Rejoice and Be Glad!

Another one of my daily dose of sentimental Christian sharings...

Was just reading the verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 which says "Rejoice at all times" but I just realised that many of us Christians find it quite challenging to find joy in everything.
In fact, it was quite amazing that when I was pondering on the verse, I picked up Selwyn Hughes' book and he happened to have written on the topic of rejoicing. He puts the question: Is it really possible to rejoice at all times? And he says he believes so.

Here's the secret: We can rejoice in everything only to the extent that we see God in everything.
Some might have difficulty with this, and respond: "There are some things which come from the devil, there are some things you never think people could possibly do, and how can what you say be applied to that?"
It is true that God may not be the genesis of something, but He can certainly be in its exodus.

Some of you guys might know this story...
An old lady was praying for bread.
Some boys, hearing her, decided to play a trick on her.
They climbed up on her roof and threw som loaves down the chimney.
"Praise the Lord," shouted the old lady, "God has heard my prayer."
The boys then knocked on her door and said: "But it was not God who gave you the bread - it was us."
She laughingly replied: "Well the devi may have brought it, but it was God who sent it."

The circumstances may have begun with the devil, but by the time they get to you and through you, they have a divine purpose running through them. In other words, wherever an event comes from, by the time it gets to you, you can be sure it has got God's permission - and thus has the potential of becoming not a source of trouble but a source of triumph.
How amazing is that? So I guess it's learning to rejoice in everything when we see God in everything.

Crapola!

This morning, I woke up... and not a good day to start the day huh? I was doing my routine cleaning of my cornear reshaping therapy lenses and all of a sudden, the left side broke! I'm still really worried to this point. I called my optometrist in Melbourne to report my issue but he wasn't around and will only be in tomorrow afternoon. Pray that I can get my replacement lens in soon! Hopefully they'll express post it to me within a day or two.

The good thing however is that yesterday, church was really moving to the extent that I teared. It was on motivation for God, and it just really touched me.. not only me though, a few people in the congregation. And thanks be to God cause lots of non-Christians got saved that day as well.

I hung around with a few people after church and had fun then had to go to work (which is the routine usually)...

Then at night, watched the final of So You Think You Can Dance. How awesome was it? I was actually pretty happy with the final two and I would have been happy if Rhys won too. I loved both of them and the suspense was killing me. But yay! Jack won!! Can't wait for next year's!

After watching So You Think... went to edit my report (due today). It's way too long. Originally it was 8 pages and it was supposed to be a maximum of 5 pages (some subjects at Macq Uni go by pages rather than word limit...strange huh?) But anyway, spent the night editing it and finally got it down to 5.5 pages. Hopefully I won't get any marks penalised. I really hope I do well in this one. And of course I wanna know where I went wrong with my online exam for another subject, cause I am sure most of the answers were correct.

Oh on the Sat, K and L stayed over and C cooked up dinner... It was good to catch up, but I came back late from work and had to go to sleep early for church the next day. They just bought a new bunny... If only I knew, I could hand Cuddles to them. Actually am wondering how Cuddles is right now... Hmmm...

Sore!

Went to the doc yesterday to get my vaccination. All the while, I was thinking one injection shouldn't be that bad. But it turned out that I had to have three injections (2 for Hep B and 1 for tetanus)! It happened so fast and it was all on the one arm - my left arm obviously because I'm right handed. But yeah, my arm feels like a ship's anchor...

And don't really know why I was soo tired after that appointment - perhaps the mixture of antibodies injected into me.. hmm.... but anyway, I ended up dosing off at about 8 something pm and didn't wake up till this morning. I must have been really really exhausted.

Woke up today and the PMS cramps started to kick in. So a sore arm and a sore stomach...

Still struggling to write up my report, but at least I started off with 5 sentences, so it's slowly getting there somehow.

Taking Courage and Fearing Not

The challenge of courage has been a highlight for me this week. I just really needed to have chats to some people, and although it seemed confronting and scary cause it's just not me, I had to do it otherwise I'd tear my hair out. In fact, I was quite glad I managed to speak to these people, because I felt an entire burden lift from my shoulders. All week I had been praying and asking God for the wisdom to say what I had to say especially since there were issues regarding these people that were bugging me...

Well after church, spoke to a few people, which went alright I think, but a particular person is still acting awkward and ignoring me quite a bit. Didn't really phase me very much though. And of course, the big accomplishment was at home, where I managed to have a chat with my housemate about particular house issues. I am quite glad we actually got to have a sensible talk and that she could understand were I was coming from. In the end, both of us have devised a plan to say when we are able to cook and when we are not able to. And so far so good... because I think it has broken some ice and it has gotten us closer in our relationship as housemates.

Today after a busy day at work, caught up with my housemate at home and started chatting. It was actually real inspiring what God can do, because somehow the topic of religion came up and I started speaking to my housemate about our dear Lord Jesus, which really surprised me about how open she was. She mentioned she had a Christian friend who brought her to church before, but she felt really uncomfortable, and I mentioned to her along the lines that it probably takes time, and in His rightful timing and at the right place, I am sure God will provide her with a church she'll feel comfortable in and she may settle there, and may start to experience that journey with Him. And then I invited her to accompany me to Wesley, and she said at the moment, she doesn't think she can wake up that early. In the midst of our religious conversation, it was surprising to hear from her that she notices this light in me when I am all geered up for church or talk about church, and it looked like something I missed. And when she mentioned that, I just felt all squishy inside - a nice squishy feeling, because yeah, I really missed church life and now, I try to attend two services every Sunday, one after the other.... but sometimes it does get pretty overwhelming so I go for the one early in the morn. I guess I do feel renewed. And feeling quite blessed and grateful that Jesus has started to shine in me again. I missed that God urge!

Tomorrow, gonna try and do up my report (at least the intro) before I head into the city for my medical vaccination (getting my Hep B vaccine). And then after that, going to continue with my report (the methods and results section probably). Then Thursday, it's more report time with the discussion and conclusion and abstract, and voila! That's the plan... Just praying to Him for His strength that I'd be able to do this report. Even though it's 10%, it's a real toughy with lots of graphs that I don't seem to understand. And hopefully with the results section, I can manage to plot the graphs on the Windows Excel 2003 version - 'cause I'm used to the old Windows and this new version has different commands altogether. Anyway, yes, my aim is to finish this report by Thurs! Hopefully...

Tried to do the report tonight and no luck... I just stared and stared and didn't really know how or what to write. Which led me to do my quiet time instead which inspired me to say "Yeah! I'll start tomorrow - fresh!" During quiet time, I read one of my Christian daily books, and here's what I wanna share with you guys...
God is much more than enough.
There are many things in the world of which we think we do not have enough - money, power, status, education, and so on. And it is generally assumed that if only it were possible to have a sufficiency of "things", satisfaction would immediately result. But that is not so.
The real trouble is not that people do not have enough "things", but that "things" in themselves are not enough.
The plain fact is there is ultimately only one way in which the human heart can have enough, or to be more exact, one Being who is enough for us, and that is God!
God is enough. Only He is sufficient for us, only He can truly satisfy our souls. He, and only He is enough.

Exam Stress kicking in

Am in the mid of exam stress mode... Did I say it in my last post that I was sooo behind my studies? Well, I'll say it again - sooo behind! Can't believe time flies so quickly! Exam dates are already out except for one of my subjects. At this moment, I finish exams on 23 Jun in the afternoon... and might head to Melb on that day for a week... haven't totally confirmed dates yet. Plus the cheap flights are almost gone.

By the way, just received my results from my online exam. Didn't do as well as I hoped from the MCQs and short-answers, but I got 70%.

Right now, the current stress is my reports - due straight after the midsem break. I haven't started, but will probably start tomorrow before work... It's really the only time I can do it. Well, I started the research for one. As for the other, that lecturer hadn't even gotten back to us regarding an assignment let alone information for the assignment. Like all we know is that it's 30%, it's a literature review and it's due in week 8, after the midsem break! In fact, a few of us emailed her but there's nothing at all! Arghh! She can't possibly expect us to do it in a week right? I seriously hope not. For the other assignment, this pract report I have to do - it looks fairly tough... but gonna read the key materials tomorrow and see if I can find anything else on the subject.

As for work, this week has been pretty crazy! In total, I would have worked 6 days this week. The only off day would be today (Thursday). Then am working Fri, Sat and Sun. Next week, working Tues, Fri, Sat and Sun for now... And going to the docs to get my vaccination for Hepatitis B. The good thing is that I don't have to squeeze all my vaccinations so soon... because I'll only need to have all of them by the start of next year. =)

Feeling in Isolation... =(

Last night, I had a bit of a hissy fit... venting a bit of a childish tantrum and saying to TY's cell members via email that I felt like everyone was missing him for 2.5 days when he came up to Syd and I was not missed too much when I left Melb for Syd in Jan... Felt really bad for writing that email. But sometimes you feel like that you know - lonely perhaps. And when you're lonely, you start to think - very negatively...

I guess it's starting to sink in that I've been piled with work and studies, and whenever people are free, they're either too far away or our schedules clash. The week before TY arrived was great though because I managed to meet up with Michelle and Mat, Vijay and Ian, and church friends on separate days. But it's not always like that. And my circumstances with work and uni are pretty bad I guess.

I even thought "how could I change my schedule to fit in time for friends?" and I really don't know how.

See... classes fall Mon, Wed and Thu. And it's not that good to head to work straight after because on Mon and Wed, I usually end classes at 6pm and on-air time is 6pm, so that's quite impossible... And the traffic jam at 6pm is just crazy! I usually get home from uni in about 10 mins, but with the jam, it can take about 40 mins. The traffic can be quite insane.

Then I thought I could probably request the earliest shift, but that starts at 9am at the main office and they have lots of s-t-e-n-o-s (m-e-d-i-a court reporters) to fill the live stuff there. Plus it's BBC and Fox Sports which is really tough to voice... and voice recognition is doable but not THAT accurate for those programs. And they prefer stenos, because they can go on air for longer over there. Those programs don't have any scripts to look at and lots of names to prepare for, so yeah, quite tough.

Anyway, that leaves Thu, where class starts at 9am and usually I have to wake up at 7am to catch the bus. It's just madness trying to drive in at that hour... it takes longer than the bus in fact. Class ends at 12pm so I can work that day. But I've worked a Thursday before, and it was extremely tiring... like you can't do much after work. And when I'm not working, Thursdays are usually group work or libary days.

As for my other free day, Tues - I sometimes have clinical placements (not the official one yet, these are just observations but every fortnight after the placement, you have to churn up a report). The lecturers inform you a week before clinics whether you are going for one. Or if not, this is my study day.

Then Fri, Sat and Sun are work days.

The thing is that most people are usually free Fri, Sat and Sun afternoons and nights, but work starts in the afternoon and there's no time. I feel like I'm rushing off all the time whenever I meet friends. Plus most of my close friends here stay soo far away, it's tough to meet.

But now that it's the 2-week midsem break, I guess I'm feeling more lonely. See, Syd Uni people are having uni still and aren't on a break. I'm seeing my housemate almost every day who drives me a little insane because she's quite picky with certain things - food and the house.

Also, I usually get to see Amanda during uni hours, but she's been sooo busy this week and will be the next. So I quite miss having her around. AND I know I have to do these two assessments due right after this midsem break. Plus I have to really cramp in time for exam studying... can't believe it's already April and exams are in June! I just checked out the exam timetable! It's sooo soon and I'm sooo behind. So yeah, stressing stressing! I can't wait for Sem 1 to be over.

Sem 2 should be easier because I've done a bit of Phonetics and will need to do that again. And also, there's Stats which I have done before too. So it should be pretty OK. Then I have another subject as well, some acoustic subject...

Think I just need prayer... for motivation to study...

A mixture of feelings in a day

Today was an interesting day. First it was really cold and it was raining in the morn. Felt like Melbourne weather. And felt sleepy, like I wanted to be all snuggly.

Second, I got a call from the work scheduler and said that I had to go to SBS instead of Ch 9, so I did. It was a long day with lots of programs, but surprisingly, it went really smooth and I was out of there by 10:25pm. The shift ends at 10:30pm and I initially thought that I'd end at 11pm because I had to do so much with the web publishing at the end of the news, but it all turned out really good. So I was quite pleased.

Then I headed home and my housemate started complaining that she didn't want to have so much chicken wings and to perhaps have chicken wings once a week. But I love chicken wings! Most people know that! Her reason: that chicken wings will make her fat. I guess I'm lucky in a way cause I don't worry and I don't really think about calories and how much fat is in food. But she does! She also said that too much chicken wings will probably be unhealthy for me anyway. Then she started to suggest I should eat this and I should eat that... which really frustrated me. And I'm thinking - Right! Now she's controlling my diet to suit her diet. The strangest thing is TY and my parents have said that it looks like I've lost weight. And now because of what my housemate has said, I'm stressing and trying to think up of other recipes to cook - more fish I guess. Anyone know quick and really good dishes? Tell me!

Later on at night, it was daily talk time with TY, who cheered me up just by being there. It was short but I couldn't really complain to him about the housemate thing cause I was in the kitchen washing up at that time and the walls are pretty hollow.

Crazy guy on bus

I forgot to blog about the crazy guy on the bus the other day TY was here. We were on our way to watch Billy Elliot and we were pushing for time really. Well we missed our first bus and then had to go to the other bus stop to wait for another one. And on the way, this crazy guy came out from another stopped bus at this bus stop, and popped onto ours. He was real dodgy. In fact, he was swearing, kept talking gibberish about his family, how his dad died at a certain area. Plus he was foaming at the mouth and has cerebral palsy. The bus driver I must say acted very calm and professional, and tried to coax him off the bus. He kept hesitating and kept coming off and on the bus... Two young girls were actually finding it quite hysterical and took a video of him on their phone... they might put it on YouTube. But he was going on for at least 20 minutes to half an hour and he was starting to get real edgy, so some people called the cops. The cops came and finally got him to sit on the ground where according to TY, he started crying. Anyway, we still couldn't leave because our bus driver had to make a statement, as well as a few other people around the neighbourhood (yeah, the neighbours came out to see what the commotion was all about). We were there for quite a while at this particular bus stop that another bus had arrived and we wanted to get on it, but by the time we came off the bus and wanted it, it just left. That was frustrating. So we went back to our old bus and continued waiting till our bus driver was allowed to leave. Fortunately we weren't late for our play, and were quite good for time and still managed our initial dinner plan at Pepper Lunch. I think if people didn't call the police, we'd probably be stuck there for hours. It was scary though and if the crazy guy got quite aggressive, it wouldn't go down too well either. So we're glad it turned out alright in the end and we're ok.

TY's Sydney weekend visit

TY came down on the weekend and on the day he arrived (Friday), I was called in to work. Initially I requested the weekend off because TY was heading down, but they were really desperate for someone to fill the supervisor shift at Ch 9 and I was obliged, so I said yes. The problem they have is that they have lots of captioners at the moment, but not many for supervisor roles. You could train someone up as a supervisor, but I think it comes with personality as well like your networking skills and your caption techniques and your ability to troubleshoot and stay calm under pressure.

Anyway, when TY arrived, I showed him around my place. He really liked it.

Saturday morning, we woke up. I cooked up some French toast for breakfast for himself and I, and then I brought him to my uni and the shopping centre next to it. It would have been a lovely walk to uni if it weren't for the many smoking students around. Lunchtime and I brought TY to this Jap restaurant called Mizu. I had never been there myself but it's always crowded, especially the sushi train. So it was worth a shot at trying it out. TY and I had the a la carte meals and they were pretty good. We even thought that maybe we should head back for dinner and try out the sushi train because the a la carte was really nice. I actually had a sudden urge for sashimi, and this sudden urge made me order one of the sashimi plates from the train - and it was actually a good thing, because the sashimi wasn't very nice. Which made us say "let's not come back for dinner."

We then walked around the centre for a bit and then walked around Chatswood, this suburb further up north... bought a cable for my TV there (the cable for me to watch shows from my laptop on my TV). Then went home and changed for Billy Elliot. The musical was awesome! You couldn't imagine such a young boy with so much talent in ballet, tap, song... The props were really good too. Nothing bad to say about it really. And of course, I'm always a big sucker for the $20 programs, which I bought - AGAIN! But really worth watching.

Sunday came and TY organised a day trip to Port Stevens. I had a lot of trouble waking up during the day though because the night before, Billy Elliot ended about 10:45pm, and we were scouting around for a bus as lots of buses stopped running to my place at that hour on a Saturday night. We finally found a bus. It was the only one and by the time we slept, it was about 1 something in the morn. While waiting at the bus stop though, TY and I had fun spotting modified cars on the roads. We agree that Sydney loves their big rimmed wheels! Haha!

Anyway, Port Stevens - the drive was really pretty - lots of scenery that would make you feel like it was NZ or Tassie. We got there about 12 something - just in time for lunch. The only problem was that we had a late breakfast at Macs on the way there and weren't in the mood for more food. Plus TY had already planned to take me on this dolphin watching cruise which started at 1:30pm. So we found an I (information centre) and booked tickets there. There were a few dolphin cruises and I let TY pick... and it was a really good one he got, because the dolphins we saw in the bay were in shoals - about 15 to 20, all around our boat. And as the boat picked up speed, the dolphins swam with us, jumping and splashing around our boat. It was a really spectacular experience. I would go again! I'd put up photos, but it's on TY's camera... He said he'll burn me some. So when he does, I'll add them on.

After the cruise, TY and I were hungry. We wanted to go to this seafood restaurant called Rock Lobster, but it was 3pm and it was closed. So we went to Hogs Breath instead. The food was really good but we were sooo full after, we felt too bloated to walk. But we made it to the car and it was time for TY to get to the airport. It was a good thing we left then, because there was a jam on one part of the freeway back to Sydney, and then it rained along with lightning. TY had already checked in, but it was cutting close to his departure time. As I left him at the airport, he checked his flight and it was delayed. It was actually postponed twice... and was delayed for about an hour due to bad stormy weather. In fact, it took a while to clear the airport. The jam was just ridiculous. At least the storm subsided and TY got back safe to Melb. Miss him already. Not sure when I'm gonna visit Melb next or when TY's coming up again... I am hoping to see snow this year so maybe end June/July. I haven't even held skis before... but I'm wondering if I should... especially when I'm so clumsy when it comes to tackling new things. I've got this phobia of stabbing myself in the shoe even though the shoe is pretty hard and I most probably can't stab myself there anyway. Or I might keep falling over. Or it might be a new hidden talent I have, and I'd be awesome at the skis. Hmm...

Back to reality and for the next two weeks, it's the semester break, but I am working Tue, Fri, Sat and Sun, and I have 2 major assignments due straight after this break. Quite frustrated cause one of my assignments - the lecturer hasn't even said anything yet. She said she'll email us, but I haven't heard anything. Hopefully she won't give us only a week to tackle it, because it's 30%. At least I can start on the other assignment on my off days... So it's just catching up on study which I desperately need to do! That's the plans so far for the next two weeks... And I can't imagine how time flies. Exams are in June and it's not long... Just saw practice exam papers from last year and I'm freaking out!

My new bumper sticker - I pray that I don't hit anything when I drive.

This is Uni Life at the moment...

I'm so glad the assignments were over. Just last week, I had 3 assignments - two group ones and one report. Plus an online exam. With the online exam, you could basically log in anytime and do it within a span of a week. I did mine at about 1am on the Thursday last week, so Mary, when you wrote on my message box to ask me how I went... I hadn't actually done it yet. Hee! The online exam was actually tough even though it was MCQs and Short-Answers. It was open book but there was not much time to really check stuff. Besides, it's already submitted and I think I did quite okay.

Well, the assessments are all over for now! The group assignments were pretty OK except that everyone in my group wanted to take charge and so there was slight tension. I have no idea why Macq Uni students seem more competitive and are actually quite stuck-up and snobbish, compared to those at Syd Uni. Yeah, I miss my Syd Uni friends who are open and non-bias and can take in anything. It would be really great to have that kind of crowd at Macq Uni but unfortunately, it's not that way at all. Don't get me wrong - the course is awesome, but the people not so...

Having said that, I've been hanging out with Amanda and she's been an awesome friend. Then again, she was originally from Syd Uni as well. Both of us feel that the Macq Uni students are just ultra cliquish. Hopefully it won't be like that next year. This year, my classmates are all from various disciplines within the health sciences. And as you guys know, I'm on a conditional offer, so my audiology course will only start officially next year, and I am hoping my peers will be nicer, not so cliquish kind of people. I mean, there are cliques at Syd Uni as well, but at least they take time to know other people in other groups... hence the not so cliquish environment, which make courses and uni all the more enjoyable. The cliques at Macq Uni are just so self-absorbed and really hard to get into - it's like either "if you know us from a while back, come hang out with us" or "if you don't know us, we don't really want to know ya"... or "we'll just pretend to know ya" kind of attitude.

Need time!!

I have only until tomorrow to finish studying for this online exam and I've only finished Lecture 2! Got 5 more lectures to go!! Need time, need time! It's open book, but I'm stressing and nervous! In fact, I've been so distracted with Facebook and reading Godly books (not that reading the Godly bks is a bad thing - been reading Everyday With Jesus bks). And you know, I know for sure that God wants me to study as well... so hopefully I can squeeze in the time with His strength and can pull it off for tomorrow!! Wing it as they all say! Pray for moi that I do well!

This week - Updates Galore!

Since my Melb trip last weekend, it's been crazy over here in Syd... I actually brought my books back to Melb to try and study, but didn't manage to do anything really. I did however do my part of my group presentation, so was pretty pleased with myself. But having come back on the Monday, my flight was slightly delayed, I had to grab my car from a friend's place (cause I parked it there before I left and he looked after my car) and then it was either rushing to class at 2pm or going home and sleep. I was sooo tired, I kinda decided to head home to sleep. By the time I got home anyhow, it was already about 1 something, close to 2pm. If I did try to go for class, I'd probably just get there on the dot, so I could have gone... But was so tired, I went home and slept for about 2 hours. Then woke up and started on the Powerpoint presentation for my group project. Thank goodness it wasn't difficult and all the commands on Vista were very similar to the old Windows version. Then at night, I had to catch So You Think You Can Dance. It wasn't the usual So You Think You Can Dance that day - just interviewing the judges and asking what they think about the contestants... I watched it for a while and then just continued on my Powerpoint presentation.

Tuesday, I didn't have anything planned, but continued working on the Powerpoint presentation - 52 slides in total. It was definitely hard work! At night, watched Biggest Loser and It Takes Two.

Wednesday, continued working on the Powerpoint presentation (got the last of my group members notes) and went to class.

Thursday morning was our presentation. AND little did we know that the other groups had planned out their presentation in re-enactment styles, so yeah, theirs were extremely good. Ours ended up to be the crappiest and my group members were quite upset about it, but you know, it's like a learning curve and hopefully they move on from that. My coursemate, Amanda came over to my place. She does four subjects at Macq Uni but only does two subjects with me (the audiology ones). So she wasn't at the presentation one. The presentation subject is actually a Speech Pathology subject but I still have to do it and I don't enjoy it as much as the other two. Anyway, when Amanda came over, she was supposed to do a little bit of study with me, but we ended up looking through pictures and a few movie trailers... This was from 1:15pm till 6 something. Yeah, all that time kinda wasted chatting... Anyway, it was great to catch up with her again. She goes to church as well, not the same one I go to, but somewhere near her place... somewhere near Castlemaine, up north.

Friday (yesterday) - worked from 9am! I was working in the city for the first time in a long while. And as usual the buses were late, but I managed to get there on the dot. I had to wake up early though - 7am to be exact... and surprisingly, it was extremely cold. In fact, it wasn't only at that hour that it was cold, it was cold the entire day! Took the bus and then the train. The trains were crowded and of course, it's always common to see people running for the bus/train. Got off the train at Central and then had to walk about 10 minutes to my workplace which wasn't too bad (the distance) except my shoe broke... One of the straps on my shoe snapped! Grr! It was really tough to walk in them because they kept sliding, and yeah, I had to hobble. Then during my break, I went to this corner shop near my workplace and got a pair of sneakers - they were the only nice ones - but they started giving me blisters and I was like crap! I should get another better pair. It was $20 that pair... a little wasted. But if I didn't get that pair, I wouldn't have made it anywhere else... I could have gone barefooted though... Hmm... but what about nails and spliters... nooo, couldn't handle them. Anywayz, I started scouting for another pair of shoes after getting the dodgy $20 one and wandered to Market City near Chinatown where I found this shop... But instead of getting one pair, I kinda bought two, cause they were really nice pairs. I got those two pairs for only $30! So all in all, I had three pairs of shoes. And if you know me well, I hardly go on a shoe shopping spree!

After work, I went to meet one of my guy friends, Ian, near the train station, so we could go have dinner. Called my other friend, Vijay along. He was working at the other end of the city, but he still met us anyway... he just had to make his way down to Chinatown. Well, while walking with Ian to meet Vijay, my plastic bag with my shoes broke. It so wasn't my day! Found another plastic bag and just transferred everything. Despite those bungles, dinner was good. They brought me to this Korean/Jap place. The food wasn't bad, but I think there's better Korean/Jap around - just need to find it. The place was really crowded though and people booked. Then we walked to Darling Harbour and had desert there. Wanted to go to this Pancake place but the line was just insane, so we just mingled at one of the food courts and had drinks/desert. After that, the guys walked me to my bus stop and I took the bus straight home... There are actually a few other buses I could take from the main city near Chinatown, but where those buses would drop me - I'll basically have to walk about 10 minutes through this dark road near a construction site and it doesn't look very safe. Whereas where the guys walked me to - the bus stop at Darling Harbour - there's this one bus that I can take and it drops me off at the main road right outside my place and it only takes 3 mins walk from that stop to my door... so that's better. But that bus is always, always late. And when we waited, it was 20 mins late!

This weekend - working at SBS (Sat) and Ch 9 (Sun)... Also this weekend, I have to write up my part for my group presentation handout, due next week - Fri, but I have to do it by Wed because I have an online exam on that day and my group is meeting up on that day with their parts done. Please pray for my online exam!! I need to do well. Actually, what I need is the time to study. Doesn't help when I get distracted by Lost shows. I caught a couple of Lost episodes and the content - soooo frustrating! Not up to date yet - I think I have 2 more to watch. Then there's American Idol and a few other movies I'm yet to watch! Can't wait for my mid-sem break in April... It's 2 weeks, but I'm working lots - mainly Tues, Fri, Sat and Sun. First week, I'm gonna catch up on shows and try to study when I can. Second week, it's study all the way during the off days, cause the week straight after the break, I have a Practicum due as well as a Lit Review and a Clinical Observation.

On Sunday, I've invited Vijay and Ben to church, the youth service! I'm slowly recruiting Melburnians here.. haha... Always good to see familiar faces anyhow. Speaking of church, there's this one guy in church who likes moi and he's totally ignoring me! Well, we had quite an intensive talk about a week ago before I left for Melb, and that was the last I ever spoke to him. I just said I don't want to jeopardise our friendship and what my relationship situation was like at that point. Honestly, I'm not too concerned, but I'm certainly not used to being ignored. In fact I hate being ignored! It sucks! Wonder what's it with guys... when they like the girl and know they can't get the girl, they go away and shelter somewhere. And then when they get over it, they try to be your friend again and act all cool like nothing has happened. I know lots of girls would probably act differently if the situation was reversed. Girls and guys just act so differently to things...