How sweet!

"I'm going to swimming lesson. I miss you. Can you come and have dinner and do drawing with me?" ~James.z

David Beckham in Sydney

I've been living below the poverty line for quite some time and it gets even worse this week. Earlier this week I failed to withdraw money from the bank and the problem cannot be solved until Thursday. So I have to spend really carefully, making sure that I could survive on my $40 before the Salvation Day.

Remember I mentioned the job in a cafe? In the end I didn't work there. But indeed it is very boring/tiring looking for jobs all the time. Yesterday morning I went to an interview and in the evening I got the job. Guess what job is that? S-A-L-E-S! Can you imagine? As you know I am defintely not that kind of person. Apparently my acting is improving, isn't it? ;)

Today when I was wandering on the street, I saw the agency of a local Chinese newspaper. Thinking that I might have a better chance working there, I just walked in and asked if they have any casual positions. And you know what that lady at the reception said??? "How can we hire you? You don't even speak Chinese!" I simply couldn't understand why her attitude is so bad. Anywayz...just thought it's funny that she said I don't speak Chinese...

OK, last but not least, DAVID BECKHAM! Hehehe....I am not a fans of him for sure, but when I knew that he is nearby, I couldn't help but join the crowd! It was about 11:30am on the 6th floor of a department store. Yet there were flocks of people and I could hardly breathe. Luckily it lasted for less than half an hour and very quickly I was able to escape. It just makes me so excited to see someone familiar. Hahahaha...

Church Touring

Well, sometimes it's really hard to choose what to write about because too many things happen and I barely have the time to write them all. I myself keep a hand-written diary everyday and occasionally I also take photos. And this blog is the third place where I can record some of my encounters. How good it is if I can automatically synchronize the three! Um, or the four (including things that flash through my mind).

Ok, back to the topic. Yesterday I went to the morning service in that Chinese church. Er, I have never been this annoyed in a Sunday service. The kids and toddlers sitting behind me were making all sorts of noise throughout the 1.5-hour sermon and the teens sitting in front of me were chatting all the time!!! Aaahhhhhhhhhhh, can you imagine how annoyed I was???

So, as you can guess, I simply could not concentrate and I had no idea of what the speaker was talking about. And I was just wondering why they do not separate the kids. Um, this reminds me of what I saw in the fellowship on Friday: The church is recruiting helpers for the year 2008 and not even one person sign up for the Children Sunday School...er, maybe this is the reason why?!

In the evening I went to church AGAIN! Megan invited me to her church which is located pretty far away from the city. I think it's a good idea to take a look and see how the Australian style is like. The church is cosy and beautiful. There were only less than 30 persons in the evening service so it was pretty spacious. I was slightly surprised to find that I was the only Chinese attending the service and that made me feel a bit strange. (Well, not VERY strange as I could not see myself...:p)

What impressed me most is that someone requested to sing the hymn again after the service was over. I think that is a very warm thing to do but I have never seen anyone does this before in any of the church services (not even in fellowship I suppose).

Nationality Crisis

Frankly I am not surprised at all. Today when I bought a kebab for lunch, the Turkish guy at the stall asked:

"Where do you come from?"
"Hong Kong."
"So you are a Chinese?"
"Yes."
"You don't look like a Chinese..."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Because many people said that already..."

Haha, my response sounds so 'cool', but in fact I was answering in a friendly way! Kakaka..

Job Hunting VS Partner Searching

Well, I've been spending my week looking for flats, jobs and food. :p Actually I should be able to make decision this week, but since the available choices are not the best, maybe I'll just continue with this searching process for one more week.

Yesterday I got a job in a cafe but I really hesitate if I should go for that. Sometimes I just think this job hunting thing is like searching for a partner. Do you just go out with a guy you don't really like, just because you want to "kill time"? Giving a false hope to the other party that you might be interested to develop into a long term relationship is another unethical thing to do...

This comparison may sound bad but it's pretty like the situation now. :p Yea, of course these two are not completely the same so I'll see...

Basking in the Sun

Hiya, can't believe that I come back so quickly! (Or it's just within your expectation? haha...)

Now I'm staying in a 4-share room and my roomies are very nice. They are Donna from the UK, Jade from Canada and Megan from Australia. You see I write full name here as I'm pretty sure I'll forget that later on if I don't put it this way.

Today, Donna, Jade, Kenneth (from Denmark) and I go to Coogee (not Gucci...) Beach. I lay under the sun from 11AM to 3PM. So you can imagine how tan I am now! I should share some pictures here but I can't do it right now. Maybe I'll do so some time later.

Jade is also a Working Holiday Maker but apparently she is much more relaxed than me and she enjoys her time so much here. Today when I mentioned Tax File Number to her, she didn't seem to know about it. And I was thinking, " Ah...maybe we Hong Kong people tend to worry too much ahead and make too many plans for the future...things will take care of themselves when the time comes..."

And as James said, "Don't worry, accidents happen." :)

Second Shelter

I'm moving to the City today. It's a crowded area like a combination of HK Central and Mongkok. So it should not be difficult for me to adapt I guess (um, I hope). Anyway I'll just stay for a week and then move again. So it's gonna be alright.

I'll be updating this blog less frequent (!) so you don't have to come daily (!!!). Hahaha...

Lesson of Patience

Well, I think it means something when I have been in a group called Patience for two consecutive years.

This is my first Sunday here, and of course, it is also Church Day. Couldn't believe that I actually woke up at 6 sth, took a bath and got to the bus stop by 8AM! But still I was late for the 9AM session! (Okie, surely I'll get used to that later on...)


Trains in Sydney seem to operate randomly (:p) during the weekends. That brought me some troubles but it's okay (again!). At least I learn to be more alert to the environment and try not to be just living in my own world. Haha...

On the train, I met a Korean girl who is also a Working Holiday Maker. Guess what she's working! She paints nails! (and is going to do it permanently!) Ah, Korea is really a kingdom for beauty industry...

Didn't take pictures of the church. Anyway it's just a Chinese church. I went there with Kai Hings this time. They are really nice to go there with me. :) Guess whom I saw in that church! I saw Carmen on the stage and she was leading the worship session prior to the sermon. It's funny. It's really funny...

Sculpture by the Sea

Today I went to Bondi Beach with Julian and Albert. The exhibition "Sculpture by the Sea" is shown now.

I like this one. When the kids play on the swing, the wings of the plane will move. Little kids always want to fly and this is a way to make their dreams come true.

Lemon tree, pretty funny exhibit too.

Peas on Earth. Wow =)

Color it Properly, Alice!

James likes drawing a lot. Then he draws the picture and tells me to color it properly.

I think it's too boring just to do the coloring, so I try the reverse in this picture.

I drew the picture and told him to color it. I hope you can tell this is Buzz Lightyear in the picture.

What a good time to practise my drawing! Haha...

Lazybone

It was a bit gloomy this morning and that affected my mood as well. But then in the afternoon the sun comes out! Hurray! Everyone loves the sun!

I'm not going to share many photos as I didn't really go anywhere today. Now I understand why people living far away from the city centre are reluctant to leave their sweet homes. I only took a stroll around the house (for 7 times? kaka...) and took the kid to school (!). Did I say I'm staying with 2 kids now? They are James and Emily, aged 7 and 5.

This is James in the park.

His school looks pretty neat...

Children playing sports under the sun at 3PM.

Beautiful drawings on the playground...much more creative than those in our primary schools!

Um...tomorrow I'm going to Bondi Beach! So happy!

Kissing the Flies

It surprised me that there are so many flies in Australia! I thought they only gather in the rural area but in fact they are EVERYWHERE! This morning I saw several black spots on the back of a woman who wore a white T-shirt. I thought those are pattern but when I walked closer I found that they are all FLIES! Yikes...

Today I went to Central. Yes, Central in Sydney. You see, confused backpacker in the middle of the central area.

Hayhay's got a street! How nice! =)

I wanted to share this yesterday but then I forgot...Good ad, isnt it?

You know, I wanna send a postcard to you. But in order to save the earth, I'm going to do it in an electronic way. ;)

Photos Talk

So, here are a few pics. First of all, this is my little travelmate. His official name is Elmer and his nickname is Funfun. Kakaka...

And this is the cloud sea as seen from the plane. Just like cotton wool!

The sky was unbelievably blue!

A random shot at the street. No cloud at all!

Also taken yesterday. Such a nice weather! (But it starts raining today...)

This is the park I went for morning exercise today. Nodnod, retired life ;)

Funfun was sunbathing, too.

Also went to Bankstown (which is a pretty old area) today for a job interview. Not very confident that they will hire me, but let's see. The experience was funny anyway. The Australians are less creative than I thought...

Tasting the Life of Sydney

Wow, it's 9PM Sydney time and I already want to go to bed! See? I'm adapting to the life of Sydney in an unimaginably quick time!

Well, things went on well. What should I say? I arrived safely, took a nap, walked around the 'busy' shopping area and a nearby park, and of course, took some pictures. And I intended to put some pics here, but considering the slow internet speed here and that I am really tired, maybe I'll try it tomorrow to see if it works.

A lady from England was sitting next to me on the plane and she was a backpacker 15 years ago! At that time she was doing a round-the-world trip and then she liked Australia so much that she stays here for good. It's simply fantastic! It seems that everyone who came to Australia likes it so much that they want to stay here for a longer time. And after this first day, I would say, I like it too. =) It's not a completely perfect day today as I forgot to bring my cell phone when I went out, but on the whole, things are pretty good.

Er, one more thing, the sky is so blue here...=)

One more day

Tomorrow I'll be going to Sydney! Wow!

Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. (Luke 12:23)

This is what the pastor shared today. Um...I like this line because it reminded me of something which is more important. When I was packing up things, I always worried about not bringing enough clothes. But as the body is more than clothes, then maybe this doesn't really matter much...

And I also like another story that the pastor told today:
When a little girl saw a bird flying in the sky, she sympathized it a lot and said, "Oh how poor this bird is! It doesn't even have a cage in which it can stay!"

Apparently, the girl said that because the bird would be well fed with food and water if it is kept in the cage. However, thinking it otherwise, the cage also limits the way the bird could experience God's love and provision. For He once said, "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them." (Luke 12:24)