Will The Bandwidth Thief Please Stand Up

[begin rant] I am extremely cross with the bandwidth thief of the house right now. Barely two weeks into the new billing period and we’ve already exceeded our bandwidth threshold. It happened last month and I thought everyone else would’ve wise up and leave their mega download marathon to the very end to suck up the remaining bits of internet connectivity but noooo. Either someone within the vicinity is stealing from us (but then again it can’t be ‘cos we’re on a secured network) or it’s the same inconsiderate housemate who has once again inconvenience everyone else in the house by depriving us all of the internet. I have no idea who it is, much less care to speculate, but what I really hate most is that I’m always on the losing end in this bandwidth war – all I do online is visit blogs, listen to online lectures and check my email and the occasional Facebook. I definitely don’t YouTube, Torrent, or Skype. Which makes me such a hapless victim eh. I can’t exactly say that we are completed snatched of our internet privileges though; we’re actually on dial-up speed that might as well be no speed at the painfully slow rate the connection is going at. The time taken just to load the homepage of my online back account is the time it took for me to reply a few SMSes, top overnight pasta with fresh olives and mozzarella, pop it in the microwave, polish the dish off, have a bowl of salad and type this. GRRR. [end rant]

All I really want right now is for a new academic semester to start. Or to have the current one rewind back to Week 1 so that I can tackle it in my newfound knowledge that I can’t study like how I used to – muck around and play truant all semester then cramcramcram when the exams roll around. And still be able to get satisfactory results. As I squeeze my way into the sole entrance of the exam hall this morning with a horde of students alike, I’m taken back by how different and new this feels. Around me were hundreds of students who just can’t wait to get into the hall to take the exam, much like how they’re bursting with so much retained exam material in their head that they cannot hold it in any longer. I can feel shoulders and arms rubbing against mine as we shove our way in, and that’s when my heart sinks in light of the fact that I used to just stroll into exams in time for it to start. It was relaxed, carefree and comfortable.

Today’s law paper marks the first of the four subjects that I’ll be sitting for within the week or so. The paper wasn’t at all difficult, surprisingly, but what I lacked was the time to write out coherent answers to all the questions. By the time the warning came through the loudspeaker for us to stop writing, I had no choice but to leave an entire question blank. I dread to think of the possible effect of this slip-up and wish nothing more than a pass for this paper. Why hello, Santa, it won’t hurt to bring me an early Christmas present now, would it.

But just as much as I am underprepared for my exams, I feel as if I’m protected by this bubble of calm that insulates me from all the pre-exam anxiety and pressures of my contractual obligation to achieve a distinction average, of which I have zero confidence in attaining it myself. All I’m relying upon is a whole lot of faith. :) I’m still able to sleep well, eat well, cook my own dinner, work my usual shifts, attend birthday dinners and daydream about all the post-exams plans that I have conceived at the back of mind, which gets me so excited just thinking about ‘em. In fact I even went shopping after the lousy law paper today and on Friday, we’re gonna have take-away ice cream at the park as lunch!

Here’s a picture of the beautiful building where my exams are held at - the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building:

The REB by night. We were actually very preoccupied with avoiding the possums hiding up in the trees as we made our way through Carlton Gardens that night. 29th August 2008.

 7:55 PM     Permalink     11 Comments

Has Winter Really Came And Left?

Sometimes when people sigh and tell me that they’ve had a long day, I always think to myself, man, I wish I had a long day too. I don’t mean to brush off and mock their weary sentiment with such carelessness and indifference but for a time like this, twenty four hours is not enough. What’s a time like this? It’s when you count the days on the calendar and realise with startling revelation that the 12-week semester is drawing to an end in a few days and exam dates are charging on at full speed you could get run over anytime.

The other day I had the most surreal sensation grazing every part of my body as I walk through the park to get to the law building where my next class would be. It was difficult to tell apart the season of the time - the sun was clouded out by the dark gray sky, the air was thick and dense, yet, it wasn’t very cold. It felt almost stuffy and suffocating in my black puffer jacket. But the answer came soon enough when I heighten my senses up to take in all that is surrounding me. I tilt my head up, then look right and left, and… those leaves, those clusters of light green flaps that are sprouting from the branches on the trees that line the pathway, where did they come from? In that split second I was suspended to a platform of shaken stupor. I was stunned. Those leaves, where did they come from?

The ceiling of sky that hung above me looks so different now from what I last remember it to be. The blueness of the sky used to be criss-crossed by the trees’ brittle branches, bare and unadorned, and struggling to reach for the sun. The branches are still a fair distance from the sun, but they now have new life breathed into them as they transcend into a new season that promises a burst of growth and a bloom of flowers. Look, even the trees have given birth to fresh life that would bring smiles to people who care enough to stop and look. To appreciate. To behold. What about you? I’m ashamed to say that I still feel as bare as I did on any cold winter night.

Each time I feel motivated enough to continue running the rest of the length of this marathon, something comes and breaks me. Will I never be able to live up to such idealistic expectations? I’m saddened to know that I am never precious enough to sacrifice so much for. In times like this, I find comfort in gingernut biscuits and a mug of hot, steaming milk.

 5:21 PM     Permalink     1 Comment

Everyone’s New Favourite Place

As the title suggests, I’m nestled within everyone’s favourite place at the moment – the newly erected Frank Tate Learning Centre in the very marketable (think glossy pictures of campus in university prospectus to lure international students) Eastern Precinct in uni. It’s crowded even on a Saturday evening but nobody questions why, because it’s obviously a very nice place to spend lazy afternoons in the reading room downstairs with your laptop and surf away or get reading and assignments done in one of the long tables and cushioned benches in the study area one level above. This place still smells new and is so well-furnished it almost feels like being in a page of an interior design magazine. Lea and I fell in love with this place the first time we set foot in it, and because it’s accessible 24 hours a day, we even tried to talk Duane into camping overnight and having potluck parties in the project room. Hey, we could even watch a movie on the Plasma TV!, we exclaimed, interrupting the flow of discussion for our assignment. Of course that was before the rest of the world came to know about this place too.

Oh lookie! I actually found a picture of our first time in Frank Tate, meeting up for the assignment! From left to right: Duane, Candise and Lea. 14th September 2008

I received something in the mail yesterday! It’s a mini cookbook with a collection of brunch recipes and just how perfect is that for me! I’m big on breakfast that I have a heavy one that’s usually enough to last me ‘till past lunch time. It’s from Jasmine, who posted it to me all the way from home – thank you so much, it totally made my day! Sad to say however, that I won’t be able to fork out as much time in the kitchen as I used to because the exams are looming near. But I’ve bookmarked a few easier recipes that I plan to follow this week; I couldn’t help myself.

Thanks again for the very thoughtful gesture, Jasmine! :)

Reading Fei’s post about her time in Melbourne reminds me that I should tell you guys about what a master of trickery she is! :P Before the spring break, I asked and pestered her to fly (she studies in Sydney) to Melbourne for a holiday during her break but my sincere intentions were ruthlessly ignored. Since she wasn’t keen on coming, maybe I should go to Sydney to see her instead, besides visiting other friends and my aunt there, I thought. So I paid up the top-dollar fare for my flight and excitedly told her to expect me in Sydney. Immediately, I receive a phone call from her, and after a string of conversational ping-pong, guess what she tells me: “Um, actually, I’m coming to Melbourne.”

…

So yeah, apparently she wants to give all her friends here a surprise by keeping her visit a hush-hush matter. On the first night of her arrival, we met up for dinner and instead of going ahead with the original plan of partying with friends at Seven, we quickly left the club and hopped on a cab. Feeling adventurous, we decided to walk home to Harvey’s place (where she was staying at) from Flinders Street Station, taking the Swanston Street route. It was super dodgy and we kept getting approached by random people, but we had a lot of fun, didn’t we?

‘Twas really good to see her again, though I wished we both had more time with each other, which was quite impossible given our circumstances – my plans for Sydney overlapped her stay in Melbourne and she was perpetually occupied by friends and her ahem, fling partner-turned-boyfriend. Even on the night she stayed over at my place, we could’ve squeezed more time for some girly chat but we had to wake up early for the planned picnic outing the next day. Nevermind the fact that we still went to bed at seven in the morning.

Posing with the cute bronze statues along the way home!

Photo moments in front of the State Library! That’s an empty beer bottle I’m holding that I found on the ground, hehe.

We had churros (Spanish doughnuts) and hot chocolate back in Harvey’s place at something like two in the morning talking about, amongst other things, how much weight we’ve gained since we left home. :P But still, nothing can keep a girl away from sinfully rich dessert!

Fei and I at the park on a Sunday morning for our little picnic session with friends.

P.S. to Fei: I will never forget that tricky question! You know which one! ;) Oh, and did you find a note and a wooden peg that I discreetly left for you in your paperbag? I’m getting worried. :/

 3:47 PM     Permalink     16 Comments