Optimist, Activist,Optometrist and Reservist. Welcome to my world.

Thursday, 16 August 2007

My Weekly Routine- Very 'Interesting'


THAT'S IT!
Time to get a life..


Hi Friends and Family. I'm still alive..
and I'll like to keep it that way. Lemme show you how(I do it):




The following photos you see basically sums up my weekly routine.


Waking up to a late saturday morning, we take the free That's Me!bourne shuttle bus to Queen Vic Market. We usually go marketing after 1300hrs. When we first began, we carried with us the Singaporean (Wet) Marketing Mentality: Must go on Sundays, Must go early.

WRONG WRONG WRONG!

'Clinical Pearls' for the Astute Grocery Shopper
(please skip if you don't do marketing)
#1. Firstly, on Sundays, half of the market is closed for tourist shopping! The stalls selling vegetables and fruits, that normally occupy the rear end of the market, are being chased away every sun to make way for nougat and koala bear pushers. These very stalls sell the cheapest fruits and vege because they are located relatively further from the main market.

#2. Secondly, you go early, true, u get the fresher food. But only fresher by a few hours (all meat are refridgerated, indoors)! Going at 1 pm, you get the best deals as stalls start slashing prices by almost 50%!

#3. Thirdly, if you're wondering if it's cheaper to travel by Tram on the AUD2.50 whole-day-all- zone tram ticket, YES. However you can save more money by taking the Free Tourist Shuttle to Queen Vic everyday from 10am to 4pm.

Now I sound like an auntie hehe...

You haven't seen Auntie till you've seen this:


'Brocolli prices are plummeting! Let's buy more!'


Store keeper didnt look too happy when I took this shot.
-We bought too much brocolli?


Next, we leave it to the experts to do their thing:




Mondays to Fridays:

eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleep
And .. we leave it to the expert (in yellow) to do his thing: (Eat lah..)


eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeat

The following scenes are performed by Highly trained professionals. Please do not try to enact these scenes from home. Doing so would put yourself, your family and possibly your dog at risk.. with cheese.


'an additional contribution to the vestibular nerve is from hair cells in the macula acoustica of the utricle and saccule' - *Yawns*

I'm holding 4 different coloured highlighters.

This is a common sight for us. Everyday from Sun to Thurs, mugging till 1am every night! All this just to catch up with our classmates. Ah-ha! Serves you right for returning everything you've learnt to your teachers in poly.

eatstudysleepeatstudyeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleepeatstudysleep That's me, fighting the 'Z Monster' (Zzz.. Get it?)

As usual, Z Monster wins.

In my dreams: Allow me to Stimulate the afferent pathways to the Maxillary (V2) and Mandibullar (V3) Division of ur Trigeminal Nerve.

If you were wondering what my MSN nick (as seen above, in my dreams) means: Trigeminal Nerve = Cranial Nerve 5, the sensory nerve of the Central Nervous System.

It is divided into 3 parts: V1: Ophthalmic Division (which I'm more concerned with) supplies ur upper eyelid, cornea, tear glands etc...

V2 innervates the skin of your Cheek, Upper Lip etc..

V3 innervates your Lower Lip, Anterior 2/3 of the Tongue etc..

Get it? *wink* wink* Oops, did I trigger a neuro-sympathetic response in you?

(If you're a girl, please check mirror now to see if your pupils are bigger than usual)

Friday, 10 August 2007

National Day Celebration 2007 @Velour

NDP Celebration @ Velour


121, Flinders Lane


This event was organised by SSS (Singapore Students' Society). The plan is simple: All UOM (University of Melbourne) Singaporean students were to gather in the (rather) small club, Velour by 2000hrs to watch the Singapore NDP Live Telecast. Yay! Oh so we thought.. the Parade came to us in bits and pieces.. refreshing at a rate of 1fpm (one frame per MIN). We did manage to catch a glimpse of key personnel like MM Lee, SM Goh (with cool looking new specs) and PM Lee.


I met my friend from OCS - Artillery Institute... Daniel Choo! Such a coincidence. It was really a pleasant surprise. He is studying in Swinburne University of Technology [SWINBURNE], about 4 Train stops away from the city center. His friend, a UOM student brought him in.






He informed me of our mutual friend, LTA Joshua, who EXTENDED his ORD to remain in the NDP. He was the Officer giving the command for Artillery 21 gun salute. Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch his performance due to 'technical difficulties' with the streaming.

I also met my ex-polytechnic senior, Dion. Who is now doing foundation year to gain entry into Medicine. (Sorry, no pics of him).

My BFFs, Rachel with Bourbon Coke, Jasmine with..Cranberry Juice. Haona and Me, Vodka Sunrise.

These are our friends. Soi, Xenia?(hope I've got the name right) and Yiwen. We went to KOKO Black with Yiwen 2 weeks before. Soi and Xenia and Medical students *gasps*
As the party progressed, everyone totally ignored the NDP on TV. We had games like.. Best dressed couple. Theme of the day was: DIAMONDS and RUBIES. Everyone was to wear Red and White, with as much bling as possible. Obviously, non of us won as we came straight from school (wearing 'school clothes' see?).. Yes Mum, I've been studying!!
When we entered the club we were each given celebrity names, I'm Justin Timberlake hehe.. so throughout the party, we can approach any girl who is holding on to the name of our respective celebrity's girlfriend. (all girls will carry a corresponding celebrity female name). Thing is.. I don't really know who Justin Timberlake's girlfriend is so I didn't bother looking for his partner.
Our guest STAR: THE MERLION!



Evidently, I have no pics of the Merlion. But he left his 'signature' right there on the floor after the drinking game.. Eeww!!



A scene of the party, dance floor on right of pic.
As you can see, I'm the camera man. So I'm not in most of the pics. When I finally got my own pic taken....


All the girls wanna punch me in the face.

Do I look that bad?

The party was not too bad. After NDP we had MAMBO JUMBO. The club's standard was obviusly not as good as Zouk's. But their bar was pretty nice (looks like my Officer Mess in Khatib Camp haha) and their bartenders are VERY skilled. When you order a drink, they'll use many 'patterns' i.e. Pattern Zui Ga Badminton to impress you. Really gives you the 'WOW' factor!

JJ Rating: 3/5

No smoke machines, 'Mambo night' but very few of our fav Mambo Songs. Lighting was too bright (maybe cause of steps on the dance floor)? Sound quality was mediocre. Few people went up to dance stage. VERY impressive effort on the part of SSS Committee.



Posted by Picasa

Saturday, 28 July 2007

My new BFFs!!!

'HOUSE PARTY'
on peel street
This is by far the 'wildest' house party I've ever been to! Think WILD ANIMALS. Yes.. this unique safari - themed party is the first of its kind I've ever attended. There were WILD TRIBAL dance routines (below):



Two young females dancing the traditional hunter-gatherer dance sequence (as seen above). They even had the sacred medicine man, who kindly graced the event:

The traditional tiger headress is earned after enduring 9 months of training and hardship... with cheese. Passing wild animals, like this zebra below also strolled their way into our party..


And this innocent looking giraffe... *yummy*

Look what happens to our new 'friends'... (following pic may be graphic in nature)

BY then, the feast was almost ready!! The tribe female serves up food which was prepared using our newly acquired ingredients!

You want some of this? *wink*
The tribe gathers around the table for the FEAST!

Left to Right: HaoZhen, HaoNa, Jasmine, Rachel
Yummy! What's this meat in my stew..?? ~Don't ask.
Hey hey... look who/what just strolled into our 'party'...

Fresh (Camel) Meat!

-everything with cheese.

The above mentioned event was not as graphic in nature as described. No animals were harmed in the process, except the pig which was slaughtered so that we can have mince pork congee. What we really had was a mini lunch gathering after school at Hao Na'/HaoZhen 's place where we stayed till dinner. Their room mate is a vet and animal lover, hence the wide collection of photos at home. And if u were wondering.. no, we did not consume the camel.

Posted by Picasa

Max Brenner's @ QV, Swanston

Welcome to Max Brenner.
25-27 Red Cape Lane, Level 2, QV Square, 210
Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000,
Phone Number: +61 3 9663 6000.
I've always loved Max Brenner's chocolate. Listen to his love story and you'll see why..







Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black:
Hmmm... not too sure about which is better. Max Brenner's drinks are cheaper, about AUD4.50 for a hug mug. While here u pay nothing less than AUD5.50 at KOKO Black. Both are equally good, I must say. But I've had strong emotional attachment to Max, the bald guy who started it all for me.
Max and I
Max, the bald guy with the choc. I first heard about Max Brenner's in QV, Swanston. After trying their unique Suckao there, I became an instant convert. Imagine the joy when I discovered that they had opened a branch in Singapore - Esplanade! That place became the regular hang out place for Xiaoping and I. I can definitely relate to Max's story.
Posted by Picasa

KOKO BLACK, on Lygon

Welcome to KOKO BLACK,


167 Lygon Street

Carlton, Victoria

Australia 3053

(Melway Ref: 2B:F9)

Open til 11pm from Mon-Thurs, Sun

Extended to: 12am on Sat.





View of KOKO Black, from Lygon. Al fresco dining with outdoor heaters available.
The inside view of KOKO Black, when you enter the door. Little red riding hood not included.



Their super yummy: Belgian Spoil
chocolate cake, two Belgian chocolates, a shortbread,
chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse $10.00 (contains nuts)*




Iced Chocolate
A rich combination of Koko Black's chocolate and vanilla ice cream,
milk and chocolate shavings $6.50


Koko Black Hot Chocolate
Freshly brewed traditional recipe. Made with dark Belgian chocolate - no powder.
Made with full cream milk. Served extra hot unless otherwise requested $5.50

My my.. I've finally found a place worthy to hang out in. Why walk 35 min to QV on Swanston for my chocolate fix (Max Brenner's) when I can take a 5-10 min stroll to KOKO BLACK on Lygon. This is a place where you can really chill and look good while chilling.


Max Brenner's vs KOKO Black.



Posted by Picasa

Tertiary Phase

OK finally! I got inspired by my ex-lecturer Mr Rajeev's (now a Phd Student in VCO) creative use of furniture in the apartment. I decided, I don't need the side table in my lounge area.. moved it under my workstation instead. See? Now I got more space to walk.

BTW, if you were wondering.. those are socks on the table.
Posted by Picasa

Friday, 27 July 2007

After Phase 2: After IKEA

My new Home!
My new home has photos on the walls. *faint applause in background*

It has a (useless) standing lamp. The same model as the one I have in my room in Singapore.. except that it's in black. Photo of me and my Army friends (my farewell gift). Thanks guys!

My new workstation. Buddha had to go up! Thanks Buddha for your kind understanding! I REALLY needed that space cos' it is really much easier to reach that shelf you were housed in instead of your new home.

Buddha's ex-residence is now taken up my a photo of xp and me in Tom's Palette. Beside is the good bye card from my poly mates. Thanks guys! I was expecially moved by Da Xuan's entry (after Xiaoping deciphered the text for me). It was written in the modern version of a rather ancient language.. luckily I had Xiaoping with me (it was written in Chinese.. Doh!).

My new crib. Noticed the difference? Hint:It has a yellow frame.

Now I can proudly call this place ma' home. Any comments, suggestions to improve the look of my home?
Posted by Picasa