Memoirs of the end of Term 1

Yup, you read it right. My first term is done... well, at least the classes are done... now it's just the assignment deadlines to handle. [sobs]

The sunset's really early these days and often I miss to take a good photograph of my favourite sunset...

This is because I'm normally in college until after the sunset, doing work. Today I decided to just go home and watch my favourite sunset... I'm an odd fellow aren't I?

Anyway, like I was saying today was the last day we have classes... So I was running around with my camera and taking some random shots... (Man Yee & Yoong Yoong - both in my S&S group)

This morning I had system & services (S&S) class... I was doing the flash animation until 5am... and dragged myself out of bed at 7.30am... (Jaslyn)

To get to my 9am class (the earliest of all my classes this term).. At least I know that I will definately opt for later classes if I can... Hard to get up in the morning [lazy grin] (Sarah - in my S&S group)

Was suppose to have a mock presentation but everyone was like... lazy mode (Lee - in my S&S group). So we just showed our progress... which was my flash animation (which I worked from 8pm to 5am)

Then after class, I waited for Evelyn to come from Boxhill with lunch. She went there to change her air ticket to a later date since we had extensions and presentations. (Naomi - our cool cat artist in our 3d group)

Since I was sleepy, I took a short nap in the library (wasn't really a nap, more like rest eyes, brain still going on) (Peter - our talented sketch artist and erm... unfortunate leader in our 3d group)

Had a great lunch (fried kuey teow with chicken satay sauce & shanghai dumplings) (Jiew - our only more experienced maya member in our 3d group. Not photographed was Meredith - the poor dear broke her right wrist so she can really write / hold the mouse so she's our documentation keeper)

Was tempted to escape 3d class really...

But seeing that we have like a lot of work due... At least I was there for mental support I suppose (I did some of the modelling (the boat, seagull & fish) and creating blend shapes for the main character)

There were other groups as well... (Danny)

All working to finish as much as they can by the deadline this coming friday (6th June) (Jayna)

With so many many deadlines due... I'm really a mess. (Jayna & Steve - yea, there's another Steve in my class other than the lecturer Steve)

It got to a point that I was worried that I couldn't tackle it well... (Steve)

And Steve even came to me and he saw how worried I was and told me to smile... I was a little dazed, tired and worried.. (Steve again)

I'll get them done, by hook or by crook. But first a word from our sponsors... (KIDDING KIDDING). These are just some goodies / rewards to get me through the deadlines... (Arnotts~! Love them)

Actually the only reason I bought this was I wanted a new bottle... the old one I had was a mineral water bottle that I had since Feb and been using and reusing it... XD Thought it was high time to get a new one... (Yeo's green tea with honey lemon flavour - I really like the taste btw)

Lastly some more biscuits... [grin] Now I'll need to get back to work... I'll need to drag myself to college tomorrow after swimming (haven't gone swimming in a long while - it's autumn after all...) Until next time, cheers~!

Lil Blue Envelope & Washing Machines

When I saw this in my mailbox today, I was surprised that it was a mail addressed to me... I thought it was some food since the photo in the front suggested that. Hehehe... Thanks for the mail, keng yen. Love getting mails. Your reply will come shortly. Wonder why I bother writing this since she's the type of person not to read blogs.

Today was a break day for me (self proclaimed). So I set to send my clothes (t-shirts, pants, pillow cases, bedsheet, quilt cover, towel) to wash.. I handwash my delicates, thank you very much. I used to use my t-shirts and pants by hand as well, that's until my right hand began to ache... so now I'll just leave the washing to the washing machine

I had so much clothes waiting for me to wash, I had to utilize 2 washing machine... and then use 2 dryers... That's AUS 3 x 4 = AUS 12 (RM36) gone to money laundrying (i mean doing laundry). I must look like a weirdo to be hauling 2 big plastic bags full of clothes.... Ah well, love the feeling of having good, clean clothes. Until next time then, cheers~!

Fly me to the moon

'I want to fly away from here...'


Was talking to a friend and she was feeling down. Decided to make this photoshop painting for her to feel better... and for me to feel better too. First time doing this fast style painting... I didn't really turn out the way I had envisioned it but I enjoy unexpected outcome. [grin]

I want to escape from work, Work is a killer. Hmmmm... I went to college yesterday (24/5) after going to Su Jin's place to eat dinner (Thank you Thank You thank YOU). I left her house at 8.30pm to head to school. Yea... I was going to college at 8.30pm... I needed to get out of the house... Got work to do.

There were other people in the computer lab (It's now open 24 hours until 7th June to accommodate us last minute students) but there were only a handful of us. Then came 12 midnight. I was still playing around with the software I was now rusty at (after effects) so I didn't have anything to save but 2 students lamented when all the computers reset themselves.... Most of them left, leaving me and two other guys...

But they left at 2am, leaving me alone in the lab. I turned on my laptop and set the music to play (set a good atmosphere to work). The security guard came in to check on me a few times... the first time he asked if I was going to stay long, I was a little shocked and just nodded. He came again at 5am when I was taking a break... He asked if I was going back, to which I replied I'll be leaving on the 1st train back at 8am. Before he left, he told me that I was the last person in the building... [shrugs]

At least I got my work going and I got to watch the beautiful sunrise... I don't see sunrise that often. I reached home at 8.30am... to which I crawled to bed. Will be doing work tonight too... [sigh] Until next time, cheers~!

Random random

=start transmitting random post=

Deadlines are looming near... Seriously. I'm panicking and I'd run around like a headless chicken except I'm really very tired. So I turn to doodling random stuff instead. Like skelly up here... ^___^ He's mine... Go dig your own one.

Since I'm being random anyway... I'm not an early riser. I do wake up early but always goes back to bed... On days that I need to get up but really lazy, I'll roll out of bed (literally) and walk to open the window... Then I'll just lay on the floor... (should someone pick my lock and come in, I'd look like a corpse on the floor). The reason why this would eventually wake me up is because the floor is not comfortable and I'm too far from the bed to slink back into bed. However, it's not 100% working solution should I roll myself nearer to bed...



This morning (23/5), when I went to open the window, I popped my head out and saw fog... At first I thought I was my eyes playing tricks on me. It wasn't... Today was the coldest record by far Melbourne has come to experience (quoting for a classmate).



Apparently it was 3 degrees today... the kind that you breath out and you see vapour... yea... These days it has been freaking cold... I'm dressed as warm as I can. Should it get colder, I'll just wear more layer and camp by my heater...



Oh, I told you guys I'm learning maya right. Above is a boat I modelled then coloured. I then rendered the boat and the water in Maya, brought the picture to photoshop to add the shadow of the boat in the water... Then I envisioned snow (cold here marr...) but it's still autumn (maple leaves come into play..), but then the snow didn't look much like snow... Let's just say they're little friendly spirits then and the boat is now a spirit river boat. XD

This lil guy's fuzzy, as in his name is FUZZY DOG. I drew him without even knowing he'd turn out this way. I started with the random head shape and from there, I drew the eyes, etc... I can't really draw (seriously) but I'm trying. Hope you enjoyed my randomness...

=end of random post transmission=

Parcel, Extensions & Deadlines

Hey kids~! What's more interesting than more photos of more parcels (20th May)? Hahah~! I assure you I'll have something interesting to write in the 2nd half of this post. [grin]
You must be wondering why I keep getting parcels.. Well, aside from the supplement drink powder I take for my breakfast (yes, I'm taking supplement drink for breakfast - look up herbalife if you want...)
I got my mum to send some long sleeve tops I so brilliantly forgot to pack. Oooo... look a bag full of kingston stuff... Nah, it's just a bag full of my long sleeve stuff... I mean what kingston stuff can you put in the bag to fill it up (pendrives, ram cards... that's about it right?)

Now I should be able to survive better. Heheh~! Thanks mumsie for the tops~!

Right, as for something more interesting than parcels and receiving clothes through mail... On monday (19th May), I was in class waiting for my turn for the critic session for my individual project. Was waiting for my tutor, Shaun to come around and see my progress (which i admit isn't much... and it's due on the 16th June... good thing we had an extension of deadline).

He was talking to some Indonesian students in Malay. I was so shocked. Seriously, my tutor was speaking in Malay and he's an ang moh (super sorry for the crude label). I admit I do have some sort of stereotyping of them only being able to communicate English (which is true for the majority by the way).

Anyway, then he turned to me and saw that I could understand what he was saying. Then my little critic session was more or less conducted in Malay... Hahahah~! He could speak simple Malay but still I was surprised / impressed / amused... [grin] Guess I shouldn't be so surprised since he does deal with an international market (he's part time tutor / full time comic artist). I found out later that he might know how to speak chinese as well. [lol] Will try and see if that is true.

Another interesting thing, again about another tutor. [shrugs] My friend, Evelyn comes to my room to do work after working in school and she showed me an interesting youtube video of my tutor for New Tech class speaking Japanese (not your full good standard one but still). I couldn't catch most of the things he said since I was neither fluent in Japanese and he had a strong Australian accent while speaking Japanese. Hahah~! I don't know the link and my computer clears it's history so too bad guys. XD You'll just have to take my word for it... plus the title of his video was something like "My Japanese Suck because..."

Aside from these little things, I'm pretty busy, trying to meet my deadline. The fact that I work slow doesn't help... [sigh] Until next time then, Cheers~!

Melbourne Japanese Festival

(Special note: I can't spell Japanese food to save my life... I've put the correct spelling but I've also left the initial mistakes so that we can all laugh at my mistakes, peace~! Thanks foxy~! [kisses])

Being a good girl on thursday and friday (where I dragged myself to school to do work from morning until night) was tiring. I can already imagine hating working life... Hahahah~!

Anyway I used Saturday as my unwind day and Sunday I went to Box Hill (It's like travelling from PJ to Bangsar, I think). Ermm.... maybe further since by train, I sat for 40 minutes? I wasn't timing my journey so sorry, hehe. We left the house and boarded the 10.42am train.
So yea. I came to Box Hill with a friend / classmate / flatmate (she's all that, lol) Evelyn. The first thing we did was go to eat lunch because apparently at lunchtime, you'll have a hard time with the queues and stuff... I would understand this. Imagine being in Midvalley on a public holiday and you want to find a place to eat.... Yea, that bad...

Anyway, we bought plenty to eat. [grin] I admit I did spent quite a lot today... [guilty] But I normally quite thrifty and I don't go out too often... Anyway, this is
okonomiyaki {edit: ermmm... okonomaki or was it onokoyaki?} Hahaha~! It's Japanese Veggie Pancake with bbq sauce = Aus 5. Yum~!
All the food I got I shared with Evelyn so... it's fun. She's holding the ermmm
yakiniku {yakinuki...} It's grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce. I bought 1 stick which was Aus 3.

Ermm.. I had a pork bun as well... That was also Aus 3. End of round 1. Then round 2 began. Hahah~! Yea, we ate somemore.
We had ermmm... curry korotte. It's something like Japanese hash brown but made with sweet potato and had dashes of curry powder, served with sweet sauce. This one was Aus 1.
Takoyaki~! Does this need explanation? Ermm... it's freshly made ball... consisting of hmmm... flour, egg and octopus in the middle? Hahah~! 6 for Aus 6.
And gyoza~! It's something like fried dumpling served with fish sauce I believe... 7 for Aus 5. End of round 2.
So taking a short break from the food (Heheh... ), we walked around the ermm... Box Hill Town Hall where they have various exhibits of Japanese Art and other stuff. Here's the flower arranging exhibit. There was even a bonsai exhibition.... oh wait, they were selling the bonsai, would that still be an exhibition or sales gallery? [shrugs] There was a bonsai going at Aus 1400... not for poor folks like me...

Two flowers in a photo. Heheheh~! There was quite a bit going on there really... Most of the time I was too excited about things I forgot to photograph it. XD There was a tea ceremony session which we didn't go (ticket was Aus 2) and I don't think it's worth it since the environment was more like a detached demonstration... I prefer kneeling on tatami mats, not sitting on metal folding chairs...

There were performances.. Singing, Taiko demonstration... In the event list, there were Kendo, Kimono contests, etc... Oh, I forgot to mention that there were quite a handful of people who wore yukatas because they get to go in for free whereas those who don't, we have to pay Aus 3. [shrugs]

Round 3 of food. *Ding~!* Hahahah~! Here's something that I found awkward. Tokyo sweets. Latest craze... If you ask me, it's nothing new to me.. The concept is the same as our kaya balls we have at home, except here, they subsitute kaya with custard, chocolate and caramel. [shrugs] What the people don't know won't hurt them I guess...

I bought strawberry daifuku as well (which I'm saving as a night snack tonight, it's sitting beside me now)
There was a train set display too... ^___^ I'd like to see all the details if we had the time... but yea...
Origami~! ^___^ There was even a place where you could play go and
shogi {shogu?} (not sure of the word... but what I meant was japanese chess). Then there's your normally anime and manga stuff... Visit Japan trips... Learn Japanese... Those kind of stuff...
I bought some stuff too. The cute brown one is a felt cake. Cute~! Then there were the cute little cards (One has an origami bird the other a cute little mouse). I'll figure out who gets what when I get back. I'm slowly buying random things as souvenirs as time goes by so that I won't be stuck having to buy them at the end... Don't have a lot but yea...

All in all, I had a fun time. Oh~! I almost forgot. On the way back as I was taking the escalator down, I saw a friend whom I had lost contact since SAM (Melissa Quah). Hahaha~! It's such a small world. Hope I'll get to meet up with her one of these days. Alright. Good long post. Need to get back to work now. [sigh] Until next time, Cheers~!

The Library

13th May

What's new here? Nothing much really. Sure there're quite a few events going on in the city... but who has the time to go and even if I do, who would want to go by themselves? Everyone's busy with the exam period so close (I don't have exams but I have projects deadlines to meet, which I think is even worse...)

So comes along tuesday, where I have no class and no mood to do work (about the only time I have the mood to do work is when my deadlines are gnawing my foot away..). Decided to explore the library here instead of rotting away in my room.

Yea, been here for almost 3 months and only now I'm going to see the library. [shrugs] I've been to the library for my college campus in Prahran of course but not for the one here in Hawthorn. Being a swinburne student, I have access to the books in both campus. Sweet. I'm just a ding-a-ling for not making use of this privilege... (I will now~!)

My initial reason for coming to the library was to find out what softwares the library computers have... working with the laptop can only allow that much of RAM and stability of platform. So you can imagine to my surprise that ALL the computers were occupied and many were using their own laptops as well... here's what's surprising, there are 4 floors to this library~!! There wasn't even much available workspace for me to work on [sigh]

So I settled to browsing through all the books that they have here. Most of the design related books are at Prahran of course, but I'm a girl of many interest. I was tempted to borrow many many books (children dreams, hynopsis, japanese picture book, xhtml, etc... )but decided to get 2 since this would be my first time borrowing the books here.

Being a swinburne student, I'm allowed 40 books max... I'm like "what? 40 books? I can barely get pass 3 books, you're offering me 40 books? That's very generous of you..." that's until you speculate there's a reason why they would want you to borrow 40 books... Think along the lines of ermm... late returns fees. 1 book 1 day = 0.75, you times that by 40 and yea... Killer fees.

I'll stick to borrowing 2-3 books, thank you. Hehe... Until next time then. Cheers~!

Puppies~!

On the 10th May 2008 at 8.11pm, I received a msn message from my younger sis telling me that our pet dog, brownie had given birth to 4 pups. A little later, the fifth one come and joined the rest. 2 boys and 3 girls. Sqee~!
That's our new mummy dog and her pups. She's a dobermann, guard dog type. Comparing the mummy dog to me, she would come up to my thighs... Approximately la.
On the other hand, the pups are so small (a few days old) that they fit the size of your palm. But when they get to about two weeks old, they're about the size of an adult cat (size would be from hand to elbow)
So yea, we welcome now our fourth generation of dobermann into our family [1st generation - Kelly (passed away), 2nd generation - jojo (still with us), 3rd generation - brownie (the new mummy dog)]

P/S: Just found out today that we lost one of the male pups... [sobs] They're so vulnerable at this stage. My family is doing their best to care for the remaining 4. Cheers~!

Tagged by Johnny~!

"This would be my very first tag I'm doing... I think... Hahah~! Thanks Johnny"


Rules:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they got tagged and to ask them to play and read your blog.

Starting time: 11.45pm Sunday 11th May 2008

Name: Joanne Chan
Sisters: 2
Brothers: 0
Shoe size: 10
Height: Ermmm.... 175cm i think... [don't really remember]

Where do you live: Now? Glenferrie, Melbourne. If not, Malaysia
Favourite drinks: chocolate milk, rose syrup with milk
Favourite breakfast: bread with bacon

Have you ever been on a plane: lost count...
Swam in the ocean: yes... don't fancy it
Fallen asleep in school: during boring lectures...
Broken someone's heart: not that i know of.
Fell off your chair: once... trying to reach for something and it was too far.
Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: nope
Saved e-mails: yes. i collect emails...

What is your room like: my underground lair
What's right beside you: my computer mouse?
What is the last thing you ate: dinner. fried calamari with cream soup and bread.

Ever had chicken pox: yes... it was torture
Sore throat: yes... who hasn't?
Stitches: nope. thank god. just battle scars (i'm a clumsy person)
Broken nose: rubbed my nose too hard once... nose kept bleeding... only found out it was broken when i saw the doctor...

Do you believe in love at first sight: yup
Like picnics: yup. let's go picnic again, zwei, sammy, jess, foxy~!!!
Who was the last person you danced with: danced?? when? errr... my younger sis i think when we were learning the ball room dancing on a cruise ship...
Last made you smile: Magitra (through msn) [grin]
You last yelled at: my laptop... for suddenly hanging itself... while i was doing work... which luckily i had saved... but still...

Today did you:
Talk to someone you like: yes
Kissed anyone: nope
Get sick: i hurt myself... does that count?
Talked to an ex: no... no ex to talk to in the first place...
Miss someone: yes
Eat: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper (oreo cookies) [grin]

Best feeling in the world: watching whose line is it anyway, laughing until i was really on the floor, crying from laughing too much.
Do you sleep with stuffed animals: used to... but no longer, nose sensitive
What's under your bed: here? extra blankets and an empty luggage bag. back at home.. too many to note here... hahah
Who do you really hate: my lazy self
What time is it now: 12.37am

Random:
Q: Is there a person who is on your mind right now: yes
Q: Do you have any siblings: refer to previously asked question
Q: Do you want children: [shrugs]
Q: Do you smile often: as often as i can
Q: Do you like your hand-writing: when it's legible
Q: Are your toenails painted: nope

Q: Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: my bed at home.. oh wait, that's still mine... erm.. my younger sis' bed. it's comfy~!
Q: What colour shirt are you wearing: black and collared.. i wear this to sleep..
Q: What were you doing at 7:00pm yesterday: eating dinner probably...

Q: I can't wait till: I get back to Malaysia~!
Q: When did you cry last: ermmm... a few weeks back when I really really really missed home...
Q: Are you a friendly person: i try to be?
Q: Do you have any pets: my home is a practical zoo... at the moment, 1 cat, 1 terrapine, fishes, 2 dogs.. oh wait, my dog gave birth to 5 puppies (so that's 7 dogs)

Where is the person you have feelings for right now? no idea... at home
Did the last person you held hands with mean anything to you now? in this context you're asking about bf right? like i said no bf to talk about....
Do you sleep with the TV on? nope. no tv in my room. hahaha

What are you doing right now? Filling this tag, questionnaire, thing~!
Have you ever crawled through a window? yes i did. I locked myself out of the room and thank god i left the window unlocked.. though it's climb through it not crawl...
Can you handle the truth? truth about what?

Are you too forgiving? [shrugs] depends on the situation.
Are you closer to your mother or father? neither. I love them both very very much and equally. [grin]
Who was the last person you cried in front of? Pui Yee
How many people can you say you've really loved? family (4), friends (ermmm... lost count) come back later...

Do you eat healthy? sometimes.
Do you still have pictures of you & your ex? No ex to take one with...
Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you? yup
How often do you go to church? don't go there to pray though... i do go to church to photograph the interior and stain-glass windows [grin] but not often, normally when i travel

If you're having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to? my laptop to find someone to talk to...
Are you loud or quiet most of the time? loud loud loud hahahah
Are you confident? nope

5 things I was doing 10 years ago.. (how old would i be... 13?)
1- just started secondary school in assunta (love being an assuntarian)
2- cycling around the neighbourhood with sunz
3- girl guides
4- going for tuitions
5- making very good friends in assunta

5 things on my to-do list today (Monday now...)
1- my assignments
2- go grocery shopping
3- think about going to class or not...
4- not jump off the building for not doing work during the weekends.. (i do this every monday)
5- enjoy the sunset

5 snacks I enjoy
1- oreos
2- mint chocolate
3- junk food
4- dried apricots
5- kacang

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1- put some money in FD to generate even more money
2- get my dream house (decorated with ikea furnitures, dedicated concert room for puiyee's mini, libraries of books, etc)
3- get all the game platforms and their games (playstation, playstaion 2, xbox, wii, etc)
4- travel the world and do photography
5- make sure that my parents are well taken care of ^__^

5 of my bad habits
1- lazy
2- i apologise too much...
3- play too many games
4- procrastinate
5- my priorities are messed up..

5 places I have lived in
1- shah alam (kindergarten)
2- old klang road
3- my dad's house when he was still based in vietnam
4- hotels, motels, apartments when my family and i travel...
5- Here in glenferrie, melbourne

5 jobs I've had
1- Student (still doing this)
2- Freeloader (he best job)
3- Data Entry Clerk (at my mum's office)
4- 'Free'lancer (I do stuff for my dad or my elder sis)
5- Photographer (for my cousin's wedding)

5 people I tag (totally up to you if you guys want to do this)
1- Foxy
2- Zwei
3- Samantha Pong
4- Pui Yee
5- Darren (because you totally need a blog update)

Mother's Day

Hey all, it's mother's day. A day where you tell your mummy just how special and well loved she is and ermmm... make dad pay for the bills if you're not working yet. XD That's why we then celebrate daddy's day... [gets smacked] Too bad I'm stuck here...

with work, stuff and things stacked up all over the place... [sigh] So I decided to go to the city to get me some clothes... Normal girls would now state 'yay' but for me it's erk..
So yea, the weather here is autumn... Cold and stuff.. Temp about 13-16. It's not that cold for some I know... but note that this is the first time for me to live in this kind of weather. And after chatting with the locals, they say it can get as cold as 8 in winter... really need to be prepared (I took this photo using the camera's timer mode for this photo...)
So after much delay (had been telling myself to get a good winter coat for weeks), I went to the city... I got a little lost per usual but it's good since that means more exercise for me. Heheh~! (That's the library)
There's quite a few interesting art / performing arts that happen in the weekends in the city. Take this lady as an example.
The first time I saw a people mimicking a white statue was in San Francisco... Another thing that was happening in the streets was ermmm... scientology protest. Okk... moving on.
So yea... I was walking around looking for Target shopping complex (got lost finding for it). So I popped in at Myer (another shopping complex, only this one sells branded stuff). For a person who depended on my mum for clothes shopping (I dislike clothes shopping and am totally grateful to mum), trying to find clothes in Myer and seeing price tag ranging high in the 100s... I didn't even dare to walk near the clothing... [shudders]

I managed to find my way to Target eventually. I bought this [points to the photo above] Cost me Aus 20. It was an option from buying the cashmere one that I really really really like but it's too expensive to buy (it was Aus70 man, that's RM210 for a sweater). I'm not that whacked to buy it... would spend it on a good winter coat instead (which I still fail to find)
Anyway, after going in and out of the fitting room three times and only triumphantly walking out with one sweater (I'm still too attached to money to buy clothes), I decided to buy another item to make me happy...
yummy cream puffs~! Hahah~! It was quite nice, though I'd state that the ones that Sarah bought for me in Subang Jaya was much better (fresh out of the oven). [grin] I'll end this post by stating "I love you so so so very very very much mumsie~!". Until next time then, Cheers~!