Subjective Reality or Objective Reality?

A week since I last blogged. Still recovering from the effects of first week of school. Haha, have been hooked on japanese anime for the past week. Yah, hubby and I are abit slow. Thanks to Bro, we are now catching up on Naruto..zipped through till episode 82 last night. Really funny lah, now then I understand why there was so much talk on this anime sometime ago.

Fact is - we are still lethargic and refuse to sit down and study.

And we paid the price for it last night. We finally got down to our lecture notes and readings last night. Hubby preparing for his seminar this morning, I frantically combing through the readings required for my lecture tomorrow. Hee...still have 5 readings to go (i.e.: a good 100 pages of tiny alphabets)

I'n now onto this topic on how people make sense of the world around them. There are many schools of thought. But mainly, our worlds are what we made them to be. It's our own objective reality, through our subjective interactions and interpretations of life. Put it more simply - we all live in our own virtual world lah. You can put 2 people in the same situation - but because each person has his own life experiences, moral values etc, they will react differently. And because they react differently, how they view the world will be different again (and so the cycle continues).

Why I'm studying this? Because I need to do research on people and their behaviour. It's not something that statistics could fully capture. Well, we are not just numbers represented in percentages, graphs and models. We have our own thinking and views - and the challenge is how we capture these information accurately in our research and add to the knowledge of understanding human behaviour. This is deep......haha.....

God truly made us unique beings - I don't think any amount of research will truly let us appreciate the intricateness and beauty of life. Isn't it?

First Lectures

UQ has a funny creature called the "seminar". It's a 3-hour lecture cum tutorial. And today I had 2 of these.

Seminar 1 - Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative means NO STATISTICS!! Haha...that's the primary reason why I chose this. Research studies is compulsory in my course, but between numbers and people, of coz I go for people.

This seminar is going to be challenging. The class is made of many PHD students. They have specific research topics and are very ON about this course. Because research outcomes form the basis of their thesis lor. And they argue over the smallest things..haha....everything also need to say their view. Many of the things covered I "catch no ball". This is going to be tough.

Seminar 2 - Communication Management

I like this class much better. Classmates more approachable and come from more diverse backgrounds. It's also something that I can relate to, and likely I can use alot of examples from my work experiences. Lecturer is also more flexible on presentation methods...think lessons will be interesting with the quizes and skits.

Tomolo is data analysis class. Sigh.......

1 presentation and 1 mini-exam due in 2 weeks time. Time to get working!

Ouch Again

I fell. Right outside the supermarket.
Half my foot was caught in the drain cover. And now it's swollen and VERY sore.

Sigh...why do I keep getting myself injured??

Hope I'll be walking properly by Tue. It's my first day of school! Not a pretty sight to be limping about my new classmates.

Ouch!

Sliced my finger while cutting ginger just now. My first injury in Australia. Haha...worth blogging. Photo is not that well-taken though. Had to balance the camera and click the shutter with the good hand. The cut is in an awkward position lah, difficult to put the band-aid nicely. =)

Made in Singapore?

Funny. I actually found a "Made in Singapore" item here. It's not a Singapore specialty like satay or laksa paste, but it's a can of condensed milk (crucial for making milo...). Hmm...dun they have tons of milk here???


I had this kaya craving on Sat. Even pestered hubby to go online to search for the recipe. But on Sun, we found this on the shelves in the chinatown supermarket. Well, I was estatic and just dumped it into the basket. Came back then realised it's "best consumed before June 06".....after I've eaten 2 pieces of toast with it. Haha. But I'm OK, no tummy ache. So guess we can still finish this asap. =)

Happy 1-Month Anniversary!

Time really flies. I'm here for 1-month already.

Apart from settling into the lifestyle here, and worming out of my shell to meet new people and learn new things, I thank God for the time that I have to myself. Back home, time is mostly spent on work. I would expect that I'll spend my time on studies here too, but I have more control over what I'm going to do. Can make a pot of tea and pick up a book anytime I want a break. Can sit by the river or at the park when I'm tired of staying at home.

I realised that I've been missing these precious moments for so long. Know what? You can see stars in the day. Every morning and afternoon when I take the ferry home, I will just sit at the benches and admire the sun rays falling softly on the ripples. They looked so beautiful...and truly like stars on the river.

It's exciting, simply by just appreciating the things around us that we so often miss out in our hectic lives.

Botanical Gardens???

There's no school today so hubby and i decided to explore other parts of my school. Just for fun. Yes, more photos...

I always take the ferry to school and the ride is only 5 mins. So convenient! It's beautiful in the mornings...with the sun rise rays on the river.


Nice View from my ferry stop. But I just woke up lah. Sleepy eyes + Cramped smile. Hee


This is my ferry stop. Costs AUD$1.10 to go Uni


The ferry is called the "CityCat". When weather is good, it's nice to stand outside and enjoy the nice river view



My Uni has it's own ferry stop. Cool leh?

There're 2 lakes in UQ. The surroundings are just gorgeous and peaceful. I'm motivated to pack my lunch when school starts and just eat under the shades of the trees, while admiring the wildlife around.


Entry to the lakes and gardens. See the 2 little ducks behind? Plenty of them around! Just like the bird park. See I warmed up already. Had a nicer smile here


Fountain, bridge, birds and trees. Nicer than botanical garden!


I think this is a madarin duck. Hee


See? Parrots! And it's a whole treeful of them. I just took a picture of these 2 because they looked so loving together


More ducks!


I only brought 1 piece of bread to feed the ducks. Hee..they very greedy. After I fed them then I saw a sign saying "No feeding of Birds". Haha....

I'm a Guide!

First, I was the tourist guide. A tourist asked me how to get to the city when I was on the ferry back home from school. With my limited knowledge, I was able to give accurate directions to her. =)

Second, I will be the local guide. Made a date with some Singaporeans to go chinatown this Sun. They've not been there and would like to go there.

Guess I was having withdrawal syndromes earlier because I suddenly lost my independence in many aspects of my life. Well, coming to a new environment meant that I need to build my confidence levels in mere tasks like taking public transport all over again. I'm happier now, because I know my way to school, around city, know abit more about school expectations and made more friends.

Life's slowly getting back to normal, in this new place.

First Day At School

10 July - day of the 2006 world cup finals. Haha. No lah. It's my first day of school, after 6 long years!

So it was all on my own. Hubby only walked me to the ferry stop. Felt like a young kid embarking going to school for the first time - apprehensive yet excited.

The class for the Academic Preparation Program (APP) was not big. Did a scan around and sat close to a group of asians (haha...human nature lah). It did not take long for me to find out that that group are all Singaporeans. The unmistaken "lahs", "lehs" and "lors" littered every sentence they make. Haha.

Then came tea break. Almost by instinct, the Singaporeans and Malaysians huddled in bliss. Hey, but I got to know 2 japanese girls. I promise I'll open up my social circle...Haha

Ok, back to the APP. It's basically a series of courses to prepare undergrads and postgrads to start their uni. life. Includes things like how to write good essays/thesis, how to do research using library databases, how to prepare for exams etc. Some of the topics covered are quite general - nearly fell asleep. Hee...
But the writing course was good and reminds meh of all the policy papers I wrote. Haha. Frankly, thank God I've been writing papers throughout these years. If not, can't imagine how I'm going to cope with the large amounts of writing.

This is a good start to ease myself into Uni life again. It's getting increasing exciting. =)

Wonders of the World!

I have a new personal goal (yipee!). I wanna visit all the known wonders of the world in my lifetime. Here's the list - controversial, because people have come up with different versions. But this is the most comprehensive one that I could find (hee...also the longest one).

* Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
* Alhambra (Granada, Spain)
* Angkor (Cambodia)
* Chichen Itza (Yucatán, Mexico)
* Christ Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
* Colosseum (Rome, Italy)
* Easter Island Statues (Chile)
* Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)
* Great Wall (China)
* Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)
* Kremlin (Moscow, Russia)
* Kiyomizu Temple (Kyoto, Japan)
* Machu Picchu (Peru)
* Neuschwanstein Castle (Füssen, Germany)
* Petra (Jordan)
* Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
* Statue of Liberty (New York, United States)
* Stonehenge (Amesbury, United Kingdom)
* Sydney Opera House (Australia)
* Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
* Timbuktu (Mali)

21 wonders in all. I better start soon...coz I've only hit 1 on the list: the great wall. Hitting no. 2 should be quite easy, since I'm already in OZ. Flying to sydney for the opera house is easy. =) But seriously, I really wanna see the pyramids most.

Excursion...

Never felt so young before.
A natural feeling when you're with uncles and aunties with an average age of 65 and above.

John invited hubby and me to an outing he organised for his senior citizen group (yes, he himself is a senior citizen too, and a dear friend to us).

The place was Queenland Rail (QR, ie. like the SMRT lah) workshop at Redbanks, about 30 mins from home. The workshop basically builds and repairs all the passenger trains that we use everyday and the bigger ones used for transportation of goods.

We were first made to wear safety goggles, helmets and reflective gear. Then, morning tea! Hmm...the sausage rolls were simply heaven. Next, we were taken on a 2-hour walk tour around the workshop - looking at how the engines were cleaned, how wheels were modified, how the carriages were put together, how the trains are painted. Actually, i was lost half the time, because the drone of the machinery simply drowned the guide's voice. I kept myself entertained by kay-pohing around the workers and see what they were doing. We ended the tour with sumptous sandwiches, fish fingers and juice.

No photographs were allowed in the workshop. So this was the best shot - me in goggles.


Me without the safety helmet, at the front gate of QR workshop 

It was an good trip. Think this was an experience that not even Queenslanders would easily have. I wonder if I would do such outings with my friends in 30-40 years to come - go musuems, overseas trips, and other meaningful stuff or, be at home, taking care of grandchildren and go community centres for boring lessions. Haha. I definitely will not want to be a full-time nanny.

Singaporeans....Huddle!

Met up with 2 other Singaporeans on Sat...and we had own Singapore feast. All home-made!

There's photos to prove it. Hee....


The spicy mix was deceiving in terms of looks. The end-product was delicious! 


See....all popiah was handmade.  


House of Ong Popiahs...comes in all shapes and sizes. Heee... 


Chef Ong in action 


Quick! Take a photo so that we can dig in! 


Mee siam, popiah, prata, sweet & sour pork, spicy chickie wings, corn curry, chicken & tomato curry...