hotel sisley open for 2009.

so we finally found out today our clinical schools/hospitals for 2009. to my great relief i got RBH, the school that I wanted. yay! YAY! YAY!!! this means that i get to stay in this great big old house with my great big old roommates (seriously, some of my roommates are great, some are big and some are old... kekeke) and our great big-portioned meals!

but what does this mean to you? well it means that you'll have a place to rest your head if you ever want to come and visit! we've had a LOT of people call our house home over the last year... i think about 15 or so... let's see, there is of course matt, susan, laura, alan and myself. we've had friends over: yi, angela, mike, jenn, judy, melissa. we've had boyfriends - well not MY boyfriends... sean and bryan. we've also had some family over... my brother pat, alan's brother arthur and susan's cousin maggie & her mom. tally that all up and that's... 17!

whether you decide to visit or not next year, i'm just happy i get to stay another year here at the sisley house.
:)

wanna bet?

it's been well over a month since we've moved in and we still don't have internet.
>_<
to make a really long story short, we had called & arranged for internet set-up within the first week or so of moving into our new place. at that time, we were told that it would take 10-20 business for them to process our applications & make installations as necessary.
when i heard that, i thought: "10-20 BUSINESS DAYS!?!?! you've gotta be kidding me!" but i took a deep breath, reminded myself that things down under move a little slower & accepted it.

BUT... (of course there's a BUT...)
on roughly day 12, we got a call telling us that our current phone line was incompatible with this particular internet service provider.
WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT BEFORE!?!?!?! (we told them that our current phone line provider was a company called Optus & they told us that that would be fine).
we took another DEEP breath. we went and changed the phone line & put in another request. that was last wednesday. no word from them yet. none whatsoever.

we've decided to have a little fun with this miserable situation. we've made bets as to the precise date of actual internet connection. what's up for grabs?
the winner doesn't have to chip in for the cost of internet for the first month.

so here's the spread:
laura: Tuesday, March 4th
alan: Monday, March 10th
susan: Tuesday, March 11th
matt: Monday, March 17th
me: Tuesday, March 18th - always the pessimist. or a realist???
;)

we're all secretly hoping laura will win. but deep down, we know she doesn't stand a chance.

finally. pics of my room & a full view of the moon.

sorry for the long wait. the house is now fully furnished - has been for about a week or so now. we're still waiting on our internet to be set up though. they are really taking their sweet time.

so without further delay... i present to you,

our dining table...


our living room...


my room...




my closet...


the boys' washroom...


and my favorite part of the house. the backyard with the bbq...


now as much as i love this part of the house, i was not so pleased with it last weekend. we had fired up the bbq for some grub. i was just about to start barbecuing when i felt a little prick on my butt - it was the left butt cheek, in case you wanted the specifics. i didn't think much of it and just kind of dusted my butt off. but then i felt another prick. so i reached under my boxers to see if a little prickly leaf or something had (somehow) gotten in there. i got ahold of something and i took it out. when i opened my hand, i was surprised to see a WASP!
i went inside, washed my hands and tried looking for the stinger. i don't know if you've ever tried to check out your own butt in the mirror in DETAIL but it's not very easy to do. within minutes i had some urticaria on my butt. i eventually had to enlist the help of my roommates. and being the caring & inquisitive med students they are, they all offered to take a look. in the end, the whole house had an opportunity to examine my (minor) allergic reaction.
it wasn't too bad. i just iced it for the night and the hives went away quite quickly. we've since had someone come by to take down the 1/2 dozen or so nests around the house.

despite the title, you didn't actually think i'd put up a photo of my BUTT on the internet did you??? come on! ;p

broken umbrellas and broken tails.

do you remember my beautiful (read: hideous) green umbrella with flower patterns on it? the one that i used shamelessly? it broke yesterday. i swear i didn't break it on purpose. i didn't throw it against walls or under buses. it just broke. will need to go out and get another one soon, it's supposed to rain all week.

yesterday there was a tiny TINY little gecko that was running around the house. i let it be until it went into my room. i didn't want it to go into my pillow case or my school bag, so i caught it. i trapped it with one hand and tried to pick it up by its tail with my other hand. when i finally got my thumb & forefinger on its tail & pulled gently, the tail fell off! i guess that's one of their defense mechanisms. the coolest thing though, was that the tail, now separate from the body was still moving! it flopped around from side to side.

did you know...
by the time your pillow is 3 months old, 70% of its weight is due to dust mite feces?!? yes. it's true. you're probably sleeping on dust mite feces.

i will put more photos of the house soon.
speaking of the houses... we inspected well over 20 houses during our house-hunt. but there's this one house that i remember quite distinctly. there was just something really odd about it. i can't put my finger on it. maybe it was the colour combo of the carpets and the sun-dried look of the wallpaper. maybe it was the velour sofas upstairs. maybe it was the indoor sauna. it was just really creepy. it was like something out of a horror/thriller movie. the craziest thing was that when the 3 of us walked out of the house, we all looked at each other and almost simultaneously said "that was weird". we struck that house right off of our list. i don't really believe in haunted houses but this one had a really weird vibe.

saw JUNO on friday night. what a great movie. very indie & felt very canadian. then again ellen page & michael cera are canadian, not to mention it was shot in vancouver & the director jason reitman is also canadian. it's definitely got my stamp of approval.

what i'm listening to right now: 2nd period of the leafs vs. sens game on AM640. we've just blown one 2-man advantage & we've just been given another 2-man advantage. leafs are up 2-1.

song that's been on repeat on iTunes: "you and i both" by jason mraz.

welcome to our humble abode.

we signed our on friday, picked up the keys and went back to the house to look over our PRIZE. that's what the rental application process kind of feels like. like we've won a contest or a lottery. ;p

i snapped some quick pictures of the house. it's unfurnished. we've started moving stuff in & i will post up more pics in the near future once things get settle down.

house from the outside.


this is the downstairs area with kitchen & entrance from the back yard. this is also susan's space.


stairs leading up to the second floor.


upstairs common room & kitchen. lots & lots of space.


back balcony.


hallway with bookshelves leading to the upstairs bedrooms. in clockwise order starting from the left... alan's room, me, laura & matt.


view of our driveway and front balcony from my room.


our driveway from the front balcony.

i love this place. pictures just don't do this place justice.
can't wait to get the bbq set up. need some protein!!

yes! we have a home!

our rental application was FINALLY approved. YAY! it took them nearly 4 business days to process the darn thing. geez. any longer and you'd think they were building a house from scratch! but all's well that ends well. it's the house that we wanted. i will post pictures up soon but it's this new brick house (not a queenslander) with 4 bedrooms, kitchen, 2 bath - all upstairs and then another self-contained unit with kitchen, bath & laundry facilities downstairs. yay!! we should be moving in this weekend.

in other news...
been watching a fair bit of tennis lately. only because the australian open is on practically 24 hours of the day. watched Roger Federer's 5 set win over Janko Tipsarevic. that was nerve-wracking. i don't think i've ever seen federer so shaky, his game seemed so... incomplete.
also watched Ana Ivanovic beat Katarina Srebotnik a couple of nights ago. a couple of things i've noticed about ana:
1. she's a cutie ;)
2. she always bounces the ball 4 times before her first serve and 5 times before her second serve. yes. we counted.

speaking of women's tennis, i have a question for the female tennis players out there. when a female tennis player takes 2 tennis balls before her first serve, they usually put one under their skirt. now where does this ball go? and what keeps it from falling out? do they have a little clip for the tennis ball? are their panties made out of velcro so that the tennis ball sticks to it? does it get tucked UNDER their underwear? where? where does it go?!?!

i finished The Time Traveler's Wife. it was good. really good. but if you haven't read it yet, don't. it's good but oh-so-sad. ok. so maybe i'm just being a big sap. so many parts of this book reminded me of... well, me.

still looking...

i'm still looking for a permanent home. it's been frustrating but hopefully we'll find something that we like. something that'll fit us all. did i mention we're a party of 5? yep. 5. matt, susan, laura, alan and myself. and that's where the problem lies. its been tough finding something with 5 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms and a carpark. i hate to admit it but it might soon be time for us to "break-up" and find smaller places.

i'm also still looking for new aussie slang to share with you. here's a few that i've come across since i've gotten back.
1. canteen - cafeteria. this dude walks up to me on campus the other day and asks - "where's your canteen?" and i'm thinking... well, i don't have a canteen. do i look like i'm a soldier or a camper? i have a water bottle but not a canteen. and why does this guy want to see my canteen anyway???

2. baby capsule - baby car seats. we were passing by this fire hall and it read: "baby capsule adjustments & fittings". which obviously was referring to making sure that your baby car seat is appropriately sized and fitted in your back seat. however, for a split second i imagined some sort of fire-proof capsule that you place your baby in, in case of emergency or fire! hahaha.

3. solarium - tanning bed/tanning salon. a local paper headline read: "solariums double cancer risk". i thought they were talking about planetariums, and thought "my goodness! all those school children taking day trips! THINK of the CHILDREN!!" *shriek* but no. it's just all the paris hiltons and nicole ritchies of the world. in that case... i guess it's kind of like natural selection then right? OUCH!

4. talent - slang for girls (or boys). the english equivalent would be "meat".
me: you gonna go to the internationals bbq?
matt: hm... probably not.
me: but what about the free food and the fresh talent!
haha!

and lastly... T.O. is still looking for his first superbowl ring. i was disappointed to find out this morning that my cowboys lost to the giants. and who said T.O. never had any heart. just watch the first 2 minutes or so...

go Pats!

first few days back.

this is my home for the next week or so. just until i find some permanent digs.

yes, it's true. i have not unpacked. why would i? i'm gonna be moving in a few days again!

typical dorm room really. there's a kitchen downstairs and a washroom/shower just down the hall. the best thing is that there's a room cleaning service - they change your sheets, vacuum the floor and empty out your garbage. better enjoy it while i can. don't think any of my future roommates will be too keen to vacuum my bedroom once a week for the upcoming year!

let's see. what else. just finished "the memory keeper's daughter" by kim edwards. i really enjoyed it. sad, but a really great book.
next up is either douglas coupland's The Gum Thief or audrey niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. hm... there's really no fair way to pick. so...
eenie---meenie---minie---mo!
looks like it's coupland first.

goodbye carmody...

...hello hill end terrace!

started my move yesterday and i finally feel like i'm settled in now.
a big thanks to my PBL mate gerry for driving me and my stuff over the river. otherwise, i would still be shuttling back & forth on the city cat.

i've gotta say that i'm quite pleased with my new place. along with all the things that i mentioned in my previous post, the best thing is that this place feels like a house. and now MY HOUSE. the last place felt more like a room. and it was just my little room. does that make sense?

enough chit chat. let me give you the grand tour.

this is my room. it's a little bit smaller than my last place but that's fine. there's plenty of sunlight and it overlooks the backyard.

this is the kitchen...


living room...


dining room...


back patio...


and the view from my front porch...


yay!

uq campus

classes start on monday and i'm so excited. i can't wait to get started. so what have i been up to? just hanging out with my new friends, getting some sun and exploring the city and campus.

i'm going to give you a short little pictorial tour of my new life around campus.





this is my house from the outside. the best thing about it is that it's only about a 7 minute walk to campus. there are 4 or 5 self-contained units in this buidling. so although i only share my bathroom & kitchen with 3 other people, there are about 15-20 people that live here.

the one thing i've noticed about UQ is that the campus is flipping beautiful. i'm talking gorgeous! case in point:



these are pictures of the "Great Court". essentially it's the equivalent of king's college circle at UofT. the buildings are made of sandstone and it's really quite neat.



isn't this a great picture?!?! shall i take up some photography instead? ;-)



in the back of the campus we have a little pond with a fountain. this is where all the animals are. i reckon it's quite romantic during sunrise and sunset.



we call this the "pizza hut" building. i dont' think i'll have any of my classes in there but it's always a good reference point.



this is the student village. it is about a 5-7 minute walk from campus but has almost everything you need... grocery store, travel agent, dry cleaner, post office, 10+ restuarants...



even a wine shop!



there are round-abouts EVERYWHERE! (just like europe.) and they're kind of annoying in that i still have to make a conscious effort to look RIGHT before i start crossing and not left. these round-abouts just really confuse me. i don't know which way the cars are coming/going!!!

my new room.

here are some pictures of my new life in brisbane. sorry about the some of the pictures. i can't seem to get them upright for some reason.



can you see the photos that are already on my desk? thanks clara! it's the little things make it feel like home.



this picture basically sums up my life right now. some toiletries, some toilet paper, my multi-vitamins and my shoes. i know. sad.



my lounge chair. this room came with 4 chairs. 4 CHAIRS! what the heck am i going to do with 4 chairs??? i think my bathroom at home was bigger than this room. and my bathroom only had one place to sit. the toilet!



my naked cork board.



on my bed is the winter sleeping bag that i slept in during the first night. no wonder i was so flipping hot. that thing is made for camping outdoors in the great white north and is supposed to be good til like -15 degrees!!! not +22!

some of you have already asked the question: does the toilet really flush in the counter-clockwise direction? unfortunately i can neither confirm nor deny these rumours. my toilet in my house just flushes as a whole. there is no swirling whatsoever.

so i had mentioned that i had done a whole bunch of shopping. i bought a fan for a ridiculously cheap $15.99 at k-mart. (yes, they have k-mart here in australia). it didn't quite click as to why it was so darn cheap. only when i opened the box did i realize that...



the only thing that's assembled is the motor!



so how did i possibly put together a whole fan without even a screwdriver? the last 2 days have taught me that in order to survive on my own, i need to be resourceful (yes, i'm a quick learner). hurray for the butter knife!



TADA! aren't you proud?

i will post again in a few days. it is the summer term right now and libraries are not open during the weekends.