My assignment

Medically, VISA stands for vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Financially, Visa is an electronic payment network that provides people with credit cards, debit cards, etc. The visa that I am concerned with, however, is the one that is related to immigration.

On the 31st of March 2009 (a few weeks ago), the UK Consulate decided to change the requirement for people who want to apply for a student visa to the UK. It now has a point-based system whereby you have to satisfy several requirements, amongst which is getting a super complicated sponsor letter from your supervisor and getting a bank statement to prove that you have sufficient money to fund your education in the UK. So my original plan of applying for the visa by mid April has to be postponed to who knows when as I need to wait for the all important sponsor letter that I need to ask my supervisor for the second time, since he one he sent me originally is no longer acceptable now.

So last night I was writing this long email to my supervisor explaining the change in regulation and what I need from him, when my neighbour popped by and said I look like I was doing an assignment. Which is probably true. Only, I need this assignment to be 100% successful, I cannot afford to fail.

A place to stay, and bats

I have found a place to stay at Dundee (thank God, finally). I will be staying at the hospital residency. It will be 4 people in a unit, sharing a kitchen, living area and bathroom. More or less like the way it is at Ormond McCaughey - 4 people in a corner...

The best part of it is the rate. They charge us only GBP6.5 per night (I can't find the poundsterling sign on my keyboard...) The rate might increase this year to GBP7.5, but even then it will still be waaayy cheaper than Ormond (with the current exchange rate, that converts to around AU$15). Ormond charge you AU$65 a night when you stay outside the academic dates. Surely food wouldn't cost me $50 a day, right? So I'm happy.

Below is a picture I took at Sydney botanical garden (or somewhere in Sydney). If you look closely, you can see things dangling off the branches. Those are bats. They are sleeping. Because it was day time. Obviously.

Speaking of bats I remember having a science teacher in year 9 who was quite memorable. She wore purple sneakers to class, and wore bat-shaped earings. She got really edgy when anyone makes the slightest noise. A pen clicking would make her go "Sshh, quiet please!!" As if the pen could help itself. As if the pen would understand. As it was, no one listened, and we went off making as much noise as we liked anyway.

Sold out!

Some of the things I wanted to do in Scotland is to see the Edinburgh Festival and the Military Tattoo. I was checking out the website for the Military Tattoo, and all the tickets are sold out! This is only February and the Tattoo is not until August! Even more unbeliveable considering the Tattoo is not a once-a-year thing, it actually runs for 3 weeks. And all tickets are already sold out... =(

I watched the movie 'In Bruges' yesterday. It's a dark comedy set in Bruges, Belgium. Collin Farrell kept calling it "a shithole" but I think it's very pretty. Like a city coming out of a fairy tale. So it goes into my 'wish to see/do list' as well.

A few other places I have in mind are Isle of Skye in Scottish Highland, Toledo in Spain, Cinque Terre in Italy, Gimmelwald in Switzerland and Salzburg in Austria. Whether or not I will get to visit all these places will depend on the budget and time I have. For the time being at least, I entertain myself with the belief and hope that I can go to all these places, and this makes me look forward to next semester with lots of excitement.

The last 2 weeks of my holiday..

... I spend in Sydney. All by myself.

Three weeks before uni is due to start I headed off to Shepparton for a one week rural elective placement. That means I still have another 2 weeks of holiday after that, and as usual, I stay in Sydney. My mum initially wanted to come and accompany me, but she couldn't get a flight on the same day as me. Then I thought, maybe it's not really necessary for her to come all the way here just to accompany me. SUREly I can survive on my own for just 2 weeks, right?

Hahah it's nearly the end of the 2nd week. And I have to say I manage amazingly well on my own! My biggest fear at the start was being alone at night time, but that turned out to be nothing. My second fear was of feeling lonely, but that too, turned out to be nothing. So now I'm pretty confident I can live independently, which is a really good thing since I know I will have to do so one day. This is a practice for the future, kind of..heheh=)

I also cook. Some turned out better than others. One of the worst was the meatball I tried to make. It was burnt on the outside, uncooked on the inside -.- (I should've used a low heat to fry it...) I made scrambled egg once, and I have to say, it was really easy to make! I don't get how Ormond always manage to screw it up... It's a pity I couldn't take any picture, my camera is broken, although I just bought it last December =(

Today I'm going to clear up my fridge. And that means coming up with a dish that has for its ingredients: 250g minced beef, 6 eggs, 1 1/2 spring onions, garlic, shallots, broccoli, bok choy and spinach. I just realized I bought a little too much grocery for one person...

New Year's Feast

For once I spent New Year's at home. The reason being that one of my cousins is studying hospitality. Instead of going to restaurants or hotels, we wanted him to serve us for a change. Here's how it turned out.

The Setting

Four tables were set up for twenty people. I reckon they were set up nicely, except for the fact that they seemed too Christmasy for a New Year's dinner! Everything was red and green, you can see the Christmas tree on the background and little Santa on the table... Christmas was in the air a little too much for this occassion...

Two of the tables were set outdoor. Can you see all those little candles? I'm proud to say I contributed quite a lot in decorating the backyard. It was the prettiest bit of the house =D though I may be biased.

The Food

It was a five course meal. For appetizer we first had fruit salad, followed by chicken clear soup. The fruit salad was light and refreshing, nicely preparing your appetite for the food to come. Some people said it had too little sauce, most said it wasn't cool enough. I agree with the latter, it would be nicer if it was cooler. The chicken clear soup I thought could do with more pepper, but my parents disagree, saying it was perfect and was up to the standard you see at hotels (certainly a compliment to my cousin who made it). Unfortunately, I don't have good picture of the appetizers.

The first main course was beef galantine - a must have for New Year's feast according to mum. It was perfect. Simply delightful! Everyone enjoyed it and it was certainly my favourite. The meat was tender and juicy, the gravy tasty, the vegetables on the side crunchy without being undercooked. It was simply delicious. A little too much veggies in proportion to the meat, perhaps, but I believe they just want to make it healthier for us =)

The second main course was traditional spaghetti bolognese. Not so traditional, however, in the flavour and ingredient. This one had button mushroom in addition to the meat and spring onion. The flavour was really strong - I could taste the sour and the sweet distinctly, the sauce was thick with meat. Above the standard of the average bolognese you find on Lygon, and definitely above that of Ormond's! Hehe..

And finally...

We had pudding for dessert. It came with chocolate sauce not shown here. Sweet but not too sweet. I liked it and it was a favourite with most people. Mum, however, thought it was average (she seemed to have opinions quite unique to herself). But don't listen to her this time, it was good.



Other than those five dishes, there was also an assortment of cakes, brownies, drinks, nuts and fried prawns, enough to make you feel so full you can hardly move. Maybe that's why I felt so sleepy by 11pm I was planning to miss the fireworks at 12. The noise did wake me up in the end.


The People

The waiter of the night, who did an amazing job considering how picky everyone was. We wouldn't accept the drink unless he offered it with his right foot forwards. My cousin and I, at least.


This is the chef of the night, who cooked most of the food including that wonderful wonderful galantine. I was hoping to have some of the leftover, but I don't know where they all went.