A Week In Melbourne

Time flies, and I hope it flies faster so I can be back. Not that I am home sick. But the weather here is insanely unpredictable. It can be cold like 18-19 degrees Celsius and the next moment, temperature soars up to about 30+ degree Celsius.

This week has been a roller coaster ride. First, my subjects. Initially, I couldn't get my subjects to fit in nicely into my time table and I get plenty of clashes. But after a clarification email from one of the subject coordinators of Advanced Techniques in Molecular Science, I can choose 1 out of the 3 practical sessions. This made my time table look so much easier to fit the rest of the subjects.

I just joined the Photography Club. The club is known as Fotoholics and has a few Singaporeans in it. (I wonder why do I meet Singaporeans so often here in Melbourne...) The club made a pretty cool (and cheap!) card for me. Will upload the picture of the card later tonight. 

Thought of joining other clubs, but I am afraid of the time commitment I need to set aside for such activities. I have very much wanted to join the snowboarding and the anime-watching club. But I thought the high cost of starting the snowboarding activity might set me back a couple of hundred bucks back. As for the anime-watching club, I'm better of watching free animes online than pay a membership fee... Everything in Melbourne is all about cost savings...

People here can sit almost anywhere and everywhere... Pavements, grass patches, benches, roof tops, hallways, corners etc... You name it, they can sit on it. Don't they realise there might be bird shits, bugs, ants and other nasty stuff on these places? Girls in short skirts or low cut tops can sit and expose almost anything you can imagine of... Insane...

There's going to be a party diner at Unilodge tonight, so I'll be expecting free food... Hope to snap some nice photos and post them online, maybe tonight or tomorrow...

*Updates*

Whenever Australians mention BBQ, please don't expect chicken wings, satay, fish and chicken fillets, fishballs, marshmallows or beer. What you are going to get are just hotdogs wrapped in bread. We went to the Science Student Society "free BBQ" and we had 2 of these. Then at the Unilodge BBQ, we had the same thing too!!! Four of these to be exact! So 2 x (hotdog+bread) for lunch and 4 x (hotdog+bread) for dinner. So I will be prepared if I am invited to BBQ here again in Melbourne.

Need to get a track suit so that I can jog at night. Will be going down to Docklands to get that cheap AUD$50 New Balance track suit. Need another pair of cotton track pants so I can sleep better in the cold night. My legs are freezing from the cold and think blanket. Hopefully I can find a good deal for a good blanket at Docklands tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Updates

Finally, my subjects are all done... What a relief... The past few days have been torturous due to the clashes in time table between the different subjects, especially the Advanced Techniques in Molecular Science. After the coordinator sent an email asking me to select one out of three days. After which, everything becomes so much easier... So my time table is all done...

Went for the orientation today. It is so much different from those of Singapore universities. No stupid games, no flag days and no donations. We just get into an orientation group and the group leader will bring us around to show us the different theatres and eateries around the campus. Pretty informative and useful for new students. 

The feeling of being in Melbourne is not as daunting as I have expected. The high percentage of Asians here pretty much resemble that of Singapore, maybe just a little bit more Caucasians. That is why I don't feel foreign at all. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing... Made a few friends here in Unilodge. A Guangzhou guy, an Indonesian guy, a Malaysian guy, a Taiwanese and a New Yorker. So from the percentage of my friends, you can see why I don't feel foreign. 

Tomorrow will be my second day of orientation. Tomorrow should be just talking about academic and enrollment stuff. Hopefully don't take up a lot of my time. Everything here is money, money and MORE MONEY!!! To use the gymnasium or swimming pool, you have to be a member of the sports society. Being a member for a semester costs AUD$210!!! FOR ONLY A SEMESTER!!! And to join the Student Union, you have to pay AUD$99 per year. Being a member of the Student Union will entitle you to weekly BBQs, discount food and coffee, usage of a recreation library and up and coming activities. Practical manuals have to be bought at AUD$20. So you can imagine how expensive things can get here... Per meal if you eat out will be about AUD$7-AUD$15. So cooking your own meals is definitely an invaluable skill. So I guess I won't be going to the gym or pool anymore. I'd just stick to the standard jogging, pushups, sit-ups and burpies. Maybe I might just join the Photography club or the Weekly Watchers of Wonderful Anime club. Yes, they have many interesting clubs and societies here... Learn from overseas universities, Singapore!!!

Melbourne

Finally, I am in Melbourne, embarking on the next chapter of my life. It is emotionally very difficult for me to leave behind my family and my girlfriend back in Singapore. Especially when my sisters are busy with work and my mum hasn't got a baby to care for at the moment, it is emotionally painful for me to leave my poor mum alone. Nowadays, she can only watch Korean DVDs to keep herself occupied in the daytime. My sisters and dad are all working, so my mum will be home alone. It really pains me to see my mum like this. So I am hoping my sisters can slow down their pace of work and spend more time with my mum during my absence.

As for my girlfriend, I am equally sad to leave her alone back in Singapore. Nonetheless, with the help of technology like MSN and Skype, we can see each other via webcam quite frequently. At least it will help to cut down the love sickness. Hahaha~ 

My subjects are clashing in time slots, so I will have to make a trip to the university to ask for advise and see if I can do some adjustments to it. Still hoping to make it into a 3- or 4-day week so I can sleep in late and have more time to catch up. I am going into 3rd year straight, so I guess there will be a lot of work to catch up on. 

If need be, my address here is as follows:

Unilodge@Melbourne

Room 1122

746 Swanston Street

Carlton, VIC 3053

Australia

If you think you want to smuggle some instant food stuff to me, please feel free but do note that it might be confiscated if checked by the Customs. Hahaha~ So if you are feeling rich, feel free to do so. I will be most appreciative. Hahahaha~

My Internet connection in the room is finally up, but the speed is only 4MBPS, which is only half of what I am using back home. Moreover, the limit is only 30GB per month. Not too sure this is inclusive of the download capacity. If it exceeds the 30GB capacity, the speed will drop to 64kPS. Sucks! So for uploading of photos, I guess I will do it only in the university campus.

OK, I am going to bathe now... Do stay tuned for more information! Keep a lookout on my Facebook for pictures! Take care and cheers mate!