorifying the sensitive nature of an elite class of people"

hmmm, never thought of that.
on the other hand, it's wikipedia =)

bored?

Surprise Surprise!
I am actually bored!
and I've finished my intended reading for today =)
and there's nothing interesting on the internet so I thought that I may as well tell you about where I am living now (Not the landlord saga)

I live in Karawara, a suburb near Curtin University (which is in the suburb named Bentley)
yupe, suburbs are just small districts separated by names and looked after by different people
My place is really near to facilities such as supermarket, food outlets, bus stops and more.

People say that the suburb Bentley and Karawara have alot of Aboriginal people and we have to beware of them because they commit petty thefts and are mainly drunkens
In my 2.5 years in this suburb, I never had a problem with the Aboriginal people
and of the petty thefts that I heard, none was committed by the Aboriginal people

It's actually quite interesting to read about the Aborignal people and why they are thought of as nuisance and stuff. Check out the stolen generation.

PS: My fren just made me emo. darn it

writings---failed

My third attempt at writing
and it disturbs me to no end that I'm not able to concentrate my thoughts to complete a simple post
words are just randomly popping out, in no relation to my theme
and the train of thoughts are jerky and disrupted
tried writing abt the cold---failed
tried writing abt the acquaintances i know--- failed

it doesn't help that i am perpetuately tired each day
from work,
from the dramas in the house,
or my mind simply just trying to block off everything stressful
so that it can hiberate in the world of my own
for survivor and protection against mental distress

ps: I long to be home in Singapore now despite how i loath mosquitoes at night