We celebrated our end of Preclin years and 8am starts with an even earlier start of 6.45 am for Champagne breakfast at the Torrens River across from uni…

One month left of uni

One month of holidays to look forward to

Okay, I’d like to think that I’m not usually spooked by coincidences but today was really weird.

I cracked open an egg today and it was rotten inside.

I meticulously peeled an orange only to be greeted by a rotten core when I separated it in half.

Top it up with a not so chirpy week so far

O_O So is something going to happen???

I sincerely hope not. I can’t afford it now.

Random 1:
Does anyone notice how some people talk with an accent after returning from their studies overseas??? Well, I’ve been here almost 3 years and my accent is no where near changed. I am still sporting a Malaysian accent -_-” that the patients find amusing. Bleh!!! An average degree only takes 3 - 4 years meaning these people managed to pick up a new accent in that time. How is that possible!!!!

Random 2:
Is it just me or are Australian actors recently taking the Hollywood big screen by storm??? Before that, it was just the big names like Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger. Right now, I can reel off a whole list of them. In fact, I will. For my own future reference. Hmph.

(in no particular order of preference)
1. Isabel Lucas
The pretty amazing (and deadly) robot from transformers who tried to seduce Shia LaBeouf.

2. Mia Wasikowska (what a mouthful)
Soon to be seen as Alice in Tim Burton’s highly anticipated Alice in Wonderland movie alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway….. She was also in the Australian film Newcastle. That’s not all. She plays Amelia Earhart’s (Hilary Swank) rival in the upcoming film Amelia, and also worked with Daniel Craig (James Bond series) in Defiance.

3. Xavier Samuel
Only applicable to Twilight fans. This guy is playing Riley in the 3rd installment, Eclipse. Worked with Mia previously in Newscastle.

4. Abbie Cornish
She was in Candy with Heath Ledger, Elizabeth: The Golden Age with Cate Blanchett and A good Year with Russell Crowe. Now, expect to see her in Bright Star as Fanny Browne, the girl next door whom the famous poet, John Keats (Ben Winshaw, do watch him in Brideshead Revisited and Perfume) fell in love with. I’m looking forward to Bright Star as it is the latest film by Jane Campion, who directed The Piano and Portrait of a Lady. The Piano, lead Anna Paquin to win an Oscar for best supporting actress, an amazing thing when one is only 11 years old.

5. Sam Worthington
This guy play Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation and we will soon be able to see him in the highly anticipated CGI film Avatar. Apart from that, he will also be in Clash of the Titans, another box office movie, with Liam Neeson (The Reader, Taken, as Aslan in Narnia) and Ralph Fiennes (Voldermort).

6. Craig Horner
Okie, this is not big screen but Legend of the Seeker, based on the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind, is the latest TV series from the creators of Xena and Hercules. Produced by Sam Raimi (Spiderman movies, I think), this fantasy production sees a detraction from the usual tongue in cheek kind of atmosphere felt in Xena and Hercules and seeks a sense of gravity and seriousness, more in line with cinema productions like Lord of the Rings where attention is paid to the details and storyline. Also filmed in New Zealand. (I mean, omg!!! go check out the sets!!!)

7. Emily de Ravin
All I know is that she is co-starring with Robert Pattinson in a film called Remember Me. =P

8. Emily Browning
As the older sister in Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. After that, she kind of faded off into the background.

I’m calling it a day. =P

I just finished Robin Hobb’s latest book ‘The Dragon Keeper’. I am still experiencing mixed feelings about this particular book after reading it. I confess myself surprised because, from the start, I was looking forward to the usual intro - climax plot. That was not what I got at all. Instead, she took a whole book to introduce us to the characters in her story. A whole book. O_O I don’t think any new author would even think about doing that. Granted, she isn’t an unknown in her genre. Robin Hobb is known for her fantastical trilogies such as The Farseer, The Liveship Traders, The Soldier Son and The Tawny Man. My first exposure to her books was The Shaman’s Crossing from her Soldier Son trilogy. I read an excerpt sent out by Harper Collin’s and I was immediately sold. I kept my eye out for the book release and got myself a copy as soon as I could. I practically devoured her book. Since then, I have read all her works and they were all really epic and enjoyable reads.

What drew me to her works were the characters that she created. They were extremely convincing, people whom it is possible to empathise with. She never had any clear cut ‘villains’ in her story. Rather, we see how people acted / made the choices they had to because of circumstances, and beliefs and their own personal principles. There were no brave and noble heroes, born to save the world / humanity. None of all this black and white, good versus evil picture. We get annoyed and angry and frustrated at the characters, but we never hate them / blame them outright. This is because she led us in to their innermost thoughts and fears and uncertainties so we understand that, even the ‘bad people’ sometimes have no control and no choices of their own. That given the chance to change things, they would have taken a completely different route. That even when we meant to do the right thing, sometimes we end up making a bigger mess. You read about them failing again and again, sometimes it even hurts you. But each one realises the need to keep going, making the best of things. That is what I see in Robin Hobb’s works. Her characters are her greatest strength, not the made up fantastical landscapes or the out of this world magic. These were just her props, the blurred backgrounds in which her characters move in. Although she never entirely omits the chance to make things epic. Not in the form of battles or fights, but just big revelations or achievements. Some milestone reached, or a kind of acceptance to their fate, an understanding of sorts.

Therefore, I confess I was very excited to read her latest book. This is supposedly a continuation of her Liveship Trader trilogy. There were a few people in that series who were ‘late bloomers’, didn’t really caught my attention until it was almost at an end so I was anticipating picking up things from where it was left off. Reconnecting with them. No such luck though, I was surprised when a completely new set of characters were introduced. And that was practically the mood of the book, consolidating the characters. It wasn’t fast - paced, there were no breathless waiting for what would happen next etc. The Dragon Keeper is very character driven. She didn’t even have to describe the setting or explain the natural laws of the place. No words were wasted on explaining a new culture / geography because all that was done in the previous trilogy. I kind of like that whole interconnected-ness of things. The brief mention of familiar locations, appearances of old characters. It reminds that they have played their part and that their actions would have no weight in this new game but they would undoubtedly still be affected by the outcome. Some part of me still hope that she will give a second chance to some of these people. I felt as if I didn’t get to know them as well as I would have liked.

*Is it just me who gets excited when I meet a character that I recognise from somewhere else?? I mean, sometimes authors write is brief mentions about other characters from their previous works, or even works of other authors!!! I love it when I can spot them. Although it does mean that I have been reading too many of the similar books in the same circle of authors and it probably time for me to move on and get a change of scenery. Like how the hobbit and the faun in both Tolkien and C. S. Lewis’ story are similar (not the same person but you can see they got the same idea probably from their group discussions in their Cambridge days). So yeah, imagine Harry Potter making a guest appearance in one of the books you’re reading. I reckon that would be a pleasant interruption. Just to know that they are doing well after whatever catastrophe they’ve been to. (omg, I sound like I’m losing the lines between reality and fiction)

So yeah, back to the book. We see that the restrictions and boundaries were already set up, all we have to do this time is to get to know the players. And as much as I know how important it is for us to connect with them, a little part of me was still disappointed at the calm, even pace of the book and the lacklustre ending. This is probably one of the most (okay, ‘most’ is a pretty strong word) un - epic cliffhanger I have ever encountered. Oh, it definitely left me wishing for more but not because I want to read about their next adventure but more so that this ending is as abrupt as a slap in the face. Tell me, who ends a story in the middle of the conversation??? And I don’t even know who the other person in the conversation is!!! This is so unlike her previous works. Usually, there is a huge build - up and the anticipations always feels like it could kill you. I was fillping through the pages, waiting for the bomb to drop all the time when there wasn’t one in the first place. O_O I have come to expect a certain uniformity when reading. Once recognises the ‘patterns’ seen in different genres of works. So yeah, this was a big jolt in an otherwise smooth running vehicle, like accidentally running over a pothole on the road. =P

However, I have much faith in Robin Hobb. I trust that she knows what she is doing, and I am confident that her next book will deliver what her other books promised. Again, I recommend starting with The assasin’s apprentice from the Farseer trilogy.

*I just recently watched Gran Torino as well. I’ve been meaning to watch it ever since I read about it in TIME magazine. I’m glad I finally got down to it. The movie was a very good potrayal. I do not know about accuracy since I am not familiar with the american culture (the part that is not blown out of proportion by the mass media anyway) but it was still an entertaining hour and a half. It managed to convey its message without any dreariness and with just the right amount of humour to spice things up. Clint Eastwood directed, produced, and stared in this (almost like a one man show).

Deep Creek sounds like the name of a horror film or something. =P Anyway, this is my first time going on a Camp here in Australia. A whole bunch of us left the first day of holidays and the drive to Deep Creek was mostly uneventful except for one point where we all forgot about Jeremy and drove off after taking a short break. Went quite a while before Andrew realised there were only 4 cars instead of 5. =P We had to turn back to get him since he didn’t know the way and there wasn’t any phone reception. lol.

The hike was fun. We had a mix of scrubby bushland and picturesque cliff views. There was a really steep downhill part where I think I spent almost my whole time on my butt sliding down the slope (which meant we had a tough uphill climb after that). I was practically pulling myself up with my hands. -_-” We were lucky in the sense that it never really did rain until the wee hours in the morning. By that time, we were all safely in our tents and sleeping bags. The waterfall was gushing healthily, compared to the weak trickle it had during the dryer seasons. Although that meant that quite a few people fell into the river while fording it. I myself managed a triumphant crossing in the hardest part only to flounder in the easy bit, leaving me with one soaked sneaker for the rest of the hike back. Admittedly, that was in way better shape compared to Romain who slipped at the waterfall and fell completely in it. All we heard was steph’s scream and Romain disappearing from site. Next thing, he emerged drenched like a cat caught in the rain.

The temperature started to drop when we arrived back at our campsite in the evening. We had a lovely campfire going and it was nice to sit around the warm fire just chatting and joking and telling each other ghost stories. >.< I could just sit there for hours watching the flickering flames and the glowing coals. Had my first taste of toasted marshmallows too.

I am now suffering from extremely sore muscles which I hope will go away soon because I'd like to be able to stand up without wincing like an old lady. =P

Feels like we’re falling off…

Med Ball 09 this year @ Stamford Grand Hotel, Glenelg.

Our dessert which was ‘an illusion of watermelon’. True enough, they gave us ice cream.

Stole Affy’s fan for the moment. And I made the mask myself, as in, I drew the design, and put the whole thing together myself. =)

*******

Went a a joint 21st birthday party the week before. As per usual, there are always videos shown during these stuff, made by friends and family etc. That always makes me thing of home and my family. I’m very glad my mom came over for my 21st last year. Although at that time I probably thought that it was no big deal and it should be no different from all my other birthdays but looking back, I’m glad she was determined to come. I only turn 21 once and that’s a time when you should have a loved one or family to be there to share the moment with.

If it’s worth the price, it’s worth fighting for

I’ve been granted a brief reprieve before the storm.

Med Reveu: The Sound of Medicine brought the house down.

Bleak House ended on a happy note albeit with a tinge of regret. Instead of plunging into Les Miserables which has been waiting for me, I’m going on Deltora’s Quest.

New websites to share with people =)

The Book Seer . Suggests a list of similar books to the one which you’ve just finished in case you didn’t get enough. Nothing new really but I find the backdrop rather endearing and scholarly. Quite suits the mood.

Luxirare. Her creations just blows me away. The attention to detail and the innovation. Absolutely amazing. Where does she get the resources?

So, I was back from Melbourne on Tuesday, spent the next day recuperating when I got a text from Vishnu asking whether I would be interested to spend a couple of days at Megan’s in the country. Lucy’s (Megan’s friend) family were tailing sheep that Saturday and they said that we could come along for it. I almost said no, then thought that I would never get this opportunity again. Furthermore, Megan was always going on about how nice Wilmington is and the many attractions that they have there. So, I packed up my stuff again and we drove down the next day (Thursday) to the Wild family residence. =)

It was only a 3.5 hour drive, which was nothing compared to the 8 hour marathon I just did 2 days before. Plus, the scenery on this trip was way nicer than the scrubby bushland on the Ade - Melb route. I have to say, the green rolling plains and clear skies were much nicer. We made good time to Wilmington, passing by various other small towns along the way. Some were very cute and I wish we had time to stop and visit the shops and local attractions. Seeing the bakery at Bordertown previously made me curious to see how the other bakeries in these towns would look like and whether they serve good pies as well. lol. We stopped at Snowtown for lunch which seemed quite empty and peaceful. Megan later told us that Snowtown was where all the murders were. Apparently some psychotic person there went on a killing spree recently and his nephew also committed suicide (for another reason). Vish and I had no idea about it before that. I suppose we would have given that place a wide berth if we knew. Luckily we made it out of the town alive and unharmed. Yet. =P

We saw lots of weird, funny sign posts along the way as well. There was Dublin, Virginia, Melrose (reminded me of the TV series), Wild Horse Plains, Wild Dog Creek, Yellowman’s Creek, Balaklava, Gladstone, Laura. I had fun reading out all the interesting signboards. However, nothing beats this:

=D Megan’s last name is Wild. She has German heritage so it’s just a coincidence that her last name reads Wild. Although I guess quite a few people pay her out for having such a last name. Her initials are even funnier but I think I’d better not mention them her. It wouldn’t be nice for her. Anyway, how cool is having your own street name?? =) It’s not Wild St, or Wild lane. It’s Wild’s way!!!! LOL It looked cool on her driver’s license.

Megan’s family owns the general store in Wilmington so basically, they will never have to worry about supplies. How convenient it is to just walk into your shop and grab whatever you need. Even the petrol pumps are theirs. O_O

That night Megan’s sister, Krystal drove us over to Pt Augusta which is the nearest country city port for some Salsa classes. One really needs skill driving in these country roads at night. There’s minimal road signs and no street lamps. Furthermore, Krystal took shorcuts which meant driving pass fields, all of which looked exactly the same to me. Then, there is also the need to watch out for Kangaroos, and foxes and other animals that might just decide to spring out in front of you as you’re speeding along. Anyway,imagine that, having salsa classes all the way out here in Pt Augusta. What was I doing in Adelaide??? It was fun though. There were only a few of us with one instructor so he could spend time with each of us. It was a fun lesson. Now I just have to go back to my ballroom dancing classes in Adelaide. Yeah, I’ve decided to try out some classes on Saturday although I have only been to 2 so far (exams and holidays and me not being around). I was ready to drop the minute we got back.

We had to get up way too early the next day as we had to drive up to Lucy’s place in Booleroo. Then it was another drive to the grazing land where all the sheep were kept. They were rounded up the day before so all we had to do was to separate the ewes from the lambs that were to be tailed. (I saw alpacas at the fields!!! Apparently, they’re the ‘guardians’ of the sheep and omg, I wish I had my camera with me then!!! *sigh*) Ok, when I was told we would be tailing sheep, I thought somewhere along the lines of ‘following behind the flock’. Turns out ‘tailing’ means cutting of the tails!!!!! O_O Apparently it’s to prevent blow flies from laying eggs near the moist region around the tail which will eventually kill the lambs when the maggots start burrowing into the flesh. So, they had this whole contraption set up and the lambs are placed onto the seats (they remind me of the dentist’s chair), and after the hind legs are strapped in, we then inject them with Glanvac and rabies vaccine, tag their ears, brand them and cut of their tails with a hot iron blade. O_O I know, I couldn’t believe it at first. I was like ‘really????? Omg….’. The hot iron blade was supposedly the best way by far since the heat cauterises the tail as it is being removed, reducing blood loss and also infection. Before that, farmers used to saw it off with normal blades and left the lambs bleeding. Still there was quite a bit of blood squirting around when the blade was not hot enough or had pieces of burnt wool etc stuck to it. By lunchtime, I had quite a few splatters over my hands and arms because I was standing next to Lucy’s dad who was doing the tailing (No, I did not try, I just did the vaccinations, and carrying lambs after that). Thankfully, none got onto my face. O_O

Me, Lucy, Megan

Scratching on the Scabiguard vaccine

Okie, this is a relatively light-weight lamb, hence you see me carrying it like this. Others are not so, and trying to catch them before they run away…. =.=” Plus, I noticed that smaller lambs tend to be friskier, hence they are more likely to jump out of your grasp. And the kicking, don’t get me started. I confess I derived huge satisfaction from dumping them onto the tray and hearing the clicking sound when their feet are locked in.

We finally finished tailing by evening. In total, we tailed 471 lambs!!!! They were all returned to their mothers and let out back to the fields. We tramped out way back to the shed and had ice creams and chocolate as a reward. =D Lucy’s dad then took us on a ride in his ute over their grazing fields. A considerable piece of property which they had leased from someone else. It was freezing cold being out on top but the view was amazing and the sunset, the rolling plains….. And I forgot to mention the stars!!!! I’ve never before seen such a night sky in my entire existence!! I could see the milky way with my naked eye, you know, the stars and the misty bits that one usually sees in photos. Maybe it’s just me but I honestly have not seen so many stars in the sky before. I even saw a shooting star!!!! Can anyone believe that??!?!?! In just the short space of time we were standing outside, we spotted 4 shooting stars!!!! I thought they were supposed to be very rare??? =.=” They probably thought me crazy getting all excited about the night sky but seriously, I may come from Sabah but I do not think we get such clear skies back home. There’s always clouds and city lights that block out the starlight.

After a hard days work, Lucy brought us to the local pub at Booleroo which supposedly serves the best meals around the area. Better the Wilmington where Megan’s from and definitely better than Melrose (Haha…). One thing about Australian (or maybe western countries), EVERY town whether big / small, must have a PUB. Must. You can live without a school / cafe / bakery / supermarket / whatever else, they’d probably even put up without a post office but a town cannot be called a town unless it boasts its own pub. =.=” What’s wrong with tea huh??? Or can’t people just drink coke and be happy??? =P Anyway, the dinner was so so… I wouldn’t eat there if I was in the city and had better options but I guess for local fare, it was acceptable. Besides, you wouldn’t have any other choice anyway. Someone ought to go open up a Chinese takeaway there. =) I saw one in Port Augusta. I guess, the Chinese can’t live without their food eh…

Saturday was our last day spent in Wilmington. This time we didn’t have to wake up early although we were all up by 9am anyway =.=” Megan showed us around, pointing out the houses and shops along main street (they had a toy museum!!). We saw the school she went to, the local bakery, visited her music teacher, Oma (her charming grandmother, who has the most wonderful tangerine tree and garden gnomes!!!!), checked out her sister’s new house (which was only 5 min walk away. So why move out??? Some western quirk about independence I guess. She’s only 20 la….), saw her vineyard, the old farmhouse (omg, real stone walls!!! and chimney!!!! excuse my excited digressions). It was funny how every time she pointed out something, she also gave us a brief summary of the history of it. So basically, it’ll be ‘See that white house in front, that’s where X lives now although it used to be the retirement home for old people and once when there was a bush fire, we had 20 ambulances come down here to the house to evacuate the old people except they didn’t know that it was no more an old folks home’. See, living in such a small community, everyone knows everyone else. It takes a little getting used to. I think Megan’s family might have mentioned to someone about us coming to stay because I swear these people knew my name the moment they saw me. Argh, I do not live well with random people calling my name. O_O At least let me introduce myself first can???? Just like from the movies and storybooks, we also saw the places of the town’s eccentric residences. You know, like the X brothers who keep all kinds of weird animals in their yard, and Mrs F who lives without electricity. I can just imagine them being gossip material when people run out of news. Just pull them stories out to chew and munch together when everyone’s bored and put them back again for the next dry spell.

Hancock’s lookout was the first attraction we visited. Bascially, it is, a lookout where one can see the Flinder’s channel, and various other landmarks which I cannot remember now *shame*. We also packed a barbecue lunch to bring with us to Alligator Gorge, THE attraction that everyone who passes through Wilmington should visit. If you don’t, you’ll suffer the wrath and disdain of the good people there. Haha… Okay, the weather was lovely that day, cool with bright sun (often causing one to get sunburnt without realising). We followed the steps down to the gorge where there was a river running and then, Megan and her sisters proceeded to lead us down to Narrow pass. Instead of following the trail, we went via the river, jumping from stone to stone, trying not to fall into the river. Imagine that, I kinda feel obliged to do my best here as I supposedly live ‘in the jungle’ as Vish so often like to point out. So this should be second nature to me right? =P So I admit I was a little more cautious, but I managed to come out of the trek with both feet dry. Megan and Vish both slipped on the same rock (which was being deceptive) and had to content with wet shoes fro the rest of the day. =) I’m glad she didn’t drop my camera when that happened. I almost had a heart attack. She dropped her hat instead. Phew. Of course, I was concerned Megan as well. =P

Hancock’s Lookout

Narrow Pass

After the trek, we had a BBQ lunch of sausages, onions, potatoes and bread. I was introduced to the wonderful ‘bbq toast’. Almost 3 years in Aus and I never thought of barbecuing bread buttered on both sides. O_O I have been missing out. =.=” A bunch of tourists were also enjoying their own BBQ not far from us. The wonders of free BBQ grills. Unlike back home in Malaysia where one would have to cart their own bbq grill or at least the coals to their destination. Here, one can easily find gas / electric grilles at parks, seaside and with just the push of a button, one can start cooking. If I find myself homeless one day, I would live in the park near one of these and be able to enjoy teppanyaki everyday. =D How to beat that huh?

Kangaroos which were nothing like the tame ones at zoos / tourist farms where you can walk right up to them and pet them. These ones turned tail and ran as soon as we got anywhere close. This is as near as I could get with zoom. There were emus too, and foxes but no alligators at alligator gorge. =.=”

We initially planned to leave for Adelaide by 2pm but we never made it out till 5-ish. =.=” Ended up driving in the dark again (not me, I was just dead weight, as usual). I was exhausted, and had to spend today recuperating. Sore muscles in my arms from all that lifting, and legs (I suspect from the trek). I probably spent a few hours writing all this down although I think only my mom (hi there) would bother to read this through till the end (kinda like my report to her eh?). Most people would probably just scan through and gaze at the pictures. =P Anyway, I am glad that I decided to spent the weekend with Megan and her friend. Although I came back smelling of sheep (even my camera has some lingering sheep scent on it), I got to see and do things that I would never have thought to do on my own. The sights, the people are all so different. Their concerns / issues etc are mostly about the crop, price of stock, rainfall, the local footy club…. I noticed that the kids here seem to mature differently as well. They grow up just as fast as city kids but in a more responsible kind of way. Different environment resulting in them developing different kind of survival skills.Most of the ones from the country are way more grounded than big city kids. I think in the end, me coming from a place that is in between a city and a small town, I kinda grew up in limbo. Neither sophisticated like the city kids, nor realistic like the country kids. I’m making a rough stab at guessing that most of them don’t really see university as a must after high school. As in, nobody’s going to think any less of you if you decided that tertiary education is not what you need after high school. Better to use the money in other ways than spending it on a degree that you probably don’t need. Nobody’s gonna say you’re not smart enough or whatever.

So yeah, that how I spent the last days of my holidays. School starts tomorrow and I did no prep AT ALL. *dies*

ps* I passed anthropology. 1 more mark and I would have a Distinction. This kind of confirms my suspicion that my tutor is prejudiced against me =.=” or he could not tell me from the other Japanese girl. *sigh* At least he let me pass and I have all my 12 credits, meaning I do not have to take any electives for this coming semester. =P I just felt that I had to say this here. So, case closed people.