What a wonderful life

Check out my other blog at Dashboard Confessions

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Try

What's the difference between you and me
To me it's kind of small
To you it's like prison
What's the difference between you and me
To me it almost happens
To you it almost isn't
How did you become so sure

Your girlfriend never smiles
And no one ever calls
You begin to wonder if they were your friends at all
You frown
You take a look around
You shout
This will never get better

But the doubt that you grow
When you feel desprouted
Turning your field into a deeper valley

You'd find
The mountains aren't so high
If you'd only try


To do better

It's 9:33 and the traffic, the stoplight
Somebody hits you
Nothing ever goes right
And the gridlock
Nothing ever goes right

And it's just a little scratch
Not a permanent scar
It's just a tiny dent
You don't need a new car
It's just a little mess
Your dreams aren't shattered
You climb up
While I hold the ladder


But how many times I've tried
How many time I've missed and I've tried
How many times I've tried
How many time I've missed and I've tried

When everything's so difficult
I feel so alone
But I find a better view
On the other side of the window

So that's the difference between you and me
What if you believe that the grass could grow
Up through the snow
It's possible

To do better than get by

To do better

To do better than get by


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Life is good

I know i can't always win
i can do anything i...
do more then dream i...

think

you make everything,everything just try
so alive

life is good when you're around!
nothing can bring me down
i can't believe what i have found
nothing can hold me down

one thing i have to know
just how far could we go?
i want to go outside and show the whole world!
that everything i got some say it's not alot but it's what i want

life is good when you're around!
nothing can bring me down
i can't believe what i have found
nothing can hold me down

you wait to hear my call
you know just what to say
how could

life is good when you're around!
nothing can bring me down
i can't believe what i have found
nothing can hold me down
life is good when you're around!
nothing can bring me down
i can't believe what i have found
nothing can hold me down


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Back to school


Back to school
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Buy a Mac. Get a free iPod mini. And with your everyday student discount save up to S$300/HK$1400.* But act now. This offer is good only through September 24, 2005.

Shop for your Mac.
The following computers qualify for this offer: all PowerBook models, all iMac models, all Power Mac models and all iBook models excluding the 12-inch iBook CD.

Shop for your iPod.
You can choose a 4GB iPod mini in any colour. Or you can apply your S$300/HK$1400 savings toward the purchase of a 6GB iPod mini, a 20GB or 60GB iPod, or a 20GB iPod U2 Special Edition.

http://www.asia.apple.com/promo/backtoschool/


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iPod


iPod
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Saturday June 18, 1:49 AM
Queen plugging into iPod


AFP Photo
Queen Elizabeth II has dipped into the royal purse to snap up an iPod.

The Sun said the 79-year-old sovereign had bought a six-gigabyte silver model for 169 pounds.

The pocket-sized digital music players can hold up to 10,000 downloaded songs.

Queen Elizabeth's second son Prince Andrew -- fourth in line to the throne -- was reported to be behind the move, having bought his mother a mobile phone and taught her how to use it in 2001.

"The Queen loves music and was impressed by how small and handy the iPod is," a royal insider told the tabloid on Friday.

"Obviously it is quite complicated to download songs, but I'm sure one of the courtiers will do it for her.

"Prince Andrew will probably also help out because he's a real dab hand with gadgets."

The newspaper suggested Abba's "Dancing Queen" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears might be on the royal iPod.


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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Blue Suede Shoes....NOT!


Lovely threads
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Got new shoes for my lovely baby. Don't her shoes look fabulous? Its not Gucci or anything but they are not cheap either! The great thing is that they are so quite, for now at least, no road noise when I cruise with my windows down.




Goodyears!
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
That's a stack of them there. Had a hard time finding the shop. It was located in Paya Lebar, off Tai Seng road. There is a lot of construction going on. spent a good 10 minutes lookign for the place.





Tire changing
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
The tyre change took me a good hour cos there was another car before me. Spoke briefly to the owner of the car. e was changing his rims to a 18". Really chio man....haha





Envious of thy neighbour
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Needless to say, the car was a beauty, a Evo8...chio man. Had carbon fiber hood and boot. Not to mention the GT wing also. Sigh...envious man...hahahah


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Colour iPod


Colour iPod
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Egad! Roy! Check out this new gadget! Don't you just love to be a mac user??!! Haha


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Sand Sculpture


Sand Sculpture
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Check out this sand sculpture. Talk about post modern man. What has happened to the simple sand castle??!!


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Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Supreme Court rules on government Ten Commandments displays

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land, but drew the line on displays inside courthouses, saying they violated the doctrine of separation of church and state. Read about it here


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Saturday, June 25, 2005

Sunset


Sunset
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
The weather was cooling, the breeze in the air. Humidity was around 60%, just nice. This was taken in Brisbane. It was actually around 5 plus and the sun was already setting. its winter you see and nights are long and days short.

There were many clouds looming over the horizon. It signalled an impending storm, somewhat similar to the one that was raging inside of me...


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The old and the new


Brisbane
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.
Finally had a little time to go through some of my photos that I took in Australia. Not fully sorted just yet, I'll get down to it as soon as I can. Check out my homepage for new additions!

Anyhow, took this picture in Brisbane. Had the weekend off then and had the opportunity to go into town to check out the scene. Saw this old church standing out in the midst of all the modern buildings.

Really reminded me of old things and new things, and through it all, the Bible, even though written almost 2000 years ago, is still relevant today and making an impact on people's lives.

Just like this old church, it will always remain relevant despite the ever changing landscape around it.


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Thursday, June 23, 2005

Skyline


Skyline
Originally uploaded by pierrefong.

Check out the different kind of skyline, the kind that goes really FAST!


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Mixtape

You say hello, inside I'm screaming I love you
You say goodnight, in my mind
I'm sleeping next to you
You drive away from my car crash of a heart
And I don't know

But you gave me the best mixtape I have
And even all the bad songs ain't so bad
I just wish there was so much more than that
About me and you

You talk to him, and it burns me like the sun
You talk to her, and you say that you feel like he's the one
I talk to me, but you can't hear the pain I feel
You don't know

Cause you gave me the best mixtape I have
And even all the bad songs ain't so bad
I only wish there was more than that
About me and you

Oh, don't turn around and say bye again
Yeah it crushes my head when you call me
Your friend and I'm not the same person
From back in the day in the back of the class
that you thought was gay
No I can't find the words cause I lost them
The minute they fell out of my mouth
And it's love and I'm in it, so give me your lips
And just let me kiss 'em
and let's get messed up and listen to possibly...

The best mixtape I have
And even all the bad songs ain't so bad
I just wish there was more than that
About me and you


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New music, New life...

Just embarked on a plan to listen to new music....
Here is the list, anyone has any of the songs??....;)

+ "Just As Well" by Emily Sparks
+ "Silence" by Gomez
+ "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5
+ "See Me" by Rob Giles
+ "Take Your Mama" by Scissor Sisters
+ "Lie In The Sound" by Trespassers William
+ "Empty Apartment" by Yellowcard


+ "Hip Hop Don't Stop" by Cobalt Party Revolution
+ "The Distance" by Coby Brown
+ "Mirror" by Erica C.
+ "Life Is Good" by Junk
+ "Everybody's Changing" by Keane
+ "Headsprung" by LL Cool J
+ "Art" by Louque
+ "Float On" by Modest Mouse
+ "Watching Rainbows" by The Badge
+ "My Heart" by The Perishers
+ "Real Love" by Toby Lightman
+ "Copper Moon" by Tom Freund

"Click below for full list"

+ "Keep Your Receipt" by Cobalt Party Revolution
+ "Roll With Dub" by Double Owe
+ "Mirror" by Erica C
+ "C'mon" by Go Betty Go
+ "Kill" by Jimmy Eat World
+ "Satellite" by Junk
+ "Word Up" by Korn
+ "Bad Habits" by Michael Tolcher
+ "Shake That Sh**" by Shawnna feat. Ludacris
+ "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas
+ "Bridge and Tunnel" by The Honorary Title
+ "Fit But You Know It" by The Streets


+ "There's Something Better" by Hathaway
+ "At The Speed Of A Yellow Bullet" by Head Automatica
+ "All I Want From You is Love" by Let's Go Sailing
+ "Angel" by Lo-Tel
+ "States" by Michael Meanwhile
+ "Sway" by The Perishers

+ "The keys to life vs. 15 minutes of fame" by Atmosphere
+ "Hey Sugar" by D'Lovely
+ "Collide" by Howie Day
+ "16 Below" by Light FM
+ "Everything Is" by Nectar
+ "Funny Little Feeling" by Rock-N-Roll Soldiers
+ "Endless Shovel" by Rogue Wave
+ "Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot
+ "Good Time" by Walkie Talkie
+ "Somersault" by Zero 7

+ "Let Me Fall" by Haley
+ "Mid November" by Johnathan Rice
+ "The Wind Blew All Around Me" by Mary Lou Lord
+ "Sun and Stars" by Michael Meanwhile
+ "So Beautiful" by Pete Murray
+ "Alive and Amplified" by The Mooney Suzuki
+ "Waiting For The Sun" by The Shore
+ "Glad" by Tyler Hilton
+ "Stay With Me Tonight" by Wonderlife

+ "Let Me Fall" by Haley
+ "You're at the top (Hitlist)" by High City Miles
+ "Proof" by I Am Kloot
+ "Just A Lonely Boy" by Lazy Stars
+ "Anything for you" by Luther Russell
+ "The Death of American Radio" by Radio 4
+ "Stop The World" by Riddlin' Kids
+ "Dance Floor" by Star
+ "Walkie Talkie Man" by Steriogram
+ "Alive & Amplified" by The Mooney Suzuki


+ "Gone To Earth" by American Analog Set
+ "Every Ship Must Sail Away" by Blue Merle
+ "Sparkle Me" by Buffseeds
+ "Holiday" by Doktor Kosmos
+ "Give It Up" by Midtown
+ "Testing" by Nolan
+ "Did I Lose you There?" by Silver
+ "No Reason" by Sum 41

+ "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani
+ "Hope Springs Eternal" by John Gold
+ "You're a Day" by Mitchell
+ "Shining Stars" by Morella's Forest
+ "Rowing Song" by Patty Griffin
+ "Allot Like You" by Pete Droge
+ "Be Be Your Love" by Rachael Yamagata
+ "The First Single" by The Format
+ "Runaway" by Trailer Park Pam
+ "When The Stars Go Blue" by Tyler Hilton & Bethany Joy Lenz
+ "Higher" by Vegas de Milo
+ "All My Life" by Vegas de Milo

+ "Shoot Your Gun" by 22-20s
+ "Sideways" by Citizen Cope
+ "23" by Jimmy Eat World
+ "Re-Gaining Unconsciousness" by NOFX
+ "How To Be Dead" by Snow Patrol
+ "Life's Disease" by Stutterfly
+ "Pills" by The Perishers
+ "When It Comes" by Tyler Hilton

+ "Gather The Horses" by Charlie Mars
+ "One Against the Sun" by D'Lovely
+ "I Don't Want to Be" by Gavin DeGraw
+ "Skyline Drive" by Mae
+ "Return to Me" by Matthew Ryan
+ "Sit Still" by Public
+ "Overdue" by The Get Up Kids

+ "Wreck Of The Day" by Anna Nalick
+ "Begin" by Ben Lee
+ "No Right Angles" by Ben Lee
+ "What Cha Gonna Do" by High City Miles
+ "Clear My Head" by Ivy
+ "Finding Out True Love is Blind" by Louis XIV
+ "South" by Mark Geary
+ "Be Mine" by Tim Cullen
+ "Glad (acoustic)" by Tyler Hilton

+ "Broken" by Dalton Grant
+ "Trapped In" by Division of Laura Lee
+ "Lost My Way" by Face
+ "Want You to Come Over" by Jim McGorman
+ "She Has No Time" by Keane
+ "Alright" by Pilate
+ "The Good Kind" by The Wreckers
+ "When It Comes" by Tyler Hilton

+ "Walk Into The Sun" by Dirty Vegas
+ "Still You" by John Doe, Dim Stars, Bright Sky
+ "Get Through This" by Low Five
+ "Alive With Pleasure" by Viva Voce

+ "You've Changed" by Bettie Serveert
+ "Deep" by Citizen Cope
+ "Genius" by Inara George
+ "Flying High" by Jem
+ "I Predict A Riot" by Kaiser Chief
+ "Club Foot" by Kasabian
+ "Where Happiness Lives" by Magnet
+ "Looking For Love" by Michelle Featherstone
+ "Do You Feel Love" by People People

+ Dave Gibbs - "I'm Not the One"
+ Earlimart - "Broke The Furniture"
+ Gavin DeGraw - "Chariot"
+ Ryan Adams - "Now That You're Gone"
+ Story Of The Year - "Sidewalks"
+ Wonderful Johnson - "Cry"


+ "Chariot (unreleased live version)" by Gavin DeGraw
+ "Long Beach" by Gus Black
+ "Just a Little Bit" by Madison Rose
+ "Me and My Girl" by Sorta
+ "Face Tomorrow" by Sorta
+ "Lie in the Sound " by Trespassers William
+ "What Are You Afraid Of" by West Indian Girl

+ "Sugar Pill" by Ambulance LTD
+ "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band
+ "New Light Of Tomorrow" by Husky Rescue
+ "Try and Understand" by Montana Shane
+ "Coming Clean" by Tamara Bedricky
+ "Disarmed" by The Belles
+ "Girl is on My Mind" by The Black Keys
+ "Who's To Say" by Vanessa Carlton


Read more here!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

This is a copy of a speech that Steve Jobs delivered to the graduates of Stanford University this week. Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks —including death itself.)



"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.



The first story is about connecting the dots.



I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?



It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.



And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.



It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:



Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.



None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.



Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.



My second story is about love and loss.



I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years, Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.



I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.



I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.



During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.



I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what

I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.



My third story is about death.



When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.



Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.



About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.



I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.



This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:



No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.



Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.



When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.



Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.



Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.



Thank you all very much." - Steve Jobs - June 2005


Read more here!

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Yay!

Finally, my long long long trip to Australia will be over soon! Will be flying back to Singapore on the 21st June!Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed....


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Friday, June 10, 2005

G'day mate

Hey Roy,

This ones for you man. Sorry for the not blogging. Its killin me! Hehe. Anyhow, I miss home but at the same timre, really enjoying myself. Really had a lot of time to myself, thinking and stuff, on top of that, muckign ard with my mac. Sorry, using this super slow computer so can't upload any pictures yet, waiting to see if I can get wireless or something...hehe

Made my journey from Perth to Brisbane and now finally in Melbourne!

Stay tuned for more aussie adventures okay? I'll try my best.

ps not sick of food here, but my poor colleague is. I'm luvin' it! Got a service apartment today and cooked.... I had lamb chops! Yum yum....


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