This December

Brace yourself for a long, long post :P

I had anticipated that this long summer break will be boring. Most of my friends had already gone back to Malaysia while Nisa, Farah and Durra will spent 1 month in Melbourne (Dec 13-Jan 15), fruit-picking.

It'll be just me, Fatin, Jaime, Hannah, Harvin & Sarah here.
Oh, and the guys next door of course.

I've been thinking whether "Nak balik ke tak nak??" for weeks. At last, I've made my decision: I'm NOT going back. Keputusan muktamad.

So many things have happened this December that I felt so fortunate to experience. If I had gone back, I wouldn't have experienced any of them. Therefore, I think staying put is the right decision for me.

Most of what I did this month centred around taking my mom and sister sight seeing about Sydney. We've been to the usual attractions, (SOH, Royal Botanic Gardens, Manly Beach, Paddy's Market, Fish Market, Taronga Zoo) the not-so-usuals (Auburn, Lakemba, Bankstown), and the places nearby (Macquarie Uni, Macquarie Centre).

L-R: Mama, Kakak, Adik

Being a tour guide is tiring but fun. I had lost count of how many times I fell asleep in the bus/train. The tersengguk2-sampai-Nisa-tak-nak-mengaku-kawan sleep. I just can't help it!! The journey is just too long & the bus/train is just so comfortable.

I had great fun going to all the above-mentioned places (especially the Fish Market and the Taronga Zoo since I have never been there before). The Seafood Platter at the Fish Market is simply delicious!! And I love the Seal and Bird shows at the zoo. The seals are so cute and adorable!

(*Note my excitement by the excessive use of the exclamation point!)

The mouth-watering Seafood Platter

The second major event in my December calender has got to be the cohort 1's departure. On Dec 9, we did a BBQ/Pyjama party at Unit 82. It's a small affair. Just the 11 of us: Kak Ili, Kak Darina, Kak Bulat, Kak Lin, myself, Durra, Nisa, Fatin, Farah, Jaime & Hannah. But we have food enough for 20+ people! We had BBQ chicken, mashed potato, bread pudding, chocolate cake, jelly, and ... I can't remember the others ...

The night ended happily despite the initial frustation and disappointment of not being able to start the barbeque fire (we later resorted to putting the marinated chicken in the oven!).

The choc cake that spells BYE

And then came the final farewell. The cohort 1s boarded the airplanes on Dec 15. Fatin, Jaime, Hannah & I got a lift from Pamela to go to the airport to send them off. It was a very chaotic day. They were still packing & cleaning the house at 6.30pm when the shuttle that was to get them to the airport is scheduled to arrive at 7pm. Then there is the usual drama of bags exceeding the maximum weight at the airport. But thankfully, everything worked out fine in the end. They are all headed back to Malaysia with the exception of Daniel and Kak Aina.

The day after, I went to a book sale at the Sydney Exhibition Centre with my mom and sis. The sale was held at a HUGE hall. We spent one hour and a half browsing through the books. There were so many books I wanted to buy but in the end, I settled for 4. The best thing about the sale is EVERY book is priced at $5!! Nisa, you should have been there. You would have gone crazy over the choices too.

The hall was poorly-lit. So I got a slight headache after perusing the back cover of books, aisles after aisles. I didn't even check out the CD and DVD section.

Anyway, these are the books I've bought:
1) Love in the Driest Season - A Family Memoir by Neely Tucker
2) How to be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward
3) The Ties That Bind - Six Journeys of a Lifetime by Juliette Jameson
4) The Writer and the World by V. S. Naipul

Once I got back home, I carefully and neatly stacked the books on my "To-Read" pile. I was so excited! All these wonderful books to read during my summer break. And I still got Kiran Desai's "The Inheritance of Loss" to savour ... yeay!

This morning, I got news that gives me one more reason to cheer about. Nisa, Farah & Durra are coming home earlier (either on Dec 30 or 31). So, we'll get to celebrate Hari Raya Haji together!! What's more, we plan to move to our new unit: Unit 82 and celebrate Raya there. The new house is so cool as it has a rather large "private" lawn.

We could do a lot of things there: have BBQs, play futsal, hold Dikir Barat practise, Nisa's dramac practise, etc ... Another yeay! :)

I suppose I should stop here. I need to do something at the uni.
I hope I'll write again soon. It's been a while since I type something.
Bye

And just for fun:

You Should Date An Australian!

You're a down to earth, outdoorsy kind of girl And you need a guy who can keep up with your adventures A rugged Australian guy is just your style Better start learning how to surf!

Which Foreign Guy Should You Date?