Final 2011 words

So it's been awhile, yes? I've been back from holidays for a few days, slowly returning to the normal routine life in Melbourne as the year 2011 comes to an end. I won't go on a huge reflection, but there a few things I want to end on.

There has been a change in my career path already. My previous post denotes my last working day at Civilex. Well, that has become my last working day for awhile at Civilex. A few days before the end of exams, I received an offer from Humes to be part of their graduate program for 2012. After considering many factors, I decided it was too good of an offer to refuse. So, starting 16th Jan, I will be working at Humes :) more details on them later.

Holiday in Asia was awesome. There were a few rough bumps i.e bad weather, getting tonsillitis, passport getting damaged AGAIN, but amanda & I still had an awesome time. I have put together a few photos for blog posting, so I will be doing that in the next few days.

Christmas was held at the Teoh's again this year, with a few absences due to unforeseen circumstances. However, it was still a solid effort by my mum & dad to host, as the very next day we had another 'boxing day' party with more family friends. Look at the huge leg of ham! We're still eating it..

I am also now looking for small studio apartments to rent, as I need to move closer to the west side, so I don't crash and die on the 1 hour drive on the M1.

Anyway, 2011 will be a memorable year for me. The year I turned 21 and tasted two great steaks in two days. The year of great travels, with Canberra, Europe and Asia having felt my presence, which I think is quite an achievement and still have money haha. It was also the year of easing into my profession while dealing with lots of stress at university. It was the sad ending of my time at the CSC, while graduating from university finally (and without failing a single unit!)!

And I am looking forward to 2012! There are many exciting things going for me and I can't wait to experience them all. Happy New Year everyone, have a safe celebration.

teoh,

Dad's birthday

Happy birthday dad! Getting older, but at least you're still very fit!

*BTW: see how magie's foot is just about to go into dad's green dessert? Just after this picture, she kicks it off the table hahaha. Luckily the glass didn't break and pudding just fell out intact!

We went to Wheeler's hill hotel bistro to eat. It was a very good dinner! I had the special steak and lobster for $29. Not a big fan of lobster, but it was nice. Steak was cooked quite well as well. Finally got my Heiniken (haven't had one since Amsterdam) and got another blue something for free with a newspaper coupon. We also got free calamari through coupons. Bless my mum for keeping coupons haha.

teoh,

happy birthday mum

and plus, happy birthday mum =] I appreciate you more every day.

easter break fun

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you are all having a good long weekend.

I was feeling a little burnt out at the end of last week, so I decided that I would take Friday - Sunday off completely from any university related work. It was a good plan, I feel much better and have been smashing grad applications all day. I think my company count is up to 20's so hopefully one of them will want to hire me.

Amanda's birthday was last Friday, so happy birthday to my best friend (you are now older than me, hah!). It was a good night of old high school friends (+mich) and rounds of classic games of mafia and jin.

Went to Bright on a loooong family drive on the Saturday. 4 hour drives are killers. But I will always remember Bright for the gorgeous fresh air and the nice creek that I was dying to play in.

I'm feeling quite tired of social outings now actually. I'm so ready just to stay at home for the rest of the week. Have quite a bit of uni work to catch up on, so good timing!

teoh,

twenty one - the man i am

As my twenty first milestone in my life has arrived, I would like to write a little something.

To be honest, the reason I was not keen on celebrating my 21st was because I felt like I did not have much to celebrate. I like to think 21st as a time to celebrate the person's life up to now, and I did not think there was much in mine.

Amanda touched me when she mentioned about accomplishing a lot in my friends around me. It was really nice to know that I had made a positive difference in the people around me and made me feel a lot better about my 21st. Jason and Grace both reminded me of all the strong friendships I had in that room. And I was really surprised by the strongest speech coming from Tim, my past arch-nemesis haha, but really glad. After all, if I've turned my enemy into a really close friend, I can't have done much more. Those improv speeches really made my night. I was not kidding when I said they are half of my life.

Just as my friends mentioned my good character, I must credit a lot of my positive traits to my parents. I have both learnt and inherited my kindness from both of them; my generosity comes from my mother, who always gives to people and never expects much in return; my organising and social skills I must be grateful to my father.

I'd also like to say thanks to my brother and sister. Although my siblings are literally distances away, they have made the effort to come in and celebrate my 21st in their own way.

I really look forward to the my life ahead of me from the point of twenty one. Although I've been warned that it's all downhill, I hope I get to have a fun time rolling down it!

teoh,

merry christmas '10

Merry Christmas from the Teoh Family!

teoh,

exam tomorrow!

Pr(Exam tomorrow) = 1.

Magie is now almost back to her normal self, after 2 weeks of hardship. Thanks to everyone for called/texted me about her, your concern was greatly appreciated. She has a lot of patches of fur missing from all the tests that we did, but otherwise is eating lots more and acting like her old self more. Unfortunately, now my mum is sick! Haha! Nothing to serious though.

teoh,

looking ahead

So I no longer want those depressing posts on my blog, so on we go. Had Andrew's 21st on Sunday night. I had a really good time hanging out with some of my favourite high school friends. It was a good night.

Magie is still sick, we just cannot find out what's wrong with her. She's had a pretty terrible week, in and out of the vet, hospitalized and had an ultrasound today (which turned up negative). She's really exhausted, but ate some chicken thanks to some drugs to make her feel better. As little as she means to my readers, I ask people to keep her in your thoughts and prayers, she means the world to me.

I am currently trying to figure out what I want to do with myself in the future (better late than never). Engineering sounds good, but I think want something more. My dad has given me some articles and magazines about young millionaires, and I'm wondering how to get ambitious. Not millionaire ambitious, but just ambitious.

I was watching some of The Apprentice, which is so much fun to watch people back stab and yell like children on television, finger pointing etc. I feel like tim watching it, laughing evilly as someone gets verbally bashed. Anyway, my point was, as a prize, project managers get to meet with CEOs etc. One of them said, all the most successful people in the world right now are breathing the same air you are.

So after reading some of the stuff my dad gave me, I figured to get ambitious, you have to be inspired or passionate. Since I don't have a strong passion towards anything particularly, I guess I have to go for inspired. So inspire me. I might look into reading some books later after exams.

I would also like to talk about bathroom conversations. There should be a rule that if you are in the bathroom, doing your business, no talking is allowed between fellow bathroomers. I mean, it's so awkward! And I do not want to be holding a conversation in a echo-y room, with flushing toilets, running water, really LOUD hand dryers. A friendly nod and a hi, OK fine acceptable. But that's it! Also they need to soundproof cubical.

Talking about work, I had a fun time getting to know two new people at work today (so much that I didn't do any study =_=) I think I enjoy getting to know people. There's a position at work for Cultural Committee (one person being a committee) that organises events and stuff for people. I think I might take it when I get back from work. I wouldn't mind organising a bowling night or something for everyone.

Good luck to all fellow students doing exams right now. All the best.

teoh.

that time of year

it's been a continuously terrible, even though we're in the next week. just happens to be my life low for now.

magie has been sick for the past few days. Long story short, at first it was just her licking herself to the point of not being able to walk around properly, and now she seems to have digested something bad. She was doing a lot of crazy things, like eating grass (apparently dogs do that when they're stomachs hurt), not coming inside the whole night when it was freezing outside, vomiting etc. I was up all saturday night and had completely lost it by sunday morning and broke down; just didn't know how to help her anymore. Luckily my brother came from his place and helped me out.

Her conditions seems to have slightly improved today, even though we had been suggested to hospitalize her. She ate by herself tonight, which is good as she hasn't eaten since saturday. I pray she gets better soon. Nothing is OK until she is.

Still no calls on vacation work either. On the brink of giving up. Bad kick start to my career.

Even though all this bad stuff happens to you, it's amazing how life still goes on. You could have your arm amputated, but when you come home after surgery, you'd find bills and stuff in your letter box. The world doesn't stop because your suffering. You just have to troop on. I am struggling to follow this concept I admit. But one day I will look back on this post/time, and realised I survived through it.

teoh,

that time of year

it's been a continuously terrible, even though we're in the next week. just happens to be my life low for now.

magie has been sick for the past few days. Long story short, at first it was just her licking herself to the point of not being able to walk around properly, and now she seems to have digested something bad. She was doing a lot of crazy things, like eating grass (apparently dogs do that when they're stomachs hurt), not coming inside the whole night when it was freezing outside, vomiting etc. I completely lost it sunday morning and broke down; just didn't know how to help her anymore. Luckily my brother came from his place and helped me out.

Her conditions seems to have slightly improved today, even though we had been suggested to hospitalize her. She ate by herself tonight, which is good as she hasn't eaten since saturday. I pray she gets better soon. Nothing is OK until she is.

Still no calls on vacation work either. On the brink of giving up. Bad kick start to my career.

Even though all this bad stuff happens to you, it's amazing how life still goes on. You could have your arm amputated, but when you come home after surgery, you'd find bills and stuff in your letter box. The world doesn't stop because your suffering. You just have to troop on. I am struggling to follow this concept I admit. But one day I will look back on this post/time, and realised I survived through it.

teoh,

R.I.P Flora

Sigh, this whole week is full of death and gloom.

My last fish Flora seems to have died from being a lone/depression, as I couldn't see anything wrong with the tank itself. It's saddening, but at the same time I'm sure 'she' would've rather not lingered around by herself all alone.

Ah, I can't wait for this week to be over..

R.I.P Rainbow

my oldest fish, rainbow, passed away tonight.

rest in peace my friend. it was a good 10+ years of life. you taught me the responsibilities of keeping another life. thanks =[

teoh,

slightly down

my poor fish rainbow isn't looking very good at the moment =[ I'm a bit sad. It's sorta just floating around at the bottom of the tank, moving only so slightly. 'He' (as I like to think of him) has had a good life though, I've managed to keep him and his 'partner' Flora for a good 7 or 8 years. I'm quite proud of taking good care of them. Hope he passes along as peacefully as possible.

I bought some new seaweed and cleaned out the tank for him, which brings me to my second topic. Pet's Paradise is a horrible place. Terrible service, the staff don't seem to care about your needs at all. Terrible product, more than half of my sea weed is already browning and dying. The lady should have checked for me. They have lost me as a customer, never going back to them again. Sad for such a large franchise that deals with such cute puppies.

GHD interview is nearing, slightly nervous. I'm scared that the cognitive test is going to reveal me for the true retard I am haha. Hope I've kept my problem solving skills from high school. I shall be spending most of tomorrow preparing.

Had fun at tim's 21st yesterday, happy birthday tim. Hope you enjoy your new camera. Also hope I didn't base you too much in my speech. I actually did have some nice words in there, but I forgot to mention them up there. Whoops. You're a pretty fun guy, glad to have you as my friend. Looop buddy!

also, I've changed to Google Chrome. opera was doing something funny and I couldn't get it to stop. Plus I've been slightly frustrated with opera in that it doesn't support a few things that I use. I've discovered the Chrome has supported mouse gestures and shortcuts, so I'm all happy with it now =] I'm going to miss Speed Dial though.

teoh,

Meat & Wine Co Review

It is my dad's birthday on Tuesday, so we decided to go out to celebrate at a fancy place in the city.

Meat & Wine Co is located on Southbank, just near MacDonalds, on Queensbridge street. It is famous for it's wide combination of meat and wine. It features a restaurant with two levels, and a lounge bar which sometimes holds special events.

The Restaurant

I've actually been in this area a few times from crown, and was surprise to find it was not a fancy dress place. No one wore anything more fancy than my own outfit that you can see in the pictures, so it's a very casual restaurant. The restaurant itself is very nice, the bar is quite comfortable, dining tables are spacey enough. The restaurant actually extends out onto the footpath, but you wouldn't be able to tell thanks to tight plastic walls and heaters.
Make no mistake though, the prices are not casual. As you would expect from a meathouse, the prices range from entrée dishes for fifteen dollars to steak and chips for as much as fifty dollars. Sides extra four dollars. Not a place for the tight budget.

Service

The night started off terribly. My brother told them his name and the time he booked, and they could not find it. The lady then proceeded to tell my brother that it was booked for 6PM, not 730PM and quote "you must've misunderstood me". She then rudely gave us a look of 'you are so inconvenient' and told us to wait in the bar while she sorted something out. No apology. No when she'll come up and tell us. Just shoved us aside. I was ready to let loose some Teoh rage at her.

Thankfully, that was the end of bad service. 10 - 15 minutes later, we got a table, where we were served with one of the friendliest waitress I've met. She took care of us like a waitress should, inquiring if we were celebrating and arranged a birthday scoop of ice cream for my dad (then again this could've been a trap: see below). All waiters and waitresses were very polite, with sir's and lady's. Food came at a respectable duration of around 20 minutes.

The service at the table was very satisfactory. Front service, look out.

FoodThe prices drove my expectations quite high, and I can say that they were met in some regards. I had a rib platter ($50), containing beef, lamb and pork ribs and chips. It was huge. 1kg of meat. I managed to get t hrough most of it and it was delicious. The sauce was nice, and the meat was really tender; very easy to eat off the bone. However, it was a bit disappointing that salads were not included in my meal. I felt a bit sick after a while just devouring a whole plate of meat and fried potato chips.

My brother's steak was delicious, the meat was so tender and he got 600g of it. It also cost fifty dollars. I had a nice chunk of it and enjoyed tearing through it like an animal (I used my fingers cause they were already dirty from the ribs). Overall, I think my family was pleased with the food delivered.

The dessert was an apple and rhubarb crumble, which was satisfactory but not outstanding.

Verdict

I would like to re-experience this place again, maybe next year. There's no doubt it is expensive, but the food and nice table service makes up for it. However, the trap I mentioned before: the ice scoop that my dad got for his birthday surprise? They charged us for it, $3. That's just wrong in principle.

I will probably never take my high school friends, as they are both pov and not used to eating that western food. But my workmates might enjoy it. 21st possiblitiy? Only with a few people.

Recommend for steak enthusiasts and those who can afford a nice night out.

teoh,

oh fritter.

ingredients for a week of uni hell: 2 tests, 3 major assignments, 1 report and no motivation. Serve hot.

so my friend Long just got his new phone yesterday, the HTC Desire. It's pretty nice, the touchscreen responsiveness is about on par with iphones, and since smartphones are pretty much mini-computers nowadays, it's got a mini computer processor 1 GHZ which makes it run very smooth.

So tempting to get a new phone as I've been on an open contract for so long, but I'm also at debate with myself that I don't actually need one. But it'd be sooo nice to get one. HTC Evo has a bigger screen and coming out in July, but really expensive =[ But it runs so fast, and so many apps, first 4G phone, HTC aren't that common (among my friends anyway), oh so cool. But then, do I really need mobile internet? Just one more distraction, more time spent looking at a electronic device. But then it could be useful for like looking up things on the spot, GPS etc. But then money...

My friend simon bought an Ipad from eBay over seas. Very nice, so impressed with the touch interface. The screen is really clear and you can actually type notes onto 'Word' app pretty accurately. Wouldn't mind having one for lectures, make things a bit more interesting. But, with any new tech, I will wait for better generations (I remember buying first gen ipod 'nano', big brick compared to the new ones and no colour)

My mum told me a funny story today, how she had used compost and soil in a part of the garden a few weeks ago before she left for the UK/Malaysia. Then a creeper vine had grown around (not uncommon in our garden) so she pulled it all out...and out...and pop comes out:


aha so cool! Home grown rock melon. Well done mum.

And also, made banana/pineapple fritter tonight. Was a partial success, the batter turned out alright, but the fruit inside wasn't sweet. Had it with ice cream and wasn't too bad though. It's fun deep frying stuff =]

teoh,

p.s while looking at myself at my haircut today, i thought to myself: my face is fat. =[

presents from over seas!

love it when family come back from overseas, i love opening up all the bags and boxes, looking for treasures and prizes! above are japanese figures luke and leia, who will now guard my computer for me.

behold the holocron mark II, my new usb 8 gig stick. mark I's plastic shell eventually crumbled to nothing, so this is the high tech replacement! awesome.

my sister loves cupcakes, so she saw this cute cupcake bib and bought it. I put it on mags for some highly amusing entertainment.

and my belated birthday present, flown across two countries to get to me, a stormtrooper jumper! thanks sis =] it's got a cool stormtrooper button on it as well, which I will rip off if I ever grow out of the jumper, cause it's that cool!

teoh,

intra-seeking

first, a little daily update.

my dad has just left yesterday off to singapore, and my brother shall be making his way to the airport to japan soon. only myself and magie at home now, it's going to be lonely = my new strict wake up routine: wake up early, check if laundry needs to be done (if so, do it), take magie for a walk, hang out said laundry, eat breakfast while making lunch, decide what to have for dinner, and then go to uni/work. Wish all my family safe travels and have fun! Bring me back gifts =]

my internet will hopefully be upgraded in the next 24-48 hours to the new telstra super cable, which is apparently much faster than what we have, with double capacity (25gb cap) and it's 20 bucks cheaper (49.95) =]

also, went to a workmate's house yesterday and played poker (with a different group) surprisingly I almost won the pot ($120), and came 2nd in the tournament. Was able to win my buy in back, so no money loss, entertainment profit win!

also saw anthea today, she's such a lovely girl. love catching up with her and just talking about anything.

thoughts:

I have decided to begin a self discovery journey. I realised I no longer know who I am, despite this line being very cliche and dramatic. What I mean is that, I wouldn't know how to describe myself anymore. I don't know what kind of person I am, how I am acting, what I am doing. I have utterly lost myself, not in a depressing way, but certainly concerning.

this journey begins effectively immediately. I'm going to start thinking who I think I am, and who I want to be.

edit: I also realised some of my tags are severely lacking in posts. Will try and post more specific posts in the future, instead of a blind post dump.

teoh,

the usual.

alright, daily update, simply cause i have no interesting thoughts in my mind right now. I'll get right on that.

I really have to hurry up and order my passport. Third passport form I've filled out in a couple of months. Not many people can say they've done that ey? Or paid for it..

Last uni sprint until the easter break. A few project milestones due here and there, but I'm fairly confident I can break through them. Haha, there are these white guys I frequently hang out with at uni, they're so funny. They think I'm really asian cause I'm 'good' (I will define this in a sec) at computers and laugh at me playing DDR. Then again, these guys do shoeys' back at home (where you drink a shoe full of beer apparently..true or are they just kidding with me!?)

So yeah, one them David has an ancient Compaq laptop, the first time I worked with them, it took like 15 minutes to boot up (I exaggerate, but you get it). It's a single 1.66 Hz core with 1GB memory and more than a few years old. Still works pretty well considering. Anyway, I told them about formatting, defragging, partitioning and how to upgrade to Windows 7 and how to get it for free at uni. They're so amazed at all the things you can do haha. They're a really smart bunch and hard working, I want to work with them more in the future.

Easter break! Carolyn is coming down, and we've made plans so she's staying with me for the first few days. I should say it's going to be exciting fun (and it will be) but I also feel pressure and stress in hoping I can be a sufficient guide (or escort as she puts it haha) and make her trip worthwhile. She's a city/valley girl, so I'm taking her to the city on Saturday, see the Gardens, dinner/drinks at Red Spice Road and then Comedy Festival session at night, along with Amanda and Ling...though I'm still loss for city highlights anyone?

Nevertheless, I'm excited to see her again, and will be going to 1000 steps/dandenong ranges, and there are few nice cafes I know up there (hopefully they're still there lol). Past that, not sure where to go around locally. I figured I might just take her around chaddy (chocolate cafe?), jells park maybe if the weather's nice, maybe even kingsway just to show her where I'm usually at. Recommendations, drop them in the comment box!

Amanda's 21st and Ann's party next week as well. Got a few catch ups in the holidays as well; lil, anthea and others. . Will be glad to see my usual group too at those parties, it's been awhile. As well as a huge project my group haven't started on haha; but all of this will come in time.

Me and my dad are surviving pretty well so far without my mum, with my brother floating in and out like a ghost. I made curry for the first time, and it was pretty yum! Had nice blinds installed in my room, no more girly-like curtains (dunno if anyone's noticed them before), gives my room a more professional look, along with the star wars posters and bobblehead ;]

p.s ugh I really hate the way blogger manages photos in posts. :[ hate.

teoh,

thought to hope to revelation

big post today:

first off, I've been having a few computer issues once again. This time it's the dreaded blue screen of death =[ Actually, I don't get the blue screen, which is why I didn't realise it was the BSOD, my computer just kinda chucks a spaz and dies. But yeah, after hunting through event logs, it's the BSOD. Had to do a few diagnostics around at techsupportforums, and so far all the hardware checks out, which is a relief. Fingers crossed that it's fixed ! ( we did a few things to help hopefully )

secondly, I suck at DDR =[ I feel so ashamed at my performance on tuesday, so terrible. I dunno if I have the heart to go the comp on thursday, but if I have no other plans I might go ( and watch).

The past week has been pretty good. Movie reviews!

Avatar 3D, was pretty amazing, well worth the money. It was good that I went with no expectations, plus I had no idea what it was about. 3D effects were soso for me...I guess it did add to the experience, but it hurt my eyes. When he jumped off a rock high in the sky and leapt for rope, my stomach sorta dropped. The story was alright, but was ruined by the cliche ending at the end =[ But definitely a must-see. Music wasn't bad either, listening to it now, quite a few epic moments.

Sherlock Holmes, was pretty entertaining. I heard it's pretty disappointing to people who've read the novels (let's face it, not many), but it was a good performance by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Jude Law. I enjoyed the way they created the character Holmes, with his little quirks and super-insight to detail. Plot was meh, and the sequel became obvious when it was 10 minutes to finish and they hadn't solved the mystery professor. Overall, not bad. Music was composed by Hans Zimmerman, I recognised his style during the movie. =] (if you don't know, he's pretty awesome)

Reviewing Avatar reminds me that I didn't post anything for Julian Tang's birthday =[ we saw Avatar the same night we went out for his birthday. Took him to Hogs Breath, where I was shamed when I couldn't finish my plate when even MARCO did. T_T but it was his 21st, so happy birthday! sorry we couldn't do anything huge for you big guy!

Um...my sister's left for the UK =[ we took her to the airport on tuesday, and I'm feeling a bit sad that she's gone for so long. She's safely made it to the Uk just last night, and it's really cold haha. Anyway, hope she settles okay and she stays safe =]

Oh! I finish arranging my room. I think I'll wait til the next post though. It'll be a nice new year day post (hopefully)

Adding photos now... gay blogger won't let me move them around.

Happy New Year everyone.

teoh,

merry christmas !

the above picture from christmas house lights hunting.

merry christmas, a day late. just a short blurry post from work. Just got up from my work nap.

yesterday, traditional christmas lunch. I think my mum loves cooking huge amounts of food, the domestic feeling. she gets us to invite friends over, this year it was my mostly my brother's church friends. got up at 8AM, and opened present with my family, then started cooking the 13-person meal...actually it was more than that, cause we have tons of leftovers.

anyway, we had a large ham leg my dad always gets from work, a turkey, roast vegetables, prawns, asparagus and then several desserts. it was quite a feast, and thanks to ling who came over and helped us eat. we also played scattergories afterwards, which I suck at, and ling tries to play too many illegal ones (like catepie for insects)

i'll post up pictures if I see any taken by my brother.

merry christmas everyone, hope everyone had a safe and fun filled celebration,

teoh