Exam Style in Melbourne

remember how i said about having our exams in the horse racing field.... well, this is how the exams in Melbourne are done... and it's really different from Swinburne in Kuching...

unfortunately i forgot to bring the camera during the last day of exam so i can't take the picture of the racing track...


part of the exam hall...next to the betting counter



and this is the size of our exam venue... accomodating more than 600 students at a time
different courses all together... some 2 hours some 3 hours...

so sometimes when the two hour exam finishes, the invigilator would announce... i was not used to that so i always thought it was my exam that the time's up... that is bad cuz it just makes me nervous...

also, over there in melbourne, the procedure is not as strict as it is in Sarawak...
we don't have to fill in any forms in Melbourne before the exam starts... we put our bags under our tables... and we can even bring food and drinks in during the exam..

this is how it looks like when it's full of students...



btw, the picture below is the farewell for exchange students...unlike in Sarawak where we only have a few exchange students.... over in Melbourne, there are more than 180 students coming from all over the world.... it's a good experience

Melbourne's Art Festival

**time in Melbourne has changed again...now it's three hours faster...


this month is the month for Melbourne's Art Festival...
it's festival for all kinds of art.. from pictures to musicals to songs.... as long as it has got to do with creativity...


i went to the opening ceremony of the Festival...it's kinda like a concert for where all the local performers perform... never heard of the songs they've sung... it's not in English

i've got no purpose going there... just wanted to know how it's like.. and it's free anyway so there's no harm..


this is at Federation Square... a lot of people


and as it gets later, the number of people multiplies...


Belly dancing is one kind of art also... the dancers are quite "meaty"...
but still i'm amazed because they're brave enough to show themselves... that means they're proud of what they have..

i eventually got tired of the singing...so i wandered off again...

this time to the Melbourne Art Centre.... since it's art festival





these are one of the arts near the entrance of the building...
why is art always got to do with nudity...


and i'm curious of the holes they made down there... do they represent anything or is that just a flaw of the structure...



another structure... i dunno what it represents but i'm amazed with the curves and how the structure is able to stand...Civil Engineering...


another one...looks like the "tempat membanting padi"


and also this one... i like this one.. at one glance, it looks like an ordinary cat...but if u look more,
u'll get more confused... the head and tail can be both ways... and the head/tail on the left side can even be one of the legs... like a ballerina...

and as i walk further, i found another art...


TADAA....i'm amazed the structure looked almost like me... and it's wearing the exact clothes as me...


i took more pictures of the city view.. and this time it's during the day...





and look at this picture... it's when the sun sets...

and for the first time in Melbourne, i took the picture of myself...

look at my watch...it's like a dot of light...
the pictures are quite blur because it's windy...


and this one... the pose looks weird... actually it's not a pose... i was just leaning against the glass... haih...3D view and 2D view will always be different...


and this one i'm sitting in front of some kind of replica...
it's just a few sheeps and some coming out from the ground...
dunno what it means... Maybe zombie sheeps??

HAWTHORN ROCKS!!

The past Saturday was probably the most important day of the year for most Australians... it's the Grand Final footy match between Hawthorn and Geelong...btw footy is the Australian football which is almost the same as American football except for few differences which i don't know...:P


All Aussies love this... from old to young, men to women, girl to boy...
it's the game that made Australia... so it's a traitor not to like this game...
Most shops have posters or decorations to support their hometown team...

like these few shops in Hawthorn...







Everyone's like wearing the uniform of their favourite team... there's one place where there's a whole field of people wearing the same thing..but too bad i can't take the picture bcos i was in the train..

The match was in the afternoon... and eventually, Hawthorn or also called the Hawks won.. it's the one with the brown and yellow stripes
i think it's the first time Hawthorn won after 17 years... cuz from the news, they made history!!!

Usually, on Saturday nights, there would be QUITE many people in the city... but when it reaches 11 something, everyone starts to go home...

However for this particular Saturday, it's just different due to the game and it's part of the celebration...

i knew it would be a busier Saturday so i took the train to the city at around half past ten...
but i didn't expect it to be so busy.... usually the trains at 10 something would have plenty of seats but for that day...i not only have to stand but have to squeeze in....

and when i reached the city, there were MUCH more people... well, most people were actually going to the bars...for celebration..

Have you seen people queueing up just to get into the bar??? well, i haven't until that saturday... and it's not just only one bar but EVERY bar....Where do all these people come from...i thought Australia has got a population less than Malaysia's...




one of the bars near Swinburne... overcrowded...



one lounge opposite Flinders Street Station... also overcrowded...


another bar opposite Flinders Street... also overcrowded...


plus the people crossing the road...needless to say...


another one next to the river... also packed


Packed...


and this one... i think it's the MOST OVERCROWDED bar i've ever seen... look at how long the queue is... there's still queue outside the picture.... and some more the bar is not a small one... it's quite big...

i bet there would be attendants telling their customers..."TIMES UP!! STOP DANCING AND GET OUT OF THE BAR NOW!!!........NEXT PLEASE......

or

CALLING FOR NUMBER 2058....CALLING FOR NUMBER 2059!!!!

Well, i'm never interested in bars... yet to say "sardine tin" bars.... so i walked around the city taking pictures instead...



this is Flinders Street Station... the major train station in the city...



this is the Art Center of Melbourne... i think...looks like Eifle Tower...


view at one side of the river...


another view at the other side of the river....




isn't this magical...






Taxis...taxis everywhere... this peak hour should only happen a few times in a year... so it would be stupid for taxi drivers not to work at this time...







one building in Federation Square... all the buildings here are built in an artistic way...


and as i walked under the bridge, i saw this man playing playing saxaphone, trying to earn money... but why play here... there're not many people walking past... different people different
thinking..



by the way, Andy Lau is gonna have a concert in Australia... spreading his fame to the Western community....

The soft side of Victoria

it's mid term break for Swinburne Uni in Melbourne... so i stayed overnight at Scott's house again... but this time i didn't just stayed at his house but i actually went to his brother's house (or i should say property) for half a day... the main intention was to do some clearing up since his brother and family has moved to Belgium for 5 months.... it's located at the countryside area....about one hour drive from Scott's house...

the journey there itself was spectacular enough for me... the views were so serene....something very different from Malaysia...


hilly views that shows how large Australia is.... there were not many forest here... mostly plains... it's hard to find forest here except near the river.





can u imagine how beautiful this is.... the whole field is yellow.... first real spring i've experienced.




blue skies and look... there's a line of cloud across the sky...it's not camera defect but actually a real line of cloud...

and so we reached Scott's brother's house.... property i mean....u'll know what i mean as u read further.... it's located on top of the hill i suppose, which makes u able to see the rest of the countryside...








this is taken from somewhere near the house...








this is what i mean... this whole area belongs to Scott's brother...and it's just one side... there's another side with another house which he bought but i din take the picture...



another view of the large piece of land...




they had sheeps too...it's also the first time i saw real sheeps with wool... i tried to get nearer but all ran away...





living something behind like always.... these sheeps didn't drink enough i suppose...


there's a pony too...haha... rather old pony i suppose... it's very slow..


and there goats sun bathing on the soil... they're not dead btw..



and a little bit of the interior of the house...houses here all have kitchens together with their living room... from the outside, the house's not that big but when u go inside, it's so spacy... there're so many rooms inside...

i like the kitchen...modern but classic