Midway Through ...

Getting in the groove of things ...

Year 2 already and we were accustomed to how school worked and the way to go about getting things done. Not that we always got things done way before deadlines though. Procrastination was a contagious thing. Dangerous too. Let's put it in a better way - we worked under pressure. Well.

Nothing much happened in the first half of that year. Perhaps the most interesting being the lessons with Mrs Ho, or Mdm Mah Mon Moey. She was then, by far the most strict and undesired lecturer. Count Kumar* in as well. She was very particular with the slightest details regarding what we did for her tutorials, and also what we did in her class. At first I thought coming in late as a poly student was not much of an issue to lecturers, who knows she was one of those that looked forward to go against these latecomers.

Tske for example tutorials. Everytime she gave some tutorials to be completed, many of us didn't. We all thought they're only tutorials and we had the freedom of choice whether or not to do, when she did a check and collected from those who did instead of going through the answers. If I'm not mistaken, she actually gave extra credits to those who completed her tutorials, and penalised those who didn't.

It came a time nearing the end of the semester when we were told to draw up a metabolic biochart based on our knowledge. That chart was supposed to be supplementary to our final ICA for that module, and had to be submitted to her before that ICA. Any latecomers, even by 1 min according to her, would be marked late and penalised. Well, we certainly tested her system and got marked late. Not that I did badly for her module in the end anyway ... so ...

P.S. Fiona became Mrs Ho's daughter after that. I think it's because they look alike??? Haha!

and ...

*Kumar is a character we named in year 1. It is strictly prohibited to mention the name, so it's up to readers to know who we're talking about. We clique people, of course, know who is that =D.

The rest of that semester went on smoothly, as we continue to choke walkways and look for big tables during lunchbreaks ...

Then come Semester 2. I remembered that time, something happened and I totally excluded myself from most outings with the clique. I understood my budd's feelings, but he was great to stick by. Things eventually got better and I didn't have to avoid going out with them anymore.

In Sem 2, I had a discussion with my dad on possible overseas attachment programme. SP did have some offers from 2 or 3 Australian Universities, and I managed to obtain some information about it, also knowing that a few of my classmates were going the same place. Soon, everything was confirmed and the 10 of us were given a place at University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth.

Sem 2 ended in a flash and I had a few meet-ups with friends before I flew over for my ITP. I had a sumptuous dinner with a few of my clique members at Maison, sang at Kbox with Xin Yi and another of her friend, enjoyed a brief Chinese New Year celebration and played some mahjong with my closest buddies at my place on the 2nd day of CNY. On the 3rd day of CNY, 9th Feb, we headed down to Changi Airport to board the Qantas Airline, heading for Perth.

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ITP @ Perth, 9 Feb 2008 - 12 Apr 2008

Ten coursemates - Zul, Lynette, Hui Hui (aka Da Jie), Franco, Desmond, Justin, Guojie, Afsheen, Joan and myself touched down at Perth, followed by a cab trip to Townsend Lodge, which we were not very happy with and moved to ... ... ... ______ Hotel shortly after. For me, that experience was amazing. Not only I was there for ITP, it was my very first overseas trip without my parents, and at a western country!

The stay at Townsend was not really that unpleasant, but because we were not used to their culture and also some racial discrimination issues, we decided to move instead. The move to a studio apartment across the streets was a great move, as we had the kitchen all to our own. We had fun staying there, where we definitely left with fond memories.

Our mini kitchen.

That ITP trip was really not much of an attachment to me. First, we were not paid. Second, although on paper we had to work from 9am to 5pm, I was given the opportunity to leave by 2/3pm most of the time. With that, I could resume my usual jogging regime, at a foreign place with nicer surroundings and sceneries. The route I went was just slightly more than 10km, but I usually went 5km odd. Only on the last week of ITP when I finished that whole route round the Swan River, which was refreshing ... and very hot too. Haha.

Aunt Eileen and William at Swan Valley

Not only I could exercise with those free time, I could do grocery shopping at Woolsworth Supermarket nearby, because they closed at 7pm. Imagine me having to carry my bag and laptop, reaching there at 530 or 6pm from the University, I had to rush through my shopping and would have no time to cook a good dinner for myself after that.

On weekends, we would make trips to popular sites in Perth, such as Rottnest Island, Penguin Island, Caversham Wildlife Park, Pinaccles, and many more. Aunt Eileen and Fiance, William, brought me out on a trip to Swan Valley for some exquisite lunch and visits to Margeret River Chocolate Factory and a local brewery. I can still remember the name of the glass of beer I had - Honey Pils, which was so smooth and light, nothing like those you have here.

Situated right in the city, we had the shopping district within close proximity as well. I did not shop as much, but the rest certainly did some hauling there. We had our fix of fast food at their local chains too, such as Hungry Jack's (known as Burger King over here), Red Rooster, and their own Macdonald's. Trust me, we Singaporeans are fortunate to be able to ask for as many sauces as we like over the counter, whereas over there, you have to pay 50cents for a small packet of ketchup. No chilli sauce at all. Haha.

As for our asian cravings, we head down to Northbridge (is it Northbridge?) to this popular asian store where they sell asian products there. I could easily find my favourite maggie mee and frozen dim sum there. Right over there was a Korean hair saloon, where for $20, you get a quick and good haircut with hair wash as well. You can also find Japanese grocery store, many Vietnamese restaurants, Chinese restaurants (not cheap though), Hong Kong Cafe (Lou Mou Cafe as we called it ... Haha, some inside jokes), and even Esteller77. You can easily call that place Little Asia or Asiantown.

All these were what we did for that 2 months of ITP, and some of us missed home so much, that we did a countdown to the day when we would finally come home. It was to our disappointment on the actual date when Qantas experienced some technical problems, resulting in an 18-hour flight delay. I would say it was not that bad, as we had accomodation at a far better hotel, a specially reserved dinner for us, and some breakfast vouchers when we arrived next morning for the flight. All these were thought for, including the transport fro and to the airport, so we practically didn't spend at all during that delay, and was compensated $300 from our Travel Insurance later on. Haha!

On 12 April 2008, we finally touched down Changi Airport, safe and sound. That ended our ITP when many of us were actually missing over the next few days what we had all gone through together in Perth. Personally, I feel that to be a whole new experience, and when my sister told me she has the chance to go China or Taipei for her internship this late 2009, I strongly encouraged her to go for it if given the chance, and I'm sure, she'll enjoy her trip just as much as mine.

Last group photo at the UWA

I had only a day's rest before we began Year 3, the most gruelling year of all, as we battled with FYPs and mountain-ful of assignments ...