One of my first few sights in Melbournne - Brighton Beach.
It has been 2 months since I traded the dimly lit mamak shops for the insides of the kind-of food court but not really a food court in Union House. What do I mean by that, I hear you cry. Well, food courts are supposed to be cheap, aren't they. But little did I know, cheap food are ironically, a treasure of such rarity that people will literally fight tooth and nail for here in Melbourne. And shamelessly, I am one of them. Yes, I haven't changed. Welcome back, readers!
I seem to must suspend belief every time I look at a calendar, to think I've spent only 2 months right here in Australia. It feels so much longer and even me landing on my two feet off the van right in front of Swanston Street and my new accommodation feels like three lifetimes ago. The clocks started turning from then like wheels on bicycles that I could not afford. Weeks, weeks, weeks and more weeks went by and now I'm here, fully settled but not really.
I still do remember the horror of entering the room I would spend (and still spending) for at least a bloody year. For the price that I shall not disclose because it's downright embarrassing, the sight that befall my eyes were one of an unpleasant nature. It was a pretty big room but that was pretty much it. Poor ventilation, poor lighting system and a cupboard that was laughably small even for a simple guy like me. I literally couldn't spend a second longer there as it was a literal furnace that could have melted my face into one of Two-Face.
Cue the rushed and hurried trips to Target and Big W, where I managed to buy all the essentials and make my room more livable. It took weeks but my room eventually looked a lot like home as I blinged it up with stuff that only I would appreciate. Oh yeah, I would like to dedicate this post to Daiso. Not quite RM5 but bless your $2.70 products.
Day 1 also brought me to another crushing burden, the price of food. My first dinner was spent on Asian food which was actually really good, better than most shops in Malaysia even but my eyes bulged at the receipt I was given at the end. Thirteen dollars for fried rice and prawns?! If you're not already doing the math like a fellow cheap ass Malaysian in Australia like yours truly, that's a mouthwatering RM40 for something as simple as fried rice. That can buy me my favourite ramen from Mid Valley with at least RM 4 to spare. I was in for a rough ride.
Saving up has been something of a sport for me here. I don't love it but the feeling of slicing a few dollars from my day's expenses do bring me a certain joy indeed. Regardless of my best efforts, it is still painfully expensive but converting-wise, it hasn't been too brutal.
Ah, the converting game is strong indeed. Ask most Malaysians in Australia, converting from the dollar to the ringgit can be as fun as going to the dentist to pull out a tooth. The feeling of passing by anything with a price tag and having to multiply by 3.3 is painful for anyone who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth. It wouldn't be too bad if things were like, really cheap, Australian dollars wise, but nope, I had to pick a place with a high cost of living to study in.
I'm a genius, really.
So the lesson learnt, try not to convert at all. Just think to yourself, hey this is pretty cheap!
Without adding the words, in Australian dollars.........*sobs
Ignoring the price, food in Australia is pretty decent. Not as good as Malaysia, but decent nonetheless. Cooking for myself is an early project but it looks promising. I wouldn't show my creations to the Twitter savage and apparently talented chef, Gordon Ramsey just yet.
Where the streets came alive, White Night.
One thing I must touch on are the streets of Melbourne. Coming from a small and quiet place like Klang, I have been taken aback by the sheer liveliness of the streets of Melbourne, especially at night. The buskers come in droves here at night to interrupt the silent din of the night with either melodious or head-banging music, where its variety of music style is the major focal point, making it unique and frankly wondrous.
One event that clearly sticks in my mind is the Asia Pop Fest concert. The crowd, the atmosphere, the performance by a multitude of talented artists were something to be behold. Ailee, the main star of it all was the brightest star of all among the other glittering stars in that dark night at Sidney Myer Music Bowl. I would have never had memories of that night, had I not come here to Melbourne. For that, I tip my hat off to you. And it was free, too ! Daylight robbery at best.
Moving from the streets of Melbourne to Melbourne as a whole, it is a really beautiful city to be in. Whenever I took a few second to hit the pause button in my busy life as a student, I will always marvel at the beauty from everything to the clear blue sky, the charming shops at the side of streets and even the underappreciated nature surrounding it. Just a sight for sore eyes.
Last but not least, the university and the people in it. Making friends in a new country is hard work. Especially when you came to the country with barely anyone you know there. The starting fresh feeling is a bittersweet one. It took me a decent amount of weeks to make some sort of connections with new people. One thing about Melbourne is, people are very approachable here. I've literally made friends with people when lining up for food. Obviously, I had to make first contact but still it is pretty impressive that people are willing to let conversation flow and let their guard down.
Friends I've made here are not quite lifelong friends material yet but they've been pretty decent. Joining a multitude of clubs were a key part in making most of the friends I know at the moment. Some clubs have been busts so far but clubs like SSS and AMC has been lifesavers.
In short, people here has been mostly polite and fun but there have been assholes that unfortunately crossed my path in Melbourne. And no, love has not even been close to being on my cards here yet.
An experience of a lifetime in an amazing concert.
What about the ang-mohs you were supposed to make friends with? Well, I'm sorry to have disappointed. But, I've probably have as much Australian friends as fingers on my hand. Diversity and culture acceptability hasn't been as accurate as showed on every university's brochure in the world. I seem to have made most of my friends from Asia with Australians being a minority. A huge stumbling block is the fact that Australians tend to make friends with fellow Australians whom for the most part, they have knew for years. That doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
And they seem to not be able to get my name right the first time. I swear only Australians can call me Melbourne when I clearly enunciated my name, Melvin. The title you see up there can pretty much sum up most of my early interactions with Australians. And I haven't even been to Starbucks yet. Oh that would be a great experience.
But damn, the girls in university look downright stunning. These girls come from all sides of the world and they dazzle my eyes every time. An untouchable aura exudes from them just walking past me. I guess that would count as a plus over my country, I guess.
Talking about demographics, I am surprised at the make-up of the district I'm living. Melbourne University may have probably the biggest Chinese community among all Australian universities. I swear, 50% of people I see on a daily basis are from China and the rest are other foreigners and Australians. This means I hear Mandarin with a Chinese accent nearly every day, from buying eggs in Aldi's to tying my shoes in the Laby Ideas Centre. And it annoys me. It annoys me because I can't speak Mandarin well, although I really should. The Malaysian community on the other hand is surprising San Marinese sized. We have a larger community than most but still smaller than I thought.
Something I did not expect was to mingle with so many Singaporeans during my time here. This is pretty much due to me being involved in a lot of their society's activities which surprised me a lot. Hell, who cares, I'm enjoying it.
Engineering is a suicidal career path. Don't take it. It has been such a huge leap in difficulty for me in terms of the subjects I've taken. Physics, Calculus and ESD has all proven to be deadly foes that outranked me from a 1000 to 1. The fact that I did not touch a book for 6 months prior to entering university did not help my cause at all. I didn't know my partial fractions from my double integrations and I paid the price very early on. I would say that I'm a lot better since I started out but that isn't saying much. Not much at all.
Physics was already tough but made tougher by my lecturer who refused to teach but instead decide to give admittedly, cool demos in classes. It was cool and all but when the online quizzes came, it became a bit less cool. ESD has been so tough, especially the project part. Stuck in a bad group with individuals who couldn't give a fuck, the amount of weight I'm forced to carry is a tad depressing, honestly. It wouldn't be too bad if it was a simple project, but we are supposed to design a water treatment plant.
Yes, a freaking water treatment plant!
I can really see why people say that studying overseas is an experience like no other. It has only been two months but I do feel a slight change in me.
Hopefully it is for the better, of course. My thirst for writing is still alive and well, may it long to continue. Alas the thirst has been quenched and now it is time to end it for now.
Have a great day, wherever you are in the world.
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