the anu is one of the world's foremost research universities. distinguished by its relentless pursuit of excellence, anu attracts leading academics and outstanding students from australia and around the world. it is also one of australia's most research-intensive universities, with a high ratio of academic staff to students. the anu campus has over 200 buildings and occupies 145 hectares adjacent to canberra's cbd. _________________________________________________
bored = start a new blog
haha. what would a person such as myself do to kill time...start a new blog. after the success of my first blog, i wanna create a blog that is totally different. i have so many stories that i wanna share; i have so many ideas that i wanna convey. i wanna discuss domestic n international issues in an unorthodox, informal and more captivating way. from entertainment to technology; from sport to fashion, i will not leave any topic undiscussed.
i will try to update this blog as often as i possibly can.
note: this blog is chronological (as i think stories should be told in their occurence order), so the newer posts are at the bottom
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new country = new beginning
on the mh123 flight, i looked down in awe at the beauty of a city wrapped by perfectly blue ocean water reflecting the sunrise. i harboured high hopes for the new country that i would be studying and living in for the next few years. after 8 hours of traveling 6612 km, touchdown, finally i had arrived in sydney. a new country; a new beginning
unfortunately, i didn't take this pic as i didn't bring a camera on board. however, this is about the same view i had.
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canberra = the nation's capital
yes, canberra is the capital of australia. not sydney or melbourne or london.
for those who don't know where canberra is, here is a map. find it yourself.
i will be in canberra for the next three years or more. i was skeptical at first, but it turned out much better than i had expected. haha. you will find out in the more stories i am going to tell.
note: for those who don't know where australia is, i advise you to return to primary school.
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canberra = the bush capital
i am going to do a little intro to canberra. the word "canberra" is derived from the word kanbarra meaning "meeting place" in the old ngunnawal language.
it has about 350,000 people, very small for a nation's capital. in 1908, the site of canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital as a compromise between age-old rivals sydney and melbourne.
canberra is a planned city. following an international contest for the city's design, a design by two chicago architects was selected and construction commenced in 1913. the city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned canberra the title "bush capital".
and i have to admit, a beautiful bush capital it is.
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b&g = burton & garran hall
this place was my temporary crib. thanks to the generosity of my friend steve, i got a few days to settle down and find a permanent place.
i think b&g is quite nice. it consists of 4 blocks of hostels and a central building. in the central building is where the all the action is. facilities include common kitchen, bar, music room, computer rooms, tv area, meeting rooms, library and most importantly...the ping pong and pool zone. yeap, this is where you'll find me daily. weekly room rental is $149
here is a glimpse of my favourite zone
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the anu = the australian national university
here i am, finally. my first taste of university life. i gotta admit it's much better that i had expected. in the past, i have never thought i would come to australia to further my studies. i used to only consider entering the prestigious universities like cambridge, princeton, stanford, imperial and etc. now, i have fallen back to earth by coming to the anu.
union court = the busiest place in the anu
i am an aficionado of never buying textbooks. but when i came here, i really wished i could continue that streak. textbooks here are outrageously expensive! what i pay for here, i can get in malaysia 3-4 times cheaper! thus, i bought my first textbooks in years.
here is a pic of a bridge leading to union court
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1 hart street o'connor = my new address
haha. the search for my new address is an interesting anecdote to tell. here is a small map showing a small part of canberra.
you can see there are a few boxes with names and information. these were the accommodation options that i had.
as i mentioned before, b&g was my temporary crib. i still had to find permanent accommodation, or kinda, they found me.
i had put an ad on the anu website looking for a home and after some e-mail exchanges a meeting was arranged with kerry-anne. the meeting/interview went well and i was scheduled to move in. the family is nice and friendly. i am gonna settle down nicely.
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