Weekends in Melbourne

Today for the Blogtember challenge, we're only supposed to share pictures!

Here are some of the pictures I took during my 2-week stint in Melbourne. We didn't do a lot of sightseeing as 75% of the time, we were working.. hard. Here are the finer parts of the trip I enjoyed.

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If I could relive this day...

It was more than just a memory. This day was, in my humble opinion, the most perfect day of 2012. It was the day where 12 friends who had been travelling far and wide for quite awhile, reunited on a single island.

The morning was a little angst-ridden, but the day got better as it rolled by. While we were having lunch, Farhan happened to ride by in his bike and catcalled at us, the way only a Singaporean would do to another Singaporean. It had been a month since I last saw him as he had been in Cambodia, travelling. I was thrilled to see him.

Later in the evening, Joey, who had been sketchy about his plans before, had showed up at the doorstep of the hostel we stayed at asking the boys if they had a charger. Him being there made everything just PERFECT.

It was a semi-relaxed night, chilling round the campfire at the beach and dancing to the tunes that seemed to escalate in intensity as the night wore on. Dinah and Helmi suggested getting a massage and I went with them. I will never say no to a massage in Thailand. Come on.

2 hours later, I stepped outside and Joey was waiting for me with two cups of... whatever it was. I stared at him, dumbfounded, couldn't believe he actually remembered our pact to 'chug' at least a drink down every time we saw each other (a pact that lasted even till today). We went back to the campfire, where we last left everyone else and found that nobody was there anymore. I craned my neck to look for the signs of a familiar face and I found them.... in the sea.

My friends were prancing around in the shallow waters, fully dressed and completely sober. Before I knew it, Farhan literally scooped me up and dunked me into the water with him. That idiot, thank God I managed to take out my phone from my pockets and dumped it with the rest of our belongings.

There was a whole load of drama that night, a lot of interesting stories unfolding and a lot of promises to keep mouths shut were made. But despite all that, it was a perfect night. I wouldn't mind reliving it all over again.

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BLOGTEMBER - This is my way of catching up with what I've missed [1&2]

I've decided to join in Jenni's Blogtember fun and TRY to blog everyday in September. I currently have some free time right now, so I can ensure daily posts. *fingers and toes crossed* 

I will be breaking down the four days I've missed into two parts. Two will be done today, and the other two will be up tomorrow. Do look out for them! :D

Tuesday, Sept. 3: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

As many of you already know, I live in Singapore.. a tiny island in Southeast Asia. Contrary to popular belief, English is taught as the first language in schools. We do understand English, we speak it, read it and probably spell a lot better than native English speakers. Singapore is a cosmopolitan city with a multi racial and multi cultural society. There is more to Singapore than its Marina Bay Sands and other touristy spots. Do let me know if you're heading this way. I'm more than happy to take you around. :)

I do a fair bit of travelling, though not as frequent as I'd love to, hence my perspective on certain issues is somewhat different. I tend to be less critical than most Singaporeans about living conditions here. Singaporeans tend to complain A LOT about public transport. Be it about trains breaking down during rush hour, or the infrequency of some bus services when you need them most, Singaporeans complain about everything. Don't get me wrong, I get annoyed with the public transport too. 

But I complain less because I've been on packed Thailand trains where people were sitting on the floors of the aisles and the toilets because there were no seats for them; I've been on Melbourne trams that are confusing as hell; it's rare to find a nice Cambodian tuktuk driver who won't rip you off and don't get me started on Malaysia's public buses... 

I am thankful for the luxuries we have here in comparison to people in other parts of the world. I am thankful that food is cheap and readily available here, that shops close at 10 pm instead of 6 pm so we can have some form of social life after work... I am thankful. 

My advise is: Travel far, travel wide.. learn from the experiences, it'll humble you.

Wednesday, September 4: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? 

If I had three months, and all the money in the world... I would pack up my bags and flashpack Europe. Yes, flashpack. I am quite tired of budgeting my travels... staying in mediocre hostels and getting bitten by bedbugs. I wanna stay in nice hotels, eat great food at beautiful mountainside restaurants, swim in the crystal clear beaches of Mykonos, Greece.. drive down Italy's countryside etc.

One can hope!

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My latest obsession: Yankee Candles

I've been lusting over these candles for a long time since I read the wonderful reviews written about it all over blogosphere. Imagine my delight when someone walked by me yesterday holding the paper bag.

They have all kinds of wonderful scents in the store, I was spoiled for choice. I am not a fan of the floral scented ones because they generally gave me a headache. My personal favourites had to be the ones that were food related e.g. Christmas Cookie and Vanilla Lime (smells like the Solero Lime ice cream, I swear). I bought tiny sized ones (3 for SGD 9.90) to try, will upgrade to a bigger jar once I find something I'd like to grace my room with.

Currently scenting my room: November Rain

Perfect for the current gloomy mood in Singapore, it's more sexy and... well, masculine.. than fresh. It made my room smell like I've had a very nice smelling man parked himself in there. Hee.

5 things I learnt in Melbourne

The past 25 days have been the most stressful, most intense days of my entire life. The initial training for my new job hadn't been easy. Every single day had been hours and hours of taking in new information and retaining them. We had practical assessments and written exams almost every day. But at the same time, we had fun. 25 days later, we graduated from Ground School, exhausted, but it was well worth our efforts.

Here are the 5 things I learnt during the course of 12 days in Melbourne:

1. Stock a variety of foodstuff

We couldn't cook in the hotel, and the school had only two serviceable microwaves. Both our hotel and school were miles away from any kind of civilisation, hence we didn't have much choice in terms of food. My roommate, Seri and I stocked on microwaveables, but in just three days, we were in need of proper food.  During our next trip to the supermarket, we grabbed salads, roast chicken and some turkey ham to tide us over the remaining days. Still miss home cooked food.

After 3 days microwaveables, even Macdonalds tasted so damn good.

2. Who knew barter trading still existed?

Okay, not quite. But if Seri and I didn't have something, we'd post an 'advertisement' on the group chat page and wait for a reply. We've been lucky so far, getting detergent, dishwashing soap, eggs.. among other things in exchange for a loaf of bread or fork and spoon.

3. Strike a conversation and be good friends with the hotel staff

It doesn't pay to be mean to anyone. So have a nice chat with the hotel staff while they see what they could do about the complaint of your bedbug infested room or the fact that the housekeeping did a mediocre job of cleaning our room.. and who knows, you might get a free ride to the city!

4. Have some time to yourself, break away for a little while.

When you see the same faces every single day for almost 25 days... there may come a point where you just need some me time. I broke away from the pack for a teeny while to have a quick lunch with a fellow Couchsurfer I met while he was on a holiday in Singapore, and together, we explored the graffiti alleys of Melbourne! Later, when he left for work, I continued strolling down the city, taking in the sights and sound.. and the cold.

5. Have an awesome time, and try not to do anything stupid.

We will remember these two weeks for the studies, exams and assessments.. but all the fun and laughter, and the mischief we got into were the ones that kept us from going completely boring. We had random crashes in random people's rooms at random hours; pyjama party picnic and even in-between-studying soaks in the jacuzzi upstairs!

BEST PART OF GROUND SCHOOL:
One of the colder nights, we headed to the airport to board a freshly landed plane to have a look-see. We had tasks to complete, scenarios to act out and buttons we needed to press. The most magical moment for me was the opportunity to head into the cockpit and got offered to sit in the co-pilot's seat. I was flailing with excitement inside. I was sitting in the First Officer seat in a real life, serviceable aircraft. My life is complete.

WORST PART OF GROUND SCHOOL:
Hours of study, stress, exams, assessments.

How's it going, errbodayye!

Work had been insane the past week. Exams, exams and MORE exams. Today marked the final day of our 10-day training in Singapore. It had been intense, gruelling and fun at the same time. Tomorrow 21 of us will head to Melbourne, Australia for the second part of our training. More things to cram into our exhausted brains, and more exams.

Bring it on.

What I Ate Wednesday: HARI RAYA edition

Just like how turkey is to Thanksgiving and Eggnog is to Christmas, we too have a few festive dishes. Hari Raya will never be complete with them. I looked forward to these every time because they're only a twice a year occurrence. Yum.

Lontong: Plain rice cake

Lauk Lodeh: Assorted vegetables, fermented beans and beancurd in coconut based gravy.

Sambal Sotong: Squid with spicy chilli.

Sambal Goreng: Green beans, beancurd, fermented beans and meat parts stir-fried in spices.

 Rendang: Traditionally Beef, now available in Chicken or Mutton variety, cooked in spices. My favourite.

Lepat : Glutinous rice cake with beans

 Serundeng: Sauteed grated coconut with spices. To be eaten with lontong.

We'd eat all these for a day or two before we get sick of it because these dishes are traditionally served at homes on the first day of Hari Raya (or Eid-ul-Fitr as many parts of the world call it). Still, I look forward to it every year.