Hello there! It's been a while since I've written a post. Well, just a quick update about what has happened these few weeks.

1. I've moved out to a new place in Sunnybank Hills. 
Yep, after living with my cousin Susan, her husband and her lovely little daughter for a whole year, I think it's about time for me to experience life as a uni student! Living with housemates, working part-time to earn rent, and basically just taking care of myself. I've always wanted to stay on my own, but I know Susan has been really kind to me and she was really hoping I could stay longer at her place. (She offered her place for me to stay in the first place, to hopefully help my mum save my living expenses) But if you know me well enough, you'd know that I am a very independent person. At times I wonder is it my independence or just my pride, that I sometimes refuse help from others? But then I thought, I've stayed one year at Susan's place and one year is enough. Mum and I agreed on that part. Despite Susan's multiple attempts at convincing my mum and I, she "let me go" in the end. (YAY!) Here's what I've told her, after I've discussed this thoroughly with my mum,

Family comfort vs Getting out of my comfort zone
"Family is what makes you feel comfortable when you're studying abroad! You don't have to work part-time and worry about rentals." She was really firm on her point here haha. But staying on my comfort zone freaks me out. If life is too comfortable for me, I mustn't have done enough to explore new things in life. For somebody who is adventurous like me, do you think I can go on living a comfortable yet boring life for 3 years? Of course not! Haha.

Public transport
I would say public transport in Brisbane is pretty convenient, but maybe not in Susan's place. If I were to go to uni/hospital (for classes and placements)/the city, I would have to take the hourly bus and transit at a shopping centre interchange. It could take up more than an hour to commute one-way. Furthermore, at any given hospital shifts, my cousin-in-law, Dat, would either have to pick me to the hospital at wee hours before I start my shift (before 630am or 1030pm), or after I finish my shift (after 11pm). (And the hospital is not even near our house.) That is because the buses around cousin's place don't service early enough or late enough. So moving out would be a better choice for everybody. He doesn't have to send me back and forth, and I don't have to feel like I have to trouble him every time. Compared to Susan's place, it takes shorter time to reach uni/hospital/city despite it is still quite a distance from those destinations. Well, at least I won't have to make transfers and wait for the hourly bus! Public buses run from early morning till past midnight, and they're all high frequency services too!

Part-time job opportunities
I haven't been working while staying at Susan's place because there really aren't many shops around the neighbourhood. So this new place that I've moved in to, has plenty of job opportunities. It's Brisbane's "Little Asia", that's what they called it. The Asian population is massive here. Plenty of Asian shops around. Susan and I used to come here every 2 weeks or so, to get our groceries! So we still can meet up actually ;)

Social life
Like the previous point, buses not servicing at night means I couldn't go out at night. It's not like I go out for parties, but there are a lot of events going on at night in Uni/the City and I have to miss all of the fun when I should be having the time of my life while studying abroad. Again, having 'grounded' at home for most of the time when I am such an adventurous person, it's enough. I'm living in this house with another 3 female tenants. They're all very friendly!


New place = frequent public transport = part-time job = social life = NEW ADVENTURE!

Missing this little missy and the times where she always come to my room and tell me lots of stories! I promise I'll visit you whenever I can! <3

Feb 22nd - Spent my first night at this new place.

Woke up the next day to take pictures around the house haha this is my room by the way!

Study table + shelf

Huge wardrobe

Love how my room is at the corner. More privacy!

Common area to dry our clothes. There are two common study tables for anybody in the house to use.

I'm sharing this bathroom with one of the ladies. The closest sink you see is my area :)

Spacey living room

Nice kitchen and dining area!

Huge outdoor area!

Cooked my first meal. Every cookware is new to me. Made this fried rice with a non non-stick pan. Had a bit of issue with washing the pan LOLOL so I bought my own non-stick pan the next day.

Udon and Onsen Tamago in Dashi stock.

Easy Spanish Seafood Paella.

Pasta and Tuna Coleslaw

Kimchi Fried Rice. My sunny side up fried from a mini egg pan was almost perfect. Almost.

Chicken Katsu Donburi

Look at how this basket fit my tea bags perfectly! From Daiso, your everyday solution. HAHAHA.

2. I'm currently on Week 2 of 2nd Year.
I (barely) survived Week 1! So Monday = Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Clinical Skills day at the hospital campus. First week in and I've already gotten a 50% oral presentation. There's a new format to our course structure this year and yep, want it or not, we are the guinea pigs. It's not my first time doing an oral presentation but I felt really nervous for this one. Not sure if it was because I was the first one to present in front of this new group of classmates or I've picked a topic I am quite unfamiliar with - Indigenous Health. I used to be the only international student in my class of 15 last year, and I felt kinda relieved to know there are two exchange students from the States who are in their 3rd year now. So the 3 of us are really on the same boat when we're trying to understand the background and culture of the Indigenous peoples of Australia. Haven't gotten my marks for the presentation yet, but hopefully it'll be a good one. Fingers crossed. Friday = lecture day where all second year Nursing and Midwifery students come together and attend the lecture series. This year, our lecture series is held at Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, aka PACE. It's a building at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (not far from UQ St Lucia), and basically that's about it. It's gonna be a very boring year having stuck in this building for lectures every Friday. I'd definitely miss going to UQ St Lucia for lectures and walking (super far) from UQ Lakes to the lecture theatres. 2 more weeks till mid-semester break/Easter! SOOOOO looking forward to that holiday.

The refurbished Whitty Building at Mater Health Services, South Brisbane. I'll be attending PBLs and Clinical Skills here every Monday

Love this new facility! The building we had last year was so so so so so old.

Such a nice lounge area!

I love how they still retain the old parts of the building. And because it's a heritage-listed building, they have to retain a certain proportion of the old building too.

Where we hang out during lunch time hahaha

PACE, where I'll be attending my Friday lecture series for this year.

That's basically it. HAHA I miss UQ :(

Last but not least, on February 25th, 2016, I was officially an aunt to my brother's son, Noah Teo Ren Yi! <3 Can't wait to cuddle this little one when I visit them in July!

<3

Till next time!