Boeing 747 - The plane I took back. In the end I experienced delay again of nearly 1 hr cos of waiting for the arrival of some domestic passengers.
Im down with fever and sore thorat the very next day I arrived. Still trying to get well now. Somehow I don't really the drive to blog now when Im back in Singapore. Haha. Okie catch up with you guys soon!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Felt sad when I came... feeling sad when leaving
Im at the Sydney airport now at a free inter net access stand. I have checked in and heard that my flight was over booked. Not sure what it means.
My heart is feeling very heavy . We have been going through this (sending each other off) countless times but still haven't gotten used to it. Flight is at 5 and will be bidding goodbye to Krish at 4 plus. Will be reaching 9 plus Singapore time.
Okie we are going sit and watch planes. Goodbye Oz....See you Singapore!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Mexican Nachos
What we have here is the Mexican Nachos. On a layer of nachos a layer of minced beef is poured. A layer of cheese is then put over it. Its then heated up until the cheese is all beautifully melted. Then on top of it they put sliced lettuce, tomatoes, onions and poured home made salsa sauce, sour cream and guacamole sauce. This dish did a great service to my taste buds. We bought it from a shop where all the staff looked Turkish.
My most favourite Nachos dish is one I ate in Melbourne. They had all the same ingredients but served in a basket made of Nachos itself.
You will only know the feeling of loss when its out of sight
Its my 2nd last day of my holiday cum sneak preview of my migration. We started out very early today already. I have finished all my shopping and done my packing mostly. We might be going Shellharbour another suburb nearby.
Its election day. So the television and radio is full of election coverage. Opposition parties here are very strong. So you will not be able to guess which will be the ruling party. The current ruling party seems weak with the people ever since he announce that he will be retiring soon and the recent hike in the interest rates. There will a lot of changes to all the polices.
We will be hitting Sydney airport tom. Not sure I will have the time to blog tom. Well Im gona be taking the plane alone again. All my trips to and fro Australia so far and Krish's trips to Singapore have been alone. We have never taken a flight together. We fly alone and meet each other in the airport. This may not be a big deal but we always end up seeing a lot of couples travelling. Our first flight together will be on Jan 30. I shall look forward for that after bidding farewell to Singapore.
I got 2 months in Singapore. Got a lot of stuff to do. Excited! I have taken a vow not be a stressed up bride. If I can't do it I won't push myself. Lets see how it all goes. Some things will just fall into place without us fussing about it right. Ok guys see ya back in Singapore.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Hot bronzie, hot sightings, hot potato!
Do you know - Pop diva Kylie Minogue has been immortalised in bronze in a statue to be unveiled at Melbourne's Docklands today. The life-size likeness, complete with lace body stocking and red high-heels, will stand alongside with fellow Aussie entertainment greats. A Melbourne sculptor Peter Corlett, was inspired by the Showgirl tour and liaised with Kylie's dress-makers to get her body measurements and then he found a cafe waitress, with the SAME measurements, to pose.
Talking about statue, 2 teens were standing on a rusty wreck off a NSW beach, Byron Bay when 2 sharks were circling around them for 40 minutes. A nearby surfer heard the girls cry out and attempted to save them but a shark started swimming towards him so he went back to shore to raise the alarm. They were rescued by lifeguard boats. It seems there are alot of shark sightings here. From great whites, tiger sharks, makos, bronze whalers and bull sharks. The water is warm, there are lot of bait fish close to shore and whales migrating with their calves are the reasons which is attracting them. I even saw a small sign on the rocks at the beach nearby (North Beach) remembering a surfer, 16 yrs old who died from a shark attack while surfing. But I still see surfers running with their surfboards and swimmers in their swimwear and towel going towards the beach everyday.
I will be soon missing this view from the kitchen and balcony. This is also a reason why we can't bear to leave this unit. Its VERY near to the beach, ocean and lighthouses.
Over the past 1 month I have been making all the appointments to see units and we would go and view after Krish's work. Since Im going back Krish would need to settle the house on his own now. Something convenient, provides 12 months lease and is of tolerable living condition.
Can't believe Im saying this but something I have to do immediately after coming back in Jan is to take my driving license. Its gona be very very difficult if I don't. Buses are not on frequent schedule and bus stops are not accessible to everywhere. Train rides are not cheap at all. Hence I have to drive or wait till after 4pm for Krish to pick me up to go places. Going to work or starting uni will then be difficult. Its about 3 plus years to obtain a full license though. You can be driving around during these 3 years but with some restrictions.
Okie what did I have for dinner yesterday. We had burgers from Hungry Jacks (known as Burger King in Singapore). As usual the burgers were bigger. We bought a potato dish from an Aussie shop after that. Its hot hot baked potatoes with cheese and spinach. Yummy! I purposely saved some to have for lunch today.
This is from one of the food joints here; Noodlebox. Something that you see people in movies or sitcoms eating right? We had this 2 weeks back. Krish bought it to test whether Im missing rice. Its my first and last rice dish though.We bought fried rice and we requested it to very spicy. But it was very mild and abit sweet to taste. What I like is their serving. More than sufficient for both of us and it was about A$6/-. However I will still miss my mum's fried rice.
Okie time for lunch. See ya!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Weather living
We are yet to settle anything on a unit to stay. The only one which we like is not really convenient like the present one and the owner is only giving us 6 months lease. Its also on sale so new owners may increase the rent or ask us to leave after 6 months. Its too much of hassle and expenses. We are not really keen.
It was getting very hot for the past few days. But there was a storm yesterday night which brought in rain. Rains here stops very fast because the winds from the ocean are too strong. It will bring the rain away.
Aussies are very dependent on weather website. They co-ordinate their dressings and activities around it. That's one thing I need to follow. Of course I need more layers to keep the cold off. This is the website they go on to http://www.bom.gov.au/. This provides very accurate readings.
I discovered 1 of the reason why Asians picks up the Aussie slang when they come here to study or work. The Aussies can't understand our Asian (or Singapore) slang. For eg. if you say yeah, they won't understand and will ask you to repeat until you change and say yes. They also got their own dictionary of words for eg. breakie for breakfast, garage for petrol station, footie for football, etc. So for easier communication Asians picks up the Aussie dictionary and slang I guess.
The stationery here are very expensive. Maybe because they are mostly stated as Australian made and owned. They don't have photo stating shops except for one, Officeworks. They have one big Officeworks at every other suburbs or cities which is a one-stop for stationery, photo stating, office furniture and fittings.
Oh yes I must tell you about a cute advertisement that I saw just now. Its a 3-D cartoon type where a girl will see her nose running away. She will stand in a distance in tears (with sad background music) and watch her nose enjoying itself. Like smelling all the flowers in the fields, playing in the water, etc. While the nose is lying down on a bench in the park she will approach it with a tissue box and sad pleading eyes. They then show her in bed sleeping with her nose back on her face. They then say " Treat your nose to softness. Don't let it run away". All their ads are very creative and more entertaining than the tv shows itself.
I have placed a countdown on my blog to Jan 30 when I will be coming back to New South Wales with Krish to live our life. Catch you around.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Snack
Yes I must tell you what I had for snack just now at the Crown Mall nearby. Cinnamon scroll and flake shake!!!
The cinnamon scroll has frosted sugar on top and when you bite into it you will see layers of cinnamon coated soft bread. The flake shake is from Wendy's(a famous ice-cream and milk shake stand). It is chocolate milk shake covered with cadbury milk chocolate flakes.
You know I really got a problem. I love walking around the shops and looking at everything as if I want to buy. But walking out without buying anything makes me very happy. Weird ah?
Ok catch you later!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Last hoilday week
Its my last week of holiday. Its has been rather a preview of how things gona be when I will be settling down next year. Truthfully I got to get used to alot of things around here. I got to get used to have aussies around, talking to them and understanding them. The food of course. Its not difficult to cook up Asian food but getting the ingredients fresh at an affordable price does not seem easy (need to explore the shops more).
I really do admire the way they bring their kids though. Very sporting and independent. The kids go out to the surf schools here at a very tender age. You can see them swimming very well in the cold waters. Kids at 12 years old are able to organise games for the smaller kids. They have legal studies as one of their school subjects. So that they will know their rights and the Australian legal system.
The elections campaigns are closing up with the election date as 24th Sat. Its very different of how you should vote here. You are to rate your preference. 1 as the most preferred ruling party and 5 as the least preferred party. Oh I must tell you this. One of the promises that the opposition party has put up for the coming election is "To provide Australia a world class broadband provider like the ones in countries like Singapore". Haha. I only know ours in Singapore is world class after I heard this.
Okie I gona grab some lunch and then going out to shops. See ya!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Its getting hot in here!
Yes its getting hot but not as hot as in summer when it will be 40 degrees. I still feel cold at times with the winds but feeling so dehydrated very fast.
Having no luck with rental units. All the units which falls within our budget is in non-living conditions. Esp the kitchen and toilet. We don't want to be spending more than what we planned for esp cleaning. And Krish is a clean freak.
A unit which both of us were satisfied is at our budget limit and is only offering us 6 months lease. We may have to move if the unit is gona be sold. Usually these type of units are for investment but what if the new buyer demands more rental after 6 months. Argh! Frustrating man!
We went down also to Uni of Wollongong on friday. Didnt manage to get to talk to the person in charge of co-ordinating the Psychology courses. Got to go back on tues. Strangely we came across a coincidence that evening. Our neighbour. Tom knocked on our door asking to borrow our phone and yellow pages to call a locksmith as he had locked himself out.
Krish lent him his hand phone (now I must tell you that phone bills are rocket high here, even calling local numbers!!! ) and while waiting for the locksmith Tom saw the phamplets and said hes a 3rd yr student doing Bachelor in Psychology. I did got alot of questions answered. It does include alot of statistics. (I remember in poly Oma and I yacked and yacked cos the lectuerer was mainly talking in Chinese but I manage to just pass the module after some crash studying.) You also got to write and read alot throughout the 4 years. And to complete another 2 years supervised practise to qualify as a psychologist. He lent me a book on writing for psychology too.
Equiped with all this information it makes me want to go for it even more. I know its not an easy (not a cheap) process. But with Krish encouraging me I determined to do it. Maybe start off doing part-time and then going full time.
I got to get visa lodged immediately when we come back in Jan'08. Oh yes many call centers here seems to be employing Indian nationals (recognised by the accent). Even the immigration call center. I find it surprising. Okay maybe they give equal employment chances.
I heard that Australians are the 2nd most slackest in the world. 1st are the Portuguese. Haha. They just laughed it off on tv saying that if we are the 2nd then the Portuguese must be doing nothing and when they work they really hard but after 4pm they played twice as hard.
I would be coming back soon...next sun actually. So fast. Another 2 months and then back again. Im going to treasure my time in singapore with all my dear ones. Im yet to inform some of my friends that I have quit and am migrating in Jan. All to do after I come back.
Australian Idol final is on today. It seems that it will be very grand held in the Sydney Opera House. Got to catch it.
Ok take care dearies. I noe all of you are missing me (hehe) will be back soon.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Nice weekend? Yes yes...
It was a sunny and busy weekend. Saturday we drove up the Grand Pacific Drive towards CoalCliff. They had a stunning lookout point from the Stanwell Park of the ocean. Krish really enjoyed the long narrow winding roads. Thereafter we drove to Bankstown where there are alot of flying schools and planes flying around, taking off and landing. In the late afternoon we made our way down to Krish's mum's friend place here. Auntie Ghandi and her husband came here from Singapore long time back and went through alot to get to where they are now. She came across as a very friendly and warm person.
We hit home back around 6pm. The drive back home was abit scary for me as there are no lamp posts. Pitchdark with tall tress on both sides. Just small lights on the road itself to show the way. You got to be careful at the very steep down roads as you will be travelling at 100 and the huge trucks will be travelling at 40. Must be quick to change lane and overtake. Krish as usual enjoyed himself.
Sunday we woke up very early and went to take the train! Guess what its a double deck train! I heard about it before but seeing it was very different. It has stairways going up and down. And I must tell you about the seats. You can pull the seat towards you and change the seating direction. Voila!
I heard alot about the train rides. Well the problem is that you got to check out what time is your train from the internet. If you miss your train be prepared to at least wait an hour. And make sure that the train STOPS at the station you are going to. They don't stop at all stations at all times. The train I took at 7.22am to Sydney was 1 hr 45 mins and it cost me $13.20. The train ride itself was packed with lovely sights of mountain, fields, horses, stables, cows, lake, river, ocean. Some of houses you can just imagine what kind of view they will be waking up to. One house had a helicopter packed in the backyard and while some others had boats, jet skies packed. Gosh!
We reached Sydney and walked to Chinatown, Paddy's market (for shopping for souvenirs) and Darling Harbour. A Chinese shopkeeper at Paddy's market cheated us of A$2. Krish was fuming. Luckily we didn't buy alot from her but my mood was spoilt after that. But sitting near the Darling Harbour with a Starbucks Mocha Frappaccino and with the Sun in our eyes lifted my mood up. I saw families in boats sailing around and the bridge opening to let the bigger ships in to dock at the harbour. I also saw water taxis and heard that some people has to take the water taxi to work in the weekdays. Oh yes we went for a fair and then found out that its Egyptian harmony day and so they had a fair there.
Today the weather is so fine (so far) and I saw the sun shining on the waters in the morning from the kitchen window. So after breakfast I went for a walk for 45 mins and then basked in the sun. You don't really sweat much here you know. But you still got to drink alot of fluids as its dry heat here.
Living standards have been high in Australia for years and its getting higher now. Its of course where you can live your dreams if you work smart too. Give your future generations exposure and experience that we didn't get to have. But all has a price tag....Okie for those who requested me to post a sunny picture of me and Krish, here you are! It was really sunny
Thursday, November 8, 2007
1st deepavali away from home...
Hey its deepavali and for the first time Im away from home, singapore. Not really celebrating here. It would have been a day of eating Mum's delicious briyani with prawn and chicken and with alot of goodies. I don't really go visiting as staying at home always seemed to be a better yummy option.
Used to go over my fren's place during poly days and have them come over to my place. As usual talk alot, eat and end the day by playing the sparklers or "mathapu".
Here Krish is away at work and the weather has been bitterly cold for the past few days. So must dress up with layers to go out. I need alot of sweaters when Imgona be living here.
Not much of luck of finding a unit to stay. They are very old and worn out. For eg the laundry is very old and dirty and the kitchen cabinet are all so old. You would not feel like storing anything in them. The newer and better ones are expensive from $300-$400 per week!
The interest rate rose to 6.75%, the highest in 11 yrs. And usually the banks rate their interest rate 1-2% higher. Sigh!
We planning to go Sydney city this weekend if the weather is good. Hope to start my shopping. Haven't really bought anything.
We had a experience with a MacDonald's staff when we bought a hot chocolate. She charged us more than what should be. Krish corrected her and then the change was given back. It looked like a genuine mistake until Krish told me that this same gal actually did this same thing to him before and also gave a serving of fries with barely half filled. They are very very generous here in their servings especially in MacDonald's. Maybe we are too sensitive but I did notice her giving both of us a "look" from head to toe even while preparing the hot chocolate. Well I would want to go back to her again to see whether shes really up to any tricks.
Oh yes I just saw on tv that they are planning to build a big outdoor stadium for BIG games which after the games it can be converted into community centers. It can be converted back to stadium when needed. Cool ah! Perhaps Spore should adapt this kind of things as there is always a problem of insufficient land space there.
Okgona make some lunch not briyani of course. Catch you tom. Happy deepavali!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Sunny but cold
Yes the weather is so deceiving. It seems so blinding hot but when you step out your face freeze with the cold winds.
Im listening to Tamil songs in the background and typing this. I have to admit Im abit bored. But don't want to go out now as the weather is unpredictable with rain.
Its Melbourne Cup Day today. Its a big horse racing event covered by the whole of Australia. Its also a day of fashion when you can see the ladies all dressed in the 50s or 60s English fashion with big fanciful hats.
I realise that Australians are quite compassionate people. For eg after the body of a 5 yr was found in the lake in Sydney all over Sydney people expressed grief and they placed flowers and prayers near the lake. Even children went around there to express their grief.
They quite open in their elections. They put up advertisements criticising each other polices in between TV programs. When the party members were going some place to visit and ask for votes, cleaning companies were called to clean the place up the day before. The cleaning companies informed the media about this and all this were featured in the news. Something really different from Singapore politics I guess.
Ok now about me. I had chocolate mud cake yesterday and a cadbury chocolate with chewy chocolate fudge brownie in the centre. Sinfully yummy! Muhaha *Evil laughter*
I will be seriously looking at furthering my studies here as soon as my spouse visa is lodged. I have wanting to do it for a long long time now. My ex-colleague Yanti used to tell me "When you are thinking money is not going to be enough it will never be enough". Might as well struggle while you are young. Home loan interest is also increasing now here. So if we buy a unit we maybe stuck paying large interest. And with the elections not sure what else will change and affect our lives.
Hope all is going well for all my loved ones back home. Really missing them alot. Sigh its ok will be back in 3 weeks. You have a lovely day ahead mate!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Where the sea makes a noise!
Hey
Yesterday was Krish's bday and we hit part of the grand pacific drive. We went to a coastal town called Kiama. Its beautifully situated on a fishing harbour and very well recongnised by its famous blowhole. Kiaram-a is an aborignal word meaning where the sea makes a noise. It was discovered in 1797.
You can step onto the rocks at your own risk and see the ocean from the rocks...I did hehe.
Krish really enjoyed the coastal drive. We got lost once and once he purposely got us lost (just to explore). Good in a way as we feasted our eyes on long, green hills. And the clouds were sitting on the mountains.
I had a Mac-Chicken for dinner and I realised the vast difference between the burger in Spore and here. From the bun to the patty to the lettuce. Its bigger and fresher.
Its kind of cold for past 3 days. Hot sun but winds are cold. But we still went down to the beach tody. You cant resist when you are only a 2 mins away from it. Its just that the flies are a pest. They are big and just flock and sit on you in summr. Argh!
Ok got to catch CSI on tv! Bye!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Yes I feel home but Im also away from home
Hey there,
I will be moving from Spore to Australia. Im keeping a open mind about how different LIFE will be. Im gona get married soon, migrate and look for a new house, new job, new frens, etc. I have been waiting day and night ( 4 yrs) for this to happen. But when its finally happening haha some mixed feelings started to surface.
I travelled down to australia last sat after a heavy farewell from work last thursday. I had a horrible flight experience. I promise myself never to transit alone anymore. Flight delayed for 1 hr from spore, missed my connecting flight, got only a midnight flight, stayed in a 5 star hotel (nothing to complain but it would have been better if not alone), the midnight flight got delayed for 2 hrs bcos of some delayed paperwork by the captain. It took Qantas to fly me practically 24 hours. Then that sunday evening my bf brought me to the beach and all sourness in my soul disappeared. Beautiful ocean, air, mountains in the far back, surfers,lighthouses and whales. It seems that its breeding season for them but to me it seems like they were welcoming me. Haha
Saw very nice houses with lovely unimaginable views but the prices were really steep. Today I went by the university here. I also had some side plans to futher my studies. Hope to one day!
Really missing my family, my frens and my ex-colleagues. Im living the life that my bf has been living for the past 4 yrs. I at least got him. Tom gona view a apartment, 1 bedroom only. Looking forward! Catch u soon!
Boeing 747 - The plane I took back. In the end I experienced delay again of nearly 1 hr cos of waiting for the ar
rival of some domestic passengers. 
to be unveiled at Melbourne's Docklands today. The life-size likeness, complete with lace body stocking and red high-heels, will stand alongside with fellow Aussie entertainment greats. A Melbourne sculptor Peter Corlett, was inspired by the Showgirl tour and liaised with Kylie's dress-makers to get her body measurements and then he found a cafe waitress, with the SAME measurements, to pose.
I will be soon missing this view from the kitchen and balcony. This is also a reason why we can't bear to leave this unit. Its VERY near to the beach, ocean and lighthouses.
This is from one of the food joints here; Noodlebox. Something th
at you see people in movies or sitcoms eating right? We had this 2 weeks back. Krish bought it to test whether Im missing rice. Its my first and last rice dish though.We bought fried rice and we requested it to very spicy. But it was very mild and abit sweet to taste. What I like is their serving. More than sufficient for both of us and it was about A$6/-. However I will still miss my mum's fried rice.
Sunday we woke up very early and went to take the train! Guess what its a double deck train! I heard about it before but seeing it was very different. It has stairways going up and down. And I must tell you about the seats. You can pull the seat towards you and change the seating direction. Voila!
ve. We went to a coastal town called Kiama. Its beautifully situated on a fishing harbour and very well recongnised by its famous blowhole. Kiaram-a is an aborignal word meaning where the sea makes a noise. It was discovered in 1797.
rish really enjoyed the coastal drive. We got lost once and once he purposely got us lost (just to explore). Good in a way as we feasted our eyes on long, green hills. And the clouds were sitting on the mountains.
me to the beach and all sourness in my soul disappeared. Beautiful ocean, air, mountains in the far back, surfers,lighthouses and whales. It seems that its breeding season for them but to me it seems like they were welcoming me. Haha
