aaaaaaaaaand back in melbourne again.




i'm tempted to leave this post as it is, but i have 6 mins to go before my usual shower time and with nothing else to do, i remain. and type, of course.

anyways, back to the to and fro of uni life, to the uni and back to college, shuttling back and forth like a.... (for want of a better analogy) shuttle bus. i have resolved to explore melbourne well this semester, but things have NOT been going my way. everyone i know is adamant on not falling behind in lectures and work, so absolutely nobody is willing to spend time getting to know Melbourne better. i have found a grand total of ONE other person who's willing to go to the zoo this weekend, and i have strong feeling there will not be any other takers. last semester i was still getting used to the whole big life-shifting change blah blah blah so i didn't venture forth much from the safety of college. but i am sick of being a room rat, and would like to expand my territories.

so here are places i'd like to go, things i'd like to do, once people are willing to accompany me:
1. melbourne zoo
2. melbourne aquarium
3. shopping at the gigantic dfo in dandenong or smt
4. wandering around chapel street, other streets with lots of exciting things to see or buy
5. wineries, vineyards
6. animal farms
7. fruit orchards
8. quaint little suburbs
9. beaches
10. museums and libraries

and there are possibly more things to do here but i have, as of now, not yet discovered or thought of.

anyways, it's nice to be back in IH, seeing everyone again. it's nice to be closer to the people here, becoming more familiar with them and everything. and of course it's nice NOT being a fresher, people somehow correlate newbie with idiocy or morony (if there's such a term).

damn it, i heard someone going into the shower. hey, i shower at THIS time EVERY day, people should know this slot belongs to me! arghhh. now my beloved shower is postponed by half an hour. which leaves me more time here. good or bad.

oh. funny story. we were having a general meeting (some IH meeting where we vote for stuff that goes on within college, like admin stuff etc), and some dude (typical of him) was objecting to some random point (can't remember, was making bio notes at the time), and he said f*ck.

then another dude interrupts immediately, saying "DO not swear, I find IT offensive" bursts of laughter erupt. well obviously this is the kind of joke or anecdote that is best enjoyed personally, re-enacting it would only evoke polite smiles or even confused faces. but i swear it was the funniest thing that meeting.

and another thing, i would like to rant about my mixed feelings of fund-raising events nowadays. gone are the days where if you wanted to give money to an organisation, you simply gave it. cash, cheque, loose change, whatever. now, people have come up with the most creative, the most absurd, the most unnecessary ways of raising funds for good causes. this rant, as always, does not arise without good reason. i say this because of a current fund-raising activity, where people go on 40-hour famines to encourage their friends to give them money. obviously the money doesn't go into buying them a feast after the famine, but it goes to children in India. yes that's what they said, the CHILDREN in India, don't ask me why, i suppose it's for the poor children in India who need it. not too sure whether they'll get it though, or when.

anyways, back on track. i sometimes feel people don't raise funds for the right reasons. of course, this is a long-standing argument, one that many others have gone through before. but i have to say that i really feel it stupid to be going through a bloody "40-hour Famine" for money. do you REALLY know what it's like to go through a famine? are you even QUALIFIED to call it a FAMINE? do you really even CARE about those people who will be getting the money, or do you just want to get the grand prize?

oh how could i forget to mention, this is a COMPETITION (and i say this contemptuosly). with a grand prize of... a buffet voucher. WHAT THE F%^@$%$#^%.

honestly.

there was such a big hype about this competition to see who could raise the most funds, and when the organisers were showing a video about how the poor in India were suffering, nobody bloody bothered to even take their eyes off their food ONE moment to watch it. at least i watched several parts, then i couldn't watch anymore. i couldn't watch the video and sit there eating my dinner at the same time without feeling just a twinge of guilt.

so anyways, enough of this. sometimes i wonder.

oh well, i'm off to prepare for my shower.