Piaget VS Vygotsky

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry i could not travel both

And be one traveler, long i stood

And looked down as far as i could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair

Robert Frost

One Day (Something From My Dad Written By Anonymous)

If one day you feel like crying...

Call me.

I don't promise that

I will make you laugh,

But i can cry with you

If one day you want to run away

Don't be afraid to call me.

I don't promise to ask you to stop...

But i can run with you.

If one day you don't want to listen to anyone...

Call me.

I promise to be there for you.

And i promise to be very quiet

But one day if you call...

And there is no answer...

Come fast to see me.

Maybe i need you

If i ever ignored you,

I am sorry...

If i ever made you feel bad or put you down

I'm sorry...

If i ever thought i was bigger or better than you,

I love you.

Don't ever forget that! Through bad times and good ,

I'll always be here for you.

I am sorry...

For everything wrong i've ever done.

I'm writing this because what if tomorrow never comes?

What if i never get to say goodbye or give you a big hug?

What if i never get to say i'm sorry or i love you?

Because what if tomorrow never comes?

Remember, I LOVE YOU!

The above poem was given to me by my father before i left for Sydney on the 19th of July 2005.

Pot Luck At Mela's Place

My candles are NOT lit people!
Happy Birthday
*CHEESE*

Party Time!

Yup its the holidays :-) But alas its only for a week. It will be over with the blink of an eye. To mark the start of the semester break , we had a pot luck dinner at Mela's place. If you read my previous entry, you would be aware that the event was held yesterday.

It was just a Singaporean gathering.Each household bringing a dish or rather an item. My household brought sardine curry which was actually the only main dish. Mela's household had baked chicken and potatos which tasted GOOD! i did not eat any of the sardine curry. I had french loaf with peanut butter and the chicken instead. I was worried that there wasn't gonna be enough for everyone so i decided to skip that as i could have always made it another time. There were also potato chips. The fruit salad which tasted exceptionally GOOD with the fruit yogurt. I have not tried those pre-packed yogurts before as i did not like the idea of those small pieces of fruit swimming arround in the yogurt but i must say..looks can be deceiving because it tasted heavenly in my mouth :-)

we had celebrated one of our friend's birthday. Her birthday actually falls next friday but since we all were getting together a week early, her housemates decided to celebrate it a week earlier. We had cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake. I think this is gonna be a trend for every birthday. We are gonna get two boxes of cheesecakes and sing the song..we even recycled the candles that were used for my birthday..HAHA..I am surprised its still in one piece.

The whole evening was very relaxed. My hang out point was the kitchen counter. No!! Thats not where the food was. But that was where it was cozy just to sit and talk..haha and watch the chicken getting baked in the oven ;-) We left at about six plus. I needed to get a bottle of milk as i had ran out of it. I usually have it every morning with my oats or cereals.

This morning, i had a project meeting. I had lunch at Jeannie's place. They're pretty good cooks unlike what they always say..

I stopped by the bakery on the way back and got some pastry. I was not hungry but just had a craving for some pastry. That reminds me, i still have my croissant for dinner...hehhe

Well thats it so far for the updates folks..

Breath-taking Views

The beautiful moonrise
A picture taken from someone's garden. Can't help it! It was just too beautiful not to be given another look :-)
I would just wanna sit here the whole day!

Just Dropping A line!

Its been a pretty long time since i have dropped a few lines in this blog. Its been a normal week besides the fact that my holidays start officially TODAY!! till the week after next. I just sat for my first test in sydney! Haha..will mark this day. :-)

I was home the entire weekend.Didn't feel like going anywhere. Laziness was one but on the other hand i was short of cash..hehe..So quietly sit down at home la ah. But i did lots of cooking. I made mee goreng on saturday and i must say it did turn out well. I made sewiyaan kheer on sunday. That was good too!! But thats a very basic recipe. Monkey see, monkey do kind of thing!

Oh yes! I made sambal on friday and it turned out WELL...yummmmm..i did not add so much oil like how the makciks do. The oil is literally floating on top of the sambal. I wanted something healthy. I have already been putting on weight with all the cakes and biscuits. I have been snacking very unhealthily thus i have decided to stop buying any biscuits altogether and just stock up on fruits and it has been working well so far.

I learnt how to goreng macaroni the malay style from my housemate, Diyana. She is an EXCELLENT cook and i hope to learn a thing or two from here. After all i am here for a learning experience. I think my dad will be thanking god i would be able to cook a decent meal. Haha..

Its been a rather quiet week. its been puring over here. The street lamps are out so the road in front of my house is rather dark. The cars' headlights are the only source of light. But i guess thats how it is like here. Unlike back in Singapore, a street lamp is down , the street lamp will be up and working within the next hour. We can't expect the same thing here as probably because its a bigger country. UMMMMM...i can't think of another reason...haha..

We have a singaporean gathering over at melati's place on friday. I am supposed to make sardine curry..Will update you on that gathering in the next entry. Its just a get together with all the singaporean students from singapore.I need to settle my grocery list. I just want to go out tomorrow. I will probably head down to Auburn and do my shopping there. Have a sinful slice of hazelnut mouse cake with a flat white coffee...my mouth is already drooling at the thought. I finally finished my sambal and sabji today so i shall cook chicken curry tomorrow and probably dhall and taugay over the weekend. Well this is how i excite myself at times. What to do?? I don't have a television to entertain myself so got to make to with something else.Cooking is therapy for me. Its an outlet for me to have fun and relax. I have not been the cook in my house back in Singapore. My mother does all the cooking. I just observed and helped whenever help was needed or when my dad happily volountered to have me do the cooking over the weekend. Now i treasure those 'lessons'.They have paid off well. I can't see myself surviving on sandwiches. Tried that for two weeks and boy!!! was i so damn sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well thats it for the latest update in Parvin's life. Sofia i am still waiting for the sambal goreng and asam pedas curry recipe PATIENTLY!!!!

Its ALMOST mid-week

Its a tuesday evening over here and its rather cold. The weather has been so funny. It seems like the atmosphere can't seem to make up its mind. Its spring but the temperature still feels like its winter. Hmm maybe its just too early yet. The coldness of winter will still linger on for quite some time.

Well as usual monday are psychology days. But i had something interesting to look forward to in the evening. I headed down to town hall AGAIN with a friend. But then again Town Hall is just like Orchard Road in Singapore which people like me head down to every other day for various reasons. ;-)

We were invited to this television series preview session. We were supposed to give our honest comments on it. Stating the good and the bad. The survey was conducted by a professional organisation. The TV series was entitled "The Gap".

Its about the differences between the baby boomers generation and the generation XY. Its in a talk show kind of format. If you watch the Oprah show, it has a similar setting to that. So basically, we have a host and two people supporting each generation, not forgetting the audience.

The topic yesterday was on Politics and Protesting. The baby boomers generation condenmed the youths today of being ignorant of the political world, They claimed that we are more interested in deciding what to wear tomorrow than finding out who the next prime minister will be? Is he capable of handling such a heavy responsibiity? If he is not, then why keep quiet, let's protest!

The generation XY had nothing to argue with unfortunately. However there were exceptional cases such as this two aussie dudes who climbed to the top of the Operah House and wrote 'NO WAR' on the walls.They were fined and made to pay for the clean up cost. I mean HEEELLLOOO why vandalise the Operah House ..Go elsewhere people! But wait!!! Think for a second.. If those guys had actually written their views elsewhere on a wall by the street, would people have noticed? Would they have gotten their message across to the public just like how they wanted to. My answer is a NO! People like you and me would have just glanced at the scribles and forgotten about it within a split second. They knew they had to do something crazy to get people to listen and realise. The Operah House was thus a good way to do so. No! Don't get the wrong idea.. I am not advocating you guys back in Singapore to go scribble on the Merlion or something.. (Whats Singapore's famous tourist spot anyway??????? Hmmmmmm) People have to go to such an extrere to get their views across. Why??? Thats a question i leave you, the audience to answer. Some thing to ponder about.

But overall my personal rating for the series was very good.We need these kind of series to enlighten us..hahah

I had bubble tea agin...This is bad!! Arghhh..i should check my account balance soon..hehe

Ok mate ;-) thats it for now! Till the next entry.......Good Day!!

Grocery shopping

Yup! Its the end of the week thus it means that it is time for me to get my weekly groceries. I decided to make a trip down to Strathfield for a change.. Its about two stops away from Lidcombe. I had pizza and bubble tea for dinner. The bubble tea was very satisfying. It is expensive but instead of me spending money on Gloria Jean's coffee, the bubble tea came as a refreshing change. ;-)

I then went down to the indian grocer as i desperately was craving for indian spices for my food. Abit tired of chinese style. So i got my spices and other stuff that would make life easier for me Eg ginger and garlic paste.

As usual a trip to Woolworths is very much on the list. Bought more stuff because i don't intend to go grocery shopping this coming weekend. (one weekend has not been over, already talking about the next..sigh!)

I had hell of a fun time washing the chicken. Taking away its skin and tearing its fats away. OK! OK! I shall spare you guys all the gory details.. Hehe

It was an extremely warm day today. I think its about 27 degrees. Thrust me! It was so cold during winter that to actually have a temperature of 27 degrees...is terribly warm! I am in shorts. No more long john's and socks. It'll definately get worse as the time passes by though. Well got to be prepared for that.

Its already ten here. I will probably watch a DVD to kill time. All my housemates are asleep already. They woke up very early this morning. One of them had headed down to the Flemington's Paddy Market to get her own grocery shopping done. She bought me three punnets of strawberries at $2 which was rather reasonable. I am suddenly having an overwhelming fetish for strawberries at this point in time..hmmm..the other two had gone to see one of their family off. They have had a long and tiring week entertaining the family members. But there were tears.She is probably trying to sleep to get over the sadness. Sometimes i think its better for any of family not to visit me as there would be a feeling of attachment and its another cycle all over again. You will be missing that person and all the usual stuff. At least now i amore or less 'settled' and have gotten used to the fact that they are not 'within reach'. . Well thats my opinion. Everyone has a right to theirs.

Thats it for this weekend. Chaos!

After A Trip To Town Hall

I just got back about an hour ago from a trip to the city. It was a trip worth spending the train fare on. Haha ;-) I have not been to this part of the city and thus it was my first time there. I had a reliable 'tour guide'.

We reached town hall slightly after five. I was hungry as i only had a sandwich for lunch so i really needed dinner. We went to the food court in Pitt's street mall. I had Hainese chicken rice for $4. It was a real good deal. Plus it tasted exactly like the chicken rice back home. I was so contented after that. I was reenergized. It was a thursday night and the shops usually open till nine. Then as usual, we headed to the shops. It was a pretty chilly night with the wind blowing once in a while.

We then proceeded to Darling Harbour for coffee. I ended up buying a Flat White from Mcdonalds and sitting by the river watching the water. It was very refreshing. Its a great place to sit down and chill. Just to let your thoughts run . I would definately want to go back there again.

I did not take any pictures as i had forgotten to bring my camera along. I did not expect to be brought to Darling Harbour. But i am glad i was brought there. Thanks Mellishia!

I had to get milk from Woolworths before heading home or else i would have had to eat my cereal plain in the morning.

This entry is pretty short. But the next one will be long. I'll try but no promises..hehe

I miss you guys...

My weekend starts TODAY!

I had a pretty good wednesday. A two hour lecture in the afternoon. I decided to skip the medical radiation science project lecture altogether as my final year project is not really in sync with the rest of the third year students'.So here i am filling in you guys about the happenings from the land of down under. :-)

Well Monday was a rather mundane day. Had a cognition lecture and we discussed about one's attention. I went back home for lunch as i live a good twenty minutes away from school. I made a sandwich for myself and a cup of coffee to go along. Read a few pages of my notes. Left for my lifespan class at three in the afternoon. Monday is a very Psychology day for me. Good way to start the week huh?

Well as you can see, my days can be very mundane: home to uni, uni to home. There is really nothing exciting over the weekdays but my weekends can spice up. It varies according to plans though..haha

I have no idea why but i have been feeling very down over the past few days. Its a reason i can't account for. I can even start tearing while reading. I do not mean crying over a sad novel or something. I think i miss people back home. I miss my dad coming into the room and irritating me and going 'on the handphone again ah'. I miss my grandmother asking me if i have eaten lunch although it is four (tea time). I miss calling up my best friend and making plans to meet at Starbucks coffee in the evening. I miss the $1 bubble tea from sweet talk. I miss my thai spicy chicken rice. I miss meeting up for breakfast at Cafe Cartel, watching a movie and having nasi lemak at the Marina square food court with my boyfriend. I miss having oreo cheesecake with him. Yeah! It feels shitty not being able to do these things with them for a year! But alas! i know the year will pass and i will be back in Singapore having Zinger burger and bubble tea with my best friends June and Sofia.

I have not gotten any news from my appeal yet. I will probably be heading down to the city tomorrow. Will probably have a good meal. Maybe chicken? I did not buy any this week so i need a dosage of meat. Besides that my assignments are pilling in. Just gotta take a step at a time.

I just learnt how to make sambal from my cousin over the net. I will definately try the recipe. Sambal is a must have! ;-)

Alright thats it for now..Till the next entry..Here's Parvin signing off

More Snaps From The Down Under

Before bedtime in Yannada Hostel. Supper and catch up session in the room.
Nothing to do during the long journey to Chastwood so its *snap* time :-)
Well there is another one. This time on our way BACK from Chastwood..hehe

Trying our very best to BRAVE the night's chill. i really mean BRAVE! The whole gang from Singapore. Eh wait!! Three missing (Jeannie, Melissa & Jun ting)

Its Spring!

Spring in my neighbour's backyard. NO!! I didn't climb over the fence to take that shot. I used the zoom function..HAHA
Spring in MY backyard

I am feeling satisfied after Hazelnut Moose Cake

Its a cool saturday evening over here in sydney. Its been cloudy the whole day but there has been no signs of rain. Its already spring. Apparently, they have got a fixed date to denote spring : 1st September. Oh ya! By the way it just started raining :-) But i have realised the rain over here barely lasts for fifteen minutes. Hmm no wonder sydney is suffering from a draught. People are not allowed allowed to wash their cars unless they go to car washers. I guess people here are more environment friendly. Can you imagine if there was a law against car washing in Singapore due to a shortage of water? I would still see people washing their cars in their car porches. This is so Singapore!

I have been sick for the past three days. I had symtoms of the flu since thursday. But its not too bad. Not to the extent where i have a dripping nose *Touch Wood* I was down with a fever too. Took some medications but am still able to function normally. I don't really have to be confined to the bed. So i have been up and about.

Friday was a pretty ordinary day for me. I stayed in. Read a book. Fridays are days where i just relax and laze around. Did some cleaning. Soaked a few clothes for laundry. The day passed with the blink of an eye and i realised that another day of me in sydney is gone. One day closer to my return to Singapore. I am having contradicting feelings about heading back home. I know its pretty early to be thinking about it but nevertheless the thought is worth the penny :-) Returning to Singapore would signify the start of a new phase of life which is a double edged sword. I am excited to step into the working adult life but yet afraid at what tomorrow might bring. Time will just fly so fast. Before i know it, it would be time for me to settle down and i guess you can continue the rest of the story yourself. Yup! I am afraid of how time will fly past. Will i be able to enjoy the moments in my life or is it just going to be a day to day routine?I guess i'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings with it.. ANYWAYZ!

I met up with Melati in the afternoon. It was supposed to be a coffee outing cum grocery shopping day. We met at 2.30pm at Auburn station (one stop away from Lidcombe and thats where i am residing). The minah had not had lunch yet and i was greedy. I had three slices of bread though. So kononnya not a full lunch la ;-) We headed down to Aporto's for food. I was craving for a burger. Was actually hoping for a Zinger but OH WELL!! Aporeto's Bondi Burger had to do it. We sat near the entrance and it was freaking cold as the wind was practically howling. We then went on to Gloria Jean's Cafe for coffee. It was her treat!! :-) Thanks mela! Owe you one! We had the Hazelnut Chocolate Mouse Cake to go with it. It was sinful but it was GREAT!! So dinner was settled for me as well..Haha We managed to set a sofa seat. It was much much warmer in the cafe. We just laid back and relaxed and had a good chat, watched the passer bys on the street and took dozens of pictures of ourselves. Mela the perfectionist wanted a PERFECT shot. There was this middle aged Turkish man sitting in front of us sipping his coffee and ten minutes later this Hong Kong lady appears and goes " Hey darling" and gives him a kiss. I was so tempted to take a picture, follow him home that night and show his wife the picture..HAHA...things you think of when you're lazing around!

We then eventually enetered Woolworths supermarket and picked up the needed groceries. I notice that i buy the same thing every week. Maybe i change the type of fruit i buy. The type of cereal i buy is constant. But thats because i hate corn flakes and anything that has got to do with raisins. Did you know they have cereals specially catered to women above the age of forty??? Well i didn't :-) Hmmm living on a student's budget i guess everything has to be the same..simple and affordable.

Now i am back in my cozy room sipping on warm water, writing this extremely long blog. Hope i have not bored you. Thats it for now. End of torture...hehe

I made an appeal

As you can see from the time below, i have woken up rather early this morning. I have a practical class at nine so i thought i could do some read-up beofre that. But alas! Here i am writing an entry but i guess it won't hurt to spend a few minutes. :-
The past two days have been pretty stressful days.. If you have read my previous entry, you would know about the fine.

On monday i went down to the international student's office to ask if i could make an appeal for a request to have my fine reconsidered. My international student officer just looked at me in amazement..she went " there are thousands of international students who travel on the train using student consession but never get caught. It was just bad luck!" :-( That definately made me feel worse. But she was very helpful. She gave me a list of documents to put together.I also had to wrie a letter stating why i had taken student consession.

I sat in front of the computer thhinking of what to write. I needed the letter to sound apologetic. Managed to get the draft out. On wednesday morning, i went down to the international students office again and got my letter printed out after approvel from the international student officer. She also gave me a letter to confirm that i was a newly enrolled student of the university. i submitted documents like my air ticket, visa, electricity bill (needed an official letter to prove my address of residency, crap!) and passport (needed to show the arrival stamp).

i finished at four and i wanted to get the letter posted out on wednesday itself. I brisked walk to the town centre just in time for the post office to close. But the guy behind the counter was nice enough to actually process the postage for me. He even offered to make sure the letter got posted yesterday itself so i will not loose a day. The mail will take about 2 or 3 days to reach the recipient. i was hoping for the letter to reach the recipient by at least friday. He knew i was an international student and in fact has been very helpful since i first dropped by the post office. He keeps me informed about the latest calling cards out that offer the best rates. the Best pre paid card value to get. :-)

The wednesday ended with me posting a letter and then off to the grocer to get milk,bread and strawberries..yum!

I always look forward to thursdays as it is a relatively short day. It is elongated slightly today as i have a project meet up with my lecturer at one. I am hoping he will see us at twelve (lunch break).

hmm..now i can't decide what to pack for lunch at this point of time. i will probably be staying in this weekend. I don't plan to head out untill my appeal is settled. If it gets through..i'll be grateful...*fingers crossed*