.the concept of queuing up

Expo 2010 Shanghai China: Queuing to enter the Switzerland Pavilion.

I hate crowds. And Expo 2010 was extremely crowded, considering that it's summer break, kids are on holidays, and adults are wanting to experience the pavilions at the Expo 2010.

Summer break + Hot Weather + Obnoxious little brats = Horrible Combination!!!

I decided I'd be able to get through the Expo without too much trouble.. But nooooooooo...

Okay, first, when I got back, the very, very first question I got from people around me was, "How was the expo!?!?"

My answer?

"................. *shakes head* It was HOT, HUMID, PEOPLE WERE PUSHING and THEY KEPT WANTING TO STICK TO YOU!!!"

IT WAS A HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE! My family and I actually spent 1.5 hour queuing up to get inside the Switzerland Pavilion... I felt kinda bad for making them go through this with me, considering that I was the only one who wanted to see the pavilion badly.. But I'm glad they kind of enjoyed the chair lift in the pavilion. :)

Chair lift ride in the Switzerland Pavilion.

In that 1.5 hour, I was pushed by two annoying Chinese brats who are probably spoiled by their parents due to the fact that they are the only children (and sons) in their families. One of them annoyed the hell out of my mom until my mom lightly threatened him, which scared him. Great job, mom!

The second incident was probably much more interesting than the first one. A fat Chinese lady decided she would cut my queue, which probably isn't the best idea because I decided to kick her heels (continuously) on purpose. My dad was behind me and I'm sure he would stand by me no matter what. So that fat lady turned back, glared at me and eventually got reprimanded by my dad (loudly). Haha!

Fat Chinese lady was such a coward that she didn't dare look at my dad. *shakes head*

--

So back to the subject. Just what is it that makes queuing so hard for majority of the people in that country????? I really don't understand. Why push when none of us are moving forward in the queue!?!?

I swear, my impression of majority of the people in that country is...more than bad.

Perhaps this is why I get pretty offended when people assume I'm from China, purely based on my skin color.

--

But hey, not all of them are like that.. I've got quite a few awesome and fun-loving Chinese friends and I think a couple of them read this blog on a regular basis. : 3 So you guys know I'm only talking bad about THOSE people (you know what I mean. Hehe.)

Still, I'd say, go take a look at the Expo before it ends in late-October! If you do want to check out the pavilions, it's best to do so in the evening when there is little or no queue, and not forgetting that it wouldn't be as humid.

--

Check out my Flickr set for all the Expo 2010 photos I have taken. I'll try to get everything up as soon as I can!!!

.art of airline cuisine

appetizer and main course onboard SQ238.

I love air plane food!!! Okay, actually, I only like food provided by Singapore Airlines..

Hmm...

Maybe not the raw carrot and cucumber pieces.

.友達。

Tomodachi. My travel buddies in Melbourne.

.some day

.the overnightmar-ish drive

Dawn.

We planned a trip up to Sydney and decided we would drive overnight just so we don't waste any time.. Took off at around 11.30pm, topped up the fuel tank and made our way towards CityLink that would lead up to Hume Freeway.

And we drove on and on... It felt like forever.. I'm never a huge fan of overnight drives since I can never fall asleep anywhere but my bed, or a very comfortable couch.. Before we know it, streaks of lights were starting to appear from the right side (east). I was sooooo drowsy that I could only drive for an hour after switching seats with SF.

...

We ended up going through 2 tolls before arriving at Sydney CBD. Poor SF was so angry at the bad traffic in the CBD – we got lost for a bit before arriving at the Sydney Fish Market, our first destination of the trip.

On our way back to the hotel (located between the CBD and Darling Harbor), we missed a turn and ended up on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Sure, it's pretty amazing driving up there but I was not impressed with having to pay the unexpected toll.. So I'm not sure if I like the bridge that much anymore.. :\

And SF was soooooo angry when we'd finally arrived at the carpark of our apartment hotel. We've learned a very valuable lesson from the nightmar-ish experience – Never, ever drive in Sydney CBD, especially if you are not familiar with the city!!! The train network's pretty confusing but I reckon it's still a whole lot easier than driving.

So there – 24 hours drive in total, 3 cans of red bull, 2 large chips from Maccas, 4 bathroom stops, 2 person, 2 days, 1 night.

.he said.. #1

Country Victoria.

As we drove along the M31 National Freeway the day before, SF said, "We'll take a break from road trips.. And continue next time [when I come back]."

For some reasons, that actually made me feel good... Because this shows how much he looks forward to coming back.

.back for 7 weeks

I'm back!

It felt weird having to walk towards the departure gate knowing that everyone's walking the opposite direction, towards the arrival hall. Majority of the people I know were heading back home (overseas) for the summer break while I had to come back to Melbourne.

I don't mind spending 2/3 of my summer here, considering the fact that SF and I have (finally) decided to go on a long distance relationship from late-January on. This is our last 6 -7 weeks together for a few years and I want us to spend as much time with each other as possible.

The second reason why I'm back is because I'm moving.......Where? Just a few floors down. Hehee! I told a few people that I had to go back to Melbourne in December to move and everyone said the same thing. To them, moving probably means "relocating-10-or-more-kilometers-away". Here's the conversation:

Other person: Why are you going back to Melbourne in December? Why not stay [in Malaysia + Singapore] for the whole break?
_pdra: Oh, because I need to move house... *Pretending to frown*
Other person: Huh??? Again??? Where are you moving to???
_pdra: .......Just a few storeys down. Heheeee!
Other person: .............. -_-;

Third reason why I am back is because I am hoping to get permanent residency status by late-January... But I doubt I'll be able to get it that soon.. :\ But anyways, here's hoping that SF will get his PR in the next few weeks considering that he has submitted his application few months earlier than me.

:\

.the baby with good eyesight

spotted!

I was queuing up for the bathroom onboard SQ217 (Singapore to Melbourne) last Wednesday and spotted this baby, who stared at me, and then my camera at random intervals.
Now, the question is, how did the baby spot my camera from 8 meters/26 feet away? It wasn't as if the camera was in primary colors.

I had to pretend I was browsing through images from the camera while pressing the shuttle real quick.. But umm I think the baby's mom noticed something. :P

.off

Going back.

This should have been updated like, 10 days ago.. But I was too excited about my brother's wedding to do anything online.

I guess I don't have any more excuses not to update since we are all settled down. It's great to have a new family member in this house – sis-in-law. Once again, welcome to the family! :D

And so you ask.. What have I been doing over the past 1.5 week here? Well, let's see.. I've been catching up on food, resting, catching up on TV shows, talking to my family members. My dad missed me loads and he kept saying "Haven't seen you in so long [9 months]!"

I'll be back in Melbourne next Wednesday..For another 2 months, before coming back home again for the Lunar New Year.

Hmmm...... *silent*

Will update again real soon!

.just passing by...

Just Passing By...

2 stops away from Caulfield Railway Station.

On a random note, I missed the Cranbourne train narrowly this morning... I was wanting to get on a limited express train (usually the Frankston ones)... And ended up causing a drama upon myself.

So I hopped on the train that stops at Flinders Street station and thought I could quickly jump onto another platform to catch my train to uni. The train stopped on platform 7, and I ran towards platform 8 and realize that there are no trains on that platform. So I panicked, ran back to platform 7 (the Cranbourne/Pakenham platform) and there was nothing.

I ran up the escalator to check for the next available train to Caulfield.

The screen reads "Frankston - platform 8". A train has just arrived on platform 8. So, along with a bunch of people catching the same train, I ran back down to Platform 8. People were getting off and getting on the train.. It was a little chaotic. Is it always like this at Flinders Street 8.30 in the morning???

And finally, I got on the train and managed to arrive 10 minutes before studio.

What a way to start the morning.

.my daily journey

Please stand behind the yellow line.

That's me waiting on platform 1 in Caulfield Station the other day.

I am not busy or tired or anything, but I seriously have no idea what I should blog about... So umm.. back to reading!

.my new life

Speeding.

Soooooo...

– I'm going to be a postgraduate student at Monash University this coming July, for the next two years.
– I'll drive to uni when I've got a heavy bag/folio and take the train to uni on days when tutorials are only 1 hour long.
– I'll take the train 66% of the time.
– I'll be one of the people complaining about canceled/delayed trains.


I am so nervous about starting my new life. :\

.HDR I

Lakes Entrance, Gippsland, Victoria.

.why seafood is expensive

the Wait.

The four of us decided to go on our very first road trip together on Good Friday. And so we decided to head down to Lakes Entrance (Gippsland - Southeast Victoria) for some crabbing session.

We have talked about going crabbing for a few months now and finally decided to go for it.

I thought we would come back with at least 10 crabs.. Unfortunately, we left Lakes Entrance empty-handed. :\

No wonder seafood is significantly more expensive than any other meats.

The funny part was that we lost the two crab nets too! But that's fine. We were, after all, inexperienced.

SF cheered us up by saying "Let's just take this as an experience. We'll do better next time."

And next time, if we do decide to go crabbing again, I'll be sure to bring more entertainment and probably a waterproof picnic mat.

.mtv boys

MTV boys II.
Models: the "S" brothers.

It looks as if they were filming a music video or something!

.train platforms are fun!

Caulfield Station.

You know... I have a thing for train platforms and tracks. I feel that there are lots of photography compositional opportunities in a train station...

Or maybe I have a thing for vanishing points, not train tracks. I don't know. :\

I've taken quite a few photos from train platforms, with my personal favorite being the one I took in Berwick last year.

Berwick Station.

Just what is it that makes train platforms so interesting for a photographer? I can't seem to find a good explanation for this question...

I'll try and find the answer when (if) I attend graduate school at Monash Uni (Caulfield) this coming July, since I will be taking the train to uni occasionally.

.neverending trouble

I'm in a Bit of Trouble...

First of all, I'm in desperate need of extra luggage space. I'll be taking off for Melbourne this weekend and have decided to start packing a little early to see if everything fits (and that these bags don't go over the 20kg limit).

Now I'm not sure if I should get my friend (currently holidaying in Melbourne) to go through the tax refund process for me and pass the item to me before I head back - A$300 is quite a bit of money! :\

Such a huge dilemma.

I have turned down the chance to use my Krisflyer points to upgrade to Business class - because that means taking an overnight flight. Considering the fact that I've been taking overnight flights back to Melbourne the past few times, I decided I've had enough and will just go ahead with the morning flight. You'll get what I mean if you've gone through the painfully long arrival proceedures at the Melbourne Airport in the morning.

Alright, I shall get back to packing. Talk later!

.funny shit

Ready to Attack.

Hmm.. I'll type up something funny when I come up with ideas.

.shanghai yay!

Huangpu River & Beyond (high dynamic range image).

We had a family meeting on one of those weekly Sunday dinner sessions a few weeks ago and were deciding between Shanghai and Taipei for our rare family vacation.

I strongly voted for Taipei; sister I wanted both Shanghai and Taipei; sister S strongly wanted to go to Shanghai; and while my parents and brother were neutral about both destinations.

...

In the end, some of them changed their minds (¬.¬') and here's the final vote result:

Shanghai: 5 votes
Taipei: 1 vote

And I gave in reluctantly.

----------------------------------------------

But everything turned out great - we had good accommodation, good food, good jokes, good everything during the trip.

I'd love to visit Shanghai again someday and would definitely save up enough to stay in JIA Shanghai, a really posh boutique hotel located in the heart of Shanghai city.

Also, I'll buy more souvenirs when I get to go next time.

And I'll stock up on Onitsuka shoes there!

And and and and and.. I'll eat more Xiǎolóngbāo's (小籠包). Yummy!

..

Okay. The end. I'm still a little exhausted so pardon me for yet another abrupt end to this entry. Yeah.

.needs rest again

Contrast.

I am fully aware that the title of the photo above does not go well with what I am about to type.. But this is the only zen-ish photo I can find for now. And most importantly, I like it.

Yes... Let's continue on before I fall asleep on my keyboard.

I have just returned from a family trip to Shanghai and am totally *goes off and search a good word from the thesaurus* wiped out.

I'm serious guys, I've been carrying 2 DSLR camera bodies (with 2x 630 grams lens attached) around for the past 5 days and my shoulder is aching badly now. In the mean time, I will be doing quite a bit of photo updates on Flickr, so do check back often!

Oh yea, speaking of Flickr, I'm feeling pretty bad for not checking out my friends' & contacts' photos in the past... Couple.. Months.. Especially since I returned from Melbourne 1.5 month ago.. :( I'm really sorry guys, I'll get back to it when I'm well-rested and fresh again! Promise! :)

AND NOW I REALLY NEED SOME SLEEP. umm.. I am aware of the abrupt ending to this post but I... ZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.