January 13, 2012

Welcome Rocky~

finally.. it has come to this day when I stepped-foot onto the land that I once adore most~ after a couple of weeks in Nz, spending a gorgeous time over there.. I finally arrived to Australia. and b4 embarking onto a small plane to Rocky, I dropped by Brissie for a dip of refreshment down memory lane. I love Brisbane as I always have. Now, that I’m not too far from her being in Sister Rocky, it could only mean a new, wonderful experience for me in a unfamiliar world. so here I am waiting to see what Rocky can give to me` :)


As I was landing down the port of Rocky, all I could see was greens and browns.. translated to marshes and the river bank, with no sign of building nor men. excitingly, I was received by Kartini who took me for some grocery shopping and too, directing me to the office to collect keys for my staff accommodation.just for the aid of settling down, it just surprises me how well the hospital offers such a nice place of stay for a month, fully-equipped with a posh living room with flat-screen tv, kitchen with all wares, bed-room with air-conditioning and most-importantly, a queen-sized bed` ;)

truly engh my cozy home stay cud only lead me wondering if ter cud ever be any downturns. I noticed it straight-away~ the use of 3g. as I was anticipating the evening with a nice conversation thru the phone with my family and fren, it just strikes me that my credit was zero. apparently, with some experiment later on.. surfing, opening a fb news feed and looking at just a couple of photos cud take $6 off my prepaid load. so with some vibering.. $30 can just be a gone in a matter of mins -_-‘’’ that’s lesson no.1!


the next day came.. it was fully-bright and I had breakfast b4 embarking out to do some paperwork in the office. I did notice the soaring temperatures even at the early hours of this morning. aside from, it took me just 3 mins to get to the hospital main entrance and a couple more, being a friendly paediatric registrar opting to show me where I needed to go. as I was attended by the helpful staff, I swiftly completed my job and just in a matter of minutes, I was on my way to some exploring ard the city~ of course b4 that, my pure wisdom led me to the coffee house, to open the day with some hot latte~

not knowing my directions, I cud only walk. not to mention under the scorching sun~ I saw a bus-stop and a bus a few minutes later. Unlike buses in Brisbane that do have Go cards, this one sells tickets. I had a single for $3.60, but later to my knowledge that ‘my daily tickets still exist!’ for a cost of just $5! I cud only ask bus patrons for directions, wch then allowed me to stop at the city-centre. That’s when I came to realise that Rockhampton is not just the swampy land I once visualised!

I came along a strip of retails, as long as ever with 50s of shops running along.. with trees and small roads in between, reminding me of kuala belait. but to my amaze, this one varies from cafes to garments, ice-cream shops to big supermarkets like k-mart. I tght to myself.. this is seriously much better than Whangarei.

In my mind, I had a goal.. i.e. to go to a shopping mall where I could either get a better plan for internet mobile surfing or to top up my Vodafone prepaid. I asked around.. a senior man gave me directions to the big Target shop up front and.. a lady, guess what.. offered me the best help she cud ever give.. was to drive me to the biggest shopping mall in Rocky! coincidentally, she also works in health as a nurse where too, her husband is also named Keith. as I had the opportunity to view my directions frm her car, Stocklands (the biggest mall) was quite a fair way from the city.. having to cross the main bridge and turn a few rounds to arrive to this amazing place. She’s such a lovely lady~

I was just in awe.. this shopping mall… don think I cud ever get bored in Rocky~ this shopping mall is maybe around the size of 2 floors of the whole Indooroopilly shopping mall combined! ters literally everything here, except.. guess wt` ;) ters no Vodafone outlet! and guess wt again.. ters no Vodafone outlet anywhere in Rockhampton.

Lol!! but luckily, ters at least Optus. skipping plans, I bought a top up from the new agency~ and whilst taking my own sweet time, reminiscing the retails and surfing the net with my new-charged credit.. I suddenly realise I had a miss-out in one of my paperworks. anxious, I had to call another office.. and in doing that, I was put on a queue for 20-30 minutes with no one answering my calls and ending up spending the whole $30 credit I just paid for~ and guess wt, my non-acknowledgment of the surfing cost lead me to really zero credit.

following is the food court of Stocklands~ :)

The next thing in mind was to get back to the hospital. I asked for directions yet again, and was pointed out to. in this bus-stop luckily was a lad who was willing to lead me to the spot, and with his help, I was made known that this one bus-stop is the only one wch passes by the hospital from the mall, and that the buses wch do come by only every hour, every day! Lol.. I was made to laugh~ with his help, I got off to the office.. and with the certainty of staff’s hospitality, instead of having to fork out $50-100 for a call, I was offered to use the landline.. and I eventually received a voice after half-an-hour~ :) altgh.. my issue was not handled in a well-perfect manner, that is all I cud do to start off my internship preparation.

I’m pretty sure there are ever more true challenges awaiting me in the road ahead` but before tse, I just wanna say thnks to my family and much appreciation to the person, whom have allowed such an amazing yet memorable stay over in Nz. These memories are certainly non-buyable and irreplaceable for a yet unique and special experience, ever encountered in my life~ now.. it has come yet to another cycle of further waiting and patience, yet trust and belief that if indeed I cud meet the real light at the end of the tunnel.

But all in all, life at present always has to come to the fact that.. we ought to enjoy every moment of our present lives in appreciation and blessing, instead of worries and regret of the things that once were or even nw bothering us. cos.. we as human beings all deserve at least a breathe of things, we always wanted and love.

- keith

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