My goings-on
Things here in Melbourne have been pretty crazy lately. I would really be in bed by now if it weren't for the fact that I've just showered and my hair's wet (don't ask me why I showered at 12 am, it was freaking freezing) and so I really have nothing better to do. Now that I'm actually out and about so much, Achaea..somehow doesn't hold that much of an interest for me any more.I suppose that's technically a good thing, hmm?
But yes, updates, let's see..
Two nights ago I went to a club as part of the Host Scheme event, where they stuffed (reportedly) 1700 people into a three-storey club (it sounds huge, but actually wasn't really). It was called the Colonial Hotel, which to me conjured images of grandeur, but in all reality when we got there it was just a dingy little building with bars on every level and a dance floor. Though, it did have a disco ball.
I wanted to say I couldn't be bothered to put pictures up, but well, I don't have a whole lot else to do at 1.16 am.
So here you go.
This is me before the event started. 'Make up' and all.
These were the people I hung out with most of the night. From top: Josh, his Malaysian girlfriend Kim, me, and Tom.
The dance floor of the club. If you think that's packed, you should've seen it an hour later. People were complaining that the music was horrible but personally I really wouldn't have known - it was all bass beats anyway.
Josh, Kim, me and Micah. Just for reference, Micah said he was roughly 6 foot 3, and Josh is about the same height.
Just us Malaysian girls.
Yeah, to put things into perspective. That's not even their full height. :(
Johnny, me and Micah.
So yeah, my first clubbing experience. I guess it wasn't totally horrible, I met new friends and things, but yeah if you don't drink it wasn't really that much fun - it could potentially be if you have a giant group of friends and you go take over the dance floor, but otherwise..yeah, this is why clubbing isn't really my scene. Before that just getting there had a lot of drama - first I needed to get my O-Week card, then I needed my passport (apparently Malaysian ICs would work as well but the girl who announced it didn't say that) bleh. On the bright side, having to join another bus meant meeting another new friend - Singaporean Paul, from my house as well. We had quite a nice chat during the roughly 20 minute ride to the club.
Adam (president of our Normanby Society thing) had told us that the earliest bus that would take us back to campus would come at 1.30 am. I was dead bored by 10.30 - me and Micah kept looking at our watches! Kim kept trying to leave the club but Josh wouldn't let her, because Melbourne isn't exactly the safest city at night (drunkards and all).
I wanted to leave early too, so what we did in the end was Josh and I followed Kim back to her apartment near Caulfield, and spent the night there. I felt bad leaving Micah alone at the club but Josh said he'd be okay. It was a little awkward spending the night there, especially as (again) I didn't have many of my things with me and had my faculty Orientation the day after at Caulfield.
Consequently, I wasn't really social during Orientation - I mean, I tried to be, but none of the people that I met were A) studying the same thing I was and B) really willing to be social to people outside of their own groups. I have to say honestly, I got so used to the efficiency and outgoingness of Normanby activities that the Caulfield orientation stuff just paled in comparison. I called Josh to pick me up about halfway through and skip the lecture tour thing - whatever that was.
We wandered around with Kim for a bit before he drove me back to Clayton. I was so happy to see my room again! P licenses in Australia are actually quite annoying - you can only take one passenger at a time between the ages of 16-22. I felt bad because Josh had to take me home and Kim had to take the bus, but I didn't really say anything because I was still quite tired.
That night we had Singaporean noodles and gado-gado for dinner - and then we had trivia night! We got separated into groups and then various trivia questions were asked. Most of them were Australian but I did know one - who Manchester United was owned by (Malcolm Glazer) but ironically, did not know the date when the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese. Major fail hahaha.
When the time came for the last answer sheet to be handed in, I volunteered to because I was closest to the table. What none of the representatives knew, though, was that there was a 'bonus round' that we 'cannot back out of', and it involved a dance off.
Can you imagine ME?
In a DANCE OFF?
Was I freaked out? Yes, yes I was. Immensely.
And I wished that I'd paid better attention or continued going to the hip hop classes when I was in Taylor's.
So off we went, one by one, to our dooms dances. I was lucky number 4, and the girl before me (Amelia) had prior training in ballet and just started doing pirouettes mid-dance, which got many claps. Me, I was just hoping not to freeze mid stage.
So I went out, and I don't even remember what music they played for me any more - all I knew is that when it started, I just started doing what little hip hop stuff I remembered, and I honestly cannot remember what sort of reaction it got, I was that nervous. After that I did a bit of salsa-ish stuff (although I'm sure it didn't resemble salsa at all) which I'd picked up from the Monash Fun Day at Clayton on the 19th. And then I did a bit of random dancing..and back to the hip hop..and finally looked pleadingly at the guy who was manning the radio, and he shut it off. I then scurried to my seat and sank thankfully down into it.
The funniest part was, I ended up getting second place - first place was a guy who did an invisible tango, and I think his dance also incorporated the chicken dance. When they announced my name I think my mouth was gaping like :O
It was funny though, Josh actually came over later when we were in the pool room and was like, 'I didn't know you could dance!' and I was like 'I can't!' My hands were still shaking for a while after that, hehe. A small part of me had thought that 'this is good for you, it's something you'd never normally do, and coming here is about testing your boundaries'. I think that was really the only thing that gave me that extra bit of courage - otherwise I really do not know what I would have done.
Today, I basically lounged about in my room, went out to the city for a bit and came back just before dinner. I had a mini-breakdown just about lunchtime because I discovered that I somehow managed to go 50 bucks above my phone plan (before you gasp in horror, let me first explain that I am on a phone plan, and if I use anything above my limit it's more expensive, PLUS call rates here are like 80 cents a minute), had to buy a new transportation ticket because I'd missed it by 2 minutes (cannot be bothered to explain Melbourne transport now) and to top it all off, the restaurant I'd wanted to go to was full and we ended up eating a pitiful plate at Nando's for 30 bucks.
I got to thinking about how horrendously overbudget I'd gone, and how in Malaysia it was never a problem because you only take care of what you do with your own allowance, and how it was scarcely a problem in Malaysia because everything was so cheap..and started getting quite homesick. In fact, it didn't really wear away until dinnertime.
Dinnertime today at Normanby House was pizza! Don't ask me what they're called, but I had two slices. I find that I'm either going to grow thin from lack of food (because I have nothing to cook with yet) or grow fat from eating junk food. So far anything I've eaten that hasn't been provided or eating out has been Uncle Tobys bars, biscuits and chocolate. Plus a lollipop.
I need pots and pans..even Maggi Mee is better than nothing.
After that we went ice skating at a rink somewhere in Huntingdale, not very far from our house. We skated for about three hours. I haven't been skating for something like 2-3 years (possibly longer) so the first time I stepped on the ice it was like starting all over again. I wobbled my way once around the rink, did it a few more times, then adjusted my boots so that my jeans were outside instead of inside the boots, which felt a lot better because then they weren't pressing against my ankle. The tradeoff was a slightly raw shin, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Michael's or Johnny's - both theirs had pretty bad injuries on them. But they STILL continued skating.
Silly boys and their pride.
But anyway, it was a pretty fun (albeit tiring) 3 hours - I ran around the track, talked to people, did a few extremely minor tricks (like going backwards), and even took a picture or two..although I would have no idea where to get the pictures from. Possibly Lily, hmm.
Then we had hot chocolate in the common room after freezing our hands and noses off at the rink, talked for a bit, I popped into the pool room, popped out again and sat online for a while.
I am now very sleepy so that's it from me for now.
posted by FluffyRed @ 1:53 AM
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