Some more photos from Perth

This is my prize winning shot of Ian in an angst position. Calling out in agony. I can't remember what plants they were. In fact I dun think I would know either. This is me contemplating on what to eat for lunch. Coz we didn't have lunch that day. We went to the petting zoo after this and spent a good part of the day there. There weren't any food outlets in the zoo except for a convienient store kind of thing. I think the animals were fed more than us. Especially the kangaroos. But in the end we were rewarded with the "best pizza in the world" at a place called Little Caesars.

This is such a cool shot. The majesty of the rushing waves crashing on the shores of the cape as the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean at Cape Leeuwin. Its oozing with male testosterone. WeiJie you should keep this for posterity.

Ok Bad shot. But try opening your eyes when the wind is gushing at you so strongly you can tilt backwards and even fall if you dun try to push yourself forward.
All in a days work. Don't worry folks. Its all non-alcholic red wine. Tasty stuff. Bought 2 litres of the clear white grapes dreed called Golden Muscate. Fantastic stuff. My parents finished it in a matter of 2 weeks.

21st July 2006

There have been lots of people asking me about what I've been doing this holidays. Well what can I say? Its made up meetings for various things except recreation. Most of it involving VCF ministry. Exco meetings, council meetings, UDS meetings, informal meetings etc. The list goes on... Other than that, I've been reading. I'm currently reading a book God's that Fail by Vinoth Ramachandran and Growing Deep in God by Rev Edmund Chan.

The first is really thought-provoking book, about the world we live and the relevance of the Biblical message in the light of ideologies of Modernity, Post-modernity, development, science and research, suffering etc. I'm left with 2 chapters and it has been challenging my views about Christianity and the way I view the world we live in. One of the issues that the writer talks about is especially thought-provoking to an scientist or engineer in training such as myself. He talked about science and how science started out as a Christian response to the world which God has created. An appreciation of the work of our Father's hand by creatures who where exclusively made in His image. He talked about the motivations of research in the area of technology. He pointed out that engineers and scientist cannot relinquish our sense of responsibility to the things that we make or discover in the course of research and development. For example, the makers of the atomic bomb cannot say that they had no part to play in the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

It seems like many engineers I know including myself view our work as having a responsibility to our employers or superiors. Our drive for discovery and research is in many ways monetary or due to responsibility. Yet we cannot deny the fact that our work impacts the environment and the people in it as well. The impact can be postive or negative. Toxic waste generated from manufacturing being one of the negative and green cars or recycling methods being one of the postive.

Society itself can be impacted by technology as well. The invention of the internet, the television and even mobile phones has sociological impact on the way humans interact with one another. It has "shrunk" the world as we know it and forged the notion of a global economy. It has blurred the lines of the nation-state and sense of nationality so prevalent before the World Wars and in some other ways emphasised the ethnic and religious lines of people around the world. (Think Muslims, Christians, East vs West etc.)

From this I realised that though in an Asian setting, engineers are not as highly regarded as doctors, lawyers and architects; it does not diminish the sense of responsibility that we have in our work which has impact to the world that we live.
And as such the engineering and scientific profession requires a conscience.

May it then be a Christian conscience that I will develop.

Memories from Perth

Opps! Got Caught snooping around Joel's room in Murdoch University's Student Village

Hahah! Caught Ian helping himself to Joel's Tim Tams

Tim Tams are cheaper in Australia bout AUD$1.99. With other flavours as well

The famous duckpond in University of Western Australia.

It was really hot that day but I didn't feel uncomfortable coz it wasn't humid. The place is really dreamy. Lots of nice old architecture that's absolute charming. Loved visting the UWA campus. Too bad everyone's studying that day. Ian even had a paper in the morning. Even saw some people wating to take their exams. Edwin (Suz's bro.) tells me that the exams in Australia can last for as long as 3 hours and people usually leave before the paper ends. Exams in NUS are like 2 hours standard and leaving before the paper ends is unheard of at least in Engineering.

Blending in with the locals

This is some garden in UWA where we found a reclining coniferous tree so what does 1 guys from NUS student and 3 girls from Murdoch do when you see this? Well, when in Rome do like the Romans - You recline like the local species.

Cicerello's (Best Fish and Chips)

This was taken in from of a fish tank at a place called Cicrellos which serves great fish and chips. If you're wondering what's in the white plastic bag it's actually tartar sauce and chilli sauce I brought from Singapore, courtesy of Ian's Mum. Austalians' don't supply sauces like tartar, tomato and chilli sauces. People actually bring their own. Oh yes we finished the whole bottle of chilli sauce. Easy come easy go.

(Btw Only Ian and myself are not from Murdoch in this picture. They are great fun to hang out with. I was only there for less than 12 hours and I already met so many new friends. Dui Jin, Edwin, Joey, Meisi, Amelia and Huiqian. Hope I didn't spell any of the names wrongly. )

Clam Chowder that tastes more like potato soup coz it so thick

Ian doesn't like seafood but he lapped this bowl up anyway coz it doesn't taste like seafood. It's more like a thick potato mush with chunky fillings of mussels, clams, potatos, carrots and I think chicken.

Ok that's all for now will upload more in time.

Back From Perth

Ok.... So it's been a while since the last post. And maybe title of the previous post is kinda ironic since its been sometime till this post as well. Ok ok... a very very long time. The kind that that is sufficient for evolution to take place. But I exaggerate.

Well I've been to Perth and came back. It's been quite an experience. Stayed at Joel's flat at Murdoch University for the first night on 22nd June night (he had to sleep on the floor...Thanks Joel). I was really tried that night so I fell asleep with the lights on.... Joel on the otherhand was full of energy and watch World Cup. Apparently Australia won 2-0 that night. One of Joel's flat mate woke me up while trying to find the keys to the apartment in his half drunken stupor. Man he was happy... anyways I recallled saying : "Hi!" before falling back to sleep.

The next few days were a whirlwind of events one after another. I went for a BBQ in air-con temperature at Matilda's Bay which is opposite University of Western Australia - Ian (aka WeiJie's) university. The people were having exams but we ended up taking pictures while people stood at the exam hall entrance. Haha... Oh yah... Joel's friends called me Yan. And I figured it was easier to remember and my parents and church friends call me that anyway. But Ian and Yan sounds similar. And you know if you say Ian with and Aussie accent it sounds like Yan... SO you can imagine some confusion going around the next few days.

Where was I... Oh yes the BBQ was fantatstic save for the unfortunate incident of Meisi's (one of the many Joel and Ian's friends I met while I was there. Let me tell you I met a lot of friends there. I think about more than 10. That's an average of more than one person per day. Hahah...Sorry I digress) program coordinator called and needed to talk to her about the cancellation of some units (we call them modules here). It was a bummer so the 2 birthday girls (Meisi being one of them and another girl called Raine) and Ian had to leave. Felt sorry for Ian and Joel since they planned it for the girls but they had to leave under such circumstances.

24th June Saturaday:
Anyways, on Sat it was off to the countryside at Swan Valley where we were met with a beautiful aussie countryside along with some homey aussie hospitality at Lancatser Winery and this place called Kafarela's Vineyard. The former had this charismatic wine seller who joked with us while we tasted the wines (my favourite wine is late picked Lancater desert wine now...tastes better than red wine) and the latter was met with a nice old lady.

Next up was Caversham Wildlife park where we petted kangaroos, horses, goats, rabbits etc. and met a lazy old wombat who was having bad day and din want to be carried. The day ended with the best pizza I'd ever tasted. Joel's reccommendations are accurate again. I'll show some more pictures next time. Suffice to say the crust was thin and not starchy and the fillings where mouth watering good. We even had dessert which was on the pizza crust. Honeymud dessert pizza and another strawberry pizza which I can't recall the name but can recall the wonderful taste. Just for the record, I like the chocolate one better. Hot fudge metling in your mouth and oozing out as you take a bit at the frosting and chocolate-coated crust.... Phew...

Ok I'll post more in the future along with some pictures. Gotta go back to work with all the VCF stuff now.
But let me just end of by saying it was an eventful experience. I was only there for 7 days. But by the time I left it seemed like I was there for the longest time.

Maybe it's because it felt like home. Or maybe it was the friends I made there. Or maybe cause it was seeing Joel and Ian again after so long. Or maybe its because Joel and Ian made it so. Joel and Ian; if you're reading this thanks.

And Ian, don't be sad that everyone's leaving. Joel will be back soon. And so will everyone else. I would love to taste the perfected cheesecake when you get back. =)

Joel have a nice holiday at Sydney. Happy belated birthday! Your card from the YMers in Singapore and present awaits you when you get back to Perth. It's with Ian.