Sentimental... Autumn arrived.

A moment ago, I was waiting for the bus to work. As I missed the bus by seconds, I had some time till the next bus. I grabbed a local free newspaper and flipped through it. Reading through the unfamiliar German newspaper, trying to find some common words between the lines to understand, the image might provide some ideas… Struggle ended soon as I put down the newspaper. I was feeling strange and uneasy, even when I am typing now… My spirit is pretty down at the moment. Emotional might be a better description.

Elina and Thomasz had left Graz last Thursday. Tai Jia, Jose and Melica will be leaving this week. More people will leave before the end of the month. Most of them are goodbye for good…

Are people leaving the reason? Or is it because the cold that hit me *I was walking under the never ending drizzly sky in Zagreb, without an umbrella…* Probably Joy’s nostalgic had got me… Or maybe because I have been wandering for all these years, lacking sense of belonging, feeling disoriented, detached from ground, floating in the middle of nowhere… Or could it be the usual small little things I have missed unconsciously, as I rushed through my days, from working to socializing, traveling, studying, and preparing my thesis… Don’t know and don’t think there will be a conclusion in the next few minutes.

… A yellowish brown leaf fell and settled on my shoulder. I picked it up. The leaf was almost brown with only small parts of the stem still green. Staring at the leave, I realised all this sentiments and uncertainties are just part of growing up and life.

Autumn arrived. I feel more sentimental. My eyes are damper and watery than usual. It has been a week now.

The bus stopped and I walked up the bus. The leaf which I had in my palm fell off unwittingly…

As it turns yellow

Mauritius, paradise full of traps

Before flying from Paris, I had this over exaggerated ilussion about Mauritius. Not only just my own imagination, it was the press and advertisement as well. Having said that, I am not implying that they were lying, it was just that the greatness of marketing sent me off on the wild voyage of imagination, where every single little flaw seemed not important anymore... Later, these made me realise that it was a pain in the arse.

Traveling within Mauritius can be quite painful, the public transport were really fucked up and can cost a gigantic bomb. Think of it, bus trip to and back from Port Louis costed R$23, while taxi would cost over R$1600 *From my resort...*. To better understand this, it is EURO$0.50 compare to over Euro$40. HOW RidICULOUs!!! Other than the money factor, it was the time! Traveling time could take more than one and a half hour each trip. Bare in mind, it is not only just the trip to Port Louis, it was every trip. Last Tuesday, Chai and I hired a taxi driver to bring us around, the time spent on the attraction sight was less than two hours, but traveling time was at least five hours! *While cannot complain as much... since we decided to visit...*

Then, there was this over commenting and beautified of places. Grand Baie is the touristiest place on the island and it is described as 'shopping haven' of Mauritius, while overpriced items plus limited selection were the only thing I found. Both Port Louis and Grand Baie can be visited on the same day, it is more than enough I will say. Then there was these beaches, corals and marine life... Cough, COugh, couGH... Bullshit! CouGH! Bullshit. Those are the places I got cheated big time. So, I joined this tour at that the hotel under the impression that it will be snorkeling. Great!!! When after the endless travelling we reached the location, only to find sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand and sand. Later, when I got back and I talked to the PR lady and guess what she said... "Yes, there is only sand and you can do snorkeling as well..." I was like DDDDDDDDeeEEEeeEE!!!! Why would I want to pay to see sand??? Snorkeling = see corals + fishes + etc!!! Hello, knock knock knock!!!!! This wasn't the only tourist trap... I talked to the gay couple I met at the bar, they were tricked big time on the following day, they went to see dolphins, and it only appeared for like 3 minutes... That was it and the trip was more expensive than the faked snorkeling trip. Basket! Nonetheless, I have to be fair as well. The beaches were pretty, the clouds were wonderful and I did swim with the fishs in the end...

Another good thing was to meet Oby. This guy who I had mistakenly thought from Hong Kong, *Thanks to Rhavy for the wrong information* was actually a Singaporean. Cool, well groomed and trendy, that was my 1st impression. *On top of that, he had a very nice bag... Comme Des Garcons round leather bag... clean cut, stylish and simple...* Although just got to spend a day wih him, we clicked in many ways and I am sure we will meet again in Singapore. *Dont you think so Oby?* Then it was, dear dear dear Chai, good to see ya mike~~

PS... time for dinner... will post photo when i get back

Grats and happy wedding!!!

It had been great to be in Mauritius, not to say that I enjoy the place much, it was great to see my dear dear friend Mr Rhavy Nursimulu after two years. He was still overweight *alrite, he did lose some weight...*, ambituous and visionary as usual, trying to multitask every single thing... Just the old Rhavy I know. However, there was something different in this big guy now, he has someone he cares so much, love so deeply and wanting to protect so eagerly, my friend is a married guy now. I am really happy for him, not only that he found someone to walk with for the coming days, but also understand that life is more than just work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work... Couldn't be more happy for you, my dear friend. Grat!!!

Me and the wedding couple in front of the chapel where they signed the papers

The smileless cool guys + the groom

Rhavy with the biggest smile ever contarsting the de!! not smiling kiddo

All good things come to an end

Checked in early, got everything arranged, I could finally take a break. While waiting for the plane to Paris, I stopped by the music store and tried out the new releases. Here, there was this song All Good Things (come to an end) by Nelly Furtado. It sure brings back some memories.

This week, some of us Graz dwellers finished the internship and set back to home. Eva and Byarne, they were the earliest to leave. Although we know from the beginning that they would only be in Graz for a short while, hardly any of us noticed the time passed by. The days and the moments we shared were great and fun. The scene that Byrane got really tipsy and high, starting to mumble more frequently, lots of hilarious moves, constant quick shots, more and more and more and more beer down he drank… Eva walking down the staircase in an awkward inverted U shape, an amusing way after a hard tough hike during the weekend in Greifenberg… Bits and pieces seem like yesterday. The fact that they were leaving was still sudden, makes me really sad and the same for the rest, I think. Not only because the good old days we shared, it is also a possible ending of a friendship, lost of a friend. Although I have lived in many different places and went through such hard moments many time *I miss u guys in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia... Also Alex in Macau, Happy Wedding Buddy!!!*, it hardly soften the sadness. I might not show on face, but deep down I feel the way… Guess life is just like a bus stop, people come and go when it is time.

I glad that I got to know such great people and for once, been part of their life. Goodbye Byarne and Eva, *Hugs and kisses* and best wishes! Till we meet…

Byarne taking a break while I took a shot of him, Eggenberg

Eva munching sausages, Greifenberg

Weekend in Graz

Considering the fact that I am leaving to Mauritius in less than a week and money was running low as the month comes to an end, I changed my original plan for the weekend and stayed in Graz, rather than Prague. It would be the first weekend for the past six weeks. After all, the town was quite happening and the IASTE Graz Summer guys hosted a weekend stay in our lovely town and trainees like me from other places were invited.

Lazily finished my work on Friday evening, I went to Asia to get some food and took a break prior to meeting the guys. We were going to have an evening picnic at the Stadtpark. Another reason to be there, was that the opening of La Strada, International Festival for Street and Figure Theatre.

La Strada's promotion cabin

Rogue Theatre on the move

Running away from me... No...

No... I am not gonna give you my kiddo... Keke...

Got my violin back, yeah~~

Arriving at the park, I could already saw the full cart of drinks, with 95% of them being alcohol *Weee~~ Don’t you just like alcohol~~*. While insisting my one-month-alcohol-free-policy, I decided to let my liver go on holidays and only had water during the event. The night was quite relaxing and full of excitements. Walking from one stage to another, one performance after another, the clowns, the nun, the producers, the hookers, ballerina, love petals, sailors… On another side, the audiences was sitting on a rug, a blanket, chatting and mingling around, munching some food, having some drinks, watching, cheering and clapping for the hilarious geeks. Also, kids running from one side to another, squeezing their way through the crowd to get a better view. The way how everything blended together, the constant interactions between the audiences and street artists were cool. Although most of the time I knew not a single word, I was laughing throughout the night. *Sometimes, you don’t need to understand to feel it, I guess this is one of those times*. After the ending of our warm out of the night, it was time to Philip place, he was having an end of study party.

Pushing the cart of alcohols and snacks passed the garden, along the main street, we reached Philip’s apartment. Boy! Great to know that more than 70 people packed in the puny apartment, just like the sardine in can. I could hardly move around and squeeze was the way out. Needing some clean fresh air badly, I moved to the balcony at the second floor, only to find it jam-packed. Luckily when I got back to the ground floor, there were some spaces. Soon when everyone got tipsy and the night came later, Philip gathered everyone. As it was the courtyard was quite small, some of us climbed up the wall and sat on the roof, waiting for the performance. He thanked everyone for coming, being such a great guests and ya da ya da ya da ya da… here comes to highlight of the night, splitting fire. FoooooOOoooO~~ FooOOooOOooooo~~ once, twice, third and forth time… he spitted the fire with the diesel in his mouth. *Boy… I am glad I did not need to do that…* then, more drinking more drinking…. *Yeah… my no-alcohol-for-one-month plan was screwed and I bottomed up two bottles, I think…* Feeling so sleepy, I got out of the apartment and walked back. Thinking that few hours later the will be a breakfast at the Schlossberg, shit! I was so tired…

Ti… Ti… Ti… Titi… Titi... Titititititititititititititi... Bang!!!!! I smashed my alarm... and I think I went back to sleep... When I finally gather some will to wake up it was already 2pm in the afternoon… Alright I miss the breakfast, but I ain’t gonna miss the lunch. *Eeeeyew…. My hair was still on wax and I smell like wine… I forgot to shower…* Quickly, I washed myself and headed for lunch. That afternoon was pretty much just wondering around the city, window shopping and a lazy visit to Asia, until I met Christian. We would be going to Johannes place to pick up some food and drinks up Reinerkogel. There, we would have a bonfire and barbie. The night was great till the rain came, and I was only wearing a T-shirt and short pant. Great! When I was feeling shit, Johannes the savior handed me a poncho. I really hate the feeling of being half wet. It is either you rain the hell and make me wet inside out or you don’t rain… Damn! While idling in the poncho, I turned to my watch… the last tram just left… At this point of time, I really didn’t feel like walking home. Soon, we decided to go to Johannes’s place for the night. Some people stayed and some people left, while for me, I stayed.

Parts of my cloth were still wet when we reached. I was feeling cold and a cup of hot tea and some instant noodle was great to keep me warm… *It has been long since I had instant noodle… I really hated them and it bring back bad memories* Other than the board games, it was great to chat with Micky about photography, it was quite an interesting conversation and I learnt some stuff. *I guess I got it right… and he is a guy… Mickey Mouse??*. It was a long conversation, and we only noticed when everyone was already out at the garden for more than an hour. We swiftly wrapped up the conversation and joined the rest. One thing I have to point out. I really like this house, very comfortable, very homy, very tribal, very intimate, relax, beautiful… On top of that, a great garden. This is one of the nicest houses I have been so far. If I have to criticize, it will only be the height of the ceiling… I need high ceiling…

Bee + flowers at Johannes's garden

More bee + flower

Same thing, no shower before I sleep again! It has been a while since then… By the time I reached home, I rushed to the bathroom for a nice shower. When I came out, there was a miss call from mum, and ya… yc was back in Malaysia… It has been a while since I called mum, I swiftly dialed the number. The first thing mum said was, “I cooked many special dishes today and we just finished…” Great…. Listening to my groaning stomach…. I complained “Why didn’t you cook the last time I went back…. ” However, it has been great to hear mum and dad sounded fantastic on the phone, oh yeah, Penny aunty as well… love you guys~~.

I have been propeller for many times, but I had never been their outdoor area before. Thanks to the rain and the cold weather before… This place was great, very relaxing… Especially after few nights of drinking, this is somewhere you would want to be… Promptly finished my brunch, I moved to the hammock and the sand bags, lie down and had a nap, with my hat on my face, covering my eyes, away from the sun, listening to the live music, singing to the lyrics, some old songs… this is an absolute place for a lazy afternoon… the buffet brunch wasn’t expensive and you can stay from 10am till 2 pm… What a bargain. After the lunch, we started a series of museum hopping and ended with La Strada events across the town and of course, more drinking for me...

Boris, Byarne and Me at Kunsthaus

Jose and me at Kunsthaus

Couches at the Needle
Byarne on couch trying to be cool
while Boris trying to be a thinker
Jose pretend to be busy
I pretend to be in a conversation
Ahem!!! Off the tits guys...

Graz Criterium