With Every Broken Bone

[I Lived – OneRepublic]

A break from the academic stuff! Except now I’m having a gripe at social pressures again.

Without opening the floodgates of “what the hell is wrong with me?”, I have been thinking about the way that I regard other people around me.

I haven’t been making many efforts to be a ‘good friend’, as such, firstly because I keep telling myself that my 6-7 contact hours a week at uni is so draining, but also because I just want to be home. Many times, when I’m sitting with a group of people with whom I’ve had minimal prior interactions, and there is a lull in the conversation, I wish that I was in front of my computer, doing any old anti-social thing. Whenever I have to make awkward and forced conversation, especially about a future to which I don’t yet know all the prospects, I find myself drifting home.

But, when I’m home, I’m restless. When I am sitting there with my gaming console wondering which mission or enemy I should kill next, I look outside and wonder at the lifestyle of those more active than I. Could I be a person who takes a walk for an hour and comes back with 100+ photos on their camera, a tan line on their arm, and an idea that inspires them? Could I be a person who somehow sticks to a schedule that they set, and actually chase the lifestyle that they envision? Could I put down my comic, and go and write one?

I’m not daunted by the empty page – I avoid it. When I have an idea, I don’t see an empty page for long at all, but when I don’t, I will do anything to not have to look at one.

I have on my weekly planner here that tomorrow I’m supposed to go for a small walk around the area with my new camera, and take some photos for my class. They don’t have to be good photos. They don’t even really need to be of things far away from my house. I could feasibly just go into my backyard and do it; but I shouldn’t.

I’ll try my best to come here tomorrow and attach at least one photo that I took, even if it’s of a frontyard three houses down.

Anyway, what was supposed to be a post about other people turned into my own ineptitude, so back on topic.

Making and acting social cues is hard. When I’m doing it, I do it. But when I have to think about it, I get so tired and irritated. At what point did I start ticking off a list of people with whom I should keep in touch? At what point does someone even make it onto a social to-do list? And what point does someone drop off of one? I want to have those people around, I do, because being around them makes me feel happiness. Except I’m actually having to make a list and prepare to enable that happiness, instead of it naturally being there for me to access. Then there’s that decision to drop someone off the list – except I never realize their name hadn’t shown up until ages later.

Is it okay to do that? Is it okay to slowly just give up on trying to make efforts with someone because there’s no need to?

Enough of that for this time.

I went to some Coldstream vineyards with my parents the other week, mostly so that my dad can buy a few bottles of wine and taste a dozen more. I’m pretty proud of this photo:

 

Tokar Estate Winery

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to turn into a photographer. My current assignment for class is based on photography, so it’s the flavor of the fortnight. The new camera is for sharing between my dad and me, because he wants to take photos of food, too.

Alex

Don’t Listen To A Word I Say

[Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men]

This post is a few days late because of a sudden influx of LIFE that happened over the last few days. And by that, I mean Amelia’s and Melody‘s party. (By the way, Melody is kinda in a blog clique kind of thing, so my tacking on of her link is me trying to integrate myself.)

On Thursday, I went to Amelia’s house early to help her clean her house and set up for her party. She’d gotten her Ps just the day before, so I got picked up from my door and drive to her door, and let me say, having spent the past two years taking two different buses for an hour each time just to get to her house, I think I will enjoy this new freedom!

We washed up some dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen, and then she vacuumed the house while Meg tried to fight off the noise monster. Then we had a bit of a rest, had Nandos for lunch (also, another perk of having her drive: instead of having to order expensive pizza in, or making instant noodles, we can now go out for lunch if we want) then a snooze. When it was nearly time, we went downstairs to blow up some balloons and that’s when people started arriving.

You may not be able to tell, but I’m not a fan of recounting in deep detail everything that happened, so here’s a quick run-down.

Most people were well over an hour late, and so when the pizza finally came, everyone was dead hungry, and demolished the first round. We had to go order more. The alcohol began to  flow as well, albeit in little amounts, because her parents are still home. Everyone was hanging out and listening to some guitar playing, and then for some reason some people wanted to watch UP, so we put that on as well.

It was nearing 11pm, and poor Meg had been up for hours and hours (with a tiny nap in the middle). We’d taken her for a big walkies in the afternoon so she’d empty her bowels outside and not be too excited when people come and pee on them. As a result, she was exhausted. When UP was finishing, her eyes were watering, and she was getting quite grumpy. Thankfully, there were three people at the party apart from Amelia and myself that Meg suddenly took a liking to, and those three people took turns hugging Meg until she became docile and just dozed off.

Anyway, that was Meg. I was worried she’d be badly behaved, but Amelia hugged her every now and then which made her happy, and mostly she was friendly to the twenty odd strangers in the house.

Serena made a caramel cheesecake, which she was paranoid over, because she felt like it wasn’t good/sweet/cold enough. Now, I’ve seen her make many cakes in the past, but I’ve never gotten to try a single bite. But, IT WAS AMAZING. I don’t even like cheesecake or caramel and I loved it. I hope she makes me more. Serena, are you reading still? Make me MORE!

Now, we talk about Cindy.

For those of you who aren’t in the know, Cindy is one of Amelia’s closest friends and, if I divide everything down to the most common denominator, probably the reason I got together with Amelia in the first place. The way that Cindy and I met isn’t exactly the best example of my ability to “stay cool”.

But that night, it was Cindy’s turn to not be cool! She accidentally forgot she didn’t eat much (accidentally), and did a few shorts in quick succession. As a result, she became extremely friendly with everyone, and ample hugs were abound. Then, the high wore off, and the head-stuck-in-the-toilet era rolled in. By the end of the night…at around 2:30 am, we had the last stragglers of the party (namely Amelia, myself and three others who were staying over, Nico – Cind’s boyfriend and who now on I will call Naochi because that’s what I call him – and Ash, who was getting a ride from Nico) holding plastic bags up to her face, telling her to just throw up to feel better (horrible phrase to take out of context, I know). In all, it was an amusing but tiring way to finish off what was otherwise a really amazing party.

I had to bring that up, sorry, because it was a fond memory that I’m sure I’ll appreciate to read about a few years later.

I went home early Friday morning because Amelia had work first thing. I had my day of rest, and then another half day of rest on Saturday, before Amelia picked me up for Melody’s. She held it at Ondergrounds on Russell St, which was a pretty cool venue, but because I had to leave really early due to work Sunday, I only really stayed for a few shots and left. But, from what I saw, everyone was in for a crazy night (and I’m pretty sure Melody will supplement and blog more about it on her fancy dotcom page, so do check it out! LIKE SHE NEEDS PLUGGING), and I was sorry I missed it.

And, to finally catch up, I worked all Sunday and all today.

PS Here’s Meg

Camera 360She’s having a nap while hugging her decimated Pikachu toy. It no longer has a face, but boy is it her favorite.

 

 

Moonlight Would Provide The Spark

[Three Cheers For Five Years – Mayday Parade]

Serena brought it to my attention that I never finished this post.

As this was two years ago and I’m not bothered enough to check back, I’ll do them all now. I actually have a post in draft for the last few days that I didn’t write, but since I have to sleep within the hour, this might be faster.

Day 01: Your views on death, how you cope, etc. – If I answered this already, forgive me. I guess my answer will be different now. Since then, I’ve come across two deaths, one close but not extremely close to me, and another in my own family. Both were very sad but not in the shock tragic way. The former is definitely very upsetting, since it was my friend who battled cancer for eight years, and who ultimately lost to it. The thing is, the whole family knew it was coming, so they had time to prepare, to spend time and to smile and laugh. Her last days were spent in the company of her friends and family, so all things considered, it was pretty beautiful. The second death was my own grandfather, and it was a bit of a shock, but he was old, he lived a full, happy life, and there were no prolonged pain and suffering. He left my grandmother with a place to live, money to spend, and they had a lifetime of memories together. So my views? Death sucks, obviously, since it’s the ending of an existence, but I’d prefer to think about them when they lived, and how good they lived, and in that way they can continue existing in a sense, and positively so.

Day 02: How you introduce yourself to new people. – I try to be myself, but for the most part I gauge the situation. It’s easy to create a public persona, a funny, slightly inappropriate jokey, kind of persona, and just let that take care of the social conventions. But let’s be honest, we all do that. It’s how society is made for us to survive in, and instead of condemning it, think about the kind of people in your life around whom you could drop your public persona easily. It makes times with them even more special.

Day 03: What you think about love. – Judging by the time stamp, this was initially written just before I met Amelia. June 2011, I was pretty into someone else, and it wasn’t requited. I would have been a bit naive, hopeful but ultimately cynical about it. Now, I think it’s probably at the stage where I think love is definitely something which can fix someone, but also an elusive something which you may never know you’ve had, because who knows what love is? How can you tell you’re in love, and not just deep infatuation? And more importantly: does it matter? If you’re happy, and they’re happy, and your sex drive is VERY happy, then does it matter if it’s not really “love”?

Day 04: Write about someone you love. – Please see previous posts about Amelia. SORRY I just have to sleep very soon.

Day 05: A list of things you fancy doing. – Lately, I’ve been working more, so I do appreciate down times when I can read a good comic or book, or watch some shows while playing Jetpack Joyride, or reading about cool new techie things. I also really, really enjoy cuddling Amelia’s dog Meg.

MEG3

Day 06: Recommend some books to read. – This might just show my immaturity and taste in literature, but a few books I’ve been recently reading that I really enjoyed:

Perfume – the Story of A Murderer by Patrick Suskind (yes, I saw the movie first)

A Song of Ice and Fire (the series Game of Thrones is based off of) by G. R. R. Martin

Repotting Harry Potter – A Professor’s Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader by James W. Thomas (a wonderful way to also read through the series itself as you go along)

The Casual Vacancy (Where Rowling shows she really, really understands how people work) by J. K. Rowling

White Fang (literally one of the first adult English books I ever read, and I fell in love with it) by Jack London.

I’m also going to recommend some comics which I like.

Saga – Image Comics. The illustration is astonishingly beautiful, and Fiona Staples conveys emotions so artfully that some panels are laugh out loud funny, because of the way she’d draw the characters. The story is also compelling, but now that I’m waiting monthly for them instead of consuming them in one go, I feel like it’s so slow!

Chew – Image Comics. I have a thing for Image. Chew is funny and then punch-you-in-the-guts heartbreaking without notice. It takes quite a lighthearted approach at a really, really morbid theme, and it’s so fun to see where everything is headed.

Rising Stars – Image Comics. This series ended a while back, and I blew through it in one day. I’d wanted to savor it slowly, but before I knew it, it was pitch black and I had a sore butt, but I was just sobbing at how things turned out. It’s like Heroes, but better (which isn’t saying much, I guess).

American Vampire – Vertigo. Ever since reading Preacher (which is also good, but I won’t put it on my list), I thought Vertigo would come out with weird-ass things (just like Hellblazer too), but American Vampire’s story really SUCKED me in, even considering the fact that it had time jumps and deviations in protagonist focus. The world which Snyder created is so engrossing I wish they could make a bigger thing of it.

Fables – Vertigo. Also a surprisingly not weird series. It’s like Once Upon A Time but not so whiney. The reason I got into it was because I read a review for Wolf Among Us, which is the Telltale Game’s prequel to Fables. The game sounded fun, and the comics did too, so I gave it a go. Great decision, cannot wait for the game now.

Numbercruncher – Titan Comics. This was one of those random new comics recommended by Comixology, and I gave it a go. It was strange to start with but then the premise really grabbed me, then it continued being extremely awesome, and it’s something I’d totally re-read slowly while contemplating the idea behind it.

The Bunker – Hoarse and Buggy Productions. Yet another random digital-only recommendation, which turned out to be very time-travelly mind-bendy stuff. It’s slow in picking up and just started, so it’s not built up to much yet, but the creators are promising something huge, and I hope they deliver!

Day 07: Write about the arts (music, art, dancing). – Obviously, these things are all around us and we don’t realize it. It feels like these institutions have been built to such an elitist state that, if you’re not AMAZING AND TOTALLY ACE at it, then you’re relegated to “sucking” and “keep it as your hobby”. I mean, for most people, it probably is a hobby anyway, but they don’t need you to tell them that. I wish I was good at all three, because musicians/artists/dancers are sexy, but I think I’m okay with just writing and storytelling.

Day 08: Write a poem. – I once took a creative writing class where one of the assessments was to write a poem. I think poems are also built to be something more than it needs to be. Poems are meant to be a gathering of words in a way which draws beauty and instills thought and emotions into the reader. Just because you didn’t write it in a bloody sonnet format doesn’t make it any less special. A limerick isn’t any lesser than a haiku. A kid who wrote an acrostic poem using the word “MOMMY” and writing about how much they love their mother means a lot more to that mother than anything Hemingway could have come up with, because poetry isn’t about how poncy you are, it’s about the emotion behind it. In other words, I can’t really be bothered writing one right now.
Day 09: Photo of your favorite pillow. – I only have one pillow, and it’s light blue. Unless you want a photo of Meg again?

Day 10: How you wake up in the morning. – I tend to wake up more often to alarm clocks than not, then I take 10 minutes to scroll through my overnight Twitter feed, especially for interesting news, then I get up and do my stuff.
Day 11: Write about your sibling(s) or what it’s like to be an only child. – Being an only child can be lonely sometimes, and also your parents pressure you a lot, since they only have you to make them proud. But, you get lots of stuff, so whatevs, right? It’s getting late and these questions ask too much of me!
Day 12: Your relationship with your parents. – I think this is a bunch of worms which need to remain in the can for tonight.
Day 13: Write about what you believe in, be it God, yourself, etc. – I believe in finding happiness, and one’s innate right to be happy, no matter how. Of course, if being happy means you absolutely need to go on a killing rampage, then maybe you shouldn’t be happy, or even alive. I’m not really one for all-life-is-sacred, because in the end we have about 6 billion on this planet, (I’m the only one with the uncanny ability to be awesome,) about half of them is in a constant state of poverty and probably dying, and the other half cares that a deranged gunman not get a death sentence? Again, let’s keep those worms for another day. My point is, being happy is all you should aim for, because once you die, who knows what else comes after?
Day 14: What you do for Valentine’s Day. – I’m not allowed to celebrate this day because Amelia hates it.
Day 15: Write about the best gift you’ve ever received. – It’s hard for me to pinpoint the best gift, since I constantly want and get tired of new things. I think that a photo album that a friend gave me when I left my old school was probably the most heartfelt and sweet thing, though.
Day 16: Write another poem, about the weather. – Roses are red, the sky is blue, the rain is gray, brown is poo.
Day 17: Post your favorite gif.

Cry3I used this reacting to when Amelia said that we were no longer in the honeymoon period.
Day 18: Your plans for tomorrow. – I work 8 hours.
Day 19: Write about something you fear. – I’m scared that Amelia will find being with me too tiresome as times goes on, because we either have to hide it from our families forever, or come out and face the consequences. We’re both bi, so I’m worried she’ll end up finding it easier just to be with a guy who she can be public with. But that’s silly, because she loves me, and her dog has basically imprinted on me so it will take too long for it to love someone else.
Day 20: What did you eat for dinner last night? – Dad fried up some Spam and we ate it with burger buns and he also made soup.
Day 21: Your favorite thing to drink. – SO I HAD MY FIRST WET PUSSY (well…”second”) TONIGHT AND IT WAS DELICIOUS AND I LOVE IT.
Day 22: How you take your coffee or tea. – I usually have a latte with one sugar, but I used to do double shots with one sugar as well. I take tea black with one sugar, unless it’s green, then no sugar.
Day 23: Your favorite thing to wear. – I like wearing hoodies because they feel like mobile blankets.
Day 24: Another poem, about the shoes you wear most often. – Roses are red, my shoes are purple, some bits are black, so black and purple.
Day 25: Write about where you live. – I live on a street predominantly white, and we used to have a problem with some kids down the road, who would ding-dong ditch us, and they escalated to kicking our trash over, harassing my mom when she’s working in the front yard, and once egged our house. They’ve stopped recently, though.
Day 26: Your favorite smell. – Amelia! Also bacon. OH IMAGINE IF AMELIA COOKED BACON!
Day 27: Your thoughts on the internet. – I don’t see a problem with the internet itself, I see a problem with people. It’s like guns. Yes, guns are bad things and they kill people, but honestly, a gun sitting there by itself wouldn’t be that scary, but you put a pair of hands on it and WOAH it’s a problem. It’s the same thing with the internet. It’s a great way to connect things that are otherwise unable to be connected, but once you put a human behind the mouse and….
Day 28: Write about how you feel today. – I’m a bit annoyed that I spent all day watching TV and not doing some writing, but it is my rest day after all, so I should just be happy I got to rest. Next week is a tough working week, but I’ve got Pokemon Y to look forward to on Saturday!

All I ever needed was to eat popcorn with you

[Everything Sucks (When You’re Gone) – MxPx]

And so today marks the 4th month of which I have been dating the truly lovely Amelia. For an awful moment this morning we forgot what  we did to celebrate our 2 months, but a quick flick through my blog – ah trusty friend – reminded us that I nearly died eating at Crazy Wing at Glenny.

But, alas, today we decided to go to Doncaster Westfield Shopping Center. Now, before I write any more, I should note that Mela doesn’t really like going to places she’s not been before for long periods of time, but due to either mis-communication or grievous fault on my behalf, I didn’t know this, so I planned for us to take a 40 minute bus ride to Shoppo, a place I kind of know, and a place she’s never been to. It was a cold day, and she was feeling slightly sick, but determined to make the best of today.

She read stuff on my phone on the bus ride there while I cradled her head, and then when we got there, we immediately headed to eat, being so hungry. We went to the foodcourt, known as The Drum, and she wasn’t feeling hungry so she only got a small salad (which turned out to be massive anyway) while I decided to pig out at Spudbar…which turned out to be a bowl of potatoes at the bottom…and then heaped with loads of Bolognese sauce, sour cream, japalenos, chilli flakes, cos lettuce and something else I forgot. But when I mixed it, it became a bowl of not that appetizing looking goo…that tasted amazing. Albeit I got bad breath. Originally decided to give the tummy a rest and be able to get the $2 Double Cheeseburgers but Mela felt sick, so we just went window shopping instead. Spent a good few hours doing that, until she felt so sick we had to sit down and rest.

Had coffee/mocha at a chocolate lounge, where the girl serving us complimented me on my hair (yey). Stayed there for a bit just chatting about how sweet the chocolate was, though it was great chocolate, then we walked around a bit more. We ended up walking around for hours because we wanted to eat at the sushi train at the food court which opened at 6pm, so we wandered around until my feet got really sore, and she got upset because, like I mentioned before, strange place with nothing to do. We sat in front of the TV display at Myer for a bit watching this HD 3D TV. At 6, the sushi train slowly opened, but it wasn’t really producing anything. We ate 2 plates, and realized they were 5 bucks each for altogether 4 pieces of food. Paid for it (got weird looks from the waiters) and decided to bus back to Glen to eat at a familiar place – Mela was getting really sadface and that made me sadface too, it’s an anniversary after all.

We ended up eating at Star East Cafe, sharing a plate and an entree. She started feeling better halfway through the bus ride back after loads of cuddling, and finally told me what she thought I already knew. We then went to the library where she picked out a picture book for me to read to her to cheer her up, and I put on funny voices until a librarian walked past us.

But yes, 4 months! 5 months will come and go before we realize it, it being around Valentines and…her hating Valentines Day. Then Uni will start, testing us on our bond and ability to not be around each other all the time, seeing as she goes to a different uni, us having different amount of contact hours, and her starting a new course as a 1st year and me in my final. But I have confidence we will hit 1/2 year no worries!

And I like that there are still things to learn about her, like that she hates new places…

Happy 4 months darling!

Alex.

I can’t wait to fall in love with you

[Summer Love – Justin Timberlake]

So I am aware that I haven’t written much for a while. Mostly, life has been pretty routine – I meet up with Mela, I go to work, I have some shifts that are terrible, some that are fun. Mela and I have had a few small arguments but nothing close to a fight. I’ve gotten her Christmas presents and she’s gotten me some as well.

As you can imagine, last night was NYE 2011. Putting aside the “oh my God it was only, like, yesterday that I went to the city for NYE 2010”, I was pretty excited because we’d gotten a hotel room together in the city. Awkwardly, the room was right next to my work, the very place where I can’t be seen because I was “home sick”, so I spent a lot of time cowering behind Mela when we passed my work in case the managers were about.

We met up at Glen, as usual, and took the train up. There was still time before check-in, so we had lunch at this Vietnamese place, except I felt like fried rice, so of course I ordered a Pad Thai Fried Rice at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant. After eating our fill, we took the tram down to our hotel room, checked in, got all excited at the prospect of a night together in a decent for how much we paid hotel room. But not 10 minutes into our honeymoon beyond the threshold mania did Brendan call for me to pick him up from downstairs. There was a bit of a whinge on Mela’s behalf who, understandably, seeing as we hadn’t seen each other properly in a few days, wanted some time alone first. But I got Brendan, and we hung out in the hotel room for a bit watching TV until we went to Coles at Melb Central to get some snacks because I remembered being hungry the year prior. Took almost an hour to decide what alcohol to buy and ending up buying a tiny bottle of butterscotch schnapps which I will say now, sucked. We passed by Dani and Ben eating crepes outside of Harajuku crepes, thus seeing a 2nd year of accidentally coming across Dani in the city on NYE. We went back to the room and watched Man Vs Wild until Brendan had to go see his friends. So then Mela finally had her time alone with me.

At around 7:50, 8, we headed off to go have dinner with Jen in Richmond, seeing as it was also her birthday that we were counting down to. We went to Pacific House on Victoria Street, and since we arrived late, they ordered already. It was fine, because the food was amazing. Once again, we ate our fill and with bulging stomachs hugged Jen goodbye to catch up with my uni group in the city.

Caught up with Jacky who was standing waving his arms in the middle of Swanston Street looking for us, and we went to Gin Palace (a small bar just off Lt Collins) for a bit. Jacky brought along an entourage of our lunch group, including Clare whom I haven’t seen in what felt like forever. We didn’t stay in the bar for long, seeing as it was already 30 minutes to midnight. We went back to Fed Square, and on the way, Mela, Little Sam and I lost the rest of the group. After a good quarter of an hour desperately pushing through crowds and trying to get calls to go through, I finally got through to Clare, who told us where they were. Running like mad people and hurting, I am sure, numerous merry-makers, we managed to run from Fed Square, through the crowd and down to Southbank opposite the Langham in around 5 minutes, arriving to where the group was a mere 2 minutes before midnight.

Missed the countdown, as we always do on Southbank because we don’t have speakers there, but we knew that we’d ushered in the new (and final?) year when the fireworks flew into the night sky. We watched in awe as this year’s (which was much better than last year’s) fireworks lit up the Melbourne skyline, and then we watched in amusement and some degree of horror as the top of the Art Building spire caught on fire, sending massive flaming debris down.

Mela and I trudged back to our hotel room, somehow managing to get there before 1am. We had our showers, then snuggled up in bed with the schnapps which were quickly abandoned. We ate some bread and ham that we bought, even though she was still full. We hugged a lot and told each other many sweet things before feeling fatigue pull its veil over our eyes by 2, and going to sleep.

Sleep was a bit difficult, for me at least, because it was quite warm, but it was nice to be able to cuddle the one you love at any given time during the night. We woke up and had some more cuddles and sleepy talking before her phone went off to let us know that we had to get ready for check-out. Quick packing up, a few moments of Ben 10 on TV, and we said goodbye to our first hotel room together.

The day was already heating up monstrously, and we ate congee at the same restaurant as I had last year with Annie, Anna, Josh and Julia. Then we took the Cranbourne back to Oakleigh, and said a long and sad goodbye as we took our respective buses. But the goodbye wasn’t for long, because I can feel that 2012 is going to be the year where I don’t (and really shouldn’t) feel like I am alone at any time.

Alex.

Graffiti decorations under a sky of dust

[Runaway – Linkin Park]

Not the best song for the situation but that’s shuffle for ya.

Overdue post: Monday just past saw the 3 month anniversary of Mela and me!

We met up at Glen station with warm and happy hugs, excited (but not surprised) that we made it to now, and without issue too! Took the train up into the city so that we could go see Mai at her store for Mela to give her what Mai ordered from UO. I ended up putting on the Beats by Dr Dre headphones they had on display, plug it into my own phone for better music, and playing Fruit Ninja on their display iPad while Mela and Mai talked. At least, they talked for a while about Malaysia (the former being from, the latter going to), but after a while, when they realized I can’t hear them, they just called me names.

After saying bye to Mai to let her work, we took the train down to Windsor station where Dani has taken me a couple of times to let Mela op-shop. We strolled along Chapel St walking into any store that caught Mela’s fancy, but at the end of the day (spoiler alert) she didn’t find anything that suited to her likes. We walked up and down Chapel St, reaching Jam Factory and then back a few times without realizing it. It was no surprise, then, that I was extremely tired.

We had lunch at Lucky Coq because I’d been wondering about their $4 pizzas – and they lived up to expectations! Gourmet and crunchy, but full of flavor, and come on they’re 4 bucks! Washed it down with some Dapple Cider, and took a few photos with Mela (or, well, we took photos of each other).

We then we to Topshop which was the original intent of going to Chapel St, along with the op-shops. It was crowded in there with many many late-teens, early twenties girls walking around, and quite a few of them attached to their boyfriends. Mela and I tried on two things each, but the price-tag (in proportion to how much the clothes wow’d us) coaxed us to meekly pass the clothes back to the exhausted looking sales assistants.

After Topshop, we strolled back down Chapel (yes, I know…) after a misunderstanding about where I’d wanted to go to get some iced-coffee/milkshake (I wanted Soda Rock which was just a stop past Jam Factory, and Mela thought I meant back down near Prahran station or something), so by the time the confusion was cleared, we ended up getting an ice coffee at this place which boasts that theirs is the best in town, but really they just had really sweet whip. We trammed back up to South Yarra Station, thus completing our lap of Chapel for the 4th or 5th time, and attempted to take the Cranbourne train home, except the signs were off and we stood on the wrong platform for about 15 minutes.

I took a new bus home, and realized that it took at least 10 minutes off my trip. It led Mela and I to agree that in the future when we wanted to go to the city together, we should just meet up at Oakleigh station, which is easier on the both of us.

So, my feet were throbbing and sore after two long shifts over the weekend and the big day of walking, but no, I had to pluck up the strength to go out once again for Tuesday…the dreaded and long-ago-promised viewing of Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Long story very short, I started live-tweeting and being sarcastic about the movie at the start, but when Mela got upset at me (don’t get me wrong, she’s not a Twilight fan, but I think she disliked having to sit next to someone who was constantly complaining) I stopped. The movie was…yeah anyway then we had some food and got our ears pierced together (one ear each) before I kissed her goodbye for her work.

And, today, once again, went out to her place so we could buy Cathy’s presents (and she got me a 3DS, but refuses to let me even see it before Christmas…don’t worry, I’m getting her a Wii, so it’s all not-awkward or anything) and hang out. She ended up being called into work last minute, and accepted, so we went off at around 3.

Tomorrow I work a rather long shift in the evening, and on Friday is Cathy’s get together, so I don’t really get time to just sit down and take a break until Saturday…an entire week since these hectic days started!

Oh, and Mela’s friend Andrew helped me get Skyrim running, so I’ll be trying to play it in the coming days, but I’m not so confident yet. It’ll just take some time! I got used to FFS X2…right?

Alex.

No one’s so sure if the crime had a reason

[Me And The Moon – Something Corporate]

9 days and I forgot to write things!

The week past has been pretty routine – free time? Catch up with Mela. She has time before work? Go to Knox and hang out. On the Friday just after the previous post, I went to meet a lot of her friends when Mela held a BBQ at someone else’s house. In the end, Mela and her friends cooked while I sort of sat there and looked useless. On Wednesday just past we went to Tiffany’s house for a small group catch up, where Sonam attended, and it was amazing, because Sonam exists still! We literally did nothing at her house – just ate, lounged, played Monopoly Deal, then just sat there for a long time watching YouTube videos. It was very hot this week so we mostly tried to stay home. Yesterday, I took Mela to meet Catherine, who was so cool she was gonna get her Ps next week. I am very jealous.

Today I guilted Mela into coming into the city after her work to have dinner with me after my deathly 4.5 hours of dining shift. We had Red Silks, of course, and then sat in Fed Square while it rained all around us. We huddled under the one umbrella and kissed. I think it counts as kissing in the rain!

My feet are about to drop off.

Next week I have a 9am shift on a Sunday, meaning I need to take the first train of the day and be there half an hour early…or be late. Still, it was that shift or an 8-midnight shift the night before, and I wouldn’t even be able to get home!

Things with her are going so smoothly that neither of us can believe that it’s going to be 3 months on Monday. Has time flown so fast? At the same time, I find that day by day I am useless without her – when she’s at work, I carry conversations with myself (or the teddy bear that represents her) to keep company, because I am now so used to having her around. I think if we really count the minutes, we more or less spend every waking moment in contact with each other – and when we’re not I think it’s safe to say we both are thinking about each other. My phone’s gallery is simply filled with photos of her and/or the teddy bear. I suppose you all can say that I am a very dependent and clingy girlfriend, and yes, I am, but I feel so normal when I call her up first thing in the morning, and her response is so warm that there isn’t a moment when I get the feeling that she may not want to talk to me. Well, there are some moments, but I try to ignore them…I’m sure she doesn’t go AWOL on purpose – and I’m sure there are times when she’s wondering where I am when I totally forgot to text her or something.

On the friends front: I haven’t had the chance to really hang or talk to Clare in ages, and I miss her a lot. I think after this coming week which is a bit packed, I will try to hang out with her, maybe a whole day! Wow large dose of Clare. Josh and Anna I’ve also had little chance to really see, they’re both very busy people, and when they are free I am not, which is sad. Jen and Annie I see regularly, but since the holidays have started and they’re both working more, not so much. Brendan and Cindy I haven’t really seen since the last Chadstone shopping trip, and although Brendan and I text back and forth a bit, it’s not really connecting kind of conversation. And, Dani received the birthday parcel that Mela and I sent, and hopefully she’ll be back in Melbourne soon!

There are a lot of other people who I have not seen in a long time due to Mela – I guess I’ll have to take the on the title of “one of those“.

Alex.

A dotty recap

I’ve been slacking off in the documentation of my activities…so I will dot point what has happened since last week (a feat I don’t often attempt, lest it decreases my writing skills)…

Starting from last Saturday:

Saturday:

  • Went to the dentist to get my teeth checked up and cleaned.
  • Went to the Glen to hang out with Mela a bit.
  • Ended up buying the Hunger Games trilogy box set.
  • Had lunch while standing up from the lack of seats – it was a weirdly busy day at the Glen.
  • Went home and read the Hunger Games (1st book) in one sitting.

Sunday:

  • Rushed out of the house because parents left later than expected, leaving me the tiniest window to catch up to my bus.
  • Did manage to catch the bus, and went to have lunch with Mela before her shift.
  • Went home but didn’t really feel like reading the second book.
  • Downloaded a lot of eBooks – for free!

Monday:

  • Stayed home all day because I promised my parents I would.
  • Mela was having a terrible day, and I couldn’t go out to make her feel better.
  • She ended up going to work as a last minute notice.

Tuesday:

  • Went to Chadstone to hang out with Mela, Cindy and Brendan.
  • Shopped! Got a new pair of Vans, a new YD waistcoat and Mela surprised/snuck past me by buying me a shirt I liked before I could stop her.
  • Pestered Ser- at work. She had her eyes on a “cute” guy who was working at Gloria Jeans opposite her. He wasn’t cute.
  • Took the bus home with Ser-, Brendan and Mela – Cindy went to work.
  • Cindy bought a shirt, which is something she doesn’t usually do. Mela bought a pretty dress. Brendan bought a strawberry milkshake.

Wednesday:

  • Went to Knox with Mela so that she wouldn’t be bored at home before her late shift.
  • Hung out and I checked in everywhere with Foursquare.
  • Were disgusting everywhere we went holding hands and such.
  • Looked at a ring at Michael Hill but I ended up chickening out because it was just a bit above my price-range.
  • Both of us got freaked out when the lady brought up lifetime warranties.
  • Got some chocolate caramel popcorn from the new popcorn place.
  • Had a massive chicken club sandwich for lunch.
  • GOT SLAM DUNK FROM MELA!
  • Big hugs and kisses goodbye because the day ended way too soon.

Thursday:

  • Late start, went to meet up with Annie, Vania, Marvin, Julia and Tiff at MC with Mela.
  • Mela surprised me again by showing up on my bus.
  • Had lunch with the group, then they went to see the mummy exhibition while Mela and I stayed in State Library games room so she could play Pokemon while I watched Despicable Me on her lap.
  • Head scratchies!
  • Caught back up with the group and went to Giraffe for dinner. They were all so hungry they all finished their risottos.
  • Played Big 2 for a bit – Annie remains unskillful.
  • Went home – head scratchies on the train back! Mela says she pampers me too much.
  • Went to bed early because I felt tired and sick – Mela stayed up and played Pokemon until 2 am.
  • Slept 11 hours and got up today to laze around before going to Dani’s dinner later!

More to blog about tomorrow! Why, it’s Brendan’s annual birthday party! How the time flies.

Alex.

Happy birthday Amelia!

Today was/is Amelia’s 19th birthday. I tried – and possibly failed – to get a surprise going. I think she knew, but she acted along well anyway.

I went to the city earlier in the morning to get her presents – yes, I left it til the last minute. I got her a notebook in which I wrote my birthday message, and hopefully she’ll use that notebook to write down some cool dreams that she has. I also got her a box of tissues and some Strepsils because the poor girl had gotten sick just yesterday – the eve of her birthday.

After realizing that she’d be late coming into the city with Ser-, I thought I had enough time to go to the florist right outside the Town Hall and got her a small bunch of mini carnations.

In the end, her friends Ly- and Ei- actually got there before she did, so when Amelia finally arrived, they ran up to her to hug her as a way of surprise.

We went to Dessert House for some cheap lunch. I don’t really think I’m a photo blogger so I won’t post the numerous photos of food and us that Amelia took. After lunch, we went to Starbucks to sit for a bit. We sat there for ages, and Brendan and Nha- joined us, and then later on Des and Tat (they’re all, bar Brendan obviously, Amelia’s friends). Brendan and Nha- got Maccas, and Nha- was nice enough to actually get me a cheeseburger. I think I scared Ser- a bit when I more or less bullied her into taking my money to buy her drink – I just really didn’t want to hold onto so many coins.

L2R, Amelia, myself, Ser- and Brendan. Ser- doesn’t like having her photo taken. This photo was after a LOT of persuasion.

After getting many glares from the Starbucks staff – one of them actually had to tell us to quieten down – we sort of all agreed that instead of going to Papa Gino’s on Lygon as was originally planned, we’d all just eat the cake in the city, then go back to Glenny to have dinner. So I made a booking at Zest 91, and went to pick up the ice cream cake from QV. Amelia cut the cake with a plastic knife, and we ate the cake with little plastic spoons.

At this point, Ly- and Ei- had to leave, so Tat and Des went to Ferntree Gully where they parked the car, so to meet us at Zest, and Brendan, Nha-, Ser-, Amelia and I went to ICUE to play some pool. Nha- is extremely good, Brendan is passable, and I think I made the wrong impression and Nha- thought I was decent, which I am not.

At 5, we thought it best to go back to Glenny. Said bye to Nha-, only to be greeted with sheets of rain. We slodged through a crossing with no lights, and found our way onto a packed Glen Waverley train – one of the few that seems to be running that afternoon. And not surprising either, seeing as already the gutters were overflowing, much less the lowered tracks.

The train ride was pretty terrible, mostly because Amelia had developed a headache, couldn’t sit down to sleep, Ser- had no sense of balance and so kept on falling onto one of us (and dislikes physical touch). I was just glad we managed to make it onto an express train that was running at all. I didn’t even consider the possibility of being stranded in the city today.

Went to Zest 91 for dinner. Sat upstairs, not after going up a crazy winding spiral staircase to get there – not the most comfortable decor idea. Met Amelia’s friends Andrew and Steven.

Oh, right, throughout the day Amelia was trying to find ways to work me into her conversations to tell her friends who I am. Her subtlety led to her telling Tat and Des “oh, by the way, that’s my girlfriend”, and telling Andrew and Steven “oh yeah, Alex, yeah, I’m dating her”.

Because the dinner was mostly Amelia’s closer friends, Brendan and I ended up having a bit of a chat with each other – something we haven’t managed in a while, and I never realized how nice it was to talk to him. It was different to when on Skype or MSN, because online he tends to do weird things and is distracted easily, but in person it was better to keep him on track.

It was a pretty long day, and it was made worse by extremely bad weather. But I really hope that Amelia liked it anyway, because I know that it was some effort for the people who came out, and I know that for the people who didn’t, they wanted to.

And a huge thanks to Ly- and Jan- (the latter of which ended up having to work, so couldn’t come) for helping me organize the whole thing!

Alex.

Death by hot chick

So today was my venture to go eat Crazy Wing and go to IKEA for funsies, with Clare, Charles and Mela.

I got to Melb Central a bit earlier, and Annie (who was going to eat lunch with us), Clare and Mela all realized they were going to be a bit late, and, knowing my hatred for waiting and tardiness, they all texted me more or less at the same time “will be around 10 minutes late SORRY!!!!”

We went to Big W where Clare wanted to look for this specific pair of flats, and I was no contribution, and it led to Mela just telling me to stop talking when I passed comment. Then we went to Crazy Wing, but it wasn’t open yet, so we sort of went to this Asian video store nearby, and went through the DVDs with Annie telling me which ones I should “actually see cos it’s actually amazing”. Then we came across the entire collection of Kindaichi and Slam Dunk, and Annie and I both respectively really wanted those, but Mela convinced us out of buying them, adding that being a member of an anime club, chances are she’ll know someone who has all of them. Well, I am relying on her to. But if she doesn’t, the series is only $65!

Then we went to Crazy Wing, and we ordered between us the Honey Spicy Chicken, the Garlic Spicy Chicken, Mela and I each had one Crazy Wing, some mushrooms, and a 2L bottle of Coke. The wing was VERY hot but enjoyably so – even though my lips got kind of inflamed. Surprisingly, Min-, Larry and their friends came into the store as well, and it was a bit of a “hey what are you doing here!” moment.

After Crazy Wing, we went to QV to have frozen yogurt at Tutti Frutti, and ran into Mai and Julia. Mela and I shared a chocolate one, topped with LOADS of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and crushed Oreos, and then argued over who would eat the strawberry pieces and who would eat the dollop of strawberry fro-yo that Mela put in there. We did the shouting over each other arguing, and everyone on the table were feeling pretty awkward until we started laughing at us arguing.

After frozen yogurt, during which all the sugar and chicken was getting to me and I was feeling quite hyper-active, we left Julia and Annie to their own devices, and Charles, Clare, Mela and I started going to IKEA in Victoria Gardens. Got distracted halfway when we went to EB Games on Swanston to play the Wii upstairs, and we did a mass Mario-Kart battle, except I am very inept at the game on Wii, so I came last in every race (that is, I never finished a race), while Mela went nuts trying to beat Charles.

Finally, we took the tram up to Victoria Gardens, and the tram was very crowded and warm. Mela and I tried to do the word scramble on the tram, but realized to do the big one we needed a pen. So I asked Charles if he had a pen, but this gentleman right next to me handed me his pen, and I was kind of pleased at how friendly he was.

IKEA was pretty good – it always is – but it was made better by the fact that the four of us were pretty much in there as a double-date. We went through the bedroom displays, looking at the different room designs. I think, though, the ones that really caught our interest were the children’s bedrooms, especially the one with the canopy bed and the crawl through cubby. Clare came across this little boy in the cubby, and started making her weird noises at him, and didn’t realize that all that time the kid’s parents were standing right behind her.

Mela saw this bunk bed which was pretty much a double bed up top, and a couch-area/relax/study area down the bottom, and more or less fell in love with it.

Then we went to have the Swedish meatballs and mash, and for $4.25, it was REALLY worth it. Except it smells quite strong. I can still smell it on my breath now. Woof. We sort of sat there for a bit talking, and then weaved through the rest of IKEA to make it to the $1 hotdogs. Again, I think Mela fell in love with the hotdogs, because they were rather tasty and filling for one freaking dollar. I think she wants to go to the newly opened Springvale one JUST to eat the hotdogs again.

Then we went to K-Mart to look for jewelry for Clare, because she needs a new necklace, but I suppose that was a silly place to go for that kind of stuff. We looked at the toys a bit, of course, and then left Victoria Gardens in a rush when we realized it was half past 5, and Mela needed to get home by 7. It wasn’t going to happen, but we could try.

On the train home, Mela and I looked through the many MANY photos she took throughout the day, laughing at the ones where the phone blurred the faces, and saying aww whenever there was a cute photo of Clare and Charles. Then we listened to her music a bit, and said bye at the bus-stop. I am getting very comfortable with this dating thing, yep.

It was a really long day; although we got home earlier than we usually would, we did more and went to more places. I asked Mela if she liked the kind of dates where we did a lot of things, or the ones where we had a meal and just sat around and talked. She said she liked a bit of both, but the fact that she’s gone to take a nap now kind of makes me think that the doing stuff dates are really tiring.

Alex.