Hawkesbury update

Well well, it's been like err 9 months? since I've moved to the hawkesbury region. Oh by the way, did you know that the hawkesbury region is one of the fattest regions in NSW (or maybe it's the fattest.. hmm, can't remember) ? It's pretty true! And they blame the government for not providing good public transport , and therefore they drive around a lot. WHAT?!? yeah, say that again.. WHAT?!? hahaha. Well, I guess walking is a form of exercise, but walking short distances to public transport depots/stations would not stop you from being obese!
sheesh.. that is such a lame excuse ain't it?

Ok, let's not get distracted.. :) Well, I'm glad that winter has gone and spring is here! Although we only had a few occassional hot days though. Winter in the hawkesbury is definitely colder compared to Sydney. Below's a pic which I took while I was driving to work on a foggy, cold winter morning.
And oh, there was the Hawkesbury Show which is something like the Sydney Royal Easter show but on a smaller scale a few months back as well. They had some pretty interesting stuff, especially in the food and produce section. Me being a big fan of mushrooms took a pic of the First prize in the biggest mushroom competition. :
A mushroom that weighs 734 grams!! and next, a pumpkin on steroids!! I have no idea how heavy that thing is, but I have never seen such a huge pumpkin before.So, there you go then, a mini update of my life in the hawkesbury. Sorry again for the limited number of posts this year, trying to find time to blog in this new season of life ya know? And on my off days and free time, I just wanna do something else and relax, instead of blogging.. :)

Ah, I'll be making a trip down to Jervis Bay in bout 2 weeks!! Can't waittt!! Will post pics of the trip then.
Ok folks, till then! God bless!

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Ah, this is not a quick update.. ok ok, will try to update soon

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Ho Hum!

Ho hum! I am now a resident of Australia!
It took approximately 8 months for this to be granted which is pretty long I'd say.. Thank God that veterinarians don't really care if you have secured your PR status before they hire you. In fact, why do certain employers care so much? I think the chances of you getting a PR is 99% if you are already on a bridging visa isn't it? Hmm, maybe I don't know as much to be talking about this stuff.. So yeah, I have just received an email from the immigration department saying that I have been granted the visa that I applied for.

It didn't make much difference to me.. because I'm already working and all , but I guess the positive points are that I can now leave the country without paying some 60-80 bucks to get another visa that allows me to do that, and that I can now get my medical insurance settled which is quite ridiculous in the first place.. But err, let's not go there shall we?

Gee, it's been 3 months since my last update. All is well over here in Richmond, NSW. The job that I am in now is fantastic, with a nice and supportive boss and his wife. Just did my first pregnancy ultrasound on a beagle today.. and I do hope that my guess of how late into pregnancy she is is right! I do have quiet days at work at times , but then I have my own computer where I can surf the net and all. Well,in fact that's why I'm blogging right now... I have nothing on. So, just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you guys about the PR thingy then.

Me staying in Australia for a significant period of time? Nah, not really.. well, depends on your definition of "significant".. For now, current plans are to stay for a year or two, and then move on to Singapore or Malaysia. But who knows, there may be a change of plan along the way.. But definitely a year here to gain the precious experience I need as well as to make things nice and fair for my boss. It's not nice when you've trained and supported someone up and they leave you once they're competent isn't it? Well, it's not so nice to me.. :)

Anyways, I'll try to blog from home so that I can put up some pics or something eh? But thats it for now then I guess... now to wait for Benny the King Charles Cavalier to come in to have his wound checked..
bye peeps!

Animal doctor!

I am a vetarinian
I am a veterinaian
I am a vetirinaian
I am a vetirinarian

bah... I am a dog doctor!

:) saw this on a vet's mug..

Richmond

I moved to richmond a month and a half ago. Well richmond's quite a distance away from the city, it's about an hours drive (60km) from where I used to live. It's not too ulu anyway.. although it's classified as a semi-rural area and is on the outskirts of Sydney metro.
Main reason I moved here, was of course my job! The big man upstairs has blessed me with an excellent job, with a really nice boss. So now I work full time from 8.30am-7pm on weekdays with Tuesday being my day off, and on alternate saturdays for half a day. So yeah, it's quite a busy lifestyle I would say..
Wake up - work- cook-eat- 1-2 hours of chilling, and then sleep : Typical routine in a working day.
So it's quite nice to have tuesdays off.. the dreadful monday blues doesn't hit me that hard!

Anyways, some piccies of my modern apartment that I'm renting in richmond.. just to compare with those of St Mikes down below.. :)

The living room + dining area

The other side of the living room area + walkway. Hmm, I need to find more stuff to put on the shelf, and decor as well.

The kitchen

The toilet! A bit cramp, but 100x better than St Mike's! haha

Hmm.. time flies on Tuesdays.. so.. thats it for this post!! :) Will try to blog earlier next time.
And oh, richmond's cold!!! It went down to a minimum of 2 degrees overnight a few nights ago.. brrrr.. winter's gonna be similar I guess..

The Great St Michaels

Stole the title from Howie's personal message on msn. Howie's a fellow St Michael resident/boy as well, and I think he's gonna be the last man standing in the college.

Well, for all of you who don't know about St Michael's College, allow me to enlighten you.
St Michael's is easily the cheapest college in Australia (accommodation in summer as well). Rent was only a mere AUD$150 a week, and this includes dinner, breakfast (cereal and milk), electricity, gas and water! And you have your own room, with some old furniture included.. You think that's cheap? Well, hear me out further.. in summer, rent is only AUD$50 a week! That's even cheaper than staying in some shared bunk room in a backpackers motel!! Only reason why it's so cheap is that the cook does not come during summer, therefore no dinner. But still.. I have saved so so much, thanks to St Michaels!

Well, if you are fussy about your living conditions, then St Mike's is not the place for you. But it isn't all that bad.. just depends on how fussy you are I guess. I have friends who cringe at the sight of the hallways and toilets, and I have friends who ask me if there's any empty rooms at the moment! Some say its dark and gloomy.. our excuse? Save electricity! Who needs brightly lit hallways ? Hahaha

The boss of St Mike's is Father Kevin Muldoon. Man, I could write a whole entry about him, but lets just keep it short yeah. He's really strong for his age (he's 80+!), really nice (till people take advantage of him), funny, friendly,cheeky and cute. You'll know its him when you hear his infamous "Lum Lum". He really loves asians, therefore he made St Mike's into an informal "asian college". Heres a recent pic of Father and myself in front of the college:

Ok now to the emo stuff.. I have been staying there for nearly all my time in Sydney, Australia. Since I first came to ozzie when I was a freshie,I stayed there till my graduation ceremony, with the exception of the one semester when I was in Camden. So yeah, my sydney experience is well influenced by St Mikes, and I have stayed there for almost 5 years! Recently, I have just moved out to Richmond for work which I will blog in my next entry.

Not so long ago, an informal eviction notice was given to the Father and the residents of St Mikes. They're gonna tear down St Mikes, and build a much newer college over it. Sad news right... although there have been talks about tearing St Mikes down before, but we didn't expect it to be so soon. And worst of all, everyone was given only a months notice to move out, which I think is ridiculous for a college with 40+ residents. However, it was an informal date anyway.. its been past the date they mentioned, and they still haven't done anything to move the remaining people out yet. I haven't seen Father so sad and troubled before. But I can so imagine man.. he's been staying there for 37 years! Oh well.. there's a time for everything isn't it?
Ok enough of me continuing on about St Mikes. Here are some piccies for ya!

The back of the college, viewed from the carpark

The carpark, which is divided into 2 sections : 1. the open air section 2. The tropical forest section, which your car will hate you for parking there for more than a few hours.

This is the backdoor, which connects to the carpark. Beware of cockroaches during the non-winter seasons.. If you like stepping on them, then this is the perfect place for ya

The side of the college, where only a fewhave walked this path.

The dark corridors of St Michaels. They don't look all that bad in photographs.. prob cos of the flash, haha.. but i think they don't look all that bad in real life as well!

The dining area.
The washing area which is in between the dining area and the kitchen

The kitchen. These stoves(on the right) are industrial strength stoves man.. perfect for cooking asian dishes!

Ah.. the worst of all.. the toilets!

The bathroom, well this is my favourite bathroom.. why? Because I love the shower head here, cos of its water pressure and spray. Also because it's quite clean at the area where I only stand to shower (not the other areas!!) Well, you can imagine how the other bathrooms are like if I said that this is my favourite.. haha.. Man, these pics make the bathroom looks like its from a horror movie or something..

Well, thats bout it! Oh yeah, forgot to take pics of the rooftop which is quite nice for views of the city. Maybe I'll snap some pics the next time I head down to St Mikes. And oh, I didn't include pics of the rooms, cos it's a bit hard to appreciate them in pictures, cos you can't take a pic of the whole room. But, they're definitely in good condition! Its up to you to make them cosy or nice. :)
Ok, till the next post then!