Withdrawal

MASSIVE reflective mood atm. I have to confess that it's mandatory I feel like this after a camp or going away with friends for longer than 24hrs. I was actually naiive to think that I wouldn't have this low after the snow trip. I remember thinking to myself just as we were about to leave "I'm not feeling anything at the moment, I totally enjoyed myself but I'll be okay. Get home and back to reality." Little did I know that I was cheating myself because I dreamt about the people from the trip and taking a tram to Uni and then to some church (which looked weirdly enough like a synagogue - I think that was a result of looking at the maps of Jerusalem in my bible last night). All through the day I kept recollecting and playing back the events that occurred over the weekend. It was like a solemn video clip, the highlights and best of if you will. Like I said before, not once have I come back from a trip with friends and not felt sad like a friend has passed away or a part of me died. I wonder if other people experience this as often.

Lucky for me Dave came over today, albeit to work on our marketing assignment, and that cheered me up. It reminded me that despite the fantasy of living with friends and skiing/snow boarding for everyday the rest of my life (haha yeah I'm that crazy), I do have a reality that is also good.

At the mo I'm playing Fix You - Coldplay, Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley, Two Thousand Years - Billy Joel and Best of You - Foo Fighters over and over again on my playlist. I seriously don't know whether it's therapeutic and conducive for my mood right now, or prolonging the grieving process.

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Fix You - Coldplay

Weekend Fun

Okay so you might be wondering why, after a massive weekend for me, I'm blogging before 9am.

It all began when I had two of them on Friday night. Yes, I am a karaoke whore. For our cell activity we did karaoke at Karaoke Bar in Forest Hill which was pretty funny. The girls definitely showed their sanguine side and esp. Mel belting out Boyz II Men among other artists! I had to pike around 12am and headed to the city to karaoke it for Ben and Chops' 23rd. Where Forest Hill karaoke was light hearted and..."girly", Shanghai karaoke could be best described as "derelict". But in a good way.

Rocked up to see one room for the drunkards and mostly single men wailing on the mic and one room for the low key, reserved people (mostly girls). Naturally I knew my place and fulfilled my duty by escorting Anna to Room Mellow then left to join the boys in Room No Holds Barred where they were doing Backstreet Boys' "As Long As You Love Me". Had heaps of fun catching up with some of the MHS boys I hadn't seen in ages and letting go a little more than FH karaoke (as doing a really high falsetto rendition of Britney Spears there wouldn't have been funny, but just weird) and ended the night at about 2:30am. I rushed back home to have a shower and looked up directions on whereis.com.au to Mt Hotham to be in bed by 3:30am.

Saturday morning I was woken up by my phone and I checked to see that it was Vic. I turned my gaze upon my clock and saw it was 6:40am. S*#t! I had overslept by almost an hour! I let Vic in and scurried around to get ready for our trek to Hotham.

We left around 7am and arrived around 12:45pm to meet the rest of the gang who had come back to the lodge for lunch. After eating, the rest of them were going back to hit the slopes and Vic and I were content to follow them to the lifts and plan where we'd go on Sunday. After enquiring about hiring equipment from the ski shop, we ended up hiring right there and hitting the slopes around 2:30pm. It was a good 2.5hrs of skiing for me and the thrill of rushing down the hill came flooding back.

We headed back around 5pm, washed up and prepared dinner. After our meal we decided to play some games including a memory one Ailz suggested in which it highlighted how inferior guys are to girls (even though Matty was one of the girls to make it 5 v 5). To even things up I suggested we have Boys v Girls boxing. For some odd reason that was laughed off. We also played the Spoons game and Ailz was the first one to lose three times so we made her do a dare.

Next day we woke up early at 7:30am to pack, clean and hit the slopes again. This time all the skiiers except PP converted to snow boarding. We all had a Level 1 lesson (cept Mike and Matt who were already good) and then spent until about 1pm boarding. Left Hotham around 2ish and organised to meet up at Wangaratta Maccas where we had a little bit to eat before heading home. *Along the way we passed some "special" little towns which Ann, you would've especially appreciated including Mt Blowhard, Longwood, Old Longwood and Mangalore! I presume the route (pun intended) to Hotham throws up plenty of action involving a galore of men blowing hard on old long woods. Anyway, I slept at about 10pm last night coz I was just exhausted and that explains why I rose so early today.

The weekend was a very entertaining one for me. Many funny, funny moments and some of them include:
- Julia's reaction to me pretending to act out the line "I'm gonna take my clothes off too" from Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love To You
- Garry and his "NFC" policy
- YMCA at karaoke
- Vic and I singing 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys and other gay songs up to Hotham
- Aileen's arm-sized poo which blocked the toilet - then going to ask a stranger down the hall for a plunger
- PP hitting his head on the corner of a shelf and Ailz responding by laughing and taking photos of his bleeding head

Last but not least, thanks all who made this weekend a really big one for me including Jade for organising FH karaoke and Ben and Chops for city karaoke! Thanks to Aileen, Andrew, Carol, Katie, Mandy, Matty, Mikey, PP and Vic for organising, driving, cooking, cleaning and being good sports and good company to have on the trip! Hope this week isn't too hard on all you guys and if it is, just remember the fun we had on the weekend! Adios people!

*Hehe forgot about the little towns but it's there now Vic!

To Do

One last thing before I quit,
I never wanted any more
than I could fit into my head...
...there's one thing that comforts me
since I was always caged but now I'm free

Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench

Okay going to be SUPER busy this week starting today! Gotta do a lot of stuff today since I'm going to Hotham tomorrow morning and next week I'm busy every single day and night with group meetings, ortho appts, optom appts, baptism workshops, farewell dinners and work! That probably means not much seeing of The Greg and not much blogging! See, this is what I was talking about Chops, being pushed to the limit and loving it because only under much heat and pressure does the real diamond shine through.

Aren't I The Luckiest Little Bongo In The World?

No, you're not reading incorrectly. Yes, it does in fact say Rachel Bilson...for ME. *Sigh* It hurts being so awesome.

PS. Thanks Quoc for the images! Hehehehe ;P

Weekend Wrap

Hi all! Okay it's very late and I need to get up early tomorrow morning for a group meeting so I'll sum up the main points.

Gonna do a recap of the weekend (which was activity plus!)

Saturday stayed up late to watch the Villa v Spurs match in which us three amigos (or more like three stooges since it was a close one!) myself, Quoc and Chops punted on for the Spurs win. Lucky for us Robbie Keane subbed on and equalised for a 1-1 draw. $4 win each as opposed to a $50 loss each! Haha

Sunday morning was incapacitated to go church service which I felt guilty for, had some bad food the night before methinks!

Received a call from Vic to tennis it later in the day and so off we went to Uni (do we ever get away from that place?!?) to play on the free Trinity College courts. Got there only to find all the gates into the college locked, lucky for us we managed to see a lady swipe in so we tried to go in after her. After lying about knowing friends who go to Trinity, she just let us in, not without the automatic gates closing on Vic while he was halfway through! Haha Vic sandwich it was and b/c of the automated gate, it kept squashing him till he pulled himself out again! Since we did a dodge, we felt compelled to at least help carry the lady's big boxes and bags up to her apartment. As Vic described it, it felt like a scene from Harry Potter b/c the lady (whom we secretly thought was a witch or something - but a nice one!) had this dark green billowing cape with scraggy hair and round gold-rimmed glasses and the three of us walked through the Trinity College grounds which was enclosed by old, traditional style buildings. After that totally weird experience, we went to play tennis for two hours where we met these two overly friendly British guys.

After tennis, went back to mine to get ready for PDL celebratory dinner. Dinner was good, lots of food and even got to watch a little bit of Newly Weds! Not too out of the ordinary until near the end when Aileen came in asking for help with a flat tyre. A few of us went out and helped fix it albeit dinting the underside of the car in the process (which was largely my fault sorry Ailz!). After the dinner, Vic and lil Becca came over to watch The Wedding Singer. I again realised how much I like that movie and how cute Drew Barrymore is!

Today started off really slowly, rushed in to Uni to renew a book, then came straight home. Started watching Lemony Snicket in the evening then went to have dinner with Anna and Vic at Samurai on Glenferrie at about 8pm. Interesting last part of the dinner where the topic went onto all things "toilety" where we all concluded that we disliked being a visitor at someone's house and going to the toilet only to produce "unflushable turds" and making very audible bowel sounds through paper thin walls! ;P

Vic and I then went to Julian and Cherlynn's to play scrabble only to find Daniel and Alvin finish off their game and leave. The four of us were about to begin until I suggested Texas Hold 'Em in which Vic finally lost his poker virginity. Pretty funny night where there were lots of weird "noises" and "smells" in which I have to honestly report that we all contributed to! Haha thanks to J+C for the jelly beans, $1000 water and poker company.

Anyway it's off to bed for me, have a good week people! Good night!

Double Booked

I have a tendency to do this. I always end up agreeing to attend some event and realise later on that I already agreed to be somewhere else!

Okay, so I just realised that next week Friday, I agreed to the much anticipated karaoke night with Chops & Co. It was going to be a night of loud, drunken* (hmm I hope no one from my cell reads this haha maybe Jade might but she'll be okay-ish with it...right?), singing fun! A night to signal the imminent close of the year, more magnified since a lot of us double degree students will be ending Uni and beginning the journey into the "real world" we've heard so much about our whole lives.

However, without realising last night in our cell discussion, we actually organised to do karaoke (of all things! A big "Come on!" a la John McEnroe) for our activity night next week in Box Hill. This of course will be somewhat different because of the sans-alcohol policy naturally but as our motherly friend Britney would say "Oops! I did it again". I guess my next task now is to break the news to Chops & Co. which will be a feat in itself! After the Boyz II Men concert last week, we were FULLY PUMPED for a big karaoke night, it would've been the first one in a looonnngg time.

I may have also double booked myself elsewhere next week. At the moment I can recall being committed to;
- Tonight - drinks for Nhan's b'day
- Sunday morning - church service
- Sunday night - celebratory dinner
- Monday night - scrabs at J+C's
- Wednesday day - work 9-5
- Thursday day - work 1-5.30
- Thursday night - another celebratory dinner
- Friday day - Pickup car
- Friday night - YG Karaoke

Also, somewhere in between those days I'll most likely have two group meetings. So please if any of you have made plans with me that are contrary to what I've listed, inform me! And sorry in advance! Anyway I'd better get some study done since it looks like another busy holiday ahead. Laters!

*Disclaimer: If anyone from my cell is actually reading this, drunken doesn't refer to me! I may have had alcohol a few times prior but nothing too out of control. Besides, any one of my friends will tell you I'm usually the designated driver and no where near the boozer you may have imagined me to be. I mean, c'mon, it's boring old Greg. =)

100 Posts!

Ooo wow! I've made it to 100 posts! Who would've thought huh? Most things I start don't get completed I must say haha but well, I guess blogging isn't hard to do. You can post every 6 mths and still say you have an "active" blog.

Anyway I just got home from dinner at Samurai on Glenferrie which is top-notch. (How appropriate that on my 100th post I celebrate by talking about food ey? ;P) The food is cheap ($12 will get you a dinner box which includes soup, entree, main and a drink) and it's pretty good too! Verrryyy close to my place and not only is it quality, but quantity too! I am soooo full! Props to Vic for intro'ing us to the place. And since I looovvee green tea icecream, my pick of the drinks menu has to be the green tea milkshake. Top stuff.

On other matters, nothing of note has really been happening. Been really busy (as evidenced by the lack of posts) seeing as this week is the week before a 2 week holiday from Uni...which means a lot of assessment! I'm looking forward to the hols, doesn't seem like I've had one in AGES which is a lie because I had one in July/Aug. I think it's because I was so busy during those hols working a lot and VBS among other things. Hmm anyway, I'm gonna spend this one coming up on organising stuff for my US trip so it might just fly right past again. Oh well, at least all that effort will be for fun! Okay so that's all for now folks, till then, take care of yourself and each other.

Unfair

The 'rents have gone to QLD for the weekend.
This means I have the house all to myself (save Stalks and Korean Lee).
As fate would have it though, I have a midsemester exam tomorrow that I'm very much unprepared for.

There goes my weekend.

Boyz II Men

Last night was awesome.

It began slowly with the decided 5pm meeting time at Festival Hall seeing us finish eating dinner at Maccas next to Vic Market at 6:30pm. We arrived at the venue by 7pm and lined up till the doors opened at around 8pm. The security was tight and they required we produce ID to prove we were over 18. I just assumed that I would easily pass since I'm actually 22, and even when I was underage I looked over 18, but they checked everyone nonetheless. Without the card I would've had to run back to Dave's car, grab my licence, run back and line up for who knows how long! Luckily my guardian angel gifted me with a Deakin Uni student ID card...which assumed my name was Justin Khor...and had a photo that looked strangely like one Justin Khor I know from YG. Haha thanks Juzzy!

Anyway we got in and we were pumped! On the way to the venue, Chops and I gave heartfelt renditions of the greatest love songs of all time which stupified Dave and Tam. They also laughed, and oh how they laughed. (I'm used to ppl laughing AT me so I can't tell the difference anymore haha.) I also met Leanne who claimed to be an avid reader of my blog (I don't know if you should be telling ppl that coz you might be shot and I don't take any responsibility for that! Haha).

Random from X-Factor was the supporting act but they weren't my cup of tea. However, they were Aussies and in need of a break so kudos to them, I was in a generous mood afterall. The emcee then continued with more banter and showboating which included a singing competition for backstage passes. The first two girls who went up sang terribly! They were honestly worse than my dog, and that's bad...because dogs can't sing. Anyway the final girl went up and sang well. She even got the crowd to join in on "End of the Road" which I thought was quite special.

Then the moment we had all been waiting for...on came Boyz II Men! They began with "On Bended Knee" which is my fav song and the show continued. The highlights included a guy near me shouting a request for "In the Still of the Night" to which the Boyz obliged, the crowd going WILD when B2M sang "I'll Make Love to You" while tossing out roses and of course, the 2nd last song "End of the Road" at which point each member of the audience suddenly made 6000+ friends.

The night finished at Stalactites where nine of us had meat platters and souvlaki's. I got to bed very late, woke up very early and my voice sounds subtley different (as pointed out by Vic when he asked if I had a cold) but it was well worth it. The nostalgia was overwhelming; not only was it a concert by great artists, but it brought back flashes of the good old MHS days when during lunchtimes in the library us boys would sing acapella to B2M, Usher and Montell Jordan with The Fresh Prince, Mr. Smith himself, peppered within. Plans to have karaoke during the mid-sem break look to be very promising. Just know that I'm now ready to rock people...bring it onnnnnnn!

Quizamathingy

Generally I don't like doing too many of these things unless they're ridiculous (like the Care Bear one - I'm a "Tramp Bear") because they usually ask you a million questions, take ages to do and in my personal opinion, reveal that you're insecure about who you are. Anyway, I did this one coz I have nothing else to post and saw it on Cat's MSN space. Enjoy.

Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:
You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

The Weekend of 3/9 - 4/9

It's almost 7:45pm and I haven't started my Corp Fi tute h/w yet even though I have to do it since they collect it every week for 0.5% of my final mark! It gets a bit tedious, I've been really slack this semester so I dislike this system very much.

So last night I watched "In Good Company" which stars Topher Grace (from That '70s Show), Scarlett Johansson and Dennis Quaid and I thought it was a decent film. Although after watching it, at first it might seem severely lacking closure in the end, it does make a little more sense upon further consideration. It's meant to be a statement about how unpredictable the world can be, one minute you're on a high, another you life's in turmoil. I must put a SPOILER WARNING here so if you haven't seen it and don't wanna know what happens, stop reading. Anyway, I both liked/disliked the way the movie didn't conform to a predictable storyline, for example, although it would've been sweet to see Carter (Grace) and Alex (Johansson) get together in the end it was more realistic that it didn't happen. But then again who's to say it wouldn't have happened later in their lives? A few questions were left unanswered at the end of the movie but I guess that's what the director wanted to express - the unpredictability of life continues on and on. In that sense, the movie didn't need to tell the audience whether Carter finally chose another profession or what happens to Dan (Quaid) and his family. Overall I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would have (someone told me it was crap) but you could say I was slightly biased since Topher Grace was in it. Scarlett Johansson has become somewhat of an acquired taste for me, she wasn't particularly outstanding previously but since watching The Island and now In Good Company, I'd say she's definitely growing on me (thespian-wise and physically as well hehe OMG she looked AMAZING in this black dress and red jumper in the movie! Very Charlize Theron-like mmm).

One of the issues that struck a chord with me in the movie was the hotshot Carter moving up the ranks; he becomes head of a department at the age of 26. I guess it stirred thoughts about my decision to opt out of a career in commerce for whatever reasons and highlighted some of the aspects that I personally had issues with.

Other than bumming around this weekend I haven't really done anything noteworthy. I guess I should mention that another international student has come to live with us, he's from Korea and since he's Christian I brought him along to church today. I have to say that I found it pleasantly surprising that people were so welcoming to him today and hopefully something good will come out of this. Another thing that really touched me today was when PT began his sermon emotionally after briefly mentioning his tragedy and Uncle Isaac looked very emotional about it too. Seeing it affect Uncle Isaac almost as much as PT made me a little teary myself because of both PT's pain and the display of brotherly love.

So that's the weekend roundup on this fourth day of September, 2005. I hope you guys had a good weekend and of course, a big Happy Father's Day to all those dad's out there!

What To Do...?

A bit stuck today.

After this semester I have one more subject to do before I graduate, meaning I'm gonna be back as a student next year for one semester doing one subject. Long story, but it's given me a few extra options so I don't really mind.

Anyway been looking through the Uni Handbook, in particular the Arts section and found that I'm in over my head. Initially I had in mind doing either 107-132 Introduction to Hollywood & Art Cinema or 920-145 MCD-Introduction to Systematic Theology but upon further investigation, there appears to be a plethora of subjects I'd be interested in! Some of those are:

107-102 Pyramids and Princes: Egypt and the East
131-110 Medieval Europe: Plague, War & Heresy
161-108 Reason, Religion and Responsibility
640-176 The Solar System and the Cosmos

There are many more than the ones mentioned above but they're either offered in Semester 2 or have prerequisites. So I'm gonna have more of a think about it, find out more from the departments and see how I go. Suggestions are welcome. Watch this space!

To Win But Not To Win

"Hello is this Gregory Wong?"
"Yes speaking,"
"Hi I'm from the Australian Schools' Mathematics Society and I just want to say congratulations on winning our competition!"
"Oh...thanks."
"Now, you've won yourself a free GAP assessment and in the running to now win a computer for yourself and your school..."
"Err..."
"...now tell me what grade you're in."
"I'm in Uni..."
"Oh...on your entry form it says you're under 18."
"I didn't submit any entry form..."
"Oh..."
"Yeaaahh..."
"Okay thank you for your time anyway"

Haha okay so lemme get this straight, I won a competition I didn't enter in but wasn't eligible because I'm in Uni and not school anyway. Hmm...

Whoever's entering school competitions on my behalf, please stop. Thank you.

More Evil Birds...

Eww. Yesterday while walking to move my car in the 2hr spots at work, I walked past two ravens pecking the crap out of a dead pigeon. It was already dead coz I walked past it in the morning when going to work but it was still gross. So I shooed the ravens off where they flew up the closest tree, waiting for me to go by. But I didn't, I made a loud hissing sound and they flew to the big gum tree overlooking Albert Park Primary School. I knew they were still hanging around so I waved my arms hissing even louder and they flew off. After I moved my car I noticed they weren't in sight and didn't come back. Wooses.

I didn't know ravens ate other birds. I thought local birds ate worms and little insects! I think it's a little macabre (Anna knows what that word means!) myself, but I guess I just never noticed it, maybe until Carol's story last week and then yesterday. Birds are evil! Haha...but I felt like I did a good thing, protecting the pigeon carcass from the bad birds. Maybe it means something. Like a premonition. Protecting helpless people from evil people. Haha mm I wish. But then again I do feel a certain responsibility for someone who seems to get the s**t end of the stick. Yes, he's a bit different but you know, maybe people have pigeon-holed (no pun intended) him into this persona that he feels he has to fight against everyone and be different for people to acknowledge his existence. Either way it will definitely be interesting to see how it all goes.