Old Gold

While I was cleaning up my desk in the living room, I stumbled across a coupla things that made me really laugh.

Back in year 5, I attended this creative writing class since creative writing was gonna be on trial for the selective school test. So each week our teacher would tell us to write something (story, letter etc.)

So i find this whole stash of writing pieces on my desk shelf. Most of the stories i wrote were somehow relevant to what happened in my real life. Out of the whole pile, my favourites include:
- a writing piece on how to make lamb cutlets
- a story about how a boy ripped his pants playing soccer and ran all the way to the toilets in embarassment to hide (which actually happened to me in year 3)
- a diary entry on how i want to become a mathematician when i grow up. Reading this really made me think, this kid was such a retard. Just to share a bit of it

"I plan to become a mathematician when I grow up. This has been my goal since my teacher first praised me for my maths work. I also like using my brain which makes maths seem like a fun subject to me. Sometimes my relatives email me maths problems. I always turn on the computer to check my email eagerly to recieve more maths problems. My teacher gives me problems as well and I work them out. She also explains how to solve the problem. I love maths"

- This letter addressed to my friend Dante. The first bit goes:
"Dear Dante, I would like to thank for making me a much happier person. When I was in class 2C I had no friends except for Daniel and Oscar. But one day you invited me into a match of soccer and our friendship began. I loved having a match of soccer every afternoon with you and all your friends. It made me so happy"


Something else I found when sorting through was my desk junk was this photo I bought from luna park cause I thought it was the funniest thing ever. I think it was during year 10 while on the wild mouse with Betty.

On the 2nd time around I realised that they actually take your picture like in space mountain at Disneyland, hence my well timed pose. I really don't know what Betty was doing though.

End of semester recap

I've just taken this antibiotic and i can't lie down afterwards for 30 minutes for some reason. I don't want to do my long-need-to-be-really-done-by-now-already assignment, so I thought I'd do a long time not done blog.

For most people, it is now stuvac and uni these days are so empty. For the med kids, there's still 2 more weeks to go until out little break. Exams are in exactly two weeks for us, so really need to start studying.

But anyways, a lot of things have passed by since the last time i've blogged and I just wanted to post down my thoughts and feelings on my first semester of uni and also I wanted to photoblog a few things i've done recently.

T&F(Thoughts and feelings) on the first semester of med: First half of semester was something that didn't hit me that hard as a really significant change. Workload wasn't that much and everything I was learning was still pretty ok. Med's pretty interesting and we're usually just working away in lectures and computer labs like these

People had told me heaps of stuff beforehand, so I guess some of the new things i had to adjust to were somewhat expected. Adjusting to uni gap breaks was a little bit weird at first cause there was no more of that lunchtime basketball, or lunchtime chilling in the common room.
Discovered people's passion of hating on ruse. I learned to let it go. There should really be a fb group which goes "the awkwardness when someone mentions that they're from ruse" But med people in general are pretty cool and cheery people. Still getting to know people and starting to form tight friendships with them

Second half of semester was so much more overwhelming when the 2nd years started coming in and joining our classes. You look at them and you just go omgsh. how smart are they all. and they all work so hard and know all this stuff. how do you even find the time to do that.
There's this girl in my Scenario Group (Basically a bunch of people you are with 2 times a week, to go over and discuss what we've learnt with the help of a facilitator- usually a GP) who i swear is the combination of peter chen, simone, jackie, ruilong in terms of work ethic, and smartness. My mind was just blown away. What made me even more amazed was that she is the nicest person i have ever met. There cannot be a single person who hates her. It's just impossible. She's polite, she's helpful, she's caring. When we first started, she emailed me to ask how i was finding everything and to see if there was anything she could help me out with. She went on to say that she knows 1st year can be tough and that if I was having any trouble, she would be there. My initial reaction was just :O woah. I was really touched by her caring nature. Not only that, she brings baked cakes to class every time, she's always cheery, annnddd i could really go on forever.
I see 2nd years and I think to myself, yeah that's where I want to be in a years time.

Anyways since uni have started, the beginning was really relaxing and watching footy, driving around and going for maccas runs was a very regular thing

Night driving is one of my most favourite things to do. The feeling of independence hasn't worn off yet, and its just so soothing too. Traffic frustrates me though

During the semester term, I decided to fly up to queensland for a weekend to meet neha and mariya. Made trips to brisbane and gold coast to see em and hang out n it was really good.

went all around brisbane with mariya. south bank, city central, XXXX brewery tour, suncorp stadium, city central clubs, brisbane casino (just to look of course), south bank cinemas and much more. Can't believe i crammed so much into a day actually, but it was all good.
Went off to the GC the next day to meet up with neha and for it being my first time in the GC, i just thought it was a really nice place to live. Water channels are every so really serene and beautiful. Not many people live there either so its heaps quiet.
Made a quick trip to Neha's uni Bond, and their campus is nice as

Being a tourist moment for me, we had to go to surfers paradise to check it out. So caught the bus there from bond and spent the rest of the arvo there lying in the sun and chatting. Sadly i had to say goodbye and leave for the airport shortly afterwards.

Another final thing i thought was worth mentioning was a med charity event a few of us did a few weekends ago. It was a kind of spoof on amazing raise, and if some of you had read bosco's blog, you would know a bit about it. Basically the real amazing race around sydney, with the challenges being wacky daring things we had to do. One of them was to take 5 different photos. Jump photo, striking a pose at channel 7 HQ, a skateboarder smiling sweetly at one of the team members, posing in front of lindt cafe, and running pose at martin place station.

Really enjoyed that saturday even though the weather was dismal.
Thought it was worthy to mention that Kelly got off the bus to buy some sushi while we were still on it, and then ran back to get on the same bus again. Pretty impressive even though we were stuck in traffic.

Anyways i think thats enough blogging for now.
Good luck for your exams everyone. Have a safe happy holiday

Song memories

Was talking to sy about this last night.i thought it was a really interesting thing. wondering if people get this too

for me, certain songs just remind of certain time periods in my life. mainly because that song was played in some way or manner during that time, and since then its tune will always be stuck with that patch of time. whenever the song comes on, it just takes me back to that point in time.

for example -
slide - goo goo dolls & save tonight - eagle eye cherry. reminds of the autumn of '07. jero played these songs on his phone repeatedly during our hike and we all sorta sang along. it just reminds of this beautiful crisp morning we had, just soaking the nature and all of it in.

chasing cars - snow patrol. reminds me of the winter of '07. everyone used to be really into this song during then. it was played during our musical afterparty and we just all belted out the lyrics. it'll forever remind me of the good times we had in musical

big girls don't cry - fergie . haha this reminds of the summer of '08/09 . i think it was played during our valentines day dance and the school as one started singing along. girls n guys included. it just reminds me of the great fun we had at school and the great people.

there's plenty more. but you probably get the point.
anyways thinking about this sorta stuff drifted my mind to the amount of crap we get for going to ruse. and sometimes i joke that i actually went to brisbane state high school. nowadays i just cop it, cause i realise it's nothing to be ashamed of. to me high school will forever be filled with good memories and the great people. i wouldnt have had it any other way.
it's easy to hate, but it feels better to love.

as some random deep person said:
"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

that's all from me today.
have a great easter break.
take care

Hug Someone

I get up this easter friday morning having just dreamt of being in some live shooting game called "numbers". was very weird indeed

anyways i happened to pick up a book which connie got me during year 10 called "change the world for 10 bucks"
and it's a really nice book. you suddenly feel the need to be an environmentalist and be an active community member. makes the world seem like a much better place as well.
the book contains 50 simple everyday actions which if enough people do, they will change the world.

one of the pages is called hug someone which i thought was nice so i'm just gonna share it.

A friend of mine has
never forgotten seeing his
father kiss his grandad's
hand as
he lay in a coma
just before he died.

It was the only time
he had ever seen
them kiss

And the only time he
hugged his father was
when his sister died

It wasn't that they weren't
close, just that they were
grown up,
they were men, and
Australian, and only
death could take down
all the barriers

But children do it
instinctively - they want
to touch and be touched
to hold and be held.

So if there was one bit
of advice we'd give
everyone reading this
book, it would be this

Touch someone you love

Hold Them

Kiss them.

It's the one piece of magic
we call all do, every day.

uni thoughts.

I'm sitting here in an ethics lecture kind of zoning out. even though a person has taken his time to come and give us a talk. He's telling us about his struggle with his daily life and the things he has to do to cope with a paralyzed life.

Uni has been going well. Been enjoying learning new things and getting to know new people. But something still doesn't feel so right.
I guess it's in one way because i miss school and i miss the environment. Sat on the train this morning thinking about all the teachers at school and wondering how they're all doing.
Met up with Joe yesterday as well and he seems to be having a good time at school. Talking to some of the ruse kids at talent100 also made me feel a bit of nostalgia. They have exams right now. But instead of thinking "i'm so glad i'm not doing that anymore", i think "ahhh. i remember those days" and smile.

Things during the week keep me going. I look forward to monday basketball each week, and also our med faculty has a touch college cup this afternoon. So looking forward to winning our first game for college C. Work and church on sunday is very enjoyable too. I enjoy working and just having fun with the students. Yesterday we went out to get tubs of ice cream from coles, and just ate it in the study rooms with forks.

A guy I work with (Dr Tony Hall) told me heaps about the stuff he's done over his life. He used to be a doctor intern for 2 years before he became sick of treating sick people. He then went to become a head math teacher at sydney grammar before moving on to being the head of newington. He's good friends with Bill Pender (Mr Cambrdige) too. In high school he used to bully Tony Abbott around because he was 5 years above him.
He's invited me and a couple of the guys to have dinner with him at his home. He lives in a really nice house along kirribilli wharf. It looks out to sydney harbour. His son's a chef too so i'm really looking forward to that.

*skip 4 hours*

I'm currently in my scenario group session discussing about how to make good communication. It really is just verbal blab. But i guess i gotta get back to it before my coordinator guy thinks i lack attention skills and whatnot. The people in my group are pretty cool though.

That's it for now. Looking forward to what's to come.
Newton has great cheap thai btw. i wish it was located closer to UNSW

Summer Recap

Well as of today midnight. Our summer holidays are over. and a new chapter begins in our lives
and mainly as a way of remembering my summer of 09/10. decided to put up a brief recap of the whole 4 months.
when i look back at it. it has been pretty good. lots of things have changed. new things experienced, new friendships made.

Well the highlights for my summer would have to be:
- formal after party

renting and staying in a high rise apartment was just something so new and exciting to do. the views from up there was so amazing and just reminded me again of how beautiful our city is. Also walking in the middle of the city has a certain serene calmness to it. It was just empty at 3am. and that sunrise was just wow.
- schoolies
definitely the best week of my life. looking forward to doing it again next year.

just the stuff we did was so fun and it was so nice spending a week with friends doing everything. beaching, lighting up sparkler bombs, cooking, late night talks, movies, wii, erina fair.
-zoo trip and NYE
for me it was the first time i've watched fireworks in the city since i was around 5. definitely made me feel like the city was such a dirty place with all the rubbish floating around afterwards.

zoo was pretty awesome seeing all the animals and whatnot, and not a kiddy thing to do at all.

fireworks were average but hey. when you start to say that, you know that you're really spoilt
- Donating blood

First time donating blood for me. So it was a pretty cool new experience. nothing much else to say.
- Job at talent100

being my first job ever, it has turned out pretty good. i actually look forward to working each week. The staff are pretty awesome to talk with and the students are funny too. Although i think i bludge too much. Hopefully i'll get to teach later on. for now it's just marking and tutoring.
- Connect
Over the holidays connect has been something i've been regularly going to. Jian, Joy and Andrew Gan of ruse run it, so it's been fun learning new things and meeting new people.

- Cousin's stayover
My cousin came over with my aunt (his mum) to sydney this feb for the first time ever. So my parents and I showed them around. It was nice seeing my relatives again for the first time in 5 years. My cousin is still pretty naughty though. We had dinner at the beverly hills restaurant while they were here, and the lobster sashimi was so nice. looks pretty incredible too when they bring it out for you.


- Getting ready for uni
Gosh that welcome lecture for med at Oweek was boring. Hopefully it wont be like that in uni

Been spending the past week tryna get ready for uni. Just clearing out space in my room. Got a new portable hard drive too. Oh and something i found pretty exciting was going to buy all the med stuff for uni. kris got me my stethoscope today and it looks somewhat like this

the littman classic II in dark blue tubing. got it for $95 for those wondering how much stethoscopes cost


After reading what i've just written, it's so disjointed. so i apologise. but yes. i'm looking forward to the next stage. mainly the people we'll meet, stuff we'll learn and the new things we'll get to experience.

I'm already looking forward to the next summer. Now that we know how much time there really is, hopefully i'll be able to pack more things into it

Hopefully we'll all still be in touch. and not too busy. The thought of exams in june makes me sick already. But yes that is about it for now. Have fun in uni and
Take care y'all

The burger.

I'm so happy cause I have officially converted everyone at my workplace to the burgerhut17 a.k.a degrill.
It's good to know that they share my some love for the burger. Lunch breaks at talent100 are spent waiting at degrill.
Even the students are getting into it.
Example:
"Hey Mike, watcha eating there"
"Best burger in the world"
"Degrill right?"

Let it be known that theburgerhut17 is famously known now.

The only thing that pees me off is the lady still pretends like she doesnt know me. I've spent 2 freaking years tryna become a regular at that place
Everytime i walk in she goes:
"What do you want?"
in my head i'm like "I come here bloody 3 times a week at the same time, and order the same thing everytime"
Yeah and I saw her giving some special offer to some woman when I was waiting for burger to be cooked. She sold her a 600mL bottle coke for $1. Yeah I was pretty cut. I've paid full price everytime.

Anyways. i must go sleep otherwise i'll never wake up for O-week FREE PANCAKES
just dropping in to say the burgers at degrill are awesome as always.

we're all growing up.

During these summer holidays, I've probably sat down at my desk several times, opening up blogger trying to think of things to say. thoughts and feelings. things I've done. But i don't know. just didn't think there was anything really important to mention.

Haven't been doing much over the past month or so. Just kinda little things here and there, and i'm just kinda itching to do one last adventurous thing before uni starts. But over the past month, i've been noticing a lot of change in most of us. I mean heaps of people have started to work. whether its just tutoring jobs or with big firms for cadetships. enrolling for uni, getting all our timetables, and even some already starting uni. just reading about it in other people's blogs, or just talking about it with people, just kinda really gives me the sense that we're all growing up. maybe even a bit too fast.
Don't get me wrong. work can be great. i think for me one of the nice feelings is taking on that extra role of responsibility. stuff that is attached with the coming of age. such as getting Ps, or becoming a senior, a role model and especially starting a job.

I've just recently started working at talent100 as a marker. and i'm finding it really fun. well not the work itself. which is kinda boring. but the people who work there and the students make it so much more fun. There's a couple of guys there who are doing med with me next year as well. so it's been pretty awesome getting to know them all. Today i spent 10 hours working there. but it really felt like nothing. half of the time was just spent talking with people and playing games.
We're going paintballing next friday as a group. Kris and Janette still think intuition is more awesome. I don't mind either way.

Sometimes when i think about it. It feels weird to be on the other side of that "HSC wall" when i was a junior, i remember always thinking that the day after HSC will never come. it was just so far away. and just something i didn't hafta worry about for a long long time. and for me it feels like i've just gone from that mindset and just jumped over that wall without even thinking about it.
Going back to school for valentines day assembly kind of made me realise that. Just talking to the teachers and catching up on stuff we've been doing and stuff they've been doing at school. Reminded me of the many things i left behind as we graduated. KO sport team tryouts, school carnivals, school assemblies, shy year 7's coming through each year, newbie people, agriculture.
Facebook in a way reminds you of these things too, when people invite you groups such as JONES OWNS or people post up videos of valentines assembly.

But uni is something i'm really looking forward to. Just meeting these incredible outgoing people at my workplace doing med, it makes me excited to get to know the rest of the med bunch. I'm also sorta working my way through understanding uni in-jokes as well. Like I told Bosco:
- The only job art students get out of their degree is a job at maccas
- The bachelor of medical science is also known as the bachelor of GAMSAT.
Btw, i didn't mean to offend anyone doing arts or medical science in particular. just passing on what i've been told.
Something that James Xu from ruse 08 said made me laugh a bit. He mentioned at melbourne uni one day, that they had put dynamic lifter on their lawn to fertilise it. His friends cowered at the smell, but to him it just smelt like home.

Anyways. I'm just gonna limit to there. For whoever reading. sorry if it didnt make any sense. I just basically rambled what was going through my head while i was typing this up.

Enjoy the little time you have left of your holidays. Do whatever you've always wanted to do. Don't spend all the time working. We got 50 more years or working to do. Lets just enjoy the time we have now =)

Take Care All