Second Hand Bookstore

I went to Curtin University last Thursday to pick up some books for my sister.

I went to the visitors parking area and looked to buy a parking ticket.

I found a $2 coin and tried to place it in the ticket machine but missed! (poor hand-eye coordination. I need to play more video games). The coin rolled from the machine and fell into a crack in front of the machine!

I dropped to my knees and cried  "NOOOOOOOooO!!!"

The stupid crack was wide enough to tease me of my lost money but not wide enough to let my pinky finger through!

Seriously, I must have spent 15 minutes in front of the machine trying to fish my coin out.  I mean, $2 is a lot of money and something you just don't leave behind.  But trying to fish it out felt infinitely more embarrassing!

There were uni students walking past and they're probably wondering why this guy was on his knees worshiping the parking machine.

*******

I eventually found myself in the finance section of the second hand bookstore.  There multiple copies of the book my sister wanted to I took my time finding one in good condition.

"This is the same one the professor was talking about right?"  Asked the pretty asian girl next to me.

"Err....  Yeah.  That's the one"  I muttered.

"'Coz I saw the new one in the other bookstore and it looked the same" she replied.

"Is it the eight edition one? All the eighth edition ones look the same" I answered in my infinite wisdom.


Like butter baby,
that's how smooth I am.

Graduations

Short Talk
By the time you get used to the flow of things, when everything starts to feel nice and feel right, it’s already time to say goodbye. April has been a blur.

Graduations

Stuff yourself with the free sushi rolls and salmon hors d'oeuvres. That’s my advice to those graduating on what to do after the long long long long long long ceremony.

Somewhere here are tables of free food! Thats what years in university is all about!

I didn't get a chance to do that during my graduation. I was bogged with drapery and was cooking under my four layers of clothing.

My graduand buddies: Shaz, Al, Chewy

The reason for the heavy drapery was so that I would look smart for the mandatory graduation family photo. This photo my parents will show relatives and will hang in the walls of our house for generations to come. So I hadta look good.

Smile! Coz this photo will be on display FOREVER!!

And photos we took! It's as if we didn't take photos, all the hard work during the half a decade in university would disappear. Click Click Flash Flash. No wonder I got sore cheeks that day - too much fake smiling :P

But seriously, graduations are always kinda sad to me. It’s another stage in the growing up cycle.

Realising that you’re growing old and taking on bigger responsibilites is always kinda sad (and depressing).

We're all smiling at the free food

In all graduations I've been to was speeches about opportunities and how we should all embrace the future and the world is our oyster and that we are all going to be leaders and so on. All this does is paint a picture of what we could all be, but not tell us where we should be in this crossroads called life.

Always watch your step

I know it should be merry moment, a celebration of academic achievement and hard work and end to tuition fees, blah blah blah. But everyone knows it’s also an end. The end of an era of common hang-out places, routine work and friendly faces.

This was our lab. We did a lot of anime study here. We also cooked Mee-goreng

Graduations are actually kinda like weddings. It’s a happy time, but it’s sad because something is changing. And everyone feels like everything, all the happy memories and jokes and good times, will come to an end after that moment.

But then you wake up the next day and realise that the earth still revolves around the sun, people still love (or hate) you, your buddies are still there and that not that much has changed at all.

Except that you’re sick from eating too many sushi rolls and salmon hors d'oeuvres.

Congratulations to Anh, Ian, Lea and those who graduated recently. Well done.