Alba Best Girlfriend Material

It's official! Jessica Alba was voted best girlfriend material.

And looking at the rest of the top 10, CHARLIZE THERON features at #6. Isaac, either Charlize is a super good, ugly magician with the power to make every man think she's aight or the Ike-Factor isn't that in tune with the ladies as he thinks he is.

As for Britney Spears not even making it on the list at any number, that is surprising. Only because as her boyfriend you can smoke and party with your friends all the time, even if you knock her up and she's home alone and pregnant. You can also spend all her money and hang out with drug dealers while giving yourself the nickname "K-Fed" then release a terrible single called PopoZao and ridiculously bop to it on video. What a catch.

Weekly Round-Up

What better day to do the round up than a Thursday...hmm. Well it's Australia Day so I have time to do this! And it's also 38 degrees today so I won't be going out anytime soon since it's so damn hot!

Okay, where do I begin? I think it first kicked off with the sending off of my parents to the airport on Friday evening. They deserve a holiday and going to Singapore to visit relatives as well is an added bonus for them I'm sure. It also gives my brother and I freedom we haven't had for a long time! Haha...

On the cards Friday night was YG as well. That was a nice little reuinion of sorts and good to have some new members namely Adam, Fonga and Ivy on board in my cell although Ivy's still in China and won't be back for another week or two. And dear Jade, she's overseas hopefully ripping it up having a good old time before coming back to full time work.

Saturday was laid back during the day due to the 38 degree heat! Then in the evening went to Airstream in Glennie to celebrate Vanessa's birthday which was really cool! Good variety of drinks to be had and nice to see YG people in a more social setting which made for some funny moments like Daz's four line well-wishing in our card where the rest of us wrote up to four times as much as that!

After that someone decided to continue the party back at my place. I guess not having parents around to not wake up with loud voices was the determining factor. So the group split and about 11 of us came back to my place and apparently others went to Princes to pool it. It was a really good night at mine playing poker and mah-jong and just chilling out or in Bex's case sleeping on the couch. Despite most of us having to get up early for church the next day, everyone left around 2:30am.

Sunday morning was a killer! The forecast temperature was 43 and by the time church service ended, we were really feeling it! Despite this, a few of us went to Short Black Cafe in Camberwell and good thing they had air conditioning! I think that led us to stay for a good two hours having lunch and just chatting which is probably the best anyone can do on a super hot day! It was funny when Peter Lin, Ken and I ordered the exact same thing - Chicken Caesar Salad and guava juice and even a few others had guava juice too. But it felt like the right drink to have on a really hot day.

I got home and bummed around for a little before popping over to my aunty's place in Kew East to visit my cousins from Singapore who were here for the weekend + Monday to enrol into Melbourne Uni. I mentioned that it was funny how there would be 5 cousins at the Uni this year and talking earlier to Fush about it joked that all five of us could pool together and start up some kinda all round service.

After bumming around till 6pm, I made my way home and got dressed into decent clothes for dinner with Anna at Crown's Mesh restaurant in their Promenade building. We got there quite late and that made for a severe lack of decent food but the place was nice and new. Free mango juice from the bar was another plus and we even got a lion dancing performance which reminded me of my own lion dancing days hehe...

After dinner Anna and I went to see The Producers at VSG Richmond. I know Mel Brooks humour and I guess I wasn't too enthusiastic about it but was still interested. Despite falling asleep for large chunks of the movie after a big weekend and a whole day at work looming the next day, I didn't think the movie was totally crap. From what I saw while awake, the beginning was pretty tedious and a little below par with an overload of slapstick comedy but it got rolling after a while. I have to give credit to Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman though for great performances! Will is just a really funny guy and Uma played her Swedish character to a tee. She looked amazing and after watching this movie, made me view her in a different light. Very sexy indeed.

I apologise now for having another long post but it's going to come to an end very soon, just after I talk about last night!

So last night was the Melbourne premiere of the new movie North Country in which Charlize Theron stars. Anyone who knows me well will also know that I adore Charlize. She looks so damn perfect! Anyway, I went down to Rivoli just after 6pm despite notices to say that the event began at 5:30pm. But knowing stars as much as I do, there was no way they'd get there on time, or even 6pm for that matter but I knew I had to get a good spot.

Charlize (and others, I don't know who I wasn't looking) arrived just before 7pm and boy is she stunning in real life as she is on screen. She was really nice as well, making small talk with the crowd and after she got to the end of the red carpet and posed for the media, she turned to look down the red carpet again and thanked everyone for coming! How sweet!

I got a few photos but didn't get a chance to snatch an autograph. I did however get Peter Helliar's photo and autograph after he walked down behind Charlize. He was really cool, talking with a few of us. I asked him for his autograph and handed him a small North Country flyer to sign. He laughed and said, "Well, I'm not Charlize Theron but I'll sign it anyway. I'm not even in the movie!" which elicited more laughs from our little group. After signing "This is not me! Love, Peter Helliar" for me, some yobbo from across the street shouted to Pete and said "Pete, you said you'd call, what happened mate?" jokingly to which Pete playfully replied "I already told ya, it's over, we broke up so just get on with your life!"

After that, I quickly got out of there to head over to King Whale restaurant in Springvale for the church Chinese New Year dinner. It was an interesting night with sterling karaoke performances by Drew's table doing the YMCA and other individuals. There was a waiter there whose name was, and I kid you not, "Peter Pan". James and Matty couldn't get enough of it and even took a photo of his name tag haha!

Following dinner, a group of us decided to go to Princes to play some pool. I hadn't been there in a long time and not much has changed since. Pool was fun, I hadn't had a decent hit out in a while and managed to win more than I lost! I flitted in between that and erotic Photo Hunt which was funny until I realised that a few of us playing were like, around 16 years old! Hmm...

A night at these nocturnal establishments wouldn't have been complete without some sort of rabble rousing and last night didn't fail to disappoint with apparently a fight downstairs where someone got smashed into a window and someone else got kicked in the face. Ho hum what derros.

I finally left around 3:30am while a few others still remained to play more pool! After giving lifts home to Peter Lin, Isaac, Adam and Amy and after showering I finally hit the hay around 4:30am.

The crowd at Rivoli when Charlize Theron arrived

Charlize within sight!

Closer...

Even closer...

More signing for Charlize

Yay! She was right in front of me!

She's so pretty

My fav photo of her

My 2nd fav photo of her hehehe ;)

Pete!

Pete's signature

Amy making a face at the camera. Who hijacked my camera?


Apana and Mandy. Someone taking random shots of people from my camera!

Okay Leanne took this photo. I still don't get why we salute each other but oh well it's funny hehe. On that note, over and out.

Deja vu

It's really toasty right now, sitting in front of my computer with all the curtains in the house drawn to keep the heat from permeating through the windows.

I feel gross.

After a full day at work yesterday, I went out to a birthday/farewell dinner for dear Carolie Corn at Belgian Beer Cafe Bluestone and it had all the ingredients reminiscent of my birthday dinner at the same locale around the same time last year - balmy weather, good company, great food and holiday spirit ie. worry free.

While I want to remain positive and upbeat, I'm inclined to feel a little sad that people are moving on. Carol's expedition up to Sydney to begin full time work exacerbates my separation anxiety but having said that I think it's going to be an awesome opportunity! Look on the bright side Carol, Krispy Kreme at your fingertips! Hehe...

It was really good seeing people last night. After exams last year it was a blur of this and that so I didn't even get to say bye to everyone. Caught up on the always funny New Year's Eve stories (whichever side of the story you believe, "Babyface Frank" throwing up after drinking anything is great tabloid material) and renewed some interest in golf, fishing, crabbing and even travelling to Queensland in Feb.

Dinner was again, marvellous. I forget what I had last year, I believe it was the Blue Cheese Mornay Grilled Mussels although Anna argues otherwise, but last night I tried the Ardennes Mussel Pot which was quite flavoursome. And the fries, oh the fries. I don't know what type of mayonnaise they offer with the fries but it is qua-li-ty! To die for, the chips are cooked to a crispy texture yet retaining its full body of potato. Fat chips, gotta love it. They don't skimp on the portions either, for $23.90 you expect a fairly sized meal and they don't disappoint. Geez Louise, I have to move on because I have to touch base with the rest of last night and I'm seriously beginning to salivate.

After dinner a few of us went to St. Kilda beach at the suggestion of the birthday/going away girl, Carol. We bought ice creams and walked to St. Kilda pier which was nice. Funnily though, a combination of ice cream, water and Carol the centre of attention - it actually wasn't much different from last year when we had dessert on Lygon St after BBG and Carol set the sprinklers off in a nearby garden getting us all wet.

Soon after that, Garry drove me home not without heavily trying to promote this PS2 game he just lent me called "God of War." Got home really tired and it was lights out from there. What a day.

Oh, I bet you guys are wondering why I wrote I felt gross at the beginning of this blog (or you may have forgotten because the body of words in the middle took you to another place haha). I will now outline what I call my little "trifecta" of grossness.

Being a warm night last night, the beachgoing crew can attest that I got a little sweaty in more places than one. Gross #1. Also, being uber tired last night and getting home at 3am, I didn't believe I had the time or effort for a shower. Gross #2. I woke up late today and was dying to begin downloading last week's Smallville episode so after brushing my teeth, I jumped online. Well as you can imagine, I'm still sitting here showerless. Gross #3. Needless to say, I'm going now to do what must be done. Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend Melbourne.

Another One of Those

It seems I have a lot of time up my sleeve huh? Got this from Mellie's blog. Took out some questions coz it's pretty long.

Basics
Your gender: Male
Straight/Gay/Bi: Straight
Single?: No.
Birthdate: 9 February 1983
Your age: 22
Age you act: About 20?
Age you wish you were: 19 is good.
Your height: 170cm
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Black
Lefty/righty/ambidextrous: Righty
Your living arrangement: With family
Your family: Father, mother, younger brother
Have any pets?: Yeah, a psycho Jack Russell called KJ
Whats your job?: Finance and administration assistant at RED which stands for Retail Environment Design.
Obsessions?: North Face, those bloody Lacoste shoes I didn't get in LA, Cold Stone Creamery (Do we have them in Australia does anyone know?)
Addictions?: Chocolate
Do you speak another language?: Yeah, kinda.
Have a favorite quote?: "If I'm curt with you, it's because time is a factor here. I think fast, I talk fast, and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this. So, pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the f**king car."

Deep Thoughts About Life
Do you live in the moment?: Yeah kinda
Do you consider yourself tolerant of others?: Yeah kinda
Do you hate yourself?: Nah
Do you like your handwriting?: Yeah
Do you have any bad habits?: Yeah
What is the compliment you get from most people?: "Thanks for helping out." Not really a compliment but close enough.
If a movie was made about your life, what would it be called?: The World According to Greg
What's your biggest fear?: Not achieving my full potential and thus falling by the wayside and dying a drunken destitute on the side of the road somewhere in the Nevada desert.
Can you sing?: I can hit the note I intend to, can't sing high though and probably need more control.
Do you ever pretend to be someone else just to look cool?: Not really. Being cool is overrated.
Are you a loner?: Sometimes
If you were another person, would you be friends with you?: Yeah
Are you a daredevil?: Not really
Is there anything you fear or hate about yourself?: Laziness, lack of motivation
Are you passive or agressive?: A bit of both.
Do you have a journal?: Yeah
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: Not so lazy and have more motivation.
Do you think you are emotionally strong?: Yeah kinda
Do you think life has been good so far?: Yeah pretty good.
What is the fictional character you are most like?: Maybe a bit of all three of the boys from Seinfeld and also Eric Foreman from That 70s Show.

Do You..
Smoke?: No
Do drugs?: Not currently
Read the newspaper?: Yeah if I have one
Pray?: Yeah
Go to church?: Yeah
Talk to strangers who IM you?: Sometimes
Sleep with stuffed animals?: No
Take walks in the rain?: No
Talk to people even though you hate them?: Hate is a strong word, if I hated anyone I guess I still would.
Drive?: Yeah
Like to drive fast?: Umm...sometimes? Hehe

Would You or Have You Ever?
Liked your voice?: Nah. Hate it. Wait maybe not my voice, but hate my accent.
Hurt yourself?: This question should be more specific. No, not on purpose.
Been out of the country?: Yeah just came back from a stint in the land of the brave
Eaten something that made other people sick?: Huh?? I don't know maybe. What sorta qn is this?
Been in love?: Yeah
Done drugs?: Err...took some flu meds while overseas, and also some travel sickness pills. They are drugs. I know what some of you are screaming. Don't go there!
Gone skinny dipping?: Nope
Had a medical emergency?: I think so. Dark Zone 2001? Haha...
Had surgery?: Nope
Ran away from home?: Nope
Played strip poker?: Nope
Beaten someone up?: Nope
Been picked on?: Yep
Been on stage?: Yep
Slept outdoors?: Yep
Thought about suicide?: Nope
Pulled an all nighter?: C'mon, I've done 5 years of uni. Of course!
If yes, what is your record?: Like 40 hours. Due to social commitments though. Hehe
Gone one day without food?: Maybe...but I'm sure I'd remember it coz...well, FOOD!
Talked on the phone all night?: Yeah
Slept all day?: Yeah
Thought you're going crazy?: Nah
Kissed the same sex?: No!
Done anything sexual with the same sex?: WTH No!
Had a dream that came true?: Yeah. Wasn't very exciting though.
Broken the law?: Yeah. I think almost everyone has sometime in their lives. Everytime you speed, don't stop for longer than 2 seconds at stop signs, litter and burn CDs/DVDs among other things, you're breaking the law.
Met a famous person?: Dunno, probably
Have you ever killed an animal by accident?: Don't think so...
On purpose?: No!
Told a secret you swore you wouldn't tell?: Mm...if I promise not to tell, I won't.
Stolen anything?: Yeah
Had a nervous breakdown?: No
Bungee jumped?: No
Had a dream that kept coming back?: No

Beliefs
Believe in life on other planets?: Yeah
Miracles?: Yes
God?: Yes
Satan?: Yes
Ghosts?: Yes
Luck?: I acknowledge it exists, but I don't believe in it in the sense that I'd rely on it.
Love at first sight?: Yeah
Yin and yang (that good cant exist w/o bad)?: Not really

Deep Theological Questions
Do you believe in the traditional view of Heaven and Hell?: Define traditional? I guess yes.
Do you think God has a gender?: No
Do you believe in organized religion?: Yeah.
Where do you think we go when we die?: Pass judgement before God and after that it's really up to Him.

Friends
Do you have any gay/lesbian friends?: Nah. Well at least I don't think so...care to share anyone?
Who is your best friend?: Who really has one best friend these days? I guess Anna.
Who's the one person that knows most about you?: Me? Anna?
What's the best advice that anyone has ever given to you?:
Your favourite inside joke?: Nutty Noddy and his cold, cold A-Bomb.
Who's your longest known friend?: Seamus
Newest?: Bruce and Maggie
Shyest?: Me? I'm my friend. Ooo! Mel-stylez when she's doing announcements! Haha
Funniest?: Trying to think when I last laughed the hardest and that was last week at Pannies when Julz told us about how he slipped on dog poo in France etc hahahaha sorry Julz that was too funny! Otherwise...lots of ppl. Chris (colourful language), Drew (stories a la Warren), Garry (jibes), Quoc (antics)
Sweetest?: Oh I think this always has to be a girl, guys aren't thoughtful enough. Anna of course.
Closest?: Ooo could make ppl jealous now so I'll just say they know who they are. But Anna's in there by default.
Weirdest?: Erm, in a good way Dave would be the most non-conformist individual and I guess that's qualifies as weird. Then maybe Adam who's um different.
Smartest?: I'm surrounded by geniuses. But to narrow, Anna (lucky for me), Chops, Julz, Norman. (In alphabetical order so don't go looking too deep!)
Friends you miss being close to the most?: Everyone really, each and every friend has something unique about them that I appreciate.
Who do you talk to most online?: A bit of everyone really, don't have massive pow-wows on MSN anymore
Who are you on the phone with most?: Anna. That's a no-brainer.
Who listens to your problems?: Anna, Nabs, KJ.
Who do you fight most with?: Who do you think?
Who's the nicest?: Oh c'mon, too many to name just one! But I'll try at the risk of leaving ppl out. I'm narrowing it down to those almost unnaturally nice people - Brian, Dave, Karl, Mandy. Hmm I think they've all got one trait in common - gentleness.
Who's the most outgoing?: As in social butterfly...Alice?
Who's the best singer?: Dave at church
Who's on your shit-list?: No one...at the moment! Hehe
Who's your second family?: YG ppl
Do you always feel understood?: Mm...not really
Who's the loudest friend?: Chris?
Do you trust others easily?: Yeah
Who's house were you last at?: Besides my own, my cousin's in Toronto
Friend that lives farthest away: Cousin and his family in Toronto, but he classifies as a relative so Bruce, Maggie et al in LA.

Love and All That
Do you consider love a mistake?: Huh? No.
What do you find romantic?: Err...night-time, walks at the Botanical Gardens
Have you ever wished it was more socially acceptable for a girl to ask a guy out: Yes as a matter of principle. A lot of girls are so vocal when it comes to gender equality, then go all old-fashioned when it comes to something like this. You can't have your cake and eat it too!
Do you think the opposite sex finds you good looking?: No not really. Just an asian dude.
What is best thing about the opposite sex?: Feminine beauty.
What is the worst thing about the opposite sex?: Their love for "the game"
What's the last present someone gave you?: Hoodie from Maria

Who was the last person...
That haunted you?: Huh? No one
You wanted to kill?: No one.
That you laughed at?: Julz and his French doggy do story! Hahaha
That laughed at you?: Brian, Julie and Mandy hearing some of my US stories driving from/to Soul Survivor
You went shopping with?: Anna. 34th and 6th?
That broke your heart?: That's a bid 'arsh
To make you cry?: Noah and Allie from The Notebook. Wait, wait, no...that was laughter.
To brighten up your day?: Coming back home and seeing my family and friends
That you thought about?: Roddick coz he's playing on Centre Court now!
You saw a movie with?: Anna. Memoirs of a Geisha on Christmas Day in NYC
You talked to on the phone?: Anna. She's at the Australian Open and told me to watch the match on TV.
You talked to through MSN/IM/ICQ?: Anna, Garry, Quoc and Henry.
You saw?: My brother when he got off the computer and let me use it.
You lost?: No one.

Right This Moment...
Are you going out?: No.
What are you wearing right now?: MHS Class of 2000 t-shirt and pink candy-striped J. Crew boxers yeah baybee!
Body part you're touching right now?: I keep running my hands over my legs coz I think I got bitten by mosquitoes before.
What are you worried about right now?: Looking forward to but still worried about - the future.
What book are you reading?: Every Man, God's Man
What's on your mousepad?: It's blue.
Use 5 words to describe how you're feeling?: Excited, Full, Preoccupied, Nonchlant, Happy!
Are you bored?: No not really
Are you tired?: A little
Are you talking to anyone online?: Nope
Are you talking to anyone on the phone?: Nope
Are you lonely or content?: Content
Are you listening to music?: Yep. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. So haunting it's mesmerising.

HOT OFF THE PRESS! Brangelina Jnr!

According to Reuters this is what Brad and Angelina's kid could look like. It's totally fascinating, I don't think there has been this much press about what a celebrity couple's kid could look like. But then again we are talking about Brangelina.

I Can't Have Enough of You Babe

It's utterly delightful being home and having the internet at my fingertips. Yesterday I downloaded three episodes of The O.C. I missed while I was gone and one episode of Smallville.

As you can see I'm taking full advantage of that by blogging again! I also managed to catch up to date with the goss, mainly Angelina Jolie being pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby!

Now what is up with that. I really wonder how her two previously adopted kids will cope in the future. As they say, blood is thicker than water. Well I guess she was trying to help out, it's like not buying a puppy from a pet store but getting it from RSPCA instead. But imagine what that kid will look like. Dayam. I'm not gay (NTTAWWT) but I know that Brad is decent looking, and Angelina...well I saw Mr and Mrs Smith the other day and well...I'm speechless. Merely describing her as hot is truly an understatement.

Also catching my eye, I dug up some old celebrity gossip I missed during December and I have to say, Britney Spears is an idiot. Why? K-Fed, that's why! I thought I was a derro. This guy is truly the king of douchebags! Here are some of the articles.

Dec 5: Britney Spears consults a psychic
Dec 6: Britney angry, Kevin a pothead
Dec 8: Kevin Federline's credit cards are mostly worthless
Dec 15: K-Fed making outrageous demands
Dec 21: Britney can't take K-Fed anywhere
Dec 29: Britney Spears wants another kid

At that was only December. Actually, if you think about it, I reckon K-Fed is a genius. He found a rich bimbo, got her knocked up and then married. Now he's got all the outs. If he stays with her, she pays for everything. If they divorce, he gets paid there too. If the above articles don't convince you Britney is stupid then I don't know what will.

PS. If you guys get the chance, download "Rock 'N Roll Queen" by The Subways. Also try "Last Christmas" excellently covered by Jimmy Eat World, "You Only Live Once" by The Strokes and "The Spaces Between" by Expatriate. I remember someone told me to download that last song before I left but can't remember who! So frustrating! So who was it? Dave? Garry? Ken? Been listening to some oldies as well like Queen's "Somebody to Love" and "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis.

Return of The Mack

Yes, yes, The Greg is back! Hmm...referring to myself in the third person must be an American thing I picked up haha.

Damn it's been one heck of a trip! Coming back to Melb is surreal, like it was just one part of my life that existed in my head. This USA trip was the longest I had been away from home, Melbourne and even Australia. I've still got this feeling like travelling around the US is the plan for the rest of my life. I met this guy on the plane from NY to LA and he had gone over to Pittsburgh for a year for an exchange from Perth. He had almost totally lost his Aussie accent, it was so weird! I guess the social aspect of human culture really is influential.

Even getting driven home from the airport through true Melburnian 'burbs like Coburg and Darebin feels as if I've just attained PR status and seeing all things Aussie through the eyes of an immigrant.

It was so funny though, I got home and went to the loo and heard the tradies next door cementing the walls of the new house talking like true Aussie blokes. Nothing like some raving on about the missus peppered with words beginning with F and C to kick the American right out of you.

But yeah, America was so crazy. I guess that was forseeable since we trekked along with heaps of luggage and saw things that you'd never see in Australia.

I really want to recap all parts of our trip but it'd just take far too long. It was amazing though, that there really are people in different parts of the world that live in a way so different to us. And it's not like we went to Africa or the Far East, this was North America, they speak English there! (Well for the most part. NYC was quite a melting pot of people from all sorts of places.)

Unfortunately Anna has the digital camera so I'll have to concede to showing you guys photos later. I've been in Melbourne for about 4 hours now but it feels like a lifetime. I really don't know what to do. For the last almost 2 months of my life it's been "Where to today?" or "How are we getting there?" and "Did we forget anything?"

On the home front, been catching up on everyone's blogs. Read a few and noticed that people have discontinued their blogs! As much as I was surprised, I kind of wasn't. Not only is it a new year (oh by the way, Happy New Year everyone!) and people are looking to throw out the old and bring in the new, I myself contemplated to stop blogging. Like both Drew and Chops said, blogging is cathartic, and so I thought to myself why do I need to blog and show everyone else what I'm going through when I can just write this all in my little journal? I unconvincingly reasoned that sometimes it's good as a starting point for discussion, I know many times when I met up with whoever and said something like "Oh hey by the way, what you blogged about is sooo true!" In this day and age I think it's hard to catch up with everyone and have D&Ms with each and every single friend. I guess blogging keeps everyone up to date with where you are kinda thing.

Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking now: this post has no direction. Hehe I blame it on the headache I have! Coming from an average temp of like 5 degrees to a balmy 27 degree day does some weird things to you. Not to mention about 26 straight hours of flying/waiting in airport lounges.

Anyway I'm going to do a series of posts, one dedicated to each city we went to. They'll mostly outline the highlights and little observations about each city. That's good for me I think, it'll make up for the lack of blogging action in the last month or so.

I'd better go and continue unpacking. Nice to be home!