Melbourne city council

Got a call last night, it was Wendy from HWD (health well-being and development formerly known as monash international student service unit) asking if i was available to come to uni to be involved in a discussion group concerning international students. i was going to say no since it is at 10am. but come to think of it, i might need to give out good impression for future reference. i mean, who knows?

i came across several things:
1. This was all done in the name of a program called 'Connect - Ed' short for connecting through education. an initiative by melbourne city council which is done by individuals outside of their work, so there's no pay and it is done outside their working hours. the idea was to enhance existing program or probably create new initiative to make Melbourne a fine education city that can make international student's experience worth while.

it is amazing how education is considered as an important economic force by Melbourne Council and more importantly these people are eager to make sure that there is a standard securing that every international student would have a good learning experience in Melbourne and not curse their whole duration of studying in Melbourne. i would have to point out that getting jacked off and exploitation might still occur but the awareness of the city to actually accommodate such need is a pretty impressing gesture. If only Yogyakarta or Bandung province officials would consider this, im pretty sure that we can increase the level of our education and quality of life.

2. Monash Parkville campus is crap. if you are going to study at monash, make sure you go to the bigger campuses. Or probably in my situtation you get to see less indonesians, which might be a good change.

3. Collectivism does do you good. Who ever thought that indomelb mailing list or other indo community mailing list would have a great deal of importance in your settling in Melbourne. i may not have benefited that much since i got Helen to help me with accommodation and all, but i found that other international students does not even have their own community mailing list or anyone to help them with what is really going on here. some just rely in the information they got from monash and the internet, while, we, indonesians, get seniors, temporary accommodation, advice, house, furnitures and even all freebies events all year long - sometimes even more that we might want and need. i might have taken this community for granted, but now i see the importance of its being and indonesians are very fortunate to have such forum (regardless of my involvement in it).

4. i got laughed at when i came across sounding my concerns that yes, credit card can be considered a vital need if you want to easily travel and buy things, and getting a credit card is not easy here, since the bank always asked for a credit reference which most students dont have. this girl from mauritius misinterpret my concerns as i cant get a credit card here therefore i should have gotten one from back home or i should apply for a NAB debit card. Geez.. listen lady, my point was that i never realized that credit card is commonly used in Melbourne and or OZ, and therefore by not being able to get one would slightly stage an additional challenge in accesing cheap flights, accommodation, car rentals and other fringe benefit. I DO have my own credit card, but the currency is killing me if i have to use that all the time, it would be more convenient for me to get an OZ credit card. it's just easier. less hassle. And yes, There is such thing as DEBIT card e.g provided by NAB. However, not everyone uses NAB especially when they are going to monash that mostly deals with COMMbank or Westpac. The point that needs to taken into account is that living back at home, credit card is a tertiary facility that you dont even need to have but here, it is essential in facilitating you to get easier and cheaper access. Damn you undergrads.

if i may summarize my meeting today, it went from a hassle of getting out of bed, to a very interesting discussion and an eye-opener of how grateful ALL AUSAID students should feel to cursing an undergrad student who just wont really listen to others have to say.

as for the topics discussed, these are the things that a civilized nation are advanced in. they do research and actually care about the quality of life and even more how to improve it for foreigners. Yes, they are able to do this because they already have an establish system and infrastructure, but wouldnt it be good if third world countries, developing countries like mine focuses on improving these kinds of things? Well we dont really get that much of international students yearly, but probably we would have if we had really focus our attention towards making our education system better for us and for others.

My argument pretty much goes stale when the other side of my brain says 'how can you expect people to care about these things, when they can barely serve food on the table?" here goes the vicious circle.

Shut

Seriously, do you think that will pissed me off? not a chance. Im too happy and nothing's gonna ruin it for me. You just dont mean that much to me anymore.

However, i should have kept my mouth shut. Geez gracia, havent you learned anything yet? Being honest does not always do you good.

Jessup Moot Court Winner

Hard work paid off, we won the battle. ladies and gentlemen, i can now proudly pronounce that i have participated in the Jessup Moot Court competition in Monash Uni and WON. yeehaaa...
my international law and policy unit gave me an opportunity to try out for this year's jessup moot competition. the memorial submission will be counted in my second assignment mark and then we had to do the verbal presentation after all exams are over. the result of the verbal will not be accounted into our mark but there are prize money for the winner, ehm.. for me. This all happened in H2.22 Monash Caulfiled Campus, Saturday June 21, 2008.

i would also like to give my appreciation for alamo and mita for their help in making it all happen. Couldnt have done it without their help.

just look at my face, this was taken after my speech, which explains the blur effect from my still-trembling hands, thus i feel the need to take a pic after my speech. i look disoriented dont you think?

Just a little background for those who is not familiar with Moot Court competition, so it is pretty much like a debate but in a court setting, kinda similar to ally mcbeal and boston legal where there are 2 sides, one respondent and one applicant -my team was the applicant, a.k.a The Winner *cheeky mode on* - and we would act as so called lawyer and would have to defend our case pleadings and hope that the ICJ (international court of justice) rule in our favor. as in a debate we also have adjudicator, but in moot it's called judges. I went as first speaker for the applicant. can you believe it? i was never a first speaker, yet i won this one as a first speaker. really need to consider a carrier as first speaker.

below is the judges, andrew from Monash uni and Jadranka from Melbourne uni Law School. pretty scary eh.. but they are really nice (hahahaha i probably wont say this if i had lost).


too bad no one was able to take pictures during the speech, since everyone was pretty much caught up with preparation and rebuttals. but these are some picts i manage to capture on recess.

Let me introduce you to the team. Here are Pete and Jakub (the second speaker) - the Boyz -

and these are the Gals - Majella, G! (First speaker) and Sarah (the third speaker)-

and here's a pict of everybody, the winning team, our lecturer Alice de Jonge (in the red robe) and the respondent (the other team)
cant believe i can actually be happy after spending a saturday at uni, one of the best days of my staying in Melbourne. Even more so, i went all night long and didnt get back till 6am the next morning. so what happened was after the whole thing was over, we all went to tabaret across uni and grab some beers, had dinner at thai safron (my first real meal of the day) and went to jakub's luxurious apartment (in st kilda, looking at the st kilda marina) cause he wanted to drop his car and change clothes and then we all cruise to richmond and went bar-hopping.

Gosh, it was my first experince in a real OZ bar, no asian around, amazing. The first bar was called 'Post Office'. Loaded with tall people which makes me feel like a midget. The place was not too big, rather small i may say. The second one was Public house, still small, lots of broken glasses, no bogans yet. And finally, the last bar, Swan hotel. this is where i can see various socio-economic condition in OZ. the carpet was sticky, a bit smelly, bad acoustics used by the live band. The highlight of my night was when a guy - a drunk guy - asked me to dance. of course i said no, but since we were standing on the dance floor and he was dancing, he brushed my but. im like WTF? and no i didnt brush his but back, i stepped aside and let him slide. dont want to mess with a drunk guy, mainly a bogan.

Just when i thought the night was over, i was wrong. After the swan, Jell asked me to hang out at Damien's place and help him finish his red wine since he's going abroad soon. He got a really nice apartment, spacious and heaps of wine although he doesnt have the view of st kilda marina. Stayed there till 5.30 and went back home. I was going to take the first train home, but Jell wont let me, she was going to pay for the taxi. I didnt let her, we ended up sharing a cab. She said that if they are your friends, a true OZ, they wont let you go back home alone on that train. If they did, they are not your friend.

Some of the boys i hang out with always put forward the "equality" principle when it comes to taking a girl home. They would argue that you wanted emancipation and equal rights therefore you should not expect boys to take you home to your doorsteps. After yesterday, i can say that argument is just mere excuse for their laziness. Nothing to do with equal rights. At least a good friend, a gentlemen, would make sure that you get home safely.

I cant believe how i happy i am, i even dance when i walk. This is a good thing.

Another bliss in the midst of mist

another weird weather in Melbourne, sunny, sunny, foggy, rainy, sunny and chilly.

housing problem solved. agreement achieved. might be getting a new housemate. not moving anywhere till the end. yihaaa...

might stay for a week in a service apartment early december 08.

sweet.

ps: had fun playing basketball today.

The Spirit Carries On

Music by dream theater
Lyrics by john petrucci

Nicholas:
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?

They say, life is too short,
The here and the now
And youre only given one shot
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that weve got?

If I die tomorrow
Id be allright
Because I believe
That after were gone
The spirit carries on

I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
Im not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend

I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try

If I die tomorrow
Id be allright
Because I believe
That after were gone
The spirit carries on

Victoria:
Move on, be brave
Dont weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear

Nicholas:
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victorias real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that Im here
Its perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means

If I die tomorrow
Id be allright
Because I believe
That after were gone
The spirit carries on

Hypnotherapist:
You are once again surrounded by a brilliant white light. allow the light to lead you away from your past and into this lifetime. as the light dissipates you will slowly fade back into con
Sness remembering all you have learned. when I tell you to open your eyes you will return to the present, feeling peaceful and refreshed. open your eyes, nicholas.


i always wonder why people put up lyrics on their blog, i used to think it's because they just dont have anything to write. Not anymore people. I just started mine. No i have things to write, this particular song slash lyrics is another step in overcoming my fears. There i said it.

ps: Buncit, since i've started dealing with my fears by making it public, you should too. it helps. this one is for us and others out there (not that they can read this since they got no access to my blog :P).

The world is on my side!

After elaborating my "stance" on the housing issue, i decided that i should be rewarded. so finally i went shopping at chadstone and bought more that i expected. :D
but it was all worth it, or at least this is what i like to believe. i got myself a new pair of onitsuka tiger and a fossil bag :D yippie..

i've been drooling on these two items since 3 months ago or so. and they were all on SALE! yes people.. ON SALE. at first i was worried cause the shoes i wanted was no longer available but i now believe that when things are meant to be yours, there will always be a way for you to get them ahahahahahah

i had doubt when choosing to buy this bag or the eastpak one i had my eyes on. the store even gave further discount on the bag since i had already bought the shoes. having consulted several insipiring people i chose fossil hehehehhe *wink *wink. guess im getting more and more mature now, need more "grown up" stuff and less sporty things. although the onitsuka is sporty and young. just look at the color :P

what makes me even happier, despite the shitty melbourne weather and rain, is the fact that it felt like the world is conspiring towards my needs. once i got to the bus stop, the bus was there, i didnt have to look long for boots, the model was there, even when the size i wanted was not there the city store got it and it's already on hold under my name. fossil and onitsuka was on sale on items that i wanted. the bus home was also readily available, i didnt have to wait long. the train to the city was also there once i got to the station, i didnt have to wait. i might be exaggerating when i say this but it feels like everything was arranged in a way for me to make my way easily everywhere today.

the day goes on with nice convo with sylvi and anna at time out at fed square. sop buntut dinner at nelayan (freakin spent 10 bucks on this) and drinks at some bar on franklin with osh.

one fine day i may say.

ps: since i cant spill one tiny period section of today's journey here which i dont want to forget, let me just write down something to get back to this moment. - the things you DO to not forget him, yet again "wuuuh,, sounds great he3.." -

being happy for others does not always do you good

knowing that your friend got a new job after months of unemployment is supposed to be a good thing. i am supposed to be happy for him. i am happy for him, really. but there's a small problem.
since my housemate is leaving for US sometime in the future, and since up until now we havent been able to get a replacement and a girl who was supposed to be the replacement bailed. shit. my other roommate - the couple - is thinking of moving out. only God knows when they are going to move out.

this was not an issue until two hours ago. i was told that they are thinking of moving out. shit. i cant move in the middle of the semester, it's when all my assignments are killing me. i need to know for sure what is really going to go down. i cant look for a house when im drowning in my assignments.
if i have to move i need to look for room 'stat'. and i dont want to wait until they got a place, i will be beaten by the newbies looking for home. trust me the competition is ugly.

or.. if i can get another housemate that we all agress, that my ass is safe at least until december.

ARGH!!!!!!

Which one am I?

iF you were to guess, which big sister would i be?
(a) the cool sister
(b) the responsible sister
(c) the mean sister
(d) the i-dont-care sister
(e) the why-were-you-even-born-i-should've-been-the-only-child sister

or what?

Lagi lagi sukses

sekali lagi saya persembahankan hasil dari hobi baru ku hehehehe.. mungkin tidak selezat di restaurant cina pada umum nya tapi boleh lah rasanya buat mahasiswa :D

Yang pertama adalah cah kang kung.



Yang ini adalah Garlic prawn ala udang goreng mentega

SATC the movie

at last.. i can now say I watched SATC. damn right i DID.

i am inclined to agree with most comment that says that this movie was not 'all it's crack up to be' BUT i still think it's good. quoting some guy online "this movie gives a good closure to the series'.

i shamely admit that i did shed tears and didnt actually think that im that BIG of a fan. turns out im a HUGE fan :D

again, a sucker for feel-good-movies with modern cinderella tale.

wish all my bitches are with me, it would be perfect.

ps: i really think miranda was overdressed, as i remember she was this sleek-business-attire chick, i mean dress up, just not that much.

doubt

as i went through reading my intl law exam, i realised that i may not have done that good in answering the question. so where did i get all those confidence ? i always thought that this is something that i am actually good at. but it turns out.. this may not. or at least i gotta wait until my results are out.

i cant help thinking that i might have just created this delusion that i did great without even doing remotely close to great. yet i managed to believe it to be and went on having all this positive attitude in studying for the last exam.

tried calling Ndut for consolation, but the line was busy. wad the hell? she would probably yell at me and repeated time and time again where did all this negative and lack of self confident comes from as i am not like that at all. i dont know.

my inquisitiveness is finally taking its revenge on me. i dont think i did that bad. but i cant be that sure that i have done great. we will have to see.

There's nothing like her

I love my NDUT so much!!

dont really know how to pay back all of the things you've given me.
dont really know how to repay all the sacrifices you given up for me.
dont really know if i can ever be as you wanted me to be.

but i do know that i will fight till the end
i do know that nothing will ever replace you in my life
and i do know that I love you with all my heart
there's nothing in the world that can stop me
from making you the happiest and proudest person on earth.

I love my proofreader

once again stating my admiration and gratitute to Chessimate for his excellent talent in writing and proofreading my essays.

Me owe you Big Time. wish i had met you last year, but cant really complain though.

the kid in me

starting from this point on, i will mostly write about what i feel towards HIM -whose name should not be mentioned hence i should really try to forget about him- in this blog. the main reason being is that buncit is really, really, really, seriously, really getting tired of me talking about HIM all the time. although in my defense, he is not all i talk about all the time, but when it comes to the topic of guys, well.. im guilty as charged.

as i was trying to finish the second part of my international law exam, everytime i heard an sms on my phone (isnt it weird to hear your sms on your phone? but anyway you are smart enough to understand what i mean, i couldnt be bothered thinking of a proper way to describe it), i was hoping that it would be from HIM. *cheeky mode*. the first two was not, but finally there was one from him. the content was nothing about me or asking about what i am doing at the moment or trying to engage in a conversation, BUT, it led to a conversation. or at least i decided to call instead of texting him back thus made a conversation out of it (im pathetic arent i?). the whole conversation lasted waaay longer than i had expected (say bye bye to new boots).

i was going to pretend my signal failed and hung up so that i wouldnt have to spend money and just use my optus yesTime, but i decided not to. remembering that i dont really call anyone that much anymore and i am still paying the cap full amount and i was really enjoying the convo and it would be such a turn off to do that. so it went really long. longest so far and it was nice. i mean we get to have a decent conversation, he gets to talk, i get to talk, we get to argue a bit not much (which is usually unlikely to happen), he gets to give me an advice and support and i get to tease him and still give support. :P anyway.. im just a happy kid at the moment. it's like getting a massage at the end of a busy day at work. im so easy to please arent i?

however, approaching to the 50th minute, we might be running out of topic and obviously both of us were tired coz of the preliminary olympic round game this morning, i still managed to put forward my 'two cents' on his behaviour towards me. i said it was lovely to have a conversation with him without wanting to kill him (at least this is how i feel), hence i always wonder why this does not happen when we are around each other. peace and a good convo happens either over the phone or the internet, pure presence would start third world war. of course as usual he didnt really answer my notion and since i suggested that i might be the one being too sensitive about it, he jumped into the opportunity and tells me that it's just me. although i've consulted several witness and they all agree with me that he DOES treat me differently.

a friend reminds me that i should no longer look for approval from those who does not deserve it at the very beginning. but can this thing with him indicates that? i dont think so. but it does indicates my curiosity about how he perceives me and what makes him treat me differently. i was just thinking as i said to buncit that the only thing i havent done to kill my curiosity is telling him how i feel, but this may never happen as we all know it. im just not that stupid, or probably not yet. the last time it took me 4 years before i finally did something like this. i couldnt help noticing how he has the potential to be the "one", but the question remains whether he is the one for me. now, i dont want to get head over heels in this one but let's not get carried away. i dont even have positive feedbacks on my effort (i assume i made efforts, numerous efforts to indicate my feelings, or so i believe). i shouldnt be dreaming of anything more than his courtesy and his friendship.

im such a kid this way. wee... gimme candy...

not so serious anymore

another defeat in my journey here in melbourne. nope, it's got nothing to do with academic requirements rather it is about a 3-on-3 basketball game. PPIA (indonesian-australian student organization) is holding an olympics in august and each state are allowed to send teams for basketball. there were only 2 teams competing to represent victoria and mine was one of it. of course we didnt win therefore the olympic-slash-holiday getaways to brisbane and gold coast can be confirmed going down the drain.

im just so pissed at the way the other team played (this might just be an excuse for consolidationg my lost). it's been a while since i played basketball with other girls, exception for nunik and nana. i forgot that there is a particular style that they used, which is grabbing the ball like in a cat fight. i hate it so much, which let me to not focus on getting the ball in but to actually figured out a way not to be pissed at them. which is not the best strategy to win a competition. anyways.. i lost a fair bit. but at least i scored some points, blocked their drive, and got several rebounds. this is my consolation. though it was only a 15 minute game, i was almost suffocated in the middle of the second set. guess im just not that young anymore. although i must admit that they played better (not so much of a difference in capability) and more solid but they play like a girl.

i just dont take basketball that serious anymore, nor that i've ever take it that serious. but i am sure back then basketball was a serious thing at some point in my life. oh and too bad nana got injured only after a couple of minutes playing, so i can argue that the team was not in full speed, however anggi is the best scorer. i should've given her the ball more and let her shoot instead of worrying that it will lead to a turnover. oh and erie was our referee.

here's the photo of the gang. from left to right: Jane (manager), Nunik, Me, Anggi (top scorer), Nana (the one who got injured after the 3rd minute).