Dragons vs Crocodiles

Daniel took me to a basketball game. it is said to be a dying sport in OZ, especially Melbourne. cos everyone;s into footy (australian rules football). i seriously dont get that game. trust me, i tried. i figure it would be a good experience for me to go see a real game in OZ, when i say real i mean: professional players, regular seasons, cheerleaders, hot dogs, mascots and a real basketball arena.






The game was between South Dragons and Townsville Crocodiles. the first half was kinda slow for dragons, they were behind by 20 points. geez.. but they managed to catch up on the second half, and lead for about 5 minutes in 3rd quarter and it's head-to-head till the end. Unfortunately, Dragons lost 89-91. those stupid players kept on trying to catch up by doing three point shoot all the time, a waste of time i'd say. they should have just drive-in and try to at least get a foul or dunk the ball in. they were like 6'10 and 6'8. how bad can you be when you are that tall?

The arena was awesome, not the best but it's decent (compared to the ones in Indo). although i must admit, that game was a bit dry in terms of hype and audience. seriously, it was like half empty and probably a game back in high school has more enthusiasm than that. Of course, my high school games doesnt really have sexy dancers slash cheers. i probably shouldnt compare it to NBA, but it made me realize how NBA has really turn basketball into not only sport but also an entertainment.



Luckily, the game got interesting and got me excited, especially in the last 5 minutes of the game. However, the noise, the rave and the ambience does not fulfill my expectation of watching a game in, say, first world country. Well, it is a regular season, and it;s not NBA i guess it's excusable.

Being true to my japanese-tourist disorder, i definitely took picts and bought myself a Jersey of my new Basketball Idol- Joey Ingles. HE saved the day, didnt manage to win it, but he is REALLY good.



might go the another game. next month.

when you are away

i always knew that when you go away from home you are bound to miss events, food, friends and even your old room.

being in Melbourne for almost 16 months now, i have missed several birthdays, one too many weddings, dirty cheap food, sweating like pig in the middle of the night and the "ceriwis" talks show.

you eventually adapt and adjust to not having those around, and probably because you know that you are going to go back therefore you dont really feel like you missing out that much.

however, again, i hate being away when this event happens. Funerals.
this is the second funerals i missed since im away. not to say that i like and look forward to attending funerals but how can you get over the fact that you are away when someone you know and care passed away?.

i dont get a chance to say goodbye, i dont get a chance to be there for those being left behind, i dont get the chance to see them for the last time.

how do you cope with it?
out of all the things you missed when you are away, this is probably the most uneasy, difficult and discomforting feeling.

today, my cousin died. he left behind a wife, two toddlers and a bunch of family that cares about him. we may not be the closest cousin ever, but he is my cousin. we shared memories, histories, good and bad.

i used to hope that one day after all of the diseases that has crippled him, he would rise and get better and then he would provide me with the possibilities of meeting "Aksan Syuman" , he used to be Dewa's drummer and his buddy back in junior high school, my all time favorite guy. Guess this is not happening.

Rest in peace, Bang.

ps: i handed out my assignment, did tutoring and manage to survive my presentation - it wasnt that bad after all. i Didnt quit and i did get most of the votes.

on Nationalism

i can never forgive myself for volunteering to do this presentation on Nationalism. i managed to get out of it last semester, but i cant seem to nudge it this time.

worst timing, first of all, i didnt know when it was going to be and it turns out to be the same day as my contemporary world essay. so much for careful planning.

second, i know nothing about nationalism, the ones i got talks about theories and theories and theories with limited or no examples. and my sources are the same as the one of my lecturer. i thought i can just get away with that, but i cant cause it's the same thing.

third, Pete gave me concerning comments on my essay which means i have to rearrange it more than i thought i should. Shit.

i think im gonna bail on the presentation. im not a quitter, never have been. but this time.. im almost there. shit.

....

i still need that friendship manual. seriously.

Akhirnya...

Max Brenner's Waffle Chocolate and Strawberries (on the side) with Vanilla Tea.


been craving for this the past three weeks.

Mmmhhh....

a good friend of mine told me that i should just get a dumb-goodlooking-greatINbed bloke. He reckons i dont need a guy to take care of me, i should get one that just looks good and can give me great sex.

Ha Ha..

i smiled. but then again.. this might work.. :P

Essay(s)

two down..

one to go..

and one MASSIVE research to go.

Ganbatte!!!!

I Say a little Prayer for You

this is probably the best time to really say a little prayers for my beloved friends.

I know that you are going through some difficult times, i may not be the best person to give you advise and i may not be able to comfort you the way you need me to. But one thing is for sure, regardless of whether you believe in God or not, i am praying that things will work out fine.

if i am given a choice between painful-hard-nervewrecking truth and nice-comforting lies, waste no time my friends as i will always choose truth, no matter how painful it is.

i wished "he" had the guts to tell me the truth instead of leaving me in the dark. "He" must have thought that it was a heroic thing to do, to just let me believe that he was the bad guy, while i knew he was lying. I felt undermined for not being able to handle truth and not to be able to tell that he was lying to my face. But, that's the past. i have managed to let it go.

back to the issue at hand..
my dearest friends, i know that you may know this already but i just wanted to remind you that i am here if you need me, im just a phone call away, always have always will be.

Good Luck.

Girls Day Out

no, this is not another concert.
6/09/08

this is actually the start of the spring racing carnival. No, it's not sack race, or any other independence-type of races, this is a Horse race. Yes, you dress up (with a fascinator and heels - high heels), you gamble, you drink all day long and you scream at your winnings. Thanks to Jell for organizing and getting all of us tickets.

There were 5 of us going: Jell, Jakub,Me, Phillip (Jell's first cousin), and Justin (Jell's tutor at uni - picture not available).


Since Jell is a member of the Flemington Racecourse, she got us tickets to the indoor viewing - level 4 and 5 Grandstand. So basically we are in level 4 looking over finish line, big screen and members area and we got a bar. One interesting scene is that level 5 has the same feature as level 4 PLUS a stage - live performances, a DJ and a dance floor. very very interesting concept i guess the oz just cant enjoy their day without music and dancing and booze.







the official name for this event is Young Members Cup - Decjuba Girls Day Out. it's at Flemington racecourse. this was just one day out of the whole spring racing season, you got derby day and the Melbourne Cup day coming up. I dont think i will be going to either of those, simply because the whole process of getting a dress and a fascinator for each and every occasion is just too much for me - not to mention the high heels. ouch..

My Fascinator..


The Look..

as you might predict, i couldnt hold on to my high heels for long.. so i went from these..


to these..yeay.. barefooting.
ps: new $7.80 socks from IGA supermarket at spencer street. arent they lovely?

I was ready to soak my feet on warm water with sea salt but the night is young. the races ended about 5ish. so me and the guys decided to go for dinner. It's Polish Pizza and Vodka. I wasnt too sure about the place when i first heard it, but man.. you should really give it a try. The joint is called Renix on Ackland St, St.Kilda.

At dinner, Brad & Jo (newly engaged couple) joined us, also Phil's gf -i think- and Lene-Marie (Jakub's gf). so it's all one BIG happy family having dinner. We started with Nachos and Devil wings for entree which took so long to make and there was only 3 wings on the plate (wtf???). we dug in anyway. The Polish pizza was really good, the others are average.

i didnt really know what's so special about this place until Jakub brought us a round of Polish vodka, which was AWESOME. you really should try it, i doesnt have that bitter-weird after taste, simply a masterpiece. Jakub said it's because in the filtering they got some kind of grass in the middle that takes away the bitter-weird taste.

one polish vodka..

two cheery vodka..

three honey vodka...

four more polish vodka..

and you have majella rambling n calling randomly while trying hard to sit straight.

this is the night i tried more vodka than in my entire life, thanks to Jakub.
ps: more pictures of us at the pizza joint are coming soon, i didnt take out my camera at all at Renix, it was just too intense. :P

2 things on Thursday

procrastination got me my fascinator today. it is a head-piece for the upcoming horse-race im going to attend. it's cute, at least according to me. pictures will come later, as i really, like really, need to start my intl inst n orgn essay.

and another thing, i got my flight itinerary today. manage to secure the same flight as "si ndut". so people.. look out.. i'll be going back on dec 12, 2008. geesh, i never thought that this is it, although i have to admit i have been waiting for the day i end my essay-writing-agony.

ok. that's it for now. need to get back to my essay (again).

hey world

what can you do for the world? you got a lot of things to say (maybe a lot of actions and ideas) but nothing seems to work.
what can you do? seriously..