now the cities we live in could be distant stars

Suburban War - Arcade Fire

I suppose the oddest thing about the transition from high school to university is the break of familiarity for me. Ever since school started, we had been always treading the same road. But this is now different - it is probably the same with work and pressure but the learning appears to be so much more condensed and concentrated; we're training for our future professions, training for how we are to be as adults in society.

Despite hating on English so much in high school, I have grown a particular fondness for it after the HSC. One night as I felt overwhelmed and terribly claustrophobic, I found myself turning towards Gwen Harwood's 'At Mornington', reading it and realising what beautiful words she has written down from pen to paper. And I cannot help but realise how much contemporary relevance Blade Runner has to our current society - the HSC Advanced English Course was very insightful and now I miss it. And I miss doing maths so much.

What I find the most frightening though is how friendships will inevitably drift apart. It's like that change from primary to high school though I suppose this would different. The teenage years were when we changed the most, found ourselves in the world, lost others along the road and developed our identities. I guess that could say that we changed together. The separation will truly test these ties that we've found in high school and may they only strengthen but not wear as time passes by.

Growing up is confusing. Sometimes you find yourself attracted to one idea and another time, attracted to something completely on a different spectrum. I've never been more confused in my life. Time to grow up.

I am Julian Assange.

The US has YOU in control.

SRXT

A lazy day at home.

Reorganised my closet. It's so much neater hey?

A cardboard cut out thing I bought in Covent Garden, London.

Changes

Orientation was today.

I guess it was a chance for me to set foot onto campus and realise how....tafe-like my campus looks. I've seen facebook groups proclaiming their love for Cumberland...but really? It made me feel claustrophobic in the way that it was a magnified size of high school but with so many people pursuing different subjects and yet I felt incredibly small and alone there. Maybe it would change as semester progresses, who knows?

The lecturers who greeted us on orientation were certainly blunt about what we were to expect. I had already knew that Uni is infinitely harder than the HSC but I guess they just felt the urge to reiterate that to our already numb faces. What was even more comforting was finding out that the discipline of physiotherapy had pretty high failure rates, 'the two people next to you will probably fail one or two subjects'. I certainly don't want to fail.

The approach I had towards the HSC was mixed with bouts of distraction and a longing for someone/somethings. But with uni, I'm going to work hard for it.

Idiots

I love it when people post status updates on facebook about things you should never tell people. Like how they evaded tax, cheated CentreLink, hate their boss an effing lot ....
Cause that is so smart isn't it hey? #idiots
There are so many more and I really can't think of any right now. But the one that struck me was how someone evaded their tax payments. Lmao. Imagine one of her friends worked for the ATO... Would they be friends anymore?!? Haha - people really need to be careful with their words online. And I do too.
After the wikileaks scare, I'll be thinking twice about what I put on the net. Cause once it's on, it won't be off.

James Blunt

I can still recall James Blunt's explosion into mainstream music in year 8. Everyone sang 'You're Beautiful' or 'Goodbye My Lover' and well, made fun of it as those songs got way overplayed and perhaps, a tad annoying to listen to. I was a fan of James Blunt's music in year 8...though started to deviate away his genre of music as I discovered Bloc Party and a legion of bands which offered music that was not quite as soft as James Blunt's. And now, what do I found myself doing? Listening to James Blunt's music again catalysed by the release of his newest album, 'Some Kind of Trouble'...

It's weird, but I still really like James Blunt.

we're on the path to eternity

Cut Copy never disappoint. I had been anticipating the release of Zonoscope ever since they announced the release of it. Unlike the disappointment associated with finally listening to Lady Gaga's supposedly epic and life changing, 'Born this Way', I hardly found any flaw in Zonoscope and loved ever single bit of it. It's been too long since Cut Copy released new material and now, I am obsessed like I was in 2008. I am head over heels for the tracks, 'Blink and you'll miss a revolution', 'this is all we've got' and 'need you now'....

'Blink and You'll Miss A Revolution' - Cut Copy

This track is so fking good and just makes me want to get up and dance. I am also lost for words with describing it because it is just so fucking amazing to listen to...and so expletives shall suffice. Okay, enough blogging...I am back to listening to MORE CUT COPY ♥

oh yeah they call me the recluse

It's Valentines Day today and really speaking, I don't care. I suppose that's what you get when you're unattached but it doesn't really faze me either (being unattached).

So whilst the lovebirds (i.e. my sister and her boyfriend) went out for some Valentines Dinner and Movie, I took my brother out to Lulu's Cafe for a meal. My dad was at work whilst my mum is still overseas...so in some ways, it was quite lonely but enjoyable. In some ways, being in charge of my brother and taking care of him has made me grow up a tad. I miss my mum every now and then (she's coming back soon...hopefully) but leaving us alone here has made us become more independent. Perhaps not making it into UQ was a sign...telling me that I've not grown up at all. I suppose 2011 will be a year of growing up.

Sydney Uni's timetables were finally released today after what seems like a shit long time waiting. I was initially incredibly displeased with mine, having a 1pm start on Thursday. I hate anything that starts at near/past midday because it is such an awkward time. You can't really do anything after nor before, making it so inconvienient. I really do wish that my campus was instead the Camperdown instead of Cumberland so that I could really make use of my 3 hour break on Wednesday, which I cannot seem to remove without wrecking my whole timetable. So I do suppose Sem 1 of Uni will be okay. However, I'll be having 8am + 9am starts....whatevs. (actually, I think I will care when I do wake up for such epic starts...><)

Radiohead! Radiohead: The King of Limbs. I am more than excited for the release of this record. Radiohead are freaking innovative with what they do and I do wonder what is in store for this new album. And ah, they always surprise don't they? I found out via facebook...guess that's the perk of social networking and massively 'liking' every artist you want updates about on the site.

Anyhow, I'll leave you with this song. It is so freaking good....what an immense sound!

The Recluse (Nero Remix) - Plan B

Throbbing

Not only is 'The Social Network' a pretty awesome movie but the soundtrack is pretty darn epic as well.

Education

As I am sure most of you are aware, Asian parents place utmost importance on education. They do believe that education is the gateway to a better life and financial security in the near future, which I guess is true to some extent.

My little brother of 9 will be sitting the selective school test in 2012 and like I did, is undergoing the intensive training with coaching, trial test course and coupled with that, Chinese school. He does scouts as well so his week is quite darn busy. As I look at his busy week, I feel horrified to realise that this was what I did when I was his age...though at that time, I just did it for the sake of doing so and I enjoyed learning though despised hanging out at tutoring until torturous hours. He is now doing what I did. Perhaps I have grown up but I just look at his rigorous timetable and feel so darn awful for him. A little boy of his age shouldn't be crowded with books and not having time to have some down time playing. Do Asian parents really push their kids to the extreme? I know that every parent wants the best for their child...but is it too much at times? I want to stop my brother from attending Chinese school as that consists of him waking up early in the morning on a Saturday then continuing his day at coaching. Isn't he tired enough?

I fell in love again.

Homebound.

Arriving in Sydney after 41 days abroad filled with people and loudness is odd. It's quiet in the household once more and again, the loneliness strikes me. What I loved about being overseas was the people. Everywhere I went were people...even in cold and wintry England. There's no doubt that Hong Kong is lively and bustling so from here onwards, Sydney feels so empty. I've not spent Chinese New Year in Hong Kong since 2009...which hasn't been so long ago but the way that the Chinese celebrate the coming of the Lunar New Year trumps every single New Year spent in Sydney.

From the apparent initial shock of arriving in Hong Kong after a year's absence came the eventual growth of fondness for the place. Yes, it is quite ugly sometimes...with the rude and obnoxious Asians scattering about but in its core, there is fundamentally beauty in Hong Kong. My mum is currently in Hong Kong, with the four of us here in Sydney. The household is oddly empty which isn't an entirely nice feeling...and I really miss her.

Nighttime is falling here. Time does escape me sometimes. We only arrived in Sydney this morning, flying in from the north to Sydney Harbour then eventually, the airport. I've posted about my mad love for the skies and once again, I was blessed with a window seat...I could stare out that window for hours...watching the sky change colours, blend into darkness and the clouds bounce off one another. The flight down from Hong Kong was so pleasant as well, with my cabin actually pretty darn empty. The steward, who was Japanese was so kind and friendly, making the flight even better.

From my time abroad, I've been having a lot of downtime by myself thinking about the things of the past and present. Many things don't matter anymore, especially the things that plagued me before....I hope you are good dear friend.

Uni

I suppose that while I am excited for uni to begin, I still am hoping for a placement for med at UQ. To my disappointment, I found out that the UMAT scores required for entrance this year, equates to a near 89th percentile, a similar score required to get into some med schools in NSW. The score jump is high. Second round offers for Queensland have not been published though I suppose I am not going to get it cause it is truly very competitive.

Nevertheless, really... If I really want to do it in the future, I'm not going to give up. I'll just have to keep on working harder and not lose any sense of direction. There are the inevitable failures which one must face and from falling down, comes a stronger person.

Sent from my iPhone

We make plans for big times

I've been out of the country for over a month now and despite missing home at times, there's a strong part of me who never wants to go home back to Australia. I find myself missing England a lot right now. Perhaps my perception of the country is skewed since I went there for tourism but I do want to study and live there someday in the near future.
From everyone's posts on the myriad of social networking sites - Australia seems like an inferno right now, blazing with terrible heat. That's enough to put me off from coming back though... I will be back in Sydney on the coming Monday... Hrm.
Though ultimately, I think I will become an australian expatriate someday.
I should stop rambling. My writing flow is awful.

Buckingham Palace