W E E K L Y R O U N D U P S #1

Since it's already the end of week 4 of the semester. This idea that I've had for a while, consisting of "Weekly Roundups" is coming to life relatively late. Coming back, settling in and catching up has indeed taken some time away from updating this space with quality content, so here I am, trying my best to get back into the game again.

Week 1 to week 4 check up on Rachel's feelings, emotional and mental health: So far so good. Rachel's academics: Send help. The standard struggle to keep up with work and my sleeping cycle is just compromising everything else. Week 5's aim consists of adjusting my body clock and getting back into #efficiencymode.

Anyway, it's going to be a bit messy with the photos and timeline but hopefully things are going to get better next week onwards.

Also, photos from now onwards are all taken by either myself or one of my best friends, Jodie. As you guys know, she's here studying in Melbourne as well and she got a new camera which is the bomb.com, and she's mostly the one that runs butterbrownsugar - our lame vlog channel that we all created when we were 17 and sporadically update it once in a while. Shoutout for Jodie for being the best person to go out and take pictures with because, #shameless. We do anything for good shots. ;-)

W E E K  1 

So after a crappy flight back to Melbourne, with the random discovery that I am actually allergic to crayfish 20 minutes before entering the departure gates, I barely got any sleep on the plane and I arrived in Melbourne at about 7 am.

It was a good friend's last day in Melbourne, and I promised that we would go out for a meal right after I touched down, because, who knew that I lucky enough to get a swollen red eye as huge as an island and rashes all over my arms for a good 2 hours into the plane ride?

Whatever. We were going to Chin Chin, which is perpetually crowded and because they know that they have such a huge fan base, they never take reservations. So that sucks even more. But the people just keep coming, and I have been dying to try Chin Chin's food since it is really, reallllly highly raved about. And I'm glad we did! We managed to score a seat at the bar, and the food came really quick and the service from the staff was top notch. It was so stressful and crazy but they were all still really cool and friendly, which was great for a cranky Rachel surviving on < 5 hours of sleep.

The food was just svnfvwlirpijwfklwjfitti. Every rave, every compliment, and every instagram post is WORTH IT. My friends and I couldn't stop gushing about how good every dish was, we were too busy eating and passing plates that we barely had the time to even catch up after not seeing each other for a while. Everything on the menu is delicious, you don't even have to reconsider or be hesitant about your choices. At Chin Chin, nothing can go wrong.

We then headed to South Melbourne Market and spent our afternoon wandering around the market and discovering one of the best coffee places, Padre Coffee. I love coffee and usually when you know you're drinking good coffe, you can just taste it. There were certain factors that also argue that Padre Coffee is indeed a hidden, or known gem, in the South Melbourne Market: 1. The people working there were all relatively good looking (they gave Jodie's camera a wink when she was filming the place) 2. The shop's typography was ace 3. I was on < 5 hours of sleep and that coffee perked me up good. I tasted it and I felt it and I knew it.

Padre Coffee is where it's at, you guys. Definitely need to get another cup of that soon. Law library cafe flat whites are killing me.


W E E K  2
It was a good week. I slept during normal, human timings and woke up and went to school. Damn it, I need to get back to this healthy routine. I even went for evening runs with Shona, it was amazing. That Friday night was spent at the club with some of my best friends, and we had tons of fun. No need for alcohol, we just needed good company. ;-)

Anyway, we were craving for burgers that Saturday and we decided to try out that newly opened burger place nearby Lygon Street - New YORK Minute. They're really proud of the fact that they're ranked Melbourne's top 10 burger places, as seen on the large signboard placed outside their store and a huge banner on their website.

To be honest, we preferred the burgers at Grill'd more. Because the burgers at Grill'd were thicker (more ingredients/stuffing), and Shona personally likes patties to be juicier, and New YORK Minute's patties weren't that juicy so it was a wee bit disappointing.

What we LOVED there though was their fries. Don't know what the secret frying/seasoning method is but, they seriously got their chips in check. The 3 of us all agreed that their fries are certainly worth a try! Better than Grill'd's, for sure.


We also decided to head for Wonderpao's 3rd Birthday Celebration that evening. It was really one of the hugest hyped up events on facebook with about 5k people that clicked "attending", but really only about 20 people were there when we were there. I really applaud their marketing skills because I bought it. They sold it so darn well, we went there with super high expectations, hoping to get some free drinks, some cool DJ spinning at the location, wonderpao sets and Messina ice cream sandwiches. It was all too exciting. Until we went there.

The above photo is their Wonderpao x Messina collaboration, which essentially consisted of a deep fried pao stuffed with a choice of either hazlenut or coconut ice cream. That was $7 each and we nearly died. We still gave it a shot though because, Messina. But honestly, the deep fried buns weren't my cup of tea. We established that the uncle selling $1.20SGD ripple 面包 (bread) ice cream along Orchard Road was something we would buy in a heartbeat and would enjoy it 100%, and this $7 step-atas-orchard-road-ice-cream was something we would never waste money on again.

I could have bought 6 of my ripple 面包 (bread) ice cream >:(

That Sunday, which was also Singapore's birthday (!!! #SG50 !!!!) I went on a hike with some friends at the 1000 Steps Kokoda Track Memorial somewhere in Dandenong. I researched online and many people on forums claimed that it was an "easy hike" despite being "unfit". LIES. I died on the way up and wanted to give up about 3 or 4 times. I love hiking and nature, but the steepness of those steps were terrible. Lesson learned. Never take Aussie exercise/hiking trail forums seriously.

But I think I would do it again, because I went there with good company and despite the shitty steps, my friends were a joy to be around and they made the pain a lot more bearable. We laughed so much during the hike, and it was definitely a good day well spent with them.

On the other hand, while I was on hiking up 1000 steps, Shona and Jodie went to Queen Victoria Market to get some groceries.

During the evening after our hike, we made an impromptu decision to have steamboat and we watched the National Day Parade at a friend's house. We sang the NDP songs together and laughed at some random things that we noticed about NDP screening (WHY was Malaysia's PM there at the opening???)  and we even said that that pretty PRC lady which got a ton of air time would start appearing on hardwarezone forums when the parade was over. We had a good laugh when it really did start appearing on facebook and forums. Good times, good times.

W E E K  3
I spent the early part of this week frantically ploughing through ASOS and physical stores in the city for a dress for the SOV Golden Jubilee Ball the coming weekend. It was so mentally exhausting, I completely forgot how much shopping could tire me out. After multiple tries, refunds and spending hours in different stores, I finally got my jumpsuit and heels for the ball.

The ball turned out to be a ball of fun (hurhur), and it was wonderful seeing everyone dressed up so beautifully and handsomely. Apparently it was the largest Singaporean gathering in the whole southern hemisphere! Photos were all on facebook, but I honestly cannot be bothered to take some of them, edit them and post them up here. Maybe I'll do that for a throwback post, but not now.

Jodie has recently moved into her new apartment which is a few blocks down from mine, and it is one of the most degen places to go to. It's cozy, new and smells good. One of the days during the week, when we were about to go out, we stopped downstairs her apartment because of this whole red brick architecture that was so prominent. 

"Let's take a picture, quick!!!" 

"OOTD la!!!" 

We couldn't get over how cool the space looked and we tried to take as many photos as we could, without random people walking through us and judging us because we were acting all touristy at a residential area. We couldn't help it! Cool architecture always deserves an appreciation post. 

So that marks the end of my weekly roundups for week 2, 3 and 4! 

It's really not much, but I hope that this may be able to continue the coming weeks so that I can keep track of what I've been up to. It's my final year in University and I'm just scrambling to try to remember things I've done so far. 

There are a few more posts coming up, and I've been trying to sit down and write, but things aren't really flowing in my head right now. Sigh, wish I was more coherent sometimes. Alright, enough blabbering, I'll see this space real soon!