We, my housemate and I, are hoping to get the QV apartment. It's lovely and big and better. Has an oven, a large fridge and a huuuuuuuuuge TV.

I want to move out of 803 NOWNOWNOWNOW!

So many things to do though. And all under my name. :(

I remember a time when Ashie and I made Radish Leaf Pesto which we adapted without remorse from a recipe found on the internet. It had peanut butter, cloves of garlic, salt, blue cheese, olive oil, and of course radish leaves. It was delicious. I do intend to make it again, this time as a dipping sauce and/or spread for breads since the last time I made it, it had fared weakly with pasta. Maybe more garlic, perhaps? And add a dash of pepper or chilli flakes for the extra bite.

I have lunch sorted out for tomorrow, and dinner should be a tomato soup BUT I don't have any cream or chicken stock, but whatever, I have made with less and it still tasted divine. It's time to do a fridge-raid tomato soup.  Oh, and I have run out of bread. I had to chuck some out because things were starting to grow out of it.

I have forgotten what else to add into the three-hundred word essay due on Friday morning. Six sketches still left to do and another batch of sculpture-photograph-drawing based on a poem about sleep. It's a lot dark for such a beautiful concept. Sleep clears your mind, mends your body and transports you into a realm only your subconscious can define, that even you cannot begin to comprehend. It's like being underwater but without the Darth Vader breathing apparatus: The regulator.

Was it really minus-two last night? I did have trouble sleeping but mainly due to some bad teh-tarik. Surely not from the cold. Also, I had a cuppa at 4PM which means the caffeine is still surging through my veins like a glorified bad-ass. Dear, my, I'm rambling.

Puasa coming up. I have the timetable for puasa times already, ready to go. I have a religion, it's called Islam. It means 'peace'. Being a Muslim means that how I practice MY religion is my own and only God may judge me so shut your trap and go spew your self-righteous bullshit somewhere else. Leave me to my meanderings and my rights or wrongs and let me not hear of your misconceptions and hypocricy because I don't want to get all up in a bunch during my zen time. Also, the lecturers better not merapu extra or I might have a little trouble being forgiving with my tongue. Not that I'll be any different anyway, ha-ha.

I still can't figure out which song negatively effects my emotions. Hmm...

Anyway, perhaps I am one of those overly lackadaisical people who knows what she wants in life, knows that there are many methods of achieving such wants and that what society dictates is the be all and end all is not necessarily the be all and end all. Perhaps life is actually quite wonderful.

I love my camera but wish I had steadier hands. Night shots are still a bit of a pain due to the blurring, otherwise, the camera is just lovely! The quality of the photos in good light is divine. I still have yet to master all the camera options though, I feel like such a fool when it comes to photography. Ehe!

I'm very proud of my work thus far and it's only week two. A good start to a grand finish to year one (... again)? I say 'yae'.

I will go around the city at my own pace again one of these days. It was a good ride-around just now but I don't take night photos too well.

No to Wednesday and Thursday goyang kaki-age. I still have readings, an essay and 6 sketches to do. Oh, yay.

All in all, though, a fruitful weekend.
And a recent discovery:
Marmalade tastes good with pungent cheeses. Who would've guessed. :D

Today is naik train, turun train day. So much so that the guy who drove the train and I had this conversation...

Him: You're really making me work for my money aren't you?
Me: Hahahahaha... You could put it that way. :D

Mainly because he had to help get the ramp for me twice. hahahah...

We didn't get to see the fridge because we didn't get a taxi and by the time we decided to go take the train route,it was too late. Boo. I'll try another day or find a better fridge. I found a better fridge... and closer too. :D

Dinner, kampung style: Udang goreng, sambal, rice, ulam.
Verdict: Delicious.

I have many things to do for next week and I'm gonna damn well finish it by Tuesday so I can goyang kaki on Wednesday and Thursday.

I... guh... this guy is amazing :O
And he has awesome hair and beard thing... No?
He even puts on the layan-lagu-stylo face a.k.a Bass-face.
*wipes drool*

Bought me a new hand mixer, I am full of the happies.
Made delicious mushroom soup with it.

Cheese guys... Yes, guyS, as in Plural. There's two of em. Their names are Alex and Dennis. Eheheehe...
I love Vic Market. :D
Nak usha lagi sebab kena usha tadi. XD

Aaaaaanyway, I gotta buy a hand blender so I can make soups. How lovely.

Alright, to be completely honest, winter isn't as inhospitable as I had thought last. I still don't enjoy being cold all the time, don't get me wrong.

What I do with leftover filo pastry: Strawberry filo tarts topped with whipped vanilla cream. And it was delicious, perhaps though too much of it. Next time it'll be just two layers of filo and jam instead of four... and in smaller, cuter ramekins. I, again, have forgotten to take pictures but for future reference, here's the rough recipe.

Makes 3-ish small ramekins of tarts...

tarts:
250g fresh strawberries
2 tbsp brown sugar
filo pastry sheets

vanilla cream:
thickened cream or whipping cream
some sugar
some vanilla essence (better if you had a vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds to plonk in)

1. cut strawberries into bitesized chunks and put into a saucepan on medium heat, cook with sugar until syrupy and as thick as you want (it'll dry out further in the oven). Remember to taste and adjust the flavour as you cook it into jam.
2. arrange the filo pastry in the ramekins so that it resembles a small cup and put a few spoons of jam. make two to three layers of it.
3. (Preheat the oven at 200degreesC) When it's at the appropriate temperature, put ramekins into the oven and let bake for 25 minutes.
4. While it's baking, whip the cream til soft peaks then add sugar and vanilla and beat to hard peaks.
5. When ready to serve, put a dollop of cream onto each tart and garnish with fanned out strawberry.

I'm mentally chastising myself for not taking pictures. It was pretty but now it's in my belly. XD

Things I have learnt about myself:
- I think I'm some kind of genius when I come up with quips when I'm all alone.

You must watch this visual feast of a movie.
A real. VISUAL. FEAST.

The Fall by Tarsem Singh.

But then again, with these artsy movies, you either hate it or you love it. I love it. You should to. Because my word is law and I should go to sleep.

Classes have officially started. BOOOOOOOOO...

For Whom It Tolls

I've so mellowed out it's not funny.
I can feel myself curling up into a comfy shell.
Sated but rather alone.
Alone.
Not really miserable...
Until something in the apartment stops working.

I am almost self sufficient.
No.
I am...
... Benevolent...
... Omnipotent...
Oh, who am I kidding.

Where is he?
Or she?
Where is my insanity?
My foothold,
My cuckold,
My comfort.

I feel nothing.
I feel excitement for others
I feel sad for myself for feeling excited for others.
I feel so much convoluted knots.
Tied up in my own consciousness,
A revery of questions and self discovery.

What is this?
Why am I feeling it?
For whom is it?
Is there none for whom this bell tolls.

A travelling satellite I feel I've become.
No celestial body with enough mass for any pull.
Gravity, thou art a sodding bitch.
A bastard child of laws.

Here I sit,
And ponder,
And question,
And stare into the eerie glow of the computer screen.
I sidle back into my home in my head.
Man, what a cop out.

Ah, the arduous task of getting things done.

By that I mean buying a fridge and fixing the washing machine which is currently flooded.

Also, have recently started using Google Calendar permanently to help with scheduling of classes, gym/physio, assignments, social things and food...

Fridges, fridges, fridges. The current one I have been given authority to sell or dispose of and I'm looking around the internets for a suitable and affordable replacement. Preferably a second-hand one. Sucky thing: I need to call the repairman to fix the washing machine. Oh, the pain.

I finally dyed my hair blue so I can scratch that off the bucket list. Next off, Learn some spoken French. The first step is to go on BBC - Languages and subscribe to the 12-week program... Check. Set aside about two to three hours to practice  twice a week... Check. Waiting for first email on Monday... Check.

This week's Dinner, Can be altered. (Which is the best part about cooking for one):

Monday: Seafood pie with baby spinach in filo pastry crust

Tuesday: Grilled  fish salad/ Might be going out for dinner

Wednesday: Leftover Seafood Pie

Thursday: Salad in Sesame dressing

Friday: Leftover Seafood Pie with Salad

Saturday: Creamy Tomato Soup and bread

Sunday: Fried Chicken with fresh greens, rice and budu

I can't wait for the new fridge as it will be endless possibilities for me to make things to freeze in edible portions, YAY!

I guess this is a good a time as any to gush about Tenggol. As you may have known, a bunch of us went for a 3 day 2 night trip to Tenggol for some sand, dive and sea amongst other things. Six of us went and it was glorious. If only the sun was up full blast on the second day though, that I was mighty displeased about.

I went diving once because I got distracted by other things but that diving was rather fantastic. The coral beds and sealife was much more than I was used to but then I only had Tulamben as a reference point. We made some delightful acquaintances there and hopefully will keep in touch with them for future reference. I must say that I love how the beach effects people and behaviours. Diving was a lot more... complicating than it should have been and I was carried around like a large suitcase by some of the boat boys in and out of boats, one of the boat boys looked like a fitter, taller version of my ex... He's a strong fellow too by the name of Din.

We brought the sheysha pot to the island in a small basket which, when we got to talking, found out from some of the new acquaintances that they thought we were very posh to bring a picnic basket to the beach. Hilarity ensued.

Next year, with a more mapped out schedule of my winter break: FIVE NIGHTS IN PERHENTIAN! Plus four to six dives.

It will be a bid to eat healthier and more seasonally now that I'm living on my own. This means less meats, more fruits and veg, smaller portions and produce found for that season only. Plus, it'll be good on my wallet.

It's winter now, that means the main consumables this season would be found here at this link.

 Now, as a sponge, I tend to absorb accents (amongst other things) especially if it's an English one. It's a little annoying to a certain extent but a livable annoyance. And I just watched a few episodes of Downtown Abbey so I'm all confused now.

I'm watching BBC's Future of Food and it scares me. A part of me is thinking that people will have to die. Plague, war, climate change, famine, it's how the world will purge itself off us but that's not what I want to write about today.

Today I have come to realise how much my personality switches to a certain point especially when it comes to other people. I think I'll call it the location phenomenon. I am now well below the equator, under the tropics of Capricorn in Melbourne. I'm getting used to the cold slower than I would like but with the help of small details like heated sock sacks and house foot-mittens given by Ashie I persist. Ain't no one gonna break my stride, ain't no one gonna hold me down, oh, no, I got to keep on moving! Yes, i sang that in my head and I hope you did too.

The point is, in my loving city of Kuala Lumpur, I am a headstrong young woman with no need or want to get together with anyone to pursue any form of serious romantic relationships. There, I am grounded at all times and I generally know where everything is and should be. Quite the opposite happens when I'm back here in Melbourne. What I'm Trying to say is that it's cold and I feel like I need a hug from someone I'm romantically involved with.

This may have to do with the fact that all my people are not with me when I want them to be (and it's cold). Funny things, feelings. Sometimes you're hard as rock and other times your insides feel like soft squishy marshmallows.

I was told that this place of rambling didn't have enough of a life-story shindig going on. I do admit it's sort of spiralled into this slew of to-do lists, bragging about new toys, gushing over good looking blokes and general nonsense, so, in light of this I shall now heed the comments of the delightful Ashie and summarise, in one swift (long) post, my first semester in RMIT.

I shall start by saying that the last few days (RE: Death of my life in KL) in KL were a multitude of meeting up with people, gathering things I need since I'll be moving to a new country and generally procrastinating from packing. In the end I had a suitcase filled and about 56 kilos shared between my parents and I with my luggage taking the brunt of it. Airasia, only worth the money if it costs A LOT less then MAS costs. Really.

So we, my parents and I, arrived with May Lee and her father about a week before classes officially started and stayed at a hotel while looking for an apartment for the both of us. We finally, and after much fretting, found a small -- And I mean SMALL-- place in the middle of the city. It's just about larger than my room in KL but beggars can't be choosers.

There's this big change in how people think in Melbourne and how university classes are engaged with. First year is very conceptual and I think that half the time the lecturers don't really know what to do with us. We become guinea pigs to them, a class of test subjects and 'let-us-see-if-this-way-works'. I cannot begin to explain how I feel without the aid of my facial expression and hands but I will try: It's like they cut of the upper part of your skull to expose your brain, put on rubber gloves in funny neon colours, dig their fingers in and start spreading apart grey matter. Then they leave you there, somewhat unravelled, with a new sense of perception and in a pool of your own slobber, twitching every two minutes as you drawl about light and shadow. The terms light and shadow now irritates me beyond repair and I am in love with psychological reactions and the human anatomy with regard to space and colour.

Now, I have to say that my group of first-years is made up of 18 year-olds, 21 year-olds and stick-up-their-bum 24plus year-olds. The first group I don't mind and the latter two groups, especially the last one, I cannot begin to put any amount of like towards. They are unbearably up themselves with the self-righteousness of a pseudo messiah and I can't even kill them to prove a point. In other words, I have been the centre of attention for so long it kills me when the limelight is directed towards these quasi-intellectual meat-bags. Yes, there's a lot of contempt towards my peers. The tutors, lecturers, professors or whatever you feel like calling them are an interesting bunch, one of which is ludicrously attractive and I shall stop there because it's just wrong. WRONG.

There are things I like about Melbourne and some things I don't. I like, and very muchly so, the Queen Victoria Market where about half hour to closing time the vendors become extra hyped and you get things for a steal, where you get fed with cheese by the rather dapper looking cheese-guy and almost run over people with my scooter, sort of almost accidentally. The produce is just so amazing you don't have to go out and eat. I like the fact that the apartment is my own place and I get to be left alone to my own devices and how convenient the location is. I like how good the coffee is in some places and how it's almost never burnt, how the pastries in certain places are divine and how there are some really good looking people to look at on a dull day. I like how my apartment overlooks an office unit which I've fondly called the fishtank. I like how my diet has changed for the better.

So we'll skip past a blur of a semester and suddenly it's time for a holiday and I am home for the winter. Touching down in KL, reaching my house and sitting on my bed, my few months in Melbourne felt like a dream, it felt like it didn't really happen. My favourite cousin mentioned it was as if I had never left. An odd feeling to have, I know but I have it nonetheless.

I have to return to the dreary cold weather in a few days, return also to a tiny fridge, no proper oven, broken washing machine, no bathtub and spa machine, no cat. NO CAT. Buying a new fridge, fix the washing machine.

Things that warrant its own post and I'll write it soon:
- My birthday dinner
- Meeting people
- Victoria Market
- Cooking for one
- The Melbourne Jazz Festival Opening Free Show
- Ash for a week+ at 803
- Zayan overnighter
- 18 year olds
- My first Couchsurfer

When siblings are the lulz in the car...

RiffRaff: Uh-oh, I hear a gas bomb arriving...
NafNaf: What?
RiffRaff: I mean I feel a gas bomb arriving... A small one... There it is...
NafNaf: OH GOD, WTF?! AUGHHH...
RiffRaff: What? It's only a small gas bomb! Small gas bombs wont kill anyone!
Me: That's what Hitler said... hur-hur-hur...

Btw, Alang Manja overnighters (or over-two-nighters) should be an annual event. It's the shiznits! No more chucking me in and out of rivers okay, tak cool dan menakutkan... Tapi kelakar. Mad props to the gentlemen for being super strong. XD

Trivial: The fajaling FFK me... I will have to get the camera on Monday instead :(