WInter Experience

Hello there..

Sorry...I know it has been forever since I last update my stories. But then, 90% of my faithful blog readers are full time students and you know how stressful is it during exam period. My finals took up 2 weeks. Three weeks before finals that I started burying my head in the books, trying to do what I was suppose to do in 5 months. Two weeks before finals reduced Facebook time to 2 minutes a day. Still no progress and started to panic. One week before exam cold sweating. Feel like dying. Now imagine all these 'before exam tension' multiply by AUD$1 = MYR 2.98. That is the total stress I experienced.

Now that my exam is over, it was really a relieve. Feel so nice and care free. Then I remembered. This is the last semester break I will ever have. After that, its all graduation, work, work and more work stress. So, this holiday, I will travel to Melbourne on the 15 of July till next semester starts. Cool eh? Plus, I'm planning a trip around Queensland like Moreton Bay etc. And here is the interesting part. I may go by myself. First time doing backpacking. Hopefully all will turn out well.

It's now winter in Australia. As a Malaysian, of course, winter is like 'the thing' of overseas education. Whenever we meet an overseas graduation, we never ask how is the overseas culture? how are the people there?

What we ask is how was the snow? was it fun playing in the snow? The answers are all obvious! What other answers do we expect from them? Yea, the snow was fine and felt hot? Duh?! So being a Malaysian, when winter approached one months ago, the night was terrible. So freaking cold! If the windows are kept open, the water in the bottle can go down to 12degrees Celsius.

Then as I walk on the streets for the first time in my winter attire, I felt so great! it was like feeling as though you're a local doing same thing as what local would do. Then in the afternoon, once the sun is out, I felt warm and started to walk around the mall in T-shirt and shorts. Then, I realize, others are still in their jumpers and I thought I was the Malaysian who is afraid of cold!

This went on for quite some time and it still kept me wondering as I thought 'guai lou' are cold people, used to winter and these sap sap sui cold temperature is nothing as compared to the negative degrees celcius in Melbourne.

After much days and speaking to people around , I came to one conclusion. Westerners from cold countries are really not that tolerant to cold weather! We, Malaysians on the contrary are more capable of surviving cold temperature as compared to them. The colder the country is, the more they hide in their house (this fact explains why Oz shops closes at 5pm), they live in heated house, the heater is on practically 24 hours a day, 180 days a year. Which means, they are actually living like summer 365 days a year. Where as in Malaysia, most people sleep in air-cond, our car has air-cond, we have a 'Cold Weather Training Center called Genting Highlands. Therefore, we are more tolerant to cold.

But then again, applying it backwards, the guai lou might be more tolerant to heat then we Malaysians. We are 365days a year hot like furnace, always grumbling about the weather. When the ang mor goes to Malaysia, he will be like: "the weather is fantastic! how can those Malaysians say the weather sucks? Its good! It is hot enough to make my white ass turn black!"

So folks, the grass is always greener on the other side. Winter is a nice experience as it is cool. However, winter normally has shorter day time. Here in Brisbane, sun start to set at 5pm. By 5 20pm, it is pitch dark. So to some extend, depending on individual, it can be quite depressing.

And this is my starting-winter experience in Brisbane.