HELLO PEWPERRLLLLL! So I have just arrived in Melbourne. And I'm sitting in the hotel room while my sister attempts power-napping because we did not get ANY sleep at all on the plane.
The hotel room's pretty cool! The TV's playing all the old skool songs.. NO DOUBT(in year 2000 or smth), NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP NEVER GONNA LET CHEW DOWN(JO!! I was reading my letters when this MV came up and then I was thought of YOU hahahahaahah *does the synchronised dance moves with you*), Cher is playing right now.... Her pubic area could've been seen if she hadn't worn this thong but there's actually a pair of sheer.. YOU KNOW WHAT FORGET IT. I think Cher is secretly a man and I couldn't stand her throughout Burlesque but whatever.
OKAY SO WHERE DO I BEGIN?!?!!? I haven't done a proper blogging about my life thingy but I feel in the mood to do so and I FEEL SO TIRED. The kind of tired after staying over at a friend's place and staying up all night just doing all sorts of stupid things and in the morning, you feel a little giddy, a little hungry and.. yeah basically I would like to really sleep right now!
.... And I am really contemplating lying down and just getting a nap.......
Okay, and I really did.
So anyway, today's Day 2 of Melbourne and I'm gonna try to remember what I did as much as I can. HAHAHAH OH MY GOD THIS IS LIKE A BLOODY REPORT MAN. WHOEVER GETS THROUGH THIS THING DESERVES A POSTCARD FROM ME. EMAIL ME. WHILE STOCKS LASTS.
So anyway, Day 1 actually started on Thursday night, which is the night where I started packing my things. Yes, don't ever pack your stuff a day before. It's actually really rushed but I'm glad that I managed to squeeze all my shit and it isn't severely overweight!!! Woo hoo *pumps fists into air* AMAZING RIGHT. If you need an awesome packer, look for my sister! But come to think of it, I didn't really pack much.. at least I don't think it is a hell lot because I managed to squeeze in about half my wardrobe! Like... more than 10 outfits?? Maybe even 20? :o I managed to bring approximately 7 pairs of shoes ok!!! hahahaha so Tip 1: Never ever pack a day before, a month before would be awesome (y)
Midway packing, I met a really good friend of mine for awhile because she decided to not send me off at the airport because she found it too devastating for her :( So I took a letter from her and I got a farewell kiss... awww :( I can still feel it on my cheeks as cheesy as it sounds. I think only a handful people are allowed to kiss my lips but yeah, that isn't the point! Ah, so what was going through my head the whole time? I guess it didn't really hit me. It felt like I was just going away for a long holiday. Like a reaaally long holiday. I think a friend of mine told me that's how it felt in the beginning for her. And it wasn't till school started that it started kicking in? That.. loneliness. Feels strange to look and feel so alone in the world.
Anyway, I don't think anybody knows this but I've always had this little thought that when I was to say goodbye to Sasha at the door, my life would be over. That it was too heartbreaking and that I'd cry on my way to the airport. But.. I did not shed a tear eversince the day before the flight? Maybe it was because I was rushing like hell from home all the way to the airport to boarding the plane..
But the sending off was kinda er pretty funny? HAHAHA I was running around like fuck for most of the time. Running to grab my camera, running to find a SD card, running for the bloody plane (I think I haven't ran like that in about a year :\ ) Guess I had a lot of preparation for that farewell because GUESS WHO CRIED? MY SISTER. MY SISTER. Who was going on a bloody holiday for a month?! I was like, WHAAAAAAT. She said it hit her the moment my mum hugged her so tightly that she felt as if my mum wouldn't wanna let her go. And when she turned to look at me with tears running down her face, I was like WHAAAAAAT, IT'S MY FAREWELL DUDE. hahahahhaahhaahahah ok in case I sound like some attention seeking bitch, I just thought it was hilarious okay. I mean, I should be the one crying technically? lolol! But I kinda regret not hugging my dad :( One thing I'm not good at : showing affection. Never felt comfortable with it. So er, guys, pay attention when I use nice cute sweet terms/words on you HAHAHAHA *shifty eyes*
So when we went in, we raaaaaaan all the way.. OH BUT WE MADE A STOPOVER AT MAC. YAY I love Mac(cosmetics okay) because it felt like home. Like, today I went into the Mac store and it felt home for awhile. Anyway, the bloody airport doesn't have the cone eyeliner that I want :( so Tip 2: Go in early to shop around leisurely, IT'S REALLY CHEAP! The eyeliner was only $25 whaaaaat. You can get your cigs there too because I got it for a friend over in Australia because its only $25 for a carton(10 packs!). And no, I still haven't picked up smoking haha. Alcohol's cheap too.. okay whatever I think everyone knows this.
AND BLOODY HELL. I DID NOT GET TO TAKE POLAROIDS WITH MAH HOMIES AT DA AIRPORT?!?!!? :( okay I really regretted that. And I didn't get a polaroid with my parents booo you whoreeeeeeeee~
Oh, Tip 3: DON'T EVER TAKE A NIGHT FLIGHT. My god. My flight was at 8.20pm, and I didn't get much sleep because it was uncomfortable, the indian couple beside me needed a lot of my help, the tv & sound system sucked, the food was so so.. :\ And why I don't recommend a night flight (because I'd reach Melb at 7am in the morning which is 3am in SG time) is because you don't get much sleep and you totally want to explore and stuff when you reach your destination right? So I overlooked the bloody time (I think I should've gotten a later flight because I think I would've slept more? since the time I sleep is about 3am) and this made my sis and I lose about close to 2 hours of exploring Melb because we ended up napping. ZZZ
When we got onto the plane and was trying to make our way through to the seats, my sister and I were SO loaded with things(DSLR bag, guitar, 1 huge 10kg handcarry luggage and a laptop bag, 3 jackets/sweaters) that we kept hitting and banging into people. This dude was muttering and staring at our stuff, "Too big. That's too big.. I don't think you can put it up there.. Too big. Too big." Hey dude, THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID. But anyway, we rolled over too many feet and had to push through too many people. And seriously, there were so many foreigners it felt weird to look at all these people.
The flight was pretty.. errrrrrr. My sister and I were sitting separately thanks to a super last minute booking of seats, but it was okay. Not a biggie. There was an Indian couple beside me and I had to help them a lot from time to time. The wife was so touchy .... I got touched. HAHAHAH whatever, but she couldn't really speak in english or something. She was always signaling and smiling at me, like I had to help her fit the remote in when her husband was in the toilet. Or when she and her husband wanted to go to the toilet(Separately duh), she touched me all over to say thanks for giving way to them all the time for going to the toilet or something. Anyway, there was this SUPER CUTE old grandma sitting across the aisle and it was just AWWW looking at her! We'd have small talk now and then and I even offered her my sweets cos she looked like she was in terror when the plane was taking off haha. but anyway, cute stereotypical Grandma. And nice Aussie teens behind me. The guy helped me out with the taking down of my guitar. HEE HEE. NOW ONLY IF HE WAS CUTE! My plane ride was.. *sigh* I dread taking it back. I honestly wish I had gone with SQ or Emirates instead. But there was this steward who was so cute and funny. He saw me eating my chocolate before the meals came and he was like,"Now now, this chocolate's gonna kill your appetite for the meals lata ain't it!" I was stoning while eating the choc and the whole time he talked to me, i was like *stares at his smiley face what is he saying oh is he talking to me.. OH.*And I just haha. Obligatory chuckle. COME ON. WORK YOUR HEAD LL. COME ON.
So when we got to Melb, GUESS WHAT WE SAW. WE SAW A SIGN SAYING: "Filming is taking place today for Border Security. Please call up the TV station if you do not wish to be part of the show." My sis and I were practically squealing and practicing lines to say on TV and going on and on about how we love the show and ways to sneak into the frame. HAHAHAHAAH YOU GUYS SHOULD CHECK OUT BORDER SECURITY since OZ is pretty strict on a hell lot of things. Especially towards Asians since we have such funny exotic food and habitual things. But anyway, we didn't manage to see the crew :( Oh well, we felt happy seeing a sign anyway.
The airport was..... a good preview to how Melb would be.. I think? HAHAHAH It isn't really modern like SG's is. Just like how Melb is. Very laidback. And we even saw a bloody bird inside the airport? The small little kind? It was busy hopping and flying around the airport.. like what? I remember that it's some Chinese superstition that if a bird were to enter your home or something that it's a bad omen? Death or something? But anyway, WEIRD. Bird in a building... just plain weird.
We er like all typical tourists, went to a bloody fastfood chain(no points for guessing which) to grab breakfast and guess what in the world I ate?
BEEF. BEEF. I ATE BEEF. LIKE BEEF PATTY. LIKE THE PATTY. LIKE BEEF.
HAHAHA. Yeah at the age of 21, I took my first actual digested bite of beef. It was... what better way to say it - beefy. If you eat beef(chances are that you do) then er I'm sure you know better than I do how beef tastes like. So how was it for a virgin beef eater? IT WAS BEEFY. There was a little oniony taste. It tasted like something that was gonna stay for long in your mouth. Like cheese. Meh, so it wasn't anything fantastic. TBH, it tasted exactly like how it smells. LOL
We called my mum and we told her that I ate beef and I half-expected her to gasp and pray, but she was like "Oh well. It's expected since you're in a foreign country etc." Hahahha. To think I had a secret plan of eating beef over here in OZ. But beef isn't fantastic for me right now so it's not gonna be my staple food. I shall get some good beef later though! See, step 1 of trying to fit in.
Tip 4: Be adventurous with your food. I mean come on, I hate doing typical touristy stuff. Going to the Chinatowns of foreign places, eating asian food, eating things you're familiar with... *shrugs* Just think we all should be a little more spontaneous hee hee
After the beef eating, we sat around and walked around the airport a little before looking for our Jetbus. Ooh ooh! Tip 5: Before you board your plane to Melb, you can book a Jetbus to take you from the airport to whichever hotel! It's cheaper than the Skytrain or whatever it is, cheaper than a cab and I'm sure there are plenty of other bus services like this but Jetbus is the cheapest that I've heard of so far? So yeah, it's pretty cool because you can book it 1 & a half hour before you board your flight :)
Tip 6: Terminals in Melb isn't like how it is in SG. HHAHAHAHAAHA. It is basically in the same building but just that the front part of the building is T1, the middle part is T2, the last part if T3. So you could be in Level 1 T2 and you just have to walk to the middle of the building on the same level and tada, you are in T3 ._. HAHAHAH eh, I sound.. Suaku.
Tip 7: If you're lost, ask for directions. But hey, so far from experience, do try to research online or from friends as much as you can. The people in the airport are mostly clueless so... Go with your instinct. It has saved a hell lot of my time because I kinda know of it but am unsure of it soooo yeah! The people in OZ are really friendly though.. Okay no, I take that back. They're nice only if they're serving you or something. More on that later.
So okay, we went to look for the Jetbus thingy because we were suppose to walk out of the airport and across to the road to this bus shelter thing where all the shuttle buses and services were at. We were looking for our bus but we couldn't find it and when we did, it was filled up ._. And the Indian dude came out and we were like, we booked it at 9am but why isn't there space! And he was like donned in some cheesy shiny black blazer and shaking his head telling us how he was waiting for us ever since 9 (it was 9.20am when we managed to locate the bus) etc. But anyway, we did manage to get into the bus but it was awkward. Everyone else were waiting for us. And I was carrying my guitar, and I tried to enter the bus but the guitar was stuck. HAHAHAHA AWKWARD. I got up the step and then I was stuck there for a good minute. I was like spasming on the spot trying to push the guitar down and trying to bend over.. omg it was just funny HAHAHAHA. Everyone was like :o and I was like :o AWKWARD??!!?!?? Not to mention, I slammed all my stuff into everyone while walking to my seat.. and it's a mini-bus. Ugh. Embarassing. But funny anyway lol.
Then we were finally on the road, and our stop was the first. So Unimel seems kinda near to the airport. It's about less an half an hour's drive if I'm not wrong. Our hotel's pretty decent, pretty nice & friendly reception, it's a 2 minute walk from Queen Victoria Market and a 15 minute walk to town and a 10 minute walk to University of Melbourne. The room is pretty good! Toilet's a good size, a little bigger than I thought it would. But the only downside's the Internet :( Ugggggh, I dislike having to live without the Internet. It's something I think i really take granted of. The girl told us that Macs has free Wifi but it's impossible having to connect to it! So we had a tough time trying to find places to feed off free Wifi etc. And it caused us to be totally uncontactable hence my MIA. I've not MIA-ed in a long time... hahahahah feels pretty good to find out that people are looking for me HEE HEE HEE *meowwwww*
Anyway, after our nap, we decided to walk around the neighbourhood and all. Gotta take it easy and fit the pace of life around here.. which is really laidback. I think Singapore's like a much more efficient country. It's always fast fast chop chop go go go or else you'll get some funny stare or TSK TSK TSK. But over here, everyone's sitting around drinking coffee, taking a good smoke(which isn't really common.. meaning, I don't really see a hell lot of people smoking), sitting on the grass and having a good chat. Slow pace life here really. It's summer right now but it totally does not feel like it. It feels like you're in an air-conditioned room at about 20 degrees. I'm cool with it butttttttttt it can get pretty chilly every now and then. I love standing in the sun while strong gusts of wind blows your way. *puts hands in the air and soaks up the sun* But man, if summer's like this, I wonder how winter will be :|
We headed to Queen Victoria Market to take a look around and we managed to befriend this electrical store guy. He was really nice but he thought the way I pronounced Arts was weird. I was being stoney and muttered, "Uts. Uts. Uts." And he was like HMMM WROIGHT DAT DOWN FO ME, and I wrote in small alphabets - arts - and he was like, OH ARTS. Say ARRRRTS. Try it. ARRRTS. and I was like o.o *wakes up and slangs* ARRRRTS *smirks*. Then he was like, yeh yeh, and I think it'd be nicer if you wroight it in capital lettas *writes ARTS* ................ and I was like,*puffs out nostrils* HAHAHAH WTF ? I laughed like mad and was like ???? but he was really nice, told us about the ~asian supermarket~ and told us to look for him wheneva we're free or when we needed help, and he introduced us to a couple of things, soi yeah.
You know what I think is hilarious? THE STEREOTYPICAL THINGS WE DO, WE SEE AND HOW WE FEEL. I find it so funny that chinesey joints and stores have to be in typical ~chinese~ names like Red Phoenix, Dragon something, Traditional blah blah blah. The dragon to represent chinese, the red, the typeface for Chinese Takeout etc. And how we're always looking out for familiarity in a foreign place. Products to people. I visited Chinatown today and couldn't help feeling so... TYPICAL. Typical typical typical. Not that it's a bad thing but it's just a thing I'm so amused at! It's like a default Asian pride thing when we're in a foreign environment you know? I've yet to crave for anything in particular but I'm kinda guessing everything I like is pretty much here although it comes in a higher price and in a bigger portion. Milk tea & bubble tea that I've tried here pretty sucks so far though.
But anyway, onto something serious. I would be lying if I said racism didn't exist. Well it did, and it happened on my first day here. I was expecting it but somehow it just stuck in my head like superglue does. My sister and I were crossing the road because we were walking around, and we were waiting to cross after this red car and suddenly this girl shouts,"HEY CHINKS!". After we crossed the road, I was like, WHAT WAS THAT? I couldn't register in my head but I remembered the syllables of what she shouted and then when I started piecing it together.. it was just. Uhm. Okay. Chinks? Really? 1. Is it really insulting? 2. Is that necessary? 3. ...Really? I don't know how to feel about it and maybe I do sound insulted but hey freedom of speech, but I wished I shouted back something cool. HAHAHAH Loike, ARE YOU HERE TODIE HAHAHA okay stupid joke. But you know!
It does suck a little being a minority. It doesn't matter if you're from Korea, Japan, whatever Asian country you think is cooler than China but you still. are. an. asian. You'd think the people there should be cool with it by now but no, it doesn't work that day. It's like, they don't even wanna look at you or even bother acknowledging you. Sure there are definitely the super nice and receptive ones, but there are always the ones that think you're stupid or just an eyesore you know? I don't know how to act or react in situations like this but just now, it does suck when you get feel that inferiority.
My sister and I have had old sleazy men coming up to us saying,"Oh hey beautiful. Oh my, you're so beautiful!" and couldn't stop turning around to stare (I don't know if this is suppose to be insulting or they just want a piece of what they watch in Asian porn), today I think I heard a guy walking towards us muttering "Sleepy..." (making fun of asian's typical single eyelids??), my friend wanted to grab a cup of the free lemonade at the lemonade stand so she went to the counter and took a cup, placed it in front of the girl who was pouring the free lemonades into cups, and guess what the girl did? She glanced at the cup my friend was holding and just put the bottle away and stared in the other direction and started humming. WHAT THE FUCK? I was behind her watching the whole thing unfold in front of my eyes and I was like ???? I was thinking to myself, if that ever does happen to me, I'd wave the bloody cup in front of her and if she still ignores it, I'll just shout RACIST. and if she says, SOI WOT, I'll be like, NARROW MINDED, and she'll be like SOI, and I'll be like, FREEDOM OF SPEECH CHAO OUTSIDE MUTHAFUCKA *flips bottle of lemonade into her face* HAHAHAHAHAHA ok but you know. What else... Oh, my sister and I were walking past the horses at the side of the road and we were squealing excitedly about them. My sister was mockingly waving at them because we were acting retarded and stuff, and then I overhead this girl saying, "UH, the horses can't see you waving you know that right.." in a really condescending tone, and that look of "wtf asian" was written all over her face HAHAHAHAH. Okay maybe I might be a little oversensitive but really? So you and your ~gals~ can act all stupid with your stupid giggling and lame dancing but we can't even giggle and make a joke out of waving at the horses...? *rolls eyes*
Of course, we've had a lot a lot more positive and receptive welcome and assistance from people (this lesbian flashed me her billion dollar smile at starbucks today *winks)... but *shakes head* What to do right? Thank goodness my tolerance for anything negative is pretty high hmmm but it's food for thought you know? Not to say I don't understand racism and typical stereotype(since I do it a lot when it comes to sizing people up. oops.) but I won't deny that it IS happening and that I HAVE to live with it, so I am just sharing the experience. I've heard of hell lot cases that are worse than mine so mm. Just a sucky feeling.
I think we all should have a little more courage when it comes to reacting to racism. It shouldn't be this way. Yes, maybe we are in their "territory" but hey, aren't a hell lot of Australians of a mixed heritage? My God. What is with the superiority complex? If you're soi racist, why Australia? Goodness....Just because we're yellow? Just because we're taught to be polite and quiet doesn't mean you're given any sort of privilege or advantage to be mean. I'm ranting over here but it's been on my mind. I never used to be bothered about it because I'm not surprised at a lot of things any longer, but why so narrow minded? What's the difference between you and I? The skin gives you an advantage? You think you're smarter and cooler than me in the physical attributes? Sometimes I feel a little sad when it boils down to this, but it somehow just further boosts my AZN PRIDE. hahahahahahah! I swear I never felt so at home at Chinatown today.
People tell me a lot that I'm so gonna blend right in and I'm so gonna feel less of a Singaporean over here at Melb, but you know what? Right now I couldn't feel so much more Asian than I ever have been. Yes, I have always felt like I should be somewhere else and that I'd rather much be of some other heritage, but I am who I am and I was born this way. As much as I may dislike or not be proud of it, at the end of the day I am still this and I wouldn't be thinking this way if I wasn't like this. I too wish I didn't feel this way and I may not be proud of it, but I haven't felt so disturbed about this in a long time and my Asian Pride is kicking in ha! I am not liking it very much right now but I think it is all in the mind. Hopefully school's gonna be awesome so I'm honestly placing my hope in it. Now I know why Asians attract Asians, because I think it's this whole.. superiority complex thing, but time will tell and time will heal. Yes the past few paragraphs have been typed with honesty and yes, I do feel like backspacing but you know what, I'm just gonna go ahead and say it anyway. The environment's pretty chill and cool but the whole racism thing is either in my head or I'm just gonna have to deal with it. Which is my plan. So, goodnight people. More about Day 2 lata~
x L
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