Arriving at Gold Coast

After all the packing, and all the preparation, I made my way to KLIA2.. It's funny though, it's been 2 month since I started preparing for this journey and all these time, there was no sadness or emotional hype that I experienced. Perhaps it was because I was so busy preparing that I did not have time to feel anything, but when the moment came to board the plane, tears came running down my cheeks uncontrollably. I couldn't stop them and I felt so silly!

Me after crying like a baby

Anyway, after getting my emotions in check (or so I thought!) I hopped onto the plane (Air Asia - the most budget one stop airline to Coolangatta Airport) with mom, and we were on our way to Gold Coast.

First thing to note, and I kid you not, is the commonality of skin cancer in Gold Coast! The guy next to us on the plane? He had skin cancer. His whole family? They had skin cancer too! Fine, maybe its genetics or maybe they just don't use sun blocks/ love to sun bath too much. But when I got of the plane and hopped onto the shuttle bus to my host's accommodation, I saw sign boards on skin cancer treatments, skin cancer clinics and warning about skin cancer and I was like, OMG, it's really really serious here!

Taken from a website, this sign was created in conjunction with skin cancer awareness month

The sun here is crazy!!! The temperature might be lower than in tropical countries but if you let yourself bask in the sun for a moment or two, it feels like the sun is literally eating you! I've not been known to use an umbrella while walking under the sun but here in Gold Coast, the moment the sun is up, I hide beneath the umbrella. It's that scary. Good thing though, when you feel hot and would like to take a break from walking, you can always sit at the bus stop, and the wind will definitely cool you down.

Anyway, that's it for now..

Until next time!

In the beginning...

Somewhere in the beginning of 2014, a voice inside my head begin to speak.. It said, "are you happy with your life now? Will you be happy to settle down with what you have? Time is catching up. You are not getting any younger, so either do it now, or forever hold your peace."

One of my childhood fantasy, was to one day, earn a scholarship with my own capability and go overseas to study. I asked myself then, did I really try to get a scholarship in the past? The truth is, there was always something holding me back. Either because I was too afraid to find out I wasn't worth giving a scholarship to or because I was too afraid to leave my loved ones behind. So this time, I told myself, I am going to do whatever it takes, to get a scholarship, and if this try doesn't succeed, then yes, I am ready to settle down with what I have now, and with no regrets.

And try as hard I did, I don't want to bore you with the nitty bitty details of the hurdles I went through, but I was almost certain I wouldn't get the scholarship, and I blamed bad luck, fate and in-capabilities for it.

Then one day, my supervisor emailed me, "you've got it. You got the scholarship. Wait for the university to email you the official letter." 

I didn't know what to think! I already gave up! I didn't feel happy, or sad. I just didn't know what to feel. But I told myself, I tried my best and now that I got it, I'm not going to back away. I started preparing for it. Got everything done, nearly emptied my savings in the process. Getting the insurance. the health check, the air tickets, some essentials and etc etc. I resigned from my job, sold my car, packed my bags and left my loved ones behind (and this is the hardest thing for me to do) and braced myself for the journey ahead.

And this brings me to my post here today. I've decided to record down this journey of mine. As a memory for myself, and for my loved ones. I hope I can keep up the post and not give up halfway though.

Until next time!

A picture I took at the beach of Surfer's Paradise in the first week of my arrival..