Pictures of my rooom =D

For those whom it may concern. =)

Riding the Wave

Today I went out with the Campus Christian Movement people to Gold Coast again!

The last time I went to Gold Coast, I was just awestruck by the sheer beauty of the waves and the sea. The beach was whitish-gold, and I kid you not, sparkling. And the water was a rush of blue and white foam

The wide ocean can be so beautiful.

Then, I did not really step into the ocean.

But I went today with a really cautious outlook.

For some who may not know yet (but presumably you would know if you're reading my blog), Japan has been hit by one of the most powerful tsunamis in recorded history.

The flood images and videos are so terrifying... It bring chills up my spine just thinking about it.

And there I went, into the roaring waves and waves that are way, WAY higher then you.

The screams of laughter and joy was muted by parallel thoughts of fear and pain that the victims of the Japanese Tsunami suffered.

Because of that, I automatically mentally recorded the feeling of how a huge wave felt like.

I turned on my analytical mode and really felt and heard, and saw how how a big wave would feel.

Surfers paradise is such a famous place for huge surf-able waves because of the geographical structure of the beaches.

While you may see beautiful white beaches on the land, much of the beach is underwater. Like sand-dunes.

Physical geography students will be able to tell you that waves break when they hit the shore. Geography students who ace it will be able to tell you that they break when they hit a sudden increase in land mass.

Which is what the beaches in Gold Coast are like. Sand dunes, with mounds that causes waves to break at irregular intervals throughout the coast at unbelievable heights.

This is exactly how the waves look like

Anyway,

I must say, I'll never underestimate a wave again.

The biggest waves are not those that you can see the crest coming towards you, but rather those that you can feel before you see the crest.

Imagine.

You're standing on a shallow part (shallow in Singapore context), up to the upper thighs, in the water.

You see a surfer suddenly paddle lengthwise furiously. (which normally is an indication of a huge wave coming - but at that time, I didn't know).

Now the scary part happens. And it happens all in like 10 seconds.

You feel the sand shifting beneath your feet. The water is pulling your feet back unnaturally strong. It's like a sucking sensation pulling your heels back into the water.

You change position to get a better standing but,

Before you know it, a horizontal column of water suddenly looms up behind you.

You don't SEE the crest, but you hear it first.

It's a loud, LOUD roar, literally deafening as the entire horizontal column of water rears up, shadowing you.

You instinctively turn to face the beach (*in my case more to protect my spectacles from being smashed away).

I jumped. Hoping not to get caught under the wave.

Wrong move.

The wave slammed into my back. It wasn't painful, but it was terrifying. Like being caught in.. I don't know how to describe it.

I think the only way to put it is... powerless.

You CANNOT do anything to fight it, you can barely move your hands, you curl up into a ball and you get caught underneath shortly.

The wave roars, and your whole vision is white - the crest, and for a moment, you're high up on the crest, before you are swept outwards for a few meters then crashed towards the shore about 10 meters.

The whole process was about 20 seconds, but it was definitely an experience.

This is just merely an average surf-able wave. Can you imagine those legendary surfs?

Can you imagine a tsunami?

It's terrifying really, especially the roar of the waves and the powerlessness to do anything at all.

It's enough for anybody who has been under and above these waves to believe in the power of the tides.

That aside, I did have a really fun day at the beach with the CCM people and made a lot of friends.

Btw, I'm not sure if the other 3 friends I was with got the wave but by the time I got out of my "dazed" stage, they were happily catching other waves.

Of course, the dangers are there, but we played super-safe, or rather, after that wave, I kept a cautious, wary eye on the waves.

So, this is my experience log. My first experience of "riding the wave", in Australia's legendary Gold Coast.

=D

The New World

It's been a long time. Haha...

It's time to open up this chapter.

Firstly, apologies to all those who have been reading my blog for information on where I stay and contact information etc. My internet, accommodation and line has been giving me some problems, but everything is confirmed now!

Address:

6 Maidstone Street, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059

Mobile:

04 1165 9944 (For Australia Contacts)

+614 1165 9944 (For International Contacts)

I'm not working at the moment, because -

1) I'm swamped with school homework:

As evidence from the pathetic amount of time I'm spending on my pricey World of Warcraft account.

2) It's hard to get a convenient place to work

that

3) Allows me to be flexible with my work hours

and

4) Grants me, an international student tax-relief

My only free day is a Thursday, which I normally use for catching up my readings.... and Saturdays are swamped with activities.

I go to Brisbane Chinese Christian Church on Sundays, and've joined a cell ministry called Unicell which meets every Saturday evening.

My food is almost 90% own cooking, diet regulated and absolutely sparkling clean and healthy.

=p

Enough updates? Are these the information you all are looking for?

hahaaha....

****************

Apart from that, my life is rather lonely.

Not that I dislike it a lot, but rather I've come to the realization that I've always taken people around me for granted.

Rather... the emotions that they generate in me.

I'm pretty disciplined in a weird way when I'm alone. I'll sweep my floor every morning, arrange my bed to a neat standard way, throw out the trash... before I even proceed to do anything else.

All these without nagging. - Simply amazing.

The fact remains that I've always been living in a pretty sterile environment that my parents brought me up in, that even alone, I just have to do meet that standard.

Well...

I'll be blogging regularly from now on.

But for now, pictures!

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Koala Bear!!! Had that coming!

Me feeding a 'Roo in the sanctuary

Surfer's Paradise!

The scene alongside Surfer's Paradise

ok.. That'll be it!

Tada!

=)