So many of you have been so nice, asking me if I was ok, telling me to put up pictures of my new place, and of me, just to make sure I'm ok. And cos I finally have internet access in uni, I am finally uploading pictures which I have taken for the past few days. Of my place, and myself, and my uni. :)

My living room. Did you guys know that my place is called Princess Court, on Princess Rd? Hahaha..I've always wanted to stay on a road called Princess.



The dining area.



The kitchen, and yes, I've been cooking. Cheaper. And healthier.



My room. Pretty neat right?



My room with the study desk and window which overlooks a beautiful view.



Yesterday, Mark took me to Subiaco and he brought me to this park in a quiet corner of Subi. So peaceful and nice. I've been walking like crazy since I came. At least 2 hrs a day. Cos it's just too much of a hassle to wait for the bus, so we walk everywhere. Like yesterday, I walked for almost 5 hrs. I rested for an hr in between but aside from that, it was power walking all the way.





I told you guys I was burnt. Urgh... It was 41 degrees yesterday. 41!!!!!!!!!



On the way back, we stopped by uni. This was at 8pm. This is the clock tower of UWA. It's the first sight that greets you when you first enter the university.



Of course there must be a picture of me.



The university is beautiful. The architecture is gorgeous. I'm so happy to be in this uni. Cos some of the uni in Australia, like Melbourne Uni, and Curtin seriously looks sad. Grey buildings.





The view from the side of the main entrance.



The walkway to enter the uni.



Arts & Social Sciences Faculty.



Library, with a cafe below it.



One of the pathways which link different faculties.





I met up with my new friends from Sri Lanka(Rukisha) and England (Anjuli) for Orientation Day and I actually signed up for Aikido classes. It's a free 1st mth trial, so I'm going to try and see how that works out. Twice a week, every Mon and Wed from 7-9pm. Would be a good form of self defense, and to keep fit, and to make friends as well. Will update on how that works out.

I've finally started to settle in here. My apartment looks fab, my room is so pink and flowery, and I've started to explore Perth. My place is really close to the great places in Perth: Swan River, Cottlesloe Beach, Subiaco, Freemantle, the City. So since I start school only on Mar 10, I've been exploring the place. And I am badly burnt cos Perth's going through a heat wave right now. Lie it's been progressively getting warmer right now. From 32 when I come to 38 degrees now. Urgh...I am seriously burnt.

I've enrolled and chosen my course modules and they look really tough. Am a bit nervous but I hope I'll be fine. Going to meet my course coodinator next week and I've to start thinking of my reserach topic. Only 18 people doing the Masters in Education, so I'm pretty nervous cos the last time I actually opened a book was almost 5 years ago. I'm doing a Human Resource and Management module, Assessment and Evaluation module, International and Comparative studies module and a research module. I hope I do well.

Mde some friends here too. My housemate, Mark. A girl from England, Jo,doing her Masters in Law, a girl from Ireland, Masters in Communications and a guy from Zimbabwe. Interesting people. Hope to make mroe friends when my course actually starts.

Miss everyone at home.

I'll try to put up some photos of my place soon.

I GOT MYSELF AN APARTMENT!!! Finally! It's just a 5-10 mins away from my uni, really close to a supermarket, bank, bookshop, food places, restaurants, and it's just across from the Swan River, the most beautiful river in Perth. And it's a high floor. And there are many buses running pass the place :)

I'm sharing it with this other Singaporean guy who's leasing the whole place. Young Chinese guy, 23, who's doing his Masters in Infectious Disease. Really nice and sweet guy. Reminds me of my students whom I used to teach. Mark. That's his name. Oh, and he's a tidy person too! Yeah! And he has been living in Perth since he was 15 so he's really familiar with the place. And he says he's going to show me around.

The place is nice. It's neat, and tidy. There's a kitchen, a dining area, a lounge area with a tv, 2 rooms, and a small balcony. I get the bigger room with the double bed. And the whole place is fully furnished. Will put up photos of it once I settle in.

And this means that I can go for regular runs by the Swan River!! How cool is that? I went to take a look at the river yesterday when I viewed the place and fell in love with it. It's so beautiful!

A little costly, $240 per week, but mom says to take it since it was so convenient. And since I would be there for a whole year, she wanted me to be comfortable. My mom's the best. :)

I'm moving in in half an hour's time. Mark's coming to help me shift my thing over. We are walking there but cos my luggage is so huge, he offered to lugged it there for me. :)

And after shifting in, we are going to the city to get some stuff such as bedsheets, an iron, 2 more pillows and groceries.

Might not be able to blog for a while cos we don't have internet connected to the apartment yet. But once it's up, I'll update again.

Oh, something totally random. I am totally burnt. It was 35 degrees yesterday. And the day before it was 33 or something. I usually don't burn. I tan. But the sun was lethal. Despite sunscreen, I'm as red as a lobster now. Which is a feat given that I'm tanned enough as it is.

I think I've lost weight already. Did so much walking yesterday.

Yesterday, I went for 2 house viewings. The ad for the first apartment stated that it was a 20-25 mins walk from the uni. So I took a map from the news agent, examined it thoroughly, and walked, using the map to navigate. And cos I was unfamiliar with the area, I took another route which took me 50 mins. In that 50 mins, I got lost once (went in a different direction) and had to ask for help twice. When I reached, I realised that if I had walked in another direction, I would have reached the place in 20 mins. The place was cheap. $150 per week, inclusive of everything: electricity bills, internet, water and I get to use the whole house. The only problem is that the young couple who owns the house (they are really nice) has a really young baby (5 weeks old) and 5 cats. I don't have an issue with that, but the house is a terrible mess. And we know how I am with mess. I hate it. The room's ok. They just called and told me they were offering me the place but I haven't committed yet. Yes, yes, I'm picky. But I'll be staying here for almost a year so I need a place that I would be comfortable in.

From there, I grabbed a bite at Nando's (yes, I actually had more than an apple and water this time round) and went to the 2nd apartment viewing. Again, I pored through the map and with great pride, I managed to get to the place without getting lost. That took me 25 mins. And it was a really nice place. The room was bright and clean and there would be 5 girls living there, including myself. The owner was going to offer me the place but I told him to give me a day to think about it. Cos I will have to take a bus to uni (about a 10 mins bus ride) but the bus comes every 1 hr. Which means if I missed it, I'm screwed. So I tried walking back to uni cos from the map, it looked do-able. So I walked. And I walked. Uphill, downhill, turn left, turn right. All these while looking at the map and making sure I turned at the right places. Cos if I got lost, I was dead. And all these in the scorching sun. Perth's summer is insane. It was 32 degrees yesterday. Lugging my heavy bag. It took me 50 mins to get back to the uni!! I was almost on the verge of tears when I finally got back.

In all, I walked for almost 4 hrs. 3 1/2 hrs, to be exact. My calves and thighs are burning. My butt's aching. And my nose started bleeding. Cos it was really hot and dry. Today, when I woke up in the morning, it feels like I just had a tough workout in the gym. I guess this is my way of making up for the lack of exercise and the excessive eating in Melbourne.

In the evening, I went down to one of the suburbs near the uni and had chilli mussels with bread and a bottle of iced water at this small Italian restaurant. I sat there for an hour, eating, and drinking and reading a book. Was I lonely? Yeah, I was. But it was pretty nice being on my own and enjoying my own company.

I hope to get a place by this evening and move out tomorrow morning. Orientation starts next Mon and I want to be ready by then.

I'm in Perth right now. Reached yesterday at noon. Short flight but there was a lot of turbulence in the last half hour of the journey.

Perth is hot. When I reached my temporary accommodation, I dumped my luggage and started going on my apartment hunting.

It was traumatising. It must be remembered that I'm all alone here. And totally unfamiliar with the transport system. So I walked and walked and walked. For almost 2 hrs, trying to get my bearing. And needless to say, I got so bloody lost. In the end, I only managd to see 2 apartments, when I was supposed to see 3. This was only possible because
1. The owner of the 1st apartment picked me up from my place and sent me back. But his room was shit. Charging me $185 for a really small and dingy room. And it was at least a half hr walk to the uni.
2. I managed to find the 2nd house cos it was really close to the uni itself. Nice place. But the owner will confirm with me by this Sat. I hope I get this one.

When I got back to my room, it was already 8pm. And I had never felt so alone in my whole life. I was in an almost bare rom (except for a bed, an empty wardrobe and a desk), with my luggage opened and all I had to eat for the whole day since I landed was an apple and a bottle of mineral water. I was beyond miserable. I called my mom up, and she was so worried when she realised how alone I was. I didn't cry only because I didn't want her to worry further.

I'm going for 2 more house viewings today. I'm going to try and figure out the transport system here. I wish I had friends with me. Let's hope it gets better with time.

I've been sick. Since last Friday night. I was out with Nad for dinner, a movie (27 Dresses- It's so good. Go and watch it with your girlfriends.) and hot chocolate at Max Brenners on Fri. It was really cold that day, and the rain didn't help. So we had to take a train down to Richmond, where Nad works cos she had to leave her car there before meeting me in the city. Why? Cos she's petrified about driving in the city. And parking in the city is just insane so she just leaves her car at her workplace, then takes a train down to the city to meet me; which is actually not so bad cos it's only like 3 stations away.

So it was 10 at night, and we were at Richmond station, on our way home, and had to walk in the rain and the cold to get to her car. I was freezing my ass off, and we had no umbrella, and we had no shawls, only our jackets and she was screaming at the top of her voice cos her NineWest ultra high heeled shoes were killing her (she bought new ones while we were looking for dinner.) and she was hanging on to me for dear life cos she didn't want to fall down while walking on the road and look totally uncool.

So there was the rain, the wind, then got into her car, and the next day, I was down with a full blown fever. 38.4 degrees. Blocked nose. I had blood in my phlegm! And in my nose. I was in bed the whole weekend. Urgh....

Am slightly better now. but still running a slight temperature. Last week in Melbourne before I leave for Perth next Wed. And start studying.

Hope everyone's ok back home. Miss everyone.

Updates. Been seriously slacking off here. Spent last weekend at St Kilda. There was a St Kilda Festival and we met up Sharifah and her husband. She's my secondary school friend whom I haven't seen for a very long time, 12 years to be exact. She found me on Facebook and we found out that we were both in Melbourne and we decided to met up.

Had a pretty good time. The weather here fluctuates like crazy. It can be 35 degrees one day, and 17 degrees the next. I walk around with my jacket in my bag cos the weather change can happen within the day itself. Erratic man.

St Kilda's was really nice. They had music, and a band, and a flea market by the beach.

St Kilda's Beach



Sitting on the grass, while we waited for Sharifah and her husband






At the St Kilda's Fest. This was at 7pm. But the sun was still shining so brightly.



Sharifah and me, having coffee.



That's her husband, Olivier. He's French.



Those were photos taken on Sat. On Sun, we went down to St Kilda's again cos there was a gay parade which I simply had to watch. And this time round, Nad came down as well.

Waiting for the parade to start.



Sha, me and Nad.



Then the parade started, and it was a feast for the eyes. You know how in Singapore gays and lesbians are ver much kept in the closet cos our society can't accept them? Well, it was the exact opposite here. There was a 2 hr parade of gays lesbians, homsexuals, cross dressers and transvestites. And they were dressed up, with their dresses, and leather, and chains, and underwear, and thongs and make up. It was quite a sight. And there were tonnes of people on the sidewalk, cheering and clapping them on.

Photos of the gay parade.

Hot guy. Hahaha. She/ he puts real women to shame.



Another he/she with great legs.



A gay with leather and sequinned thong.





Another gay with fake fur on his ass.



Leather and chains.



A gay bride and groom.



The gay crowd controller. Check out those shorts on him.



Lesbian mobile



The feathers, the lingerie....On the man...



I have a lot more photos. Just too lazy to upload. But these are the more eye popping ones. It was such a blast.

I've got 2 more weeks before I leave for Perth. Hope everyone's good back home. Miss all of you.