Thursday, August 27, 2009

The One Greatest Day.

D.O.B - 27/08/89.

Today was the day I commemorated my day of birth, this year being the 20th occasion. While it's difficult for me to accept, I must say goodbye to my teenage years, and enter a new era of adulthood. Okay, so I'm making it seem more dramatic than it really is, but you get the picture.

Similar to last year, it took some form of encouragement from a certain trio of friends who I consider very dear to me, to actually not waste the day and do something. If it weren't for them ... I might have been working tonight, which I'm glad never happened because then I would have never experienced the greatest day.

Okay, so my birthday started off with the usual text messages just after midnight, which I promptly replied to. I made it my mission this year to reply to everyone's greetings with a personalized message. Eventually I was woken up by Gloria's message at around 3am, and then from there it was just back and forth texting since the two of us couldn't sleep. Eventually I got to sleep at around 4:30.

My 'real' start to the day began at 9:00. I was woken up by Yen's phone call, but that's fine because it was a great chance to catch up. I left the house to pick up Adrian and then we caught the train to Wynyard where we met Jasmine. I can't stress enough how much I appreciate you making the sacrifices you did to be there for me Jas. :) And thank you Adrian for shouting us the train ticket ! We then walked outside the station where we met up with working Tim (same goes for you ! :)), and then we headed to the Shangri-La hotel for lunch. The restaurant is usually on Level 4, but due to renovations being made, the restaurant was moved to Level 36, which I think was for the better because the view is just awesome as you overlook Sydney harbor.

Towards the end of our lunch I was handed over an unexpected gift from the lovely trio, which I will definitlely wear a lot provided the weather warrants it of course. Thanks you three. See Adrian? I said 'you three', not 'you's'. Even more unexpectedly, the staff of the restaurant came out of no where to sing happy birthday, bringing me two cupcakes and some lollies. Thank you ! :)

After lunch, we walked over to the Botanical Gardens to relax, and what a relaxation it was. Along the way however, Adrian just had to make the most uncalled for remark you could ever make, but out of respect for him, I will leave it alone. *shivers*. When we got to the park, I hogged Jasmine's camera and started taking pictures, and while the following may appear conceited, I think the pictures I took of everyone were pure beauty. The picture of Tim looking down on the grass, the picture of Jasmine lying on the grass looking like she's dreaming, that's the stuff. :)

Since Tim had to leave for his tutorial class, Adrian and myself headed back to Jasmine's house, where we taste tested some of Jasmine's lovely strawberry cheesecake that she made for me. I always knew it was going to taste heavenly, and she proved me right. Thanks so much Jasmine ! :)

After leaving Jasmine's place, I dropped off Adrian and drove back home to put the cheesecake in the fridge. After that I paid a visit to Adriana and had a long and pleasant conversation about almost everything. Thanks again for the CD mix ! At the last minute, we both decided to visit work and have a game of bowling, which turned into two games and a game of air hockey. :) Unexpectedly, during my game of air hockey, my workmates started singing happy birthday and brought me a cake and a large bowl of fries. I love you guys ! :)

After the two closest games of bowling ever, I drove back to Blacktown and met up with Shirley where we had our traditional tutti frutti dish at Max Brenner. Thank you Shirley for the bracelet and shirt ! And thanks also for the card that talks to you when you open it. You're the best ! :)

After following Shirley home, I drove back to St. Clair and paid a visit to Yen to cap off the night. Great seeing you mingz !! :):) All the stuff we had to tell each other indicates how long it's been !

I'd like to end this blog by thanking everyone that was involved with today. All your contributions made it the greatest day ever and I can't thank you enough.

Friday, August 21, 2009

The One Just For The Sake Of Blogging.

To kick things into gear, I would like to acknowledge the birthdays of Brent De Vega (21) and Miguel Alvarez (26?). Hope you boys are celebrating in style, unlike me who has been quite apathetic and lethargic when it comes to celebrating the birthday.

Progress on the new house?
On my way to work yesterday, I passed by my new house-to-be and I cannot wait to move. The garage door is finally installed. From the outside, everything looks complete, so I guess they're just putting in the finishing touches in the interior. From the numerous amount of times I've drove through my new street, I've observed many young families and their children going on about their daily activities. I always see young kids riding their bicycles equipped with training wheels and mother's taking their baby's for a stroll in the pram. I guess I've built this perception that this neighborhood carries the same kind of atmosphere as a peaceful retirement village. Where I'm living now, I'm always hearing cars doing burnouts and all that dangerous crap at 3am in the morning, so obviously I am eagerly awaiting the moving date ! What's even cooler is that once the council hands over the keys to our new house, my parents want me to stay at our new place by myself for one night. House party?

Bowling?
Earlier this morning I attended my weekly bowling session with Jinno, Ryan and Mon at Mt. Druitt AMF. I think we are getting to the stage where we should consider joining a bowling league or competition of some sort. Even though I may not be 'league' material, I would enjoy the idea of bowling weekly with friend's and the funny seniors who I witness every Friday. I've also noticed a few younger kids who have just joined the league, showcasing that league is open for people of all ages. But before this contemplation turns into a reality, I really need to acquire some sort of consistency with my bowling. At the end of the day, me joining a league won't cost a cent, since I'm staff. :)

Uni?
4 weeks into it. Thoughts? I can honestly say that I only enjoy 1/4 of my subjects, which is an all time low. That one lucky subject would be Finance. All my other subjects are just there because they have to be done. Sad but true. Oh yeah, and I have to repeat Business Statistics. It's going to be a sad summer this year.

Boy bands?
Okay seriously, I enjoy boy bands. There's no need for me to hide my fascination with boy bands, particularly those of the 90's. I am sucker for the old hits of the Backstreet Boys, Five and N'Sync. The other week I was going through my sister's CD collection, and I came across this gem which took me way back.


I still remember the day my sister picked up this album from Mt. Druitt, where 98 Degrees themselves were performing. Yes, the actual band was at Mt. Druitt. I couldn't believe it either back then. I remember she and her friend's were going nuts, one of them screaming "will you marry me?", and Nick Lachey replying "Aww that's sweet". HAHAHA. Favorite songs would be Because Of You, Still, Invisible Man, Heat It ... screw it, the whole album is great. I love this record !

Gym?
Went to Ripples Gym last Wednesday where I took Adrian under my wing. I had a pretty good workout. I saw Travis there, an employee of the gym who also went to my old school in the grade below. It's always pleasing when someone whom you haven't seen in more than 3 years, who you barely know, remembers your name. Even more kudos to him, as he got amazingly bigger since I last saw him all those years ago.

I need to head to work soon, but before that I'm going to take a nap.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The One With The White Rabbit.

This blog will be something short, something sweet I suppose. I'm currently sitting in the labs of Building 10, trying to drain the clock until my Business Law and Ethics lecture starts. For some reason I've arrived here an hour early. I really need to start planning my morning departure, instead of winging it all the time ...

This morning before I left the house, I saw a white rabbit outside my door. Now I have the greatest liking for little furry animals, so the presence of this cute and little furry creature was a great start to my day. I yelled to my dad "PAPA, THERE'S A RABBIT AT OUR DOOR". With that said, I'm hoping to run into a kangaroo on the streets some day. There's been plenty of sightings of kangaroos at the bike jumps just up the road, those of which I've seen myself. See, I live on the outskirts of St. Clair, and beyond that boundary is pretty much rural.

While this encounter with the white rabbit was such a delight, it was also weird because I had been listening to this album at the time:


Well I thought it was cool.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The One With Progress.

Three days ago I received another letter from UTS, and as usual my father opened it and read everything before I could lay any hands on it. Come to think of it, any mail I receive pertaining to university or finance, they open it before me. Don't get me started with my St. George banking statements. Once they catch a glimpse of my statements, I am immediately a victim of how I could 'better' be spending my money.

Anyways, the letter. My latest love letter to be received from UTS outlines the punishment I could be facing as a result of this plagiarism incident I have been involved with. Those who studied 26134 Business Statistics with me will understand the following. The Faculty Conduct Commitee recommended to the Dean that I:

  • Receive a 0 or fail grading for Parts B and C of the assignment (which then means I fail the subject)
  • Receive a formal caution.
They have given me an opportunity to appeal the case by sending a written representation to the Business Dean, which I have grabbed with both hands. I sent the Dean my appeal last night and received a reply from him today. He actually thanked me for my appeal and that he would read it accordingly, which is always nice and reassuring.

All I do now is wait ...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The One With The Miserable Evening.

To get things underway, I shall make a special mention to my favorite co-worker, Adriana, because she's like the greatest person ever, and also due to the fact that she asked to be in my blog. Okay but seriously, she's da bomb. Don't forget that we owe ourselves a game of bowling. ILY :)

On to more relevant issues pertaining the title of this blog, I had one heck of a journey home.

First moment of misery. The train ride home.
After my finance lecture, I went to the Glasshouse and played Time Crisis 2. I actually finished the whole game without dieing and plenty of lives left. Usually I lose all my lives at the helicopter boss. Okay fine, that has no connection to the story I'm trying to tell. I just felt like bragging about my gaming accomplishments. Anyways ... I walked to the station with Ivan and Adrian and we caught the express which went to Redfern, Parramatta and Penrith. Obviously with Adrian and myself needing to get off at Doonside and St Marys respectively, we were forced to get off at Parramatta station and wait for a train that would take us to our rightful destinations.

When our train arrived, we got on and started conversing about potential holiday destinations with the uni bunch. After like 15 minutes or so, I looked out the window noticed something not right ...

Me: Hey Adrian, isn't that Rooty Hill RSL we just went past?
Adrian: Let me see. *observes* What the heck ...
Me: Wait, if we just went past Rooty Hill RSL, then we must not have stopped at Doonside.
Adrian: Shit, we're on the Penrith express aren't we.

Turns out we were on the Penrith express which goes from Parramatta straight to Penrith, which is pretty much the same train we were on previously. How we did not notice that is beyond me. As soon as we arrived at Penrith, we caught the train back to St Marys and Doonside.

Second moment of misery. The toilet.
After arriving at St Marys station, I drove home to get Veronica's economics textbook so that I could drive over and return it. Since I was at home, I thought I might as well pee. So I went to the toilet, closed the door, did my business and flushed. When I tried turning the door knob, I noticed that handle was turning, but the door still wasn't opening. I thought, "wtf". I tried twisting and turning the handle in different angles, until finally, the fucking handle came off. So here I am, stuck inside my own toilet with a broken door handle. I had to call my aunty to come from the outside and open the door. You can imagine the look on her face when I called her and said "can you please come to the toilet and get me out?".

Third moment of misery. The petrol station.
Okay, so I told you I went home to get Veronica's textbook so that I could return it. After getting myself free from the toilet, I drove off to Veronica's house. But before that, I decided to stop by the petrol station to refill. Since I'm so poor and never have cash on me, I'm always using my key card to pay for petrol. After putting in around $50 dollars worth of petrol, I walked to the counter and attempted to pay with my key card as usual. The transaction was taking longer than expected, and then the clerk tells me that my EFTPOS limit has been exceeded. Nothing is worse than pumping a full tank of gas and not being able to pay for it.

When you're in this situation, you're required to fill out a form where you record you personal details and your driver's liscence details, which is what I did. You then have 24 hours to pay. While I was filling out this application, around 10 customers had accumulated behind me, waiting to pay for their petrol, probably in cash. I'm thinking 'oh fuck, look at this long line I've caused'. By the time the clerk was done processing my application, the line had reached the fucking door. I didn't even have the courage to look behind me knowing that I've created this long line of impatience.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

The One Great Saturday Night. (At Work).

Wow. I seem to be on a blogging rampage at the moment. I've just come back from a great night at work, and not even the fact that it's a Saturday night can overshadow the greatness of such a shift. Saturday night's are usually busy, but today was really dead and did not require much effort, allowing me to be lazy and bludge to a certain extent.

Tonight I was working with one of the new girls named Kristina. A great girl. Graduated from Baulkham Hills High School, and currently attends University of Sydney doing a course I have since forgotten the name of, but something along the lines of International something. Her dedication at the workplace makes me smile. :)

We had a birthday function of 32 people to cater for, which was simple enough. The father of the celebrant was so generous and his wife was smoking hot. :) :) The father gave us a $68 dollar tip which I halved with Kristina. At first I refused to accept such a tip, but he kept insisting that I take it so I put it in the till temporarily. 10 minutes later I tried returning his money, but he told me he would be insulted if I refused to accept it so I took it like the scab I am and split it with Kristina. To follow along with our good fortunes, the wife left us a box of ice cream cake which we ate during our closing procedure. It was a well designed ice-cream cake with M&M's and Oreo's and all this other decorative stuff. Yummy.

I have work again in the morning, so I'll blog you later !

Saturday, August 1, 2009

The One Possibly Saddest Thing On The Internet.

After seeing a skinned bat inside yesterday's issue of MX, I was reminded of this feature article. I have all the affection in the world for domesticated animals, and it saddens me to see this. Obviously I'm unaware of the circumstances surrounding these pictures, but for the pictures being what they are, I find it strongly abhorrent.


Comments? Thoughts?

On a more positive note, it's Gloria's birthday today. And while she has disappeared around university, presumed MIA, I wish her a great weekend of celebration and a long period of happiness with her newly equipped braces.


read their blogs :)
adrian | ainna | audrey | jasmine| nicole| timothy