Killed my vibrant yellow umbrella!!

Stupid wind and rain!

Sadface!

RIP my brightness!

I’ve never been good with family outings… In fact, quite the opposite. And the more relatives present, the worse it is for me. All that’s ever spoken of is comparing each other one way or another, or general gossip about this and that. For example:

• Did your son get into a selective school?
• How did they go in the HSC?
• Did you get into uni?
• When are you going to get married?
• Are you planning to have kids?
• You know such and such? Her kid is doing medicine and is buying them a new house. How lucky!

Really?

Anyway, had one of these sessions tonight while dining at a restaurant to celebrate the first month arrival of my new cousin… and honestly, it was one of the most boring family sessions I’ve ever had.

We were the first to get seated, so of course we got seated together as a family. Everyone started to arrive, and somehow, I had to be the one to move from my parents,where everyone stayed put. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make this about me because it isn’t, but how was that fair (and we got there first)?

And secondly, I was seated next to a my aunt’s friends (who I didn’t know, doesn’t appear to speak English, and don’t have much in common with… oh and did I mention they were very fast with getting all the good food? Not that I had any appetite to eat at any rate), the kids (me = not good with kids… plus, they each had their own consoles and was tapping the night away), my aunt’s husband (who doesn’t usually speak to anyone, let alone to me. You don’t even know he’s there half the time!)… and my aunt (who was looking after her baby and her toddler).

In a nutshell, I was seated next to people who are eithe under 15, or over 35 year olds.

B-O-R-I-N-G?

So, I sat by myself the whole time, messaging Mr AG and Ag buddy, bored to tears. The worst part was, everyone can SEE how BORED I was (including my 10 year old cousin, who apparently “felt sorry for [you]“)!

Near the end, the cake came out, and guess what? I was kicked out of my seat because they wanted to take photos over where I was sitting. What the?

Anyway, I finally survived the boring-est event of the decade, got home, and just got depressed.

It’s pretty safe to say that I won’t be going to any other ones in the near future.

Spare me the pain.

/end rant.

It shouldn’t have been like this! Thinking about it makes my blood boil!!!

Mr AG and I had a relatively okay day (apart from the busybodies on the Ferris wheel) up until being seated for dinner. We went to Din Tai Fung, a restaurant we were very satisfied with the first time we went.

So, what happened?

Din Tai Fung is usually very busy, so when we arrived there, we had to wait for a table. The lady gave us the option to have our own table, or to share. Getting our own table would’ve been double the time, so we opt for sharing.

Never again!!!

Mr AG and I got seated next to a man and a woman. The lady seemed alright, but the man was seriously a super loudmouthed busybody… That man spoke about everyone and everything all through dinner, in CHINESE! Mr AG couldn’t understand, and I was left to hear all the things… It shouldn’t have, but that man really made my blood boil!

Some examples of what he was saying about me/us:

There she is, taking pictures of all the food.

They order so much food *rolls eyes* We order the least amount *blah blah blah*.

And what he was saying about everyone else:

Wow, look at those two, they’re having 2 soft drinks each.

They eat so much. Look at all they’ve ordered.

*Pretending to be posh, after a waitstaff covered his jacket with a protective bag* Whoever can make me happy will get my liking.

I mean, what the hell? What’s it to him?

Okay, this may sound a little hypocritical, because arguably, what’s it to me that he’s saying all these things… But I was there to enjoy my dinner, not listen to this loudmouth! It was seriously distracting, and irritating!

I was that close to losing it… actually, I did, I slammed something down, and “whispered” something to Mr AG in a not-so-subtle manner. I regretted it immediately after, because I think my response have given him the satisfaction of knowing that he sent me in a bout of fury.

But once again, I couldn’t help but let it get the better of me!

So, without criticising the restaurant at all in any way (because the waitstaff were impeccable), I possibly had the worst dinner out tonight! I lost my appetite completely, ate the minimal, and just wanted to be out of there. ASAP! I even cancelled my sorbet (which they were only so happy to comply) I was really looking forward to!

Anyway, here are some snaps of my uneventful dinner. I didn’t even have a good taste of the food to even comment on it (in case I don’t give it justice).

Lychee mint juice

Pork dumpling

Prawn pork shao mai

Vegetable pork jiaoze

Vegetarian jiaoze

Cha jiang noodles

(Ok, I know for a fact that I did not like this one! It was very bland…)

Hot sour soup

Phew, rant’s over… that made me feel better!

Anyway, after tonight’s experience, Mr AG and I decided not to go out to restaurants for a while… But I don’t know how long that’d last…

Din Tai Fung
644 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9264 6010

Map:

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This is going to be a bit of a “first world problems” post, but being sick and miserable and cold got me thinking about some of the things that annoyed me for a past few days to a week (A.K.A. I just want to sulk about it somewhere). It seems like an awful lot in a short amount of time, but I swear some of these are pre-existing!

So here goes, the top 10 things that annoy me while I was sick:

10. Wearing too much = fluff ball syndrome!

I tend to wear a lot of clothes (see point 09)… this is both uncomfortable and impractical (physically and aesthetically).

How impractical?

Firstly, if it’s always rainy, then the clothes are slower to dry after laundering, and hence I have less and less to wear (and don’t get me started on wet sneakers; takes forever to dry!).

Secondly, it gets really hard to move in such amount of clothes… I feel and look like a fluff ball!

09. Not being able to warm up!

I’m basally cold and just can’t regulate my temperature that well… Being cautious, I always pack on a lot of clothes, and would still be cold!

Sometimes, I overestimate how cold it’d be, I’d be lugging all my extra jackets around in my arm, and it becomes a hassle.

And sometimes, it gets so unpredictable that I just bring half my closet and an umbrella, just in case. And half the time, I don’t really need all that stuff!

08. Itchy skin from clothing too tight and/or being too warm.

After I took off my compression top, both my biceps and parts of my obliques were itching so much I got a bit naughty and scratched a lot little.

07. Not a wintery post as such, but… Gloves are bad for my mani!

I love wearing polishes… but being in the lab means that I can’t keep it on for more than 2 days because the gloves ruin my polish!!

One weekend, I had a 3 hour wait period for my experiment, I went and got a mani… Came back to finish off my experiment, and found that the glove had already ruined it! Upset was an understatement.

Anyway, gloves = no good for nail polishes. Especially latex (nitrile is a little better).

Also, Miss YP, another nail polish enthusiast who works in a lab, noted that polish gets ruined even more rapidly after raking the -80°C freezer.

06. Again, not really a wintery post… But in it goes. Not being able to keep longer nails.

Apparently, my nails are too long and/or sharp around the edges that my nails actually pierce through both latex and nitrile gloves, and even when I double glove… and I double glove to avoid this! So it comes down to my potential health, or my nails, and sadly, my nails takes the sacrifice.

05. Dry skin, especially my hands and shin skin.

My hands are parched all year ’round. This is because when working in the lab, we have to glove up and wash our hands the whole day… Applying moisturiser doesn’t help all that much, as I have to wash it off fairly frequently…

The dry hands are even worse in the winter. It is partially because I love using hot water, and partially the cold air outside that contributes to this.

04. Dry lips.

Usually, I have dry lips as in “my skin is ripping and I bleed” dry lips. I think being sick gave me this other dry lip symptom; it’s dry pretty much 24 hours  of the day, but nothing is ripping/peeling/bleeding, only the lips are very tight (wonder if that’s how a botox would feel like)… and lip gloss just doesn’t cut it. Hopefully it’ll go away soon.

On another note, when I do get “I’m peeling, help me” dry lips, my lip gloss is always ruined by the strong gust of wind that sends strands of my hair into the sticky mix, making a mess of both my gloss and my hair.

03. That dry cough.

I’ve been having a dry cough… and although both a dry cough and chesty cough both cause tightness in the chest, I much prefer a chesty cough; at least I don’t sound like I’m faking it, and it somewhat tickles my throat less.

But! I have a dry cough, and it’s completely not satisfying every time I let out that cough!

02. Having a blocked nose…

Because of this, I couldn’t sleep properly last night…

So having a blocked nose meant that I had to breathe with my mouth opened while I tried to fall asleep… and because my mouth has been dry for a few days now, I kept making these scratchy noises… So the whole night, I kept waking myself up from sudden bursts of my “snore” sounds every time I came close to falling asleep… Sigh!

01. Loss of taste and scent (and apparently, being able to smell is a big part of tasting), even in the absence of a blocked nose.

Everything I eat tastes insipid… I know there’s flavour in there somewhere, but my pre-existing knowledge of taste and what I was tasting just did not click, and left my dangling, dissatisfied!

And also, my sense of smell is gone temporarily.

Dubbed “the canary” because I could smell the smokes of a bushfire in the Blue Mountains all the way from my lab (in UNSW) when nobody else did (they thought I had an overactive imagination)… It was only an hour later when my colleague checked updates that confirmed what I’d originally thought I smelt; fire smoke.

Anyway… Yesterday, a lady came into our lab from the corridors, expressing her concern for smells of smoke from a fire… Upon investigation, it turned out it was someone’s lunch that had been microwaved for a tad too long…

The whole time, I did not smell a thing!

So yeah, not only is it unfortunate not being able to taste anything, it can also be potentially dangerous. Okay, a little melodramatic and obscure here (hehe).

The title says it all; it’s about “getting paid”. Or lack thereof.

But!

It is not my issue this time, though my issue is still unresolved since  it’s not the 23rd yet (that’s when I’ll find out whether I get paid or not)…

This time it’s our colleague. Let’s call him Mr FF.

So since April, Miss EZ, Miss Fera, and I have been complaining about not getting paid properly or getting paid at all (so Miss EZ has been getting paid, but not the correct amount… and Miss Fera and I have not been paid at all up to that point).

Mr FF… well, he’s been fortunate and has gotten paid consistently, from what we’ve gathered.

Every time Miss EZ, Miss Fera and I would complain to Miss Jamie (light hearted frustration), Mr FF would interject (as he always would) and tell us that “they are probably very busy with stuff” and making excuses for them. Miss EZ would argue back, and Mr FF would only say, “I’m just saying that I can see things from their perspective.”

That’s funny, ‘cos empathy was not something that Mr FF possessed. Yes, he had the grades and all, but empathy? Not a chance. Like, what if I only did those hours ‘cos my life depended on it, only to not get paid even months after?

And plus, this is the same Mr FF who tried to put me down after a class I took one day to make himself feel better, but that’s a whole other story (yes, because of his arrogant and inconsiderate nature, we all aren’t terribly fond of Mr FF).

Anyway. With that, Miss EZ simply stated, “I wasn’t even talking to you”. Guess he didn’t like that, as a bit of drama ensued afterwards (involving supervisor).

Fast forward a couple of weeks; May. Miss Fera and I were still unpaid, and Mr FF would not see what the big deal was, and I can sense him rolling his eyes at us every time we would say something about it, trying hard to not say anything about it. And whenever he had that look, Miss Fera and I would speak more, but only of the truth.

So, fast forward again: today.

Apparently, Mr FF’s luck ran out, and he was paid short this time ’round.  He was a little mad, and went to speak to the finance guy. Mind you, to this day, I have not even been paid a CENT as yet, he has been paid a fair bit… and yet, the first time he’s under-paid is the day he goes to complain about it. HA!

Now he knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of this!

How’s that for a good lesson for empathy!

So my friend Miss Fera and I started demonstrating/tutoring since March… we did some paper work to get paid since early April, and half expected tol receive some money in the following fortnight or so.

When it didn’t come, we went to the finance guy and asked why.

“Oh, it’s because you’re not in the system yet. Just fill out your tax file declaration, and then we will put you into the system, and hopefully, you will be paid in the next fortnight.” He told us.

So we took this form, and went away to fill in, and gave it back in a day or two.

“Thanks for that, I will enter this for you and you will be paid next pay period.”

So we played the waiting game, and comes the next pay period, excited. Upon checking, we realised that both of us received zilch… Curious, we went back to the finance guy and queried.

“So Miss Fera, you are registered into the system now, and you will be paid next pay period. It says here that you’re getting paid for one hour, am I right?” Finance guy said.

And here Miss Fera and I were thinking a few things:

1. We both have done 13 weeks’ of teaching… that can’t be just ONE hour, right?
2. Why would Miss Fera visit you so many times, Mr finance guy, only to get ONE hour of pay (roughly $38)

So we tried to set it straight. Luckily, I had a record of the exact dates we both taught on, and told him all the hours and such. When he finished logging in Miss Fera’s hours, he reassured her that she will definitely be paid next pay period.

Over to me.

“I know why you are not on the system now. You haven’t given me your tax file declaration form.”

“But I have, and I’ve given it to you last time,” I started. I figured that there was no use in arguing, especially if he had misplaced the form. So I agreed to fill it out again.

“So have this filled in, and bring it to me, and I will fax it down to the uni finance department, and hopefully you will be on the system, and get paid during your next pay period.”

So I did as I was told, Miss Fera even wanting to take a photo of me handing my form to the finance guy. But of course, we were only joking.

Come June 1st (today), and I received a phone call early on.

“Hi, this is the uni finance department. I’m trying to register you into the system, but we don’t have your tax file declaration form.” The lady said.

“I have filled it in, it should be there” I stated.

“But it isn’t here.”

I was starting to get ticked off. “Actually, I have filled the form in TWICE already; our finance guy must have lost it again.”

So she softened up and told me to pop into their office, made me fill it in again (and she will register me directly), and asked me to hassle our finance guy if I wanted to get paid on the 9th Jun. If not, I’ll be paid on the 23rd Jun instead.

Wanting to express my frustration, I passed off a remark about not getting my pay yet, having already FINISHED my duties for this semester’s course.

She chuckled and said, “Why doesn’t it surprise me.”

So yes, hopefully, I don’t have to fill in another tax declaration form… for the FOURTH time!

Will update on when I get paid, and any dramas relating to.

-_-

So my fringe had been bothering me lately… it is overgrown, and a bit of a pain when it gets into my eyes/face, etc. Looks ok, but I was quite desperate for a shorter fringe.

Went to two places on Thursday… Fully booked. And not having an opportunity made me want to walk into any okay-looking salon for a side fringe cut… I mean, how bad can it be, right? And plus, this is only temporary for when I feel the need for a proper cut.

So I popped into a salon in Burwood yesterday for a quick one before going to the Sydney Royal Easter show… K** *** *****, asked for the price ($10) and decided to go for it.

Before I knew it, the ‘hairdresser’ had completely RUINED my fringe!

No shape or style, uneven, and just horrible. It wasn’t even a side fringe.

And so I asked why it looked so strange with a bit poking out, and so very unlike a side fringe. And she gave me the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard: “because it is so short”.

Firstly, who said this short? Secondly, I stated “SIDE FRINGE”, which part of SIDE FRINGE did you not understand, lady?

So I said just to make it a little more even (not a big ask, right?), to which she cut some random strand EVEN SHORTER. It was horrible to begin with, now it is seriously HORRIBLE!!!

I mean, LOOK AT THIS THING!

Gruntled, I paid my $10 and walked out, and the owner (or something) told me the generic “it looks cute”.

Yeah, cute for a 5 year old with an uneven haircut?

Not happy, and I have never felt this self conscious for a long time now, which isn’t good! I felt many people stare, and not in a good way.

I mean, WHAT IS THIS PIECE OF CR*P?

Even mum said it looks hideous! So upset!

Lesson learnt: I should have waited.

I’ve been out a lot, so today was supposed to be my “stay at home” day, but dad dragged my butt to go grocery shopping.

I’ve been getting charged a bit of money from the bank lately but didn’t do anything about it since I had a busy semester, so I decided to bring my account summary and inquire about it.

I got to the bank and lined up (there wasn’t even a place to queue at actually). A lady came up to me and asked what I needed help with.

• Me: These $6 charges, what are they for?
• Her: I can change it to $4 if you want.
• Me: But are they compulsory?
• Her: Yes, they are account keeping fees.
• Me: But I didn’t sign up to this.
• Her: Oh it’s automatic.

Yes, they can charge you WHENEVER they like…

• Me: But I’ve never been charged that and when I signed up to it, they said there wasn’t any fees.
• Her: This is the fee you have to pay to maintain your account.
• Me: Oh.

Dumbfounded because that was the most unhelpful response she can give.

• Her: So you want to change this to the $4 one? Here, [guy] will help you out.

Okay then, I thought. THAT is helpful, lady!

• Him: So the difference between the $6 fee and the $4 is that they are exactly the same, except the $4 one you cannot make withdrawals over the counter. Say if you want to withdraw $2000, it will charge you $2 every time.
• Me: I see. Do they charge students this?
• Him: No. Are you a full time student?
• Me: Yes
• Him: Can I see your student ID please?
• Me: Here it is.
• Him: Can I have your name?

After that, he told me to go sit and wait. GREAT!

So when it comes to my turn, another lady was serving me, and I had to go over the same process again, repeating everything up to mentioned point. GREAT! But wait, that’s not all!

• Her: So now we will waive your fees.
• Me: So do I get a refund of the fees I paid?
• Her: No, you’re not getting charged starting today.
• Me: How come?
• Her: You’ve given us your student ID today, so it will waive from today on.
• Me: I signed up at UNSW’s bank, and they told me I wouldn’t be charged. I’ve given in my student card and everything beforehand.
• Her: But you need to give it in every year.
• Me: Look, I’ve been charged starting August – if it is this way, how come I wasn’t charged before August?
• Her: It’s because you haven’t given us your student card before,
• Me: Yes, but how come you automatically assumed I’m not a student starting August?
• Her: I’m going to get my manager.

Yes… perfect. Assuming I am not a student MID-semester. So the first
lady came up to me and starting talking

• Her: I have spoken to you before. As I said earlier, the $6 is the account fee

But that wasn’t what I wanted to know now, so I started explaining that I was aware of these fees, and I was aware that they weren’t charging students!

And SO, the whole process repeated AGAIN… GREAT service huh? Making me repeat all that to 3 different people! But wait, there’s even MORE. She apparently started becoming psychic!!!

• Her: So you must have signed up, and then not extend the student status, so we assumed that you are no longer a student and charged the fees. Because you have to renew it every year.
• Me: So you are not going to return this, even though I have been a student for the whole year?
• Her: But we have no proof that you have been a student this whole year because we haven’t received your student ID.

Ha, I thought, now I can challenge her!

• Me: So if I bring my academic statement to you, you will return these charges to me?

Not getting out of this one, surely?

• Her: Yes…

FINALLY!!

• Her: …but you have to go back to the original branch… so at UNSW… and give those details and then they will return the fees.

Ha, always a catch, isn’t there?

Them getting your money, too easy.
You getting a single cent off them – difficult as hell.
Getting your rightful money back from them after they made a mistake or charging when they’re not supposed to? Dream on…

So I said to them..

• Me: So I go to their bank, tell them that I’ve been sent by Campsie branch to present proof of my student status, and they will give me my money back?
• Her: Yes.
• Me: Thank you.

Ticked off, I walked out of the bank.

Different branches, same company – and this is how they treat their clients! Inconvenient! So if I made an account in Sydney, and moved to, say Perth, then I have to fly to Sydney’s bank to manage my account?! Pathetic!

But for now, I’m going to try doing it their way. I sure hope it’s worth it; it’s already been a serious waste of my time!!

Exam duration: 1 hour
Weight: 12.5%
Format: 4 “short answer” questions (aka shorter essay questions!), 10 marks each.

Time spent: 15 hours in the last 24 hours + more beforehand
Pass rate: Slim

I screwed it.
I screwed it BAD.

I can’t believe this.

During the exam, I got confused with the organisms!

I wrote a whole lot for question one’s organism and wrote nothing for question two’s when the answer I’ve written for question one should be for question two!!!

I mean, we must’ve learnt all the techniques (how certain microorganisms affect their host) for 7 different types of E.coli + other organisms (Samonella, Shigella, Vibrio, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumonia…), but still!!!

There goes my 50% of the paper, just like that.

Furthermore, I didn’t write in so much detail when that’s what they have been looking for!

How screwed am I?!

I need a free day today… =(

To all of you who are wondering, no, I haven’t died yet. But almost.

Stress… Long hours of painful studying, assignmenting, researching, revising… Lack of sleep… Look what uni’s doing to me!! I’m sick again…

That’s right, second time in one month (last time was about 3 weeks ago)!

NOOOoooOO!!

Funnily/coincidentally enough, a friend of mine whom I haven’t seen for a while caught something a week before me last time and got it again last week! He suspects a second bug, but I’m not too sure. But whatever it is, please go awaaaaay!!

Anyway… To cheer myself up, I decided and insisted on a haircut today (I was browsing for a lot of alternative/indie/emo/punk/gothic hairstyle last night). Not feeling up for more violation, AG drove me to Strathfield and looked for a hairdressing place called “Zio” (opposite plaza), recommended from my friend Daph.

I walked into the place, and a man came and sat me down. Krystal, the Korean hairstylist that was going to cut my hair, came and asked me which style I wanted. So I explained it to her:

• Straight and short fringe
• Longer front bits
• Short and very layered back (similar to the last haircut)

She motioned me to the seat and started washing my hair and unlike the last lady, she didn’t rip my hair out!! So I decided to enjoy it, and she was really good/gentle!

After that, she asked if I trusted her and hearing my reply, got started on the cutting. We made small talk, and learned that she started out in Korea and has been a hairdresser for 10 years.

Some while later, she finished. And I looked at the new me.

Hilarious!!
Different!!
Non-alternative (as I had planned the night before)

But I really liked it, and Krystal looked please with herself. So I went to pay for her services: $35 – waaaaay cheaper than the one at Market City (yes, the violation one)! The man who originally served me appropriately added, “Next time, the messy hair look will be charged $45, because this is the first time, it’s $35″ and promptly handed me a loyalty card. Cool, didn’t know any hairdressing place have this system.

Feeling pleased, different and refreshed, I headed home. When dad saw me, he (sorta) flipped! And when mum saw me, the first thing she said was “Ohhh! My Korean daughter” …How did she know? O_o It seriously didn’t look like it to me… But I don’t know.