Falling like the leaves in autumn

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
6:34 AM

Wed, 24 Mar 2010

i've survived perth's worst weather in a very long time, the day which residents call 'The Great Storm of Perth". I remember i was working that very fateful day - Monday 22nd March. I was working inside the store when all hell broke loose. it started raining and it got heavier by the minute. From the window, we could see the wind blowing very strongly and trees swaying scarily. Everyone was shouting in the store. The broiler which we cook our beef and chicken products in was temporaily down due to the bad weather (the thunderstorm could have caused the shut-down) and we were starting to get more orders. The manager on duty quickly tried to get it back on, which it did eventually.. and thank goodness it was about time for me to get off my shift. cos' i heard it got really busy after i left.

Throughout perth, many homes and businesses blacked out. including the big shopping centre carousel. i heard everyone was forced to evacuate. Inside Hungry Jack's, i was tinking to myself, how am i going to get home in this storm? the weather was atrocious. wind and rain blowing in all directions and it looks like it could sweep u off ur feet. alas! my mum came and fetch me. i must be one lucky gal.. but the rain was waiting for us outside. my mum had her car parked outside the entrance of the store. it was just a short dash to the car but somehow we found it diffficult to cross. we had to count to 3 and sprinted to the car. just that short distance had us all drenched from head to toe. and i had to hav a cold that week - cough. luckily my mum came to fetch me, otherwise i tink my illness will just get worse.

The way home was nerve-wrecking. things were flying everywhere. and a tree broke down on the road to the entrance of HJ's drive-though lane. we had to squeeze through the tiny little path and risked having the branches scratch our car. we drove slowly and cautiously. ALL the traffic lights were down. We usually take only 15 minutes from my workplace to home but that day, we took 1 hour.

At that time, it was the rush hour (5 plus PM) and there were traffic jams. No one was around to direct the traffic becos the weather was just too bad. everyone just had to give way. but even then, our line was hardly moving. along the way, trees were uprooted, even big ones that blocked an entire lane. a traffic light was bent and out of order. we were so worried we'd get into an accident. due to the heavy rains, there were floods on every road. lightning streaked across the sky frequently. i was so afraid it may come down straight at us.

amanda sms mum to ask if she could fetch her 6.30pm from uni becos she didnt feel like going for the lecture as she was wet and cold (she had to walk thru floods up to half the knee) on our right hand side, we saw a car out of order becos water went into its exhaust which caused its engine to fail. so they had to call a toll truck to come and move their car away. at that area, we saw people walking in floods of up to knee length high! it was so deep that we couldnt even see the car's wheels.. sharon then sms to say that our house blacked out and she was scared. when we finally reached home, we cldnt even open our garage becos there was no electricity. there was gas but no spark so we had to use matchsticks to start a fire to cook dinner. our fridge and freezer were not working and we were worried the food may go bad. It was reported that hail ice fell that day and the wind speed was 120km/hr!

so throughout the night, we didnt have electricity and internet. we had to eat and bathe with candles. and turned on the battery operated radio to listen for any updates. this lasted the entire night. till 8 plus AM the next day.

I had to work the next day and i saw the wreckage that was done throughout the different suburbs. alot of trees were scattered everywhere and the traffic lights were STILL not working. terrible experience - this must be the worst weather i've experienced in perth and its not EVEN winter yet! it was hell busy at Hungry Jack's the next day - becos some pple hav yet to hav their electricity restored. the big boss and restaurant manager had to come down to help with the unusually big amt of orders. all in all, it was a bad day.. really bad.

There were news of the freak weather on tv - mud slides in some areas which destroyed many homes. hail stones crashing down on car windows and screens, hence makin a dent in it. some schools had to closed down cos' it incurred some damages due to the flood. i'm just thankful that we're safe..

Sunday, March 21, 2010
5:05 AM

Sun, 21 Mar 2010

my first entry since i went back to uni. sry i took so long.. hehe.. anyway, sch didnt change much. food's the same - yucky as always and food prices have gone up AGAIN.. every yr it does.. hais.. i'm glad this is gonna be my last sem.. =)

i rec'd a bdae parcel all the way from spore! from mimi, eunice and aisuan.. thank u SO MUCH! wasnt expecting it at all.. this was the dress they got me. polka dotted. my sisters and mum said i look so childish in it. haa! but nevertheless, i'll find an opportunity to wear it =D

and the long awaited photos that were taken using mw's camera during my visit to ntu and nie..

the executive cafe in ntu.. didnt see alot of students eating there but alot of working adults.. possibly lecturers?

zx's hall room =) wahahah! snatched all his toys away.. i can conclude one thing: his weakness - he ABSOLUTELY LOVES soft toys! and the winnie the pooh range.. hahaha..

a quick snapshot of wei bin. HAHA got ya!

this is me in nie's toilet. how unglam haa! yh just suddenly clicked the camera and i just came out of the cubicle..

this is nie's nanyang auditorium. hell cool! we were so exhausted and HOT from the day's humid weather. the auditorium was something to DIE for! ahhhhhh super nice aircon =) spent quite abit of time there too!

as u can see, i spent ALOT of time outdoors - thx to the guys -.-" poor me..

chinese heritage museum.. nobody ever goes there, according to the rest.

and the first venue for the day - mcdonalds! to have bfast before the great adventure..

cldn't hide away from the camera forever.. lol..

errr.. wad pond was this again? too many lost count! HAHA!

charmaine is a successful businesswoman. lol.. she sold off her 2ndhand books from last yr and earned $230! of which she spent $215 on this sem's sch bks.. not bad eh? i earned an extra $15 from a book which was returned to me cos it wasnt the bk that the buyer was looking for. he initially paid me $30 but becos he didnt want the bk, he returned it to me and i only returned him half the money.. and then 2 days later, i sold the bk again for $30 so i earned $15 extra! heh heh.. how lucky..

i opened another purple (sad) scroll again.. when wl said he cldnt come over to perth to visit me this jul. i was really looking forward to him coming over cos he promised he wld b4 i first left spore to do my degree. but his mum disallowed him to come. so there goes my chance.. i was quite sad at first but it wld b unreasonable for me to be angry with him for reasons that he cant control. like zx said, 'its not that he doesnt want to come, there may be reasons why he can't. it doesnt mean he doesnt care'. and then right after he tried to cheer me up, i decided to open a scroll.

"Look! it's a bird!

No it's a plane!

No it's.... it's...

just a note telling you to cheer up! =p"

So cute.. and immediately, the first person that came to my mind that wrote me that scroll was Zx.. and i was right.. =) wad good timing! thanks my friend..

the weather hasnt really been kind to me.. its been on and off cold and hot.. and everytime this happens, i start to cough.. and it can last for as long as 1 plus mth. hais.. cough cough. just started taking my medicine today.. hope it'll go away soon..

wl's mum was hospitalised yest.. it doesnt seem so gd.. she's lost alot of blood and is in the ICU now and has yet to undergo an operation. maybe she needs one or don't, nobody really knows becos they're still doing tests on her and doctors arent around today on a sunday.. so i'll just keep my fingers crossed. hope its nothing serious and the doctors will be able to fix her back to gd health.. LORD PLS PLS PLS take care of her.. and lessen the worries of everyone who cares abt her..

Monday, March 1, 2010
4:43 AM

Mon, 1 Mar 2010

2 posts in 1 day! see, i'm more hardworking now. hehe =p thought i'd put up my bdae shots which was taken yest. my mum and sisters celebrated my bdae yest. had a tiramisu cake. not bad. but too strong a coffee taste for my mum - so strong tt my pee smells of tiramisu. wahhahaha! ok sry for grossing u guys out =p i wanna eat it again today, its so yummy!

i didnt do anything special today. didnt go out at all. dun hav the mood to. i miss u baby..

puffy's also in the pic.. hehe. puffy is a new addition to my soft toy collection. - my bdae present from dear, made in build-a-bear workshop =)