On the Fence

No Vacancy

2009-12-24T18:02:00.008+11:00

Christmas is tomorrow, but look what I found today!

No really...

No Vacancy is a showcase lot on the quiet end of the QV Square featuring diverse works in monthly intervals that go on for a fortnight each. I happen to pass it by on the last day of it's showcase on the "24 Page Book". There was no one around but seeing as it was Christmas Eve, I guess that's a given. Even the internet shop I worked at was only receiving 30% it's normal customer intake.

"No Vacancy Press is excited to announce our foray into publishing with two books put together lovingly by Charlie Lance and Ghostpatrol.

The books will be launched at an exhibition of the original works, collaborative pieces and selected prints from within their pages on the 17th of December at No Vacancy Gallery.

For the inaugural No Vacancy Press series of books, which is intended to facilitate the crossover between original work and collectable books, a simple “24 Page Book” format has been chosen to showcase two artists with a uniquely intrinsic narrative quality to their work.

Books are limited edition with special editions available for purchase only at the exhibition."
excerpt from website no-vacancy.com.au

The 24 page hardcover burst bound make very delicate collectors items, with one going for $35 and 2 for $60. The contents were beautiful illustrations, one containing poems. I love self-defining books like these.

All of them were pencil illustrations coupled with light watercolour on thick sketch paper.

Too bad there was only one large canvas art. But then again even the walls became their canvas. The man attending to the space was a little hungover, so he was glad there weren't many people coming in. He was checking his facebook :P

The gallery wasn't extensive, but there were open copies of the book on the benches to look at.

Click me for full view!

What really drew me into the space was the art graffitied on the wall opposite. It was amazing.

And had my favourite bird, the owl!

Nice.

And why did I only pass it then? Well I was rummaging around in Laguna to find this Milk caramel a friend recommended to me to share with my cousins on Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I got a surprise this morning!

SAMAROST POSTCARDS!!!

I spent the whole day gushing about Amanita Design when I saw the demo of the game at ACMI last week. Looks like someone remembered =D

Merry Christmas from a mad monkey... I got him a chocolate fish as present back.

Merry Christmas!

-D

Spoke too soon

2009-11-07T21:41:00.004+11:00

So my 22nd birthday was a couple of days ago (yaay, I'm getting old), and as always (since it's one the same day every year) it seemed to be on an odd time. I still remember my 17th was on the first day of my final secondary school examination. Talk about heart-stopping present.

Moving on, my cousins really spoil me so. They gave me a really cute card;

.. that had a great caption

(Sorry, not enough light for camera phone)
But the funniest part is that reading that, I remembered we had tried that once already, ended up feeling odd or going home to eat proper food XD

Thanks so much cuzzies and nephews :)

Now comes the guilty part.
When I was given the card, I did not know what it was and through some hints deduced that it was for a bookshop. Unfortunately, I blurted (gotta love that word) out that I have yet to use a gift card given to me for the bookshop Borders (whoops, ditto on the gift).

Now I feel guilty I said that because this afternoon I had a real good look at what Borders had in stock... and came back with these three items (yes, I could steal 3 books from Borders. My cousins are too generous!);

I'm sorry I lied when I said I don't have much to get from Borders!!! D:
First up is Angie Sage's Septimus Heap (7th son of a 7th son) book 5!! And I thought she was all done in the last book when they met Hotep-Ra... and there's a spoiler for you. As you can see by the receipt sticking out of the book... I've already begun :D

Next up is this magazine I found on the mag shelf.... Have not heard of it but I did flip through it and looks like it's going to be an interesting and enlightening read. I hope.

Then there's Computer Arts.... To awesome for words. I didn't think I'd find it in Borders. What I think is one of the best design resources there is because it's so much more than tutorials :) I've always flipped through them but this is the first edition I personally own!
E-P-I-C, I will treasure it forever.

Not to forget the CD and exclusive 2010 calender that comes with it! *nerdy squeal*
Illustrator CS4 training...
Royalty-free textures...
Video tutorials...
Did I mention epic?

Thank you so much!!
Eeek don't spoil me!! :D

D

Sprummer

2009-11-07T15:58:00.001+11:00

Tis the season for quick-drying clothes, cold deserts, flies and- OMG DOUBLE FLUSH THAT TOILET CAUSE THE SH*TS JUST GONNA FLOAT!!11!!!one!!11!

I'm so serious right now :D

Blankitty blank

2009-11-07T15:57:00.002+11:00

That's what I said :D

-D-

4th November

2009-11-05T00:06:00.004+11:00

I woke up late this morning. There was nothing much to do. There were a dozen things to do. I just didn't feel like doing them. Lethargic. I thought I'd stay home today, give my legs a break. But by lunch time, I felt an itch. I needed company. Even from those I don't know.

It's lunch time and I wander. The offers seem vague. People passing by, none catch my eye. I don't even stop for the rabbits. They'll still be there on the morrow when I go by again.

I thought I wouldn't walk so far. I walked further than I planned. But what's in a plan when the plan involves getting nothing done. I thought maybe I'd buy a slice, sugar treat unusual to the norm. I didn't in the end. And buying a bag of chips I sit, not weary but with a tiny hope that something might happen. After all, anything happens in a food court. I read digital.

The day wears on. Make of it what you will. Outside it's getting colder, windy, might have rained. I do not know and did not care. Slowly getting colder from the outside in, and the inside out, sitting under the air con duct. I may check, nothing much changes.

It's not that I don't appreciate. I do. But the heavy heart does hamper and alone I feel adrift. My brother encourages me. My friends are out there he says. I do not wish to impose. They have lives of their own. Besides, the working hours are not done. I do not wish to impose. I'm selfish. I'm prideful. I wish not for attention, but I seek it. My parents call and say they'll call upon me again tonight.

It is getting late. Almost dinner time when I move. Still nothing much has changed. Everything has changed. I've fallen into a glut of gilt and depression. I wish for pity now, but I wish you would not know I wish it. Why can't I be frank? To be frank is to be clear, to be seen, to show what's ugly. I hope you would not see it. I dare you to find out. It is not as complex as it seems. Whatever you may wish it, I will do wrong by it, like a fun house mirror meant for entertainment but is secretly luring you in. Til you cannot find the exit without some frustration.

My eyes brim with salt on the walk home. I have no thoughts in my head. They are filled with memories. Time travel is possible though only in ones head. I might have scared the passerby, I apologies for that wasn't my intention. It would not have been as selfless an act. Maybe one day you may see, a walker shedding sad drops. Maybe you wont stare with pity, for that's the sharpest tool you can use the gauge the tears out.

I've reached my door, but they wont stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. It seems illogical. Isn't it enough? My life is great. I need not worry. Not for the rent, until the next month. Not for the bills, calculated at the end of each day. Not for the job I said I'd do, because I know I'll do it soon. But what happens now at the end of the day? I can count you by the handful. Life isn't a movie. I keep telling myself that. Prince Charming does not do dishes, in real life there is no castle waiting. And so they keep flowing, whether I want to or not.

You may have stopped reading. I will not begrudge you that. It's just a passing feeling after all. I will forget it and so will you. And I will probably regret. I've come this far. The story begs and ending.

The beginning of the end starts with negation from my parents. A message left offline. They went to see a movie. Will talk tomorrow. Or the next day. I feel nothing, I laugh. Brother mine, tell me my friends are out there again. Tell me cousins spare not a thought on imposing. I scream, if only in my mind. It's funny how others have more confidence in me than I in myself. The little voice in my head is asking me to shut it. I will soon.

I'm ready to go to bed. I'm thinking horrible thoughts as I wonder; would you ever see me this way. Guilty of all sins. Guilty of clinging desperately to the past. Guilty of doing nothing. To be so eloquent with words never spoken, would that be a sin as well. I'm tired now. A simple word or voice would send me running. Maybe tomorrow when it doesn't mean a thing, I'll be myself again. The self you know.

But this has got to be the worst birthday in 22 years.

-D-

I see what you did tharrr....

2009-11-03T00:00:00.005+11:00

You might have been wondering what I've been up to since university released me from it's stuffy, mildew, dusty, grimy arms. If you weren't, why the heck did you click the link?

The title? Doesn't mean anything.

Back to the topic. Last Monday I handed in all my assignments for hopefully the last time. I've never had to retake a semester and I hope I don't start now.... If I had to do it again, it would be fun, but my rational part of the brain probably wouldn't survive the shock. But I digress.

copy pasta from deviantArt journallll!!!one!11!!

The past fortnight has been sheer... well there's no word coming up in my head contradictory enough to describe it. It was the last fortnight of my life as a student. For now. And for a long time more I hope. My schedule had included working on my assignments for 16 to 17 hours a day, not inclusive of walking to campus at nine or ten and going home at 1am the next day and back again. Working with another student as a client and designer was certainly interesting. Web design was a blast. It was also too much to teach in that short span of 12 weeks. There's so much to learn still but at least I've gotten a hang of html, CSS and a snippet or javascript (omg i touched jQuery! *squeal*). I wish they'd implement some of the stuff from CSS3 already.... Then there was promotional design where i was secretly working for PeTA and Mitsubishi... so secret they have no idea and am not going to get wind of it... ever.

Loads of fun happened within those last days. I made more friends during that time than I did the rest of the year. Note to introverts: working on campus with everyone will increase the probability of someone talking to you in comparison to working at home. I for one loved the environment. Late nights with people walking around bare foot, a rubbish bag full to the brim with popcorn, beer in the locker (not that i had any, i've a weird aversion to alcohol), cinema ice cream, and lots of biscuits. I must have finished a carton of that at least this week. Bad for brain cells though, I'll need to get back to eating solid food and vegetables again. Mmm the road to recovery is filled with green munchies.

END copy pasta from deviantArt journallll!!!one!11!!

Unfortunately, the greenie munchies have not surfaced... as you will see.

What else have I been up to, you may or may not ask? For one, I've been browsing clothes and see what suits wardrobe wise. But I shall spare your eyes and not post the pictures here. Other than that...

eating crap

planning top secret hoo-haa

watched Paranormal Activities free courtesy of Student Union. I found it scary, but then again I find an open window with billowing curtains scary

catching up on reading

Dirt Cheap Books opened a store in the city! Lollipop Shoes (Chocolat sequel for 9.95) was a great read!

bought myself a 2009 birthday present, seeing as my mum went to England and bought 2-3 pairs of boots

browsed bookshops - love the cover of this book, which looks like it's gonna be a great read as well

Not to mention catching up on my reading of RSS feeds that I've ignored during the rough weeks. So much to absorb! Life's a never ending learning and improving process. In short, we live, we work, we die. Yay.

Well, it's going to be 1am soon and I need to get to work in 8 hours. Time for bed!

-D-

Photo humor

2009-10-10T02:20:00.002+11:00

In an effort to push down that last less-entertaining-than-I-thought post, here are some recent photos from my mobile...
Yay Chinese sakura trees in Glen Iris...

Resigned post is resigned...

Japanese restaurant down on Little Bourke St

Someones mail I found one day...

Someone dropped their happy night

-D-

Rap Fail

2009-10-09T22:32:00.004+11:00

What's been up,
so what's been up?
Everyone's asking,
what's been about.

Learning, and uni,
and walking the block.
Tryin ta keep my head up,
from the aftershock.

Do what'chu can, girl.
Do what'chu do.
Gotta keep my head up,
don't be the foo'.

Looking all around me,
and what do I see.
Others so hard at work,
so much philosophy.

Running in circles,
tryin ta catch a breath.
Sliding down the learning curve,
what's the aftermath?

Do what'chu can, girl.
Do what'chu do.
After all is said and done,
it comes down to you.

Hey my elder brother,
he's good can't ya see.
Working all the long hours
so res-pec-ta-bly.

My lil' brother, hey dawg!
What's up and how'r you doin?
Gotta get them paper marks,
keep your beat moving.

Do what'chu can, girl.
Do what'chu do.
Learning all the right moves,
to make a move of you.

My friends all around the globe,
doin what'chu do.
Really want to talk and chat,
with all the lot of you.

Haven't spoken in a while,
that makes it kinda scary.
Maybe we'll just keep online,
cause that way it's more lively.

Do what'chu can, girl.
Do what'chu do.
All the rest done moving on
What'chu gonna do?

Now it's gone down
to the last of this crap.
Gotta keep the rhythm moving,
Failing at a rap.

But what would you do
with some space left to fill.
Coming from far along
with time left to kill.

Now I really gotta end
this sad wanna-be.
Time to say goodbye now
that's enough from me!

-D-

Frustration...

2009-09-28T23:36:00.002+10:00

is when every time I'm asked to go online with my mum, she asks me if I've already clinched a job.

Has anyone offered you a job yet?

Have you gone to look for a job?

How do you like Australia? Want to work there?

Go look for a job.

You should be able to find them at those job markets?

Have you checked online?

Maybe you can get an online job.

Have you tried?

How's your assignment?

Anyone come and ask you to do a job yet?

You know so-and-so got an online job and is now earning this much!

Make connections!

Have you asked your seniors?

Have you gotten in touch with your seniors?

Have you gotten in touch with Cousin this-and-that?

Doesn't your course do internships?

I'm seriously gonna start burning things soon..... Medical lines get jobs, design lines find jobs. There's a difference. Too bad it's more trouble to tell her she's causing frustration than it is to write it down in a blog.

So hush-a-by visitor, and let this rant wash over you.

-D-

I don't need liquid courage, I need edible happiness

2009-08-18T16:54:00.003+10:00

So lah.

Finished work and went to Coles to get some chocolate on sale. It's odd that Kit Kat took that long to come up with caramel and cookies and cream version of their chocolate bar. I've got 4 assignments in my bag, one due tomorrow, and I'm stuck on facebook playing a restaurant game. How messed up is that?

But the graphics are so cute! They remind me so much of harvest moon.

One hour to go til class time.

So as I was saying, whist walking from work to class, I passed by a shop that was selling things for 50% off. One of the things was a nice looking bag. $10, canvas exterior and poly inner, about the dimensions of a normal A3 width. Kinda good actually if not for the bedazzling at the side. Skipped it because for one, I don't think I need another bag since I have one for laptop carry and one satchel. Not to forget the handbag lovely people gave me last year. And for another, I shouldn't be buying unnecessary stuff anyway. No hoarding please =)

Went for a little walk down to the supermarket and got my chocolate. 3 bars and a rectangle for less than $5. One's gone now.

I was stopped by a salesman trying to sell me makeup. The first thing that came to mind was, "Do I look like someone who actually wears makeup?". Bare in mind that I was wearing blue jeans, a brown top, and a black and white hoodie, while lugging a full laptop bag on my back. Oh, and I was scarfing down on a Kit Kat =D

The brand was Victoria... something. It's gone from my mind now (see what I mean?). And is apparently the brand that Angelina Jolie and Sarah Jessica Parker used. Well, that didn't help the attraction much because Jolie is pretty and Parker... is probably not my compact powder, know what I'm sayin? (Probably not)

He passed me a makeup kit with a smaller one and gave me a price. Then he gave me the discounted price. It was a good $60 less then what he says to be the retail price. Still doesn't entice me to wear make up though. So I told him, "I don't think I have even $15 to spare (on makeup)". This delightful guy instead pulls a smaller array of lip balm from the counter, promising to give me a price lower than my budget and about half the price of retail. It's a good try. I still don't see the need though. What's more, if the makeup caters to such high profile names, why then are they going for cheap? So I apologize to him (feeling sorry because I have trouble just getting people to take FLYERS) and take my leave.

5 minutes later I'm not really thinking about it anymore because the Kit Kat was still in my hand (and mouth to some extent).

Walking to class from Coles however I get stalled by a guy asking for spare change and my mind is taken up by the speculation of how he got that way. It's so easy to think bad things of others but I'm kinda glad I didn't. I also didn't give him any spare change because my wallet was in my bag and I only had a tenner in my pocket. Maybe next time then.

I dunno.

It's funny for me how it can be thought as negative in a way that the other party might be doings something wrong, or as another negative where I'd be feeling guilty for not helping out when I might have(?).

Am I thinking to much about trivialities? Should I just concentrate on the chocolate in my bag or should I think about maybe giving a little more back to the non-edible economy? Or I should probably think of what to say to the lecturer about my work not being done.

:D

Oh Ou

2009-07-15T23:31:00.001+10:00

I think I'm getting more hairy...

The fine hairs on my arms are going about 1cm long...

Wtf...

My first "cake"

2009-06-21T17:32:00.005+10:00

As some of you might know, and some of you don't, I'm quite sure that one day an oven is going to blow up due to what I put inside it so I avoid ovens whenever I can. This recipe however, used the microwave.

I was looking for budget recipes for students when I came across this particular recipe for a Mug Cake. Yes, you read that right the first time. And if you're now thinking, Silly daphne, people do that all the time, then let me reassure you; apparently I'm not people. At most times.

Now that you've read all that nonsense from my inner response group, I shall provide you with a link to the easiest made "cake" I've come across.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake recipe – All recipes Australia New Zealand

Well that's the right way to do it anyway. I did replace some ingredients because it was a once off thing and I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of vanilla essence for just a few drops. So this was my ingredient list:

4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cheap chocolate milk flavouring
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons table spread, melted
1 green mug

Strictly speaking, the mugs not an ingredient but you get what I mean. Mix it all up nicely according to dry and dry then wet and pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes on high. Be sure that your cake mix does not go over half the height of your mug though. I had a few tense/funny seconds where I could see the mixture rising over the mug (mine was 3/4 full) and almost dripping before hardening.

It tasted quite ok actually and I wont hesitate to make it again. The shape it took had a lot to live up to but it was nice and moist while it was warm.

Another thing is that this cake can get quite dense so beware of making too much. 1 mug was pretty much my dinner for the day.

Also the amount of sugar could give you diabetes if you eat too much. Happy thoughts, my friends, happy thoughts.

Like this little cake I bought for a present.

One last thing though. I recently bought a new pack of "womens essentials" and I was wondering... why in blue blazers is there trivia on the sticker backing!?

Cherio
-D-

Redundant letter...

2009-06-15T10:36:00.006+10:00

[edit]Post deleted[/edit]

Feeling pretty much like half and ass right now...

D

The End of the Beginning (pic heavy)

2009-06-10T17:52:00.012+10:00

And so another semester comes to an end. I think I've been in the educational system way too long... it's almost a sickening dejavu when I say that now.

Oodles of doodles in my journal and notes...
I've learned this semester that Graphic Design is indeed very different from Multimedia. Proven by the fact that I've had 0 computer hours during class hours this year. I miss Flash. But I also get panic attacks when someone asks me to do something concerning multimedia. Ask for something simple guys, much love.

Believe it or not, it's work not play...
However, I'm not the only one feeling a difference. The straight Graphic Design students who came in, complained at the rationales that needed to be done. For me, who's always done them since LKW year one, I find it normal. Looks like they've had it easy by just rocking up for presentation and mouthing off what their work suppose to mean. There's a lot more locals in this course too. Hence the exposure to more coarse language. Eccentric people, they are. Like them, I still do.

30 seconds before my camera gave up...
I've also learned not to go to Albert Park on a day the weather report say "Warm". "Warm" can range very well from "Slight Heat" to "Skin Cancer in 20 Days". Or at least if I had to go there (which I had to), to bring a hat. One that covers everything. Or else you'd end up like this idiot:

...
Also that I should probably go to a real barber some time soon. For the past few years I've been able to cut my own hair in the luxury of my bathroom. Once here though.... I need more space and mirrors to cut around my head. Haha.

At first it didn't seem all that bad...

A few days after the hair-cut...
It actually grew on me since it made my head seem less long and flat. But it's got a fatal flaw. It grows out pretty bad....

FLAT!.
Now it just makes my head look MOAR long and flat. Where did the curls gooo. (My hairs naturally straight and wavy at odd intervals... it has a mind of it's own I tell you!). It looks so messy.... Like the condition of my room during the last days before submissions...

You could almost make out a paper ecosystem here....
This is so odd since it was all just digital work last year. There was never as much paper in my course as this. I think the paper bred... or the box board bred...

Funny i got more papercuts from boxboards then the actual papers....
There was only so much paper on my floor...

there's actually a dustbin under that pile of crumpled paper at the corner
But it was enjoyable cause the outcome was fantastic. Besides the 30 pages of design I stuffed in my folder (which snaps out as soon as u get 5 pages from the end), I was most happy with my bookbinding course outcome.

My "book"
I'm happy bragging, please don't mind me.

All in all it's been pretty good. I've had loads of time to finish everything... I just didn't. Use it all I mean :P

The leaf strewn lawn I was so tempted to jump around in, but was in a rush to the archival shop...
I know I promised to take pictures the next time I went to the archival and paper shops, but I was really, really in a rush and the only reason why I did go all the way there again was because it was the only place that sold that specific book-binding linen. To Jie Amy, I have half the tools you might need to rebind a book if you're interested.

These were a lot bigger then they look here....
The price of precaution certainly didn't come light as I brought everything (my laptop and what must be 4-5 kilos of submissions) to campus on the day of submission at 9a.m. while I finished up printing (which couldn't be done the day before because of the public holiday) and the rest of the folio. I didn't count on finishing early, then getting hungry, THEN forgetting my money and ending up having to lug all the heavy stuff back. Yeah I walked... and it rained. I was pretty puffed by the time I got back I ended up kicking one of my works... which thankfully was protected by the box. Submission was at 5:30, so at 4 when the weather broke, I took my stuff and went back to uni.

At 5:15 I went to the submission hall (room).

Our ca-assignment parking places...
Where the lecturers were still setting up the dumping areas. By 6p.m. ...

Clunky boxes make for interesting break in monotony?
I was slightly horrified that other students had come with their shop-bought special boxes to put their stuff in, and I had... 2 clunky boxes... and a folio that fell apart.... At least I know where I'd loose points first.

4 days of 4 hours sleep average is not too bad. Not as bad as last year. I'm happy anyway. I stuck around for a bit and headed back to rest my weary... everything. It was really funny when I slept talking to friends over MSN.

And now I leave you with some images of things only Malaysians would do...

Specifically, one group of Malaysians...
Oh, and a very Happy Belated birthday to Justin, Satya and my uncle (born on the same day), and my housemate - now Walsh mate Olivia who celebrates it today!

Cherio,
D

SO...

2009-05-17T09:57:00.003+10:00

The interactive game I made last semester has been stumbled upon by Tobin Mollett of http://jayisgames.com/ and she thought to put it on her site.

Naturally I was FLIPPIN HAPPY AND AT THE SAME TIME APPREHENSIVE.

Because as much as I'd like to kid myself, the game is not perfect. It may be pretty simple to some and unreadable to others. To a professional point-and-click gamer, it's pretty much a snap. I guess my audience was pretty broad to start with considering I haven't touched much games in my life.

Seeing it come to light and actually being liked by many made me want to go back to animation and interaction... what the hell was I doing in a graphic design course anyway? I want to animate. More so I want the rush to complete a well thought animation and the exhilaration of seeing the final product. I fail at life.

For now I will concentrate on the good parts anyway.

Here's a link to JayIsGames page hosting my game as I think it has better host rewards than my own. Thanks for watching.

Much love to Jakub Dvorsky and Amanita Design for inspiration, Mark Holdaway for the lovely music, John Lycette, Darren Ballingall and Simon Norton as instructive lecturers, BAM and BAIM class of 2008 for loads of feedback and encouragement.

Lots of love
-D-

Ps. See how costly messed up my life can get!?

Tired

2009-05-09T17:14:00.000+10:00

So very, very tired.

Three weeks to the end of the semester and I haven't done a whole load of stuff. But I've been feeling really really sleepy even after getting 9 hours of rest at night. Why?

Denial?

-D-

The Stingy Artist Friday March!

2009-05-01T17:37:00.008+10:00

Stingy Artist: Search for the One paper. Yay.

Fast Facts:
I'm taking a course in university that deals with book making and paper handling and have managed to impress the lecturer with my idea for my final project (30/4). Basically I'm going to make 5x5cm cubes embossed with specs of flowers. My idea, in the hands of the lecturer, has doubled in both size and cost. Artist stuff in Melbourne is pretty cool and can get pretty pricey.

Things I was looking for:
Card (2mm) - 2x4 aud - A1
Card (3mm) - 1x6 aud - A1
Paper (>100gsm) - 2x6 aud - A2
Endpapers (~100gsm) - 2x1 aud - A4
Ribbon (~1m) - 1x2 aud - 8m
Denim (~1m) - 1x15 aud - 1m
Embossing tool - 1x20 aud - 1 piece

The only thing I was pretty sure of was that I was definitely gonna be broke after this assignment.
So on the 1st of May, (4 weeks to final project due date) fueled by a cheese and ham sandwich, I went art supplies hunting.

These are the places I visited: Deans Art, Lincraft, Clegs, Senior Arts Supplies, Riot Art and Craft, Magnani Papers, Melbourne Etching Supplies, Neil Wallace Print Making Supplies, and Zetta Florence. When I looked them up on the web prior to the march, I had thought that they were quite close (even after drawing a skecthy map to show myself the way).

Left at 12pm and arrived back at 5pm. It was actually a very good day for a walk. Not too hot, a little cloudy and mildly cool in the afternoon. At times like these I wonder why I never remember or think to bring my camera. I was also wondering why it took so long seeing as I didn't spend more than 15 minutes average in a shop. So I hopped on to Google map to retraced my route.

And then I checked the distance of the route.

HOLY FRIKKIN 9.8KM!!

Don't think I've walked that much since secondary school cross country run. Although this was more of a walk/stroll thing. Still. Never mind, I think I'm making up excuses.

But it was really nice walking through from Flinders to Collins and from upper Smith to Brunswick. The first walk had me going through little lanes teaming with people out to lunch. There were even a threesome on cello, violin and guitar keeping the atmosphere lively. The second walk was quite the opposite as it was more of a housing area. The place was so quite and quaint with its little old fashion houses and picket fences. Both feel like they came out of a movie. But then again I'm not a native ;D

I'm tired now. Just got back from dinner with my old housemate right over at Russel and Little Bourke. Add that distance up why doncha!

-D-

Ps. From my place to the diner is 2km on Google maps~

Lol wut?

2009-04-21T11:46:00.003+10:00

Yesterday we had a presentation in class, in front of the entire class plus lecturer.

Three people said wanker.
One said f***er.
And another almost completed motherf-

Another day in graphic design, Australia ;D

-D-

My kick@$$ paper Easter baskets and random photos from my mobile

2009-04-11T19:44:00.008+10:00

What the title said.

And the random photos
The end

-D-

Since 12/3

2009-04-05T20:40:00.008+10:00

Alright, updates!!!

(Audience: Booo!)

Don't you want to know what's been going on here?

(Audience: You don't update properly! Your news are usually late, and you've probably told many people about i---- !! )

(Explosion)

(Silence)

Ahem. Sorry for the lack of updates. All words and no pics kinda makes a post dull.
But anyway~
Within the past 2 weeks, I've manage to:

Witness first hand drunken-stupor-I-suppose-akin-to-3am-at-a-night-club scenario.
It was Friday night 9p.m., and there was 4 cartons of alcohol. By 3a.m., there was only about 1 left, 3 empty bottles of wine, 1 table of puke, and 4 sullied toilet bowls. Not to mention 1 very tipsy housemate who went back and forth from the laundry room (where the alcohol and cards were) and the unit (where the toilet bowl was), and another whom had to shower his puke off his clothes. They didn't touch alcohol for a while after that.

Finally watch 300. Great movie, awesome effects.

Start a routine exercise from video clips on YouTube.

Make a concertina book from stuff in class. It was rather cool to be able to create something hands on as a class exercise after 3 years of digital work. It was also class work to create some object out of 10x10cm pieces of paper. It was fun and boring at the same time because a lot of the submissions became origami or paper weaving pieces.

Join some of the housing mates on a movie night. Watched Spirited Away, but a lot of them were not impressed by it because it was a "cartoon" and that it dealt with a more subtle message. After that they wanted to watch The Eye, so me and my housemate left for the walk back to our area.

Accidentally went for a canvassing job. Met up with other sellers at a bar at 12 noon on a Friday without knowing what the job entailed. Was driven 30 minutes outside the city and dropped at some little village with 11 tacked canvases to sell. It was relatively fun because the people there are nice, and on that day I bet I talked to more strangers than I ever did in a party or in church.
It was also really interesting because I'd meet these really kind old ladies who'd invite me in for a drink, or I'd get these old men who'd open the door long enough to utter that they're not interested in buying anything. Then I'd get kids who'd jump around me and try to touch the paintings (some of which were done with coconut husk, so there was some texture there). And way too many people had minuscule loud yappy dogs.
The job continued on til 9p.m. where I was wondering the dark streets - half blind, with no food or water. I got lost once and had to ask some local kids for directions. Needless to say I'm over that job for at least the next few months....

Stop the routine exercise.

Start the exercise again but in lighter doses.

Get depressed.

Check my expenditure. I need to spend less. Calculating over the last month, my expenses seemed to have doubled since I first got to Melbourne. That is bad.

Catch up with some friends.

Develop a story and get distracted from class work.

See the aftermath of heating 2 eggs in a microwave. Thought something worse would happen, but the microwave seemed to have survived the explosive force of the unhatched. The door did pop open though, so there was much clean up done by my housemate who owned the eggs.

So within the past 2 weeks, I've come that much closer to maturity.
Thanks for reading.

-D-

The second week ends!

2009-03-12T21:49:00.004+11:00

So it's been two weeks since my life as a graphic design student started... and I have to say it's been quite fun. Still I guess it's mostly because the hard bits and assignments are still in the hanger filling up on fuel.

In any case, the good thing about it is that I understand my lectures 85% of the time. There's a five percentile taken off because of the Australian slang.

I saying this because in the past, I've always been able to discuss with the lecturers on a one-on-one basis in which my half deft ears were more able to decipher the tones and nuances of their speech. In a class of 50 students, the high pitched voice of the lecturer standing in the front is very much diluted by... the bodies of at least 15 people in front of me and becomes more or less a monotone. And the other 10% is because they're using terminology of the graphically immersed.

But still, it's been fun.

Within 3 core courses and an elective, I've managed to meet these personalities:

A lecturer who has assigned us a bible of historical philosophical design text to study
A lecturer whom worked at a company which changed it's name so many times she couldn't quite remember them all.
A lecturer who loves type, font families and the nuances of making a font, to a point where he was almost erotically involved.
A lecturer who laughs a lot and has made many references to 'ice' in its many forms and meanings.
A small lecturer who speaks fast in a high pitched voice who laughs a lot and runs through a lot of designs.
A lecturer who has a clear voice but chooses only to speak at certain times when she wants to add in her thoughts.
A lecturer who sits at the back of the class so that every time she wants to add in something, we play tennis with our heads.
A kind lecturer whom told everyone to think carefully if they belonged in her basic class.
And today's lecturer, whom loved paper almost as much as the other one loved type.

Aah such fun.

Now I have to mope over leaving my 1 meter metal ruler back home because now I need it to cut paper as lovingly as the last lecturer...

Also, I have to get paper scissors (23aud), bone folder (12aud), and pvc glue (10aud).

All donations welcome.

Cheers
-D-

Here's the weather report for the past few days in Melbourne...

2009-03-05T13:09:00.005+11:00

Happy semestering

-D-

Sharing is caring

2009-02-28T18:51:00.004+11:00

Therefore I just wanted to share with you guys what was inserted into my goodie bag when I joined RMIT Student Union.

1. A 2009 planner

This, my dears, is the main reason why I actually joined SU.... Quite shallow actually, but look how pretty it is!!

2. A T-shirt

This wasn't suppose to be the T I was supposed to get, or so the guy said. I was suppose to get a T that said "I *insert red love shape here* S U", which would have been nice, but... =)

3. The goodie bag

Quite a nice one actually, made of light canvas-like material. Will be added to my growing pile of grocery bags

4. Something I'd have never expected

Really...

Wow my first tampons at 21! Too bad I don't use them =P
I opened one packet just to have a look at how they're like, but whoever who can fully utilize them, feel free to take them off my hands as they're still clean. Want not, waste not!

-D-

Direction service

2009-02-24T21:58:00.007+11:00

I have a fatal flaw in pointing out directions to people in Melbourne.

Being here for about 8 months, guess I could safely point you to where you want to go within the CBD... but lately I've been getting a lot of this...

(click to view full size)
There are negatives to not using the transportation system...

Cherio
-D-

...

2009-02-18T16:25:00.002+11:00

I'm at the quiet side of the library being throughly freaked out...

There are 4 girls here of questionable origins talking out loud, swearing, listening to music without earphones, and for-the-love-of-###### burping their lungs out...

SHUT UP, BIaTCHES!!!!

enrollment has been giving me hell since 9.30am. It is now 4.30pm...

Have yourself a nicer day!

-D-

Mad person on the Loose

2009-02-17T21:57:00.006+11:00

Hello~

So I'm back in Melbourne city and spending the first few days trying to make someone except me as a payed slave. That said, I think I frightened a fair number of people who were on the streets today.

It was warm, it was sunny, and I was wearing a jacket. If you were on the streets today and saw someone resembling this:

Then is was probably me... I was talking to myself, for the lack of an ear that wasn't mine...
Seems that most of the part-time positions have already been applied for and filled... "If there were any openings the manager will refer back to the collected resumes", I've heard that line far too many times today...

I can't exactly blame it on the economic recession... it's all got to do with bad timing I guess.

It was HOT.
The only reason why I was actually wearing a jacket was because I was planing on staying in the library for a bit (which didn't happen because that's where everyone's congregating to get out of the outside) and that I was wearing a sleeveless. Whee

Cant wait for the semester to begin...

-D-

Goodbye wisdom...

2009-01-20T22:22:00.006+11:00

...teeth.

Hi!
Yesterday I got my two lower partially impacted wisdom teeth removed. At 9a.m. in the morning. Too early for pain, if I say so myself, but it was an appointment. One thing I have to say is that whomever that wants to get tooth extraction, Dr. Leong at Mahkota Medical Center is a good dentist to go to. It was a lot less painful than what I'd expected, but then again that might be me over-reacting. I could bet my last buck it was hysteria that made me crack jokes with my mum before the procedure.

In any case, he asked me to sit in the dentist chair and proceeded to POKE my mouth full of HOLES!! Note to self, anesthetic doesn't work immediately. It was a good thing that that was the most painful part of that morning. And also that the doctor was talking me through it so I had something else to concentrate on. Then he went away and the nurses covered me up. Bib, shoulders, even my eyes were covered!

About ten minutes later, my jaw was blissfully numb. As in I could chew my lip and not feel other than a distant squeezing. I was still chewing on the inside of my mouth when he asked me to open wide. Haha. Then came the drilling, cracking and tugging. Because my wisdom teeth were only partially impacted, he had to slice through the gum to get to the tooth. And he had to crack each tooth into four to get them out. A very odd feeling indeed, feeling the pressure and pull without pain.

Close to an hour later, I got two stitched punctures in my gum. Hooray. And I have to go back in a week to get the stitches out. Double hooray. So aside from eating soft food for the moment, I also have to pick the bits that get between the stitches and chew with my incicers.
Look RED!!
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

-D-

PS:
Back tracking to the last blog entry, nothing much has changed since. Sure I had a great Christmas, a delightfully quiet New Years and a nasty trip back to Malaysia for a one month holiday. Yep, not much. Hold on while I kick my gratefulness meter around the bend.

That is to say, in November 2008 I finally graduated from my three-plus-one degree program in Bachelor of Arts (Multimedia) (with Distinction) as written on my big-ass certificate. I wish to thank everyone I've ever conversed with because there's a large possibility, taking into context my passing allergy to socializing, that every person did some good. I have to say I looked horrible in the graduation gown because of the shoulder pads... it's a personal thing, I feel for my wiiiide shoulders.... All in all, the graduation day didn't turn out at all like what I'd liked/expected it to. Barely got enough time for pictures, let alone pictures with classmates. Oh, and for those who might be wondering, I didn't go for the graduation parade because it was held at 9a.m., and I was 40 minutes train ride away from the city with parents who didn't wake up until 9a.m. Malaysian time. Plus, it was a very hot day.

Then Christmas dinner was fun. As fun as finding presents for a whole holding of family I've had the opportunity to get to know better this year. My cousins seem happy enough with their presents, considering most of them included snacking food. Hahaha. The buffet set up then was good, looked spectacular and was accompanied by wonderful company. In this atmosphere did I watch my first Kris Kringle in action. In short, there were two baskets of presents, lots of people, and presents that were stolen from each person in turn.
My two out of three nephews attacked their presents (and others) like a years wait finally caught up with them. The only thing holding the third one back was age, but he'll get there soon enough. Even more fun was watching the kids tear up wrapper on Christmas morning. The poor duo had to wait SO LONG for the adults to wake up and finish their breakfast before diving under the tree. In the end, the kids had a half-their-height pile of presents each and lots of wrapping paper to clean up after.

New Year was a quiet event of watching fireworks on TV. Apparently, Sydney winning again was nothing short of expected. Poor Melbourne.

funniest plane status i've seen - thought it would be 'idle' or something
Oh and I took the new Air Asia flight back to Malaysia earlier. Unfortunately for me, (since it didn't happen to my parents) my flight back was plagued by a constant urine smell. On a normal flight I would be nausious and irratable. On this flight, I was downright sick and very close to actually using the vomit bag. Thanks Air 'Kencing' Asia.

black birds on black wire...
Anyone know what these birds are called? The picture does not show it, but they have very glossy green-black feathers and red eyes... birds of the devil?

Great awaits

2008-11-28T15:40:00.005+11:00

I was chatting with a college friend on MSN this afternoon when she gave me a link to an upcoming movie by Tim Burton. Being a big fan of his 'Nightmare Before Christmas', of course I took a look.

YouTube - Coraline (2009) - Trailer #2 [HD QUALITY]

Coraline, a movie by Focus Features and Laika seems like a pretty picture to begins with... that is until you get to the middle of the trailer. Some kid who thinks the world isn't enough and finds a new dimension, only to have her dreams turn evil. Although as I found out it wasn't by Tim Burton, it was however directed by the same Henry Selick that did NBC. Animation wise, it was so smooth that at first I thought it was made in 3D. Definitely a good show to catch, no matter how much it reminds me of a lighter 'Pan's Labyrinth'

It's almost Christmas, time to dish out the comedies. So I went over to check the other large animation production houses; namely Walt Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks.

I can't say I remember the last movie by Disney, but I think the last one I watched was 'Enchanted', which was nice. But now there's Bolt

Apple - Trailers - Bolt - Trailer

Cute, alternate reality inside the mind of a dog, an innocent cat and a fantasizing hamster. Being in a movie, Bolt the main character thinks what happens behind the camera is real. Soon enough he escapes the confines of the set and is off to save his little miss. What he doesn't realize is that his super powers don't work outside the screen. Definitely a funny to watch since it involves inconvenient innocence and cute realization of one's position.

In the recent movie with 'Wall.E', Pixar reached beyond their normally grounded routine and flew off into space, and in their next movie it seems they haven't quite come back down to Earth.

Apple - UP

In their coming feature length animation, 'UP', Carl Fredriksen a 78 year old man who feels life has passed him by is given a boost to rekindle his want to explore the world by a young boy named Russell. He takes off his own around-the-world trip in a very unexpected manner (or manor). With little enough imagination, one can see how this would be an entertaining movie, however it would be no loss to see Pixars view on it as it is rolled out on the big screen on the 29th of March 2009.

On the other hand, Dreamworks seems to be keeping with their quaky styles and story telling. In their new movie slated to come out ALSO on March 2009, is a funny but different version of the cliche city-in-need-of-saving therefore superheroes-are-born. Dreamworks love for throwing norms in the opposite direction is shown once again in this feature.

YouTube - Monsters vs Aliens trailer

Imagine 'Monsters Inc.' and 'Kungfu Panda' in a larger group (I would say 'The Incredibles' but it might be suicide to mix the production houses up). Which now that I have a chance, would like to mention that Dreamworks seems to have a liking for tubby characters, seeing as they have had so much practice with the 3 installations of 'Shrek' and Po from 'Kungfu Panda'. They haven't pulled out of it by introducing Insectorsaurous(sp?) and Bob(who doesn't have a brain) in this movie. I'm already looking forward to this.

2009 also announces the screening of 6th book 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' in July. Something to look forward to, only to be picked apart being compared to the novel.

Apple - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Trailer 3a

Watching the trailer made me feel the need to read Rowlings 6th book again. Not because I want to compare, but because I cant for the life of me remember half of the scenes that happen in the trailer(Ok, so maybe that means compare too). This is something odd for Potter books as I usually remember whats in or not in the book. Which either means my memory bank is crap, or that the movie's being distinctly different again. Someone watch it and confirm with me?

So, perusing the Apple movies I also caught sight of this movie:

Apple - Inkheart - Trailer 2a

Which sad to say I regret not buying the book before the eventual price-hike-because-it's-a-dang-blockbuster. Inkheart is the first edition of a trilogy by Cornelia Funke, where the characters find they can make stories come to life just by reading it out loud. Good grief, that's something I've dreamed of doing since a whole lot of years before. The trailer looks very promising though in that case I'm prepared to find the movie a bit less thrilling than the trailer.... The only itch about the movie is that Brendan Fraser plays the dad. He's a good actor no doubt about that, it's just that I feel he doesn't have the face for it, not after 'Bedazzled'. Maybe Ewan McGregor? But that's just my opinion.

Next up is another book-to-movie feature. This one's a little closer in date coming out 6 days before Christmas.

Apple - The Tale of Despereaux - Trailer - Medium

Pronounced 'des-pa-roe', it's a tale about a mouse, a princess, soup and the turn of the tide written by Kate DiCamillo. Although not made by any of the animation company favourites, it looks nice enough. A little different from the more recent cooking rat animation but just about as fun. This is another book which I had refrained and regret from buying. I was drawn to the book before by its charming cover design which I think anyone would fall for. Voice over for this movie is as charming as its character Despereaux who is, despite all, a gentleman.

So saying, those are the movie I'm looking forward to the most in the wonderful medley of movie chaos. Of course there will be movies to see such as 'Australia', 'Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa', 'Seven Pounds' (Will Smith), 'Angels and Demons', 'Yes Man' (Jim Carrey), 'Marley and Me', 'Transporter3' and 'Pink Panther 2' (not that I'll watch the last two). I'm so looking forward to getting the pir- I mean, seeing these movies on screen.

As you can tell, I'm not really into blow-it-up movies or scary ones. Else I'd be reviewing movies like 'Quantum of Solace' and 'The Alphabet Killer'... whatever they seem to be. Hah.

Thanks for reading.

Oh and I enjoyed 'The Bucket List' and 'What Happens in Vegas', and have taken a liking to songs by Mika.

-D-

Boredom

2008-11-26T12:46:00.003+11:00

It's been 5 weeks since I submitted my Major Project and today the school is going to screen it at ACMI, Federation Square. This would be the only chance in the near future that my project will get to be screened openly because it is an interactive. However I've yet to make it available online because I've fallen into a sort of lethargy.

And I have to say that there are certain things I would like to say that I can't because my little brother happily informed my parents about this blog. So now it's a controlled blog. Shad, we're in the same boat now, row man! ROW!

But in any case...

My cousin and cousin-in-law are building a house using a mass-builder. It's something like, they have certain plans you can choose from and certain stuff (doors, bricks, windows, tiles) that you can choose from, but they'll build it on your land. I find it interesting because although you might not get 100% the house you dreamed off, it would be at least 70% your choice. So I tagged along for the choosing of the building blocks of the house. (Pun, no?)

Surprising, or unsurprisingly enough, Metricon (mass-builder) was full of woman consultants. We saw only 1 guy consultant... and he was handling carpets. And I found out how exhausting it could be to match a whole house of colours. Granted we worked through it all one by one; brick, roof, gutter, awning, weatherboard, garage door, windows, window frames, door handles, toilet bowls, bath tubs, shower cubicles, taps, sinks, mirrors, shower heads, kitchen bench tops, splash walls, feature walls, normal walls, drawer and cupboard handles, toilet sink tops, cupboard colours, kicker colours, carpet types and colours, shutters, blinds, stairs, front slope thingy.... My goodness I didn't even know you could choose for half of these before yesterday. It took about 4 hours for all that, and they haven't even chosen tiles! If I ever buy land in the future, I'm probably going to make sure there's a working house on it. And do renovations. Or I might just get an apartment.

Not that I'm complaining. No. It was just that there were so many choices that when asked for an opinion, I kind of reverted back to logic rather than taste to help them choose. It's a good thing that my cousins had certain likes and dislikes. Else we'd have been stumped for longer maybe. It's a good thing the interior consultant we met were supportive. By the end of that me and my cousin were quite stoned. Went home to sleep.

Also, I helped my uncle push my aunts car out of the driveway and onto the road and on the driveway again because the battery was dead. Unfortunately it was no Kancil.

I want to start cold calling for work... but since im planning to go back in January I'm not sure if employees want a 1 month-er. Maybe I'll try. Wish me luck~

-D-

P.S. Whee for weird green layouts... -_-

Hi

2008-11-19T13:39:00.005+11:00

Sorry, just some photos that weren't uploaded a while back. I'm more than a little depressed today hence the lack of commentary. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Thanks guys for all this!

-D-

Pictures!

2008-11-04T12:38:00.008+11:00

It's the fourth of November. Melbourne Cup Day. Means according to my friend, most of the shops will be closed

But it's a great day anyway ^_^

Pictures!

Here's my lunch from some time ago, when projects still needed handing in.

The end result of 6 months of hard work. My apologies to those at home, there seems to be a problem downloading it off the net. I will try to make it available soon.

My room, finally cleaned after so long... I washed all of my clothes and sheets on the same day.And this is as clean as my desk will ever be, I guess. It's cluttered now...

Birthday Cards!

You insane people sending cards all the way from Malaysia so that I can has ripping time!

This one's from Marina. Still happy with the cow shots you took when you were here, eh? ;)I has a holy cow now :D Thanks Marina! A little hard to read, but I sure felt the thought that counted!

This is from Esther! Truthfully speaking, I was confused for the first 3 seconds of opening the envelope. And then there was awesomenessThanks Esther for all the wonderful heave-ho on the ego ;D

All this thanks to Memory Lane~

And proof of what a beautiful day is~

So to everyone for your wishes!

Mum and Dad
Dyl-boi
Charlene
Marina
Esther
Amy
Bel
Crys
Jo (I'll still wait for your card to arrive)
Satya
BK
Mary
Peter
Nat
Everyone else
My awesome housemates who bought me a cake!
My secret

Thank you all! I love!

-D-

21 Years Alive

2008-11-04T00:27:00.007+11:00

It's today, it's today
It's finally here
Too far, too long
Now finally, too near

Years ago, to this very day
A simpleton was born
Not too far away

The time has come
The time to pass
The 21st year
The very last

Oh youth has still so much to say
But that which is here
Will not wait another day!

Hurrah for absolutely mind-blowing, awesomely-weird, badly-written, riddle-like poems to kick-start 21 years alive!!! (And lets not forget the over-use of the ever helpful dash[-])

As over-rated as it is, everyone goes through it at a point in their lives. Or rather a date in their lives. And now it's my turn. Oh horror, oh shame. Oh darn I'm so far away from the people who've known me all my life.... So much for getting my head pushed into cake. (Seriously, you know I'm joking about the cake part, right? Right? Oh dear.)

Now, if I were surrounded by those said people, a blog about my birthday would not have survived it's initial round of thanks. And most of you would have turned away by then. But then again, I would have had serious fun. Can't have the whole cake dear, you'll get a stomach ache. In a rhetorical way.

So to start of, I want to thank my parents for conceiving me and my mum for eventually giving birth to me, for bringing me up in a home I could be happy in, for all the spoils and scolding, for the lectures and nurtures and for being who you are. I really hope the relationship between you both will strengthen, even in this day and age as I believe what you have always told me; that it is never too late to change.

My dearly departed, unacquainted, paternal parents whom married despite their communication barrier and which grandfather traveled all the way from China. My lovely and well missed maternal grandparents who were half the hand of bringing my brother and I up to be who we are now. I hope you both are well. Grandma, I hope you are still fit enough to potter around your garden though I wish you'd find time to relax more. Grandpa, and I mean this is the best way possible, 4D is not the answer.

My brother, Daryl, the best in the world I could wish for. You always been there for me (partially because I'm always tagging alongside your shadow). Thanks for sticking up for me, for helping me grow, for giving me a shove through my emo years. Mostly for putting up with my tantrums, my tears, my maniacal laughter and sad humor. For being who you are and able to stand by me since you were a year old, I have endless gratitude to you.

To my smaller brother, Dylan, it is nothing new that you've been a pain in the rear since I don't know when. But then again, with pain we grow. I've always known that I have a temperament. Horrible as it is, if you weren't around, it probably would have grown into something unmanageable. I'm glad that I have at least someone to coddle a little, and hope to goodness that you will get through that phase you are going through now.

To my aunts and uncles, thanks for all the great times. May they keep on rolling. Disagreements or not, we are still family. I know I have little right to say this but, keep in touch. To my cousins on my moms side, Wei Soon, Chuen, Charlene, Joshua, Joel, Samuel, Caleb, little Nathan. The elder ones I'm happy to have spent my childhood with, the youngsters I hope and wish for all the best. May we meet again soon enough.
My cousins on my dads side, I'm very sorry I don't remember a lot of you, haven't met a few. Jie Hwan San, Jie Hsu San, Jie Amy, Wei Ling, Fiona, Cindy, Ivan, Edwin, Victor, Sharon, Wendy. I know there are so many more. To those I've have the opportunity to know over again in Melbourne, thank you so much for taking care of me, even when I was like a stranger to you. Of course not to forget the other halves of the couples Yih Seng Koko, Eugene, Andre, Leo, you are all good in your own way.

To my friends all the way from primary; Marina, Sally, Crystal, Justin, Satya and Sathya, Razin and Rashad, Padma, Jun Ching, Farahiyah, Farah Munji, Joel,... too many more to remember. Secondary school; Esther, Belvinder, Josephine, Amy, Raymond, TBK, Satpal, everyone in Science 1 and 2. People who left. People who came back. Friends who packed lunches with me. Everyone whom I had to collect money from during those five years. Yeah, I took your money cause I care *evil grin*
You have all played a part in who I am now. I remember falling a sleep in class in standard 2. I remember eating food during recess under the mango tree because the canteen was too far. I remember the poor kedongdong tree being de-leafed. I remember teachers, not their names. I remember the BCG jab, man that hurt. I remember my mothers challenge, and the teacher telling me I got straight A's for UPSR. I remember Farah crying.
I remember being afraid of meeting new people in secondary. I remember forgetting Jo's name. I remember fun. I remember pride. I remember crying after receiving my PMR results. I remember changing classes, increasing friends. I remember getting to know the twins more. I remember our unhappiness at being unable to create our class magazine. I remember Browser. I remember SPM. Sweaty palms and cold feelings. Ideas, theories, memos, swirling in our head. Additional math on my birthday. The rush of warmth at the final call of the paper. Dreaded moments before the slip. Disappointment, relief, humble pride roiled into one feeling of receiving the results.

I was reminded of the awesome party we won from faking a paper in Form 2. The Cyclone lives on! With weird comics backing it up :)

Many of you know little about what happened during my 3 years at college. I was my first step out of my seemingly large comfort zone. I met people, learned new things. Found happy moments, sad episodes, all wiped a way in a blink, only to come rushing back stronger than the wave it was. 3 years of endurance, one of hope, one of stability, and one overwhelmed. I've become sharper, more refined in a way that I cannot express how glad I am to have those who still stand around me.

In my seven months in Melbourne, I have found a plaster for my wound. I have found something else to include in the scrapbook of my life. I have found a secret. I have found that I cannot repay what I have been shown, but I hope in the very least I'm doing my part for the life and living of someone else. I want to start by giving thanks.
Thank you for reading this far. For those of you not mentioned, I am terribly sorry for not having the best of memories. It might seem a little anti-climax at this point, but I am still alive so this experience will still go on. It's all about me, all about you.

I live, I learn, I love.

I am 21.

-D-

Snap

2008-10-19T10:34:00.008+11:00

Uh....

First and foremost I'd like to extend an apology to my older brother, and to my dad. Why?

For thisDon't see the problem?

That's the second pair of headphones I've snapped within a year.... And I've only had this for a month. And it had belonged to my brother. Sorry, gor...

Realizing that as my only means of live conversation over MSN (it's the only thing I have here with a mike) which my dad favours, I had to get it fixed somehow... instead of resorting to this>>>

Die lah...

So went hunting for some Super Glue. I just grabbed the smallest one I could find because I'm probably not going to use it much and lets face it, how many of you open a tube of Super Glue just to leave it there after some use and go back to it a few weeks later finding that it dried up from some reason or some other.
When I got back and wanted to use it I realized something...
Lol Malaysian product. Which could mean that it's not that good. Honestly, when I applied it to the headphones, it came out really liquidy unlike the blobs that usually come out of the old one's in Malaysia. I was thinking; 'Crap, I just wasted RM6 on 3grams of water'
Turns out it worked rather well. It even ate through some of the plastic!
Now it's all fixed :D Thankfully there were no wires in the broken end, unlike my last, so sound is still ok.
If you want to know, the main reason why the headphones I use snap is because I bring them to college along with my books, tablet, laptop, laptop cooler, lunch, wires and miscellaneous stuff in this rather stiff bag

Good news is I found a pair of earphones on the road on my way back. Cleaned it and plugged it in and it works good.
So the headphones don't have to get stuffed in the bag anymore, and these wont break :D

On other things, I've 12 days to submissions. Aargh Arrrr...

-D-

Beeping from the ceiling and such...

2008-10-09T11:13:00.003+11:00

I've recently resorted to going to the library to do my work because working from home can be a little lethargic.... Plus the bed's not only just there, it's JUST THERE!!

If you're interested to know, I'm at home at the time this blog was published... hence there is a post.

So on Tuesday, I reached the library at around 8 a.m., did some work then visited the student council for more discussions on what to take next semester. Walked back for lunch. Came back to campus to do more work.
^{I just need to stress how much I'm walking as compare to last year... or within the last five years even.}

Then suddenly, the intercom in the silent section of the library started beeping. Beeping. Like when you pick up the phone before dialing a number... duut... duut.... And there I was thinking, 'Are we actually going to hear a conversation between the librarian and her boyfriend/girlfriend/mom/kid/brother from another mother'.

I finally got it that it was a fire alarm... albeit a phone-like-fire-alarm when some of the students started packing up. Half of them in the library per say. The other half just went on with their work/study.
^{3 weeks to the finals, I guess it's really a do or die session.}
Funny thing is, when some of the students left, a couple more came in with big smiles to take the now available seats. Talk about being opportunistic.... I was doing a slow pack (because it was just a fire drill) when the alarm stopped.

Waa so happy got to keep my seat.

The students that left came pouring back in and tried to get their seats back. But there was one seat where a girl (probably from architecture or interior design) left her stuff on the table. Planks of wood, books, plastic bags. And this guy just strolls in and takes her seat. Well, she got it back in the end, but I think she was rather irritated.

On other things, I'm getting rather tired of the project that's been worked on for the past 8 months collectively. But it will all end soon. Got an extension for a week so it's ok.

Also, some new stuff I posted on deviantart.

For those who find dA a little confusing, these links will take you straight to the picture itself.
Funny animation short, just click and watch
SuperWoman emoticon requested by Marina
Emo kid Cheer up
A couple picture

And this is a comic strip from real life experience:
IRL Comic Strip : Steak

More IRL Comic Strips here, just click on the preview images to see the full strip

Countdown
22 days to submission

-D-

Lost 1 hour while I slept

2008-10-05T13:46:00.003+11:00

Today, Daylight savings began again in Australia.

So it meant that I woke up at 9 a.m., had my lunch at two and am probably going to sleep at 1a.m. tomorrow morning.... I guess I can understand why they set up daylight savings... but for an hour? It only serves to make appointments and schedules an hour early or late because it doesn't seem to change the day all too much.

I still walk back in the same amount of light as I did before.

Countdown
19 days to submission

A shoutout to Milya: Thanks for visiting! I like your blog too, and your header -- Come back anytime~!

-D-

P.S. Look! Look I changed the header, and the typeface *big grin*
Also, I can't seem to insert my chatbox in my sidebar, it's not the size cause I changed that and nothing showed. It works on the main though...

Have you ever wished...

2008-10-01T20:49:00.007+10:00

That one day, when you start the Windows Live Messenger application, that you'd have more options than you'd usually get?

I do.

There sure are some labels I can use in there. Does anyone else feel that 'Busy' translates as 'Available for your Use of Entertainment', and 'In a Call' becomes 'Nudge me NOW!'

Not that I'm fussy about these things _{(or that I'm even online most of the time)}, but I do know some that get quite frustrated with it.

On other things, my brother leaves again for England today. I have no idea when he'll be back, or when he'll update his blog. *ShoutOut: Gor gor, update your bloooog!!!!*

21 days to final submission of my degree program. I will survive! *insert corny music here*
Happy thing is I don't have exams.
Jelous? ;D

-D-

P.S. Thanks Esther! I will try not to abandon it... I hope

2/10 Update
S***, ProGrad (an Australian employment company) called me today but didn't continue the call when I told them I was ineligible to work full time... And I stuffed up the call by not answering on time plus forgetting entirely that I had applied with them (before I found I couldn't)...

Note to self, document your applications... might actually get lucky some time -___-

And so it begins...Again...

2008-09-30T17:00:00.000+10:00

Hi!

For those who do not know me, I'm a (not so) little Melakan girl hoping to someday make it big somewhere. Possible Australia... or Singapore... see? So, for now I'm 'On the Fence'.

Even for those who do know me, this might come as a little surprising.

For one, I was suppose to have my own coded blog on my personal portfolio website. How ever without some excess knowledge and access to the type of coding (which, as I gather, can't be used for free at ~~110mb~~) of the web, makes it quite a hassle to manage. So while I'm gathering more information on that, On the Fence will be my cover.

*Grin*

For another thing, I'm quite bad at keeping blogs. I do have a life and peculiar things do happen and such, but my camera is never there when it has to be. Like many others of my species, I have a wish that my eye's were internally hooked up to something more substantial than brain matter and synapses. The percentage of possible memory loss is higher than say... an Olympus Camedia C-750 (with UltraZoom!), or a Panasonic camcorder of the I-forgot-which-model-it-was.

No matter... I will try my best. However, if you're looking for the more regular update per-fortnight in my system, do visit my deviantart account. It might not be updated all the time but it is decidedly not on the fence.

^{^{And ranting along she will be...}}

Oh, and I've also started this blog to commemorate something special to me. *Twitch* So far only 3 people know about it and only one person would know the real reason. *Twitch*

In any case, stay tuned as I try to live a life, get a job, redesign my site and hopefully this blog as well, and earn doing what I love best: design.

-D-

P.S. For those in my links that don't want to be there... or those not who actually want to - comment and I will make the necessary changes.