28.7.06
take the lead.
had a great great great time today.
remember i said i was planning nights out for the gals while they were in town? well turned out we all really loved the evening at copacabana on smith street! the latin dance place was interesting. they'd teach u the basic steps for beginners from 8 - 10 pm, and after that the stage's free for all. so we paired up, and i had to sometimes be the guy for my frens because there werent enough guys to go around ;p the lesson was quite fun, we fooled around quite abit. but it came to an end, and THEN the night really started :) the experience was literally, mind-blowing. was dancing with this guy called mervin, rong's fren. he's been dancing the salsa for 3.5 yrs now and because his lead was so strong, i just fell naturally into step. the spins, turns, twists.. complicating moves that left me clueless as to what i just managed to pull off (and honestly i'm not too good). but it was alright, because i din hav to do any work apart from moving my feet :)
its funny, i think. coupling dances evolving from the ancient times seem to really personify the trend in relationships then. from my point of view, its what gals used to want in order to create a beautiful piece of artwork. a strong steady lead that makes her movements fall into place, yet not too strong lest she spins out of control or lose her footing. one does not know what is coming up next esp when dancing without a routine, but that adds to the thrill, excitement and uncertainty of it all. and trust, definitely a requisite.
as much as we all claim to hate the chauvanistic domineering male who always claims all say, i guess the natural high from dancing today made me realise that deep inside what has worked for all generations still probably applies till today, despite how much control we gals want to exercise over our lives. we still all do want someone strong enough to consume us, captivate us and take us on an exhilarating journey, every once in a while. we still all are enchanted by the dizziness of elation when we fall in love.
hmm, i wonder whether guys get as much of a high as us when they dance the salsa tho. (comments, anyone?) but i know it certaining takes a lot of strength and effort, and a firm grasp :)on a final note, i definitely do wanna learn the salsa!! and ps. yes i do know i havent returned from my rural attachment. i just somehow had this window of time and managed to squeeze a quick post in. so tata again, n this time its for real ;p
i fluttered by;
12:09 AM
26.7.06
my babes are here!!!
yippees for me. my babes are here!!
almost couldnt believe my eyes when i saw them at clayton. i mean, i knew they were coming and i knew we were going to hang out. we've been talking bout it ever since last year. but it felt so far away and intangible. and now they're actually really here!
brought them out for delish korean food, and had a really great time together. kudos to daryl for choosing the location and all. n i have a whole wk of after-eight activites planned out for them! yeps, trying my best to be a gd host here ;p
anw, i guess i wun b blogging for quite awhile because i'd be preoccupied with entertaining the babes. and rural attachment is next wk. it's when we med students go to a rural area to experience 1st hand what primary medical care and healthcare-related infrastructure is like in rural areas. i'm gg to mildura via a domestic flight, how cool!
will update soon after i return, tata!
i fluttered by;
12:21 AM
20.7.06
the winning caption :)
other random photos below: 
(above) what were u thinking? :) nah, that's a liquor shop. australians like to play around with words, that's one thing i learnt.
ok n i actually posted some other pictures but then decided they were either too provocative or vulgar, and so deleted them. heh. got underaged readers la. viewer discretion not enough ;p
i fluttered by;
5:34 PM
17.7.06
part 2.
after blogging so much, i realised i left out the star of the whole sydney trip! and so now i've to introduce snuffles (above) - the world's most huggable since 1898 (dun argue, it says so on his tag). mum got him for me at the airport. and now i must sincerely thank her for that. was a really sweet gesture but i din know how to appreciate it at that moment because the 1st thing i thought was that it was too po4 fei4. snuffles has been the entertainment throughout our trip. havent you, snuffles? ;p
cool surfers.
cool us. 
day 8. took a bus ride to blue mountains to see the 3 sisters. went on a foot trail. there was also a short stopover at an interesting candy store. but the crux was when the tour guide started playing this cd and i recognised it as the same one that the tour guide for my sec 3 geog overseas trip to australia used to play!! i got so excited because there was this song, 'i am australian', that was super nice (the sweet voice of a lil girl) and all we rg gals used to sing and harmonize to it. we got so addicted to it then, that we requested the tour guide to keep playing it. and the very song moved us to tears on our last journey on the bus. partly due to the bond forged with the tour guide too. we are one, but we are many
and from all the ends of earth we come
we share a dream, and sing with one voice
i am, you are, we are australian.
inspiratiional saying.
aboriginal who played the digeridoo.
i heart koalas.
all kinds of novelty chocolates. i like the one whose wrapper reads instant gratification (it should have an added warning: instant calorie addition tho ;p). the emergency chocolate's instruction was cool too. it read, for immediate relief of: chocolate cravings, lovesickness, exam pressure, mild anxiety and extreme hunger. directions for use: tear open wrapper, break off desired dosage, and consume. alternatively massage into affected area. if symptoms persist, consult your local confectioner.
these bottles of sweet were interesting too. my friends said the beer goggles one was definitely for me tho, cos the bottle read: are your expectations too high? does being single make you feel lonely? ..these pills will instantly lower your standards. haha. the instruction was the punchline tho - take 2 pills with a bottle of vodka!
on day 9 we went for a puppet show tittled the velveteen rabbit at sydney opera house. not bad, fairytale-ish. we then went to the royal botanical gardens to take a stroll. caught angmoh kids playing, they turn out very cute on photos :) want a few for myself too ;p but thats another story and anw its so not gg to happen. there were lots of nice architecture, statues and monuments around for photographic shots, but soon i gave up trying too hard to capture all the moments. instead, live in them and experience them for what they are worth, i told myself. and that sounds pretty decent to me ;p
the showcase at the sydney opera house.
orchids!!
me acting all small and lonely under the great big oak tree.
i was actually sick the whole day and was thankful that ethan was extremely caring. guy, i bet u dun know it yet but i'm really grateful and appreciative! haha, bu4 kui1 shi4 wo3 de4 hao2 jie3 mei4 :) anw we went to chinatown and guess what, it once again felt like i was back at singapore. nowhere else in foreign lands do u get such a large congregation of chinese ppl :) anw we had lunch at market city, then the girls did a bit of shopping while the guys hung out at the arcade. n maybe its because of the proximity of the arcade, but i kinda felt that there were more shuai asian guys here than in singapore. hmm, ok out of pt. anw we walked to darling harbour at about sunset to get a great view and i must say i really liked the atmosphere there. there were playgrounds, paddleboats, reverse bungee, a pirate ship, a carousel and nicely furnished restaurants with great ambience.. a great place to spend with one's darling :) haha we were speculating that it may be the reason why it was called darling harbour in the 1st place.
went back to chinatown for jap bbq. shabushabu beef was really gd but i couldnt appreciate it cos of my stuffed nose. i had green tea icecream anw, despite my sickly state. not wanting the holiday to end, we caught superman at the cinema at market city and then took a midnight train back.
i fluttered by;
4:38 PM
or rather, the interesting random bits of it.
now where did i last stop? oh yes. my last wk at singapore. more meet ups. more cycling at ecp. more lazy days in with the brother or other friends watching serials or having stayovers. fulfilled my yakun kaya toast craving during the meet up with dod. missed the opportunity to meet up with my sec 3 to 4 classmates even tho i was so near to the meeting point. grr, really regretted tt cos the US/UK ppl only come back during june. moreover they were at ps while i was a meridian. but i only knew tt after i had hopped onto a car.
the sunday that i flew was reserved for family. went out to have a nice canto lunch at this restaurant near town. yummy. had cold crab and even my favourite ohnhee (yam paste). we then went shopping for a coat to help me survive the winter in melb. got one in maroon but its a little too big i feel. might alter it next time. we then strolled the mall for awhile and after, my dad even surprised me by pulling out a bag of oldchangkee's currypuff for the whole family! aww. i tell u. i felt REALLY pampered and unwilling to go back to australia.
but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do. i packed my luggage in a jiffy because we got back quite late. then we got to the airport to have dinner there, while my frens who came wee bit too early to see me off had to wander about aimlessly for awhile b4 i could entertain them (sorry bout that!). we had fun chatting and fooling about with the camera, so much so that i went in too late for departure and had to run all the way to the gates (and got in just b4 they closed the gates). phew. never gg to do that again. talked on the phone till the plane was gg to take off (never gg to do THAT again either, so as to not have to reproachful stares from the airstewardess').
sec 2 clique at the viewing gallery.
very tempted to add some closeup shots of CERTAIN church frens ;p but finally decided to keep them as bribery material. mwahahhaha.
caught v for vendetta on the plane. the plane had to land tho and so it robbed me of the last few minutes, but i highly recommend the show. i loved the way v played with words. and there were many many poignant sentences throughout the show. sheds new light, gets one thinking. the likes.
sunrise on the plane.
the 1st 5 days of my sydney trip was spent entirely at the hillsong conference - dusk till dawn. it makes a real difference when u devote 5 entire days to focusing on God and ONLY on Him, i must say. its vision-changing. the only regret i have is not being able to fly back to singapore to effect changes in church, and infect the rest of my churchmates. well, enough said. i guess i have already elaborated about it in the previous post. all i can do now is move through emails and prayer. but that should never be underestimated too either ;p 
on the 6th day, we visited bondi beach. we then took a slow walk to watson's bay to have seafood. we walked for about 2 hours cos the bay was about 5 km away but i'm glad we did walk because there was much to see along the way. and it made us hungry enough to devour the huge portions of fresh, good quality seafood at dinner. 
the 4 dai gor dais.
ethan being stupid.
the purple flower.
mj's ticket to superstardom.
doyles paella - seafood cooked in a tomato, wine based.
after dinner, we played at a playground and some aussie kids came to join us. they were really friendly. but gosh, the things they share with us! 1stly they asked us if we had gfs/bfs. they raised an eyebrow when they heard tt we were staying on king's cross. they then started talking about sex. and went on to ELABORATE which condoms tasted best. and tell us the 'popcorn trick' (ok, for those who dont know, dont ask). whoa. and these kids are only what.. 13?! ethan teased me saying he thinks they know more than i do. 
oh yes. speaking of king's cross. the red light district of sydney. unfortunately, our budget backpacker's inn is on the very lane where all the 'adult novelty items shops' and 'pleasure chests' and 'moulinrouge/ crazyhorse type places' are concentrated. hence we had a really EVENTFUL time. haha. dun be mistaken, we din go seeking for trouble by exploring those places. but the very 1st day we checked in, we were accidentally assigned to a room which was occupied - and the occupants smoked WEED. we were shocked, we thought we really had to bunk with them because budget places were like that. but thankfully, that wasnt the case. it was a mix-up. anw, our 2nd room had this dubious looking bag of crystalline white stuff. we imm dumped it. dun even want to start speculating what it was. i also rmbed one notice the inn posted up to warn the occupants to clean up, which read: 'room has a distinct smell which is the result of guys doing things to themselves which should be carried out in the toilet'. grr, too much detail.
apart from that, the inn was fine. i didnt even need to use my slping bag which i brought just in case. the guys also managed to firmly refuse the bouncers and stay out of trouble. i realised tt there were lots of police around anw, esp on wkends. i noticed that unlike geylang the girls dun come out tho, and the few who do looked really pale and weary and ghastly. my heart kinda went out to them actually.
the inn actually organised alot of get-togethers for the backpackers, eg free bbqs and stuff. creates a sort of atmosphere for mingling, which is interesting esp since u noe that u'll never see these ppl ever again. we even had free food n drinks at a pub next door, on the ground floor of the empire hotel, during the world cup finals. the place was nicely decorated, just didnt like the smoke. but for once, one can really witness how soccer is really a common language. ppl of different nationalities gathered, all focused on the same big screen.
[to be continued...] yes, because i realised the post has been quite long
and i'm pretty tired
-yawns-
so tata, unfortunately
on the bright side, i've put in more detail than i intended to when i started penning down my thoughts :)
i fluttered by;
1:48 AM