Rugby Super 12

Rugby Super 12

I didn't have the time to make a post on the Super 12 after the finals last Saturday, so I thought I'd just say something now.

The Crusaders WON the Super 12!!! Now the cup is back in NZ...where it belongs really. I only caught the 2nd half of the game, having decided to compromise between studying and watching the finals. I must say that it was a well deserved win...considering the fact that the South African referee was so biased towards Australia! It was soooo annoying how he kept giving the Warratahs the ball even though in some cases the Crusaders didn't actually do anything wrong. Like for example, when Chris Jack tackled a Warratah and pushed him out the boundary, the blasted referee blew the whistle and called for a scrum and gave it to the Warratahs. Geez come on it's rugby you're supposed to tackle and the tackle was perfectly legal too!! Every time the referee blew the whistle, it was to give the ball to the Warratahs...all the way till the 65th minute when he finally decided to be fair! Most of the S. African referees are biased towards Australia though...like honestly biased.

The sad thing though is that Justin Marshall is leaving the Crusaders and the All Blacks to go play for England....he's gonna play for Leeds (traitor!) and Andrew Merton is leaving too (dunno where he's going but he's going). Not too sure if Merton is leaving the All Blacks as well...I wonder though what his dad would think since Merton is "genuine All Black stock" so to speak. Dad was an All Black, granddad was an All Black....

Freedom

Freedom

Finally I get a break...well sorta... Just ended the last of my internal assessments today, which I've been stressing over for the past week. Things are looking good, especially since this week is the last week of lectures. Of course, I've conveniently forgotten that it's coz exams are around the corner and I really should be studying for them, but hey I do think I deserve a break after the last couple of weeks of one internal after the other!!

I must confess though that the last week I haven't been studying as hard as I should have...coz I ended up shopping....online. Yeah, I've discovered the joys of a credit card and ebay. Auctions are pretty exciting and there's so much you can get for a steal, especially in the skating department. Ok, my shopping has all been skating stuff and I ended up purchasing a new pair of skate boots for US$42.50 and they retail for US$355+ in US. They're also new and were a really really good deal! Gosh, I never expected to find such a good deal...even though the postage for US to NZ is costing me US$48.50. Still, I'm getting it for about a quarter of the price. Needless to say, skate boots like these would cost me over $500 here in NZ. It's costing me even less than what I paid for my current pair!! I think I probably won't use them till I attain a higher level though coz they were made for advanced skating and it's kinda a waste to not maximise their potential. I've also got myself a skating dress online and well, although it wasn't as much of a good deal as the skates, it beats paying $70+ to get one here. I'm still looking at skating dresses though...maybe if I get a better deal I could sell the ones I don't want here. That's the joy of the internet, ebay and a paypal account plus the freedom of a credit card 8)!

Fog of Mourning

Fog of Mourning

Weather was awful today...I've never seen fog this thick around here before. I woke up this morning and I thought my window totally fogged up coz I could see about as far as 15m and what was within 15m wasn't too clear. Then I realised tt it was the fog...and although it looked pretty gastly outside, it was quite warm really although such thick fog didn't seem like a good thing. Probably the only thing not so good about fog is that it makes jay walking way more dangerous...as I found out today while walking to church. All u see is this white/gray area down de road and u can't quite see vehicle headlights...till they're kinda near.

It's half past 11 now at night and the fog still hasn't quite cleared...which is fine by me coz it is suited for death and mourning. Sorry for the bleak outlook but I just found out a family friend passed away. He was the priest who baptised me...and I guess I thought he'd always be around. You never fully appreciate someone until that person is gone. Funny how despite it happening over and over, the message to treasure your relationships with those around you never fully sinks in...well it seems like it for me at least.

And here's where you observe a minute of silence in respect of those it have passed away and pray that God grants them eternal rest. May you rest in peace Father Luke.

Testimonies

Testimonies

It's been a really awful week...third year at Uni is just baaaad...what with all the assignments piling up and deadlines to meet. Anyway I thought I'd just share some testimonial humour my lecturer shared with us today in psyc since we're doing stuff on human factors and all...

Here's some true testimonies given by people who have been involved in accidents (most of them pertain to driving since we were studying driving):

"I turned into wrong driveway to a house I thought was mine and hit a tree that I didn't have."

"I thought the window was down, but when I stuck my head out I realised that it wasn't." (ouch!)

"I hit the lamp post because I was trying to avoid the invisible truck that nearly hit me." (my advice: see a psychiatrist for that hallucination problem)

"The pedestrain didn't know which way to run so I just ran him over."

"I hit the lamp post because it was obstructed by humans."

"I ran into the stationary tree that was coming at me from the opposite direction."

Celebrations!!!

Celebrations!!!

Today is a day for celebrations because of 2 things mostly. Firstly, in the Rugby Super 12, the Crusaders beat the Highlanders 27 to 13. It's quite odd really that I'm a Crusaders supporter, considering that the Crusaders are the Christchurch team and the Highlanders are the Otago team. I suppose it's coz my sister is an avid Crusaders fan since Justin Marshall plays for the Crusaders, and also coz the Crusaders are a good team (they have quite a few good All Blacks members). Anyway they were playing on Highlander home ground...which is in the Carisbrook stadium here in Dunedin, but the game didn't go very fast coz it was raining (as it usually is in Dunedin) which made the ground slippery and all.

Second event for celebration: I got the Westpac Travelling scholarship I applied for for my exchange program!!!! It's NZ$2000, but that together with the NZ$1000 travel grant pays for my plane ticket which is fantastic. I'm currently also applying for another scholarship although this one is harder because there's an interview process as well. Still, no harm trying aye? I'm estatic as it is though that I got this scholarship...free cash is always a good thing! 8) 8) 8)

Quakes

Quakes

At 3.40am this morning my sister burst into my room in panic, saying that our house was gonna collapse coz her room was shaking. Half-conscious and none too pleased about being so rudely awaken, I flopped over and told her that she was dreaming and could she please shut my door and let me sleep.

Turns out that no she wasn't dreaming...her room was shaking because of the earthquakes that occurred around 3.35am near Haast. It was only 6 on the Richter scale though and the second one was 5.7, but because they were shallow, we felt them strong enough to be noticeable here...or should I say some of us did (I was out like a light). Apparently the quakes could be felt as far away as Christchurch, according to the newspapers.

Seems like earthquakes are pretty common here...small ones at least. I'm not quite sure I'd like to be around when the big ones hit! Anyway this morning's quakes weren't anything to freak out about...people are scarier than nature really. This point was further emphasized when on my way home today I walked past these two guys and suddenly one of them leaned over and yelled into my face "F****** asians!" Like, wtf?!! What's his problem? Anyway to say I didn't feel one iota of fear would be a blatant lie...duh it's two of them and one of me and both are bigger than me...

I congratulate myself on not making any response whatsoever or showing any reaction to what he yelled...I carried on walking like I didn't hear him...although he pissed me off majorly. Geez! I suppose though that de world is full of bigotted, narrow-minded asses like him so not much one can do about that! I just pity his narrow-mind and pea brain. Still, people are ultimately scarier that nature...you just have to agree!!

Travelling Woes

Travelling Woes

The worst part of travelling has gotta be making the travel arrangements. It's such a headache with so many different options...each with their own problems. I spent an hour with the travel agent the other day discussing several options and it does seem like my time stopping over in Singapore is gonna be cut down by lots. If I managed to get the option I'm aiming for (the most economical!!), I'd be spending less than a week in Singapore on the way to Milan and say 2 or 3 days on the way back!!

On the other hand, whether or not I can get a flight is another thing entirely. It seems like the whole world is travelling to Milan on the dates I wanna travel on! It's crazy!!! I'm now currently on the waiting list for 6 flights (to Rome rather than Milan funnily enough...and then I've gotta deal with trains buses and metros...) and my travel agent also booked me into one which had seats but is the most expensive outta all the options...and that's not even counting the tax!

Taxes...yeah that's another thing I've got issues with. You look at the cost of the flight and then when you manage to convince yourself it isn't entirely too high a price...wham! You get told, "Well actually there are taxes on top of that. Taxes would amount to another $350". Geez! Another $350 does actually make a difference you know? That's like more than a month's rent in NZ and about 2 weeks of rent in Milan!!

Sigh...dealing with airlines is such a headache. Will someone hurry up and invent that teleporting machine please?