i still love the scent of rain

melbourne was wonderful (and hot) but far too rushed. touched down on monday night and was back in adelaide by friday night. i’m still feeling awful for leaving hikmah with the house. if i had more money (and dont we all WISH!) i’d fly back after the welcome dinner on saturday and stay till the house at Clayton is all springcleaned  =(

the welcome dinner for international students btw, was absolutely great! it was at the residence of one of the professors. apparently the generous man holds it every year. his wife, was such a good hostess. anyway, there are 30 of us internationals… and i think 90 domestics? all of whom i’ll be meeting this friday. i’m actually excited ok. i’m such a nerd. cant wait for semester to start! partly coz i’m a little bored. well, i’m soooo grateful to have shumaila here for company, we did neuroscience together at Monash and now we’re both doing Med at Flinders. later today (i think) another girl from our batch, mais, is moving into one of the rooms at where we’re staying.

the internationals are mostly canadians (i think there are more than 20 of them) plus one singaporean (me), one south african, 2 from the US of A, one from germany… and amongst the domestics there are those originally from the netherlands or for that matter, there are the canadians from iraq and austria and what not so, it’s a nice mix of people. and everyone’s so… charming and friendly. i was at the dinner and suddenly, it just sunk in that i was in a room full of doctors graduate medical students. eeek. i feel inadequate, but really excited at the same time.

x   x   x

i can’t wait for the rest of my stuff to arrive on Wednesday! i cargoed them over, not without help from Hikmah and Ridwan, to both of whom i am really thankful. i’m looking forward to unpacking and doing up my new room for real!

i do miss melbourne. and friends in melbourne. and my family in Singapore! i’m a little homesick (but not as bad as when i first arrived in melbourne in 2003), trying not to dwell on it though. i call or sms my mum or dad at least once a day.

and i miss ridwan. i really do. when we first met again on tuesday, we found that we had bought almost the same pair of pants while we were apart, which i am shamelessly declaring as really cute.

i think we make similar decisions like that because we are sole mates…

i know. that was really lame. even for me.

i look short eh?

my fourteen-month-old (new) friend just left me to board his plane. so now, i am alone, sitting at the domestic terminal of the Adelaide airport. my friend–let’s call him Zack to keep his privacy–approached me with a smile and much drool on his lips. i was charmed instantly. he was a very agreeable character, our conversation consisted of many a resounding YESSSSes.

"hello there!" "yessssss!"; "whats your name?" "yesssssss!"; "where’s your mummy?" "yesssss!"; "ok, bubbye now…" "yesssss!"

he was all chuckles and six-teethed grins, running around, pointing to things, thus bringing me to the attention of those objects that i have been taking for granted in airports all these years. he would not go on to the next thing (ie. vacuum cleaner, carpet, plant, chair, bin, guy working the vacuum cleaner) until i had nodded, smiled and feigned expressed wonder at That Which Is Being Pointed At.

his father was concerned, apologizing embarassedly and profusely–"i’m reeeaaly sorry. please. ignore him if he’s annoying you." or maybe he was embarassed with me? i cant tell. but it was obvious that zack and i had a special pointing relationship. his father proclaimed that, surely, zack had taken a liking to me. being a dishevelled traveller who’s been hopping on one plane after another, with all the customs clearance and landlord-meeting and unpacking and repacking in between, and who has a piece of lettuce stuck between her two front teeth from the cheese sandwich she was eating, and whose eye bags could now be used to carry her hand luggage, i was flattered. i was flattered that i was being picked up by a C-UT-E all aussie bloke with the most original pick-up line ever (YESSSSSS!) even though i looked (and probably smelled) like crap. maybe he thought i was a tellytubby. tellytubby’s crap.

(digression: suddenly came to mind that one of the things ridwan has called me is madam sushitummy (long story, dont ask) sounds the same–sushitummy, tellytubby. kinda conjures up the same mental image too.)

you know, last saturday when i was in the bus, there was a girl–she couldnt have been more than 2 years old–who was playing with me. after a couple of shy smiles, giggles and waves (from her. i was too cool.) (haha. right.) (no i wasnt cool, i was waving and smiling back, ok?) her mum suddenly began singing for her with actions and all, which was sweet. but i swear when the little tot looked back at me once HiFive On The Bus ended, she had a smug look on her face as if to say, "i have a personal entertainer and you don’t". i swear. i’m serious. i was very hurt.

kids. i don’t get them.

i cant wait to get to melbourne and get some proper sleep. my new room/house in adelaide, by the way, is to my liking. thats one thing to be thankful for. the other thing is how smooth and easy everything has been going thus far. as my landlord said, i’ve had an "uneventful" journey–i’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much. i even love the breakfast served on my qantas flight from melbourne to adelaide this morning. i’m just sleepy and tired thats all. i’m so glad indri’s picking me up from the airport later, since ridwan’s working. she’s such an angel.

i miss my family terribly though. it was harder to say goodbye this time than the ones before, somehow. my grandparents were there too. i cant believe i’m going to miss at least another 4 of fatin’s birthdays. i already missed the last 3.

ok, now i have to save all that on wordpad coz i dont think theres a wireless network anywhere in this terminal. such a spoiler to my spontaneity lah.

Monday, 23rd January, 2015 hours, Singapore to Melbourne.

Tuesday, 24th January, 0740 hours, Melbourne to Adelaide.

Tuesday, 24th January, 2050 hours, Adelaide to Melbourne.

Friday, 27th January, 1835 Hours, Melbourne to Adelaide.

lepas tu boleh duduk diam2 kat rumah baru.

it’s only 4pm now but it’s been a loooooong day already.

the title was inspired by suhaimi’s attempt at drawing out "Mission Impossible" when we were playing our version of Pictionary. like literally, he drew a bowl of noodles and a sun. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

i think another classic was Fakhari’s 3 lines which Imelda managed to guess correctly as "The Sopranos". like, what the hell, right? add to that stories of Thai Girl Shows and other "ISSUES"….

honestly, i havent laughed that much for a long time. i had a reeeeaaaally good time! and i know everyone else did too  =)  very successful reunion/get-together/lepak2 session! well done Hajar and Shan!!!! Sabrina being there was like the icing or the cherry on the already yummy cake for me  =) 

okie dokie. if i didnt have to pack and i didnt have such a long day tomorrow i’d certainly write more. but that’ll do for now. that was a very good evening. i’m still all smiles.

it’s one thirty in the morning (which really makes it sunday already) and i’m just typing these opening lines of my new post. i’ve had a long day. i’m tired. i’m yawning. but i really want to write  =)  i guess i’m a bigger blog addict than i initially thought myself to be. i have lots of thoughts in my head–believe me! but i promise not to indulge in meandering rambles, ok? stay with me (you imaginary-audience-at-the-back-of-my-head-whenever-i’m-writing, you).

like many saturdays before this, i spent it with my family + grandparents, going around the island in the typical family 8-seater vehicle, stopping occasionally to partake in Singapore’s favourite past time (ie. eating). but on top of that, today i was also looking forward to meeting up with jenny and jiawen. like really looking forward to it, for the past week. and i wasnt disappointed.

jia made a good call on Arab Street, so it’s nice and away from the ant-colony-like crowd of Orchard Road for once. well, we ate at Samar, which isnt exactly Arab Street as much as it is on Kandahar Street, but really, at 1:40 in the morning, i’m wondering why i’m bothering with all these details.

Samar was like a mix of Achelya, Moroccan Soup Bar and Tiba in Melbourne but with a totally different crowd. in any case, it was charming. but the best part of the evening was of course, the company and the conversation. ok, actually we did spend a fair bit of time seriously talking through jenny’s predicament in the form of a neighbour who has really noisy sex (can i get sued for writing this?)… in the midst of more light-hearted catching up. it was a good meal too. sharing bread and dips, an entree and two desserts, we were full but not stuffed.

actually, since living in Melbourne, THIS has been my best trip back ever. for the pace of things, the friends i get to meet up with and the time spent with them, the time spent with family, the shopping (yes, that too), the excitement of the coming semester, even the level of keeping-in-touch with friends back in Melbourne… everything. there are STILL people i’m dying to meet up with in Singapore though! well, at least tomorrow there’s gonna be a big AC budak2 melayu gathering. mimpi apa korang? tiba2 nak buat reunion! not that i’m complaining  =)

and then on Monday, i’m flying off. insya Allaah. flight’s straight to Melbourne by the way, i’m planning to fly to Adelaide on the 27th.

well aware of my shamelessly (or shamefully?) dramatic life of many twists and turns, i’ve reserved the ticket but not confirmed it. the main obstacle being the formalities surrounding my student loan, it’s been approved but i have to sign the contract… just hoping the papers will be ready on Monday morning so i’m free to fly Monday afternoon. insya Allaah. which means! i dont get to watch The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on TV on Monday night! daayyyymn.

and i’m sleepy and i cant take it anymore so goodnight y’all.

When we broke up for ~7 hours last October, it gave me enough time to do the following (because like many women, I lose the ability for intelligent thought in such circumstances):

1.  Compose a masterpiece of a hysterical hate mail to Ridwan fueled by sheer diabolical anger, disbelief and sadness, which I CC-ed, mind you, to Khai and Hikmah. (No, i still dont really know why the hell I CC-ed the damned email.)

2.  Delete Ridwan from my Friendster Friends list (!) because I was in desperate and dire need of something to symbolize that I had really expunged him from my life. Quite a pathetic choice of action, if you ask me. But it was convenient, you know… email—friendster. Thank God I didnt reach the cutting-him-out-of-my-pictures stage.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and I was that woman, alright. Very furious and very scorned. It’s only coz I love him so much.

So yesterday, I found three new testimonials for me from this sweet young man. I guess they’re taking the place of those lost when I implemented my Act of Deletion. Yes, I, the quintessential sap, teared reading them.

Friendster–is it a popularity contest for the narcissistic? I have heard it being dissed many a times before but my realization is this. In a weird way, it has helped me keep in touch with my friends and learn more about my acquaintances. So some of them only put up pictures of close-ups of their faces taken at the most bizarre angles. So what? Unless for humour, would you put up a godforsaken image of yourself for all to see? It does put a smile on my face to see pictures of happy couples or chummy groups of friends  =) Each time. I admit I dont read everyone’s profile, but I know I dont gauge how cool a person is by it. And Friendster testimonials? Measure not your worth by it, my friends. And write not, unless you mean it. But, of course, you dont have to be as painfully anal as me.

Writing Ridwan a testimonial on Friendster wont prove how much he means to me. My actions and words when I am with him, and how I carry myself when we have to be apart, would.

But for millenia, those in love write songs and sonnets in declaration of their love, do they not? In this one, perhaps the In Thing is The Friendster Testimonial (but I’m just not seeing it). Presume it is. Presume I dont want to get left behind…

this is so me. i am slow like this–it takes me a while to like a band or an artiste. it starts off with a surfacial, "ok, nice song" and then if there’s something there, i’ll just keep on listening and it grows on me… really grows on me. Ten2Five is my new thing.

listening to You on repeat.

how beautiful is Imel’s voice? she makes me have to catch my breath when i hear her sing… few singers can make me feel like that. i’d like to get the album but i doubt they sell it in Singapore. i couldnt even find John Legend at HMV the other day. urgh. maybe i’m blind. but i really dont think they have it. I also wanna get Marcell and Malik n D’essentials…

hehe. macam lah saya banyak sangat duit gitu nak beli ini SEMUA kan? but am going shopping today alright.

this time, i dont give a rat’s arse if friendster sends all of you those annoying update emails! this is the best reason i have to blog! ever!

he smsed me that bit of info while i was queueing at the ATM. of course i got out of the queue and called him directly on my mobile. and of course Mr Cool sounded like he just got out of bed while i was screaming and screaming at the other end in the middle of a public place. alas, i am but a destitute uni student so i had to end the long-distance call.

but i could not! contain! myself! i was standing with my right foot on top of my left, as if i needed to pee.

so i called Khai and, after convincing him that he should sit down before i say anything further, i told him the news. it was his turn to scream! and scream! he must have told Zayed the news soon after we ended our conversation because my phone beeped and this sms came in from Zayed:

"ridwan not faithful… he wants to make me his bitch… i’d think this through if i were you  :)"

to which my eloquent reply was:

"hahaha… idiot."

i’m so happy for Ridwan (and Faviq). yelah, if it takes flight from here and he’s really going into the industry macam mana tak bimbang kan? tapi, first and foremost, i’m smply very very happy for and proud of him. also, i know him, i know his songs, i know his intentions for even doing this at all…  =)  so like i’ve told him before, i’m his No. 1 fan. urgh! wish i were with him now! i can so see myself jumping up and down, screaming!

that was a brilliant start to a really nice evening out. i met up with my good friend jeannice after years but it was so good to catch up! when we were 13/14-year-olds we used to go to each others’ houses after school for no good reason at all! the best thing about it is that we can meet up and talk like no time has passed between those carefree days and now. yet, our conversation was filled with how everyone has grown up and gone down their separate paths of life. i actually feel a tinge of pride looking at her, a working woman with a degree in accountancy  ;)  must meet up again ok? we go to the Redhill fortune teller…

can ask the psychic about how the other songs in ridwan’s demo album are gonna do…. tsk tsk tsk! syirik!

it’s official, i’m scared of budding potatoes. normal ones are fine, but i’ll freak out if you hand me one of those with ugly, alienesque buds sprouting all over. the only think worse than that is probably handing me a whole bag of them. AND I DONT KNOW WHY! i just feel like screaming "they’re ALIVE! they’re alive and they’re gonna craaawwwwl!"

it’s of course, neither rational, logical nor endearing. in fact, it’s a real pain in the ass when the recipe requires potatoes, like, you know… shepherd’s pie or roast/mashed/baked potatoes. it’s not a crippling phobia but it’s there alright.

like my refusal to wash fresh chicken or fish from the market if their heads are still on the body.

but i’m ok with cadavers. does the world not make sense anymore?

in other news, i (finally) got a new phone. and this is after i blogged about it in August! for the pass few months, i’ve been using Ridwan’s old Nokia while he uses a brand new mobile because i’d rather use the ancient contraption than have a brand new one which isnt a Nokia because in my world the mobile phone only functions in one way. sometimes i cant believe how much he tolerates my nonsense, you know.

but my new phone is, indeed, a Nokia. and i’ve stuck true to my initial expectations of a functional, no frills phone, although, since it is virtually impossible to get a camera-less phone nowadays, the 6020 model i got has that–not that i’m complaining!–along with some other unnecessary features that i just dont foresee myself using. my only real gripe though, is that it doesnt have Tetris! so canggih tapi tak ada tetris!  0_o

in news other then news about my phone, i just realized the halfway mark in the month has passed and i havent booked my flight yet! i have about a week++ to do a bit more shopping (will it ever end, you ask?  =) ) and to visit/meet up with a few more friends. but, i’m thinking of flying off from singapore after Monday the 23rd… because! The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is on TV that night! saya dah set alarm handphone baru saya tau… hahahahahaha! did someone say, pri-O-rities?

it’s pretty stuff. i’m a girl and i like pretty stuff, ok? in fact i want (more) pretty stuff! 

picking from where i left off in my last post about Unfathomable Television Reactions, i cringe and hide my face behind a cushion/bag/someone’s shoulder when the person on screen being embarassed. i dont know why but i just find it too excruciating to watch anyone making a fool of himself! in fact, i hide once i think i see it coming so i dont have to watch the actual thing. that’s pretty much how i watch the audition episodes of Idol, for example. it is not unlike the manner in which i watch horror movies.

i thought, for this strange reaction, i was a moron and alone at that. but today, as i was watching the White Chicks VCD with my five-year-old sister (i know, someone should call Child Welfare or something eh? what’s with the scene with the dildo anyway? but we watched the Barney VCD! like immediately after, to neutralize it.) i discovered that she does it too! yay! i am not weird (alone).

late last night while my sister (the other one, not the five-year-old) and i were talking about the Hits, Misses, Disses and Pisses of my guitar/singing performance with Shereen, this totally unrelated piece of crap came up:

[my sis] you know, when we were in primary school, we had to do a music exam. we could do it in pairs. or we could choose to do it individually. anyway, this girl i didnt even really know picked me to do it with her and i agreed.

[me] why did you agree?

[my sis] i dont know… i wanted to be nice?

[me] okkaaaayyyy…

[my sis] she was so bossy. quite irritating. she decided on the song and everything. she wanted to do the Mulan song…

[me] Reflections?

[my sis] yeah, that one. one day she came to school with the lyrics and all.

[me] control freak at such a young age…

[my sis] and she’d practice like aaaalll the time–between classes, during recess… and i didnt even really know the song. didnt memorize it.

[me] so what happened during the exam?

[my sis] she got an A.

[me] oh. ok. so why are you telling me all this?

[my sis] i got an A PLUS! (pause) so she stopped talking to me.

[me] hahahahahahahahahahah! (sigh) ok. we should stop. this is cruel. life is cruel like that.