- Lumsden Garden, Newmarket, Auckland (24.02.08) -

WHAT I HAVE

1. Pretty good grades in all subjects (based on tests and assignments so far)
Overall A and A-, which I think is pretty good. In fact, it’s much much better than the last semester.

2.Books (academic, non-fiction/leisure & fiction)
I’m glad to have books in my room. I’d surely feel empty if I don’t. The problem is… Academic books cost a lot. One textbook for $99.99 after 10% discount. A small workbook for $75.99 after discount. You get the picture. Oh, and notebooks and stationeries are all crazily priced. The RM0.80 Kilometrico is NZ$2.50 here. Ouch… Fiction and non-fiction books are pretty cheap, though, if you don’t convert it to Malaysian ringgit. I bought William Hazlitt’s “The Pleasure of Hating” ($8), Leo Tolstoy’s “The Kreutzer Sonata” ($12), Matthew Pearl’s “The Poe Shadow” ($24), Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence (Why It Can Matter More Than IQ)” ($27) and “A Perfect Mess” by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman ($27). Currently reading “Emotional Intelligence”. The book is soooooo nice! I want to buy his second book, “Social Inteligence” next I’m looking forward to read ‘The Perfect Mess’ too. It’s so intriguing how the authors (Abrahamson & Freedman, 2006) argue how “crammed closets, cluttered offices, and off-the-cuff planning make the world a better place - the hidden benefits of disorder”

3. Violin
A 1/2 size violin for practice. I’m getting the 3/4 later, when my bank is properly stuffed. I can’t ever buy the full 4/4 size. My hand is just too short. Even the 3/4 size is big for me. But I’m happy I got to buy it from TradeMe at only $58 (including postage).

WHAT I DON’T HAVE

1. Reliable internet connection
I’m currently on Woosh Wireless. It worked well the first couple of weeks. But then it started being an ass to all of us in the house. Seriously. The connection is hell during late evening until nighttime. Sometimes, I get ‘Page cannot be displayed’ all night long. Downloading a small 5mb file can sometimes take up to 1 hour (that’s less than 1kbps!).

2.Time for Blogging/Designing
How very unfortunate! I need to reschedule my daily plan to fit blogging into the picture. My language would suffer if I don’t.