Life in Perth as An Undergraduate

.......................................................................

Hey guys, if you even still read this blog; I never thought I'd be using this space again because along the way, whilst being too busy growing up, i lost the motivation to blog. I don't know why. It's strange really, I remember how much I used to enjoy blogging so much... then, one day, it suddenly stopped. The urge to want to blog. Let alone bring my camera out to take pictures. I guess I just got tired. I wanted to be able to go out and live for the moment. To be able to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery around me for what it is, and not through a camera lens. I guess it kinda hit me when I was on vacation in Germany. How I was so obsessed with wanting to take pictures of every single thing that I missed out what the tour guide was talking about(because I was lagging behind in the tour group taking pictures), missed out on pretty much just living for the moment, and enjoying the beauty surrounding me, which was that of Germany. The statues, the architecture, the buildings, the people, the cobble roads... I was too busy with my camera that I didn't even take a moment to really appreciate what was standing right in front of me.

So, I told myself, I'd take a break from blogging and my camera... who knew it would take this long. I don't think I've blogged in more than half a year. I'm sorry I promised to blog in Perth, but for some strange reason, despite being in a foreign land, i still didn't have the motivation to blog. But yeah... today... motivation struck me and I'm going to tell the tale of my life in Perth as an undergraduate. 

I do have to add though that these pictures were mostly taken with my phone because I didn't bring my camera out. 

I have to say that I know that I am really blessed to be given the opportunity to study abroad. Believe me, I am really grateful to my family for financing my education and for supporting me in everything I do. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to experience some of the best 5 months of my life. 

Life in Perth is pretty different from Singapore. From the food to the weather, the buildings and of course, the people. I've never really been a big fan of the city because I dislike crowds and crowded places. I wanted to study in Perth because of how laid back the place was, how nature surrounded the state instead of high rise buildings. How the trains and buses almost always had seats and the roads were usually empty. Perth is a pretty quiet place, and if you're not a fan of the quiet, then Perth might probably drive you insane. But I liked it, nevertheless. 

I'd like to say Perth helped me to grow as a person. There were so many firsts that I had in Perth. To name a few, it was the first time I had ever lived more than 2 weeks away from home, the first time I ever had to do my own laundry, the first time I had to live with strangers, the first time I was responsible for my own hunger, first time I had to manage my expenses, first time I've seen so many white people in my life(haha), first time I ever had to go to the school's food bank because I was broke from spending too much for the week(life of a university student). There are sooo many experiences I experienced, experiences that I would never trade for the world. 

I have to admit the minute the plane landed in Perth, I was scared shitless. I knew then "oh boy, this is it. Just me, myself and I". I was scared I wouldn't be able to adapt to the culture, scared I wouldn't have any friends, just a ton of things going through my mind at that moment. However, when orientation week began and all the fun stuff happened that allowed us to make so many friends and meet people from different walks of life, I knew I had made the right decision coming to Perth and I knew the semester would be epic because everyone was so friendly. 

I'm not going to be able to recount every single thing that has happened during the semester because honestly, every single day in Perth was an adventure. Even if i was just in the Murdoch University student village, there would still be a ton of things to do because all my friends were nearby, and we'd usually just hang or skateboard around school even if it was 3am in the morning. 

And yes, another first. It was in Perth where I bought my first skateboard and learnt how to skate for the first time. It's a cruiser board, so it's mainly for transport - built for speed. One of my favourite things to do in Perth is to just cruise around the city, along the beach or in Fremantle. The adrenaline rush I get every time i'm on my board is indescribable and nothing can compare. I just love it. :D 

The one thing I absolutely adore about Perth are the beaches. The waters are so blue and green, it's just so beautiful. The skies are usually always clear and even despite the hot weather during summer, it still is pretty windy. 

And of course, selfies. ;B If you follow my instagram, you probably would have already seen these pictures. 

And it was in Perth where I cooked my own meals. It was a struggle at first because I was so used to having food already cooked for me in the kitchen. Having to buy ingredients, spices and whatnot made me realize how much trouble my mum had to go through every day in order to put food on the table for us. But yeah... cooking is always fun, except for the after part... the cleaning up. Urgh... 

I even learnt how to cook STEAK! Heheh and it is pretty damn good. 

It was also in Perth where I attended a BBoy competition for the first time because I was supporting my friend Shunya who was taking part in the competition. 

And it was in Perth where I attended a Vampire Ball dressed as a Vampire for the first time, for Halloween. Hehe. Had the company of awesome people as well to add more memories to the night. 

Rented the costume. :) Wish I could have kept it, it was sooo nice. 

Did the makeup for Mike and Stuart (the guy on the left, and the guy in green).

Other awesome costumes at the Vampire Ball. I even bought fake fangs, but sadly, it didn't fit me very well and so I ended up not using them ):

Another ball I attended in Perth for Halloween? THE ZOMBIE BALL at Newport. 

Not really very zombie like but I tried. I was supposed to be a zombie eeyore since the boys and I agreed to wear onesies to the club. Hahaha. 

Pre Halloween party at Sara's apartment with everyone else! :)

My friend Marissa and I. 

Ashleigh and I. One of my favourite people in Perth! Love this woman soooo much!! :) 

It was also in Perth where I hosted my own apartment party for Kat's birthday! Cleaning up was a nightmare the next day though.... and I had to clean up the entire place all by myself! D: 

Some of the many people. The house was just... full of people. o.o And yes, this is my apartment guys! Pretty neat eh? Hahaha, looks messy in the picture above though. :p 

The sister from another mother; Kaysha! My closest girl friend in Perth! :) So thankful I have a friend like her who is so similar to me in so many ways! Hahah

On days i want to spoil myself, I'd take a bus down to Freo and indulge in Oysters! Sooo fresh and sooo good especially during Winter. 

Shameless selfie! :P No green contacts here. Embracing my natural eye colour(which i find pretty boring). 

I especially love my school; Murdoch University. Coming here was the best decision I ever made. Kinda glad i came here instead of UWA. 

Oh, it's just me lying down on the grass in my school's Bush Court. Apparently, sitting on the grass is a norm here in Perth/Australia! 

Photo Booth with Rayelene! :) 

Emma and Cassie! 

Celebrating Ash's birthday in the Village recreational room! Judging from how I'm dressing, it was probably winter at that point of time! Boy do I miss my fur coats and thick pullovers.

Of course.... aside from all the partying and fun... ultimately I am in Perth to obtain my degree, so yes, I DO STUDY! 

Studying with my buddies Ed and Nick in the school library. :) Red bull to keep us going since there's no Starbucks in Perth! :( Still can't get over the fact that there isn't any.

Pre party at mine before heading out to the club! 

On one occasion, Justin, Ashleigh, Alex and I had this brilliant and spontaneous idea to go jogging by the beach. Which we did eventually... but then it started raining and so.... we had to go home. Hahahaha. 

More studying~ 

So every Wednesday is Newport Night aka Murdoch Uni Student Night at the club, so every Wednesday, this is how packed the bus is! And this is just one side of the bus! PRETTY CRAYZAYYY. 

Friendsss :) 

PARTY AT AIR NIGHTCLUB WITH THESE AWESOME PEOPLE. 

Christine's birthday at Freo! :) 

On one occasion, my dearest boyfriend even flew all the way down to Perth to come visit me! :) 

I love you Alastair Benjamin Hedger :) 

We went to Rottnest Island too and saw these cute little creatures called Quokkas, named the happiest animals in the world. Aww... just look at the little guy smiling away! 

If you ever visit Perth, Rottnest Island is a must visit! An absolutely remarkable island. Full of nature and beauty, and not to mention beautiful beaches and lighthouses. 

Karaoke night at the Kardy! I went on stage like 4 or 5 times, maybe even more. HAHA. SOOO MUCH FUN. 

Here's Ed my Korean-American friend indulging in some delicious Korean food! yummy yummy.

Beautiful Fremantle! :) And that's my house mate, Roshan in the bottom picture above. 

The Amazing Race with the people above! Sadly, we didn't come in first but it was still a fun event organized by the school, 

Another first. It was in Perth where I got to experience my first Party Bus!!! Pretty damn awesome. 

It was also in Perth where I milked a cow for the first time at The Caversham Wildlife Park!!

Nights and memories like these, are nights you never forget. Here, I present to you my drunk friend Jesse who got so drunk he knocked out in the bush. 

Amy's pool party at her house! :) 

More clubbing nights!

And of course, more studying. You gotta work hard and play hard at the same time :P 

Family night with my house mates! :) Nick made dinner. hehe.

Another shameless selfie. 

The view of the city! :) 

Visited Adventure World which was a ton of fun!! 

Experienced an Aussie style 'Barbie' with friends during Winter! 

Me and Vena! :)

Visited Swan Valley to check out the wine vineyards and chocolate factory! 

And loads of good food and Churros to top it off.

There are loads more things I wish I had done in Semester 1, but ultimately, it was pretty chilled and laid-back. In Semester 2, there are a few things that I have to do before I return to Singapore! 

This, I have to do before I come back to Singapore. I can't believe how fast time flew. One more semester to go! So grateful for everything that has happened and for everyone I've met during Semester One. Some, I will see again next semester, and same I may not, sadly. :( 

Hopefully next semester will be even more amazing! And, hopefully, I'll blog more often too. I kinda left my camera in Perth and therefore, most of the pictures above were taken with my iPhone. Heh. 

Anyway, thanks for reading thus far. My fingers are hurting like cray. I think I'm gonna make myself a nice cuppa Japanese Green Tea and resume watching True Blood. 

Till next time. Tah! xoxo

Lots of Love,

Sofia Dendroff

Life in Perth as An Undergraduate

.......................................................................

Hey guys, if you even still read this blog; I never thought I'd be using this space again because along the way, whilst being too busy growing up, i lost the motivation to blog. I don't know why. It's strange really, I remember how much I used to enjoy blogging so much... then, one day, it suddenly stopped. The urge to want to blog. Let alone bring my camera out to take pictures. I guess I just got tired. I wanted to be able to go out and live for the moment. To be able to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery around me for what it is, and not through a camera lens. I guess it kinda hit me when I was on vacation in Germany. How I was so obsessed with wanting to take pictures of every single thing that I missed out what the tour guide was talking about(because I was lagging behind in the tour group taking pictures), missed out on pretty much just living for the moment, and enjoying the beauty surrounding me, which was that of Germany. The statues, the architecture, the buildings, the people, the cobble roads... I was too busy with my camera that I didn't even take a moment to really appreciate what was standing right in front of me.

So, I told myself, I'd take a break from blogging and my camera... who knew it would take this long. I don't think I've blogged in more than half a year. I'm sorry I promised to blog in Perth, but for some strange reason, despite being in a foreign land, i still didn't have the motivation to blog. But yeah... today... motivation struck me and I'm going to tell the tale of my life in Perth as an undergraduate. 

I do have to add though that these pictures were mostly taken with my phone because I didn't bring my camera out. 

I have to say that I know that I am really blessed to be given the opportunity to study abroad. Believe me, I am really grateful to my family for financing my education and for supporting me in everything I do. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to experience some of the best 5 months of my life. 

Life in Perth is pretty different from Singapore. From the food to the weather, the buildings and of course, the people. I've never really been a big fan of the city because I dislike crowds and crowded places. I wanted to study in Perth because of how laid back the place was, how nature surrounded the state instead of high rise buildings. How the trains and buses almost always had seats and the roads were usually empty. Perth is a pretty quiet place, and if you're not a fan of the quiet, then Perth might probably drive you insane. But I liked it, nevertheless. 

I'd like to say Perth helped me to grow as a person. There were so many firsts that I had in Perth. To name a few, it was the first time I had ever lived more than 2 weeks away from home, the first time I ever had to do my own laundry, the first time I had to live with strangers, the first time I was responsible for my own hunger, first time I had to manage my expenses, first time I've seen so many white people in my life(haha), first time I ever had to go to the school's food bank because I was broke from spending too much for the week(life of a university student). There are sooo many experiences I experienced, experiences that I would never trade for the world. 

I have to admit the minute the plane landed in Perth, I was scared shitless. I knew then "oh boy, this is it. Just me, myself and I". I was scared I wouldn't be able to adapt to the culture, scared I wouldn't have any friends, just a ton of things going through my mind at that moment. However, when orientation week began and all the fun stuff happened that allowed us to make so many friends and meet people from different walks of life, I knew I had made the right decision coming to Perth and I knew the semester would be epic because everyone was so friendly. 

I'm not going to be able to recount every single thing that has happened during the semester because honestly, every single day in Perth was an adventure. Even if i was just in the Murdoch University student village, there would still be a ton of things to do because all my friends were nearby, and we'd usually just hang or skateboard around school even if it was 3am in the morning. 

And yes, another first. It was in Perth where I bought my first skateboard and learnt how to skate for the first time. It's a cruiser board, so it's mainly for transport - built for speed. One of my favourite things to do in Perth is to just cruise around the city, along the beach or in Fremantle. The adrenaline rush I get every time i'm on my board is indescribable and nothing can compare. I just love it. :D 

The one thing I absolutely adore about Perth are the beaches. The waters are so blue and green, it's just so beautiful. The skies are usually always clear and even despite the hot weather during summer, it still is pretty windy. 

And of course, selfies. ;B If you follow my instagram, you probably would have already seen these pictures. 

And it was in Perth where I cooked my own meals. It was a struggle at first because I was so used to having food already cooked for me in the kitchen. Having to buy ingredients, spices and whatnot made me realize how much trouble my mum had to go through every day in order to put food on the table for us. But yeah... cooking is always fun, except for the after part... the cleaning up. Urgh... 

I even learnt how to cook STEAK! Heheh and it is pretty damn good. 

It was also in Perth where I attended a BBoy competition for the first time because I was supporting my friend Shunya who was taking part in the competition. 

And it was in Perth where I attended a Vampire Ball dressed as a Vampire for the first time, for Halloween. Hehe. Had the company of awesome people as well to add more memories to the night. 

Rented the costume. :) Wish I could have kept it, it was sooo nice. 

Did the makeup for Mike and Stuart (the guy on the left, and the guy in green).

Other awesome costumes at the Vampire Ball. I even bought fake fangs, but sadly, it didn't fit me very well and so I ended up not using them ):

Another ball I attended in Perth for Halloween? THE ZOMBIE BALL at Newport. 

Not really very zombie like but I tried. I was supposed to be a zombie eeyore since the boys and I agreed to wear onesies to the club. Hahaha. 

Pre Halloween party at Sara's apartment with everyone else! :)

My friend Marissa and I. 

Ashleigh and I. One of my favourite people in Perth! Love this woman soooo much!! :) 

It was also in Perth where I hosted my own apartment party for Kat's birthday! Cleaning up was a nightmare the next day though.... and I had to clean up the entire place all by myself! D: 

Some of the many people. The house was just... full of people. o.o And yes, this is my apartment guys! Pretty neat eh? Hahaha, looks messy in the picture above though. :p 

The sister from another mother; Kaysha! My closest girl friend in Perth! :) So thankful I have a friend like her who is so similar to me in so many ways! Hahah

On days i want to spoil myself, I'd take a bus down to Freo and indulge in Oysters! Sooo fresh and sooo good especially during Winter. 

Shameless selfie! :P No green contacts here. Embracing my natural eye colour(which i find pretty boring). 

I especially love my school; Murdoch University. Coming here was the best decision I ever made. Kinda glad i came here instead of UWA. 

Oh, it's just me lying down on the grass in my school's Bush Court. Apparently, sitting on the grass is a norm here in Perth/Australia! 

Photo Booth with Rayelene! :) 

Emma and Cassie! 

Celebrating Ash's birthday in the Village recreational room! Judging from how I'm dressing, it was probably winter at that point of time! Boy do I miss my fur coats and thick pullovers.

Of course.... aside from all the partying and fun... ultimately I am in Perth to obtain my degree, so yes, I DO STUDY! 

Studying with my buddies Ed and Nick in the school library. :) Red bull to keep us going since there's no Starbucks in Perth! :( Still can't get over the fact that there isn't any.

Pre party at mine before heading out to the club! 

On one occasion, Justin, Ashleigh, Alex and I had this brilliant and spontaneous idea to go jogging by the beach. Which we did eventually... but then it started raining and so.... we had to go home. Hahahaha. 

More studying~ 

So every Wednesday is Newport Night aka Murdoch Uni Student Night at the club, so every Wednesday, this is how packed the bus is! And this is just one side of the bus! PRETTY CRAYZAYYY. 

Friendsss :) 

PARTY AT AIR NIGHTCLUB WITH THESE AWESOME PEOPLE. 

Christine's birthday at Freo! :) 

On one occasion, my dearest boyfriend even flew all the way down to Perth to come visit me! :) 

I love you Alastair Benjamin Hedger :) 

We went to Rottnest Island too and saw these cute little creatures called Quokkas, named the happiest animals in the world. Aww... just look at the little guy smiling away! 

If you ever visit Perth, Rottnest Island is a must visit! An absolutely remarkable island. Full of nature and beauty, and not to mention beautiful beaches and lighthouses. 

Karaoke night at the Kardy! I went on stage like 4 or 5 times, maybe even more. HAHA. SOOO MUCH FUN. 

Here's Ed my Korean-American friend indulging in some delicious Korean food! yummy yummy.

Beautiful Fremantle! :) And that's my house mate, Roshan in the bottom picture above. 

The Amazing Race with the people above! Sadly, we didn't come in first but it was still a fun event organized by the school, 

Another first. It was in Perth where I got to experience my first Party Bus!!! Pretty damn awesome. 

It was also in Perth where I milked a cow for the first time at The Caversham Wildlife Park!!

Nights and memories like these, are nights you never forget. Here, I present to you my drunk friend Jesse who got so drunk he knocked out in the bush. 

Amy's pool party at her house! :) 

More clubbing nights!

And of course, more studying. You gotta work hard and play hard at the same time :P 

Family night with my house mates! :) Nick made dinner. hehe.

Another shameless selfie. 

The view of the city! :) 

Visited Adventure World which was a ton of fun!! 

Experienced an Aussie style 'Barbie' with friends during Winter! 

Me and Vena! :)

Visited Swan Valley to check out the wine vineyards and chocolate factory! 

And loads of good food and Churros to top it off.

There are loads more things I wish I had done in Semester 1, but ultimately, it was pretty chilled and laid-back. In Semester 2, there are a few things that I have to do before I return to Singapore! 

This, I have to do before I come back to Singapore. I can't believe how fast time flew. One more semester to go! So grateful for everything that has happened and for everyone I've met during Semester One. Some, I will see again next semester, and same I may not, sadly. :( 

Hopefully next semester will be even more amazing! And, hopefully, I'll blog more often too. I kinda left my camera in Perth and therefore, most of the pictures above were taken with my iPhone. Heh. 

Anyway, thanks for reading thus far. My fingers are hurting like cray. I think I'm gonna make myself a nice cuppa Japanese Green Tea and resume watching True Blood. 

Till next time. Tah! xoxo

Lots of Love,

Sofia Dendroff