miss me?

Hello! I am back in Malaysia, land of perpetual summer & car-driving monkeys. What can I say about my trip to Melbourne? It was inspiring, to say the least. A lot of the things that I experienced there struck a nerve with me- like, I felt that life was trying to tell me something. I dunno. It's a bit heavy to describe through a blog post. But let's just say I had a blast, and I feel like I came back a more positive, empowered person. :)

Day by day write-up? Let's go! :D

Sunday
We arrived at 8.30 but it looked like 6.45. That was WAY disorienting. Our taxi driver was this Punjabi guy with two studs in each ear and a half-buttoned shirt. Oddly enough, he was also a university student by day; said he does the taxi thing for extra pocket money. OSM. A funny excerpt of the conversation-

"So what's it like, here, as a taxi driver?"
"It's... pretty crappy."
"Yeah? Why?"
"... Lots of drunken idiots."
HAHAHAHA. I think Ashven John would have connected well with this fellow.

After checking into our apartment, we foraged out into the streets to look for supper (the time was 11.00pm). Sadly, most shops in Melbourne close at about 6 or 7. How sad is this? T_T So we had McDonald's, and fell asleep soon after.

Monday
Mostly it was spent hanging out with Mak Ngah, Aimi & Nana. We had lunch at Zam Zam, which is THE best briyani restaurant in Melbourne. :) Malaysian-owned, whee. Shopped TONS at Melbourne Central.

Tuesday
Aimi & Nana had to spend time with their beloved father, so it was just me and my parents. Shopped for souvenirs at Victoria Market, which is easily one of the best places to get lost (and spend money) in. We walked everywhere, and somehow ended up at the IMAX theater which is right beside the Melbourne Museum. Third biggest screen in the world! We watched this documentary called "Hubble", narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio, and it made both my dad and myself cry. Why? Because humans are so, so, so stupid and smart at the same time.

We wanted to cross oceans- so we built boats. We wanted to fly- so we built planes. We wanted to reach for the stars- so we built rockets. In short, mankind can achieve almost anything that we want to do if we just have imagination, teamwork & perseverance. But do we use our God-granted brains and limbs for the evolution of mankind into something better? No. Instead, we fight. We hate. We look for the faults of others instead of trying to improve our own virtues. It makes me sad. But, well. What can I do but to use this 'epiphany' of sorts to boost me to do the best I can in giving back to the community? :)

Watched Hairspray The Musical that night. It was so gorgeous. The set design, the props & of course the wonderful music! I felt the message of you can do anything you set your mind to even stronger as I soaked it all in. Can't understand why some people think that theater is a 'waste of time'. Sheesh.

Wednesday
Went to the cinema with the cousins to watch Harry Potter for a second time. Two things that ruined it-
1. One ticket = 18 DOLLARS = 54 RINGGIT. ONE TICKET.
2. There was no caramel popcorn. :( Just the salted kind. Like, what is this Australia? D: We were getting along so well. LOL.
Oh and I had horrible cramps throughout the movie. :(

We managed to get back in time to get ready and leave for the stadium where Aimi's graduation was being held. It was four hours long, but I guess it's understandable since 6,031 people graduated in one night. WOW. Basically they split it up into about fifteen mini stages arranged around the stadium, with a huge main stage in the middle. Each stage was for a specific course (e.g. Accountancy, or Graphic Design) and they just arranged the families of the students accordingly.

So, yeah. The speeches that were given are SO different than the formal bullshit that they feed us with at Malaysian events. The speeches that I heard that night... were real. They were written by the speakers themselves, and through the bold words and passionate intonation, the message of inspiration really got through. Which I thought was beautiful.

Even if the ceremony lasted for four hours and the temperature was about 15 degrees celcius...

Thursday
Ayah rented a car, and we took a scenic drive down to St. Kilda. Had some pancakes at a local cafe, and then we headed to the beach! Truth be told, I was quite surprised there was literally nobody there. But then again, it wasn't really a "tourist" beach. More like the beach you see in the movies, where the heroes go think and reflect upon life or whatever. So that's what I did. :| Think.. and reflect upon life. Took off my shoes and socks and shades, set them on a rock... And I just stood there, for close to an hour. Just looking at the waves crashing on the sand and flowing around my feet, hearing the seagulls... It was really a lovely experience. :)

p/s I managed to convince Aimi to take off her shoes too. WORTH IT.

We also managed to visit the Strawberry Ridges, which is a strawberry farm quite in the middle of nowhere. :S At this point in time, the sun had finally decided to show itself in all its' glory so we just sat outside, eating the most delicious strawberry ice-cream in history. In history.

Drove back to central Melbourne, which took about two hours. And at 9pm all six of us went to watch Tron at the IMAX theater. Dude, Tron in 3D is PHENOMENAL. You might have to grimace a little at the clichéd script and less-than-awesome acting, but the effects, oh my god, they were so GOOD. And on a screen that's about seven storeys tall? F*CKING BLEW MY MIND AWAY.

Friday
Took the car out again to this.. ginormous shopping mall which wasn't really a shopping mall. LOL. What I mean is, the shops are lined up in avenues that branch out from a center courtyard... But the whole thing isn't exactly contained within a building. Went shopping like crazy.

You might begin to notice that for a person who claims to not like shopping, I sound like an excessive consumer in this post. Well. In my defence.... OESTROGEN. I blame it all on oestrogen. And the fact that Melbourne clothes are much more to my taste than KL clothes. I find that shopping in KL always involves an ultimatum- boring clothes or slutty clothes? There's no in-between, where you can be decent and stylish at the same time. Or maybe that's just because I was in Hartamas... Gee. :/

Anyway, in Melbourne, everyone dresses up like celebrities but nothing's overdone. Sure there are the regular doses of "personal statement" outfits (i.e. Goths, lolitas) but most of it's just.. pretty. And the thing I love most is that anyone can dress up no matter their size. Here in KL, most of the people who consider themselves fat always deem themselves unworthy of wearing the clothes that they really want to wear. They'll think like "Oh, the pretty clothes are for the skinny people". Or maybe that's just because I was in Hartamas... Gee. :/

LOL DO YOU SEE A RECURRING PATTERN I SURE DO
& once again, this is how high school ruins you if you're not one of the popular kids. :p But whatevs. I'm out, and I know who I am, and whatever doesn't kill me can only make me stronger.

Shiz, I lost my point somewhere in there.
To make a long story short- we shopped. And Aimi also brought me and Nana around Bourke Street, which is like the Bangsar of Melbourne I guess, LOL, and we walked around in the rain to look for all the possible anime shops that we could find. You will never take the anitard out of me. :D

Then, at about 8pm, we watched Mary Poppins the musical! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH. <-- This is the only reaction that I am able to muster. Everything was practically perfect. I'm not sure my euphoric response to the production is mostly to the production itself or my childhood bias towards the movie, but whatever it is, I LOVED IT. It made me cry, it made me laugh until my stomach felt like bursting, it scared me to death... and most of all, it thrilled me. Especially when Mary Poppins herself flew up on the wire thing and I could almost touch her feet and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

:') It was a good way to spend my last night in Melbourne.

Saturday
Checked out of our apartment at about 10am & dumped our luggage at Aimi's apartment.

Visited Victoria Market again, walked for aaaages to find this restaurant called "Madam Kay's". Then Nana and myself followed my dad for a bout of last-minute shopping, except that it kind of turned into a bookshop-whoring session. We entered every bookshop that we could find. And. It. Was. MAGICAL. 600-page thrillers for $5! That's only RM15 okay! *NERDSPAZZ*

Finally, everything was packed, and the taxi came exactly 15 seconds early, and there were lots of hugs and promises exchanged. It was time to go.

And go we did.

Now I'm here. A bit worse for wear physically (all that walking..), but I believe this holiday was more than just a simple relaxation of the mind. It was.. kind of, a journey of rediscovering many things about me that I'd forgotten. :) Thank you, Melbourne. It was a pleasure meeting you again. :)

Note: Remember my life plan? KYUEM for 1.5 years, LSE for 3 years, etc? Well after this holiday I'm seriously considering changing the LSE bit to a Melbourne university. What's a plan without a few spontaneous changes, right? :) But... yeah. We'll see. If I shift one bit of things I have to shift others. Like, will I still do Economics? Will I "follow my heart" (as Nana calls it) and pursue graphic design?

Pfft. You'd think a girl could catch a break after one of the most important examinations in her life. I need to take a shower, clean my room, delegate the souvenirs, put more stuff up on my wall and most importantly- START FIGURING MY FUTURE OUT FOR REAL.