Signs of getting old: 5pm napping seems to be a thing.

Even if I sleep for 7 hours or 9 hours, if I'm staying at home especially during STUVAC, my brain just gets dead at around 5pm. So try to limit myself to 15-20min nap, or just go on social media. I also try to restrict myself from social media/youtube (except blogs, cause I still love reading everyone's blogs during exam times), since it can be quite time consuming/time wasting. I guess I do need to give myself breaks sometimes. It's weird if I get <6hrs of sleep I don't really need to nap, but I do get tired earlier. I used to never, ever nap at uni or home (excluding bus trips).

I think this 9th set of finals, I am a lot less stressed compared to previous years.  Maybe it's to do with the extra support, or re studying stuff I know...There really isn't much benefit to stressing, since it doesn't help you to memorise stuff more, or finish stuff. I guess as long as I don't trip up in prac exams, esp in the rigged LV prac exams...

Look at that fail rate, almost 20%...No idea how these stats even exist (not going to credit source cause not sure if it's even ok to make this sort of stuff public lel). I'm sure most of us also had a mark in the credit range, just not a credit grade...I really hope for everyone's sake that they don't intentionally cut numbers this year and everyone happily passes.

It's also a bitter sweet feeling seeing friends say it's their last week of uni, when you see them everyday between 2nd-4th years, and who've pulled you through the 'traditional death/fail subjects' i.e. diseases in 3rd yr. Then you hardly see them in 5th yr, and then even less since they'll all be working next year...

This wind is so drying, that I can feel my eyes and hands being dry...I just hope the weather stays cool until after exams, since I can't study in heat/too cheap to turn on air con. 

Perks of having a long driveway-kids don't come to bother you. Well, only 2 did. There's not many kids nowadays since I think everyone has grown up/moved away from the suburb. Our house is filled with an equal amount of junk food for study as it is with healthy food. There is a house 2 doors up who actually decorates their house, but probs cause they do have a young kid and a newborn. I'm too lazy to even walk up and see their deco. I can only see a tad bit from my desk,  but it looks more decorated this year compared to other years. 

Less thoughts and more study.

Tea Plus

When you ask me what Taiwanese food consists of, I'm not really sure. When I went to Taiwan just over 2 months ago, I mainly had mango shaved ice and desserts, and the occasional beef noodle soup, but not a lot of savoury foods apart from market food. Finally made it to Tea Plus after wanting to try their pot plant milk tea for 4 years. Some friends are worth trekking to the city just for a dinner catch up. I had absolutely no idea there were 5 Tea Plus branches, always thought there was only 1 at Burwood, so never bothered to go there to try the plant milk tea when it was hyped up back then.

food spread

Original plant milk tea: $5.80

I opted for the hot version with 50% sugar. This drink was actually really nice! You could taste the tea flavour and it wasn't sweet which is good. I actually try to avoid milk teas because most of them are just really sugar with a tad bit of tea. The sea salt foam on top probably helped to cut back the sweetness as well, it had just the right amount of savoury in it with an interesting foam texture. The cookie on top which acted like the soil sort of spilled everywhere when you initially started to drink it.

cute jug cup

Who knew ordering drinks for 6 people was that hard? They messed up the order with the winter melon milk foam drinks, as it didn't come with any foam, and it was super sweet. Maybe it was sweet since sugar is more prominent in a hot drink, or just the syrup they used. The pearl milk tea with pearls with normal sugar wasn't as sweet as the winter melon drinks.

 

 here's the menu (ceebs typing up every dish/snack)

Food was generally ok with decent portions, and the menu is quite extensive. We ordered quite a lot of snacks, and although small, the takoyaki were surprisingly good. Yes, the equivalents of these dishes in Taiwan are obviously better and cheaper, but I think for Sydney this is alright. 

Stranger Things 2-First International Premiere

I was more excited about going inside the Opera House for free, than the actual first ep of season 2 of Stranger Things. First time going inside was just for Bennelong, so I don't think that really counts since it's not the actual Concert Hall. Today was another 'money can't buy' experience, so glad I came and sort of de stress from studying. 

They were doing the first international premiere in Sydney (i.e. before America for once), as part of some Sydney something initiative. I somehow was browsing and came across this event, and all you needed for 'pre sale' tickets was sign up to the newsletter. I am always up for signing up for stuff if it involves freebies. I'm also not a big fan of the show or the 80s, but just got there earlier to get tickets, and decided might as well wait in line to go in. Some fans even had the whole fairy lights thing/related merchandise...

tickets

 

they even gave out lanyards

fake sets ft children who sort of look like the actors

did they always have purple carpet??

 

found it super cool they hired these 1980s game arcade machines

 

pinball!

I think we all used to have a stage when we played pinball. I remember it was the first ever computer in our house, and don't think we had internet back then, well over 10 years ago. Pretty cool to see pinball irl. There were other arcade games which normally you'd pay a few dollars for at those game places (never paid cause waste of money), but they did a really good job at creating this 'immersive experience.'

80s music (what is even 80s music?)

they even have themed fences

 

Didn't get the chips with this burger, but actually for photo taking purposes, was probs the wiser choice. Food was average, it's more the novelty of having 'themed food' to match the experience.

 

ahh, love the architecture and the lighting from the sun through the windows

decorated themed bathrooms

Concert Hall!

all those lights

they even had an MC

The set up a temporary stage/screen in front of what I think is normally the stage, or where I imagine the orchestra would normally be. Cause of the blue lighting, you don't get the normal bright lighting you see in those typical photos. There's also pretty bad reception in here as well haha. 

The actual episode was pretty good for a first ep. Loved how they matched scenes/sounds with different coloured flashing lights since it helped emphasise the intenseness in the show.

Hopefully one day I can visit and experience more of the acoustics/grandness inside the Opera House under more brighter/normal lighting lol. I think it would be easier to appreciate the architecture with normal lighting.  I still think watching the ballet or listening to the opera is a rich people's thing, even though it probs cost the same as watching a musical (which I may have seen one too many). 

The Barn

I hardly come to this part of Sydney, but meeting new people over Korean food is always a good idea.  Half the time I have Korean food is because of the side dishes, then again, I hardly have Korean food.

sides!

 Fried chicken bibimbap-$14

Tbh, I don't really know how to tell a good bibimbap from a bad one. I guess they all taste similar, with the nice crunchy bits on the bottom. Good to know my chilli tolerance is increasing, or maybe there wasn't any chilli in the sauce which goes with the rice. Would have been nicer if there was more chicken though.

Beef short ribs-$15

Nice flavourful soup without it being too salty. Decent chunks of meat inside and loved the addition of those glass noodles (I'm sure there's a better name).

Dumplings-$12

I feel like I'm not Asian enough to compare between different types of dumplings. Maybe these could have been a tad bit crispier. 

Steamed egg casserole-$8

First time having Korean style steamed egg. It's so cute how it comes bubbling in one of those stone bowls. It's a bit fluffier than the Chinese style, but not as silky. It's quite interesting since to try different ways of egg since I mostly go for the typical poached eggs at cafes.

Seafood pancake-$15

There wasn't heaps of seafood in it, but it was pretty big and thick for the price. It also wasn't too oily unlike some seafood pancakes.

They actually have quite cute decor with random animals inside to create 'The Barn' feel.