by Kristine | Sep 30, 2012 | Musings
Just yesterday while I was driving to work, I heard some radio DJs talking about Bali. Now there aren’t many popular breakfast radio shows in Perth, so if you’re from Perth, you can probably guess which one this is. Now the female DJ was saying that she’s going to be going to Bali soon, but this time with her dad. She’s been 17 or 18 times so far but this will be the first time she’ll be travelling there with her dad. So her dad asks, what places are there to see in Bali? Her reaction to this blew me away. She fully admitted that even though she’s been there umpteen times, she only goes to Bali for the cheap alcohol, sun & hotel pool. She even had other listeners who said the same thing! The male DJ was suggesting sight seeing places, such as the temples and the mountain ranges etc but she was quite adamant about that people go to Bali only for the booze and sun. One listener had been to Bali a whopping 42 times, but hasn’t been sight seeing!
When I heard the whole exchange on the radio, needless to say I was a big agitated. I get that yes, maybe some people have preferences on how to spend their holidays overseas but the notion of going to a foreign country to booze and not even bother to learn about the culture of the people or history is just disturbing. I’ve been to Bali once, just last year and it was quite an amazing experience. I was there for 7 days with some friends but managed to squeeze in some shopping, lounging by the pool, going out, travelling through the country side for some quad biking. Yes, we did drink and take advantage of the cheap alcohol but Bali isn’t just about that. There is definitely more to a country than their cheap booze. It’ll be like saying Australia is good for kangaroo scrotum coin pouches. The people and culture mean nothing.
Having that kind of attitude while being a radio DJ is just ridiculous to me. That’s just encouraging ignorance amongst the listeners and encouraging binge drinking in the community. And you wonder why there are so many weekend drunken parties which turn violent. It all boils down to attitudes. Do you agree?
by Kristine | Sep 16, 2012 | Musings
I think there is some unwritten rule in the blogosphere about having an obligatory first post titled “First Post” on ones blog. Who am I to break such rules?
This is pretty much to say, yes, I am back with Kristinesays.com. But this time, its a revamped version of it. It has been about 3-4 years since I’ve blogged properly and consistently, and to be very honest I miss it a lot at times. Blogging had taken a back seat since I started full time work properly nearly 4 years ago (where the heck has time gone??) and life got in the way. So what has been happening since then, you ask?
Well to sum it all up, I spent most of 2009 applying & waiting for my permanent residency, working full time, moving out from my Aunty’s place & adjusting to not studying & having to pull late nights to meet assignment deadlines! 2010 was about adjusting to working full time, studying a Cert IV through work & dealing with some quite challenging registrants. So much so, that I actually applied for other jobs outside my agency but subsequently got knocked back for them. In a way, I was rather relieved as those jobs were short term contracts which had no guarantee of permanency or extensions beyond the contracts. I also applied for an internal vacancy & got knocked back. This one devastated me quite a bit as I was looking for a bit of a change in scenery. Stayed put for a while before things settled again & I didn’t dread work.
2011 brought on quite a change for me. I put myself out there a bit more and started socialising with people a bit more. Basically decided I wasn’t going to sit at home & do nothing most nights. I ended up bonding with the girls at work, going out on social events with the girls and even travelling to Bali with my work mum! Little did I know that on 16th August 2011, I would start following my now boyfriend on Twitter. Someone happened to put a #FF out with his name, I clicked it the magic “Follow” button and the rest is history. Suffice to say, 2011 was a relatively good year. Work was pretty good in my books. I did apply & get knocked back for another 2 internal positions, which I was a bit bummed about but took it within my stride. I did plonk down money for some land & started building my house. Moved from a one bedroom unit to another rental (house this time, thanks goodness!) while waiting for my house to be built. I also applied for & obtained my Australian Citizenship (goodbye Malaysian passport!) in June 2011.
So far, 2012 has had its up and downs. Had a huge learning curve with building a house (some day I will write post about what to do & what not to do) and moving into it. 2 moves in the space of about 8ish months is tiring. Managed to move the first time from the unit to a house in about 16 car trips (yes, I am Asian. I didn’t want to spend money on a moving truck). Finally moved into my place 3 months ago & slowly kitting it out! I must say, I have accumulated a lot of junk in my 8ish years of living in Australia, I keep finding stuff that I chuck out each day! Feels cathartic though, and the cleaner in me isn’t complaining either :). Having a mortgage is tough, but worth it in the long run. Work has been tough at times but so far its been a good place to work for, so I can’t really complain. It’s nearly the end of the year so far but there are lots more adventures to be had!
Stay tuned to more adventures! 🙂
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