The circle of life: Study, get that certificate, graduate and get a job.

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it

If you can dream it, you can become it.

-William Arthur Ward-

5th of April 2014, marks another milestone in my life. I attended my diploma graduation when I was in KDU back in 2011. I am now a graduate from Monash University! Make that an alumni now. Haha.. Fun fact, friends of mine commented that I don't seem to age. On the left was me during my graduation in 2011 and the right was me during my 2014 graduation. I may look like I don't age, but I can feel myself ageing, physically and mentally. Photos lie I tell ya!!

When I was going through sleepless nights of finishing up my assignments and exams, trust me, there are times where I just wanted to give up and give some crappy assignment but knowing me, I don't have the capacity in me to be so whatever about it. Of course I aim to make my family proud about my achievements.

In occasions like these, there are bound to be some form of selfies.

Having to stay in the same house for the past few years, she is practically like another sister to me! :)

Aaaannndd to see myself in the graduation robe, and that mortar board a.k.a trencher cap! Because I did not get a mortar board for my diploma, so I was excited to wear the mortar board.

I prefer this robe design over the ones I had from KDU. The ones from KDU were massive! It helped having one that is of the smallest size I guess for this graduation. Not that it was any smaller, but it was more comfortable compared to the one from KDU and I felt that it fitted better too.

And I absolutely adore the soft and faded colour of the hood for the School of Arts and Social Sciences! Back then, my sash from my diploma graduation was fuchsia pink. For my Bachelor's Degree, we are identified by the colour from the inside of the sash; facing inwards and from the front as you see outlining the turquoise. My faculty's colour was Old Rose. There's just something about pink and the School of Arts huh. I also learnt that, the sash of Bachelor's Degree graduate are only folded on one side (as you can see below) as the guy explained it in layman terms: "Belum full lagi. Halfway je" (Not a full academician, only halfway there). 

I love this picture alot!

Another thing that made me determined to complete my course was the thought of possibly failing a subject. Failing a subject meant paying almost 5k to retake a subject. So... HELL NO! No way am I gonna retake any papers and to pay that sum for relearning what I have learnt but making sure I pass the second time.

Oh the happy faces of a Monash graduate :')

Photo taking sessions were quite fast and systematic. The supervisor was very friendly and made conversations with everyone.

Psst... you're not allowed to take a photo from your personal camera actually. #rebel XD

Our little group of three. All those times where we had to burn the midnight oil, studying for exams, squeezing what's left of our brain juice to come out with a decent assignment. Time spent talking and asking nonsensical questions were more productive than those that we asked relating to our assignments and exams. Thank You guys for a great two years! 

I am still up with our idea of sheep shearing, strawberry plucking though.

Milking cows don't sound like a bad idea either. You know where to find me.

Picture taken from Audrey.

Graduation day became more meaningful when you have not only family to share it with but also with friends. Friends who are sharing the same moment as you and friends who have come to celebrate the moment with you. :)

Thank you for dropping by, Rachael!! :)

Your selfie camera is damn cool. Now I know the secret to a picture perfect selfie.

Picture taken from Rachael.

The most of the Spartan attended this graduation. I believe this tradition has been going on for years now. A little overwhelming with the crowd and all but it meant a lot that all of them who were present took the time to celebrate this day with their friends who were graduating. Thank You all!!! :D

Not all of them but most of them.

Picture taken from Devi.

They gave me chocolates!!!! And a touching note to it to.

I was in the midst of my #100happydays challenge and I was glad to know that I inspired them. :)

The twins graduated on the same day as well!

Jon Khoo my brothurrrrr... It has been so long since we last met!

We didn't attend the same graduation ceremony before this but glad that we could graduate together this time!

Spot the le wild KS

Sorry for a very unresponsive me.  Glad you were there and took the time to take pictures with and for me.

Picture taken from Zhi Shan.

I call this the champions' picture among the 3 pictures that we took, because we're all smiling like champions here!

Thank you guys for the flower and for being so patient waiting for me and your friends! XD

Good to see both of them again! Lovely picture but ugghh to my hood

Picture taken from Qian Lim

Lil graduation bear from the family. Much English from the makers of the toy bear.

Word of advice for graduation:

1. Get there early! It is optional but for me I prefer to be there early so that I can settle everything from robing to taking graduation pictures to taking pictures with friends and families, skip the long queues, eat something if you have the chance. Because honestly by the time the graduation ceremony is over and you're out from the hall, all you want to do is eat. I was damn hungry halfway through the ceremony. With all the graduands packed in the same area with families and friends, you just want to get out from the robe ASAP.
2. Bring your own pins for clothes and hair. The university does prepare them but since my session was the last one of the day, there were only 3 pins left for the robe.
3. Wear a formal shirt. For my degree (and diploma) we had a button hole on our robe which is meant to be hooked onto one of the buttons on the front of our shirt. If you're particular, wearing a formal top will be much more convenient as I wore a blouse, I had to figure out the best way to pin my robe onto my blouse without looking messy.
4. Bring two pair of shoes! This goes out to all the girls out there. If you're planning on wearing those killer heels (like me *vain*) please bring an extra flats or something that you can wear comfortably while you prance around taking pictures with everyone and then you switch to your heels only when you go on stage.
5. Carry a practical [hand]bag or none. I know it is your big day and you would like to carry around your make up kit/hair accessories/cameras/phone etc. in case of emergencies and of a probable beauty fix. But being in that robe and carrying a bag is the most uncomfortable thing ever. My bag was the size of a kid's exercise book and it was so annoying that I had to carry it everywhere multi-tasking with ensuring that my robe stays in place. If you can, forgo the bag. Leave it with your family or just carry a phone with you and that's it.
6. SMILE and have fun!!! It's your big day, a day you should be proud of. So take lots of pictures, you only wear the robe probably once in a lifetime.

A celebratory cupcake for me!

Thank You to all who made my graduation a memorable one. Even though some of you who couldn't be there physically, I appreciate all the wishes and blessings! :)

Perth, Australia 4.0 - Graduation & (more) Food

So, ladies and gentleman, this shall be my final post of a very overdue Australia trip from February 2013. *Phew* This post will be about my last 2 days in Perth, which as the title suggests - Jackie's graduation more foodie trips! Sherbet Cake & Bake Shop is located in Maylands, Perth. We were told by Jackie that this Red Velvet cupcake the best ever so far among all that he has tried before.

Red Velvet Cupcake

 Banana Caramel Cupcake

 Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake

I ordered a cappucino. I find that the coffee was so-so, still prefer the one at Fremantle harbour! Haha. The Red Velvet was a delicious one indeed! It is different from the ones that I have tasted in Malaysia. The cake is soft and moist. It has a little bitter taste to it, not so much of sweet. Actually... it doesn't have any sweetness to the cake. I was wondering if they really made it from beet root rather than from colouring. The reason why there is no sweetness in their cake is because of their cream. Their cream is not of those that is buttery and soft cream but it is more of real icing. The icing by itself is rather sweet for my liking but it complements the cake when you eat it together. They have other cakes too as you can see in the picture. But I find that  the Banana Caramel and the Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake lack in comparison to the Red Velvet. After some coffee and cake, we went to Northbridge, in Perth city for Dim Sum and also to get Corica's Apple Strudel!

Pineapple bun

Bun bump!

Dim Sum, was not bad, quite authentic. I loved the pineapple bun. There was a specific name to it but i forgot what was it! haha... Their buns were soft and it was filled fully with the pineapple filling! Imagine McDonald's Apple pie filling but better and less artificial. 

I wished i bought more than one Apple Strudel. XD We took this photo of the Apple Strudel only after we reached home. It may look kind of unappetizing in this picture but thou shall not be deceived! The apple Strudel was magnifique! It wasn't too heavy on the whipped cream. Very generous with the Apple filling and the crust was still crisp even after that 5 hours flight from Perth to Malaysia! But only thing was that the strudel deflated. It was as big and tall as the box itself. As you can see in the picture, it shrunk almost half of its original size. probably because we bought the strudel 2 days before we left for Malaysia.

After a hearty breakfast, we went back to Murdoch campus to rest for awhile and then went off with Jackie to collect his robe. One of the purpose of my trip there was to be Jackie's photographer after he got his graduation robe. few of our other friends were graduating as well so we took the chance to take some pictures with them too. Minus the scorching sun, the lighting was perfect for an outdoor photo shoot and natural indoor lighting from the sun. Below are a few of the highlights of the day and some are my favourite. :)

                            

Ivy's a pro in this by that time. XD

Candid are the best picture. :)

Family shot! We were his "parents" for this graduation since his parents couldn't make it. XD

After our photoshoot, we had to get ready for the graduation ceremony. It was outdoor but thankfully it was held at night so it wasn't hot or warm. It was quite cooling actually. After the ceremony was over, we had a light dinner which was provided. I like the idea of an outdoor ceremony, it is less formal and less stuffy. Probably wouldn't work in a Tropical country like Malaysia though as halfway through the ceremony the guests might end up feeling sweaty and sticky due to the humid weather. After the ceremony, we went to the casino just to have some fun and to look-see, look-see. ;)

Graduation boy!! Everyone wanted a photo with him.

:)

The graduation venue.

 We couldn't take any pictures in front so I had to take this shot from the screen. hehe. Congrats Jackie!

Dinner. Looks sad but it was enough because it ended around 10-ish.

Jackie and Ivy flew back to Malaysia the next day because Jackie had to fly to another destination for a family trip. Kuok Sing and I stayed back for another day to explore around Fremantle town. It was a slow day as we took our time to walk around town just enjoying the view and the food. We went back to Kailis' and this time we decided to try something different. I forgot the name of my order but mine includes two prawns, scallops, calamari rings, one fish and chips. Boyfriend tried the Fish and Chips ice cream. The taste was familiar but hard to make out. I figured out what it tasted like after a while.. But I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for you. Try it when you are there! ;)

After brunch, we went to the Western Australia Museum Shipwreck Galleries. Australia has plentiful of museums which entry is free of charge. Why waste the opportunity right? This Shipwreck gallery opens daily from 9.30am - 5.00pm. Below are a few pictures of what's inside the museum. Very historical and educational. I got this coin from the museum which you can actually collect from various tourist spots in Perth. I only found out about this when I saw the coin dispensing machine in the museum. Engraved on the coin is the name of the place you visited and an icon that represents that place. Keep an eye out for these dispensing machines! A great souvenir for yourself to keep in a coin book!

Since I was absent on the first day of Perth, le boyfriend decided to bring me to Jus Burgers in Fremantle market. Burger was huge, juicy and wholesome! The bread was crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. I ordered the Pommy Burger which is beef and boyfriend ordered the Pancetta Chicken burger which has a Hawaiian twist to it because of the pineapple. haha... They have vegetarian meals as well and for the more adventurous, you can go for the Kangaroo meat burger. :/

Pommy Burger

Pancetta Chicken

It's so good that it deserves two pictures. Wtf.

He then took me to Cold Rock Ice Creamery. In Malaysia it's called Teppanyaki ice cream. :/ Anyways, it is basically mashing and mixing the condiments and fruits of your choice into your selected ice cream on a cold metal piece. Imagining that you are adding raisins and chocolate chunks into bread dough and you will have to knead the dough to evenly mix the raisins and the chocolate chunks into the dough. Yeah, something like that. I chose gummy bears and raspberries. When I was almost done with my ice cream, and the ice cream melted, it looked like a gummy bear massacre. :/

Before :D

 After :O

RIP Gummy Bears...

Well, that basically sums up the highlight of my Perth Trip. *wipes sweat*. Overall I had a great time there, we were glad that we got to experience a little bit of some Winter wind and Summer sun, I hope the next time when I go back there, it would be Autumn or Spring. This trip has been adventurous, food-gasmic, educational and relaxing (minus the 5 hour flight). I'm taking the premium seat with the adjustable seats the next time I take a night/midnight more than 5 hours flight to wherever. If you read my first entry on my travel to Perth, I was very tired when I touched down. Slept in the car on the way to Caversham.

                           

I would love to indulge in a few food that I tried but I would love to try something else too. If you'd ask me which is my favourite activity during the trip? I would say Rottnest Island. :D If you would like to read on my experience there you can click here . But most of all, it is the company of friends and loved ones that makes a difference to the whole trip! I hope to see a different side of Perth should I plan for a trip there again. :D

My favourite shot of us during the interval break during the indoor graduation photoshoot. :p