- On a Train to Otahuhu, Auckland (16.03.08) -

Woosh Wireless in Auckland SUCKS!!!!

I had stupid connection even though the signal was excellent. Goddamn internet connection… I’m pretty much sure that our apartment has only used about 30% of our monthly data cap (a few days ago). It’s not possible for Woosh to reduce our speed to the speed of dial-up connection. In short, I was so pissed off up until last night.

Oh, and I even lost a few items at TradeMe because of the lagging connection.

I could have bought that violin for just $50! And now I missed my chance

On the other hand, I have an interview scheduled with a Mr. Webster, Stephen of McDonald’s (Queen Street Branch) this evening for a part time job. Wish me luck!

- Warehouse, Newmarket Auckland (25.02.08) -

Auckland has been really nice since the past few days. The weather is getting a little bit more consistent compared to last week. Last week was like all sun and then all showers, you really couldn’t guess what the day was going to be like.

I had an interview with Sheryll today. It was more like a nice, long chat. It was really pleasant to talk to her. I kind of poured out what I was thinking about, especially about this course that I’m taking. I told her everything - what I think, how I feel, why this why that, etc etc. She sounds very much supportive, though I kind of know that she won’t be the one we turn to when we have problems (except for academic ones, maybe).

Overall, yes, it was a nice, loooooong chat.

Now all I had to think about is how am I going to wisely manage my time and money. Like, REALLY WISELY.

Otherwise, I’m doomed.

Thanks Sheryll, for that much-needed awakening talk. I think I’ll be on the right track.

That aside, let’s just go back to ‘before the interview’. The 1-hour database navigation/library course was so boring today, probably because I was in a state where I could fall asleep just about anytime. Sorry, Mark. You’re not boring, it was just me. And then I couldn’t log on to ERIC via Voyager. Damn. They had some kind of issues with the licenses, so… Yeah.

After the class, I went to kill time at Starbucks with Haniff before the interview. I think I have succeeded in ‘poisoning’ him with Caramel Frapuccino in Starbucks. Haha… Okay, no, I didn’t poison him. I just got him hooked. I wonder what Dyau would order if he was there… Probably something with a kick.

But hey, I don’t trust Starbucks all that much anymore if it deals with deciding on drinks that can get me wide awake. I still remember getting 2 shots of espresso, hoping to keep myself awake anough to finish one of my assignments. Ten minutes after, I got REALLY sleepy. So… Espresso in Starbucks has reverse effects on me.

I tried out Telecom Wireless in the cafe to. It cost me 10 bucks, but what the hell… Just testing. Besides, I haven’t been using my card for a while. Might as well give it a test.

While waiting to see Sheryll, we met up with Mint, Pikah, Wira, Sze Wei, Felicia, Nisah and Dzeti at level 10, Fisher Building. I had a really nice time chatting with them

Ahh… I so love my coursemates~

p.s/ And I am now officially the subject representative for my group. What the hell am I suppose to talk about? All I know is that we have a meeting this March 13 at 10am with Richard (I call him Mr.Chairman :P). Hmm…

Seriously, I should say I’m scared. I have not get my brain to ‘exercise’ for more than three months (no thanks to the holidays) and now I don’t know how to get the gear moving again. Class would resume this early March, and am I ready? Not a little bit ready.

Ah, so scared.. These are the compulsory subjects for this year:

Semester 1
Educational Pychology (BEDTL EDUC 223)
Pedagogy - Beyond Skills & Methods (BEDTL EDUC 283)
(Need to find two more subjects as electives)

Semester 2
Curriculum, Assessment & Evaluation (BEDTL EDUC 225)
Introduction to English Language Teaching (BEDTL LANGTCHG 300)
Applied English Grammar (BEDTL LINGUIST 203)

Can’t wait for the 2nd semester - I LOVE GRAMMAR!!! Eh, wait, but I don’t like ELT… Anyhow, I’m just so relieved that all courses will be held on City Campus. Yay, no need to go to Epsom Campus, which means no walking for approx. 5km or wasting money on bus tickets. And since we’re living in Wellesley Student Apartments (on 8 - 10 Mount Street), we’re just a short walk away from the Queen Street. (Yay to shopping and window shopping!) Auckland Domain isn’t far too… So, do I still wanna move to Unilodge next sem? If their rent is cheaper, I might consider

After settling down and adjusting to the new semester?

Look for a job, of course~

So sad that my holiday is finally coming to an end. My days of sleeping after subuh prayer, lazying around doing nothing, shopping until my feet cannot hold, not worrying about food, etc etc… They’re all coming to an end My flight is on the 20th, 9.15pm. Ah.. Another over 10-hour trip. At least I get to sleep on the plane.

Let’s see what have I bought during this looooong summer break:
+ Sony Vaio VGN-CR23G/W (white is so cool~ and 2.0ghz + 2gb ram is good enough for me And free VOS too, and lots of freebies)
+ Sony Cybershot DSC-T70/W (because T2 has smaller LCD, and I don’t need 4GB to take pictures! The free 1GB memory stick is more than enough for me.)
+ Philips SA3124/37 - 2gb (finally, a new mp3 player! Okay, it’s music and video player, but I only use it for mp3s)
+ Western Digital Passport (External HDD) 160gb
+ Motorola V6 Maxx (okay, I give up. V9 is still too expensive…)
+ 2 2GB PenDrive Mini
+ Lots and lots of clothes (jeans, cropped jeans, t-shirts, lounge suits, etc)
+ Lots of Nike stuff (yes, I’m a big fan~), including the cool (yet bulky) Chisel watch (I want to buy Imara Kylo or Imara Keeva.. maybe in Auckland) and 3 pair of shoes (1 free mary jane, 1 sl IV wide and 1 air force 1).
+ Elizabeth Arden Valentine Set and various L’oreal and Maybelline products (and other products too, actually. I haven’t bought cosmetics and skincare for a while…)
+ Elizabeth Arden Green Tea EDP 50ml and Salvatore Feragammo Incanto Charms EDT 100ml (couldn’t resist!!)
+ Sony headphone and Philips In-ear Turbo Bass earphone with neck strap (yay!)

There are more, but it’s impossible to list down everything.

I’m really, really BAD when it comes to spending money. For the next two months and a week, I shall live with this:

AU$ 5850
(Nigel, I owe the pic to your creativity XD)

Signing off~

It seems that Advertlets is not the only one in failing to pay bills in time. The oh-so-famous FBI does too. I was reading the news over at MSN Live and cracked up at one of the headlines: FBI wiretaps dropped due to unpaid bills.

Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau’s repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI’s lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said.

Advertlets is just a small fry compared to this. Just proves how twisted this world is. Many crime investigators and authorities worldwide commit crimes behind our backs and play nice in front of us.

Anyways, I’ve been caught up in work and real life this past couple of days. And I’ve been commissioned~ One is an ongoing project of copywriting. It’s a very small project, $1.5 per 200-400 words but I have to do around 5 to 10 per day. For a lazy student like me, $10 - $15 per day is already okay. I get paid on the spot everytime I submit my work. I so love being a part-time freelancer at GetAFreelancer.Com! What I did was the past few days were:

- Sunday: Installed, configured and test-run a Joomla site with Virtuemart
- Monday: Fix scripting on one Arabics football news website
- Tuesday: Write 5 lengthy articles on language and technology
- Wednesday: Made a custom Wordpress template for a maid agency

I guess I can take a break now.