Weekends

Haven't posted in a while because I've been caught up with uni and stuff. This is going to be a lengthy post because of the photos! The past few weeks have been absolutely nuts, with assignments coming and going and no time to breathe even over the weekend. 

Anyway, last weekend, a very dear friend of mine graduated: Yeoh Ee-Jon aka one third of the VS-worshipping trio (the other two being Dilini and I)! After 3 years of hard work and a HD average, this genius graduated with a BSc. A bunch of us turned up after the ceremony at Stanley Burbery theatre to snap a bunch of photos. Even a couple of friends from Launceston bussed down just to celebrate!

Andy, Danis, Michael, yours truly, Ee-Jon, Bryan, Yuka, and Felicity.

We got him a Wonder Woman apron and oven mitt :D His reaction when we gave it to him was priceless!

MASA Tassie peeps: myself, Bryan, Rach, Ee-Jon, Danis, Darshan, and Yuka.

Of course, no celebration is complete without a night out on the town - which is exactly what we did! Bryan, Darsh, Rach, and I walked from uni accommodation to Jon's place on View St for pre-drinks. We played a few drinking games there that were surprisingly fun and got slightly happy/grossed out thanks to the goon and champagne we drank. We took 3 cabs to town and our first stop was...

The Telegraph Hotel! It's the go-to place for really cheap and good shots. I'm a huge fan of their Starburst and After Dinner Mint shots.

 Most of the crew! Darshan, Priya, Bryan, Nicole, Ada (Jon's mum, behind Bryan), Rach, Jon (not sure what he was doing), Sandy, and me!

 Sandy! So glad that this lovely girl is back in Hobart.

Errrrrrrbody loves Jon's mummy! Bryan, Tom, Ada, Jon, and Jeshua + photobomber in the background.

After a couple of drinks at the Tele, we wandered over to Toledo, which was right across the street. There, we bumped into a few familiar faces from med, who had come from the cross-cultural fiesta at O Bar.

One of the meddies I bumped into was Bryan, who often bakes cupcakes and very kindly lets me steal some from time to time. 

Rachel Ong and Rachel Chong, both from JB. Hah! Love this girl. :)

Rach, Jon, and Ada. :D

Me, Bryan, and Tom.

Almost all the girls: Ada, myself, Sandy, Nicole, and Rach! Not sure why Priya wasn't in this shot. :\

3 Rachels with similar surnames in a row! Cray cray. Myself, Rach, Rachel, Pavithra (I think? we only met that one time...), and Isaac, who looks mighty fine in this photo, hahah!

:)

The night out drew to a close by the wharf as everyone sobered up, except for Jon, who was feeling a little worse for wear after all the drinks and dancing. We stayed with him until he was well enough to get into a cab with his mum and Darshan, and the rest of us left in groups after that. By the time I got home, it was 4:30am. I woke up 5 hours later with no hangover symptoms, but my circadian rhythm was completely off.

Later that day, a few of us headed to Jon's house, where he was nursing a pretty bad hangover. We chilled out and I had a raw banana for the first time in almost a decade (if you know me well enough, you'd know that this is a big deal).

All of us who were there, except Darshan, who was taking the photo.

After a few hours, we walked Darsh and Rach to the rugby oval where they were supposed to take the bus to town before hopping on another bus to head back up to Launnie. However, when the first bus was late, they called for a cab and of course, just as the cab arrived, so did the bus. -__- Anyway, we said our goodbyes and the Launnie people got into their cab and off they went. Bryan and I walked back up to uni accommodation, pretty worn out from the hectic weekend. When I got home, though, there were 2 surprises waiting for me: a card from my mum and a parcel from my sis!

:D :D YAY, STUFF! My sis also got me a tank top from Beerfest Asia, which reads 'Make beer, not war.' It seems fitting, because I love beer that much. But not as much as I love my family.

Later in the week, my group for behavioural ecology got together to finally start on our project: the effects of temperature on shell selection in hermit crabs. We were really excited about getting to meet our crabs and setting up the experiment. Initially, we'd asked for 24 crabs or so, but we ended up with 32 (or thereabouts)!

Contrary to their name, hermit crabs actually fare better in small groups. :) And they can be really quick on their feet! 

Peekaboo. :)

We have 3 tubs, each set up roughly like the one above. Ikea kindly sponsored the interior decor for this project (yeah, right).

We'll be carrying out the experiment this week and next week, and honestly, I'm not super worried about the results of the experiment. What I am worried about is whether or not all the crabs will stay alive until the end of the semester. Our lab demonstrator told us that it's not unusual if we 'lose' a few, but still, it's not something I'm particularly looking forward to!

So... On Saturday, MASCA Tas and MSS organised a Hari Raya open house cum meet and greet with Education Malaysia Australia at the TUU ref steps.

The turnout was pretty good!

And I was finally able to meet a few people from the Malaysian Students' Association committee: Lev and Cassie. :D

Decked out in their baju raya. Farahin and Hayyani :)

The amount of people who showed up was bigger than anticipated, but thankfully, there was enough food for everyone.

Akif aka Bruno Mars lookalike! Hahah.

MASCA Tas chairperson, Alyn, and Hayyani. :)

Bryan aka gorilla. B)

My study/procrastinating buddy aka Michael K dropped by! Haven't seen him in a while. Whenever we meet up to study in the library, we spend 80% of the time talking. . . Oops.

Got a new hobby that day. ;D

These two guys are a riot (and that's putting it mildly)!

Sup.

Engineer, doctor, lawyer. They're all single, ladies. ;)

With Fay!

The event ended at about 3pm, but a few of us hung around the venue for a little longer, catching up with friends. It was a really warm, homely event, and although I had a blast, I was grateful to be back in my room when I got back to college. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy seeing my friends - I did, but I often need to take time out after socialising to... recharge, for lack of a better word. Apparently it's an introvert thing. 

Michael and I went to Miyabi in North Hobart for his belated birthday dinner later that day. Personally, I enjoyed the food and was really close to dropping into a food coma after the meal, but seeing as Michael's stomach is 5 times the size of mine, he thought that the portions could have been bigger. What was left of the weekend was spent bumming around, lazily eating a craptonne of jelly beans, and cooking butter chicken (but we used vegetarian meatballs instead of chicken) for lunch/dinner. Right now, I'm fairly stuffed from lunch, and I have 2 assignments to work on, but I'm less than enthusiastic about all the reading I have to do... Blargh. In any case, mid-sem break is two weeks away, and although I have assignments due right after the break, I'm really looking forward to having a week without classes. Until next time, then. :)