This blog has moved permanently to my new website at ambertxie.info. This new site will allow me to upload full size photos to share with all of you. This current blog will be maintained in case my new home is down. See you over there!
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye!
Lets start with Bang! and Crash! On the 14th of December we celebrated Connie’s 18th in awesome style with a BBQ at the park followed by Monopoly, booze, Singstar and a pinata. Happy birthday Connie!
The girls
Partay
The Birthday Girl
After the party we headed to M9 for unlimited lasertag at North Strathfield. It was an awesome night, it would have been a great day if I hadn’t tried to be awesome by wearing sunglasses at lasertag which is in a dark dark room. As a result I sort of ran into the wall. The pain went away after a minute, but that evil wall had left its mark. And that’s the story of how I got my first black eye.
Booboo
Onto the Snap! Today I finally got a replacement DSLR in the form of a Nikon D90 with the 18-105 ED VR Lens. YAY! Let the happy snaps begin.
D90 and 18-105 ED VR lens
The Nikon isn’t as big as the Canon’s but fits my grip really well. I can finally restart my Flickr uploads!
Hsc results and ATAR’s came out these last 2 days. I hope everyone got everything they wanted and more! 🙂
Well this post is gonna be a quick post mortem of my ADF Navy Gap Year Assessment Day.
Waking up at 6am reminded me of back when i still had school. Arghhh so early! Had an ultra quick breakfast because I was running late. Jump into the car at 7am. It took me 33 minutes too drive to Parramatta. I decided to park about 1.5KM away from the recruitment centre so I wouldn’t have to pay for parking (yea i’m cheap. Sue me). My appointment was at 0730 it took me 10 minutes to walk to the centre so I was around 10 minutes late. I took the lift up to level 4. As the lift doors moment I had a moment of dread because everyone else there where dressed in running gear with their suits in their bags, for a moment I thought that I had my shuttle run test on that day, then the receptionist told me I was supposed to go to level 5 and that the people preparing to run were not here for assessment *phew*. Level 5 looked alot better, around 5 guys and 2 girls were all in suits and waiting. I got my name marked off at reception and got a Psyche Questionnaire to fill in, most of it were ordinary enough questions but there were some like “Do you ever get the feeling that others are reading your thought?” that were a bit weird.
After finishing the questionnaire we all waited to be called up for interviews. My first interview was with a Defence Psychologist, she was a bit intimidating when she continually stared at me but I’m guessing that’s just to see if I’m blatantly lying. She did indeed get a bit suspicious when I answered that I had never tried drugs and that I’ve only ever had 1 full bottle of beer (both are true). The interview lasted around 40 minutes afterwards I went back into the waiting room and watched Black Hawk Down which they had playing on a plasma tv. My second interview wasn’t for 40 minutes which means I got to watch the first Black Hawk get shot down. The second interview was with a current Defence Force member, my interviewer was this really nice Navy Petty Officer. We talked about my motivation for joining ADF gap year, what my future plans are, whether I spent time away from home and he also asked some general questions about the Navy like what types of training I would undergo during gap year, what types of vessels does the RAN have as well as the major navy bases around Australia (I totally did not read up on the last question and I basically just made them up by naming the capital cities in each state :s ) fortunately I had already shown the interviewer I was sufficiently awesome so he was like “it’s all cool”. The second interview also took around 40 minutes. I came back into the waiting room just as the 2 Delta Snipers had reached the second Black Hawk’s crash site. 🙂
My Medical exam wasn’t until the end of the movie. The Medical involved having to give a urine sample which I presume is to test for drugs. My height and weight were taken (I lost 2Kg’s since I last bothered to weigh myself 😀 ), my eyesight was tested (vision is perfect but i’m CP3 colour blind). Then there was a hearing test where you’re sat in a soundproof room with isolating headphones. The doctor then plays tones of different frequencies, when you hear the tone you press a button and the operator changes the frequency. I think I got all of the tones with my left ear but I think I missed quite a few with my right ear. Once all these test were performed I went into a room with the doctor where you strip down to your underwear and he does all these checks for physical defects. As for the genital examination all I have to say is that it was cold. Ears, ribs, spine, ankles, everything was examined. After the physical exam, I was asked to do 10 push ups and sit ups. The doctor then runs through your medical history to double check all the entries, before classing you for enlistment. I was deemed Class 1 (Applicants who meet the medical fitness standards for entry to a specific occupation or service). Having been cleared by medical all that was left was to give my results to reception where they congratulate me on passing and give me a Navy cap. All that is left in my enlistment process is to receive an official offer letter (hopefully next week), passing the beep test to 6.1 then catching the 11 hour bus to HMAS Cerberus in Melbourne (sometime late April/early March 2010).
"The Cap"
This is where my Gap Year Application stands at present, stay tuned more future updates.
On a side note I’m very sorry to Neha for missing her 18th birthday party tonight. My parents needed me to help them at work. I owe you one Neha and thanks for the the invite. I hope you all had a good time (hard to do without me 😉 ) and Happy 18th Birthday.
Signing Off
Ambert
Sad day today. I dunno how but i’ve managed to break my netbooks microphone jack. Worst of all is although the jack broke clean off windows still thinks there’s earphones plugged in so i can’t use my speakers either.
Where the jack used to be next to the mic input
The broken jack
Time to break out the iron and the low temp solder 🙂 shouldn’t be too hard to reattach. Luckily I still have my Sound Blaster USB sound card so i can still use my headphones. Unluckily I ripped the cable off the plug of my Sony Ex85’s so i’ve been using my Nokia’s standard headphones which almost made me cry. Once you’ve used REAL headphones, stock ones sound so bad its not funny. As a replacement I’m torn between the Ultimate Ears Metro .fi 200 and the AKG K 321. Right now i’m leaning towards the AKG because they just look more comfortable. Will update when i decide.
Also I went for an eye exam today (love medicare bulk billing, means i don’t have to pay), I’m CP3 colour deficient to green. Also I’m very slightly longsighted so if I ever get fatigued while reading I can get glasses. 🙂 this is a good thing because I just got private health insurance and the optometrist I got tested at had a promotion where you get a free pair of sunglasses with a set of prescription glasses. So I can tell them i “need” glasses, claim them with health insurance then get a free pair of sunglasses (Oakley HDO 😀 ).
Well that’s all thats happened today.
Bye
I got a Microsoft Arc mouse as a gift and it is preettty awesome. Basically the mouse is a thin arc that can fold up for storage. Details athttp://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=112.
Today i finally got my assessment date for my gap year application (9th of Dec at 0740). However my first choice which was the Air Force didn’t go so well due to all available places being already filled up 😦 no worries though i’m now going for the Navy. Which isn’t all that bad since the Navy gap year program has the most women signing up (56% 🙂 ).
This was the email i recieved
Hi
Please find attached some information to assist you with your preparation for your Assessment session.
To ensure you are prepared for your session, you need to complete a Pre Assessment Checklist, prior to the day.
The checklist is mock interview conducted over the phone, to check your preparation for your Assessment Session.
You should review the below information.
As well as ALL the information on the job description attached.
You should visit www.navy.gov.au
Job Training
General Service Knowledge
Here some extra questions you might want to look at:
Don’t hesistate to call or email me, if you have any questions about your assessment or your preparation.
Thank you for your time.
Yep, quite a lot eh? On top of all that i need to prepare for a citizenship interview because i’m a permanent resident and in order to join the ADF Gap Year program i need to be an Australian Citizen (to make sure i’m not a Chinese agent here to spy on Australia’s steel industry). The entire process has been fairly smooth. I first applied online then was asked the next day to undergo a basic online GA test, afterwards i got shortlisted and was invited to undertake another set of computer based tests (math/english/GA) which was created by the Defence Psychology Department. After the test you get a quick health check as well as a colour blindness test (guilty). Then an interviewer sits you down one-on-one and discusses your reasons for wanting to do ADF Gap Year and gives your service options based on your test results (I made it into everything but my colour blindness limited me to admin work or being a steward in the Army, the Navy and Air Force on the other hand are more accepting giving me all the options available). After the YOU session you fill out some paperwork then wait patiently for them to confirm everything and book you in for an Assessment. At the Assessment apparently i get to have a chat with a Defence Department psychologist so they can confirm my mentality (to make sure i won’t go crazy and kill people like that guy in the US) also happening on that day I’ll receive a full physical exam which for males includes blood tests and an “examination of external genitals” >< Not Fun. After all that i assume you’ll be informed on the day whether you are successful or not. So wish me luck and i’ll give you the full update of my (physical) Assessment Day. 🙂
Heehee okay a 2 month hiatus from blogging would usually be very bad on my behalf but since noone reads this sorry website i call my blog i figured noone would have missed it.
Things that have come and gone;
1. HSC – That bad boy has thankfully passed and has left me relatively unscathed *phew*, no need to worry about exams anymore till December 16th.
2. Formal – Yes I had my Year 12 on the 17th of November 2009 at Le Montage. First of all Cheryl Ho. Cheryl looked absolutely beautiful in her ice blue dress 😉
Belle, Cheryl and Me
Everyone looked so grown up in suits and dresses *sigh*. The food was good for the most part, for some reason the girls all got steaks while the guys got chicken…. yea wrong way around i know. The Entree was this cone looking thing with potato and cheese which tasted alright followed by the main either chicken or beef finished with a creme brulee that wasn’t REALLY a creme brulee. While the food was good the atmosphere was better. Everyone got their freaky freaks on and shredded the dancefloor to the “Nutbush”. All in all it was a great night which we’ll all remember forever. (Photos will be up on flickr and facebook, Video will be up on youtube and facebook).
3. Sound Card – Yea i bought myself a usb sound card. Reason? dunno. I got a Creative Sound Blaster Play! which is around the same size a usb drive and basically just has an input for a microphone and an headphone/speaker output. The cool thing is that it upmixes all my stereo 2.0 signals to surround sound, you can definitely hear the difference! 🙂
My Creative Sound Blaster Play!
4. My Cousin and her new husband came to visit from china. So being awesomely nice i drove them around for the days that they stayed with us. We went to The Rocks which very Victorian and beautiful, the day would’ve been perfect if it hadn’t been 41 degrees 😦
The Rocks
Afterwards we headed towards the DFS Galleria which this exclusive Duty Free Store packed with asian tourists. Now the brands I saw in this store i’ve only ever seen or heard of in movies.
DFS Galleria
Swarovski Poster
JFK Omega Poster
Swarovski Store
Georgio Armani Store
Swatch, Citizen, Omega, Cartier
Name Dropping
Hot Swarovski Chick
So many numbers..
Tag Heuer
I've never even heard of this brand
oooohhh shiny
Bvlgari
Dior
Salvatore Ferragamo
Burberry
Cartier
After checking out all those shiny exorbitantly expensive stores i got an ice chocolate from Guylian
Guylian Store
That wrapped up the day!
5. Steak – Yesterday night we headed off to black stump for some steak. Now having never REALLY had steak before i didn’t really know what to expect. I ordered the 500g grain fed rump steak done rare with pepper sauce, baked potatoes and salad. And well this photo best sums it up.
Black Stump
Thats what half a kilo of meat looks like 🙂
This has probably been the longest blog post ever (i should get a guinness world record).
Ps. Fill out yearbook profiles at Google Docs
Woohoo! Today was one of those days you’ll remember for ALL time, and you’ll look back upon with fond nostalgia when you are 80 and arthritus ridden 😉 . As of 1:52pm today i became a graduate of James Ruse AHS, the BEST school in the world which is home to not only to the most dedicated year advisor i’ve ever seen, but also the most fun, bubbly, intelligent, AWESOME bunch of young men and women. Its been both a privlige and a blessing to know you and I wish you all the very best in the HSC as well as in the future. I hope we keep in contact! Now for some people i’ve had the chance to get to know better than most 🙂
To Doctors Au (chris aka bubbles aka aznkalos), Chan (eddy), Chen (nicole), Cheng (helena), Kuk (nathan aka gaybo ;p), Niall (richard aka GRUBSY AAEEEHH!), Ngyuen (melinda aka mel aka fatty boomsticks jkz), Wang (connie aka moo cow 🙂 ), Wang (tom aka tomald aka grenadier), Yu (edison aka eddles) and Zhao (ruilong aka pedo) study hard becuase i’m looking forward to recieving lots of operations and transplants due to my unhealthy diet and my propensity to be so amazingly awesome and do ‘dangerous’ things.
To the future governor’s of the RBA and CEO’s of EY, KPMG, PWC and Macquarie Bank. Ms Cheung (belinda aka belle), Ms Ho (cheryl aka master and commander and FD 🙂 ) and Mr Swami (rohan aka ronaldo’s illegitamite curry son 😉 ) i look forward to getting you to do my tax return (that is if i ever earn more than $6000 in a year and i’m required to pay tax).
To Mr Leung (shaun aka the happy, tipsy, short xylophone master who is constantly on a sugar high), Ms Fong (Alison aka god’s chosen warrior :p) and Mr Gan (justin aka the poppin’, lockin’ soccer playing guy) have fun doing Media and Comm, i’m looking forward to see/hear you on your own TV/Radio show.
To Mr Phung (John aka jonald) the good times will continue next year when we are both doing mechatronic engineering (hopefully).
To my photography buddies Ms Cheung (belle, who is working towards her first dslr but is lethal with her current compact), Mr Lam (bosco aka airline entrepreneur), Mr Tan (jero aka cool guy) and Mr Wan (ben aka the newbie :p ) keep it real homiez! And keep those shutter releases/drive motors/image prosessors/viewfinders/autofocus motors/flashes/apertures/frame buffers/lcd screens busy (aka keep those cameras busy).
If i’ve left out anyone (haha suck :p jkz) i’m so sorry. I hope you all had as much fun as i have had these past 6 years (thanks for the memories), till we meet again (tommorow) adieu!
Posted by Wordmobi
This is my first post in……5 weeks? Or since the end of the holidays. Our trials have come and gone and we are ALREADY starting to get our results back ><. Having done my 2U speech today i have OFFICIALLY finished my exams (YES!!! 🙂 ) so now its time to reccount and share all the interesting things that have happened over the past month.
First off i would like to announce that FINALLY i recieved my weapons permit application (took them 28 WORKING days to do criminal checks and stuff)
Most AWESOME application form i've ever filled in! 🙂
I have also started going to tennis coaching as well as chinese school. Tennis so so much fun, after 4 sessions i’ve pretty much figured out my fore/back hands as well as my volleys/slices but my consistency is still preeety low. I learned to serve this tuesday 🙂 🙂 🙂 it’s quite hard! I have no idea how Roddick serves SO FAST and gets them IN!
Chinese school on the other hand is a bit less fun. For one i’m starting from year 1 for 2 reasons, 1 – to keep my bro company, and 2 – cuz even tho i can speak mando i have no idea how to read or write. For those of you who don’t know year 1 is full of 5-6 year olds… >< so every saturday i sit in the back of the class being awesome, finish my homework in 1 minute then spend the rest of the lesson playing solitaire 😉 .
Planning for our Kiama trip is starting, gotta write a letter to Mrs Grubsy first 😛
Also the design for our yearbook will also start this week, hopefully we’ll recieve them on the last week of school, people going overseas can have someone collect it for them or pick them up next year. We need DESIGNERS for the yearbook. I will post up a rough layout off the yearbook in the common room tommorow and get ppl to volunteer to either design a image or a page, will will be designing the yearbook using Adobe InDesign, photos will be edited and images created using Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator. If you are not that tech savvy just draw/paint it on paper and we can scan it in. EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS! 🙂
This post is getting a bit long so this post WILL be continued at a later date 😉
Ambizzle. Out
Today the MOST unlucky thing that can happen, happened to me. Here’s the scene i’m at a 7-11 inflating my cars tyres because they’re quite flat, so all’s good at this point. I finish inflating the last tyre then i take the air hose and wind it back on the stand thingy, note that i was kneeling down to do this. After winding up the hose i stand and turn 180 degrees in one fluid move that would’ve shamed Michael Jackson, unbeknownst to me that right behind me was a ~1m high metal post. So as i turned and stood, i walked right into that post which conveniently was at crotch height. Now luckly it missed most of ‘me’ and the majority of the impact was on my leg but the post still glanced ‘me’.
I would relate the pain to getting shot or being eaten alive, but seeing that i’ve experienced neither i can’t really make such claims. But it HURT. ALOT.
There were 2 old ladies (in there 70’s i’d say) who saw the incident, then instead of being kind and caring they decided to snicker to each other. I was gonna call them a BEACH!! But i decided not too since they were gonna die soon anyways. 🙂 heehee
As they pain subsided (it took AGES) i saw the comedy of this event, so i took out my phone and took photos of the offending post. Enjoy
Who was the genius who decided to put a SOLID METAL post right next to a air pump!?
The gay, retarded, stupid, heavy duty, white, immovable, metal post.
I’m still recovering from the traumatic ordeal, will update of my condition. (Srsly balls of steel would’ve come in handyy!)
Tommorow, i will be getting a new keyboard YAY! A Logitech G15 :):)
Hope your holidays are full of eating, talking, resting, playing, running, jumping, eating and sleeping!
PS. I just remembered today that our trials test all the stuff we’ve learnt in high school! And i was thinking all i had to study was the current topics we were doing in class. Bugger 😦
Incoherent Rambling 
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