what a mad day it's been today.



in my new room in hall now. it's great cept that i don't have a single drawer. and got a pretty shitty clothes cupboard. so it's quite a mess. but i'll live with it. the flat has an air-conditioner so that's really fantastic cos it's so fucking hot now. and it's strong enough to cool the whole flat with four bedrooms, a dining area and kitchen. it's really very nice. didn't dare to expect much. but it's all good.



feeling very very tired now. after the day. went to friend's house first after arriving in airport. then after that came to hall. then started to unpack a little but was too fucking tired and not in the mood. asininely, friend took my laptop into his house and forgot to take it with us when we left. so i only got my laptop back in the evening when they all went back to their house and came back to hall again. then it was a slow invasion of the flat in hall. everyone came to hang out and looksee. and it was cool. i was pretty happy and crazy today. and living with 3 other people in such close proximity is better than i thought. at least for now.



now i'm just really tired. my back aches. i feel a sore throat coming on. i probably am going to fall sick. there's a ton of stuff that needs to be done. and i have a philosophy lecture at 9 tomorrow morning.



looks like this semester won't let up anytime soon. and i've only been here for half a day.



aight off to sleep soon.

aight i'm off. back to perth. back to perth.

i.am.hating.packing.so.so.much.

represent!



wonder which part they're in.

oh oh oh what a chore packing is.



i haven't even started and i really don't know where to begin. floor is littered with barang i'm planning to bring back. including this bunch of photographs which i didn't bring the last time. don't really know where i'd keep them also once i've brought them over. together with stationery and toiletries, it's all very heavy already. not a single piece of clothing packed yet. not yet even really considered what i still need.



it's pretty close now. 5 more days or so.



here. there. here. there.



what a commute.



haven't gotten it into the brain yet whether i'd miss stuff here. but of course i will. i don't have any thing that i want to do one last time before i leave this time. so... i guess tt's pretty good. maybe i'm already used to it. i just wish i can skip the whole packing and flight and unpacking and damn lugging of luggage around. it's not so bad if you take all those things away.



i'll be away for most of the year this time. well, that's the plan anyway. no playing my guitar. no sleeping in my bed. no late late nights at home walking into the kitchen and looking out the window and smelling the early morning air. no stereo to listen to. no downloading for one semester. no food anytime you want it.



oh well. let this be a good semester ahead. please.

it was a pretty packed sunday.



first up went to chinatown in the morning with my mother. walked around people's park and looked at the knick knacks being sold behind people's park complex. amongst the things i saw that day were:





this guy who was tapping and irritating snakes to promote some kind of balm or whatever it was. risky stuff.





this bored kid.



then later on in the afternoon i walked over to clarke quay to meet dot and liam and some others for this short film screening by wee li lin. it was quite good. some nus people interviewed dot, liam and their friend geraldine after the screening. i was supposed to be part of the interview too but i didn't have ovaries so i didn't matter so i just kept out of the camera guy's view.





here's liam looking bored cos dot isn't here yet.





and here's dot who arrived a bit later, about to reach into her paperbag for her gun when liam looks like she's about to complain.





and here's liam suddenly brightening up after realising dot's intentions, as dot leans over to afford her a glimpse into her paperbag.





and here's liam sticking out her tongue in relief with some strange guy who seems to have stolen the snakeguy's shirt, and who can't seem to look straight too.



well that's all. an eventful sunday in my otherwise uneventful life.



now back to thinking about what i have to bring back to perth.

oh i got it wrong. it's actually suzanne ho not suzanne jung.



anyway two days ago, i heard her refer to some diamonds as bling bling. in a very professional context no less.



i don't think i want to watch the news anymore.

upgrading upgrading.



i get awakened at 8.45am in the mornings by the pounding staccato of a jackhammer. it's quite unpleasant and i can't drown out the noise with pillows. but recently it's stopped cos they've finished retiling the floor downstairs. but i hope they only resume after i've left. waking up to loud noises cranks me up.



anyway, see the picture? that's what i see when i look out and downwards from my kitchen window. see the dug up trench behind the digger? well they've dug up till the grey cement area where the drain covers are, to lay some pipes or something. so see this is what happened, the other day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and i walked in to see what she was cooking. she left the stove and went to the kitchen window and glanced down and then she said, "boy, come see! fire!"



i don't really know what happened, but my mother said one of the workers had come running out of the tunneled out area of the trench where the drain covers are and flames followed. so well, there was the chinese guy who ran out of the tunnel, two foreign workers, and i guess the foreman or site supervisor. they all stood around gawking at the flames merrily (don't you like happy fires?) burning on the dug up soil area. and if you considered it, it had to be some gas or flammable liquid like petrol or shit like that. soil doesn't burn. at least it doesn't seem like it can. so the chinese guy scampers off into the digger and proceeds to scoop up dug up soil around the place to cover up the flames with, which of course filled up the tunnel. what a waste of hard work. anyway the foreman guy tells one of the foreign gawkers to go get some water in a bucket to put the fire out. and so the guy does it. repeatedly pouring water over the magical flames which never go out.



the chinese guy dumps more soil. flames become smaller.



the foreign guy dumps water. fire spreads and becomes bigger again.



repeat repeat repeat.



i felt the increasing need to go downstairs and punch them all in their faces. in my mind i envisioned that some gas pipe had sprung a leak and now the flames had eaten into the pipes and were shooting up all the gas pipes in the block and there would be some spectacular explosion as every unit gets blown to pieces. and the next day the newspapers will report that "police have ruled out terrorist action".



so the foreman guy just stands there nonchalantly looking on at the asinine efforts, scratching his head and neck. and the other foreign guy just saunters off somewhere. i was thinking maybe for an extinguisher, but his gait suggested something more like a coffee break or a nice nap against a pillar somewhere.



more soil gets dumped.



foreign guy no. 1 goes back to the water pipe and proceeds to wash his hands and take a drink from it.



flames dance.



foreign guy no. 1 takes a breather.



more soil is dumped.



flames look close to dying.



foreign guy no. 1 fills up the bucket and dumps more water.



it's comedy in real life.



well finally, somehow or the other, by the grace of god and jesus and elvis and whatever other deities, the fire dies out. but foreign guy no. 1 isn't satisfied. he fills up the bucket a few more times and splashes more water around the area for good measure. good show old chappy, you're up for a raise soon, maybe a nice shiny new helmet, seeing how your superiors are boneheads too.



oh well, upgrading continues.



i fear for the safety of the neighbourhood.

it suddenly dawned upon me that i'll be leaving in about two weeks time. i feel a bit panicky and weird.

i just heard Suzanne Jung say "and later Melvin Yong will get financial".



whoah, i didn't know newscasters were allowed to be so hip with their language. maybe in the future when the censors let up, she'll add the requisite "on yo' ass" to the sentence.



"and later Melvin Yong will get financial ON YO' ASS. But now, on to the main headlines of the day as i get all FACTUAL ON YO' ASS." (of course to make this sentence work, the second "on yo' ass" must be said professionally with a slight head tilt forwards, after a short pause, after the word "factual".)



"whoah Suzanne, that's some language you're using."



"you'd better believe it, Henry. just as you'd better believe all the news i'm reading off the teleprompter. i can't believe you guys forgot to bring the laptop for my table. i don't get paid to shuffle papers, you know. i get paid to click around aimlessly with a mouse on a laptop. i had a paused game of solitaire from yesterday's show. and that game better still be paused where i left it. seriously, people, you got to get wit' da program here. seriously."



"right...and on with the sports news today, man u ate muff toda...ok who's been fooling with my script again?"

check dis shit out. it's mad skillz.