and so yes it was a very warm monday morning when i sat down to a mid-sem exam on Microeconomics... hehehe and almost instantly swore upon reading the 2nd and 3rd question... which is not particularly good when the exam has 4 questions, all equally weighed...
hehehe yes whatever you do, don't ask me why POW's at German POW camps during WWII formed markets man... or what the heck cigarettes were doing as currency... :-P i knew i should have actually read the article, instead of just giving it a cursory glance about 15 minutes prior to the exam... and then went back to Da Jie's notes (which were excellent btw :-D) hehehe
yes ahh well i got out ok... frantically answering the 2nd question in the last 5 minutes man... hahaha yeah i cant believe that my randomly drawn graph passed :-P (it's a funny subject lol)
hmmm what else have i been doin?
lets see oh wait last wed (the 26th) was Aussie day... and yet hahaha i had to go to uni in the morning despite the fact that it was a public holiday... for another 3 hours of economics *sigh*...
its criminal man to make someone go to uni on a public holiday... then again it wasnt all bad... hahaha had a piano lesson apres... which was pas mal but yeah i still ain't very good to say the least... which isn't particularly brilliant when all one is learning is chords... oh welll all thanx to CM who's put up with my constant mistakes, wrong notes (and the resulting cringe)... hehehe yeah it's been interesting
later went to AC's for a BBQ and then off to the Foreshore to watch what was it 30 mins of fireworks? alamak man abit short to say the least :-P ahh well it was a nice night nontheless...
hmmm Thursday night was jamming with the church band... not bad. Pastor did a great devotional session beforehand which was like superbe!!!. and yeah was really energizing. truly as worshippers of God we have to remember that at the end it's all about Him :-D and nothing should stand in the way of that.
then the jam session.... well hahaha wasn't that great... hehehe i didn't bring my amp and thus was forced to play like... speakerless... which ain't that fun when all one has is 6 acoustic strings vs bass + drums + keyboard + 2 electrics :-P my bad...
friday... hmmm carried 4 ridiculously over-sized textbooks to uni from last sem to sell off... only to discover to my chagrin that the 2nd hand bookstore wouldnt take them till May :-O... oh man... i had carted them all the way from like... home man... on a bus.... ahhh pissed off :-P nothing to do but to smile and walk off... then went for lunch with TE, AL, CM, J and then after, another piano lesson (still not much improvement... hehehe but my right hand is better than my left, which isn't a bad feat for a southpaw like myself :-P mebbe i'm just a freak hahaha)
right... nothing much on Saturday 'cept for a dinner at Pastor's place with the family...
Sunday... hehehe as always started at 7am.... worship practice 8am.... hmmm wasn't bad actually, though i was abit worried my battery would give up (the one in my guitar lahh... what were u thinking? ;-) hehehe yes would have been pretty funny hahaha...
then went home in the Church van (Stacked full with the musical equipment), uneventful except when my dad suddenly braked and hahaha the Church sign gave me a nice little nudge in the back of my head (the principle of inertia... sigh i hated Physics) hehehe mebbe a little more than a nudge... lucky it was the soft plastic one... not the metal one or hahaha i might have had some problems... :-)
then that night... SAFIN won!!! what a game ehh :-P still not as good as the semi with Federer... which was AWESOME... i have to confess i was rooting for Safin unashamedly... he worked so hard against Federer :-D LEGEND!!! hehehe also i found Lil' Lleyton a lil' annoying to say the least :-P... ahahaha then Safin gave that CLASSIC winner's speech ("i'm right... right" :-P)....
heheeh including this gem:
"i'd like to thank all you supporters here for coming to see us, though 90% of you come for Lleyton, not me" :-P such a funny guy man
okies hmmm today had another set of lectures + tute then piano... then home...
saw Liz on the bus, hahaha and thus got to use the PASSWORD... which is only shared with the 4 of us "privileged" enough to recieve an impromptu BGR talk given sometime last year... :-P and i'll leave you guys at that
have a good week everyone!!!

summer unit bad... holidays good...

ok... mebbe the above title is a tad influenced by the fact that i have a midsem exam tomorrow at 9am... just a tad... :-P.... yes i dare say that... urghh... i am having strong regrets about doing this unit now...
oh well at least i stand a chance of passing now after Da Jie passed me her notes :-P... yeah i was abit freaked out initially because i was passed a stack of like... paper with graphs, written notes etc etc... all in exceptional order and handwriting of course (hahaha there's noone like Da Jie) yes... (seriously... the notes are extremely neat... tidy, organised)..
the only thing is there's a heap of them... and i mean A HEAP... like yeah i was so freaked out man... like i didnt do enough work at all because yeah the stuff she passed me was basically on a page-count basis what i did all of last year... and then some :-P... not that i dont take notes in lectures of course... oh man... hahaha yeah i was abit freaked out because yeah she did all that work for one unit!!!! i only wish i could be so hardworking.... yeah go the Da Jie!!! the best driver in Perth, best cook (with several exceptions of course), err... nicest personality .... (that statement was made under no duress whatsoever....yes no duress... i mean...)
yeah anywayz i am honestly grateful because well... firstly i see the red laser targeting dot above my forehead is gone :-P hahaha and also yeah the notes are good for me to do some cross -referencing with my own notes (in other words: copy word for word...:-P no lahh joking only i did take some notes, but they're just a little illegible, thats all)
so what did i do all week? procrastinate, watch some very good tennis, did some study (the bulk of it done tonight).... and of course here i am blogging... nice to see i have my priorities straight...
on another note: watching the Aussie Open... Agassi is in some EXTREMELY... and i mean EXTREMELY good form... would be good to see him beat Federer tmr... :-D... (was very scary watching that guy play man...)...
hehehe also... i reckon Sharapova's gonna win because yeah... she's extremely hard-working, focused... and she GOES for every ball and i mean yeah... (that was meant in regards to a tennis context ok?) it's amazing watching someone so young hit the ball with so much confidence... also it doesn't help that she's not bad-looking either to say the least (i hear Dennis saying "AYE!!!")
:-D... i would post a pic up... but that might start getting abit sad on my part...
yes... hmmm yeah also it was extremely warm today man.... so hard especially when one is trying to study (seriously i've got to stop this last-minute cram habit... mebbe turn it into a last-week cram hahaha) but well this week will be my 4th week in class and i'm already supposed to know the stuff... i've been to the uni for what? 16 hours now? ... i mean... hahaha yes... ok... i know... i should be studying instead of blogging.... yes i will go study now Da Jie :-P
(little red laser dot from sniper aim flashes above my eyes again)
okies... back to it... cyas all1!!

Planetshakers Conference

For the last week from thursday to saturday, i have been attending the Planetshakers conference at Challenge Stadium... (whoa that sentence sounds way too formal mate)
yeah it's been a blast... and though now i'm still tired (slept about 4 hours last night)... i can truly say that i feel energized, ready to LIVE ...
it all started one warm Thursday morning ... arriving at Roo's place at 8am to find him and Tim in various states of sleep hahaha... yes... a sight to be repeated throughout the week... anywayz we eventually got there around 9, which was the starting time i think... hmmm and it was CRANKING in there :-P
well in the arvo i went to the elective for uni outreach, run by Ps Matt Fielder... a very... hmmm non Politically Correct guy... i guess that's one way to put it :-P anywayz it was not bad.... got a few tips... and this year i'm planning to start a Christian Band with a few other uni students... so far we have 3 already... guitarist, bassist/drummer and keyboardist (to be confirmed)... yeah its abit of a skeleton band atm but yeah it should be good once we start jamming around...
but back to the conference... which i more or less stumbled through in a half sleepless state... its a good thing that i took notes ehh... because i suffer from that curious affliction where after sitting through a lecture/sermon/speech/anything really :-P, i forget everything in about 5 minutes after the thing... yep... some serious mental probs there
anywayz that night was the first rally i went to (missed out on wednesday's) yeah.... hmmm and it was LOUD... and LOUD... and, did i say... LOUD? (it was man... my ears were ringing) ahahaha yeah anywayz it was awesome and message given by the Pat Schatzline dude (did i spell it rite?) yeah was really interesting ehh... what is heaven like? well we'll see when we get there :-D
yes... also narrowly averted a PR disaster with the Chong's, due to an incident involving a little whisky, some noodles and a coca-cola flavoured lolly :-P hahaha ok u guys can ask Tim what happened... was abit embarassing but i stick to my story that i was not under the influence whatsoever in uncle Ivan's car... (lolly made my straight whiskey-tainted breath become a jim-beam and cola mixed drink- marginally better i guess :-D, but yeah i dont think anyone noticed hahaha) anywayz i paid the price later that night when i could not for all the money in the world remember some chix's name (only remembering it about 20 minutes later in Da Jie's car when it was too late) NOOO!!! oh well hahaha God works in mysterious ways :-P
hmm yeah friday was another awesome day, with Reggie Dabbs arrivin' that night... yeah well can't say much more, 'cept that it was awesome :-D "AYE!!!" hahaha yep...
that night was an extremely good rally if u ask me... though i had to go back in the arvo to take care of the house, the assorted siblings etc etc... (ahh i must be like TRANSPERTH's favourite customer by now) yeah... so i've spent abit too much time on buses lately (must get Driver's licence soon- test on 10th of March)
saturday... ahh the morning was abit of a rush... was late by 15 mins due to an abrupt change of plans... anywayz hahaha it was "Black Saturday" (not my words mate... im just quoting someone...) yeah with Reggie Dabbs and Chris Hill speaking... and it was again another excellent day (though i confess that a few days of bad sleep had left me in abit of a tetchy mood... just ask Tim what my first words were on Friday morning when the alarm woke us up :-P... oops ... hahaha yeah... im not a morning person, to say the least (i think i've said this before...) oh well missed the rally that night due to Roo's 20th... which was also pretty ok.... slept at around 3 on Sunday morning, not a particularly good idea when one has to be at church by 8... good thing that Da Jie was late as well :-P so i didnt look so bad when i woke up at 7:40, stumbled around the room... took a cold shower.... gave my hair the obligatory 100 brushes (joking only... hahahah.... I need a blowdryer!!! :-P)... no brekkie this morning... church... worship team... Zzzzz.... (mebbe not in that order exactly...)
yes anywayz i managed to miss a key change.... which isnt good when you're playing the main part of the song... (my bad my bad :-P) hmmm yes hahaha
anywayz went home, KFC for lunch.... napped for 3 hours... woke up... dinner.... here i am :-D...
fresh as a daisy (ok mebbe not)...

well, i'll leave you guys with this song from the Conference, which i absolutely love (i prob got most of the words of the song wrong, but this is the gist of it- well what i remember anywayz)

Evermore (chorus)

I will sing, of the mercy of the Lord
I will shout, of Your faithfulness o Lord

For there is none like You
Crowned in all Your majesty
Humbly now I come
To worship You forever...

You are my God, my life my all,
and I live for You alone,
I am Yours, evermore
Heaven and Earth will shout Your praise
And forever I'll proclaim,
I am Yours, evermore

another week passes

hehehe theoretically im supposed to have absorbed 3 weeks of a microeconomics 233 unit by now... which is pretty funny because today was the 3rd day i went to the uni in the 3rd week.
10 contact hours now and well i still dont have a clue what the heck an indifference curve is... it's sad but well one really cant be expected to remember a first year unit did in the first semester.
then again, there was abit of ashamedness on my part in the first 3 hours of lectures last monday as i couldnt remember what the heck utility was....(micro 101 seems so far away)...
anywayz we had the first tute today, and contrary to New Year's Resolution # 34 (Thou shalt do thy tutes at least 24 hours before the actual tutorial session in question), hahaha yeah i finished the tute a good 15 minutes before the session (oh come on, i was only late by 23 hours and 45 mins).... well actually i didnt finish it... i left the first question blank, and the 3rd one (out of 7 i think).... yes i blame it all to the economic problem of "imperfect knowledge" :-P
but hey im sort of getting the gist of it... which is good because i think the mid-semester exam is next week (again... i hate these summer units... this is the only one i'm doing (General Resolution #1)
what else? hmm went to the city with DL today... saw YL at her workplace... hahaha disturbed her a little, crowded up the store, got in ppls way etc etc (not on purpose btw... the store is small) yeah so it was cool... had my first cup of bubble tea in yonks (dont really miss it actually)
we sat in the store for an hour, just talking abt stuff... hahaha it's good to have a meaningful conversation once in a while ehh... yeah so i'm now contracted to give him guitar lessons, which is really cool :-P... even though i dont think i'm good enough to give lessons atm but yeah as in most things, i'll "wing it"... i think he can pick it up to the point where he can play most songs in abt 2-3 months i think ehh if he practices daily that is...
anywayz it was cool hanging out for a few hours in the city, really ... just to relax, not to be cooped up at home

what else did i do?
hmm sunday had church as usual... broke a string in the middle of the service (painful because i had just changed them a fortnight ago... well at about $5 a string it's very "sum thoung/ sakit hati" lah... yeah good thing we had another acoustic yesterday (Thanks JW... nice plucking btw :-D... someones been practicing)....
and yes, it was the "G" string hahaha... (sorry hahaha i knoe that was very immature, man and i turn 18 this year...)
afterwards went to Nando's for lunch... where hahaha i started sweating firstly because there was like no air-cond in there, and it was uncomfortably hot and humid that day. secondly, well hahaha i take after my father in many ways (more or less same height-i'm an inch taller, similar voice, etc etc... let's hope i didn't get the receding hairline though :-P)... and one of those is the propensity to literally sweat a bucket at the mere whiff of spicy food. for the record, i can take chilli and other spicy stuff pretty well, and when i sweat, hahaha its not because i'm in pain (probably pleasure.... i like my food hahaha :-P) yes but because as i said earlier, i take after my father in many ways... but yes it was embarassing hahaha like i was really sweating....
anywayz hahaha we toasted "Da jie" there... but stopped short of totally embarassing her :-P
yeah cheers to our safe driver
later followed Roo as he gave TE a driving lesson.... hmm those hill stops... i have nothing to say hahaha yeah... his car has a very weak first gear (all the best for your Practical Tim!!! then u can drive me around hahaha)
later went to play basketball .... we had enough for 5 on 5, but hahaha well i would have shot the first person who suggested a full-court game... (bearing in mind i had half a greasy chicken in me at the time)... and i gave my usual virtuoso performance... hahaha i stank... one rebound in one hour, a few intercepts (that was before i started to tire about 3o minutes in... as i said, im not particularly close to fit), one basket, tons of misses (including one that bounced off the side of the board, with the corresponding S*&t of course :-P, am still a Work in Progress to say the least hahaha), misplaced passes, travels, foot fouls hahaha and so on... well its not really a game i play often to be honest... :-D that will be my excuse for stacking it under no pressure at all 5 minutes into the game...
yeah anywayz it was fun... but to be honest, serious self-doubt came when i was passed the ball directly under the basket, and was covered in err.... many sweaty arms and ... bodies... urghh *involuntary shudder*.... yeah .... am still abit scarred hahaha
but hey it was fun... well at least that's what i told myself when i was dripping in other people's sweat... after that incident under the basket *shudders again*
but i keep telling myself this "you had fun" :-P (New Year's Resolution # 15: "Try to see the good/funny in any situation,")... and anyone who saw Jeff sink the match-winning basket would have to say that the look on his face was abit.... disconcerting... hahaha to say the least man...(lucky he was on my team)... yeah abit freaky hmmm... hard to believe it was the same guy who was playing bass in the church service (joking only).... all the pent-up aggression hahaha yeah all in good fun... as they say: "its all fun and games till someone loses an eye, then it's a sport"... well hahaha alot of glasses got knocked off various faces during the game (part of playing with Asian guys is that everyone wears glasses hahaha)... oh wait, mine still has traces off Roo's sweat on it :-O (after the incident)... OH S *^t I HAVENT CLEANED THEM YET!!!... EWW!!! (*runs off to sink*)
ok back now *breathes easier*
well yeah it was a pretty interesting weekend/monday yes... interesting
(and on that slightly disconcerting note, i hope everyone has a good week) :-P

farewells

well just saw Jason off at Perth Airport... his flight left at 4pm...
cheers to Roo for sending me, Tim and Dennis there... man those guys eat heaps... (had them over for lunch)
nearly emptied my fridge of food hahaha ... there's no more lasagna or fried noodles anymore... but there's still the pot of curry :-P... i didnt think my mum wanted us to eat that so i didnt touch it...
man, i'm getting sick of eggs...
have eaten 3 eggs today, one raw and 2 fried... (man, hope i put on weight sometime)
well anywayz...
yeah back to Jason, who leaves for a week in Singapore with friends before heading to Pittsburgh for his training course... well i'll definitely miss the guy. I'll say this though... if anyone could go to Tibet for 7 months for such a good cause... well he'd be the person to do it...
it was abit sad at the airport... well abit emotional. it's hard to believe i've known him for 2 years now ehh and now he's leaving for almost a year. it's really amazing watching ppl just give up a year from their lives in such a selfless cause... but well yeah im abit lost for words hahaha... being a little sleep deprived, well... (only 5 hours of sleep on wed morning and about 7 last night)
ALL THE BEST JASON!!!

summer school

It was a beautiful morning, the 3rd of January... sun in the sky, a couple of clouds around...
so anywayz it was 7:30 i think... when i woke up this morning... and went to uni
oh God... why now?
its 3 days into the New year man... i cant believe it's started again...
also i cant believe that New Year's Resolution #5 of mine, which goes:
"thou shalt not be distracted during lectures.
(1) 'distracted' includes thinking of things that can be done after lectures or even during lectures"
(2) 'distracted' also includes thinking of and/or looking at the opposite sex with the view to possible future relationships during lectures (hahaha well im not perfect... far from it... actually there was this girl in a green top 3 rows in front and well... hahaha anywayz...)
(3) 'distracted' includes falling asleep and/or yawning continuously...

well lets just say that i failed on subsection (1), (2) (if only i could get her no :-P... joking only), (3)...
okies... i held out for 2 hours on (1)... about 30 seconds on (2) and, wait, im proud of this: a good 45 mins on (3)... arent you proud of me? :-P

well i'm not as after a conversation with JW, i discovered... that each hour of lectures was costing me $ 15... ouch hahaha... yes... the pain of summer units that force you to pay upfront...

anywayz... i get there at 9:00 and i cant find the bloody lecture room... its not just me...
there are 4 other ppl (one i know), all guys, all walking around with the same puzzled expression, which can be at a basic level interpreted as meaning confusion...lol...
however, i believe that that expression can be interpreted at a more complex level:
(1) "what the *(^* am i doing here?"
(2) "why am i not in bed/doing fun stuff/ eating"
(3) "what the ()**& was i thinking doing a summer unit?"
okies mebbe its just me...
hahaha well im sorry i just wasnt feeling motivated

so we get there eventually (abt 15 mins late) and Dr P. Crompton is saying on how he's only failed 2 students in summer... maybe because students who do summer units are more motivated...
well at this point it was abit hard to stifle laughter...:-P...
i'm as motivated about this summer unit as a cow is at the slaughterhouse... cheers

so yeah... i spent 3 hours ($45) writing 9 pages of notes.... not getting a single concept daydreaming about the beach... the girl in the green dress (nothing sordid ok?... just how to get her no, address, email etc... hahaha not really lahh... im quite a nice guy, focused student etc...) ... what else was i doing?.... sleeping thats rite...

anywayz... went over to DL's pad close to uni after that... he cooked me lunch... a consumnate host that man (im being honest. he refused my offer to help him... mebbe because he knew i know as much about cooking as a rabbi knows about making roast pork hahaha but thats not the point)
anywayz girls, he's a good housekeeper, can cook, sweet, sensitive, bloody buff guy... what are you waiting for? ;-) !!!
"anywayz if you want to meet DL, keave a message at 1800 236 789 hahaha joking only... (pictures furnished upon request) :-P
okies... ignore the above paragraph... im not gay ok?
so anywayz i gave him a hand cleaning up his kitchen... and we found some gross stuff in his kitchen shelf. it truly is a storehouse of surprises hahaha
the scariest, grossest thing was the ant/fungus/random mold nest thingie we found under a 1 year old bag of skim milk powder... it was like... EEW!!!... yeah but he flushed it out with hot water...
(am abit scarred...)
also we found some panadol in a bag which expired on the 25th of January 2000... hmm im thinking it belongs in a museum... we kept it as a souvenir... but if DL offers you panadol... well... maybe the headache is a less painful option hahaha
what else... well i reckon Daniella Hantuchova is the hottest tennis player on tour right now (well that can hit a a ball straight that is)... hahaha so i was watching the Hopman Cup today... (Aust vs Slovakia in mixed doubles) and dont get me wrong... i was watching the match... well about 75% of the time anywayz :-P
the other 25 % was spent watching the lady in the blue dress, and helping DL in the kitchen...

later i went to Cotts with a few guys... hahaha looking at them makes me feel so underweight to say the least... (New Year's Resolution #2: "Put on about 5 kgs this year at least to avoid ppl thinking you were adopted from a family of stick insects"... anywayz it was pretty fun... waves were ...err... abit big... to say the least... man... was quite scared actually (:-P)... i got dumped twice in the first 5 mins hahaha, swallowed lotsa seawater... but it was fun... yeah... and then we worked on our tans... am still so fair its not funny ehh but oh well... i have a long summer to work on it
:-P ahh the life of a student

anywayz... to life!!!