Courtesy of timqth, I have made my own little tumblr. Click here for some pretty pictures in aesthetically appealing html presentation for your viewing pleasure!

I owe Tse Lynn a Japan blog perhaps?

Going through 3000 photos takes time unfortunately...bleagh.

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

back in the gong.

It's been a week since we were in the land of the free/home of the brave and for the most part it's been good. I did miss a lot of uni, so there is some catching up to do there- most of which has already been covered in a few days...does this speak to the quality of the honours year in my particular area of degree?...probably haha.

However, the more important thing has been catching up with friends and the wollongong mode of life.

While it always seems like nothing ever changes when you return from a long holiday, you do return with brand new eyes (paramore @ soundwave!!) and things do take on something of a new light. People's faces look that little bit friendlier, the sky looks a little bluer, and even uni work seems less of a drag with each passing day (well, kind of...). This is simply another example of cliched proverbs finding perfect application in real life- that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

Our final days in the US were spent wandering the streets of New York, missing a connecting flight in LA, and gaining a bonus day in LA which we spent at a beach and an airport. As I have shared with some people already, we spent so long in New York we almost felt like it was our 2nd temporary home, so by the end of it we were sick of tourist things and were basically walking miles and miles between meals.

I wanted to go to a hip hop dance class- drop-in at 10:30 for $18- at a pretty well-known dance centre courtesy recommended by a friend (thanks Laura!) buuuuuuut unfortunately by the time my family got ready and we left the hotel it was too late. We had no plan that day. We decided to walk south a couple of miles towards chinatown for lunch and figure it out from there. I saw some people lining up for MTV show It's On With Alexa Chung. Taking Back Sunday were playing the Monday after we lef the US, but i didn't know that at the time. I asked the girl in line: "what are you lining up for?", "It's On With Alexa Chung" sounded like "Race On With Electrons Song"or something..."Uh, ok".

The day consisted mostly of walking through the heat and doing some last minute lower east side shopping.

Chinatown lunch was awesome- great malaysian place called Nyonya. Funny how we had to travel all the way to New York to find great authentic malaysian food. That night, Sara and i did manage to attend a Blue Man Group performance off-Broadway in an intimate venue called the Astor Theatre- the original home of Blue Man Group. It was beautifully unique, entertaining and even poignant at moments- it blew me away. Definitely something to take the family to. Or judging by the couple making out in front of me, a prospective spouse. We had late night pizza afterwards.

I miss late night pizza.

Heck, i miss late night anything. Wollongong is so dead past 9:30. And no, wollongongnightlife.com.au does NOT count.

*****************

Looking back on our time in the US, i see many things i loved. Enough to make me realise that life in Australia is sorely lacking in many departments. But there's always a flipside to the coin, and there are things lacking in America that only Australia has. Spending a week in LA, DC, and Boston at a time allowed us to really adapt to the local environment and holidaying as the Loos do, we managed to see a lot of things not included on any tour package.

There are many little things i miss in the US already. For example:

1. the vast variety of fast foods and restaurant chains. Its bountiful glory and financial ease is countered by none. Carl's Jr., Sbarro, Panda Express, Wendy's, Jack In A Box, In 'N Out Burger, Denny's, IHOP, Johnny Rocket's...if you know me, you know i like food. Just writing this is making me hungry.
   
2. shopping is so cheap and the shops are great. But little less could be expected from the birthplace of capitalism.
3. Frozen yogurt shops. Yum.
   
4. DISNEYLAND!
   

As well as these, there were many things that impressed me on a deeper level as well.

1. Being azn in America vs being azn in Australia. very very interesting topic. I think i will save this for another post in the future.
   
2. The sense of national identity and patriotism is much more than a 'sense'. It's a way of life. Politics is simply so much more engaging there.
   
3. The Christian experience is also very different and intriguing in the US when compared with here.
   
4. DISNEYLAND!
   

Obviously, the trip has given me a lot to think about. Still mulling them through my head. And will be for a while i think!

In the meantime, i soothe the drudgery of everyday life with quality hang outs with quality people and the smooth smooth taste of bubble tea.


(:

Our US adventure draws to a close. My posts are getting short because...i don't know why. Sometimes these things just happen.

Today we watched Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in the Boston Commons (a park in the middle of the city). It made me laugh. We ate a lot of dim sum for lunch. A ridiculously pretty girl served me frozen yogurt with strawberries, mochi and Cap'n Crunch (on her recommendation) after dinner.

It is 1:36am and mum is folding the laundry that just came out of the dryer and I am listening to Thrice- Of Dust And Nations. I was such a doon for not realising they weren't playing my Warped date. (-.-"). Mum just hit me telling me to go to sleep.

Tomorrow we catch a bus back to new york for 2 more days, and then we fly back. Awww. Life in the US is tre bien. But it will be good to be back home in my own bed after a month or so of living out of a suitcase.

Cheerio

Trike in the park

I spied a colourful plastic kid's trike out the back of Michelle's apartment last Wednesday when we arrived in Washington DC (actually Arlington, VA). It was sitting neglected and forlorn on the grass. A week later, it had been inconspicuously moved to the side of the garbage bins. I decided to take it for a ride because the swimming pool was closed. I spun the pedals with some difficulty, and found the smallest of raised concrete an uphill battle. But when i was cycling around the path at a speed able to instill awe into any 3 year old who happened to be watching my comical gangly appearance, i was outside myself for a few minutes. Disembodied in the purity of the moment. 

When i completed my circuit, a van pulled up in the parking lot adjacent. A young lady and two children clambered out. The youngest boy had a balloon pegged to his shirt at the back. I forget what was on the balloon, but it was a foil balloon and had red edges. He saw the trike and stumbled towards us as his older sister and brother went to their apartment. As he came towards us, he displayed a curious habit. He waved hello and stopped. Waved hello and stopped. Waved hello and stopped, until he finally reached his objective. We of course obliged and waved back as often as we were greeted. 

The wonderment of a child's glee was not lost on us. 

He stole the trike away from us and pushed it backwards to hide behind a tree near his house as dad, sara and i walked back to michelle's apartment. As we departed, the young boy waved goodbye to us for a long time. And as i walked away i thought i'd play along...so i waved goodbye and stopped. Waved goodbye and stopped. 

We all waved goodbye...

I'm guessing the trike belonged to the young korean boy who lives across the grass. 

Proof that i actually am overseas

I spent the day at Warped Tour. It's quite different to festivals we have in aussie- with heaps of free stuff, cheap merch and opportunities to meet and greet. I met Underoath, Wade from Alexisonfire, almost met meg and dia (but sara opted to go watch underoath instead- i was keen for some hot korean-american indie chick signing action cos i have seen underoath like 4 times before), and Versa Emerge (very cool bunch of people).

But that;s not what this post is about. Here's a photo. One out of about 900 or so photos so far on this trip. Warped was a tiring experience especially considering that we landed in NYC at 5:45 in the am, and accounting for the time difference between east and west coast. sooooooo i put up only one photo.

Have a photo from a day that is definitely going to be difficult to top.

Disneyland baby. I want to go back there. and/or California Adventure Park across the road. (:

I <3 LA

This week has lasted so long! It's been great. I can't believe i still have another 3 and a half weeks here. I'd be happy and satisfied even if i went home after LA, let alone New York, Boston and DC etc.

We spent Wednesday to Thursday in Vegas. A 4.5 hour drive through the desert heat...As an example of how the Loos holiday quite fluidly, we planned to leave at 5 in the morning, but we got home from Disneyland at about 1am the night before (Disneyland btw was friggin' awesome- anthony your photo challenge was met, but only on space mountain. I had way too much fun there). We woke up at like 11:30 and ended up leaving for Vegas at 2:30pm.

Vegas was HOT HOT HOT. In faranheit it was 108, which translates to 42 celsius in the day. The night wasn't much cooler to be honest. We walked around til 3am, then slept til 12. It was interesting visiting Las Vegas straight after Disneyland. Like one theme park to another- of course the former is a theme park for adults. City of sin! Haha. But in the end, once you've seen one casino, you've seen them all.

Anyway, it's good to be back in LA. Rented some bikes on Venice beach and rode for 40 minutes when all of a sudden we realised we were at Santa Monica beach, the same spot from 4 days previous! It was a beautiful cool beach day and the Venice beachside is very hip and happening.

Food in the US is very cheap. And we watched Harry Potter today (which was also friggin' awesome) at the matinee screening for $6. There's very little i'm not liking about it here.

(:

We leave tomorrow night for NY at 9pm. Arrive there at 5:45 am local time (2:45am LA time), then we drive to New Jersey about an hour away for Warped Tour on Sunday. Sara's been sick (we've kind of passed the flu/cough around the house) so hopefully she won't die or anything from a combination of lack of sleep and music and heat on the day.

Day 1 and/or 2

It's 1:18am.

All you need to really know is that i'm in California- a city (town?) called Diamond Bar about 45 minutes to 1 hour from downtown LA. We're staying with old family friends (mum's old college mate) and it's been good. Can't say i feel too jetlagged- although i did wake up at 7:20 this morning.

It's really sunny and hot over here. Hit up the Getty art centre and then Santa Monica beach today. It's been fascinating having a local's side to things. Life here seems similar at first but oh-so different upon closer scrutiny. Mostly in the way that LA fuctions as multiracial city. Quite eye-opening.

Even though this is only our first day, it feels like we've been here for a week, because...i don't know why. The familiarity with our lovely hosts perhaps?

In short, we're here for a week. I think we're planning either a Vegas or a San Fran trip in the middle of the week. We're not too sure yet. Which do you prefer- 4hour or 7hour drive? That's the real dilemma. haha. Keep in mind i'm not 21 yet, and it's a family vacation so Vegas just has some nice buildings and shiny lights as far as we can tell...?

I managed to watch 6 movies on the plane. EPIC! They were all of good quality except Monsters Vs Aliens, which wasn't as funny or clever as i thought it'd be. Then there was Push, American Teen, RocknRolla, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Burn After Reading. My eyes were quite red afterwards.

It is now 1:24am. As far as you can tell, all you probably care to know is that i'm in LA.

Cheerio
kevman

Visits Don't Happen Often Enough

It was a beautiful, action-packed two days that just passed. I skipped things I was supposed to do but we were entertaining international visitors so it was excusable. It should definitely happen more often but alas uni starts in less than 2 days and it turns out that Malaysia is sometimes just too far for a weekend trip to Wollongong. Nonetheless I was very glad that some from my other home got to experience our original home and life, albeit for just a day. It was beyond our normal activity for sure, but just a glimpse of what Wollongong is really all about.

And then the next day (after an impromptu overnight stay) the city of Sydney looked more attractive than ever to me.

Our time together though has made me miss Malaysia that little bit more...but I can still manage a smiley.

(:

Wollongong beaches are the best. Wollongong cannons are also the best.

Unpacking My Mind Takes Longer Than Unpacking My Junk

Back in the Gong and I've spent the last 3 days unpacking- both literally and figuratively speaking. Mostly just clearing out old junk in my room to make room for the new junk accrued from our adventures abroad.

Clearing through old stuff is always an interesting experience. The memories attached to specific items are what make us who we are really. An old birthday card, a newspaper cutting, a drawing of a pokemon...all are tied to moments in my life that one simply cannot reject. I have this sort of inherited sentimental streak in me, which means i have a lot of such junk from my childhood and onwards simply lying around my room acting as dust-collectors.

I try to disconnect myself from the process and discard objects mercilessly, but funnily enough mum requests a second check before i throw anything out. There's that inherited sentimental streak I mentioned!

So it took me about 3 days to complete it, but here are the before and after shots! All that junk on the floor is simply paper i pulled out from my desk. There was a lot more to come trust me. Also did some reorganising of my corkboard and my walls, which i take some pride in. It's something of a hobby I guess. Phye Beng collects Transformers, I collect random pictures and gifts and post them on my corkboard and walls.

This table did not look like this beforehand. The fan was a nice touch i thought. From a water puppet show in hanoi, vietnam we caught in 2005. I'd like to thank whoever provided me with the Q.Q.Bee Sweet Family photo frame in the secret Santa. It serves well.

My corkboard you may or may not recognise from last year. Now with included SOUNDWAVE timetable! Various Christmas knick knacks and movie tickets also included. Photos haven't been updated in a while though.

And here's my wall of black and white pictures I find in magazines and newspapers. It's almost complete! Spot Thom Yorke. New additions include: Transformers Animated Lockdown, Rubik's cube(s), Dark Knight pin-up, and a Riddler Pez dispenser.
......

The figurative unpacking may take a while longer yet...I'm still adjusting to the abrupt culture shock of life in Wollongong but it will all settle in time. Just happy to spend some quiet time alone, and not alone for now. Hence the unpacking business...

I'm simply very grateful for the time we had in Malaysia. again.

But now we face normal. real. routine. again.

Spare a thought for Sara though who is stuck at school!
I'm also very grateful that i still have
a month off before uni starts proper. :)

Cheerio. Kloo

'Kow Rai' is Thai for 'How Much?'

My pictures are in the reverse order again. Here are some fans we found at the paper umbrella factory.

Here's the border between Thailand and Burma. Burma is right across that bridge.

 It was a very busy little township.

Didn't ride this through the jungle. This was a 3 year old calf. The ones through the jungle took 2 chairs/people each and were much bigger. [More photos on facebook]

Yes. I know you are all jealous. But I rode an elephant. Bare back. It was pretty darn cool. 

Spent the last 4 days in Chiang Mai. The north of Thailand. Altogether it was a very pleasant trip and much shopping and sightseeing was done, but if you ask me the trip was long enough. There wasn't much to do at night other than the night bazaar and the day trip to Chiang Rai was something of a disappointment to my dad. Admittedly we didn't do much considering the 3.5 hour drive (which was mind and butt-numbing) other than appreciate the novelty of being at the border of Laos, Burma and Thailand all at once- The Golden Triangle, known for its opium and corpse-filled Mekong river (in the 70s anyway). 

Standing at the northernmost tip of Thailand did strike me with a kind of awe. I didn't realise how far north we actually were until I saw the mountains and people of Burma just across the bridge. 

Another awe but more whimsical in nature was in riding the elephant! I love elephants. They're quite intelligent and you can't help but empathise with them. The elephant tamers- called mahouts- forge a genuine relationship with their elephant and made me reconsider my career choice in physics. Ha. 

Riding an elephant fulfilled a childhood dream I never realised I actually had. It was hardly a smooth ride but there is a certain peace you can only experience by riding an elephant through the jungle. Unforgettable.

There were admittedly less memorable events the rest of the trip- mostly consisting of walking, eating and shopping but it was great to experience Thai culture firsthand. Chiang Mai is quite different to Bangkok. More laid back and less of a big city. We hardly encountered a beggar (except further north. Children beggars are a depressing sight, but they smile eventually with their unique child's resilience and your heart lifts) and the air was quite cooling. 

Did a lot of thinking during travel. It hurt my brain but it was essential. My ipod died on the plane anyway and this left me quite distraught. Hence the thinking. 

A little udpate that has pictures on it

People of some interest in KL last night. L to R, Mark Huang (minus fluffy hair), Matt Huang (Zeal bro), monkey, Lauren Lim (who shouldn't be wearing that tag), some noob who hearts NY (I'm pretty sure that's not even his shirt!), Steph Lim (minus being in melbourne), Joanne Yooooooooo (also minus being in melbourne), and phye beng (bassists...who needs 'em?) 

Entertainment between bands. Cute Asian chick drummers. What more could you ask for lolz? Kade...the search is over. (I doubt he even knows this blog exists haha Someone tell him!)

I'm going to join a ska band and/or a drumming group, like these guys from singapore. woooo

Me and Dan Tan the Man just chilling with a roll of wrapping paper. MILOOOO.

And this is where we had supper for new year's. A random shop with tables on the roadside and cops waiting to pounce...bribed with food or money we'll never know...commonplace in malaysia! 

Ah so the photos uploaded in reverse order than what they were supposed to. Read captions at your discretion. 

Last night we watched A Mantle The Sea do their thing at The Pavilion in KL. Outdoor main street gig nokia phone launch. Man, i would love an opportunity like that for my band. Haha. Stupid jack going to england. :) 

One thing i learnt was that Malaysian crowds are somewhat unresponsive to stage banter. Tough crowd. Even when the ska band came on, it was only me and 3 malay guys doing the only skanking (fyi, thats the weird kick dance we were doing. The 2-step!)...*sigh* you guys gotta learn to loosen up! I guess it was just the general public, slightly older and it is kind of not very asian to do things wild in public like that...Oh well! the catchcry of the moment does seem to be carpe diem, coram deo. (what 'coram deo' is there involved in skanking? i'll leave that for you to decide). Only in Malaysia will a ska band have trouble getting the public rowdy. We left a bit early and i hope that things got livelier afterwards... (?) 

Only in Malaysia will we go out for noodles at 11:30pm and then get stuck in a traffic jam at 12- freaking-30 in the am!! It was amazing and inexplicable. We got stuck on the way in as well. A 40 minute trip (geographically-speaking) turned into a 2 hour car drive unfortunately. No Malaysia trip is complete without the traffic jam experience!! 

But I do hate getting stuck in traffic with a ratio of 9 ads to one song on the radio. That's my idea of hell. Haha.

(:

So anyway, going travelling to places without the internet for a week. Going to visit Penang tomorrow after church. 5 hour drive. back to KL briefly on tuesday and then straight to Chiang Mai (that's in thailand in case you were wondering) the next morning. So i get to miss both Malaysian and Aussie mates at the same time! A rare opportunity i know.  

toodles! 

xxox

Carpe Diem Coram Deo

We all know what carpe diem means. It's the coram deo that has stuck to my mind this past week. It means in the presence of God and is no small task by any means. To live every moment and seize every opportunity is a popular notion, but to constantly do so with the awareness of God's presence is something else altogether. 

The 27th to 30th of Dec. were spent in a small property 2 hours north of KL with 60 other youths from the church we're involved with here. It was a jampacked schedule and an incredible amount of fun was had. While there was little time to actually sit down and hold one of my much-loved dnm conversations (as seems to be all too common these days) I felt a strong sense of joy pervaded the entire camp and we were all enriched by the passion sessions.  

I guess this is something of the presence of God. 

Some of the many many highlights:

• Using the 'Just-Whack-Only' philosophy to full effect in our Zeal group to win most if not all the challenges. Somehow we didn't win the whole camp though.
• Rachel Tan's killer line in talent time: 'Now your training is a success, go out and kick some ass!' followed by David Ho's not-so-killer-line 'What do we have here, a little boy do we have here'. His vocab ain't so big i guess... 
• Making JV laugh and finding PJ's secret talents which made us laugh a lot harder than Jason did. Also included: KQuah's toybox routine and Matt's snake dance
• World War YF which made less sense than Eugene's morning exercises sometimes but was fun nonetheless
• Caving yet again
• Getting to know many new people; especially seeing the younger ones and helping them come into their own

The point of the matter is that the camp was an incredibly enjoyable and meaningful time and only confirmed itself as a highlight of our Almost-Annual Malaysia vacation. Too bad there wasn't more time to it. i.e., forever perhaps? Wishful thinking. :)

So with this we welcome 2009. Seems fitting to renew our zeal for life with such a camp. New year's was spent at church watchnight service (refer to last year's blog on my facebook if you're interested haha) and a quick mamak after. A slightly sobering start to the 2nd decade of my life. 

Just the way I like it. 

I was going to upload some more  photos but it was taking too long (this also explains why i may be quite slow in replying to things if i can bother at all. The net is a lot slower than i remember it to be). So check out my facebook for photos or my sister's yeah? 

not much of a blog but just letting you all know that all is very much well and we are still eating a heck of a lot. happy new year all! And many grats to Erin and Jarryd. May the loving continue on far into the future! 

:) 

Christmas is over already?

Hey all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

from Malaysia. I was knocked out with the flu on Christmas eve but thankfully am pretty much recovered! 

Have a photo of us holding up our grandmother at the park. 

:) xxox

Week 1 Consisted of a lot of eating

Week 1 has passed by. I could say that it was quick but I don't think it actually was. We've been very busy with family and friends a heck of a lot of eating. Holy crap I've never eaten so much. Our stomachs are perpetually full to breaking point; yet even midway through lunch we are already discussing what to have for dinner. It really is a beautiful routine. 

By this time there are 12 Loos/Tans/Phuas hanging out in the house plus Michelle's friend Sheila from the US. From what I can gather she has been enjoying every minute of our eating adventures and otherwise. She has a great hearty laugh. 

Catching up with friends from church feels a bit like what I imagine a second album would for a band. Last year's trip was amazing, so how could we top that experience? A whole year has passed since seeing these wonderful people and no doubt we have all grown and changed somehow. Could we in fact connect as we did last? Thankfully the answer has been a cautious yet optimistic yes. There's plenty of catching up (and mamak) to do still guys! 

Went to A Mantle The Sea (cousin's band) gig the other night in the city at a very swanky club called No Black Tie. They played well but their nervous energy (first proper gig in four years) translated into near unmanaged tempos. Their acoustic songs came across much more confident and their rendition of Sufjan Stevens' 'O Come O Come Immanuel' was bold and nothing short of beautiful (definitely have to buy some of his stuff). There were other bands and they were of pretty high standard too. For some reason we went out for supper after (dim sum/ yum cha) and had at a meal at 1 in the am. We didn't get back until 2!

That's exactly what we need in the gong. Food at any hour of life (other than Macca's). Would anyone be interested in starting a business with me? Ha.

had my 2nd PROSPERITY BURGER yesterday with YJ and YC (cousins from Dad's side of the family) who I spent the day with at 1U shopping mall. They were en route to Japan, which I should be on too but for some reason am not. We went bowling and didn't want to pay 2RM for sock rental so we bought our own socks for 7RM each. We sure showed that bowling alley.

I've always said that life in Malaysia is hectic and I think I finally know why. If you remain stationary long enough here, the heat acts as a blanket of lethargy and you are basically drained of the will to live. Every minor movement of the body is smothered unless you can gain enough momentum to continue living and eating.

And with this, I simple wait for the Christmas celebrations to begin.

Cheerio! (:

Congrats to all friends who graduated this year! Special shout out to the physics crew- because no one can integrate to alpha centauri like you guys can. 

Early Days

I initially wrote a long spiel about waking up as Macauly Culkin in Home Alone but that was actually incorrect since the family came back to the house about 30 minutes later. So let's have a recap of our journey thus far. Our plane trip took us about 13+ hours due to missed connections and delays of the sort. It was a very long day but I listened to some good music, chatted to some people in the airport and watched Tropic Thunder (hilarious), Star Wars: Clone Wars (surprisingly exciting), and Aussie surfie movie Newcastle (aimed a bit high and fell short) Upon arrival, we found out that  my dad forgot to send my uncle and aunty our updated itinerary and they were waiting for us at KLIA for 6 hours. Whoops!

I didn't shower for two days after arrival just because i couldn't be bothered.

We've only been here two days and already it feels like we have almost never left- although admittedly we were only here last january. The three big ones here would be family, friends and food. Already we have experienced much of them. More of the food than anything else so far- but its early days yet! A definite highlight of Malaysia trips is the trademark Macca's Chinese New Year promotion- the PROSPERITY BURGER. It's pretty simple actually- black pepper sauce, onion, beef patty on a long bun- but beats the crap out of any $2 double beef and cheesburgers. I had my first of many just today. Let's see how many we get done all up. Curly fries come in the meal. 

With regards to the family we experience, there is nothing like it. We stay in the house where my mum grew up in her teens/uni life which is occupied by my aunty and her family, plus grandmother. We're not exactly in KL, but in an outer city called Petaling Jaya (PJ) which is about 30 minutes drive away from the city. This is the Christmas headquarters of my mum's side of the family so to speak- the Phua side.  

The cycle of life is more evident than ever as cousins work 9 to 5 and bring back sons of their own from the UK. Andrew just arrived tonight with his 3yo son Daniel who is the real star of the show and watching him grow is quite an experience. I remember when myself and my two other cousins Adrian and Eugene took showers in the frontyard with the hose. Now i have an undergraduate degree and they're working their respective fulltime jobs. When did that happen?

Something that hasn't changed is the unwavering commitment to church and YF (youth fellowship) which is quite an encouragement in itself. Went to a little Christmas party today at the church. Saw old faces and new and was able to reconnect with friends we've only spent time online with.  Like I said it's early days yet so didn't get much time in conversation. Plus I'm feeling a bit sleep-deprived. Life here is fully hectic. 

It's 10:52pm and we gotta get up for church tomorrow. Muse's live HAARP is in my ears right now. I love them to bits. There are no photos as of yet but i took some video footage of the food i ate. Maybe you'll be able to watch it one day. Words simply aren't enough to convey what is really going on over here. 

We also went to a little music bar last night which was very hip and had hookahs everywhere. Definitely need one of those in Wollongong. Adrian was playing in his pop acoustic group Alaling and the Kaya Koks and were very appealing. No photos from there either. Haha. 

(: 

PS, it's bloody hot! And it's been fairly overcast these past few days, which means it can only get worse... 

Adelaide is pretty sick ay.

I'm sitting on the floor of Adelaide airport! Hooray!

Fyi, we shall be leaving this port of call at 3:10pm or something. I don't really know any more because Adelaide is half an hour behind Sydney and this just confuses me. We are also stopping in Singapore for an hour or so which means we ultimately arrive in Malaysia approximately midnight Sydney time? This is me making a rough guess. Seems reasonable right? Also fyi, Malaysia is 3 hours behind Wollongong.

This is an old powerbook so there is no webcam and hence no photo of myself for you to look at. How unfortunate for all involved. 

I'm listening to between The Buried And Me. This is right after Eisley (which I bought for $10 yesterday at JB Hifi) and a bit of a Paramore binge last night ($20 CD/DVD set). I have weird taste in music.

See you all on the other side! 

Final Days In The Gong

Hi hi hi. The Loos are leaving Wollongong forever on Thursday...until February 1st. I feel like I should be doing something like packing but I just don't know what. I packed my clothes already and that's about it as far as I can tell. Mum is lamenting the fact that I am taking my white shorts right now actually.

For the past few weeks I've been living out as much of the Aussie summer as possible. Beach days, Sydney trips, Xbox parties...these are the things I will miss when in Malaysia. Right on the verge of departure I feel like staying longer and enjoying Wollongong more. But I know that when I leave, Malaysia will feel like home as always. The same will happen come February. I will want to stay longer there but Wollongong will prove just as homely as the other. The duality is fascinating to say the least...

What final preparations need to be made? I don't even know myself. There are too many little details to think about. So much so that I decided to not bother with any of it. And that's why I'm writing a blog right now. Clothes took a lot quicker to pack than I anticipated. My wardrobe consists of a lot of black I just discovered.

One thing I had to do was organise uni for next year. I finalised my honours project today. Anatoly was not around at 12pm so I went for a fun shopping day with Josh and Kade that involved heroin koalas, short shorts and Jesus-faced Buddhas (Kade is a strange strange child but we love him). I met Anatoly at 2:30 and we discussed physics. Looks like I'll be working on eye tumours. I could go into detail, but i'll save that for another blog.

It's funny but I do miss talking about the physics we were so sick of only 3 weeks ago.

The only other preparation i need to finalise is last hangings out with mates. Gonna miss you crazy cats from all circles. But it has been a while since I've seen my Malaysian monkeys too. Now I'm going to go and figure out what else I have left to do. I don't even know where to start any more.

No drawing today! (:

Aside: Sara graduated from year 10 tonight. I was 14 when that happened. I walked around the school in the rainy dusk and found the buildings foreign and cold. Literally speaking, the rooms are all switched and there are new buildings around. On a figurative note, i guess this is just life and time passing too quickly(where did 2008 go by the way?). Mrs Wade said to me, 'Every time I see you you look older!' and I half-jokingly, half- pensively said 'It's because we are getting older Mrs Wade'. The sadness in this statement only struck me later.

Sleeping At Heathrow

I drew this while we were sleeping at Heathrow airport in 2006 on transit to Dresden. We found some chairs and struggled for some shut-eye. I was wandering around at 3 in the a.m. There were men outside doing roadworks and I took some photos of the lights. The Chili Peppers may or may not have been playing on my ipod. The shops were closed and the place was virtually deserted. The CD shop had Black Holes & Revelations, Lily Allen and Keane on display behind bars. I took some tourist brochures as souvenirs. 'Welcome to Heathrow Airport' they read. They now sit under my desk, yellowing with the newspapers I brought back from Germany. Every story is about football.

On an unrelated note, I saw 2 girls with guitars yesterday. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. They both had the guitar over their right shoulder. Whether it was the same guitar or not, I'll never know. But it definitely was not the same girl.