February 19, 2010 @ 3:14 PM
Everyone spend their last few days in Australia having "stress-free" happy time with friends, making the most from the limited time left in Australia. And as for me, the last few weeks was a nightmare, and sending money home in AUD proved to be a much more harder task than I think it would be. No thanks to all the "help" I got from Commonwealth Bank!
It all started three weeks ago when my mum said "hey it's time to send your money back". So I went into the bank telling the Comm Bank people "I want to make an IMT to Malaysia and I want it in AUD".
Few days later, I got an email from Comm Bank telling me that my mum's foreign account in Malaysia with CIMB Bank is INVALID and the money has been bounced. How can it be invalid when my parents have been sending me and my sister money from that account for the past 10 years!
So after some "brilliant investigation job" done by my mum, we found out Comm Bank's corresponding bank in Malaysia (Maybank) had took a very smart step by converting ALL MY MONEY into RM!! STUPID cheaters trying to earn money from foreign exchange!!
So back into the bank again with a major question, "why is my money in fucking RM when I wanted it in AUD?" of course the money will be bounced because an AUD account will not accept RM! After a series of complaints, corrections was done, and they even verbally promised me that the FULL AMOUNT in AUD will be safely in my mum's account ASAP.
A few days have passed by and still no news from mum that she had received any money. So back again calling up Comm Bank asking about the whereabouts of my money. Comm Bank had the nerve to tell me that the money has been send to my mum's foreign account and the money is now with the CIMB bank's corresponding bank (ANZ) in Australia, waiting for further instructions to send the AUD back to my mum's account. Another round of investigation is done from the Malaysian side and the money is apparently still in Maybank. FMF! Comm Bank have the nerve to tell me a different story summore!
And today, Comm Bank came back to me telling me that I only have two options at this point of time:
1. take the money in RM
2. convert it to AUD and I might lose money on the forex. FMF I have already lose money the moment those ninkampuks convert my money to RM at the very beginning. Summore have the nerve to ask me to convert again and let them earn more! Idiots!
And they have the nerve to tell me that I did not say I want my money in AUD initially. If that's the case why layan my first complain and tell me everything is do-able!
Until now... my money is still no where to be seen. :'(
Will update soon once I lodge my complaint with the Financial Ombudsman, ASIC and APRA!
Commonwealth Bank, The Bank that Gives You Shit.
Labels: Brisbane, Commonwealth Bank
February 16, 2010 @ 12:51 PM
It's just 年初三and I am still on time to wish everyone for ang pow's! This is my first Chinese New Year away from home, and what did I do?
The morning of 年三十 was spend on cleaning the house! From the room to the kitchen to the toilet! It is really so hard to believe that the house is so darn clean and tidy now. Phew... spring cleaning IS hard work. No wonder mummy hates CNY spring cleaning every year.
Following spring cleaning was 团年饭 with Uncle Sam and Aunt Lai Kuen in the city. Many of their friends and family attended the dinner and there was Lion Dance to boost up the CNY mood! Not to forget another CNY must - gambling session! Chris was the winner in the gambling session at Joyce's, that lucky guy managed to get everyone's "contribution" for Qian's V-day present!
Since there was nothing to do on 年初二, we decided to go temple to 拜拜! Lighted a candle for luck, health and prosperity for the family, and I got a 好签 indicating that every thing will sail smoothly after hardships, and I only have myself to answer to! Not too bad aye. Hope things goes as smoothly as what the 签 says！ :)
As for my CNY look this year... I'm in love with Maxi dress!
Labels: Brisbane, Chinese New Year
February 7, 2010 @ 3:03 PM
Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and to make my first CNY away from Malaysia feel more CNY, I decided to bake some Peanut Cookies for friends and family.
This baking spree for the Peanut Cookies is just so troublesome!
- First, I need to de-shell the peanuts.
- Than, I need to de-skin the peanuts.
- After that, I need to bake the peanuts to make it smell more fragrant.
- Following that, I need to blend the peanuts into a powder form.
Only after all those hard work with the peanuts can I start mixing the ingredients to bake the cookies! :(
Hands are sore from all the de-shelling. But it is fulfilling when everyone that had tried it said its real good and there's a CNY feel to it! :)
Oh mentioning CNY reminds me something important. I need new clothes for CNY! :p
Labels: Brisbane, Chinese New Year
February 4, 2010 @ 8:36 PM
The first photo was from my very first Reiji party in Brisbane. Three years later, the second photo equals to my last Reiji in Brisbane.
Same party, different venue, different crowd. Everyone and everything has moved on, maybe it is really time for me to move on as well. A change of place? A change of life? A change of direction?
But before I change, and move to bigger things in life, let me just bid Reiji farewell. It has been one of my favorite parties in Brisbane, and it used to be THE party where we de-stress after assignments. Many of the crazy moments we spent there was indeed fun... and expensive. :)
Those were the days aye. Simple yet crazy. :)
OMG I have grown older!! Sob sob... :"(
Labels: Brisbane, Random
November 26, 2009 @ 11:29 AM
It has been awhile since I had some "quality" all girls company/chat/gossip session... Ahh... Miss the old days when my Brizzy Babes were around.... (@______@)"
But anyway, yesterday was fun. The fun part of the day was not having guys around and we can gossip like nobody's business! AND not having ANYONE JK telling me that I am becoming more like an aunty when I gossip and talk about COOKING! GRrrrrr.......
I think baking cookies and cupcakes were the secondary activity yesterday, gossiping was the main "activity" instead! *Thanks Jean for organising baking day!* wet eyes
Baking task number 1: Lemon Creamed Butter Cookie decorated with icing sugar
Baking task number 2: Oreo-Cheese Cupcakes decorated with Oreo flakes and whipped cream
The cooks/gossip girls of the day: Jean, Ah Bun, Sherilyn, Winnie, Carol & ME!
Love you girls!
And introducing our very first food tester: Ryo
I think he sort of liked the cookie he was CRAMPING into his mouth? Poor him... had to go through a "process" to compliment us and our "victories". Which is something like this:
Ryo: WAR! Very nice ler! *eyes open wide wide*
Us: Of course la!
Ryo: Eh how you make it one? *as if very interested look*
Us: Aiyo very easy only *act smug and proud of our efforts*
Girls.... like compliments and nice nice comments to amplify our small efforts to make us feel good. :p
Labels: Brisbane, Food
September 23, 2009 @ 11:45 AM
I am 23 on 23! I just love this coincidence of the date of my birthday and my age... :p
Lucky me it's 23. Guess if its on the 31st I don't think I would have the guts to publicize me being 31 on 31! :p
So far, I've yet to celebrate my birthday, but guess what, 23rd September 2009 will definitely be on Australia's history book. Thanks to the FREAKING dust storm that hit NSW and QLD.
(Picture credits: JK and news.com.au)
Clearview Street is no more clear view, or rather should be renamed Dustview? Brisbane is now like a scene from those western wild west horror film. Orange-y, windy and dusty. The only thing missing from the scene are the stray bundle of straws flying around in the city.
Hmm... Some birthday present hints... oxygen face mask maybe? (@_____@)"
***
Today's birthday "conversation" from my family:
Cutie Pie Baby Brother
Cutie pie baby brother: eh yee kah cher happy birthday... ok "gao dim"（搞定） can "sao gong"（收工）go sleep...
Me: eh like this only arr??
Cutie pie baby brother: send you an e-7th September cake
Me: don't want! I want the real cake...
Cutie pie baby brother: online recipe ma... you go bake it yourself!
Me: (@______@)"
Mummy
Me: eh you know Ian said he's sending me an online recipe of 7th September cake and asked me to bake it myself!
Mummy: so did he send it to you?
Me: No la! haha so no birthday cake lo... :p
Mummy: Nevermind, dirt storm over there, you can have sand cake today.
Me: (@_________@)"
Introducing my family members and their sense of humour... (@______@)"
Labels: birthday, Brisbane
August 31, 2009 @ 5:57 PM
Went to the three days in a row to send off friends who are returning to their respective countries for good... Saturday night was for Kent, Sunday afternoon was for Ray and today was for Ben.
The Brisbane airport is now a very familiar sight... and I have a feeling, I will have more visits to the airport in another few months to come... (@____@)"
To date it has been 2 years 6 months and 13 days in Brisbane...
Now, Brisbane is never really the same without those very close friends that just left. Same city, same places to visit yet the feeling is so different... Scenes of the familiar activities, laughter and chats with these people will never again be replayed in Brisbane.
Maybe it is time to move on? Seeing the fact that everyone that has crossed path here in this Sunshine state has either relocated or gone back home.
Read from a friend's nickname on MSN, "it is not the environment that is limiting you, but yourself". That is pretty true. Maybe I'm limiting myself by just thinking of staying in Australia? Right now and than... this "decision to stay" is still a contemplation even though I am currently on bridging visa for my TR.
Last year, this time, I am a hard working masters student... this year, this time, I'm a number one bummer with nothing to do.... WTF!
***
Happy Merdeka! BUT I do not have any feelings about this "big" day whatsoever... When I was in Malaysia, it was just another public holiday, now in Australia, Merdeka is just a reminder that its the last day of August...
Labels: Brisbane, Life
April 29, 2009 @ 1:56 PM
People come and go all the time, and I have had my fair share of farewells for the past couple of years... Just last weekend, I had two farewells in two days... One for Sin Hui and another one for Ada.
I went for Chicago with Eric before heading off to Sin Hui's farewell in Cloudland. The show was very nice! Much nicer than I anticipated probably because some friends told me that Chicago was nothing spectacular. But I find the show witty yet sarcastic and the dance moves superb...
Went over to Sin Hui's house before heading over to Cloundland (supposedly the most expensively decorated "club" in Brisbane) for our
3.5 hours lineup just to go into the FREAKING lounge bar! We dress up,to line up... WTF! Of course we HAVE to take some photos while waiting... But anyway, even after the 3.5 hours wait... We had to beg, plea, raise our voices and even trick just to get into the bloody lounge bar!!!!! WTFFFF..... I would have bloody left the place if it wasn't for Sin Hui...
Lucky for us, the 3.5 hours wait was not wasted cause eventually all of us managed to get in. Cloundland was huge, and the decoration was really very nice, very different compared to the other clubs around Brisbane... Though"privileged" to be able to enter one of the hardest to enter clubs in Brisbane, my super tulan mood lingered around for quite awhile.
The second farewell of the weekend was for Ada - Mei Tien's super hilarious and funny photography enthusiat flatmate. The Park Road Girls (Teeya, Mei Tien, Amelia, Ada, Christine and me) and guy (Ben) decided to walk over to Ribbits for a cozy OZ liked dinner... Small table for 6 but fitting 7 of us, yea it was indeed very cozy...
We had a go with Ada's 16 shot camera function as well, and ended up with ugly, unglam photos like this...
But it was very fun... Though I've just know Ada for a couple of months, I will definitely miss her a lot as I feel very comfortable being around her and chatting with her... I will also miss Sin Hui heaps... We went Taylor's together, came to Brisbane together, and now she's leaving for Melbourne for good. Babe, take care, I'll try to visit you in Melbourne!
I think this is a sign of growing up... Maybe someday soon, it will be my friends in Brisbane bidding me goodbye....
Labels: Brisbane, Farewell
Went over to Sin Hui's house before heading over to Cloundland (supposedly the most expensively decorated "club" in Brisbane) for our 3.5 hours lineup just to go into the FREAKING lounge bar! We dress up,to line up... WTF! Of course we HAVE to take some photos while waiting... But anyway, even after the 3.5 hours wait... We had to beg, plea, raise our voices and even trick just to get into the bloody lounge bar!!!!! WTFFFF..... I would have bloody left the place if it wasn't for Sin Hui...
Lucky for us, the 3.5 hours wait was not wasted cause eventually all of us managed to get in. Cloundland was huge, and the decoration was really very nice, very different compared to the other clubs around Brisbane... Though"privileged" to be able to enter one of the hardest to enter clubs in Brisbane, my super tulan mood lingered around for quite awhile.
The "survivors" of the 3.5 hour wait. 
I was very determined to stay in Cloudland till LATE... and we did! Leaving the club only at 4.30am. I guess making it VERY hard for people to get into Cloudland is a way the management thought of to generate the hype and anticipation for the place... good thinking, but it sucks to have to wait so long just to enter....
We had a go with Ada's 16 shot camera function as well, and ended up with ugly, unglam photos like this...
But it was very fun... Though I've just know Ada for a couple of months, I will definitely miss her a lot as I feel very comfortable being around her and chatting with her... I will also miss Sin Hui heaps... We went Taylor's together, came to Brisbane together, and now she's leaving for Melbourne for good. Babe, take care, I'll try to visit you in Melbourne!