Passport and ラーメン (Ramen)

7 07 2008

Ok, this blog is pretty much about the day I posted the Skydiving Video post, as well as some other information…

Beenleigh StationBeenleigh Station

Mitch and I met on the train into the city as we usually do. We live on the same train line, (the Brisbane – Beenleigh/Gold Coast line) he’s 4 stops towards the Gold Coast from where I am. So he jumps on the express train which stops at my station and we generally meet in the last carriage. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the City.

We got off at Brisbane Central and decided to go grab some Japanese food before the lunch rush. There’s 2 places we usually eat at, can’t remember the names… But yeah, we were talking about how everyone seems to make a big deal about Ramen, and neither of us had eaten it before.  So we made a decision to go with the Ramen that morning. We got Miso Ramen and they brought it out and it looked pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of soup-like foods in general but this was pretty good. But, like, if I went back there (which I will, i’m craving Japanese food as I write this), I doubt I’d get the Ramen again, because I would prefer Chicken Teriyaki or Karaage (fried)…

ramen

But yeah, overall, for a soup, Ramen was pretty good. Although I have read that it is kinda hard to get “good” ramen outside of Japan. Now this was my first Ramen ever so I dunno if it was “good” or not, so i’ll just wait till I reach Japan and try the various ramen over there. Another thing I’ve noticed is my Chopstick skills are getting a lot better! Yay…

After lunch, we headed into Uni and jumped into a computer lab. I tried to upload the Skydiving video but it wouldn’t work, so I had to work a bit of my magic and finally got it to work. Mitch and I then decided to chill a bit and play some games and study up on some Japanese. We were there for a while but then we got hungry again. So we know of this place where you can get a full serving of Chinese for $3.80! So we went there before it closed, it was gooooood.

After that we felt very asian. Next paragraph.

We then headed to the Post Office to see what the deal was with Passport photo’s and passport applications. Like we didn’t know if we had to make an appointment or what. But as we walked in the door we saw a sign that said “Instant Passport Photo’s”. So we just decided to get our photo’s done there and then. After a few minutes and $14 later we had our Passport Photo’s. I look like the biggest Criminal. Meh.

Brisbane Post OfficeBrisbane’s Post Office

We also enquired about the Passport interviews etc. We didn’t need to make an appointment, just bring all the correct documents down and they do the interview there and then. But one thing they didn’t mention was any costs. I looked up the passport costs on the net the other day and it costs $200!!! WTF!? Guh… Well seeing as I have recording with the band next week and I gotta pay for that, I won’t be applying for my passport anytime soon. Although all my passport stuff is completed, I’ve had my guarantor (my best mates mum lol) sign off on what she needed to sign off and so I’m ready to apply for the Passport… just need a wad of cash first…

So yeah, a few steps closer to Japan which is all good. I’m assuming my next post will be Band related and be about recording our EP. Can’t wait!

Ciao for Now!





Got my Uni Results!!!

7 07 2008

grades

Howdy all, as the title says, I got my university results! And I like very much!

Crappy design -> 4 (62 % = Pass)
Game Studies -> 5 (66% = Credit)
Professional studies -> 6 (83% = Distinction)
Programming -> 7 (95% = High Distinction)

YaY! So that gives me a GPA of 5.5, which if I maintain that i’ll be eligible for the $3000 travel bursary! Nice! That’ll be handy for Japan… But if I get this JASSO scholarship thing I won’t be able to get the travel bursary, but the JASSO scholarship is way better. The JASSO scholarship allows me to get 150,000 yen on arrival in Japan, then 80,000 yen every month I stay in Japan. But yeah, either way I’m happy… just as long as I don’t drop below 5.5, otherwise i’d get the $2000 travel bursary, which is fine, but i’d prefer at least the $3000 one…

more grades

What I’m really proud of is my programming subject… I got a total of 95% of the marks! So in an entire semester, I only lost 5% worth of marks :D Pretty happy about that…

Yeah so all the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. My friend Mitch, who I am going to Japan with next year, also got his GPA up to qualify. He’s studying a Bachelor of arts and he didn’t do too well last year and ended up on a GPA of 4, but he turned it right around whilst studying a bunch of IT subjects this semester and got his GPA up to a 4.583 or something wacky. Which is good, because if he needs a GPA of 4.5 to qualify for Japan. He’s got a bunch of IT subjects next semester as well so he’ll most likely be able to get that GPA up even more so.

I’m feeling really confident about making it into Kansai Gaidai, because the exchange officer said that they can be pretty flexible with numbers, so Kansai Gaidai may accept up to 3 people. But she said its flexible, so I think Mitch and I will be safe. Although I also realize that I am setting myself up to be very disappointed if we don’t make it.

Anywayz yeah! I’ll close up this blog… There’s more i wanna say but that’ll be in the next blog… which i’ll write right now.

Ciao for Now!