To whatever good vibes out there, thanks for turning my life around this year to something I could’ve only dreamed about.

Here’s for taking risks and working for what you believe in — Merry Christmas everyone!

I like fresh apricots. This is my new discovery, as I begin the first of many gastronomical attacks on the fine but funny-looking apricot tree in my backyard.

Mind you, coming from Malaysia, this is a huge novelty. What a freaking sakai I am

I’ve been so used to eating dried apricots and the tiny bits that go into your cereal, I’ve actually forgotten if you eat the fuzzy skin of apricots.

“The hell I’d know…” said my non-fruit-eating boyfriend, when asked. You’re such a big help, honey <3

A quick Google search tells you that you DO eat apricots with their skin intact. So after a few days of letting the apricots fully ripen in the bowl and wondering if I would accidentally ingest a worm in the fruit which would lead an adventure for the toilet… I took the plunge and made a careful dissection of the fruit before eating it…

It looked ok. Next, careful inspection in my tastes buds render the fruit to be ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Not to mention juicy! Mmm Mm MM!

I polished off 7 more within minutes. God I love my apricot tree. I went out to pick somemore.

Not a step out the backdoor before I was reminded of the cute pests that I have to share my apricot tree with, the Rainbow Lorikeet. They flew away before I could take their incriminating photos, but they’ve left plenty of evidence behind:

Oh well… Learn to share, Wolfy. *mumbles*

We’re in the family shack down by the Murray River. WiKKiD and I take Drizzle out for a relaxing walk for me to sight-see.

Mmmm… beautiful and relaxing.

Feeling overwhelmed with different emotions the day before I fly to Adelaide for a new life, Colsy dug me out of Jonno’s swanky Burswood apartment where I’ve crashed for the past few days, for a final hang out.

We decided to spend the day in Freo, as I thought that it’d be a long time before I’d get to savour their famous fish & chips again. We went right on to the chow after posting the rest of my belongings in a flimsy box to WiKKiD’s address to avoid overweight baggage at the airport.

Colsy, not a tool as far as his shirt suggests.

Greasy goodness… one of my rare indulgences.

“Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine…”

Token artsy shot.

Later on, we decided to have fun with a few historical anchors sitting in front of the fish & chips shop.

Kind of a weird pose, isn’t it?

Passing by Little Creatures, we took an extended walk around Freo, away from the busy flea markets and people.

Little Creatures brewery… never short of customers and pale ale.

We walked along the beach and dunes to check out some rather touristy historical stuff.

The Round House Cannon

What it said.

Whaler’s Tunnel

It was a great, typical Perth day. Colsy dropped me home when it started getting dark, and it felt weird that I won’t get to hang out with one of my best mates anymore. But hey, I love everything that is Perth, and I’ll be back one day.

I have not been lazy in Perth; I crashed at Jonno’s swanky apartment a few nights before flying to Adelaide, and in gracious return, I have hooked his chick-magnet car up with a hot photoshoot at his request!

I’d be stoked too! Oh, and I wasn’t kidding about the chick magnet thing. Random chicks would ask for rides, so desperate they were willing to pay to be seen in the car. Also, while we were driving around Northbridge in that car one night, another random chick banged on the passenger-side window, waving at us and yelling (we didn’t turn the window down) that it’s her car. What a wacko!

Man I miss hanging with ya, Jonno!

I made it to Perth in one piece! Woohoo!!! The fat guy who sat next to me at the aisle kept farting. And the stewardess asked me if I wanted “breadstick with potatoes” for brunch. Turns out she was saying “Beef steak with potatoes“. The beef was fatty and tough too.

It’s supposed to be 8C degrees tonight… but im not feeling the cold too much. Maybe it’s the nice warm mini-heater on the floor keeping my feet warm and toasty.

Once again, Andrew Taveira has graciously put me up at his place for the time being. Downside to this is that it’ll take me an hour to get to uni by train, bus and walking, instead of just crossing the road to get to uni when I was in Erica Underwood House on Kent Street.

At least this way I’m close to the city!

My flight tomorrow is at 9:40am, KLIA, estimated time of arrival at 3pm local time. W00t!

That’s right, Aussies, watch out!

Except for the few nights in February that I was down in Perth for my graduation this year, it’s almost going to be a year since I’ve left the place I call ‘home’. My sanctum.

In the second half of 2006 in Malaysia, I was depressingly jobless, lifeless and clueless about my direction in a country I didn’t want to be back in. In early January 2007, I was a bartender in a club, a waitress in a restaurant, and a receptionist/cash register operator/accountant at a high-end hair salon all at the same time, and all in a matter of a few days… funny story, ask me about it sometime.

A few hours after I got hired on the spot as a bartender though, I scored an interview in a small company involved in advertising, events, marketing and PR. I had applied for the job online through Jobstreet a few days earlier, and it was as though the ad was made for me. The title was great, the job scope was everything I’ve always had interest in, I had the bonus skills they wanted, and at that point in time, it was my dream job. I desperately wanted it, and to have them on my resume would kick ass. The people there were convinced of my qualifications, but they liked my attitude (who wouldn’t? ) and the fact that I’m multi-purpose sold the deal. With the shake of a hand on my second interview, I got the job, and I was ready to make my mark in the Malaysian scene.

6 months down the road, I’m overworked, wiser, sleep-deprived, more cunning, tired, and a kung fu master at multi-tasking in all the different departments in the company. I wasn’t just a Creative Communications Designer, I was a copywriter, photographer, events program manager, stylist, webmistress, web designer, business R&D researcher, proposal writer… and the list went on. I worked with some of the biggest commercial brands in the local and international market. But, I still wanted to go home.

Lately, I don’t know how it happened, but my family finally agreed to help me go back to Australia. They can probably see that I don’t belong here anymore, or they’ve had enough of me dropping hints, haha. Well, it’s kinda hard to go back to settle in your old nest after you’ve flown out into the world and made your own nest.

So I resigned from my job last Tuesday, and sent in my one month’s notice. It was quite sudden to some.

Anyway, I’ll be going back to further my studies. I don’t have any confirmed dates yet as I’m trying to get into the July intake. Or I’ll get into the September intake, we’ll see.

I’ll see you guys soon