My First Jog

Had no lessons today and the weather was surprisingly warm so I decided to go for a jog! So I geared up with track pants (my first time jogging in track pants!) and a T-shirt and my new nike watch that my sis gave to me as a farewell gift (Thanks jie jie, have been wearing it everyday- I am finally on time for lessons! haha). I jogged around my area cos I wanted to explore and learn about the surrondings better. I found a really big golf course near our place (thought of my dad), a soccer field (thought of my bro), baseball field (I ran one round around it to get a feel of a baseball game like in the movies.. haha) and many small parks with playgrounds!

Jogging in Aussie feels very different from Spore...You never perspire and somehow you never seem to get tired! After half an hour, I felt like I have not worked out at all so I continued running and admiring the clear blue sky. Saw some interesting houses, one with a 'shen tai' in front.. must be a chinese family. As spring is arriving, the flowers have started to bloom so I saw many different flowers as well! Roses, the christmas flowers and even the 'liu shu' that we always buy during chinese new year.

Although I did not perspire and the jog did not feel like a workout, it was very refreshing! Very different from jogging around Butterfly Ave (I still miss Butterfly Ave and our hyde park!), nice scenary and freesssshhh air!

Alrighty, my photos will be up soon! Stop procrastinating Chiobu!

Photo Updates!

Ok, here it is finally! What I have been doing the past few weeks:

20 July 07- University of Sydney (Main Campus at Redfern), Glebe Point, & Blackwattle Bay

The campus is really BIG. Very different from out tiny cumberland campus at Lidcombe. It is made up of old traditional buildings as well as newer buildings. It was quite messy as many of the buildings are undergoing renovation. They have like 3 sports centres and even an indoor heated pool! Sighh.. our cumberland campus's sports centre is pathetic lor.. the gym so expensive somemore ($15o for a semester). They also have this shopping area with cafes- we gave in to our cravings and bought nice donuts from donut king! Was shiok cos the weather was cold and the donuts were HOT! There is a graffati tunnel at the campus where students can just freely spray paint on the walls- how cool is that! (Found one done by sporean students..haha) The old buildings were very majestic, reminded me of Cambridge at London. Visited a musem there as well but the exhibits were not as good as those in London. The buildings and musem reminded me the times spent in London with my mum... really enjoyed myself then.. Oh no! starting to miss my mum already!

As Glebe was very near the main campus, we decided to explore that area. It was a nice quaint place with old traditional houses. Found a flower supermarket and it was selling pretty pretty flowers! Sadly, most shops were close because the school semester has not started yet.

We walked further from Glebe to Blackwattle Bay where we admired the spectacular view of ANZEC Bridge and Sydney city itself. The photo that I took with Wan Ru is rather obscene.. can see my long johns! ahh.. haha. Anyway, we sat by the river and ate our grapes and apples, then we continued our long walk to Townhall station.

My first cooking experience in Sydney (I think in my life too)! The 5 of us take turns to cook everynight and I am the star chef (we even have names) for Fridays! Decided to use the leftover ingredients to cook tom yam soup with chinese cabbage and steam egg with mince meat. I can cook tom yam soup leh.. not bad sia...its easy! Just cut open the packet of instant paste, pour into boiling water and stir! haha. Ehh... but did some 'gong fu' one k.. like when to put in the ingredients. The fun part was the steam eggs! Due to lack of cooking utensils, I had to figure how to steam 2 bowls of it. So I steamed one traditionally in the pot while I put the other in the rice cooker. The rice cooker one refused to get steamed after an hour lor! So I was desperate and put it in the microwave instead. It became very 'holey', like a disfigured face.. haha. The traditionally steamed one was much better but still have some pimples (Mum said that I stir too hard). Not bad leh.. I trial and error with the seasoning and all and it did not turn out too bad! Cooking is fun man.. will try out more exotic dishes next time!


21st July 07- Shopping at DFO

On a bright Sat morning, we decided to go shopping! DFO is not duty free outlet but direct factory outlet ok.. just learnt that.. haha. Anyway, as usual, I did not purchase anything cos I am 'giam' (ya, everyone knows that already) and the stuff were not cheap lor. After shopping at Hong Kong, I just cant bear to buy anything there. I did take note of the potential shops that I would go to in case I need something.. etc. Btw, I shouldnt say that I am 'giam', I am thrifty ok!

22nd July- Aroma Festival at The Rocks

Aroma festival is an annual event held at The Rocks. "Coffee, tea, spices and all things nice..." Yup, that's what they sell! There were rows of stalls they sold gourmet coffee and tea for $1 and all things nice include chocos, noughats, cupcakes, cookies, rocky road, doughnuts and many other food-to-die-for! The atmosphere was great! There was jazz, middle eastern music playing in the back ground...the smell of gourmet coffee drifted in the air as almost everyone was holding a cup of coffee. It was the first time I see so many Australians together at the same place! The rocks and circular quay area were flooded with herds of people...queuing up for coffee, pushing prams with children, lovers holding hands and sharing their strawberry choco, some gobbling down and fighting over super-thick-till-u-choke hot chocolate..Oops! that's us! Yeah... we tried that and it was superb!

We also queued up for the gourmet coffee which was a tad disappointing! My cupaccino did not have the body and was slightly too milky. Zhen's machiatto was good though! Anyway, the cute italian men serving us the coffee were good enough for me...haha. Tried the chai latte too and it was nniicceee! The chai was simply heavenly and the tinge of organic soy milk was just right! Wanted to purchase a packet but it was overly priced...sighh. Oh! I also saw the turkish baklava that jie told me about! We also tried many free samples...that's us! Pure breed Sporeans! haha

Haha.. like this photo man! All things nice... including me right??

And gues what?? On the way to Chinatown to see my Doc Wei, I came across George Motel!! Daph, YJ, remember this place? We stayed here like 3 years ago.. it was a good deal cos it was cheap and had good facilities! Not bad sia.. we chose a very good location too!

Anyway, we went home after that looking forward to our long awaited good steamboat dinner. We prepared an excellent array of dishes BUT later found out that the toopid stove that we bought from Burwood was not working!! AArrgghhh... it was deppressing I tell u, after all the hopes and images of a hot and steamy boat! But that did not stop us! Using a little creativity, we shifted our chairs beside the real stove in the kitchen and had a real stove steamboat! We just throw all the dishes into the pot and boil.. not bad eh.. despite the extreme hunger, blood could still travel up to our brains. We were really like hungry ghosts lor.. ate like 4 bowl.. super shiok!!

Alrighty, this weekend is filled with activities again! Yup, it still feels like holidays to me (despite the tons of projects and assignments waiting for me)! We are going to the war place, Flemington market again, to grab our $2-for-a-box-of-apples deals! Must be fully geared up with our big bags and full stomach man. On Sun, we are heading for Bondi and Coogee beach, gona have a picnic there! WooHooo.. looking forward to beach hopping...and checking out the hot sufer dudes! *wink* Muahaha

School Life in Aussie

The past few weeks felt like a holiday, can't believe that school has started!! Remember I said that the campus was really empty when we had the study prep program? It looked entirely different on the first day of school! There were many students at the campus and most of them are Australians! Expected a good mix of international students so I was surprised to see so many 'ang mos'! haha.. It was like watching a fashion show...everyone was dressed nicely even though it was winter! and I was all wrapped up like a dumpling, carrying a bagpack with a thermos flask and a water bottle in the side pockets.. haha.

During lunch time, it was even more crowded... felt like I was in the movie 'Bring it on', with all the blondes hanging around in big groups, some were basking in the sun, some couples lovey doveying in the corner.. haha. What's missing is just the cheerleaders practising on the grass patch.. haha.

Andrea introduced us to her Asian friends whom she usually hangs out with. Asians are the minority group so they usually hang out together. Its quite sad to know that they do not really mix with the Australians, except during group discussions in class. Most of the Asians are from Hong Kong, one is from Korea.

I really like the lectures here, the lecturers are very engaging and funny! The students are also not afraid to answer random questions thrown at them. The lecturers enjoy sharing their experiences with us so they have alot of stories and it doesnt feel like a lecture at all! They focus on the relevance of the content instead of the content itself so they always link the theory back to their local context which I feel is good. They are also not afraid to speak their mind about the things that they teach. Will be attending my first tutorial tomorrow.. quite excited about it!

Anyway, I watched Harry Potter today! Preferred the previous ones as they are more light-hearted and the characters were small and cute! Guess I am not a true Potter fan huh. On Sunday, we went to the Aroma Festival and it was fun! Will upload my photos soon!

Have lessons tomorrow and a four hr break in between.. Arrghh... Shall just stone and try to blend into the 'blonde' culture.. haha.

New PJs

Haha..couldn't wait to show off my new PJs that i bought from Coles! Cute right the cow prints?? The shirt says 'Moo-tiful!'... really feel like a cow when wearing the pants... hopefully it will give me more milk or something.. hahaha

Anyway, it has been freezing cold here. Weather reports stated that the temperature will be below 15 degrees until Sunday. Ahhh... Thankfully my mum has sent me a parcel with thermal wear, a down jacket and many other goodies! haha... The package should keep me warm physically and at heart too.. thanks mummy! =)

Okie doks, will update more photos another day ba. Just excited about my moomoo pjs..haha

Updates!

City Tour- 11 July 07

The scenary was not as breathtaking as what I saw 3 yrs ago when I backpacked with YJ and Daph. It was rainy and the weather was dark and gloomy. Nevertheless, we had a good time walking around the city, exploring nurses' walk, chinatown, the rocks, etc. These places brought back memories of our backpackin trip, especially when I see ppl climbing the sydney habour bridge! Miss my babes very much! Anyway, the 5 of us bought identical gloves but each of us has a different animal- mine is a frog! We also packed lunch to eat-on-the-go as well as save money =)

First day of Study Prep Program- 12 July 07

Began our early morning walk at 8.15am! Took about half an hr of fast-walking to reach school. Luckily we had Elain and her long legs to help us set the pace..was almost panting when we reached school! haha. I enjoyed the walk to school cos its cool and I like the serenity of our neighbourhood! Visited the PT's place as well, they have a landed house with a garden! Our campus is spacious and rather empty. Hopefully it will be buzzing with ppl when school starts!

Library Tour and Meeting Andrea- 13 July 07

Its friday the 13th! WooHoo.. luckily nothing happened..haha. Had our library tour and saw this room which is equipped with assistive technology for the physically disabled to access the library facilities as well..how cool is that? Hopefully all national libraries in Spore will have something like this in the future. We met up with Andrea and had dinner at Strathfield..ate super nice Korean food (Wanru was the bim-bim-bap mixer..haha)! Think it was our best meal since we arrived in Sydney! It was nice to meet up with her cousin and cousins' friends- was good cultural exchange! There is this Iran lady who came here to work all by herself...wonder why did she choose to leave Iran and migrate to Aust..hmm...

Flemington Market- 14th July 07

It was a AUNTIE day! Started the day by cleaning the house... never put in so much effort in cleaning a toilt before man! Scrubbed till the floor, sink, toilet bowl was sparking clean, hair-less and fur-less (zhen's sweater has been balding)! My mother would be so proud of me! haha. AFter our first major cleaning, we went to flemington market to buy a week's supply of groceries! It was about to close when we reached there so the entire place was like WAR. The stall vendors started to slash their prices and the customers reacted very quickly, just grab the freshest, pay and go. Was kinda disorientated as usual and was not 'auntie' enought to grab some gd buys! We bought like 10kg of apples for $2, 10kg of grapes for $5, 10kg of potatoes for $3..super cheap rite?? Bought many other stuff too! So we have been having fruits feast at home everyday and the grapes never seem to decrease in amount! haha.

ALrighty, will upload the photos of the sydney fish market, darling habour and paddy's market which we visited on Sunday soon! =)

Gotta wake up early to brew my chinese medicine tmr morning.. sighh.. tell ya more next time!

Shopping at Rhodes!!!

Sorry about the delay! Too lazy to update..dead tired everytime we return to the apartment, settle down, cook dinner and all. Well, the past few days were rather fruitful. Went to Ikea on Tues to shop for the much needed quilts to brave the cold nights. Yesterday we went to the city and today we went to school for the first day of the study prep program. Here are the photos!

Ikea Shopping!

Looking at cheap $1 pails (we wanna use as dustbins) at BILO. We have officially become aunties man! Everywhere we go we will look out for the cheapest deal..haha. We discovered that BILO sells the cheapest Tim Tams, only $1.35! Talking about grocery shopping, I was buying pears at this small shop at Berela where I stay just now... I happily took my time to pick and choose my pears and ended up getting scolded by the shop keeper! He said I am taking such a long time and that I was damaging his pears..Sigh. Have to stop my auntie habits here, its a different culture. Observed another australian, he really just picked his fruits and go, he did not even choose! I think I will just stand at the side to look at the fruits and target those that I want then walk there and go straight for them in the future! haha

Elain and I fooling around with the really big brinjal! The veges here are extra large lor.. look at the 'dua-boo' leek!! Can make bowls of po-piah veges with that! And the carrots are those that bugs bunny eat! Am I easily amused? hmmm....

We finally went to Ikea after the grocery shopping and presenting the Ikea girrrrls...

Had a great lunch at Ikea. Decided to indulge in salmon cos it looks so irresistable!! We had 5 meatballs each too.. was really full after that and I was radiating internal heat...haha.

The 4 shopaholics who were ready to 'chiong' home to beautify their territory! Zhen was the winner, she only bought a pillow! Hmmm..does the photo remind you of the Robinsons' advert? "The sale worth waiting for..." haha

My new bed! New quilt and bedsheets! Love it man! So colourful...makes my day and makes me smile =) Most importantly, it keeps me really warm at night. So mummy, don't worry ok? =)

Alrighty! It's time to dive into my colourful sheets...will upload the rest of the photos another day! Take care everyone!

I am here!!!

So proud of myself! Finally set up a blog to update everyone about my life in Sydney! Anyone miss me back in Sunny Spore?? haha... Must appreciate the weather in Spore man. I have to gear up with clothes everytime I go out, sleep, eat...except bathe lah. Even the house is freezing cold! Miss those days when I can just wear slippers and shorts everywhere and anywhere..haha. The Aussies say this winter is one of the coldest ever...and the rain-est! Can u imagine... cold, wet, hungry and lonely...poor me....haha. No lah, the last description is to dramatise it. Not lonely but always hungry! Think I should just stay in the kitchen, keep getting caught finding for food over there. Have been snacking on nuts and nuts...hopefully I will not turn nuts!

Fresh as veges in Sydney airport! All excited to brave the new world with my 50kg worth of baran barang. Luck was on my side, brought in all my food and illegal dvds without even getting checked! Now I can really open a mama shop here...haha.

Our new home! To our horror, there isn't any lift!! My poor friends had to carry 269kg up 4 storeys. I just stood aside and gave them moral support cos of my numb fingers. But they did it! And they were rewarded with a bowl of delicious beef noodles (see below) which we ate just right below our place!

Zhen and I chose the one with the tilam on the floor...haha cos its cosy and spacious! Wan Ru and Elain chose the doubledecker and Sil has the single bedroom.

The rest of the apartment- very spacious. Has a laundry room, nice ang mo kitchen with a counter, empty living room with a shakey coffee table, dining area, a huge huge balcony...

Then we explored our surrondings...the street that we live on, the nearest railway station, the shops- they have a dvd rental shop!! 3 movies for $8, think I download better..haha. It is like a ghost town, with empty streets and closed shops...the only shops open are the mini asian supermarkets. No more heartland malls!

We walked to the nearest mall at Auburn. It was an hour walk under the rain and when we see the mall we were super happy! haha... Finally found woolies and coles and BIG W! Bought food to cook for dinner, wanted to buy quilts but they were so ex! The apples were cheap though, bought like 8 big ones for $1.5 only...felt so xing fu after that...haha.

4 of us cooked 2 dishes while Sil cleaned the house. Menu for dinner: Nice ABC soup and fresh brocoli with oyster sauce. Simple but cosy meal after a long day =)

Alrighty! Will update more of my sydney happenings again! Meanwhile, don't miss chiobu k?