7 Days Away
Sigh. I know this is a horrible tone to set this entry up in, but then, sigh. I feel so sad. This is because our Melbourne trip, which had been a blast, ended. And my internship started - not that it's a bad thing. I just miss everyone so, so much. Not just the Melbourne people (whom I miss dearly), but also all the DTVM people. I kind of miss my laptop too, because I just sent it for repair and I'll probably only get it back next Monday or something.
So, let me just talk about the trip as a whole. I shall recall it day by day.
Day 1 - The Afternoon Nap Day
Arrived in Melbourne pretty early in the morning, so our hotel wasn't ready for us to live in yet. While waiting for our rooms, we just went to look around the area. Searched for Optus to get their Sim card so that we could call one another and use the internet (and instagram all sorts of stuffs). The process was painful, but we finally managed to get our card :D
In the midst of it, we somehow explored Target Centre and found this:
A gumball machine
Which was pretty cool. Also tried out their pie, which was pretty fine. And then we headed to 'The Big W' (some supermarket) to shop for groceries. Got ourselves banana, lots of tea, and apple juice. By this time, the hotel was ready, so we headed back to the hotel to take an afternoon nap. I roomed with Alex. When we woke up, it was already time for our briefing at 8pm.
After the briefing, Alex, Cx, Elijah and I went to eat at the hotel's restaurant. Their desserts were awesome. A pity I didn't get dessert; I got a meal instead. I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags.
Day 2 - UniMelb (or Mel-U, according to Elijah) Day
Took the tram...
The trams
and then stepped in the University of Melbourne for the first time ever.
Part of the university
I need to explain how cool their school is. Imagine a less creepy version of Hogwarts. That's how it seems like to me. They're like castles. I stupidly did not take any clear photo of their castle-like buildings :(
Attended lectures like 'Short Fiction Writing - Styles' and marketing. The first one was okay (some of my classmates found it awesome because they caught stuffs that I didn't) and the second one... Let's just say even the lecturer was bored.
Had a writing tour, in which we toured around Melbourne on foot and engaged in intense writing exercises as we walked. For example, halfway through walking, the tour guide would point to a bicycle and tell us to write anything about it. The tour was really cool. We got into an empty cinema although we did not watch a movie.
We were supposed to write something out of this
When the writing tour ended, we went to get Asian food even though we're Asians in Australia. Had Golden Gaytime (I shan't elaborate on that). And then, like the previous night, I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags. (By the way, I just used a gimmicky sort of repetition in my writing style, something I learned in the short fiction writing - styles lecture.)
Day 3 - Everything Got Cancelled Day
I don't remember much about this day, except for the fact that most of our lectures got cancelled, I fell sick because I didn't have a scarf (and Jezebel lent hers to me as a result), and we headed to this awesome shop called 'Minotaur' where I bought a Lost magazine compilation, a The Walking Dead magazine, and a Dr Horrible guidebook. Fanboying. At some point, everybody in the tour group went and loved Minotaur, or at least it seems to me that way.
At this point, Joanne and Cheryl (two of our juniors) joined our clique thingy and we began hanging out quite a bit.
I think that on this day, we also went to see some art exhibit.
That night, Jezebel and I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags.
Day 4 - I forgot what happened on this day
All I remembered about this day was that we laid on the grass (or maybe it's some other day) and I went to fix some annoying issues that happened to my Sim card. As for the lectures, it was very techy and new media related. I liked one of them, which was about photography and new media technologies, even though Jezebel counted the number of times the lecturer said 'um' or 'yup' and the count exceeded 200(?).
Visited the State Library, which was freaking cool.
Dome-shaped
(this photo doesn't do the coolness of the place justice. At all. It was badly taken)
I think that that night, Zhao-Yi, Yvette, Annzy, Mj, Hazel, Cx, and I went to Lygon Street to have a really nice dinner. I ate some Aglio Olio-like dish. Orgasmic.
After we returned to the hotel, Jezebel, Elijah, Cx, Hira, Joanne, Cheryl and I went over to King and Colin's room to watch Kickass, which was pretty kickass.
Day 5 - Writing Day
A lot of creative writing on this day. Had a workshop and a masterclass. For an activity, paired with Hazel to write about this random red coat girl whom we observed discreetly. Caught a fat bird bullying smaller birds in the process.
Some of my coursemates shared their writings. They write so well - how come I never took notice?
Anyway, we also went to this old book store and which had really old books. Bought a 'psychology of internet' book. What's new?
This is how the store looks like
Another view
That night, Jezebel, Elijah, Cx, Hira, Joanne, Cheryl and I went over to King and Colin's room to watch Kickass 2, which was pretty kickass too. And then, we played Ouya (some competitive tetris game and some alien game) and we also played cards and drank tea and "gambled" over tea bags.
Day 6 - Sad Day
At this point, my Sim card and some other stuffs made me so angry that I became sad. The day was also pretty boring, except for the part in which Yvette, Zhao-Yi, Annzy, and I went to explore the outskirts of the school and saw a nice cemetery which we didn't take photo of. Went into some super nice museum with nice paintings and the following:
1. Pillow room in which...
you can draw on the walls
2. Glass ceiling room in which...
you can get closer to the ceiling if you explore the place
3. This, which is made up of bowls and water and currents. Whenever any bowls hit, they make a nice, chyme-like sound.
Which, I guess, along with my friends, kind of cheered me up.
Went to buy books in some mall after that. I bought 4 more books in this super cheap book store - every book costed <$5, at least those I bought. Jez got this super funny news headlines gone wrong book. Colin, King, Cx, and I decided to share money to buy it for Ms Gamar so that she can show to our juniors. Costed only $4. And somehow, this night was the birth of this thing called #shawtweetz -.- Shan't elaborate.
Night: Played Colin's Ouya - some platformer with super annoying music - and watched Se7en with Joanne, Cheryl, Cx and Elijah, and ate cup noodles and Shreya visited us and Hira and Colin went to buy Mc Donalds. Okay, at this point, it just seems weird because I'm pretty sure these stuffs happen over two nights. My memory's not that good.
Day 7 - Free Day
Basically, this day was a lot of shopping. Went to Victorian Market, which was basically an Australian version of pasa malam. Alex went missing (as like Elijah on day 3 or something) and returned. Bought Kingdom Hearts. Bought even more stuffs at Minotaur. Bought two more books at a book store (quiz: How many books did I buy in total?). Also visited this super cool moving pictures gallery which had sensation-related gadgets, history of games, TV, and internet, and really interesting stuffs.
Shopped alone for a while, and then rejoined them and rushed back for a debriefing session. Did a little musical-of-our-life on the way, in which we sang instead of talked. Caught this super talented violist street performer (there were lots of street performers), and then returned to the hotel for debrief.
In which we did the OLP thing. Sat in a circle and talked about our experience.
Immediately after the debriefing session, Colin, King, Joanne, Jezebel, Cheryl, Elijah, Cx, Hira, and I immediately and literally ran to some vietnamese food place before it close, and we made it in time. And managed to accidentally pangseh Colin in the process.
Decided not to sleep that night, and have a Lord of The Rings marathon instead. Bought chips, more Golden Gaytimes, drinks, and lots of stuffs over to Colin and King's room. We failed. Most of the girls got bored halfway through the first movie and returned to their rooms. The rest of us tolerated the rest of the movie before heading back to sleep.
Day 8 - Last Day
Sigh. Had our chow mein (actually cao mian), which we talked about since day 2, I think. Had frozen yoghurt. Laid on the library area grass.
Outside of State Library (try and spot us)
Took lots of photos.
And then we had to head back to Singapore D:
The plane ride back was pretty beautiful. Australia's night lights, sunset - which came after the night lights because we traveled back in time (Australia is 2 hours ahead of Singapore) - , and then Singapore's night light. Watched Pocahontas again and got reminded why it was one of my favourite movies. Watched Dora The Explorer and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Rewatched some TV as well and mentally survived my way back to Singapore.
And I guess that's it. It had been really great, and I feel sad. Yeah. The end.
--Oh, by the way, I do know that I've got my timings messed up. Like some things that happen in day 3 may end up in day 2 here because I don't have such a good memory, but that's not that important... Right?
More photos here.
So, let me just talk about the trip as a whole. I shall recall it day by day.
Day 1 - The Afternoon Nap Day
Arrived in Melbourne pretty early in the morning, so our hotel wasn't ready for us to live in yet. While waiting for our rooms, we just went to look around the area. Searched for Optus to get their Sim card so that we could call one another and use the internet (and instagram all sorts of stuffs). The process was painful, but we finally managed to get our card :D
In the midst of it, we somehow explored Target Centre and found this:
A gumball machine
Which was pretty cool. Also tried out their pie, which was pretty fine. And then we headed to 'The Big W' (some supermarket) to shop for groceries. Got ourselves banana, lots of tea, and apple juice. By this time, the hotel was ready, so we headed back to the hotel to take an afternoon nap. I roomed with Alex. When we woke up, it was already time for our briefing at 8pm.
After the briefing, Alex, Cx, Elijah and I went to eat at the hotel's restaurant. Their desserts were awesome. A pity I didn't get dessert; I got a meal instead. I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags.
Day 2 - UniMelb (or Mel-U, according to Elijah) Day
Took the tram...
The trams
and then stepped in the University of Melbourne for the first time ever.
Part of the university
I need to explain how cool their school is. Imagine a less creepy version of Hogwarts. That's how it seems like to me. They're like castles. I stupidly did not take any clear photo of their castle-like buildings :(
Attended lectures like 'Short Fiction Writing - Styles' and marketing. The first one was okay (some of my classmates found it awesome because they caught stuffs that I didn't) and the second one... Let's just say even the lecturer was bored.
Had a writing tour, in which we toured around Melbourne on foot and engaged in intense writing exercises as we walked. For example, halfway through walking, the tour guide would point to a bicycle and tell us to write anything about it. The tour was really cool. We got into an empty cinema although we did not watch a movie.
We were supposed to write something out of this
When the writing tour ended, we went to get Asian food even though we're Asians in Australia. Had Golden Gaytime (I shan't elaborate on that). And then, like the previous night, I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags. (By the way, I just used a gimmicky sort of repetition in my writing style, something I learned in the short fiction writing - styles lecture.)
Day 3 - Everything Got Cancelled Day
I don't remember much about this day, except for the fact that most of our lectures got cancelled, I fell sick because I didn't have a scarf (and Jezebel lent hers to me as a result), and we headed to this awesome shop called 'Minotaur' where I bought a Lost magazine compilation, a The Walking Dead magazine, and a Dr Horrible guidebook. Fanboying. At some point, everybody in the tour group went and loved Minotaur, or at least it seems to me that way.
At this point, Joanne and Cheryl (two of our juniors) joined our clique thingy and we began hanging out quite a bit.
I think that on this day, we also went to see some art exhibit.
That night, Jezebel and I went over to Elijah and Cx's room to play cards and drink tea and "gamble" over tea bags.
Day 4 - I forgot what happened on this day
All I remembered about this day was that we laid on the grass (or maybe it's some other day) and I went to fix some annoying issues that happened to my Sim card. As for the lectures, it was very techy and new media related. I liked one of them, which was about photography and new media technologies, even though Jezebel counted the number of times the lecturer said 'um' or 'yup' and the count exceeded 200(?).
Visited the State Library, which was freaking cool.
Dome-shaped
(this photo doesn't do the coolness of the place justice. At all. It was badly taken)
I think that that night, Zhao-Yi, Yvette, Annzy, Mj, Hazel, Cx, and I went to Lygon Street to have a really nice dinner. I ate some Aglio Olio-like dish. Orgasmic.
After we returned to the hotel, Jezebel, Elijah, Cx, Hira, Joanne, Cheryl and I went over to King and Colin's room to watch Kickass, which was pretty kickass.
Day 5 - Writing Day
A lot of creative writing on this day. Had a workshop and a masterclass. For an activity, paired with Hazel to write about this random red coat girl whom we observed discreetly. Caught a fat bird bullying smaller birds in the process.
Some of my coursemates shared their writings. They write so well - how come I never took notice?
Anyway, we also went to this old book store and which had really old books. Bought a 'psychology of internet' book. What's new?
This is how the store looks like
Another view
That night, Jezebel, Elijah, Cx, Hira, Joanne, Cheryl and I went over to King and Colin's room to watch Kickass 2, which was pretty kickass too. And then, we played Ouya (some competitive tetris game and some alien game) and we also played cards and drank tea and "gambled" over tea bags.
Day 6 - Sad Day
At this point, my Sim card and some other stuffs made me so angry that I became sad. The day was also pretty boring, except for the part in which Yvette, Zhao-Yi, Annzy, and I went to explore the outskirts of the school and saw a nice cemetery which we didn't take photo of. Went into some super nice museum with nice paintings and the following:
1. Pillow room in which...
you can draw on the walls
2. Glass ceiling room in which...
you can get closer to the ceiling if you explore the place
3. This, which is made up of bowls and water and currents. Whenever any bowls hit, they make a nice, chyme-like sound.
Which, I guess, along with my friends, kind of cheered me up.
Went to buy books in some mall after that. I bought 4 more books in this super cheap book store - every book costed <$5, at least those I bought. Jez got this super funny news headlines gone wrong book. Colin, King, Cx, and I decided to share money to buy it for Ms Gamar so that she can show to our juniors. Costed only $4. And somehow, this night was the birth of this thing called #shawtweetz -.- Shan't elaborate.
Night: Played Colin's Ouya - some platformer with super annoying music - and watched Se7en with Joanne, Cheryl, Cx and Elijah, and ate cup noodles and Shreya visited us and Hira and Colin went to buy Mc Donalds. Okay, at this point, it just seems weird because I'm pretty sure these stuffs happen over two nights. My memory's not that good.
Day 7 - Free Day
Basically, this day was a lot of shopping. Went to Victorian Market, which was basically an Australian version of pasa malam. Alex went missing (as like Elijah on day 3 or something) and returned. Bought Kingdom Hearts. Bought even more stuffs at Minotaur. Bought two more books at a book store (quiz: How many books did I buy in total?). Also visited this super cool moving pictures gallery which had sensation-related gadgets, history of games, TV, and internet, and really interesting stuffs.
Shopped alone for a while, and then rejoined them and rushed back for a debriefing session. Did a little musical-of-our-life on the way, in which we sang instead of talked. Caught this super talented violist street performer (there were lots of street performers), and then returned to the hotel for debrief.
In which we did the OLP thing. Sat in a circle and talked about our experience.
Immediately after the debriefing session, Colin, King, Joanne, Jezebel, Cheryl, Elijah, Cx, Hira, and I immediately and literally ran to some vietnamese food place before it close, and we made it in time. And managed to accidentally pangseh Colin in the process.
Decided not to sleep that night, and have a Lord of The Rings marathon instead. Bought chips, more Golden Gaytimes, drinks, and lots of stuffs over to Colin and King's room. We failed. Most of the girls got bored halfway through the first movie and returned to their rooms. The rest of us tolerated the rest of the movie before heading back to sleep.
Day 8 - Last Day
Sigh. Had our chow mein (actually cao mian), which we talked about since day 2, I think. Had frozen yoghurt. Laid on the library area grass.
Outside of State Library (try and spot us)
Took lots of photos.
And then we had to head back to Singapore D:
The plane ride back was pretty beautiful. Australia's night lights, sunset - which came after the night lights because we traveled back in time (Australia is 2 hours ahead of Singapore) - , and then Singapore's night light. Watched Pocahontas again and got reminded why it was one of my favourite movies. Watched Dora The Explorer and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Rewatched some TV as well and mentally survived my way back to Singapore.
And I guess that's it. It had been really great, and I feel sad. Yeah. The end.
--Oh, by the way, I do know that I've got my timings messed up. Like some things that happen in day 3 may end up in day 2 here because I don't have such a good memory, but that's not that important... Right?
More photos here.
Labels: dtvm, overseas, things that happened