The Twip - Part V; My Ride

Decided to post a quickie about the trip. Hah.. so before I start talking more about the twip, what with visits to the wineries and fish & chips places.. I figure I should talk abt my mode of transport..

that's her! a toyota axio..

rented this fella from Avis at the airport.. quite fuss free and since it’s at the airport, it’s quite convenient. Go through the customs, pick up the car, and you’re ready to drive off.. or in my case, tail behind joel’s car back to the house at duncraig.. lovely roads by the way.

So anyway, just thot it deserves a mention, since it’s like probably THE only mode of transport there.. it’s one thing to live in Singapore and know that you can take the bus/train to just abt anywhere.. the traveling time’s a bitch and you’ll probably spend a third of your life waiting for the buses in Singapore, but at least there’s a bus service to get you there.. (and no, just cos I said that, doesn’t mean I like sbs transit any better)

In the suburbs, like where the duncraig house was, there isn’t any buses of sorts.. or at least none that I would be interested in taking.. it’s not the city, so to have to take the public transport to 1)go to joel’s church, 2)go see the touristy places, 3) just get around, would probably be madness..

So anyway, my only qualms abt it would be that since I’m below 25 (November, darn!), there’s some extra surcharge of 25 bucks per day, while the basic rental is only 50.. sickening. Other than that.. it’s a good ride, feels and looks like a new car and a lovely place to drive.. =)

Facebook Madness..

49 requests.. *faint* that’s what u get for leaving a facebook account untouched since you registered it eons ago.. and now that the exams are finally over, I’ve got no excuse but to sort it out.

For those who’ve sent me a request many moons ago, here’s my apology to you for leaving the request to rot in my inbox.. =) I haven’t died, I’m still alive.. just that NTU pretty much sucks the life out of anyone..

And so if anyone is free and caring enough.. drop me a request and u can start telling me how and what to do.. I’m lazy to figure out what to do and I’m out of touch, seeing that the last networking site I used was Friendster back in poly..

Yes I know.. I’m a dinosaur.. bite me.

HOT!

Went for Wenny’s baby Kayla’s one-month-old party thing earlier.. cute little meatloaf.. and there were so many kids there.. figures that a baby’s one-month gathering is just an excuse for every other friend to bring his own kid along.. haha..

Baby Kayla!

The weather these 2 weeks has been crazy.. it’s so ridiculously warm. 29deg in the night is just madness.. and apparently I’m not the only one complaining.. even my hamsters seem to be doing weird things..

that’s hamlette sleeping on her porcelain food-hut. Took a while, but I figured that the porcelain’s probably cooler and it explains why she’s lying on it. poor girl.. crazy weather!

Was just checking out some website and the weather’s nice and cool in perth. 21deg in the day and at night, it’s now 17deg.. far cry from what we’re experiencing now.. how envious.. haha.

The Long Wait

For a quarter of a century.. I’ve apparently been waiting for this day.. sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously.. but I’ve apparently always been waiting. Now finally, after 25 years, I’m done with the very last exam paper I’ll probably have to ever sit for..

*and everyone goes YAY*

haha.. so I figured this milestone should be blogged. Haha.. now there are other things to worry abt, but for now, I shall just occupy myself with the more urgent things like slacking, playing and nua-ing.. repaying my sleep-debt and finding back that alvin who was lost amidst all the hush-hush of school-life..

FREEDOM!!

it could really just be the Greatest Day.. =)

The Twip - Part IV; Swan(less) Valley

Perth Update!

Back to the land down-under.. I could definitely get used to the way of life there, except the part where the shops close at 1700hrs (ridiculous I know).. but other than that bit, it’s really quite easy to understand why so many Singaporeans move over to stay in aus.. for that matter, just driving around is an awfully therapeutic experience.. no HDBs, no honking, inconsiderate, inpatient Singaporean drivers, no hustle-bustle of the city life.. just cruise along enjoying the view, with the cool wind blowing thru your hair and their own radio station Coast FM 97.3 playing softly in the back.. it cures any form of headache, anxiety or stress.. ahh… =)

Anyway, so after a few missed turns thanks to the Reid Highway linking to the Tonkin Highway in some tactical, inconspicuous, sneaky way.. we finally managed to find our way to get to Swan Valley.. Yet another highlight of the trip.. or twip in this case.. =P

So the story goes that Swan Valley’s quite infamous for it’s wines and chocolates and local produce and everything aussie.. it’s pretty much the place to go to, for trying their local stuff.. I haven’t been to a winery before, so it’s really quite an experience.. and yes, much to my dismay.. there are no swans in Swan Valley. wth? Hah..

view from the Swan Valley Visitor Info Centre..

It’s one thing to see pictures of the rows and rows of grapevines in magazines, and it’s a completely different thing to stand amidst them.. it’s really quite a humbling experience.. the land in aussie is like HUGE.. so these wineries are needless to say, gi-normous. One of the things that strike me on this trip is how hard-pressed we are for land here in Singapore. Everything goes upwards, from HDBs to parking lots, everything goes up. But in aussie.. there’s just so much space.. no wonder ppl like it there..

Sandalford Wines.. nice place, nice wines.. =)

the wines are quite cool.. for a lovely and silky smooth bottle of red, it costs 20bucks, and given that the exchange rate is practically 1:1, it’s quite a steal.. something that good in Singapore would cost quite abit.. given that it’s taxed so crazily.. definitely easy to turn alcoholic there.. haha.

One of the other places we went to at swan valley was the Margaret River Chocolate Factory (think Charlie’s Chocolate Factory) and Oggies Ice Creamery.. both are good, and memorable.. the choc factory’s quite cool.. delightfully smooth chocolate, and you can even try the samples there.. and when they say that Singaporeans are kiasu for free things, it’s really a stereotype.. standing around the ‘free samples’ bowl.. you see ang mohs and the likes grabbing the samples by the handfuls (and those are HUGE palms mind you) when it’s clearly stated to restrict urself to a spoonful only.. so think again, when you say Singaporeans are kiasu.. it probably applies to the human race as a whole.. =P

Chocolates and Ice-cream! My 2 indulgences.. =)

Then of course, after mucking around the Swan Valley region, we winded up at some Swan River place.. it’s one of the quieter spots which I really like. It’s simply nice and scenic.. no one around to bother you.. just stop your car, hop off and take in the view. Pleasant and relaxing.. quiet enough to just sit and be happy.. =) and I also found out that the bbq pits available (which can be found from parks to beaches) are free for all to use. These electric pits.. just turn them on and you're good to go.. just clean up after yourself. How nice.. no booking fees, no stupid paperwork/admin.. gotta love it!

tried to capture the whole view of where we were..

love this pic! new wallpaper.. hah..

as you can tell, I’m pretty thankful I got my polarizing filter.. nice deep blue skies.. can’t imagine having to take my pictures without it.. I’d kick myself silly.. =)

so as you can see, it’s not THAT hard to like perth.. just a few minutes after touching down and I’m in love with it already.. needless to say, the crazy company over at duncraig definitely sealed the deal.. haha.. it might just feel a little less magical without the ppl around.. then of course, there’re other things that happened like Fremantle and of course, dear Joel’s wedding.. which is probably the ultimate highlight of the trip.. hah..

..shall save that for the next time though.. =) so much for now..

Belated Birthday

Almost forgot about mummy’s birthday dinner pictures. Had a nice dinner this year at Orchard Hotel’s coffee house, although I was SUPER late for trying to get her some flowers.. anyway, food was good, company was good and the reaction of her receiving the flowers was priceless.. =)

Like daddy said, it was a smart move to buy her flowers above everything else. Hah.. now I’ll know what to get next year. =)

that's us at the coffee house.. this is like the 4th picture and the only one that turned out well.. so much for waiters having steady hands.. hahaha.. =P

mummy and daddy..

girls and boys.. =)

at the lobby of orchard hotel..

While I should have been studying..

dis•trac•tion
n.

1. The act of distracting or the condition of being distracted.
2. Something, especially an amusement, that distracts.

While I should have been studying.. I find a thousand-and-one other things to do. A thousand and one things vie for my attention.. and I willingly subject myself to them..

*slap forehead*

'I wanna go out and play..'

Mid-Way

It’s the halfway mark! 2 down and 2 to go.. somehow, this semester seems to be lacking the juice for that final push. Hah.. lethargy totally sets in. I’m so looking forward to the end of my exams EVER, but yet I’m dreading to actually have to go through the exams. Hah..

All in, I’m glad that 2 papers are over.. just 2 more to go! =)

Oh and I came across a picture of a lady bug thanks to kaiqi.. if you hadn’t known, I’m not one for bugs. Like SERIOUSLY, all sorts of bugs don’t go well with me.. but this one warrants some attention. It’s probably an exception to the whole bug thing.. quite a cute little fella.. it's still hideous (since it’s a bug, and yes, I'm biased), but it actually looks quite pretty.. how often do u see a bright yellow bug?

as you can tell, I really need a motivation to study..

D-3 Day

3 days to the first paper.. it’s that feeling as the tension mounts again. And once it comes, it’ll prob be a head-long dive all the way till it ends.. this though, I’m not really looking forward to the end. What the heck, ANYWAY..

Don’t feel like touching my books for now so thot I’ll blog abt something/anything/everything.. got me a few pictures of my furballs sleeping.. somehow, they look awfully blissful when they’re sleeping. Lucky chaps, eat sleep yawn, repeat.

Omelette and Hamlette..

sweet slumber.. =)

Latest earwax: U2’s One. Heard it at Joel’s wedding dinner, this guy hannis played and sang it. Figured that every exam period should have a theme song, so this would probably be it for this final one. And speaking of him, off you go! Should be reaching in a couple of hours.. so fun. I also wanna go. Have a good trip and a great time bro.. Bon Voyage! HOOAH.

The Twip - Part III; Life’s a Beach

Decided to have another update about the trip, since I’m pretty much missing the place again.. =) Well, apparently I wasn’t too aware of perth and it’s beautiful beaches.. when you mention beaches in Australia, usually the names that come to my mind would be Gold Coast and the likes.. abit suah koo of me I know, but that’s abt all I know.. so it seems that perth’s actually quite famous for their beaches and just a short drive away from our house at duncraig, there’s a really nice stretch of beach.. just at the west end of the Whitford exit.

Mullaloo Beach. Funny name, but really really nice beach. It’s probably quite typical of any of the beaches in perth.. but for a Singaporean who’s pretty much stuck on mainland.. such a beach is really quite something.

Unlike our artificial, man-made siloso beach, these are au naturel. The soft, white sand isn’t ‘imported’ from elsewhere, refined and then dumped along a beach to make it look impressive.. it’s just the way it is.. the water’s also a nice crisp green.. that’s so clear and inviting.. something somewhat different from what I’m used to.. pity we didn't plan to visit a beach beforehand else I’d have brought my beach gear along..

footprints.. =)

And yes, I found out there were topless beaches in perth too.. albeit abit too late. *darn*

The Big Bubble

If you’re anything like me, then you probably know just enough of the world’s financial system to get by, and pretty much know that we’re all in trouble.. beyond that, nothing more than an investment idiot.. so while snooping around earlier, I found these 2 videos that pretty much explained the whole Credit Crisis nonsense that happened what with all the sub-prime mortgages and stuff..

Give it run, it’s a nice easy-to-follow look at how the whole system came crashing down.. and you can see how fragile the whole system really is, one prick and it'll really go bust.. =)

Part I


Part II

April

It’s april! That’s fast.. whatever happened to the past 12 weeks that went by just like that. Hah..

Well, quick updates:

Found an interesting software. WavePad Sound Editor.. was trying to edit this sound file and went to dig on the net.. apparently this one’s quite an idiot-proof software. Easy to use, has loads of features and the best part, it’s free. Quite amazing.. you can pay and get some extended version but really, the features in this free version’s quite solid already.. so I’m happy with it. You can go google for it, or just get it here.

easy, simple to use and free!

Are you a listener of Class 95? I am.. or rather, I was. Used to be quite happy with the fact that I can stream it right to my comp.. so I can listen to it while at my work.. don’t need another device to listen to the radio.

But apparently, all good things come to an end at some point in time.. MediaCorp apparently has some legal issues (cos they’ll have to pay more copyright fees to stream their shows online) and so they’ve decided, until further notice, that they will stop all streaming services. Bummer..

So while looking around the net for something else to listen to, I tried my luck to find Coast 97.3 which entertained me while driving around in perth.. nice and soothing rock, my kind of music. But nope, couldn’t find it either.. bummer.

yes, I’m still missing perth.. =(