Year end and sunsets

Sometimes when we are to engulfed in our goals and dreams that time just passes at a blink of an eye. It is already the end of 2010 and Christmas is coming soon, the semester is over, results are out and I finished by degree. Next step.. Going back to Malaysia, enjoy 3 months of break and apply for masters. I am glad I am ending my "stay" in Melbourne for the year 2010 with a beautiful sunset at St Kilda beach. It was a bright and sunny Summer Saturday and I decided to head for the beach to catch the sunset. And with no regrets, it was absolutely gorgeous.

It was already 8 pm. when the sun began to set. With the warm weather, comes a beautiful orange hue sky.

A ship passes creating a silhouette with a beautifully painted background.

Beauty like this makes you want to live longer, to fight and live life. To capture every beauty that God provides for us.

Thank God for beautiful world He created.

Last sunset by the beach before I head back to Malaysia in a few days. Can't wait. Family and friends and FOOD!!! I am coming back to you.

The Road Not Taken

Have you ever had regrets? In life I mean.  I guess everyone does have their own regrets and things they wish they had done or had not done in the past. But imagine if this path that we are taking wasn't taken.  Would we have regretted it as well? Some food for thought.....

In the midst of finals, exams I mean, I am somehow still chilling till the last minute to study. I suppose, after enduring weeks of hardwork and sleepless nights for the final studio project for the year, exams seems to be the least of worries.  Word of advice... If you are planning to be an architect, there will be times when you will ask yourself constantly: "Why am I doing this?"  But I suppose it will be worth it when one doesn't quit and keep pushing on and fighting to become better.

Well, since I am so relaxed here are some recent pictures taken around Melbourne City.  Hopefully, now that I'd been away for a year, Malaysia would have much more things to snap when I return.

Melbourne is indeed a beautiful city.  Busy like all cities but not as crowded and uncomfortable compared with Kuala Lumpur.  But we can't compare cities.. No no no.. There is much beauty and contrast between the two.

One thing about Melbourne which I absolutely love is it's architecture.

The neo-gothic architecture is absolutely stunning.

Its spring, so out come these beautiful flowers which attracts the bees... I love nature shots.

And even on gloomy days...

There will be street performers entertaining the public.. Its just amazing... Imagine K.L. having this, I think they will be chased by police, the donations will be stolen and that is those watching will give any donations at all. LOL.

The Urban wildlife seems to be well-fed. Another LOL factor.

But the best of all, 

On a beautiful Spring day,

Somewhere in a park, where the sounds of the city is unheard,

You can just chillax and lie on the grass and try to soak up some sun and catch some Zzzzzs'.

Life is GOooooOOOooood!

Sunsets....

Some people love it when the sun rises. I on the other hand find it much refreshing as the sun sets. And why is that?  Its because it signifies that I lived the day, and hopefully to its fullest, I have no regrets and as the sun sets, I know its the time for me to rest and say to you (for all those people who knows me), thank you for being part of this day.  Thank you for the friendship as I live another day. Thank you for the memories and thank you for just being you.  Life is full of regrets, but as the sun sets on the west... it has to rise on the east, and a new day is born and all regrets are covered by newer experiences.

Sun-set at South Gate, South Yarra, Melbourne.

Spring sunrise

It's that time of semester again where the final semester design project is about to due and when sleeping at 6am in the morning is a norm.  Sigh.. Not a happy semester, that I can tell you.  This week (including last Friday) was so stressful, and losing a dear dear friend does not help either.  Rebekah, really really miss you my friend, may you rest in peace as this is my final goodbye as I move on in life.


"Rebekah,

As memories came flooding in, Rebekah, you were more than just a good friend, you were like a little sister to me.  I remember the times when we brought you to school in the morning before you could even drive.  We were always greeted by you smiles and cheerful but sleepy “good mornings”.  I remember the good times we had in secondary school and especially when we were serving in the Wesley Youth Service.  When we went on our different path in life, I am glad we still met up when we were back in Sibu.  With your cheerful and cheerful smile.  I remember me, always messing up your hair just to disturb you and getting scolded by my mum.  Those were such great memories. The loss of a great friend is hard to bear, the loss of someone close is heart-breaking. 

Rebekah, though you were physically weak, you were one of the strongest and most passionate people I ever knew.  You brought smiles and happiness into so many people’s live.  Through music, friends, and even church.  Your life was a testimony for all who knew you.  Through all these sadness, I still thank God for a friend and a sister like you.  You will be deeply missed and will always be remembered.  Rebekah, thanks for being you. Thanks for being my friend. And as I can’t fly back to say goodbye, my heart is praying for you and your family.  See you in Heaven soon my friend.

Aaron C"

As I walked back this morning, and as the sun began to rise, I somehow felt it within me that God was telling me how wonderful and important life is.  Looking at the sky, I thought to myself: "God is indeed very creative and wonderful."  Even when stuff gets tough, I know my God is there for me.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  So as I go off to bed, let me share with you what beauty I saw this morning. 

It is as if God is telling me: "Have a great day.." so I would like to wish everyone:

"Have a Great day!"

The month of October....

Its spring... Hallelujah! Shout for joy! Wohooo.... 

The flowers are all so pretty....

They all started to bloom.... But what is that behind the beautiful flowers? Woo... Looks like a beautiful building...

*Looks at calender*

11th November......

Exam hall venue: Wilson hall

17th November

Exam hall venue: Royal Exhibition Building

This beautiful building is where we are going to have our final paper to graduate for degree...... Arghhhh.........

And the irony is that the paper which I am going to sit for is the "Formative History of Architecture".

What an appropriate venue....

SPRING SPRING SPRING!!!

Supposedly the season for love... But I doubt it now... LOL!

Spring finally came...

Spring came on Saturday with temperatures almost hitting the 20 degree Celsius mark.  Spring is the time for flowers and photography because after 3 month of gloomy clouds and skies of spring, it is great to go out and soak up the sun.  Went to the Tesselaar Tulip festival with a bunch of the guys for a photography outing and since Saturday was their Dutch festival so it was a great opportunity for a photography outing.  Took us around and hour train ride from the city and another 20 minutes bus ride to the farm.  It was way beyond the suburbs.  When we reached there, it was packed with people. Reaching the farm, you are not only surrounded by people but rows of tulips.

Rows of bright tulips and sea of people.

However, don't let the pictures fool you. The farm is actually quite small. But the atmosphere was good.  It is interesting to see how the Aussies will come out during a sunny day with their family.  Oh yea, imagine the numbers of cameras taking pictures at the festival.  

Family outings. Baby having lots of fun trying to run away.

Dutch music and dances can be seen in the festival.  Oh yea, for those who are thinking whether there were the "Dutch lady" milkmaids carrying milk buckets and all... The answer is... Sort of yes, but they were not holding any milk buckets and they are all around the age of 50++.  I guess all the young generation ladies would not want to dress up like that. LOL.

Besides flowers, the second or maybe the most photogenic moments are seeing little children running across the fields of flowers or playing in the patches of grass.  Its so cute seeing little ones treating what we think is just patches of land as their personal playground and not having a care in the world who is watching.  Their innocence and joy is just too irresistible.  

Kids:

This cute little boy was throwing a tantrum on the grass while we were sitting at a table drinking coffee.  His blue eyes and curly blond hair is just so lovely.  I am so surprised that my compact camera could somehow focus and bring out the colour of his eyes.


He is just too cute. Love his blue eyes.


And this cute kid stood in front of us for about a minute or two doing this.


There was food and ice-cream for sale. "I scream, you scream, we all scream, for ICE-CREAM!"

The folk dance presentation was interesting but I couldn't get any nice shots because there was just too many people in front of me and that I couldn't focus on any of the dancers.  But nonetheless, there were some interesting shots of children watching the dances.

Riding high on daddy's shoulders.

I ain't sharing my cookie with you.

Little girl drinking from her bottle, apparently getting bored of the dances.

The dawn of a new season was apparent with bees flying from flower to flower generating new life.  And also one of the reasons I am sneezing and coughing now. Pollen and dust is not good for an asthmatic person like me.

But its still very nice for spring to come... Just hope this Hay-fever won't last long.



Loving colours.



Baby Llama.

But the shot of the day which can make one smile is this cute little girl.  While I was sitting on the grass soaking in some sunshine, this little girl, with her dad right behind her walked towards us and danced.  So cute! She waved, smiled and danced.  Little kids can be so adorable.


Wave...


Dance...

Awwww... This made my week....


But being a parent is not easy, having to chase the little ones must be tiring.  but I guess the moments are very worthwhile..
Happy Spring People!

It is spring but it feels like winter...

Spring is supposedly here but the weather is still kind of chilly in the City Down Under (Melbourne City) but according to the weather forecast, its going to be warmer in the next few days.  Well, I should be glad that the University is having it's 2 weeks "Spring"/ mid-semester break but there is just too much work to finalize and the laziness is just not helping one bit.  The only fun part for this break is the spontaneous plans made by Daniel and that the photography session really allowed me to "chill" and think less (I really need to, according to my tutor).  The walk in the park so to speak was inspiring.  The idea of capturing the essence of the evening sun was totally ruined by the gloomy clouds hovering in the skies but nonetheless, some beautiful shots were captured of Princess Park.

Gloomy and cloudy day.

The one thing I love about the people of Melbourne is how much they care and love their dogs.  Walking in the park, one can see owners playing fetch with their dogs or even seeing the dogs jogging beside their masters (mostly leash-less) and being very obedient.  The water fountains found in the park did not only serve the humans but also for the canine friends.

But enough about the love for dogs.  Spring is here and the one thing to look forward to are the things that grows in spring.  Especially the flowers which starts to bloom in spring.  There are not many now, but soon, I hope.

White flowers blooming on the hedges.

Leaves or flowers?

And yes, the textures of the trees are absolutely beautiful.


The dim spring light is indeed beautiful, not to mention the park.  Smells like I need to start jogging more...

But how can I?  A mountain of work awaits.....

Happy Spring Time!

The blues of hues

Life and time can just fly past in a blink of an eye and there are just days when you wish it would just end or that it will just halt for you to catch your breath for a minute or two.  Designing is fun but it can be a pain in the ass at times when you have to stop all development and go back to square one to trace your steps and make amendments.  Reading about the history of some artists, I realized most of them go through a phase called the blue series.  But this is not the case.  Nope, I am not going to talk about my bluest of days but to share the things I do when I feel blue. The last post, you saw the yellow version of my lomography.  Now, here is a blue-r side of things. 

Camberwell Sunday market

Went "shopping" at Camberwell Sunday market the previous Sunday before church.  Its a good place to go to if you are looking for a place to buy other people's junk/secondhand stuff.  From old records, books to clothes to antiques and to old lego parts.  One lesson I learnt that day, being a vegetarian is not easy.  I accidentally bought a vegetarian Falafel for Breaky and halfway through I felt that I needed meat immediately. Walking around, I wish I had the space and the money to collect some of these things which I am very sure of, will become junk one day. 

Cheap books for sale.



Classical guitarist performing his skill. *I know its not blue*



Food-stall with German sausages.. YUM... And there are some selling Jelly filled Doughnuts! YUMMY! 

In the end, when I thought I can constrain myself from spending money.  There was this store selling leather jackets and with a little push from my very good friends, I bought a black genuine leather jacket (second hand of course) for AUD25.  Though it was a lil thorn and dirty, I managed to clean and to fix it and now, it looks new.  A general advice, DIY is better than sending it out. It costs a bomb in Melbourne to get it clean and fixed. Pictures of the jacket soon.  The funny part of the sale was the Old Italian man selling me the jacket asking me where I was from. I told him I was from Malaysia and he replied:"From Malaysia? Very good people, very friendly.  And have very rich king." Right... "rich" king indeed. I realized that he was talking about the Sultan of Brunei so I smiled and told him it was Brunei and not Malaysia.  But I guess, Malaysians especially those who comes to Melbourne to study are generally very friendly despite the negative news back home.

The day was great nonetheless. Spring is here.

Great thing about this semester is that we have alot of campus tours and we are brought around by our tutors to visit the other buildings on campus.  Its interesting to see what we learn is applied into what we will do inthe future or architecture of the past.  Melbourne University Parkville campus is the best to do so because of the many historic architecture you can find on campus.  Not to mention, some very interesting statues and names for the building.  For example:

The biblical word, Babel.

The historical carpark used for the movie "Ghost-rider" which I couldn't take picture of because it was too dark.



But at the "gates", it was guarded by two statues which seems to be screaming:"STRESS!!!" or "Migraine! Knowledge is a killer of brain cells!"

Forgot what building this is, but its next to the botany building.

You might fun some interesting and supposedly functional designs in Melbourne University where they combine the past with the new.

But at the end of the day, it is just great to get out from the boring classrooms to the outdoors.

SO, enough chit chat. BACK TO WORK! Have a great week everyone. Ciaoz!