Working at the Farm

Picking capsicum and chili. It is hard work. Please bless the person who pick it or pack it whenever u eat the capsicum or chili.

Malaysia Blast

I got to see this news from an Australian paper and classed it as 'Malaysia Blast'.

English at work is weird
Malaysia's deputy education minister has said that speaking English in the workplace is "weird" and harmful to the culture and identity.

Mohd Puad Zakashi said employees in the private sector used English 99 per cent of the time and should switch to Bahasa Malaysia in order to show pride in the national language, the New Straits Times reported.

Little Wishes

"I wish to stay at a place without flies."

"I wish to taste Coke."

"I wish to have a dress."

These little wishes seem like will only be coming from a poor little girl living in Africa. No, these are my 'little wishes' in Australia.

Moving to Melbourne

This is a little unexpected to be moving to Melbourne so fast. It should be my last destination before heading back to home country.

I'm leaving Queensland without much exploration. Too much people too little work, and I've too little time and too little money.

I must learn to TRUST, although I can't feel the ground. Hope the Melbourne Move is a better move.

Healthy Breakfast

How much time do you spend on your breakfast everyday? 10 minutes? 15 minutes? Not at all? Or do you munch your bread while checking your email in your office? That was what I did for the past few years, but now I always have plenty of time for my breakfast. Of course the main reason is I'm still remain jobless in Australia but this is so fortunate that I discovered the benefits to spend longer time for breakfast. Perhaps that is the highest quality time I have everyday.

You must be thinking what kind of BIG breakfast I have daily. But to be honest, there isn't bacon & egg, cheese & ham, etc. What I have is only coffee, toast and cereal with milk, plus a copy of 'The WORD for TODAY'. Below is the words for today (5/11/2009).

'...God will help her at break of day.' Psalm 46:5 NIV. Day break, a symbol of new beginnings, gives you confidence that beyond this time of trouble and testing, a new day is at hand. 'Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.' (Lamentations 3:23 NLT)

I always enjoyed my breakfast during weekend after running workout when I was in Malaysia, that simply an award. Since I've been traveling, I simply so grateful to have cup of coffee, toast and cereal with milk while I've no income at all. Financially stress can be depressing, but your strength will always be regained as described as above.

It's the best time we appreciate food after fasting for the whole night, and while we have not been interrupted by any other daily issues. And it is also the best time to have your soul food fed beside feeding your stomach.

Thanks to the farmers who grow wheat/grain/cocoa, thanks the rain and sunshine. Above all, thank to God.

Spend a little time and pray, hope any other hungry children can share your breakfast. Sometimes you'll find a minute or couple of minutes for peace, and it is the time you can see reflection of your past and direction of your future.

If you are always too rush for work or family stuff for the breakfast in weekday, find a personal lunch, or dinner, or perhaps anytime during your weekend. It is good for health, beside running :)

What a Laugh

I'm looking for bike, to be more specific, it should be a bicycle but I just tried my luck to search on a website selling used bike (motorbike).

In the search criteria, I selected price Max AUD$500. Guess what I got from the search result?



A Number Plate!

1st Week in Australia

You must be expecting me to compare Australia and New Zealand. Well I'd say that's too early, but from the realistic matters, I can eat cheaper in Australia but not accommodation and transport.

When I say eating, means self-catered. Buy food at marker/supermarket and cook at the hostel. I'm not sure how much the meat cost in Australia, so far I've no interest in looking at them but I assume they should be about the same between OZ and NZ. The vegetables and fruits can be far more cheaper and can be far more expensive than NZ. That's depend on what/where you buy the veggie/fruit.

Watermelon - cheapest fruit. Only max $1 per kilo
Banana (one of the names is Lady Finger) - EXPENSIVE. $4.00-$5.00 per kilo. But I saw $1/kilo at the market (pasar)
Apple - more expensive that NZ.
Avocado - MY FAVORITE and it's CHEAP. I had avocado sandwich for lunch for my entire week. It only cost $1 each averagely (depend on size). It is $2.50 in NZ.
Lettuce/tomatoes - quite cheap if you buy at market compare to supermarket.
Paw Paw (it's Papaya) - Very Expensive than Malaysia. It cost $3.50/kilo

So for my lunches for the week, it was about $12 in total.

But two things, that's bored to eat the same meal for a week. I bought avaocado in bulk for better bargain, there are heavy stuff!

Most important, I feel good and satisfy with the simple, fresh, healthy and nutritious meals.

Accommodation is much more expensive than in NZ! I've to pay $21/night in a 30 bunks room, but I can enjoy a bed in 8 beds dorm in NZ for the same price. You can imagine, 30 bunks room is just like refugee camp, everyone from everywhere with their own behaviour will live in the same room. So you must not be fussy to survive in this kind of environment. Sometimes the room stinct, cocroaches wandering on the ground....

And you must not complain for squeezing in for a space for cooking your dinner. If you wait for low-peak hour, that would be supper.

What I do is to adapt and adjust. I can't be the same like I live in NZ, there are lots more tolerant needed here. The simpler your meal is, the less frustrated you have. Pass by the partying bars and let it be, I will find a corner for my reading. (1 thing I won't adapt to is Party. I hate that)

Now.... I'm still stopping at Brisbane, a city just like KL, nothing attracts me here. I just need to look for job opportunities in elsewhere, station for a while will save more. I got to move wisely here because there is no cheap intercity bus in OZ like nakedbus.com in NZ.

If you watch the movie Australia, that's what I'd like to be. But in realistic, I know I can't, not because I can't ride a horse (in fact I can), but I wont want myself to drove the cattles to die.

That's all for my first week...

Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

Here I am at a place with heaps of sunshine and able to run in singlet and short!

That's Gold Coast. I had been running at 6am the day after I touched down, because I have 3 hours jet-lag, that was 9am in New Zealand. Well, Gold Coast here sunrise at around 5.15am and sunset at around 5.50pm. I expected some 'culture shock' but it was not that much after traveling to Aucland.

Why?
I've never seen a busy city with so many people sine I came to New Zealand. I saw that at Auckland.
I've never seen a sexy woman walking on the street to party since I came to New Zealand. I saw that at Auckland.

And now, I saw all these Gold Coast, Australia.

Truly, I miss New Zealand's peaceful life. Because I'm a peaceful person ;P

I been to surfing today, it is tough. very hard especially walking againts the before surfing the wave. I was exhausted for the 1st few times and getting better. Practice makes perfect, nothing too hard if you willing to learn.