I'm >1/2 way through my busy period (which started in Wk4 - and it's currently Wk8.) Since Wk4, I've had at least 1 exam or 1 assignment due every week, and it's still going. So this is what the next few month and a bit has in store for me:
Wk9 - DARP assignment due
Wk10 - Professional Studies mid-sem (scariness!)
Unscheduled prac exam for Orthoptics in Ophthalmic Practice
Wk13 - DARP assignment due. Rehabilitation for Vision Impairment presentation.
Wk14 - STUVAC
Wk15-16 - EXAMS!
Scattered in between these weeks are 21st birthdays (aka, Glady, Shiv & Janee) + a celebration/ night out with my girls for getting through 4yrs of lectures + Michael Buble concert (Oh yeah!) + SWITCH + bible studies + church + work.
But after my exams, I also have Phantom of the Opera to look forward to, as well as Cara's 21st, and most importantly... MID YEAR CONFERENCE! It's going to be completely awesome! We're looking at the topic of resurrection this year - and it will be full on! Caz is joining me this year - so that makes it as triply exciting! (Yes, not just doubly.. but triply!) And the UNSW Med students will be joining us too - oh the excitement is too much to bear! Excellent!
Ok, there's my procrastination spiel.. back to work!
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Reiterating (& remembering) my FB post about HK
Just re-read my FB post that I made when I first came back from my 3wk trip to HK during December.. oh how my thoughts have not changed in the 5months since I came back. Thought I'd share my previous (and still enduring) thoughts which non-FBers have not seen. Enjoy!
What I will (and will not) miss about Hong Kong
There are many good.. and bad things about Hong Kong. Will miss the good, and will be glad to be away from the bad!
Here's my list off the top of my head (not in order of preference!):
Good:
1. My family. They're lovely and I'll miss them heaps!
2. Having good food stores absolutely everywhere! There is not one street without at least 10 different food stores to choose from.
3. The fact that almost everything is cheaper there. Food especially, and clothes! I can get a decent sized bowl of wonton noodles for the equivalent of AUD$2.50!
4. The food isn't average Maccas, and dry KFC.. the food is actually quite luscious and juicy! It's good quality food (though need to be careful in what/where you eat)
5. You can bargain in majority of stores. If you go back to a store more than once and they recognise you - they'll give you a discount!
6. Knowing that you can have a decent sleep in, leave the house at 1pm and know that you haven't lost 1/2 the day. The shops only open at 1 anyway and close around midnight.
7. The transport system is absolutely superb! the MTR subway trains come every 3mins (5max) and takes average 1-2mins from one station to the next.
8. The train rides are extremely smooth! No need to hold on after a few rides. Also extremely air-con'd - no hot stuffy carriages!
9. If you are feeling cheap and don't want to pay for transport, you are likely to be able to walk from one suburb to another (5 stations away) in around 1/2hr.
10. The Octopus card works almost anywhere! This is the equivalent of Sydney's Tcard (which still doesn't work after almost a decade of it being made). But not only can they pay for any subway/bus/ mini bus.. it can pay for food at stores, vending machines, even at clothing stores!
11. If you want something, there's an unlimited variety of types/ styles. You can also shop around in the same shopping centre/ street for better prices. And there's always at least one store which has a better discount than all the others.
12. There are actual shopping levels/ streets/ full buildings dedicated to selling one type of thing! Aka. (directly translated) Sport shoes street, Gold fish street. There are even suburbs which you'd go to specifically for different items. e.g. Sham Shui Po for electronics; Mong Kok for clothing; Prince Edward for wedding stuff; Causeway Bay for more expensive but better quality/ brands of clothing etc.
13. Going out with friends (i.e. Clem, Gus, Ron, Janice, Linda) and family (namely cousins Noyes, Maximum and Kelly).
14. My aunt's cooking! Always cooked dishes I enjoyed eating.
15. HK$3.50 Macca's soft-serve cones (equivalent of AUD$0.52). They weren't plain vanilla soft-serve cones - but were covered in the chocolate that hardens! Soooo good!!
16. Macca's shake-shake french fries! They were these packets of seasoning that you placed on top of the fries in a separate bag and shook until the seasoning covered all the fries. Sooo good! Seaweed flavour was the best, then Salt'nPepper. (Still yet to try the other 2, which were only released the day after I left)
17. Getting hooked on TV series (both Honkie and American). Also watching the National Geographic Channel.
Bad:
1. The smell. Everywhere smells like sewage. It's purely disgusting.
2. The immense crowd of everlasting people. You just can't get away from them.
3. The shop keepers clinging to you - no matter what store you go into. You move aside some clothes on the rack to have a better look (or glance) and they'll start describing everything about that shirt to you.
4. There aren't very many toilets around. So when you find one in a shopping centre - you need to travel to at least the 2nd or 3rd level.. and the line is huge! Not good when you're busting to go.
5. Most of the toilets are in bad shape. You really wander whether the water on the ground is actually water....
6. The subways are absolutely packed at almost every moment of the day. You're extremely lucky to get a seat (happens 1/25 times you get on a train)
7. Inability to smoothly and easily communicate with family and shop-keepers - without having to stop and think for a minute to string together the sentence (and still being grammatically correct), or remember how to say a word without using english.
8. Inability to understand what what being said in church 95% of the time!!
What I miss about Sydney:
1. My Penno Church family (and others outside)
2. The space! My room! Showering with glass walls - without worrying about watering down everything!
3. Clear skies! Every day in HKm the weather forecast is "cloudy" (whether it's going to rain or not). But do not be deceived. Those grey things above your heads are not, in fact, clouds, nor fog. They are toxic, pollutant smog!
What I will (and will not) miss about Hong Kong
There are many good.. and bad things about Hong Kong. Will miss the good, and will be glad to be away from the bad!
Here's my list off the top of my head (not in order of preference!):
Good:
1. My family. They're lovely and I'll miss them heaps!
2. Having good food stores absolutely everywhere! There is not one street without at least 10 different food stores to choose from.
3. The fact that almost everything is cheaper there. Food especially, and clothes! I can get a decent sized bowl of wonton noodles for the equivalent of AUD$2.50!
4. The food isn't average Maccas, and dry KFC.. the food is actually quite luscious and juicy! It's good quality food (though need to be careful in what/where you eat)
5. You can bargain in majority of stores. If you go back to a store more than once and they recognise you - they'll give you a discount!
6. Knowing that you can have a decent sleep in, leave the house at 1pm and know that you haven't lost 1/2 the day. The shops only open at 1 anyway and close around midnight.
7. The transport system is absolutely superb! the MTR subway trains come every 3mins (5max) and takes average 1-2mins from one station to the next.
8. The train rides are extremely smooth! No need to hold on after a few rides. Also extremely air-con'd - no hot stuffy carriages!
9. If you are feeling cheap and don't want to pay for transport, you are likely to be able to walk from one suburb to another (5 stations away) in around 1/2hr.
10. The Octopus card works almost anywhere! This is the equivalent of Sydney's Tcard (which still doesn't work after almost a decade of it being made). But not only can they pay for any subway/bus/ mini bus.. it can pay for food at stores, vending machines, even at clothing stores!
11. If you want something, there's an unlimited variety of types/ styles. You can also shop around in the same shopping centre/ street for better prices. And there's always at least one store which has a better discount than all the others.
12. There are actual shopping levels/ streets/ full buildings dedicated to selling one type of thing! Aka. (directly translated) Sport shoes street, Gold fish street. There are even suburbs which you'd go to specifically for different items. e.g. Sham Shui Po for electronics; Mong Kok for clothing; Prince Edward for wedding stuff; Causeway Bay for more expensive but better quality/ brands of clothing etc.
13. Going out with friends (i.e. Clem, Gus, Ron, Janice, Linda) and family (namely cousins Noyes, Maximum and Kelly).
14. My aunt's cooking! Always cooked dishes I enjoyed eating.
15. HK$3.50 Macca's soft-serve cones (equivalent of AUD$0.52). They weren't plain vanilla soft-serve cones - but were covered in the chocolate that hardens! Soooo good!!
16. Macca's shake-shake french fries! They were these packets of seasoning that you placed on top of the fries in a separate bag and shook until the seasoning covered all the fries. Sooo good! Seaweed flavour was the best, then Salt'nPepper. (Still yet to try the other 2, which were only released the day after I left)
17. Getting hooked on TV series (both Honkie and American). Also watching the National Geographic Channel.
Bad:
1. The smell. Everywhere smells like sewage. It's purely disgusting.
2. The immense crowd of everlasting people. You just can't get away from them.
3. The shop keepers clinging to you - no matter what store you go into. You move aside some clothes on the rack to have a better look (or glance) and they'll start describing everything about that shirt to you.
4. There aren't very many toilets around. So when you find one in a shopping centre - you need to travel to at least the 2nd or 3rd level.. and the line is huge! Not good when you're busting to go.
5. Most of the toilets are in bad shape. You really wander whether the water on the ground is actually water....
6. The subways are absolutely packed at almost every moment of the day. You're extremely lucky to get a seat (happens 1/25 times you get on a train)
7. Inability to smoothly and easily communicate with family and shop-keepers - without having to stop and think for a minute to string together the sentence (and still being grammatically correct), or remember how to say a word without using english.
8. Inability to understand what what being said in church 95% of the time!!
What I miss about Sydney:
1. My Penno Church family (and others outside)
2. The space! My room! Showering with glass walls - without worrying about watering down everything!
3. Clear skies! Every day in HKm the weather forecast is "cloudy" (whether it's going to rain or not). But do not be deceived. Those grey things above your heads are not, in fact, clouds, nor fog. They are toxic, pollutant smog!
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