currently im in brisbane, just spent the whole day at the australian zoo and was at gold coast yesterday. will update more about the trip later on. the reason why i have not blogged for almost a month, was because after my exams i just got super lazy. correction, i was lazy during my exams, no idea how much shows i watched during that period. terrible, i know. i just got so fed up with working on all my assignments, by the time i got through with them, i did not have any stamina left for studying exams. then again, i only had 1 mcq exam (90qns in 90mins, woohoo!) and one oral exam to prepare. the other exam was a take home exam that no one knew what on earth to write as answers. anyways, after my exams, i just continued watching shows and more shows (i think i was a couch potato in my previous life) and all other time was dedicated to either hanging out with friends or packing, which took longer than expected. thankfully, i dun have as much stuff as some ppl i know so there was still some space left to spare for michelle to pack in the kitchen stuff when she leaves.

i booked for this trip way waaaayy in advance when jetstar was offering cheap flights - i paid only $56 for the ticket from adelaide to brisbane. when i left, i wasn't all hyped up about coming to brisbane. i guess partly cuz i was surrounded by people who were going home straight and i was kinda missing home. 9 months is seriously a long time to be away from home. i could have gone home halfway, but thanks to my stubborness, i was stuck in aus the whole time. well, if it wasn't the case, i wouldn't have gone to hillsong conference and had the time of my life.

to be honest, brisbane is nothing like what I imagined it to be. i think i had too high expectations of the sunshine state and the world famous gold coast. my idea was more glamorous than what it is, and brisbane has turned out to be a really chilled out city, totally unlike the busyness of sydney and melbourne. cruising along the city on a sunday would make you think you have arrived in a ghost town. ok, not that deserted, but still not what you may be expecting of a city.

my impression of brisbane, is that its citizens live very active lifestyles. the city is designed such that people are encouraged to exercise - running/bicycle tracks line the river. i think its really good esp keeping in mind the obesity rates of this country.

took the public transport from brisbane to gold coast, which wasn't as bad as i first thought, and not that expensive either. went to harbourtown (which is a few times bigger than the one in adelaide) and surfers paradise where all the action happens. now is the time of schoolies, this nationwide declaration of non-stop partying for those who just finished yr12, their equivalent of the yr before uni. saw many people at the beach and its surrounding accomodation. however, gold coast was not what i expected either. it certainly was more happening than brisbane, but its not as glamourous as i imagined it to be. the beach was nice, but nothing spectacular. maybe it was because the waves were very mild when we were there. what marred the whole experience really was this bus driver who just drove off despite us hailing, which put us back 1.5hrs altogether due to waiting time as we needed to make 2 transfers. sigh... but the other bus drivers we've met so far have been really nice.

im with patricia, a junior in speechie and ocf, who comes from JB. and i must say we've both been very blessed to be taken in by theo and his mum, auntie lily. when i first asked dave from ocf queensland if he could help me find accomodation, i was quite hopeful. however, as time drew on, i sort of knew that we both probably have to stay at some backpackers. but to my surprise, 1 week before i arrived, i got news that someone has a place to offer. theo's house is huge, it has at least 10 rooms with doors, and they normally have 4 homestay students. theo and his mum have been such a blessing, cooking for us, driving us around - he brought us to the zoo today and bringing us to byron bay tomorrow. i really am thankful to be able to stay with him.

anyways, i gtg prepare for dinner now. theo's bringing us out somewhere for asian food. will update more hopefully before conv.