Being Australian on Australia Day

So, in my previous post, I said it was very unpatriotic of me to be eating Korean noodles on Australia day...

But I lied. The night before (which was a Saturday) I decided to make LAMINGTONS!! and might I add I was causing quite a 'racket' while the Women's Tennis Final was on?

Anyway. I made lamingtons because I felt like it and I had COMPLETELY forgotten that the next day would be Australia Day!

In fact, I thought it was on Monday!

Well. I stayed up covering my sponge cakes in chocolate icing and coconut till the middle of the night. Took a break. And finished covering all the pieces this morning.

And voila. I had my lamingtons ready to be eaten on Australia day. Oh how patriotic of me.. even though it was by complete coincidence and INITIALLY unintentional.

Some other very Australian things that happened in my day today was seeing my younger sister change her bed covers into an Australian flag print! Yep. I must admit, they are very cool. While I sleep in my Arsenal bed covers (im a gooner you see ; D )

And something else.

Whilst I was flipping the channels between two very intense games of cricket and tennis, I saw that Wawrinka was only a few games away from winning his first grand slam, in his first grand slam final against, disappointedly, a very injured Nadal.

But oh the joy I felt seeing the underdog win the Australian grand slam. Stanislas wawrinka,  the man who ousted the defending Aus Open champ, Novak Djokovic, the underdog wins the Aus Open! Love it! Althought it was quite a boring yet painful, Murray-less tennis game, I was on the edge of my seat!

And the cricket. Oh the cricket game that sealed this years Australia Day as my most Australian Australia Day ever. England only needed 12 more runs from 12 balls to win the ODI game (Australia had already won the series), while Australia needed 3 more wickets to get England all out. It was seriously the most intense thing when I saw the Australians appeal against England's Bopara. It was such a close call to see whether his leg was on tbe ground before the bail on the wicket was dislodged from its groove. And it was out!

With 2 wickets remaining,  it looked possible for the Aussies to clinch the win. And Englands run chase was ever so close!
But alas, I chose that time to flip to the tennis to watch wawrinka,  who was only one more game left to winning the championship. And we all know what happened next.
Wawrinka won.

I flipped to the cricket and to my shock, I see a close up on Michael Clarke doing a victory lap.
 So.. Australia had won, by 5 runs. Kinda disappointed I didn't see that final dismissal of that ODI series..

But still. So proud of Australia! After a disappointing Ashes test in England, they were able to retain the Ashes here, back home in an epic whitewash. And to seal it with a cherry on top, they sent England packing with nothing. Not even an ODI series win.

Although it was a 4-1 victory in the ODI for the Aussies, a whitewash in that would have been the sprinkle of icing on top. Unnecessary,  but would've made it just a tad bit bit sweeter! Especially since England won the previous 3 Ashes tests.

Poor Captain Cook of England would be going home with heavy shoulders. And not from a bag of trophies on his back thats for sure.

No, Im not talking about THAT Captain Cook of the Endeavour that came to Australia, this day many years ago...

LOL. How interesting! Australia Day marks the day Captain Cook of the 'Endeavour' first landed on Australian shores. And I guess the Aussie win has now sunk present day's Captain Cook's boat. Ahahahah.  Okay. That joke was a little lame. Ahahah.

Anyways.

Though I may not be the most Australian person in Australia,  I love this country and am proud to be Australian.

Eating Korean Noodles on Australia Day

So the picture says it all.

Its Australia Day today and I'm really not the patriotic type...

Personal Invites seeming like they care about you, when the person next to you received the exact same message anyway

So you're lying down having a nice cup of tea, minding your own business when you receive a text message on your phone.

No, it's not a Whatsapp message. Not a spam email. And most definitely not a LINE,Viber or Kakao talk message.

It is a TEXT MESSAGE. An SMS!

The only ones that send SMS' to you these days are probably the phone company or centrelink.

Either way, to receive an SMS from a friend you haven't seen in months means its pretty important right?

Correct.

It's SUPER important. Most definitely! I don't doubt this. Probably.

But it annoys me SO MUCH when it's so obvious that the message is a copy-and-paste message, message-blasted to all their contacts. It annoys me even more that the sender dares to write "how are you?" and "long time no see" as if they wrote the message JUST FOR YOU and as if they care, when really, they're just putting it in as a formality.

Perhaps to make it less obvious, they could have put my name in the message somewhere, to make it more personalised? Just to indicate that on a one-on-one personal level, they really are making an effort to reconnect with you and WANT YOU to come to their event.

And instead of using up all that credit sending bulk text messages, they could've just made an announcement on the Whatsapp group, where I wouldn't get over-excited whenever a message is posted there. Where I wouldn't be fooled into thinking that I'm 'special'. At least I know that messages on whatsapp group convos aren't always JUST for you.

Thoughts?

I think that these invites are probably no better than spam and my level of annoyance to these types of things is just.. yeah.


But still, no matter the type of event, whether it be a wedding, or party.. I guess I'd have to appreciate that I am getting invited at all right?

A Reality Check

So I'm doing my Honours this year, insha Allah. And I've just received my schedule for the year. It doesn't look easy. And truthfully, I'm scared. Really scared.

All these thoughts are running through my head: what if I'm stupid and not really cut out for honours? They're going to find out I'm a fraud and am not really a scientist! They're going to laugh at me! What if I don't know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it? What if the people in the lab look down on me and think I'm some stupid scientist wannabe?

My self-esteem is at a real low at the moment. And I am also stressing about my future at the moment. For me, honours is a stepping stone. A taste of what path I want to take. Insha Allah I would like to pursue a medical career. I want to become a doctor. And I want to study Medicine after my Honours year insha Allah.

I have the medical school admissions test called the GAMSAT in March.. and looking at my Honours schedule for March.. I am going to have one hectic schedule. I'm scared that I won't be able to get things done. I'm scared of the possibility that I would be faced with disappointment once again. I'm scared that I won't get the GAMSAT mark I need. I'm scared that I won't do well in Honours.

During this entire trip in Indonesia, meeting family.. I've been asked countless times what I am studying. "I'm studying Medical Science" I tell them. And it just makes me cry a little inside when they think I'm studying to be a doctor. "No, not yet. Hopefully I will after Medical Science. I'm going to be sitting the GAMSAT in March and hopefully next year I will be studying Medicine and then become a doctor."

See the thing is... it would be embarassing if I don't get in right?

I should really stop thinking these things. I know that I want to do Medicine because I WANT to do it. Not because of my pride, or expectations family members have of me. I should really change my way of thinking and be more positive. And have faith in Allah Subhaanahu wa ta 'alaa.

Please make do'a for me. That I do achieve my dream. I want to become a doctor.

Insha Allah I will.

A Blue Sky in Indonesia

Can I just say how rare it is to see a blue sky in Jakarta? The skies are grey from all the smog and pollution that it makes for such a gloomy atmosphere. Add to that the heat, it doesnt make an enjoyable holiday.

Well,  not for me at least.

Seeing this was a gem and it made me happy for once on this trip.

Trip to Makassar, Indonesia 2014

From the 8th - 11th of January, 2014 I visited some distant family members in Makassar Indonesia. Where is Makassar you ask?

Makassar is a city in the South Sulawesi region of Indonesia, known for its banana desserts and rich history. During my stay I got a taste of both these yummy desserts and history.

I've forgotten the names of these desserts, but from what I remember, here's a list:

-Pisang Epe - bananas that are grilled and then pressed flat. They are then covered in a sauce and come in a range of flavours such as cheese, durian and chocolate. There are carts that sell these along the road in front of Losari Beach Hotel. I'd give these a 2.5 out of 5. I could taste the banana, but the flavouring.. I couldn't really get it. You can read more about it here

-Pisang Hijau "Green Bananas" - like an es cendol with a green banana in it? Lol. Nah, the green banana is just a steamed banana wrapped in green dough and then sliced. It's soo good. Mostly because the soup complements it well. A picture of this yummy treat is below and you can find a recipe for it (in Indonesian) here.

- I'd probably update this when I remember the names of the others. THEY WERE SOO DELICIOUS!


We stayed at Losari Beach Hotel, and had the most AMAZING view from our hotel room. It was only on our first night at the hotel did we see the sun set. On other nights, it was real cloudy and raining :(
And I keep kicking myself that I didn't wake up early to watch the sun rise.

Day 1 Makassar - View from Losari Beach Hotel room (Level 5)