daft punk goes to australia

Somehow, to me, the name Australia has a very womanly feel to it. If I were crazy enough I would name my daughter that.

I was in Australia in December 03. It was great. Went to Sydney to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve. Went to Melbourne to visit one of my super-old-school friends/neighbors. Stayed in Canberra with my mum's sister. To wrap it up shortly. It was an intense family holiday.

And now, I want to go back again this year in December. You know why? Because a pair of my favorite robots are performing there for the last time this year.

Daft Punk

I won't start an obsessive rave about them being one of the pioneers of French house and give you details that were snatched out of Wikipedia. But the fact that the visual/sound combination at these concerts is highly praised by critics just makes me want to be there in person. I've been following their music for three years now and you could say I'm a huge fan of their work.

The Light Pyramid (The colors are amazing)

The last time they had a tour, was in 1997. And Daft Punk said that this performance in Sydney is going to be the last time they use the Light Pyramid!

So I'm super-hyped about them. But let's face the odds. I'm in Canada. Australia isn't exactly near. After a distance calculation from here, my dreams are quite squashed!

Ok, this is the only dream-squash analogy I could find on Google.

Oh, and the distance is 16613 km.
One more sidetrack, from here to Brunei is 14451 km.

A round trip to Sydney departing Saint John on 19 December and leaving Sydney 3 January, costs US$4,000. The concert ticket costs AUS$127. The expenses (hotel/motel, eating, transport, buying CDs, buying spoons for my dad's collection) there are probably going to be AUS$1000.

So all in all that comes to - using today's latest technology and conversion rates; - CDN$5000. That's pretty huge. And in conclusion I doubt that I can go. Hopefully Daft Punk will have another tour sometime.

But does it depress me that I can't go? Actually, no. I somehow woke up feeling rather happy about the way things in my life are going.

So for now I'll just Photoshop them standing next to me.

A Wedding, The Poo Plant, Sussex

But first, let me start off by saying...



REALLY! Look at me!

Besides the tragic weight gain...

I attended a wedding anniversary last week.
A 50th anniversary to be precise.
And I was asked to play the piano again.
I had fun. And $50 at the end of it.


Here's me in my 'barong'.



An expensive bouquet.



People dancing to a waltz.



And part of the appetizer... Being the quite hard-wired Asian I was, I was wondering...

"Where are the spoons?"

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My Chemical Engineering class went to a Wastewater Treatment Facility (read: poo plant).



At the end of the trip, we were put in groups of threes and were made to present the wastewater treatment process.
We were told to get creative, so I made a very interesting 6-minute video.
It took me about 12-13 hours to complete the video.
And after the video, my team-mate Mark asked me...

"Are ya sure yer not called to do something else?"

Sure, that sounded very discouraging to hear, but then quickly said;

"Chemical Engineers need to present stuff like that all the time. You'll be making lotsa money when you're working!"


Here's me and my group at the entrance.

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I went to Sussex one weekend with my friend Katie.


Very pleasant sunsets.



At one of the town landmarks.



With Becca.
The cows' names are Daisy and Buttercup.
I don't know who is who though.


Becca, Me, Katie, Chris. The photographer is Graham.



Me with the family dog. Notice how I'm not freaking out.


Katie had a huge collection of old vinyl, and we looked at some of them. She had records of Bee Gees and the Village People in very good condition.

And at the end of my Sussex trip I was handed these two records which I consider classic.



Ah, The Carpenters and The Von Trapp Family.


And I also got a very huge chocolate rabbit from Katie's mother!



This should've been all eaten up by now, considering my increasing addiction to chocolate.
But somehow, I keep forgetting to eat the thing because of my intense exam period!

Note: I don't have periods because of exams. I am having a time-period of exams.

---

Random

One morning I decided to get up early,
and go to school at 7o clock to do some odd hour studying.



And here's me, Fadia and Mark,
one more time for our presentation.



This is Desiree. She doesn't want me to go back to Brunei.
*cue for 'awwwwww'*



Sunglasses rampage!! We took just before going to the Poo Plant.



Ali, Fadia, Me, Fatima, John and Stephanie.



Overall, things have gotten better.
I'm much happier with my grades.
I only get depressed once in a while.
And I guess I'll be back in a month.



And the countdown timer is ticking pretty quickly...
I AM EXCITE!!!