Week 36: expeditioning to the frozen south begins TOMORROW!

alright guys, THIS IS IT!

i'll be leaving for Hobart at 6 am tomorrow and will be onboard the Aurora Australis heading down south by 4 pm. that's 4 pm Sydney time! i think it'll be a long cold summer for me but what the fuck who cares THIS IS IT.

anyway, it was really good catching up with all you people who i saw over the past month. and if i didn't see u before this, well, i'll see you when i get back - hopefully with all my appendages intact lol! don't be grossed out if i come and shake your hand with 4 fingers on my right hand or if i bend over to kiss you on the cheek nose-less. I AM STILL HUMAN OK!?

if you need to email me while i'm on the boat (will be on the damned thing for 10 days, more give than take), my email address is Melanie.Ho@aurora.aad.gov.au and i can receive emails only three times everyday! if for some reason that email address doesn't work, then try Mel.Ho@aurora.aad.gov.au and if it STILL doesn't work, then, well, i guess we're fucked cos the ship probably sank somewhere out there in the southern ocean.

if you're still in australia, CALL ME TOMORROW! if you're in malaysia, you can still CALL ME TOMORROW! if you're somewhere else outside of malaysia OR australia (like, say, oh i don't know, portland or something), CALL ME TOMORROW! i leave only at 4pm so i'll have plenty of time to kill and chat with ANYONE OF YOU! this is urgent it might just be the last time you hear my voice /gloom.

ok anyway, gotta go! LOVE YOU ALL!

Week 35: 5 more days now, just 5 more days!

isn't it funny how things work themselves out in this world that we live in? 4 years ago, when i was a 19-year-old green-eyed undergraduate, i was asked this question: where do you see yourself in 5 years' time? i answered, in my then self-effacing wit, that i would most likely be working at some mediocre, possibly sub-par marine biology-related job, barely earning enough to keep myself in motion. well, it's nearly 5 years on now, and through twists, turns and severely good bouts of luck, i am now standing at the cusp of being an expeditioner on an Antarctic research program funded by the good tax payers of Australia (i know i know, you guys must be fucking bored of hearing me speak about the frozen southern wastelands but i promise this will be the last time).

truth be told, i've never in my life imagined myself to be an Antarctic researcher, and i'm still tossing that thought around my head wondering how the choices i've made along the way have led me to this path that i am on today. i always imagined myself working in a tropical environment - somewhere nice and warm; well, the tropics and antarctica are worlds as far apart as you can imagine.

what am i thinking?

5 more days to go and suddenly i've lost the enthusiasm and eagerness that i had felt when i was down at the Division. it is finally hitting home that i WILL be missing out on a lot of things; things that i thought i would be able to handle, but right this moment, that ability is beginning to look quite doubtful.

matters of career aside, my, ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW THINGS HAVE WORKED THEMSELVES OUT?? baklava, you know how much i love your sweetness, because i have an extremely sweet-tooth. you may be rather nutty sometimes, but that's what keeps me enthralled in your charms - the nuts i can handle; the crunch and crackle keeps me coming back for more. ever since i first had a taste of you 4 years back by accident, i've found myself entirely hooked on you, you're my dessert of choice. even though i was warned by many sources that you were drowned in enough honey to give someone acute Type 2 diabetes, i guess it's a chance that i was, and still am, willing to take. your cloying sweetness, sometimes overwhelming, still manages to pull surprises on me even though i think i know you so well. so many facets, baklava, you offer so much variety: rose-syrup, pistachio, walnut - it's enough to keep me entertained for a long long time!

you are my guilty pleasure, my turkish delight, my drug-like addiction (even though you are just honey-and-nut-filled pastry), and possibly my downfall. but who cares? i know i don't and i know that everytime i am done with the main course, you will be my first and only pick on the dessert menu.

Week 35: Backpacker hostels (except Zackry's guesthouse, Langkawi) sucks balls.

greetings from hobart! i've been here since thursday of last week, and frankly, i'm starting to get really shit bored of the place and i can't wait to get off the island. don't get me wrong though, hobart is a FANTASTIC place...scenery-wise. but activity-wise, it's rather lacking. at the moment i'm staying in a backpacker's accommodation, the tv's broke and the whole damn place is fucking old and scary AND dodgy - considering that i was staying at the leisure inn the few days before (which is suddenly looking a whole lot 5-star to me), sigh fml.

anyway, been spending my days at the australian antarctic division for training and doing other miscellaneous stuff. suddenly i'm all the more keen and excited about my trip just because there were so many fabulous pictures hanging on all the walls throughout the division! and i met tons of highly interesting people there who told me stories of their past experiences down south - it seems like i can never run away from doomed alcoholics because the aad personnel (or anyone under its banner that's heading south anyway) are all drunkards. it's true. they were telling me how much alcohol they already have stashed for the season in antarctica and i'm caught between being highly amused and impressed. at least i know people who will now gladly offer me some (they found out that i had none and pulling the sad asian girl face always works).

HOWEVER, work and shitty (ok la actually it's not that bad - the place is relatively clean and there's a lot of people moving about BUT i just KNOW that i'm gonna wake up tonight and see 'something' staring at me fuck man i'm sleeping with my lights on) backpacker hostels aside, i had a WONDERFUL weekend here in hobart! i'm not gonna delve into too much detail about it but needless to say, without this weekend, i would've probably gotten sick of hobart way earlier. highlight of the weekend: mt wellington. best fucking spot EVER. i mean, not the best spot for fucking (although, it might actually BE the best spot), but ah, you get my drift. loved it!

ok la..this is shit. i'm gonna retire into my dingy four-walled single-bed room and read up on my papers. and probably go to sleep early, sleep of which i'm severely lacking.

and oh ya! the research station that i'll be going to (Davis Station) is actually 6 hours behind eastern australian standard time (sydney, melbourne) and 3 hours behind malaysian time. AWESOME! for once i'm gonna be the one telling people NOT to sleep so early!

ok good bye, till my next weekend WHICH I CAN'T WAIT FOR!

Week 34: Minor housekeeping to let you know i'm still around!

ok, i was told that i haven't been updating much. apologies all around but now that we're only 2 weeks from launch-off, i've been swamped by things yet-to-do which i have not done!

ok, basically, what i've been doing since coming back from melbourne is packing things up into boxes, taping boxes up and shipping them down to hobart. it cost me $411.00 to send four boxes down yesterday, total weight being about 50kgs. i didn't realise it was gonna be so expensive. i know that's like under $10/kg but STILL? i could've bought two plane tickets to hobart with that weight and still it'd have been cheaper. i feel ripped off by Australia Post. but then again, i'm not the one paying for it, the lab is..so. meh.

and from tomorrow onwards, i'll be away! i'll be in hobart till next sunday (25.10) for training. then back to sydney for another four days, and then flying back to hobart again on thursday this time for good! and maybe, there'll be a mystery stop between hobart and sydney haha sorry i can't put it down here now for security purposes.

anyway...that's it for me. shitloads of travelling. love you guys.

here's a recap from what i've already done HAHA.

1. go for a sushi all-you-can-eat/buffet.
2. get pissed drunk till the point where i have to be carried into bed (justification: gonna try not to drink while on the ice, in case i slip into a crevice). GOT DRUNK BUT NOT TILL THE POINT OF PASSING OUT SO THIS IS NOT DONE.
3. spend a day at the beach and soak up some sun while it's still warm! kinda la.
4. visit glebe and paddington markets.
5. have dinner with all family members currently in sydney. pretty much met up with everyone.
6. play with nephews.
7. mussel pot at belgian bier cafe.
8. PORK and mango beer at lowenbrau.
9. VISIT MELBOURNE!
10. watch a movie (possibly Sherlock Holmes if it's already out before 30 Oct).
11. play poker.
12. win money at poker. i have yet to win sobsobsob.
13. chocolate fondue at max brenner (actually, fuck la, chocolate ANYTHING).
14. meet up with wai king (because he's being fucking anti-social i don't know why).
15. meet up with everyone else who i can possibly meet up with. also pretty much accomplished.
16. go for major dim sum session.
17. have copenhagen ice-cream at darling harbour. at night. when all the lights are out. does having Lindt ice-cream in the afternoon count?
18. perhaps more alcoholic-like activities, but don't need until i have to be carried to bed.
19. mussel, oysters, sashimi, salt and pepper squid and lobster from sydney fish market.
20. miss marples scones at dandenongs (hint: ALBERT!)
21. spend a day at mornington peninsula (also hint: ALBERT!)
22. take photographs on the steps of parliament house, spring street.
23. have a picnic.

ok see you byebye.

Week 33: 3 more weeks to good bye.

i have about 3 more weeks before i leave for the frozen southern tundra. it's weird! i haven't actually really given much thought to it because life has been quite...turbulent the past few weeks. and now i'm staring down the barrel of 3 more weeks of sunshine-and-green-trees-enjoyment and 4 months of icy hell.

please don't misunderstand and think that i'm ranting against going for this trip. au contraire, i'm actually super looking forward to it because the way i see it:

1. great career opportunity
2. fantastic experience (seriously...fucking Antartica? ok..i mean, not fucking in that sense but you understand)
3. trip of a lifetime

the other day, albert was saying that antartica is probably only second to exploring the moon in terms of the hostility of the environment as well as the reachability (?? did i get this right? sorry i was zoning out a little). i have to say that i agree!

anyway, i went for my psychology test today as part of my preparations for the trip. needless to say, i ACED it and completely won over the lovely interviewer lady so much so that she was shaking my hands vigorously towards the end of said interview and wishing me all the best of luck in my trip and future endeavours. there was a point where she asked me if i consumed alcohol and, of course, i said yes. she wanted to know when was the last time i had a drink, so i told her that it was a couple of days ago when i was in Melbourne. she proceeded to ask me HOW MUCH did i consume while i was there, and i told her with the straightest face, oh...about 2-3 glasses, i never more drink more than 3. and i swear, i kid you not, she broke out into the biggest smile and said GOOD GIRL in a resounding voice. at that exact moment, i felt an intense feeling of joy because i'd just made someone's day. anyway, your friend and daughter is not mentally unbalanced because the psychologist said so, so we can all rest easy tonight.

so yes, three more weeks for you to come say goodbye to me, after which you'll have to wait for march before you get to see my face.

[Edit: adding photos from my BEST 10 DAYS at the bottom of this post - i went a bit polaroid-crazy]

Week 33: It's official, me and Melbourne belong together.

would you believe me if i told you that i've just had the best 10 days of my life?

i know. this might sound really biased and i'm pretty sure if you dig around and ask me,

"didn't you say the best 10 days of your life was when you were CAs with Kailan and co/Gene, Karen, Adrian and co?"
or
"wasn't the best 10 days of your life when you drove to Cairns?"
or
"are you sure it wasn't that time you went back to KL for holidays?",

you would've caught me. those were REALLY GOOD 10 days...but the most recent 10 days? they were THE BEST!

pretty much since albert arrived in sydney at the most ungodly hour of 7.30 am on a friday morning, our days have been go go go. everything revolved around food and alcohol and fun and meeting new faces and seeing new places. at one point, it got a bit overwhelming at one point, but everything sorted themselves out in no time.

and now, to cap off the best 10 days of my life, i am left having to face work and reality again with a left eye infected with conjunctivitis, an epic sore throat, a really fucked up nose that doesn't seem to want to unclog itself, NO VOICE and severe lethargy. (at this point, i'd just like to say - parents, calm down. i am fine. don't need to call me to demand an explanation).

but you know what? fuck this, it was totally worth it! now all i have to do is look forward to antartica and hope that those 5 months pass at the speed of light.