my photography lecturer's office got broken in and the thieves stole 2 giant monitors, her laptop and 2 hard drives.
that was Monday late night.

today we had our photography tutorial and she was saying she was very very angry about it.
all of student work, teaching work, and her personal work on the laptop, which she kept in the drawer.
the data was backed up in the hard drives, so basically the back-ups were stolen as well.
she suspected that the cleaners left her office open because she locked it when she left.

she was angry about the security in school because break-ins happened in uni before, but there was no email sent to warn the staff. and no one sent any email about this incident either.
and there was no footage of the thieves caught on camera, and the security doesn't seem too bothered to help her either.
the other students agreed that security wasn't very good. there are a lot of bad incidents that happen but they only get reported on facebook - a page called "Overheard at Curtin", which was where they got some info about the case - some students saw 3 guys act suspiciously around the building at 2 am on Monday.
so she is going raise hell about this to the school.

she's a tough lady. someone asked if she cried, because they would. she said no, her father has terminal cancer, so she cried at that news, but not this. she was just very pissed.
and she said her children are all alive, she wasn't living in Syria, so this was just a first world problem.

LOL this is hilarious +++
the awesome Richard Ayoade presents the 2nd season of Gadget Man, where he intros amazing and bizarre hi-tech gadgets.
the future is now!
this episode is about his disdain for the great outdoors. i liked the inflatable big screen, tablet projector and breakfast drone.

auntie D went back to Singapore yesterday...

it was truly an early xmas :D
pictured are some of the things she got me.
thank you uncle A for the early xmas present too!

 my flatmate made this cake for his boyfriend's birthday - it's so cute!

cutting up the body.
royal icing and chocolate cake!

 last friday, auntie D chose this Italian restaurant called Bravo's for dinner.
it was at Vic Park - the wait staff were young, good-looking and friendly. :D
they kept asking how we found the food and told us about the chefs.
the chefs were young and handsome too.

 the white space was the kitchen. the lighting that made the chefs and the food look TV-stylish.
auntie D's meatball fettuccine - 6 meatballs
auntie P's fettuccine marinara
my calamari with fries - tender baby squid! $29

what a coincidence!

this morning 2 bees trapped themselves at my window. they were thumbprint size.
during class today we admired a classmate's gold plated bee ring (by Bill Skinner?).
and just now i noticed this alarming notice on our fridge.

thankfully, our windows have screens. if bees were to come in, that would be hell scary.

 horseshoe cake with nutella filling from eid murbarak lunch.

2 drumkits and funky bass from showcase of world culture on campus.

pink haired boy on bus /sparkly eyes

tuesday - had a presentation. bombed it. i am very bad at talking about my project.
not sure what happened but i was super nervous and inarticulate when presenting the overview of my theoretical discussion in class.
a lot of awkward silences and pauses.
and could not answer questions about my project.

wed - presented the outcome of my beach experiment with the GoPro (where i wore the camera on my arm to make a outline of my body in the sand).
the lecturer was taken by the progress of my project and talked enthusiatically about it...
i am grappling with how to incorporate what he said into it...
met auntie D and P for dinner at the hawker. very happy to see auntie D! good food.

thurs - busy morning at the cafe.
met auntie D and P for dinner at the small Japanese restaurant "Kai". the ramen noodle was so springy and the soup so tasty!
then some shopping at k mart and spud shed.
auntie D pampered me and paid for all my expenses... :D
that night i had a sudden intestinal pain and had a purging in the toilet at 3am. don't even know why.

fri - did a studio portrait session with flatmates.
i finally understand the joy of connecting with the subject while being in control behind the camera.
hope i caught the catchlights in their eyes.
if the photos are not in focus i will be so mad.
then it was my fav class - CIC 100.
saw an awesome video about using the GoPro to take different perspectives.
showed lecturer my draft video project - he said good things about it. and also that it's very quirky, i have a unique way of seeing the world, and recalled the Italian phrase which is like "don't know if person is pretending to be crazy or actually crazy".
i am a unique snowflake.

oh yes, and i decided today that i should go home to see family and friends in Jan.

had been wondering about how i was going to spend xmas and new year here.

this morning i was talking to my flatmate - he was groggy having just woken up but he talked so happily when i asked him about his xmas plan.
he would travel south to his home with his boyfriend and spend it with family. their family tradition was to have a big feast with 15 pound turkey, honey glazed ham, jams, desserts, the works... the holidays was an excuse to have a grand ole time in each other's company.  they would drink, open presents on xmas eve, sleep in on xmas day and have the feast for late lunch. how nice~~

hearing that made me want to go home too.
the tickets over the holiday period were too over priced though.
in the end i bought the tickets for Jan - 17 to 28 - return for A$308.

i got a Bonds raglan tee from the second hand shop at 1/15 of the normal price.

Bonds is an Australian clothing band, and their products are made locally.

anyway, it's awesome - the cotton fabric is thick, soft and fluffy.
i wore it to work and it seemed to resist the water splashes from my dishwashing as well.
:)

today i asked the cafe boss if i could watch him make coffee (his coffees are really good). he went and explained the whole process to me because we had free time.
it's very interesting.

the most important part is problem solving to create the best brew because even the humidity and temperature of the external environment will affect the taste.
it can be very simple to make coffee, but to get the optimal flavor is difficult.

the coffee beans in the hood above the grinder stays fresh for 20 mins.
the ground coffee keeps for 15 mins before losing flavor.
compacting the coffee in the espresso pressing thing with the right pressure is vital - it should not fall out when upside down.
then making the espresso in the press is about cleanliness and maintaining temperature so the taste is good.
the stream of espresso from the press should be out in 20 seconds and be a warm golden color.
and heating the milk under the sprout is also about having the right temperature - about 60 deg.
the heated milk for lattes should be silky and not frothy.

so for lattes, the sugar goes in the cup, then it's cleaning the head, getting the ground coffee in the press, compacting it, cleaning it, sticking it in the machine and getting expresso out into the cup.
then getting the milk in the jug, heating it then adding it to the expresso.
the coffee art is done by interrupting the pouring of the milk about 3/4 of the way through.

he said he learnt it from a friend when he was a part-time bartender... then he basically taught himself online and by practicing.

i think the main challenge would be compacting the coffee powder...

today at the cafe, they tried to teach me to take orders and do the cashiering.

lol, i bet they thought that i would have relevant experience from the fish shop because i also take orders and handle money there. well, too bad...

it was very stressful to learn the codes for coffee orders, listening carefully and punching in the "skinny", "decaf", "large", "regular", "take away", "number of sugars" and all that.

i would just panic and not remember who ordered what, even if i have their order printed. and worse, the printed order has to be re-written for clarity and details.

but that's fine for now, i think they just want me to focus on giving good greetings, asking the right questions (dining in or takeaway / drink size / number of sugars for takeaway), keying in the order correctly, and saying the right thing at the end (take a seat, we'll bring it out / will call out when ready).

my flatmate was happy because she took a day off school to recover from a flu virus, but managed to win her classmates' vote to be the leader for her class (a big deal, she will get a certificate that she can put on her resume).
so she was talking about how she will go around Australia for xmas and new year (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane - 6 flights for A$800+ - cheap!) and how she decided to be in Sydney because she heard the new year celebrations there were one of the most beautiful.

but the most important point was this: once she decided something, she would do it.
she doesn't worry about the "if" and "maybe" - unlike her fiance - who is the opposite.
when she said that she recently broke up with him, i was surprised, because they were together for 6 years. but it made sense - he's comfortable to stay the same, while she wants to explore and do new things.

she sounded a lot like the other girl i went on the Margaret River road trip with - they both knew what they wanted from life and would just be out there, doing stuff.

 so we took a bus ride to the Kulin Bush Races. there were about 22 of us. i didn't know anyone,
which was awkward. talked to the person beside me, then went to sleep.
when we arrived at Kulin, found that a guy was wearing my nametag which stated my chinese name "shuyi". he took a liking to it. lol.
and we could almost see the milky way in Kulin.

hostel accommodation - on the first night, some of the girls sat around in a circle on the floor and chatted. i joined in /proud
 the next morning we went to work at the Bush Races.
passed by the bar area.
 this is the view from my work station - the donut stall.
 3 of us were at the donut shop. one made the batter, the other fried them and i was serving customers in front - taking orders, collecting money, rolling the donuts in sugar and bagging them. it was like being at work in the fish shop. boss was telling me to go faster, etc.
i was stressed out. worked there for 5 hours...
 during lunch break, took a walk. there were these tin horses. Kulin is apparently known as the Tin Horse Highway.
 dragonorse
 bush race = some amateur horse racing, sheep racing, tug of war, etc.
 pipes.
 giant horses. i thought we would get to work with horses but there was no chance of that at all.
 bonfire and stage.
 the event ended with a 5 minute long firework show.
some of us stayed for the live music - there were at least 3 bands and all were good! they played cover songs - the first band was rock and the second was pop.
 the next morning, we went back to the site to pick up litter but discovered that the local community had done most of the work already.
these communities take pride in their events.
we got to see some horses up close.
the races were held in front of a great big salt(?) lake, or so a nice one-armed donut customer told me.
here are some of us going down the rock mound thing.

on the way back, made friends with the chinese guy who liked to talk and joke. met up with him again today to try to get the new version of android on my phone but it didn't work. lol.

had to present my portrait assignment for photography class today.
i was sad since yesterday because i asked the tutor for some last minute advice and she said i stuffed it up.
but knowing that, it helped to mentally prepare me for the chewing during today's feedback after the presentation.
seeing everyone's work also helped me to realise that what i did wrong and how i should have it.
i should have researched photographic work and prepared the shots to incorporate some interesting elements to create small points of tension. should have also sketched out ideas instead of trying to photograph them ad hoc. and compositionally, my photographs were rubbish..

portrait one was of my friend with his car.
things that were wrong -
 - distracting shapes in the background poking out of subject's head
 - impersonal environment that doesn't give much information on the subject

portrait two was of my other friend in the studio.
things that were wrong -
 - eyes out of focus
 - didn't research lighting techniques
 - red watch was too prominent, looks like a watch advert

the studio portrait could be simple - just a person against a white background looking directly at the camera. but the points of interest, like unbalanced bangs, openness toward the camera, composition  and quirky tee shirt, came together to make an engaging portrait.

and the environmental portrait can be of people chilling out in their living room, not noticing the camera, while using 2 lights to flood the room and subjects with light. the composition of the picture is more important because the elements in the environment fight for attention with the subject.

it's been a nice tuition-free week - only have work tomorrow morning.

then it's off to Kulin for the John Curtin Weekend.
Kulin is 4 hours drive away from Perth and is marked in red on the map.

we're going to volunteer for the Kulin Bush Races on Sat.
there should be live entertainment and horse races.
and i'll be back by lunch on Sunday.