Reprieve.

It has been a busy couple of weeks lately, presentations, reports and exams came and went, just a short week or so before school officially ends. On Monday, I went to talk to my lecturer about the possibility of taking my exam on the 14th of November earlier. After telling him my reasons, he was very understanding to my cause. He suggests that I can take my paper on the morning of the 12th, thereafter make my way to the airport. I am very grateful to him for his kindness and graciousness, given that he will need to make special arrangements for me to be supervised by someone else during that morning, as he is based in another campus.

 

Today, I went to school to see the course conveynor for another course. Earlier in the semester, we had a report assignment, where we had to analyse a specific tourism industry sector. My tutor failed more than half the class, me included. He first suspected me of plagiarism, for which came out negative after I sent him a soft copy of the assignment to be scanned by the plagiarism software. He did not leave much comments in my report, except that I did not support many of my statements, and that my recommendations did not come from the analysis.

 

Overall, I felt that I have been unfairly assessed, for which I went to have a chat with him. I stated my point that it being an analysis paper, I should be allow to use my own words to analyse the sector, and also showed him instances of statements being referenced. I also showed him evidences where my recommendations were mentioned in the analysis, but he refused to reconsider the report. I am not saying that he is totally in the wrong, I agree with him that the report can be better supported, but given the content of the report, I feel it should not have garnered a fail grade.

 

Saying that, the tutor is not exactly in the running for tutor-of-the-year calibre. Going for his tutorial classes, he's contributions have always been minimal. Instead of giving constructive criticisms, he will prefer to get us into groups to discuss about something, thereafter chatting with a few of the students. There were times when he said certain comments about a certain race, which we felt were rather uncalled for. Never in my four semesters have I experienced such an incompetent (harsh, I know) tutor. To further show his (lack of) competency, he came in drunk to assess one of my friend's presentation last semester.

 

All in all, it is water under the bridge, I have spoken to the conveynor and showed him evidences of my tutor's criticisms, and he feels that my case is justified. He will be re-marking my report personally. Having said that, I harbour no hard feelings towards my tutor, he did what he felt was right, and we discussed about it in a civilized manner. I can understand it can be quite stressful when there are so many assignments to mark in a short span of time, and I bear no grudge towards him.

 

Perhaps these two scenarios are a test of my fighting spirit, before I go out into the working world. It is good to learn that persistence can lead to better things, and that is an imortant lesson in life. Thank you universe for the opportunities. Carpe Diem!

Seize the Day

John Erwin Boak

Do it now and don't tarry lest it be too late
Sometimes it's not wise for the right time to wait
Because your plans could be ruined by fate
If you do it now you would feel really great

Smell the pretty flowers, listen to birds singing so gay
Enjoy the beauty of nature give yourself time to play
Remember on this earth we can't forever stay
So I tell you now is the time, go ahead and seize the day

Nature's wonders.

The past few weeks, our place had a few unlikely intruders. The tree outside my apartment was invaded by this bunch of "kamikaze" birds. My neighbours and I were quite intrigued by the birds initially, as they will charge and swipe at us whenever we are outside the apartment. The swipe can be rather rather un-nerving to the victim, to say the least, but can also be quite funny when you see someone getting swiped. What the bird does is first it will eye you, then it will fly straight towards your head, then at the last possible moment, it will *swish!* change direction, sometimes making contact with your hair.

 

We found it rather corny to be attacked by the birds at our own home, hehe. Little did we know that the birds actually chose the tree outside our block to build a nest. It took them a good few weeks to do up the nest. Meanwhile, we have gotten used to the swiping thing.

 

A few days ago, while at the balcony, I saw the little birdies! They have finally hatched from their eggs, I saw 2 grey furballs in the nest. The papa and mama birds took turns to go out to look for food, while the other stood watch at another branch nearby. 

 

Nest with furballs.

Say ahhh, mummy's come back with food.

 

Off looking for food again.

You have to admire their dedication and effort in taking care of their young. Such is nature's wonders, it really is heartwarming to see. Just goes to show that love is universal, even small animals are capable of unconditional love and attention. The young ones will be most probably be able to fly and leave the nest soon, charting their own lives. I'm sure they will remember how their parents took care of them, and do the same to their young in the future.

 

Whoever said having a bird brain was a bad thing?

Hooray.

Ole!

 

I'm a free man once again, for a couple of weeks at least.

 

What's left for the semester:

1. End of semester examination for Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management on week 13 Friday (31 October).

2. Reflective journal for Intro to Social Enterprise on week 14.

3. End of semester paper for Strategy and Change on exam week (10 November).

4. End of semester paper for Tourism Planning and Development on exam week (14 November, but trying to change it to the 11th.)

5. 12 November, fly back to Singapore.

 

Is that a pot of gold, at the end of the rainbow? Ole!

At The Rainbow’s End
  
David Harris

We are all looking
for the gold at the rainbow’s end.
Always trying to find
the happiness in which our life depends.
Trying to find a pointer
to show us which way to go
to keep our lives falling into the lowest low.
From dawn to dusk,
we search through the day
always hoping to find the way.
To the gold at rainbow’s end
and the happiness in which life depends.

Oh look!

To a bimbotic friend who called me horny, despite the fact that I'll be getting him his favourite chocolate peanut clusters. Thank you very much. =)

 

Surfers

Oh look! Your Surfers Paradise sign still stands today! Even after 7 years. You were probably standing at where the tree is now. Hehe.

Life's intermissions.

The universe presents many twists and turns in our daily lives. Just now at around 11pm, I got a call from a good friend which went something like this;

 

Me: Heyo!

Friend: Yo Jianzzz...

Me: Wazzup!

Friend: You free now? Can I come over?

Me: Of course, why?

Friend: No la, just thought if I can come over and sleep for a night, tomorrow have to work also.

(sensing something was wrong, probably a quarrel with the girlfriend, me probe no further.)

Me: Yup yup, I'll see you in awhile.

 

After 15 mins or so, he was here. During that time, I was busy tidying up my bed to a more presentable state, and even made hot tea for the both of us (am I a good host or what!), as I presume we'll be having an intense smoking and chatting session at the balcony.

 

And talk and smoke we did. He was smoking like a chimney, stick after stick, which I follow suit (bad). Basically, he and the girlfriend have been having a series of little disagreements over the past weeks. Over the weekend, she kept bugging him over "why do you smoke?", for which he has no definitive answer. He does not smoke on a regular basis, only when he's in the company of certain friends (me), and he sees it as an outlet, an escape, a form of communication between close friends. Perhaps it's a clash of opinions, she is unwilling to accept it even though he has already curbed the habit most of the time.

 

The whole issue boiled over when they were playing badminton earlier, when they were pairing up to play against two other persons. His competitive side took over when he saw that she wasn't putting her full efforts into playing, started giving her some pointers here and there, which she didn't take very constructively. A mini exchange of heated words ensued, resulting in a bit of tension in the air. They went home, and while she was bathing, he sneaked out and came over. Those were not the main reasons that resulted in this fracas, they are not that petty.

 

What I feel about their relationship is that both of them are trying too hard to make each other happy, to the point where he/she is not happy. It is a very subtle give and take situation, whereby your expectations and actions for the other party, for his or her highest good, can be it's own undoing. There is a lack of open and appropriate communication, which causes the little things that irk you to bottle up inside. My friend also has the habit of thinking too much. When a situation arises, he has the tendency to think of the good and bad side, and everything in between. What if? What could have been? What should have been? What not? But he forgets that he's living in the present. I feel that in a relationship, we always have to remind each other that we are living in the 'now', it is what we feel now that matters most. Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday, this is an old adage about our worries and anxieties.

 

So, my one advice to him is to live free, to deal with the hiccups and intermissions in life as they come along. Keep an open communication in a woe-free relationship, and everything will blossom in due time. My heartfelt blessings to the both of them. 

 

Everything happens for a good reason. Now that my bed is taken, I will have to work on my assignment thru the night. The one distraction that may detract me from doing my report diligently has been taken away. Oh, how mysterious the universe works!

Deep slumber.

Wow, I just woke up from a deep slumber that lasted 15 hours long, almost as long as the one I had a few weeks ago, after chiong-ing my report over the weekend. I guess I'm mentally drained, but now it's refreshed! Haha. Had a presentation yesterday, which went well (at least that's out of the agenda).

 

Over the next few days, I'll have to again rush another report out, which is due on Thursday 5pm. Looks like it's going to be a couple of sleepless nights again, this deep slumber may be the fuel I need to last the period. I have also stocked up on food and other provisions, enough to last til end of the week, so basically I can be a hermit and camp at home all day.

 

I have also confirmed my flights for next month and December. Right now I'll be flying back to Singapore on the 12th of November, that is just 4 weeks away! Will be flying back to the Coast on the 10th of December for some travelling around and graduation, and finally going back to Singapore indefinitely on Christmas Day. Very much looking forward to the end of the semester. Ok, stop day dreaming! Get started, please.

I Am A Dreamer!

Rhonda Pilcher

I dream of life
each and every day how it could be better
If things were this or that way

I dream of happiness
Hope it comes to each giving them
reason to live and peace

I dream of love
Something I know so well
In my heart it's there as wonderful
As a breath of fresh air

I dream of peace and harmony
Friendships and family of all the
Joys they share

I dream of goodness
To fill the land, for great crops to
Give to feed each needy hand

I dream even when reality is
So hard to bear
I dream with great dreams to share

I Am A Dreamer!

Outback Jacks.

Last Sunday my friends and I went to a steakhouse called Outback Jacks. There were 2 reasons we went there, first we heard the steak there was not bad, second they have a "Jack's Challenge", whereby if you can finish a 1kg steak within 30mins, you only pay half the price, and get a free t-shirt. Sounds tempting eh.

 

Croco-roo.

 

Big buaya.

 

Are you ready for the challenge?

 

Friend's sis, friend's sis's friend and friend.

A friend's sister and her friend came up from Canberra and Melbourne respectively to do a triathlon last week. Not all of us took the challenge though, only 2 of us did.

 

Satays.

 

Neptune steak I ordered.

And so the challenge begins;

 

Start

 

Wedges almost done!

 

10 mins.

 

Struggling after 15 mins.

 

Plateau-ed.

 

Oh crappers, time's up.

Hehe, they did not complete the challenge. Look at the size of that meat! It's almost the size of an A4 paper, and thick! The steak was not as nice as expected, not tender and juicy enough. Overall was quite disappointing, but at least the company was good. After dinner we went to Coldrock to eat nice ice cream, it was a nice way to mark the end of the mid semester holidays. Hoo!

 

Group shot, with big buaya on top of us.

  

Number four.

Good afternoon mummy, I am writing this as you sit on the treatment chair, getting dripped. I can picture you in my mind, sitting down, smiling and looking around, comfortable in your own world. Your smile, is the epitome of love, as no other smile can exude the same kind of warmth and compassion as yours. 

 

I am sure you are recovering well after each session. Continue to grow from strength to strength, remember to eat well too. I love you, mummy, after today, two more sessions to go and you are through! Moreover, i'll be beside you for your last session in about a month's time. Take care of yourself, feel the love from the angels around you, and let them look after you.

Mother

Joseph Boyd

You could never be appreciated enough
You could never be thanked enough
For the gift of just being you
The world was given through your womb
But life was given thru your love
What a privilege it is
To have a Mother like you
Was there a mold made for you
How inconceivable a thought
The most devoted
The most respected
The most encouraging
The most dedicated
The most one woman could be
What is a mother?
A mother is you
The ultimate definition of motherhood
Resides in your mirror everyday
If every child had a mother like you
The sun would never set
Happiness rises with you
Never to be eclipsed
A Mothers love
Is as priceless as priceless gets

Curry chick.

I am very blessed to be in the company of many friendly and loving friends. After I finished blogging the previous entry, a good friend came over to my place and said "I'm cooking curry chicken tonight." He didn't even ask me if I wanted to join them, he included me already.

 

The universe is looking after me yet again. Just when I thought it's going to be another junk food dinner, my blessed friends came over and gave me proper and scrumscious food. It is truly a blessing and a miracle in itself, makes me realise that I am well looked after. =)

 

Thank you and thank you. It is hard to describe with words, the blessed feeling I have in my heart, I can only embrace the feeling, and give thanks to all the miracles that have happened. Here's to all my wonderful friends too, bless you all!

 

Blessed food.

A new week, a new beginning.

So the short one week holidays are over. Time passes so quickly when one is having fun, a quarter of October is already over! Looking back at last week, I had lots of fun going out with friends and basically letting loose. Even though I did not manage to get any school work done, it was a good break, perhaps my mind was telling me to just enjoy the break, and not to think so much about assignments.

 

Monday and Tueesday was back to school, finally. Slowly but surely, my focus is coming back. Datelines for assignments are approaching, and efforts to complete them are slowly gaining impetus. Next Monday, I have a group presentation worth 40% (massive), Thursday a 5000 word report (30%) is due and Friday there is a written exam (30%) to do. Next week is going to be a big week as I trudge along the final weeks of the semester.

 

Just now, as I was walking home from the bus stop, I saw a girl lying on the side of the road. I think she has just been knocked down by a car. She was lying on her side, there was no blood, but she was having an uncomfortable look on her face. Her friends were around her, and they were in the midst of calling an ambulance. I thought of approaching to help, but there were already quite a few people gathering around. Her injury doesn't look serious, but she may have broken something. Oh, the fragility of life, I sure hope she will be alright. God bless her.