My little space

Watching movies in Aus can be really expensive if you’re not a student here. There was this price list of tickets by the ticket counter and the prices were as stated: Adult- 16aud, Student- 13aud. Yes, this is for weekdays. OMG right?! But when I asked the counter staff about the ticket price, it was only 6.50aud for UQ students! :D

I think it has something to do with the schools we attend? Because the staff asked which school I attended when I told her I was a student here. It’s cheaper than what I expected, though of course not as cheap as SG’s student tix price.

Kel and I watched Year One yesterday. It’s a comedy movie which is just average to me. I wanted to watch Harry Potter at first, but Kel said we should watch with Alison (another girl whom we met at the UQ pre-departure seminar) and her friends because they’re HP fans.

Just for fun, I took pics of our cinema tix.

Then today, we watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! We watched it at 7.45pm and it ended at around 10.30pm. I don’t usually go home this late even while in SG. We had to walk the dark and quiet streets at 10plus. It wasn’t scary but I can’t believe it since it hasn’t even been long that I’d been here. Well, I think my area is quite safe and quiet. :P

Anyways, the movie is SO DARK AND SAD AND SINISTER! It gave off a much more DARK vibe as compared to the book which was more SAD. All I can remember from reading this sixth instalment of HP is being all sad and teary especially with the death. But this movie is SO DARK DARK DARK and scary! But just like the previous movies, this movie definitely could not be on par with the book. As a movie itself, it’s not bad, but I think Transformers are better. :P

Oh and during this movie session, Alison brought along some friends with her. There were two girls from US! First time hanging out with Caucasians! We didn’t really HANG OUT (because we just sat at the theatre together and I was like a few seats away from them since there were 9 of us!) but it was cool to know them and talk to them. Tomorrow we’re sort of planning to go to this Koala place where we can hug and feed Koalas. Hm… We’ll see how things go!

And now, I shall reveal my little humble (rented) abode where I’m going to live for at least 1 year. Please don’t be surprised by the tiny size of the apartment. It’s fit for only 2 people (or maybe 3 if we squeeze a little more).

The outside of my apartment (with us in it)

If you’re observant enough, you can see the washing machine and dryer below the apartments. That’s where we wash our clothes! (And that’s my mum)

Our apartment is the door on the left.

Living room + dining room (2 in 1)

Kitchen

Toilet

My personal space aka my room!

Yeah I brought my teddy which has been with me since Pri 6! :P

Desk is kind of small because my room is small. But it’s okay. My desk back in SG is small as well so I’m used to a small table.

My heater cum fan! It’s small and light, easy to carry around. A little heater like this is enough for the not-so-cold winter season here in Bris. Lol.

Oh yes, I brought my A4-sized laminated poster of DBSK and FTI pentastick (as seen in the above pic) to Aus! They are one of the source of MOTIVATION for me to study hard, okay? XD

Truthfully, my housemate got a bigger room. But that’s only because she and her parents found this apartment. It’s only fair she get the bigger room. Anyways, I’ve grown to love my tiny space already. Just an arm’s length (or more) away and you can reach for things easily. XP

The location for this apartment is very good as well. It’s located in one of the suburbs called Indooroopilly. The bus stop to UQ is just a minute’s walk away and all the buses there stops at UQ. The Indooroopilly train station is also a minute’s walk away. What’s even more awesome is the shopping centre where it’s located just 5 minutes walk away from our place! This shopping centre is the largest around several suburbs surrounding us. In Singapore terms, it’s like the largest mall in Woodlands, Yishun and Sembawang, except here the areas are much bigger of course.

Here are some photos of the surrounding area of my apartment.

On the way to the shopping centre is a 7-11! So convenient! ^^

I don’t know about other parts of Australia, but Brisbane sure is VERY hilly. There are a lot of walking to do and sometimes it gets pretty tiring even if it’s just a 5-mins walk because of the hilly ground. Even when seating in a car, sometimes it can feel like you’re on a roller coaster ride. Up and down! I guess I can just treat it as exercising… ^^

Here’s an example of a normal public transport ticket. Can be used for all public transport!

But since I’ve got my student ID card, I’ve applied for a concession go card which is somewhat like SG’s student ezlink card. ^^

The arrangement of my name looks perfectly normal on the card. But on Australian papers, my name is Manlin Maybelline Neo. =.=””” That’s because Caucasian puts their surname at the back. So if I have to follow my IC (which is Neo Manlin Maybelline), the surname would be placed at the back. Now my first name is Manlin and my name on the atm card is Manlin M. Neo. =.=” OMG.

Now the people here are gonna call me MANLIN! Seriously they do. The bank staff did but I said, “just call me Maybelline.” ^-^