adrianism...

Kangaroo meat

Aha! I had stir fried kangaroo sausages with green peas for lunch today (aiya, should have taken photo). Well, you might wonder what kangaroo meat taste like: to me it is somewhat like beef - just not as tough. Not bad actually :D Actually i did not intend to buy kangaroo meat sausage - i saw some cheap meat which i assumed was beef and just bought it. Luckily it was not dog meat or cat meat....

Oh, my final year project is again changed and thus finalised - this time it is more of something that i am interested in: solar panels. The project involves the designing of a single-axis tracking system for a PV array. So must start doing my research already. My supervisor will be Dr. Sumedha Rajakaruna.

Also got the chance to attend daily Mass at campus today. There were only 5 of us there. What a joy to be able to attend Mass right in campus, to receive Jesus :D Planning to go again tomorrow :) Here, there's Sunday Mass at 1130am in one of the lecture halls in the architecture building and also daily Mass from Tuesdays-Fridays at 1210pm at the campus' prayer room. The RC chaplain for Curtin is Rev. Fr. John Gandini, a Salesian Priest.

 

In the evening, went cycling with Sam. We first cycled to the banks of Swan river near Victoria Park. Man!!! The river is full of jellyfishes of all sizes!! I wonder if they are poisonous. That aside, the best thing is that Sam and i managed to cycle to the city side nearer the river banks. So we made a big round from my flat to Vic Park, crossed the causeway, into Riverside drive, and then aross another bridge into South Perth and from there back to the flat.

At the moment it only gets dark at about 830pm in Perth. And shops here generaly close at 5pm...so missing the times where i could go for a late night supper in Miri - to one of the kolok mee stalls. Well, new life :) GET USE TO IT ADRIAN!!!!

In Perth

I'm finally in Perth! And yeah, i'm trying to revive this blog again :) See how it goes.

Let me start with some personal reflection. As I look back into my almost 24 or so years on earth, i realised that when i was younger, i never dreamt of going to uni, taking an engineering course, and what more to say of coming to Perth to study. And just a few days ago, i received a call from Shell regarding the outcome of my internship: the outcome is positive, which means i passed the assessment and will be offered a job once i graduate (of course if i meet the conditions attached). Again, it was never my dream to do an internship with Shell or to work with Shell...

Considering all these, i really thank God for all the opportunities. My years of uni studies wasn't a smooth one - but the experiences gained from it is invaluable. Somehow through all these, i begin see two things:

1) God constantly guiding me and providing a way for me, be it directly or through my family and friends.

2) I need to learn to dream and take the necessary steps to achieve the dream.

Important to add is the that God must always be a part of my dream. Just sticking to no. 2 will make me my own god. Thus no. 1 and no. 2 must always go hand in hand. However, no. 1 is most important of all.

Okay, enough reflection. "So how are you in Perth?" many people ask. Here's my standard answer:

I'm fine here :) Just getting use to:

1) weather - it can range between 15 degrees at night to 38 degrees in the day during summer. Some nights are hot too though. And the sun is merciless - so daily ritual includes applying sunblock (SPF30), and the air is dry (and so are my eyes and nose - the "taik hidung keras2", hehe....)

2) food - food here is super expensive (if i start converting). Actually if i don't convert it still IS expensive. Imagine spending on average AUD$8 per meal which is about RM24 per meal... And of course i dearly miss mum's food, kolok me, laksa sarawak, roti canai, mee hoon goreng arrrggh!!! I feel like hiring someone from home and starting a stall here in Perth :P

3) Money matters - learning how to budget aka manage my money, which i never do back home. Just being here for a week, my bag tore, so had to buy a new bag. The shoes i brought from Miri also started to show signs of premature aging, and so i got a new shoes. And then there's the new bike and lock and lighting (spent $420).

4) Transport - i miss my car...so now i'm fully utilising my legs, and occasionally with the help of my bicycle, the bus or the train. Public transport here is super good (well, at least to me :P)

The prep-week and orientation event was good - it really helped me to get use to the uni and also to Perth. The campus here is also very much alive as compared to the Miri campus. There are so many organizations/clubs and many freebies to get during the Guild O-Day, hehe :)

Accomodation - I'm staying in Erica Underwood house (EUH), together with 5 other guys: 3 Malaysians and another 2 Australians. I've no regrets staying here because the flat is nice, the surrounding is nice, it's near a shopping centre (Waterford Plaza), it's pretty close to campus, and my housemates are nice people too :D Thank goodness!

Church - There's Mass on campus evry Sunday at 1130am, and there's even daily Mass from Tuesdays till Fridays on campus!!! And there are a few churches not very far away.

Classes have begun - and i can feel the stress slowly creeping in. My final year project (FYP) will be on Renewable energy - Hydrogen fuel cell (again not a topic which i dreamt of). I just pray and hope (and of course do my part) that everything will work out fine.

Since i mentioned that i must learn to dream, so my dreams (erm, let's term them goals now - sounds more concrete) so my goals for this sem are:

1) Do well for the semester.

2) Find a part time job during the sem (don't worry - i won't work long hours).

3) Attend World Youth Day in Sydney this July and volunteer (i'm waiting for final confirmation from the volunteer office).

Hope all goes well. Wishing everyone the best for the new sem! :D God bless us all.