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!