Drumming Some More

I’ve noticed that this site still gets quite a bit of traffic considering I have stopped actually posting on it for some time now…

I guess most people still know me by this blog… or look for this blog to find out what I am up to.

Well, if YOU’RE one of those people…. *drumroll*…

Click here to go to my new blog and read what I’ve been up to! 🙂

Thanks for reading 🙂

Drumbeats

My new blog is now located here: My Own Drum

🙂

Changing and changing and changing

Now that my ’12 months’ in Australia is over (and was actually officially over on November 3rd), I thought I’d modify this blog to fit in my extended stay here.

This blog was only meant to document my year-long working holiday here. It started out due to a request from friends of mine so they can stalk me shamelessly, even when I’m on a different continent.

So I obliged.

But I haven’t been too good at keeping them in the loop, especially over the last 2-3 months. Yes I am terrible. If I was being paid, lord knows I’d spew some babble onto my blog for the sake of meeting a deadline. But I was over that stuff, having left the world of publishing prior to coming out here.

Since I wasn’t being paid and basically had no obligation to deliver on a frequent or regular basis, I just blogged when the mood suited me. Which came in bursts and spurts, judging by the archives.

I wish I’d blogged more. I like reading through older posts and remembering what I was doing, where I was, who with, the mood I was in, etc. You know, that kinda shiznit. Still, I’m amazed I was able to do it at all, knowing how lazy I can get. Plus, I believe I am an expert at procrastination, something I’m hoping I will manage to shed or at least tone down in the coming months (for Uni).

Anyways, I have been beating around the bush a bit (another bad habit). I have decided that this blog will be terminated here, and a new one with stories of everyday life will take its place.

Life, whether I’m in the land of Oz, or Malaysia, or Germany, or wherever. When I’m working, or studying. I kinda just want to have a more ‘general’ blog that I can write about anything and everything.

Which means I’ll probably not be updating my other blog, ‘156’, much either. Unless lengthy poetry spills out of my head and I worry about boring the readers of the ‘regular’ blog (or just myself, really).

So this is it. THE last post to this blog. This misadventure.

Thanks for reading! It sure has been fun.

Cobwebs aplenty!

Yup, this blog hasn’t been seeing much action lately (insert joke about how the writer is in a similar predicament).

But, I’ve been busy!*

* Lazy. Which I believe is the true origin of all sin. Laziness. But I digress.

So what HAVE I been up to that’s made me so busy? In a nutshell:

* Travelling
I went to Melbourne to visit Ayman, and Ash joined us there which was nice. Went to the NGV, went to the ACMI at Federation Square to see the amazing Tim Burton exhibition that words couldn’t possibly describe and do it justice… it was just mind-blowing 🙂

Also went to KL for 8 days because my Working Holiday Visa expired on Nov 3rd. So I am back in Australia on a tourist visa at the moment. Mum went on and on about how 8 days wasn’t enough and guilt-tripped me about not spending enough time with her. I didn’t even spend that much time with my friends, to be honest. I had to FFK some friends that I promised I’d meet up with, to keep her happy.

Jason and I went on a week-long trip up to Monkey Mia and Coral Bay which was beautiful and rendered me speechless at times. I saw dugongs, fed a dolphin, swam with manta rays, snorkelled with turtles and dived with sharks (and corals, nudibranches, fish of all kinds, eels… and the dreaded triggerfish. Which, upon noticing me trying not to notice IT, raised its little dorsal spine, the signal for “I’ma bite you if you don’t get away from me!” Thus I flapped my fins wildly to escape being attacked by the surly triggerfish).

In case you just don’t understand my fear of triggerfish, here’s a photo of the ugly, surly little devil:

…aaaand, a description of their bad temper, plus what a bite from these seemingly ‘tiny’ fish looks like:

Some triggerfish species can be quite aggressive when guarding their eggs. Both the picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) and titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) viciously defend their nests against intruders, including scuba divers and snorkelers. Their territory extends in a cone from the nest toward the surface, so swimming upwards can put a diver further into the fishes’ territory; a horizontal swim away from the nest site is best when confronted by an angry triggerfish. Unlike the relatively small picasso triggerfish, the titan triggerfish poses a serious threat to inattentive divers due to its large size and powerful teeth.

Anyway, on with the list.

* Deciding what to do with myself / future plans
As my 12 month ‘holiday’ here drew to a close, I’m sure those of you who actually read my blog noticed an increase in anxiety in the tone. Yes, because I was really loving life here, and because I wasn’t sure what the next step would/should be. I just don’t see myself going back to KL if I can help it. If push came to shove and I had no choice, but NO choice… of course, I would.

But I’d like to think I have a choice, at the moment. I tried applying to English teaching jobs in Korea. NO, they only want people who come from ‘native speaking countries’ like Canada, USA, Australia, NZ, the UK and South Africa! Hah. Imagine that… here I am, fully qualified, a published writer, and I can’t get a job teaching English in Korea. I suppose if I wasn’t too picky I could teach in China or Vietnam… but I don’t want to… right now. Not right now.

Soooo… then I started researching the option of doing a Master’s or MBA. Not my cup of tea. First of all I really don’t think a Master’s in Media/Mass Comm/Journalism is really worth it/useful. Just my humble opinion. Second, I am SO not interested in an MBA it’d be a total waste of time and money doing it because I probably won’t apply myself and I’ll just get mediocre results or whatever. I just ain’t that into Economics, Accounting and Business stuff right now. Economics, maybe. The other stuff? YAWN!

I arrived at another decision that would allow me to extend my stay here in Australia, as well as increase my chances of getting a PR, and thus, applying for English-teaching jobs wherever I damn well please. I decided to apply for the Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education! After talking to friends, family, Uni staff and migration agents, this is the decision I’ve arrived at. It isn’t all smooth-sailing, though. There are hitches involved that I will save for another post.

* Being clumsy / hurting myself / getting hurt
It isn’t enough that I got hit by a car and fractured my spine, I had to go and scald myself on the thigh with boiling hot water during said camping trip up north with Jason. Well, I went to the doctor 4 days later (when I was back in civilisation), and he said the most important words I needed him to say: “Will not scar.” THANK FUCK! It was superficial, but it hurt like shit, and now the skin’s still red and itches like king hell. And I can’t wear my short-shorts anymore, my so-called Daisy Dukes because it looks like I have a big ugly birthmark! Hahaha. Padan muka, siapa suruh aku ni gelabah sangat??

On the topic of getting hurt, I also was involved in a couple of short-lived romantic liaisons which ended well before I was prepared for them to, leaving my heart crumpled like a wilted rose. Haha. Emonyer! Well, I’m alright now, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t at least learn a thing or two from those encounters. They’ve taught me so much more about myself, what I want, and what I will most certainly NOT settle for. It’s ok to want something more, Naya. It’s ok to say to yourself, hmm, this one doesn’t seem right. And move on from there instead of sticking around for the sake of being nice or giving people the benefit of the doubt… and then, ending up a right mess. We’re entitled to change our minds, to decide we want more, to realise that perhaps the gut feeling telling you that there’s not much in common… was right all along.

So that, my friends, is what has kept me from posting here for so bloody long.

Oh yeah, and I’m changing this blog a bit so it can accommodate more than just the 12 months of my working holiday adventures 🙂

Sublime Springtime

It’s been an AGE since I’ve updated this blog!

And a lot has happened since then.

First, an update on my back:

When I got back to Perth at the end of July, I started going to a physiotherapist. I had about two sessions a week for about a month, and then once a week for a fortnight, and then a three-week break between sessions (what was scheduled tentatively as my last session).

It’s amazing.

I have recovered so well. Although my back will never get back to 100% of what it used to be, it feels at about 95%. It’s just so damn fantastic how a little acupuncture, a lot of stretching, and some painful rubdowns from the physiotherapist (plus some loosening up of the joints and stuff) has made a whole world of difference. I no longer am in constant pain. I can do things like lifting and running and there is no horrid, abnormal pain for days afterwards.

I am running again. I joined the 4km race in the City 2 Surf recently, and it was fantastic. I had a great time, and NOTHING hurt except my calves a bit. NOT my back. *GRIN* 😀

I can’t believe it. I can remember the agony I was in only a couple of months ago. Now it’s almost ALL gone. Sure, sometimes there is a little tightness and pain here and there if I’ve overexerted myself. It must be noted, though, that running at the gym and doing weight training doesn’t hurt (I have an AWESOME trainer now, unlike the last one who was a bit iffy), but if I do things like sweep and mop the floor at work, somehow that posture makes my back hurt. Which is great cuz then I can use that as a valid excuse to get out of it! Hahaha. Not that I’ve ever used it, I still sweep and mop but if I don’t do a 5-star job of it, well, I have a damn good excuse.

The odd creaking my back used to make whenever I straightened up has stopped, too. I went to the Royal Perth Hospital, and was pleasantly surprised by the good service and friendly yet matter-of-fact doctor. He was great – thanks Dr. Dillon!! Charming Irish doctor with a great sense of humour who put me at ease, I appreciate your help.

I have been advised by doctors and physio to have a massage at least once a month, so that’ll be worked into my pampering budget somehow 😉 heheh. Hey, it’s for my health ok!

Next update – my job.

I LOVE working at LUSH. I wish I could work there longer, though. I’m leaving in November so I’ll miss the ultra fun Xmas period, which sucks ass 😦 😦 😦 oh well, at least I got to work there again, even if for a short while. Some of my favourite products, in no particular order, are:

– Buffy Body Butter (SO good to make your skin silky soft and smooth)
– Ice Blue soap (I hated it at first but now I’m addicted to its minty, lemony fresh scent!)
– Honey Trap lip balm and None Of Your Beeswax lip balm – mmm!
– Lemslip Buttercream… just because 😉
– Avobath ballistic, my new favourite bath bomb (I still love Sex Bomb though!)
– Creme Anglaise body cream. Oh. My. GOD.
– Turkish Delight shower smoothie. Smells absolutely amazing. And feels spectacular.
– Mask of Magniminty and Cupcake Fresh Mask. Beautiful.
– Happy Hippy and Flying Fox shower gels
– Retread conditioner – wow! The best for dry ends.
– Wiccy Magic Muscles massage bar 😉
– Ceridwen’s Cauldron bath melt. It’s just divine.

I could go on and on and on… but I won’t 😉 hahaha. It’ll bore your tits off.

More updates… misc:

– The weather in Perth right now is fucking beautiful.
-I got a speeding ticket (oops!) driving Alex’s car, so now I have to shell out $150 bucks – gulp! Oh well. My bad. Oh and the fine’s due date is my birthday, HAHAHA!
– I got a sore throat, the first sign of illness since arriving here (not counting the two times I’ve puked from food poisoning, lol)
– I’ve made some awesome friends that I will miss when I leave like HELL! And I have every intention of staying in touch!
– I love cider, a little TOO much 😉
– Been getting stronger and stronger at the gym, can now do leg press of 120kgs (yay!) and now I run at 11km/h or more on the treadmill. With bursts of 13km/h here and there. Trainer tortures me with 14km/h during training, but only for a minute at a time. Still, I’m so excited about being able to run faster and faster. It’s all a mental thing. I’m so happy! Plus my little baby triceps are coming back, slowly! Yaaaayyy….

Now, the only thing that could top all that is if I went on an awesome diving trip… I haven’t gone scuba diving since I hurt my back thanks to that motherfucking asshole coward.

So yeah. Dive trip is next on the list!!! 😀

Thanks for reading, good night!

SMACK!

It hit me so hard, right in the face.

I’m going to leave Perth, for good, in November.

The only times I’ll come back are as a tourist, not a ‘resident for tax purposes’, which has a nice ring to it in a way, even if it’s not really like being an actual resident.

But. I live here. I work here. I socialise here. I walk out of the house in the morning, when the sky is a clear, gorgeous blue, the air crisp, a slight chill, with the beautiful sunshine keeping me warm, and I think…

“What a beautiful day. I am going to miss this so much.”

There are so many beautiful days in Perth, it’s unbelieveable.

When I take the bus to the city and it goes past the Canning River, it almost makes me cry seeing all the black swans and pelicans just chilling on the water. PELICANS!! Seeing the people cycling and running along the river, makes me feel so sad that it’s not going to be a regular part of my life, like it is in theirs.

Sometimes, the day is just so gorgeous and the river is just so beautiful, it makes you want to cry.

The Reason

Just a lil’ FYI to the newer readers of my blog:

This was started as a diary for me to remember my journey here in Australia. My experiences, good and bad 🙂

It wasn’t meant for commercial use 😉 I didn’t, and don’t, care if people read this or not. Anyway, it doesn’t contain really sensitive information/things I’d rather keep secret. There’s another blog for that! 😉 (top secret one, heheh).

Just thought I’d let you know, I don’t expect you to comment on it. It was more a journal thing + some friends requested it so they could be updated on what I was doing, easily. Truth be told I would never have found the time to write emails to everyone, anyway. This was the easiest, most ‘fun’ way 🙂 If anyone is reading this, thanks, and I hope it doesn’t bore you too much!

-Inayah-

Ho Hum.

I’m back in Perth after three whirlwind weeks of craziness and fun in KL.

And there are just some things that I noticed, more than ever, that really GET to me about KL/Malaysia. Maybe it’s certain people I come into contact with. Who knows? There’s just always an element of drama involved, which is not of my doing.

First, though, the good stuff:

1. Although I adore Malaysian food, I wasn’t eating like a pig every day, as I usually do when I’m home for a visit. I had my favourite FAM Char Kuey Teow a grand total of once (the horror!), my favourite Sarawak Laksa also ONLY ONCE, ayam penyet ONCE, nasi padang TWICE (only because I wanted to try out the new Bumbu Desa restaurant at The Curve, which by the way is OVERPRICED to the max!) In fact, I made sure to buy muesli and yogurt and fruit so I could continue eating in the healthy way I’ve adopted here in Perth. No Nasi Lemak for me!

(I’m not exaggerating. I had Nasi Lemak on the Air Asia flight to and from KL, but none in KL for the whole 3 weeks I was there. “In former times”, I would have been eating it almost every day for breakfast. Yay me!)

2. I realised, I am definitely more a tropical weather person. Despite the heat, I was having a far better time dealing with being a little sweaty as opposed to freezing my butt off here in Perth. Also, the warmer weather encourages me to get up earlier in the mornings, regardless of what time I’ve gone to bed. It’s largely due to the fact that it’s too damn hot to sleep past 10am most mornings, and by 9am the sun is glaring at me and practically blinding me. Ok, so 9am isn’t super early, but most days I was up by 830 AND I was on holiday, so if you keep that in mind.. it’s pretty darn early. Here in Perth I have so much trouble getting out of bed before 9. It’s such an effort.

3. Seeing my friends and family was wonderful. Anna’s wedding was so beautiful and it was really touching to see all my family there, people I love and hadn’t seen in forever. It was such a feel-good thing, as weddings should be, and Anna looked stunning. TJ, her husband (my brother-in-law!) is a great guy, and seeing them together, how they communicate and interact and deal with issues… I just know they’ll be ok 🙂 more than ok, they’re gonna be great! I can’t wait for the babies, I just know they’re going to be sooo cute!!! I can’t wait to be an aunt!!

4. I also broke new ground with my mum in terms of our feelings and things that have bothered us in the past and all… and I got closer to her. We both just realised things about each other, and mellowed out a bit more around each other, and I realised I really love her company. I used to love her company when I was much younger, I used to hang out with her, but then we kinda kept getting at each other and wanting to kill each other, so I kinda stopped hanging out with her as much as I used to. But this time around it was lovely to be with her (for the most part! lol). We even went karaoke-ing together! hehe. I miss her so much now. I love my mummy! 🙂

Now, the not-so-good things:

1. People are so damn unfriendly in Malaysia. Like, here in Perth I can pretty much strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, and they will layan me. Like this morning at the pool, I was asking like, three different people how to swim freestyle properly. I suck at doing the crawl, while my breaststroke is pretty good. One person even remarked that I had great technique. But I am useless at ANY other style. And I know freestyle is faster and better for the back muscles (since I am swimming for rehab purposes mainly).

So yeah, they all humoured me and this one girl I spoke to is actually an instructor so she gave me some great pointers and tips and stuff for me to work on. Now, if I had been in Malaysia, I don’t know if they would have been so friendly. They probably would have talked to me, but would have wanted to get away as fast as possible. I dunno. I can’t really say because I wasn’t in an identical situation, but once, at the hospital (when I was getting my MRI done), I got off on the wrong floor, and ran back into the lift before the doors closed. I kinda smiled sheepishly at the couple in the lift and said breezily, “Oops, got off on the wrong floor!”

Silence. They averted their eyes.

What the eff?

Also, shop assistants are pretty damn dumb in most places. Ok that’s not fair. At some boutiques they are nice. But a lot of places, they’re just like, arrogant, gum-chewing, know-it-alls who can’t be bothered to help you. Or are suspicious of you. Even the people at reception at the hotel I stayed with Mariam in KL at (ok it was a like, 1 or 2-star place), they were so “bo-layan” that I felt like checking in myself; like, going behind the counter and just doing it myself! Ishh.

2. The drivers. Need I say more?

3. The favourite national pastime: gossiping, especially about people you don’t really know. Wow, I had no idea my love life was such a hot topic that people I don’t even KNOW are talking about it! Well, according to some friends of mine, a friend of a friend of a friend whom I’ve never met, said I’m a heartbreaker, that I have a legion of men waiting in line to be with me and I just play around with them and stuff. EH?? If ONLY! Real life is wayyyy less interesting than that. Honestly. I got comments about how I led someone on, and when I was telling my side of the story, I was accused of lying or leaving details out. Granted, the person I was talking to is a little bit… suspicious of me. He doesn’t trust me and thinks that everything I’m telling him is a lie. But that’s not my problem. If he doesn’t wanna believe ME, and chooses to believe those who don’t even KNOW me, go ahead. I don’t need you to believe me. I don’t care.

But it’s annoying when people say these things about you, and about situations they haven’t the faintest clue about. Everything I did and said came into question. What the hell? This is what you get for being nice, and giving people ‘chances’. Well, never again! I shall not give a guy a chance, everything will be based purely on looks/first impressions. Because when I do, I get it thrown back in my face as me being a bitch. SO, I shall be a bitch right from the start. Alright?

4. Feeling like such a late bloomer. All my friends (ok not ALL but MANY) are married, some with kids, they have careers and shit, earning way more money than me… and here I am. Farting around in Perth. It makes me feel inadequate. But I still feel like a big kid in many ways. I’m not ready for the life they have. Maybe I never will be. So why should I feel bad? I dunno, I just do. Blame society. Or relatives when they keep asking me when’s my turn to get married. Now that Marena and Anna are both married, it’s pretty much my turn. Ironically, I’m the only single girl left in my family; Nat, my younger sis, has a serious boyfriend. So… yeah. Not gonna be my turn for a while yet. Unless Robert Downey, Jr., leaves his wife for me. So, probably never, in other words. LOL.

I just have so much I want to do with my life. I want to travel, do things, meet people, eat foods, experience new smells, sights, sounds. Step on different soil. Throw foreign pebbles. You know.

Suck the marrow out of life.

Leaving Las Vegas…

or rather, Perth 🙂

Sunset in Bentley, Feb 2010

I’m flying out to Kuala Lumpur for three weeks on Wednesday morning, and I’ve done a little retrospection. Is that a word? What does it mean? For someone fresh out of the CELTA course (the Cambridge ESL teacher training programme), you’d think I’d know. But hey, teachers are not infallible sources of knowledge. We’re human.

Anyway, I was looking back at the last 8 months of my life, here in Perth, and there are plenty of things I’ve learnt, experienced, and gone thru. Laughed, cried, been numb, been happy, been sad, been disappointed, been excited, been nervous, and been out-of-my-mind delirious about.

Time for a list, a disorganised, unordered, completely (seemingly?) random collection of experiences I’ve had in this lovely city in the gorgeous state of Western Australia in this wonderful, complex, beautiful, strange, at times ugly, infuriating and downright tiresome, but always amazing, country.

1. I got hit by a car for the FIRST TIME EVER. Riding my bicycle to work, back in December. The driver of the Toyota Land Cruiser (a freakin’ four-wheel drive!) didn’t see me cycling on the bike path and reversed out of his driveway really fast, knocking me off. Hitting my knee in the process, resulting in a bone bruise which, to this day, hurts if I bump it. I heard bone bruises take a good 6 months to a year to fully heal. It didn’t affect my running at all, though – in fact, all the times I’ve gone running after this accident, my OTHER knee (the one that’s always been a bit dicky) is the one that aches if I’ve pushed myself a little too hard, not my ‘accident’ knee. Looking at the date that I lodged the report of the motor vehicle crash with the insurance commission of WA, I realised it was the 14th of December – exactly two months before my NEXT big accident which resulted in a more serious injury.

2. Fractured my spine. On frickin’ VALENTINE’s Day. That’ll be one V-Day i never forget, I tell ya. I wish I could! Hell, I wish I could press the rewind button on some magic remote and go back to the moments before I made the fateful jump. Some people I’ve talked to told me it took them 30 minutes to muster up the courage to jump. It might have been sensible of me to do that, too. Then I might have been a bit more coordinated, jumped more straight, and properly, instead of going, fuck this, I’m just gonna do it and jumping off the cliff. It didn’t help that my companion at the time told me to “just jump” when I asked if there was a proper way to do it, since I’d never done it before. Just jump? How about telling me how, and reminding me how my body should be and etc? I’m not a professional! I found out later that there used to be a sign there saying it was unsafe and prohibited, but some moron had taken the sign down. Thanks, asshole. Now I have two fractured vertebrae in my spinal column – one has a 30% compression fracture, and even though it’s been 4 and a half months since the accident/incident, my back still hurts if I stand for too long or lift heavy objects. I still take anti-inflammatories (Voltaren) due to this, and I still can’t really do any running (though I stubbornly do it anyway, but never for more than 10 mins at a time which seems alright so far). I have gone swimming, ONCE. I just didn’t have the time, due to reasons illustrated in my next point.

3. I completed the CELTA course. It is the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, which spanned 10 weeks (part-time). I am so glad it’s over, because it stressed me out so much, yet I’m really sad and feel a little empty, because I really enjoyed teaching, loved my course mates/colleagues, and the students were just wonderful. When I first started (back in April), I was working 2 jobs (Technical Writer in Maddington and Pizza joint in Riverton and/or Hilton), and my classes, every Tuesday and Thursday night, were held in Leederville. Plus, I taught every Saturday. Imagine my commute, the cost of petrol, etc. Luckily, at that time, I had my car. Had, because, as the next point will illustrate, it is no longer with us (or me).

4. Bought, maintained, and then sold, a car. I have driven before in KL many times (and many different cars), but they were never MINE. I had never paid for a car, gone through the whole buying process and etc. It was new, and exciting to me. I was relishing the whole process, making sure I remembered everything about it for the future when I would hopefully buy a car of slightly better calibre. Not that my 1984 Toyota Corolla wasn’t a good car. It was my trusty steed, that unfortunately, had an engine that was about to breathe its last. It broke down early April (right before I left for my trip to Korea – see next point), which was due to filthy spark plugs, luckily. The mechanic who fixed it up told me already that the engine was worn out but that it wasn’t worth replacing with a new one because it was such an old car. He didn’t seem too optimistic when I asked him if he thought it would last me at least til November 2010. Oh well. It died, I sold it off for parts. Goodbye, Corolla. You were a fun thing to have. I was really proud to drive you around even if you were really old!

Freedom Bridge, DMZ, South Korea (with Lin)

5. I finally visited Lin in Korea. Seoul was great; the food is superb! Shopping is great too, unfortunately I didn’t have an unlimited supply of funds, and couldn’t really get everything I wanted there – but I was happy with what I did get anyway. Most of all, I was just happy to see Lin. I met Greg again, which was nice, and got to know so many awesome people that I feel priviliged to have in my life. Ahyoung, Alan, Andy, the triple As, LOL. As well as all of Lin’s awesome friends: Hana, Kylie, Logan and gang. Overall, I was really happy with the Korea trip – I saw the DMZ, and it made me appreciate Korea more, its rich history, culture and traditions. I would LOVE to go back and visit, teach English and live there maybe? 🙂

6. Finally, when I got back from Korea (and had the kerfuffle with my car which led to me selling it), I also found out my spine was fractured. I could no longer work at the pizza joint because it was aggravating the injury. I was always in pain working there, and my boss SB could see it. I’d always just shaken it off as my back muscles acting up, but when it was confirmed as being fractured, I stopped right away. It was SB who hounded me to go and get X-Rays taken – thank you, SB!! I owe you. I didn’t have X-Rays taken when I went to the E.R. at St John of God Hospital, Murdoch, because the doctor there assured me it wasn’t a fracture and I didn’t need any. GO FIGURE! When I stopped working at the pizza place, and rested my back more, what an improvement! Still sore but not like “I feel like I’m dying” kind of sore. Sadly, some people working there hadn’t been too sympathetic with my condition, even when I was in pain and really unable to lift heavy items, they just thought I was being lazy. Then I heard that one of the managers bitched about me not being able to work anymore, and had to be told, by SB, “Of course she can’t work. Her spine’s fractured!” I really don’t get some people. I bet if I was in a wheelchair (which thankfully, I’m not) they’d expect me to be able to work!

7. Discovering the awesome aquatic centre near my new place. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I moved house 🙂 From Bentley to Ardross, in April. BEST. THING. TO. EVER. HAPPEN. I have the nicest housemates, the location is totally awesome, the mall is 30 seconds away, grocery shopping is a breeze, the cinema is right across the road, and we’re located very conveniently between the city and Fremantle. It takes me 20 mins by bus to get to the CBD, and about 25 mins to Fremantle. The bus station is right near my place. It’s great! Bentley is so totally isolated compared to Ardross! And Garden City is by far a better shopping mall than Carousel. The ONLY sucky part is my gym is located in Carousel, the mall, itself. Which is a bitch to get to without a car. I also miss the coffees and dinners at Victoria Park, but then again, Applecross is so much nicer and more sophisticated, and Vic Park gets boring if you go every other day. Once in a while as a treat, it’s great! Back to the aquatic centre, I met a really nice lady who helped me with my freestyle swimming technique. I’m more of a breast stroke swimmer, freestyle used to be beyond me, but not anymore 🙂 I love that place. Clean, professional and not gross and deserted-looking like the one in Bentley.

8. Wireless Hill Park. To go running. Has the best view of the river. It’s an awesome place. So much better than the cricket oval in Bentley, which is actually not a bad oval, considering the location it’s in, but an oval isn’t a park with trees, paths and views. Wireless Hill Park has these towers you can climb up and see the river, and the surrounding area… and the city skyline. It’s great. I love running up the steps, up and down, and then at the top, stopping, stretching out, and just soaking up the sun’s rays. I could stay there all day.

Beautiful Freo Beach (near the Roundhouse)

9. Wonderful Freo. I will always love Fremantle. It has really special memories for me now. Private, special memories. I’ll never ever forget them.

10. My BFF Jason’s West Perth studio apartment. I love sleeping over because it’s always warm, and it’s a stone’s throw away from King’s Park and St Geroge’s Terrace. It is an AWESOME, awesome location.

11. The BEACH. Western Australia/Perth has some gorgeous beaches, I tell ya. And I come from a tropical country surrounded by gorgeous beaches, I should know 🙂

Back from the Dead

I know this blog has been MIA long enough to be considered legally dead.

It’s not my fault! Here are a few things I have been up to that made it so I was too busy to blog here:

1. I started the CELTA course right after I got back from Korea. This 10-week course took up a lot of space in my head, in my room, my life and my time. It also almost robbed me of my sanity, but I made it through the other side a stronger, happier and more determined person 🙂 Okay so I exaggerate, but I never thought I could be a teacher, and doing this course was kind of a challenge to myself to try something new and something I never thought I would be able to do – and excelling. Let me just briefly brag about getting ‘above standard’ marks for one of my lessons and overall excellent feedback from my tutors. Of course it’s not over yet and I could be jinxing myself, but I think I did well, and I think I’ll pass this course 🙂

2. My sore back. Finding out it was fractured was a blow to my self-esteem, my ego, my emotions… not to mention an actual blow to my spine. What followed, of course, was the fact that I had to accept I might not be able to run for QUITE a while and that the City 2 Surf marathon I’d been training for prior to my injury might not become a reality for me. Cue depression, a black mood and feeling shitty and sorry for myself. Cue sitting at home eating chocolate biscuits. Cue a massive fear of gaining weight. Cue vicious cycle. (I’m ok now, btw: since I got rid of the car I’ve been walking a lot more, even went for a swim, and plan to get back to the gym once CELTA is well and truly finished this week).

3. My car. It died. Was going to cost too much to fix. I decided, hey, I live RIGHT behind a shopping mall, 30 seconds away from the food court and grocery store, why do I need a car? Public transport here is decent (although taking buses and trains in winter is a right bitch), and I get to walk more, run up and down stairs, and etc. I do enjoy taking the trains, too. Nowhere else do you see a more varied collection of weirdos than on a Transperth train. It’s truly an experience. Plus, I was missing my iPod and my music. Now, however, I miss Triple J, but I could easily get it on my iPod and tune in to it I suppose. No biggie.

4. Lelaki. Need I say more? Taking up my time, wasting my time, etc. Anyways, that’s over, since Jason and I have taken some kind of flimsy oath. LOL.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned people!

Oh yeah, I don’t work at the Pizza Place anymore due to my back. Oh well. All good things must come to an end sometime. My back is truly thanking me for it, though. Feels SO much better now that I’ve taken it easier. I won’t say EASY because I still drag my ass to Leederville 3 times a week for CELTA. But easier anyways 🙂

Ahh. I cannot wait to go swimming and go for a light jog soon at the park which is a 5 min walk from my house!

I love not living in Bentley anymore!! 😀