perth in winter #2

just a few pics from my trip:

perth in winter

i've been in perth for the last five days and i think it was my first time going back during winter since i moved to melbourne in 2002.

some random words to help me remember what i did:

cups of tea
willy wagtail
pork and veal mince
digital clocks
artistic gum leaf collection
dramatic clouds
sunshine
days without jumpers or scarves
midnight maccas run
bertram
fiancees
pclc young adults
funny singaporeans
lakes church
zeal
murray st mall
closed hidden bars
freaky anime shop
hot chocolate at cino's
art gallery sharehouse
dim sum with dad
roast duck with dad
icey ice with dad
indian with dad
generic 'asian' food with dad
waffles with sunny
taka with sunny
hungry jacks with the lakes crew
indian with the lakes crew
reggie dabs
big decisions
stupid decisions
revelation
youth ministry
floreat lookout
churchlands green
subi good sammy's
no more markets
bundy ginger beer
spearmint milk
tattooed melbourne-hater
free bus trip
dinosaur skeletons
beach boardwalk
grandma's sudoku
max's bed
kirsty chasing the 3As down st georges
swan valley
herberts' chapel
guildford riverside
chocolate factory
matt preston-recommended rasberry and lavender jam
kalamunda
zig zag road
warm rainy weather
basement with li
adam's car rally
belmont forum
chicken treat
south perth foreshore at night
mandy's kitchen
101.7 fm
new woolies
harbourtown
east indonesian food
megamouth
snapped sunnies
broken shower curtain rail
bore water
free bus trip


photos to come.

twenty four

i've been inspired after stumbling across some old posts on kenny sia's blog, one in particular where he wrote twenty four things he did when he was twenty four. and now that i've only got two weeks left of being twenty four myself, i thought i'd try to do the same. so here's my list, not in any particular order of preference. i just hope i can find that many things to do, cos it hasn't seemed like such an impressive last 12 months...

1. i finally became a private spanish teacher teaching around ten students in 2008, and starting up again recently with one very keen student.

2. after wanting to go for the last eight years, i finally got see the lotterywest skyworks this year and it made me happy.

3. i made my first video using video editing software and posted it up on youtube. i know it's not the best video anyone's ever seen but i'm still pretty chuffed with my efforts and feel i should be applauded for even trying =p

4. i've somehow stayed in the same job at world vision for over a year now. don't ask me how.

5. i was able to go back to malaysia again for the second time, except this time round involved a lot more fish sucking my feet..

6. i joined the planetshakers dance team and got the opportunity to dance for the opening of the planetshakers conference at hisense arena in april this year.

7. i managed to resurrect red bullet after not having a car for about a year and a half. i almost cried the first time i drove him again cos we'd left him for dead in the back yard at my old place in port melbourne.

8. i bought (well kind of bought, a 2-year financing plan counts as buying) my first ever laptop and it is this macbook upon which i now type. i think i am the last person i know to not have had a laptop.

9. i entered my first ever fundraising event, and raised a few hundred dollars for freetobekids by jumping out of a perfectly good plane. but it was an incredible experience.

10. i conquered my nerves and did my first solo singing performance, in spanish, while playing the piano, in front of a small but significant enough crowd.

11. i had my first experiences of "corporate networking" at work, where i arranged meetings with people in a high-up position who could help me with contacts and give me a leg up in the wide world of careers. nothing ever came out of it, but i did have some lovely conversations.

12. i've been with iris for over three years now. incredible.

13. my urban life group has changed and evolved, some old people some new people, but they're all amazing and i'm so honoured to lead them all and be a part of this group.

14. i'm still learning what the word 'patience' really means, there's some things in my life that just aren't moving on, and i've had to deal with some really frustrating people and situations. i supposed that's how you learn. but it still sucks.

15. while perth is still my hometown, and that's still where i feel most comfortable, i no longer have a home there since my mum moved all her stuff to melbourne in november 2008. so it's kind of the end of an era..

16. my need for travel while being restricted in time and finances has led me to discovering even more cool places around melbourne and regional victoria over the last twelve months including inverloch, indented head, the hot springs on the mornington peninsula, the lookout over the city in essendon west, and brodie's lake in greenvale =p

17. i went out in public with my very first moustache (in preparation for nath mallon's moustache party)

18. i successfully held a party at my place for absolutely no reason other than "just for the sake of it". and the best part is, heaps of people actually rocked up!

19. i also joined the planetshakers band as a backing vocalist and now i get the privilege of worshipping on stage alongside some incredible people every couple of weeks.

20. i'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but i went to my first paid music festival this summer. it was not bad.

21. i gained a lot of weight. then lost some weight. then gained some, then lost some. i will be starting my year as a twenty five year old on the gaining phase of the cycle.

22. i managed to start a masters degree in international urban and environmental management at RMIT university, which will now be put on hold for an indeterminate length of time haha..

23. i've made some interesting friends, some of them very random, some of them great to hang out with, some i wish i could spend more time with, and others not so close but still cool for the occassional out of the blue comment.

24. now that i'm turning twenty five i'm not quite sure what i've done with my life up until this point, i feel like i've wasted quite a lot of time and energy, so i'm keen to really make the most of this short life that i have and hopefully these next twelve months will be so much cooler than i could ever expect. fingers crossed.

and here we go again

...though hopefully this time something good actually comes out of rather than another series of disappointing interviews.

_______________________________________________________
Dear Brodie,

Further to your attendance at assessment centre for the Victorian Public Service (VPS) Graduate Recruitment & Development Scheme (GRADS), we advise that the assessment centre process has now been completed for all streams.

We are currently finalising the status of applications and will then commence short-listing for all 2010 Generalist roles.

Shortlists will be finalised by the 29th June and we expect to be back in touch with you shortly after that date to advise if you have been selected for Departmental panel interview.

Departmental panel interviews for the Generalist stream are scheduled to run from Monday 13th to Friday 31st July and we expect to be making verbal offers for Generalist roles from Thursday 6th August.

If your application is successfully shortlisted for Departmental panel interview we will be back in touch with you as soon as we have an interview request for you to be seen by any of the Departments.

We will provide individual feedback concerning your performance at assessment centre in September, when the majority of offers are expected to have been finalised for all streams of the VPS GRADS. All candidates who attended assessment centre will receive an individual phone call to provide specific verbal feedback on your performance throughout the recruitment process.

Thank you for your time and interest in the VPS GRADS. We look forward to being back in touch with you again shortly.

Kind regards,
The VPS GRADS Recruitment team

qué pasó?

i miss you, my blog. i don't know what has happened between us, but we'll make it through together... somehow...

my masters degree

i remember my undergrad days when we used to hate the mature age students cos they always prolonged the class by constantly asking questions or having to put in their two cents.

now that i'm doing masters, the whole class is filled with mature age students =s

almost holiday mode

i've got 2 weeks of annual leave after tomorrow. i'm not feeling it yet, still feels like work is just interminable but i know i'll be happy once i get on that plane on saturday, headed for perth. it'll be good to back for a few days, and then i fly off to my supposed 'real' home, malaysia. actually going back to my 'home town' of ipoh on my second day! i hope it's not like the last trip there. not that it was bad, i just want it to be different cos i feel like i've moved on a lot from the brodie of dec 2006/jan 2007.

here's some of the plans i have for my holiday:
- see the australia day fireworks on the swan river
- go to a real beach (in perth) for once, none of these crappy lame-excuse-for-a-beach things they have here in melbourne..
- eat some icy ice in northbridge
- hire a scooter and drive around freo
- eat bak kut teh, banana leaf rice, indian rojak, satay and some decent nasi lemak, wrapped up in a triangle. and devonshire tea in the cameron highlands (cos that's one crazy malaysian experience)
- visit some old friends and acquaintances, and hang out with some of my urbs guys in KL
- take iris on her super mega mystery tour
- go shopping at the pavillion/sungei wang/1utama/the mines/pasar seni
- check out putrajaya, cyberjaya and my all time favourite msian name, titiwangsa

if anyone's got any other suggestions let me know =)