A sleepless night, panicking outside my house at 4.45am because I forgot to print my airport shuttle confirmation, stupid passengers who do not seem to understand what seat numbers are, perverted horny kids and ignorant parents although I did tell them about their son, hunger, new friends met on the plane and at the airport, coincidences, finishing the whole "The Art of Racing in the Rain" book on the plane, restlessness, hugs and sense of relief and tonnes of hawker food (zhao liu, popiah, rojak and sotong kangkung) later, I am home sweet home.

I'm on a single mattress on the floor, surrounded by my favourite plushies, my big purple pillows, 2 blue pillows and 2 smaller square pillows, my cube lamp, my dark purple wall and a newly painted pale purple wall. Ahh...so much has changed! But no matter what, it's good to be home!

Not only do I have to listen to crazy affair stories, problems with a guy assuming a friend is his girlfriend just like that,  breaking up with the same guy for the umpteenth time and hence is now free to go pick up chicks during gay night at a bar/club, smoking pot, baby talk and all, I now have to listen to stories about crazy suicidal guys. And I'm supposed to give suggestions on solving these problems. Am I really in the right course? The lives of my friends are like daily episodes of telenovelas.

Esther and I were supposed to go for Fluffy's (gay night) last night for fun. We were meant to be each other's wingwomen. AHAHA. I said not fair, cos obviously Esther will get all the attention. In How I Met Your Mother terms, she'll be Barney and I'm just Ted. I think the guys were a bit confused as to how straight we are when we were talking about that. Actually, I wasn't joking, neither was I entirely serious about it. So the lesbian topic came up.  Ozzie said she and her roomie were making out on Friday night in the bar and the guy that assumed that she was his girlfriend just stared in shock. HAHAHA. And one of the girls was saying how it's weird we're so grossed out by gay guys making out, but guys actually enjoy watching lesbian girls make out. I don't know why I decided to say this, but I went "Well, all straight men like that. Those who say they don't aren't straight or are lying". Everyone stared at me. What? So I had to look for reinforcement. Turned to the guys and asked "Isn't it true?" Only one of the guys was man enough to agree. HAHAHAHA. Well, I might have generalised there, but I'm not entirely sure how untrue my statement is. We did conclude in the end that while it'd be awesome to pick up chicks (quote Esther), it'd be rather depressing to see all the hot gay men only interested in guys. I have a fun mix of friends, huh? It's like the multi-flavoured jelly beans. Excitement in every bite.

Also, what's this Caucasian obsession with Asian girls? The funniest answer I've gotten from an Aussie so far is "That's because Aussie girls have that man's face. Not Asians." AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I don't know what that meant, but it's still funny. Same like me asking Aussies about their obsession with jaggerbombs. "Oh it just sounds cool you know, like you bang your fist on the bar top and shout JAGGERBOMB!" *shrug*

I did some last minute shopping today. Went into every single shop on Queen Street, and could not find the dress I want. Impossible! It's more than coincidence that I've been seeing that dress style so many times in the span of a few days while the others have not. Argh. I'm a bit sad that I'll be leaving for home without that dress.

Then I headed to uni and got a new student ID. 15 bucks, bye bye. =(

Now I'm almost all packed and not quite ready to go home. I don't even know if I should sleep/nap because I leave the house at 4.45am.

They have started to put up the big Christmas tree and the Christmas archway and deco in the city. Too bad I won't be here to see the whole place decorated and lit up at night.

One of the first projects when I'm home is to recreate this. Rainbow cupcakes love.

Okie dokie, last post from Brissy for this year. A whole summer break adventure to begin! (or the lack of)

10 people came tonight. Not bad. There were 4 Malaysians, 2 Bruneians, 1 French, 2 Aussies, 1 Columbian. Whee. Too bad Maggie couldn't come. Would've been the sole American representative. haha.

Boardwalk had $7 pizza + schooner of beer. Awesomeness. My plan for one drink didn't work because they kept buying me drinks. Le sigh. I ended up with like 4-5 schooners of Blue Tongue and Toohey's (because they know I love Toohey's super cold! yup the -4C one, especially on a hot summer day), a bottle of Corona and a cocktail. Would've been 3 but I told them I've had enough. Haha! The good part about not getting presents is that they offer to buy you cocktails instead. Only Esther ended up buying me a cocktail because she was the first to offer me a drink. She bought me the awesomest creme de menthe, kahlua and baileys cocktail. Yum. In the words of Esther, "tastes just like After 8 chocolates". My 2nd cocktail was supposed to be rock n' roll which Ozzie wanted to get me. But I said I'll only drink if she drinks. And she was already all red. Haha!

We ended up walking to Irish Murphy's (my favourite Brissy bar!) and 3 days off was playing. This is my first time watching this band play (usually I only go when Jabba's playing), and I was very glad with that band. They were great! They played continuously without stops in songs, so the songs, no matter how varied, kinda just seemed to flow from one song to another. Plus the lead singer was in an arm sling, and the drummer sings solo bits too. Extra brownie points there! Woohoo! Jabba's still my favourite band to watch just for the amount of energy in their shows, the interaction with the crowd and the power guitar and drum solos. Hello, if anyone can play Jimi Hendrix guitar solos backwards and with their teeth, I'm sold.

We got our usual booth. Told ya our group is a lot like the gang in How I Met Your Mother. We have our favourite bar, we have our own booth, and we always order the same drinks. Our table had 2 jugs before going to the "stage zone". Wheeee. Bry seemed to had an affinity with this pole in the middle of the bar, and he got teased to no ends by me about how he should pole-dance.

Things weren't all that awesome though. Us girls decided to get out of the booth while the guys continued on beer-drinking. The second I got out, this guy asked me to dance. I said No thanks and sat back down. HAHA. Ozzie however started dancing in front of the stage, and this random guy suddenly kissed her. So she went back to the booth, and he sat down next to her! He got up to get drinks, and she asked Bry to sit next to her. The random guy almost sat on Bry when he got back!

We were singing to songs like My Sharona, Jesse's Girl and Learn to Fly till close to midnight. Got out of the bar, slightly deaf, and they surprised me by singing Happy Birthday outside the bar (their intial plan was to sing in the bar and try to get the band to sing along). A tad embarrassing to have a group sing that to me on the streets. Hehe. The rest all went to the train station, while Bry and I went to the citycat stop. And Bryan sure is weird when he drinks. He got so serious and started talking about my research. He started talking about phyla, chordates, and all kinds of bio-related stuff. o_0 Damn weird. HAHAHA. His citycat came first, so I was alone for awhile. And then Sal called and said they missed the last train so they were taking the citycat. Then I saw Esther got off a ferry (yeah the ferry is different from the citycat). Like EH! She was supposed to go to Fluffy's (gay night) at Family. Why is she here! HAHAHA. Randomness. Shim would love her. She starts talking enthusiastically about zombies and all after a few drinks. HAHA. So, in the end, all of us took the Citycat to Regatta in Toowong. Someone even had the cheek to ask if Regatta was still open. I just stared wide-eyed. Bunch of alcos. HAHA!

All in all, I had an awesome time today. They seemed pretty shocked that I was very okay with drinks for someone my size. You see, they didn't believe me when I told them I've never gotten drunk drunk cos I do know how to control my drinks. Ruben said "The last time I heard a Chinese guy say that, it didn't end too well". AHAHHA. But hey ho, their planned very well failed. In the end there were more red faces and crazy talk by the others than me. HAHAHA. At the end of the night, I said to Ruben "Told ya I don't get drunk that easily" and they all agreed. The key is to eat before drinking, drink in moderation, don't speed drink, hydrate and know when to stop. I know when I start being really talkative, giggly and happy. I think a bit more after that point, I'd start talking about unicorns and rainbows.

Food was awesome and cheap, drinks were good, the company was even better, and the view - oh, simply breathtaking. But I was so caught up with trying to talk with everyone at the outdoor table by the river that I didn't really get many pictures. Plus after the first picture, someone who held my camera VERY SMARTLY had her fingerprints ALL OVER my camera lens. I am not pleased with that. All my pictures of the night turned out blur and seemed washed out. I also didn't quite like that this girl kept budging into my conversations with other people. Please la I'm not talking to you. Can you please stop correcting my English and structure and how my ideas are wrong. I moved away a bit cos this girl loooves sitting very close to me. And I get very uncomfy. But she'll just move along. SIGH. Sometimes I try to put my bag next to me or say things like "Oh it's ok, you can sit with Sal. I'm fine here". Luckily it was a big group today, and after awhile I gave up trying to talk to Ozzie who was sitting next to this particular girl. I ended up talking more to the other half of the table. It helps that Esther's zombie talk was actually very amusing to listen to! She's the funniest when she imitated Brad Pitt's character in Inglorious Basterds. Oh gosh, very convincing indeed! I wonder if she realised that she's actually quite a good actor.

Thank you so much to everyone who made my day so special. And thank you for like the 50 messages I got on Facebook. And text messages too. It took me an hour or so replying everyone's text messages and Facebook messages. I'm hoping to get better pictures from Ozzie soon. She has awesome pictures of us trying to test the "smile detector" function on her camera. I gave out lots of hugs today and got many hugs too. I feel so loved. Haha.

Oh yeah, I somehow started to lose my voice towards the end of the night. I don't even think I was shouting much. :

A very last-minute plan, but turns out although I had to pull out from my own birthday bash at Wet n' Wild and Gold Coast because of my wound, the others all seemed to be in Brissy too! Bry's back from Maleny, Ozzie's not in GC with her friends, Sal's not at Sunshine Coast. Whoa.

Sal texted me this morning and said she wanted to drink. So I spontaneously said lets go out tonight. I'll have ONE drink, since I think my rash is gone and my wound looks a lot more normal now even without dressing. I said pick either West End or Riverside, and she picked Riverside. So here we go!

I thought I'd just ask a few people and it seemed everyone I asked today is around! I was anticipating a quiet birthday again. Haha. But hey ho, Eagle St/Riverside it is then! Riverside is this food and entertainment precint by the river (duh), lined with bars and fine dining places like Aria (yes! Matt Moran's!). Unfortch, none of us can afford that, so we'll probably go to either Boardwalk ($7 pizza + beer Sundays!) or Jade Buddha, which is this year's Queensland's best bar/pub/club/tavern restaurant. In a way, it's a lot like Republic with the Asian theme.

Problem is, what to wear out tonight? Black mini dress or printed satin dress? I wanted to wear my T-back sequin dress, but I reckon it may be too fancy? Although I did wear that to the Valley (not for clubbing) and to West End after that for late-night desserts not too long ago. Haha! Depends actually. If we're going to places like Siana (fusion Japanese bar with plenty of rich people) or Jade Buddha then a sequin dress could be just fine. Boardwalk is more relaxed. Hmm. It's okay. No sequined dress for me tonight. I'll be a bit embarrassed to be overdressed. Okay la. I'll wear my black dress with fake ipanema sandals since I've worn my other dress to other people's parties before. AHAHAHA. Silly me really packed light when I came and only came with that one pair of flats. And I have puny feet and a flat wallet to be able to buy shoes here. Or maybe the little black dress is a bit too informal. Argh.

Le sigh. See what celebrating my birthday with friends for the first time in 7 years or so is doing to me? I'm making a dilemma out of a dress decision. Oh geez. Whoops I did celebrate my birthday with college friends for my 18th. But 3 years prior to that and 3 years after that I haven't been with my friends for my birthday.

I am clearly excited about tonight, the company and the awesome view of the Story Bridge and the river. I'll allow myself one drink. Hehe, knowing me, I'll probably end up with a drink like Opium - Absinthe, the blue and Midori muddled with lychees, lime and a dash of apple juice, then strained, or Mistaken Identity - Frangelico and jagermeister muddled with passionfruit, mint leaves and cranberry juice, then double strained. Yum.

It's been such a lazy Sunday summer afternoon. The housemates are lounging around in their bikinis. Makes me feel like doing that too. Instead, I've been packing! HAHAHA. We're just missing a trampoline and a water sprinkler, but we can't have water sprinklers here anyway.

Went to DFO and got nothing. I think the last few times I've been to DFO, things were way cheaper? Whatever happened to $20-30 Billabong bikinis and $7 Roxy sandals? My main reason for going to DFO was to look for a few Christmas presents, get a rashie since I'm in the ocean for uni so much, and a pair of boardies.

I ended up only with a mermaid pop-up book for Trinity, and ditching $25 rashies and $10 Rip Curl boardies. The boardies were such a steal. All boardies in the store were 2 for $20! Why does size 6 only come in uber short designs? If I didn't want to cover my bum, I wouldn't even put on boardies! Silly people. Haha. The only rashies I liked either had fluoro pink bits or were black. Meh. I want a normal Rashie please. Found a nice blue striped tank top, a decent-length denim skirt and a pair of denim shorts that fit perfectly - all for $15. But I hesistated with the high-waisted shorts so I put them back. No one else found me a 3rd item, so I couldn't go with the 3 for $15 promotion. I put everything back! How disciplined!

I, however, am currently quite obsessed with finding out where those tie-back summer dresses are from. It all started on Thursday when I saw a girl wearing one in plain white at the exam hall. Then yesterday itself I saw 3 similar designs. Today, I saw 2 girls in that and a few shops at DFO that had a similar design, but as a tube dress.

It's something like that minus the tiered frilly bottom.

I'm not much of a floral person, but I want a white one eyelet one I saw on Thursday. Haha. Does anyone know where everyone else seems to be buying these dresses? I am also still thinking about that Kamiko bustier tube dress I tried on Thursday. =( But I know I don't wear tube dresses. But but but.... =(

::

Oh yeah, I forgot about this. I'm so glad I can finally wash my hair and shower normally without doing any acrobatic stunts or with gladwrap around my arm! I was allowed to take off my dressing today! Wheee. I can't believe I managed to contort my limbs in such a way to shower since Thursday without getting my arm wet. I'm supposed to put on the new cutiplast dressing, but I seemed to have developed this slight rash where the bandage was previously. Wound looks rare now that the skin have peeled off, but it looks way better than last weekend. At least it's not inflammed, red and covered with bumps. Will put on the new dressing tomorrow probably. I have to go back on Monday to check if I still need the proper bandage that I've had to have every day since Thursday. Rather sucky having to travel to uni every day after exams just to get a new dressing daily. And I can finally move my wrist. Woohoo! Happiness.

I still thought it was a bad idea to have ordered 2 prawn pizzas last night though. The 7 of us shared a large half-half pizza of Mexican and something else I can't remember and 3 medium pizzas - I picked chilli prawn, the guys picked tasty bill - which also had big prawns, bacon and mushroom, and green belt - chicken, feta, mushroom, spinach. I've always liked Wild Pepper, so it was all good! It was a relatively new group I was hanging out with last night, and we decided to try get tickets for Time Traveller's Wife, but oh guess what? The cinema stopped showing all other movies because of New Moon. They had screenings every 10 minutes! And New Moon is fully booked till end of next week. Insane.

So we ended up just taking a stroll around Southbank. A few of them have never been there so I played tourist guide. And I introduced them to Churros. Nyum. I also found someone with a big keyboard. I cheekily said "Oh, so can I go over to play some time?" And he said yes. He also plays the guitar. Woohoo! The other girl has been going to Allen's to play, but like me, we're very shy pianists cos we're horrible at it. Hehe. I also just found out that there's a piano in the state library for anyone to use? Sitting on the steps in between the churros stall and the Plough Inn tavern listening to the outdoor live band is awesomeness on a Friday night

I also almost got thrown into the "sea" at Streets Beach. =( By a girl. Am I that light? I freaked out like mad cos I really didn't want to be wet! Haha. They're planning a "liquid" party soon, though I won't be around. Pool, barbie and beer party. Sounds like summer!

Today, I had Irish stout burger for lunch, and then I met the rest at the train station and at DFO. Super diverse group today. There was me, Angela the Columbian, Elsa the French and Priscilla the Brazillian. It was funny how we kinda had to repeat ourselves quite a bit because we all sound different. And use different terms. AHAHAHA.

I've been feeling rather unlucky lately. Burns, allergy, bandaged right arm during the exams, most likely a bad permanent scar on my arm, lost student ID, missing out on beach outings and my birthday Wet n' Wild plan, not being able to have any drinks because things may get worse, not being able to wash my hair properly because I can't get my wound wet, dropped my earring and it vanished!, touching a hot hair straightener without realising I left it on, geez, even toilet rolls seem to not like me. Hahaha. I'm probably one of the odd ones who always have it hard with toilet rolls, because they either get stuck, or I keep turning the roll but am unable to find the end of it. That happens to me at least once a week.

So, to make things better, I shall focus on the positive things!

I started off by wearing my less than RM15 yellow summer dress. I feel marginally happier already. Haha. I love cheap bargains and clothes that make me feel like sunshine! Then I got some marks back today. I scored a 93% for my coral reef research project. WOOHOO! And a 19/20 for another assignment. Bumped into Pat, my stats lecturer, and he had the cutest kid I've seen with him. Less than a year old, with blonde waves and dark blue eyes, who kept saying "What what what" to me. *swoon* I like how toddlers get so amused by moving hands and enthusiastic hello's. He asked me how things were going, bla bla and told me I did very well for my beans mini-research project. Yay! That's like 3 good academically-related news in 10 minutes. Maybe just maybe I'll get to keep my GPA after all!

Met up with Melody for awhile before she left for a immigration talk in uni. I headed to the doctor's and got more gasps about my wound. =( I know they mean good but I think all the sympathetic looks and comments are starting to make me feel like I have a very terrible thing. Got my dressing changed and chatted with the nurse who got a bit teary eyed because today was her last day of work there. Whoops. I didn't mean to. I felt bad, but she was super nice. She even gave me a whole pack of that cutiplast dressing thingy. I know I was really dumb to use dettol. Why on earth do they advertise dettol as an antiseptic cure of all minor wounds? Why weren't we ever told that dettol can't be use on burns (although it says on the bottle, the cream tube and on the internet that it's okay), and that some people react badly to dettol. Le sigh. I still have to go back on Monday, but I'll see how things go.

While registering at the doctor's, I realised I lost my ID, although I had it just 10 minutes ago. I gave the receptionist my Go card instead unknowingly. How embarrassing. Retraced my steps but no ID to be found. Went to the Intergrative Biology/Biol Sciences building but the help desk was closed, so I couldn't ask if I had left my ID at the counter. Went to the Student Centre, but no one had returned my card yet. I didn't want to pay $15 for a new card, so I caught the bus home. Read my book a bit and eh, I'm home. HAHA. The weather is starting to be really bad. Heatwave came early to Aussie's East Coast this year.

Tonight, I'm going for pizza dinner with some of my uni mates, then maybe I'll head to Regatta or one of the bars. Sal's siblings are here on holiday and it'd be nice to go to one of our favourite bars or watch one of the live bands before we all part ways. I can't have $5 cocktails anytime soon, which makes me a bit sad, but it's ok. Actually a Toohey's super cold would be super awesome now with the heat. It's cheaper than a corona! ahaha.

More happy stuff: 500 days of Summer. Oh how I love that movie. I watched it a few months back, before I went to Heron. It's one of those shows whose trailers are up online for ages and ages and then you forget about them. Ozzie was raving about the movie when it first came out, so I decided to watch it too. I don't know how anyone can not like Zooey Deschanel after watching her in Yes Man and in 500 Days.

I'm not as obsessed with the show as many other friends out there (I don't even have a 500 days ringtone or alarm or wallpaper), and it's probably more of a friends-movie than a romantic-date-movie, but oooo I still get excited when I see something 500 days-related online.

This is my favourite part. Yeah, the saddest part of the movie is my favourite.

I want a blackboard wall like that. I couldn't find any better picture of the whole wall.

The part which made me ask "How come I have a boyfriend who draws monsters instead?"

Hehehehe. Sid and Nancy part. Hilarious. You'll probably only get this if you know the Sex Pistols.

Summer: We've been like Sid and Nancy for months now.
Tom: Summer, Sid stabbed Nancy, seven times with a kitchen knife, I mean we have some disagreements but I hardly think I'm Sid Vicious.
Summer: No I'm Sid.
Tom: Oh, so I'm Nancy...

I love split screens in movies.

And musical-bits in movies.

Okay, I'm happier already just looking at these pictures.

Now that I'm happy, what should I do? Hmmm.....I don't really want to start packing yet. Cos that'd make me happyandsad again. Maybe I should look for that elusive earring again. It's my favourite favourite hoop earring (only one side fell from the table, bounced off my bag and vanished!). I'm still amazed as to how my eyes weren't fast enough to catch where the earring went to. I mean I saw if fall!

Or maybe I should rewatch OC. Or Popular. Or emm Skins. Geez, I'm so pathetic I don't even watch current series but rather rewatch old teenage dramas. Haha. I've already watched this week's Glee. I love I'll Stand By You.

I was scaring a number of people at the exam hall today. It was fun while it lasted.

So yes, it's true. I am allergic to Dettol, and probably all other antiseptic stuff. Should've known from my operation a couple of years back when I was allergic to the dressing over my stitches.

Apparently, applying Dettol cream aggravated the burn and made my wound a lot worse. So yup, my arm is now all bandaged up. I think it hurts more now than before I had it bandaged. I had dunno-what-cream oozing out from the edges of the bandage during my exam. And I never knew how hard it was to write when you can't move your wrist. I'm now typing like how I was taught to play the piano properly (staccato excepted). Without moving the wrists. I also have to keep it away from getting wet and go back to change the dressing tomorrow.

It was a chore explaining to the 101 reefers before and after the exam though. It became shorter and shorter until I simply said I had a bad burn and am allergic to Dettol. HAHA. Also, I can't drink cos it could make the rash flare up. What a way to celebrate the end of my exams. My last ever exam paper probably. I went to 2nd degree for awhile, but I didn't stay long. I felt a bit sad that I may not see many of them ever again. But I love hugs, and I got plenty today. Ish also left for home today. So sad. It's back to no one eating my prawn heads again. =( He said "see you in brunei when you visit your bf!" Haha. Yeah, I will.

Since I can't really take part in any celebratory outings, I'm just meeting Ozzie and Sal at Indro for dinner and just to walk around. I also pulled out from my very own birthday celebration at Wet n' Wild/Gold Coast (how pathetic). Funny how things work, hey? The only year after so long when I can finally celebrate my birthday with friends, and I'm just fated not to. Itzokayh. At least I've got a pizza dinner tomorrow, and shopping at DFO before I leave. I guess I'll have more time to stay home to clean and pack up!

Oh, what to do with my Smirnoff now?

I didn't even mention how my exam went! To the people who teased me for being such an undergraduate by doing past year questions, I'm so so soooo glad I did them. Cos it was pretty much a combination of 2007 and 2008 paper. Although Sophie's biology section was just "HEH?". Her hint for one of the questions was: "Fishermen are not photosynthetic". How weird! Anyway, what's wrong with being an undergrad? Why must you discriminate and look down on undergrads?

I should be Linus.

Instead, I'm worrying about everything under the sun at the moment. Gone were the days when post-exams means hanging out with friends and fun. I foresee a gloomy next sem if Shim doesn't make it here.

Onto happier stuff, the bottom of the Christmas tree is getting more and more colourful and cluttered by the day. That makes me happy, although I probably just have ONE present. Haha. I love lights and anything that glows. And having Trinity tell me she wants to get me a present although I said she doesn't have to makes me smile. She doesn't think I'm a small kid anymore (took her like 10 months to realise that?) but instead calls me a teenager. AHAHA. Slowly but surely.

Since the whole Alexi Murdoch song only consists of 2 words - Shine and Love, that's the title.