Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The wait is over…

I’ve wanted to write that for a long time now. However it’s not until today (or yesterday, the 30th of Oct) that it became true. Finally, after much waiting and (to my shame) worrying, my visa has come. What a relief! Lol, yes, I was slightly shaken for a while and if you think that’s weak… I challenge you to wait for something which you really want for 2 months without knowing when it’s going to come or even if. It’s not a pleasant feeling. It would be mentally akin to being a PoW waiting for the war to end. Of course I’m not saying I’m in any where close to a similar situation, as always I’m merely exaggerating to garner more sympathy. I’m sure you get my drift though.

Anyway, random rambling aside.

Yes, around 1 pm today, I was informed, via e-mail, that the Visa had been approved in HK. Even now it should be en route to me in Melbourne via Fed Ex (I think). Thus my departure date is on the night of the 8th of Nov. I won’t say when on-line. However if you want to catch up with me, feel free to give me a call/SMS/e-mail/comment and make a booking. Spots are limited, so hurry to save a place. (No I’m not really that popular, I just want to get a chance to catch up with everyone before I go.)

Apart from that, there’s nothing really to say. I’ll start packing tomorrow, I will be stopping over in Malaysia for half a day… um … I’ll be buying a camera in HK so you can all see pretty pictures of what my apartment looks like?

I really don’t know, I’ll be choosing on over there.

Anyway, just letting you all know what’s happening. Soon I’ll have a more indepth update on any further goings on.

Ps. Please comment, it would be greatly appreciated if I knew how many people were reading. It would give me more incentive to write more! I’ve even turned on Anonymous commenting… although it might drive me insane.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Waiting

Yes that is what I have been doing lately. If you really want to know, I've been waiting, in one form or another, for over 2 months now. In fact, Oct the 29th will make the 3 month date from when I first heard that I could potentially be going to HK.

You know, for some people, having a good three months off for a vacation is a dream come true. For me, I would have preferred a simple 1 or two months during which to do nothing, because doing nothing is not something I really enjoy doing, I’m am a man that enjoys intense action! That said, I'm not really doing "nothing" while I wait... which is why I thought I'd post up the things I've been doing while waiting for my approval and Visa.

I think the most annoying thing about this is the lack of a definite timeline. If I knew exactly when I was going, I could plan accordingly, perhaps entering courses or doing jobs which could be entered into and completed by the said date. However such is not my lot, and therefore I am consigned to an endless continuum of waiting for this ever immaterial "departure date" to come about, precluding me from committing to everything from a job, to a 12 class dance program.

For a large part of my day I have done all the things I normally do during weekends and days off. I've watched anime (out), played computer games (clocked all of them), watched TV and movies (Heroes is slow) chatted with friends, attempted (sporadically) to write stories, caught up with friends, danced (a lot), cooked, cleaned (again, only on occasion) and had my quiet time (which has kept me sane). I've also spent the last few weeks working out and learning the guitar... which is ever an interesting ambition when you have a younger brother who, not only learnt the guitar incredibly quickly but, constantly tells you how much worse you are then him. However I persevere on!

Surprisingly I’ve also had the opportunity to go on a series of weekend day trips to places like Hanging Rock, the 1000 steps, the City (Did you know it takes me longer to get to Docklands then to Philip Island sometimes?) and also a few weekend trips to Falls Creek to catch the end of the Snow season and Phillip Island for camp. I just realized, only yesterday, that I have been in Australia for almost 6 years now, yet I have failed to visit many of the iconic places, like the Great Ocean Rd, the Grampians, Ayres Rock (sp?), The Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania (lol) or any others which I don’t know about because I’m so un aware of the country.

But the fact remains that during the weekdays I am almost always bored! In fact very bored! 99% my friends are either working or studying for exams and to make matters worse, I don’t have a car during the day (due in part to my departure and also to my lack of funding). Thus this tedium is beginning to get to me, and even learning to play a guitar (which I ain’t l33t enough to tune for some reason) does not lessen this pressure. Of course the other issue is that my weekends are fully crowded in over compensation, and thus I normally go to bed on Sunday on the verge of sickness and exhaustion… at least I can sleep in during the day.

But yes, that’s pretty much what I’m up to atm. If you’re free, or bored, feel free to look me up during the day. I’d probably be glad to hang out or have lunch with you. Unless I don’t really know you... then I’d probably just be happy to... not quite so glad =) Anyway, good luck to those with exams!