2007, The Journey, The Challenge, The Prize

Well, 2007 is looking to be a year of new beginnings for me... And I am really excited about and open to all events!

On Friday, 16th Feb, I took what was the first of MANY millions of public transport trips into the city to check out my new school (Queensland University of Technology). I am inexperienced in public transport, having only caught the train into the city a handful of times and having not caught a bus since getting my license back in 2001, and so I took my journey into the city with my trusted friend, and new public transport wizz, Brendan.

I arrived at his house at around 9:45, was meant to be there at 10 :) but I was bored at home and keen to get on our way... We took the 10:17 train from Wellington Point station and made our way to South Bank.

Brendan is studying at UQ, which is at St Lucia, so before we went to QUT we had to go and check out UQ. From South Bank we were able to take a bus, which links directly to UQ... and much to my surprise and amazement I learnt that our train ticket which we purchased that morning for $3.90 (yay for student cards) also works on the bus... I had to double and triple check with Brendan that this was correct and he assured me it was. And it worked... That one ticket at the one low price of $3.90 would take me ANYWHERE I wanted to go on that one day from my side of town to the other side of town... I think that is just fantastic!!!

Anyway, so we got to UQ... and had to walk up this massive hill... but at the top of the hill was an amazing sight... The University of Queensland, it is a beautiful place. Classic old buildings, swanky sushi bars, child minding facilities and even its own little pharmacy! I must admit that I was a little jealous... Especially after spending some time/money in the campus lollie shop!! We had a little bit to eat and then went to find out where Bren had to go for orientation. Once we found all that out we were on our way back to South Bank and off to QUT.

The walk from South Bank across the Goodwill bridge over to QUT takes around about 10-15 minutes... depends whether you are on a mission or out for a stroll... and its a nice walk across the river, city views on one side and south bank views on the other. As we arrived at QUT the difference was clear, UQ is VERY posh... :) and VERY well funded! But... I am still in love with QUT. It is smaller, and older looking with less swishy facilities... But it serves its purpose, it has a sweet as little pub/bar ANNNND it has Subway! What more could you want... beer and a sweet onion terryaki sub!!! Bring it on... My favourite part about the uni thus far (only having spent around 20 mins there) would have to be the second hand book shop! What a fantastic idea... You take your used books in, they price them at a set price, put them on the shelf and when they sell, you make some money and so do they. It is a simple and easy way to buy a sell used books and the Student Guild also makes a profit! Brilliant!! I got two of the 3 text books I need and saved around $100 bucks!!

Once we were done buying text books and strolling around we decided to check out the shops in the city... The walk from uni to the city is probably about 10-15 mins again... Unfortunately by the time we made it out of QUT it was lunch time and there were suits EVERYWHERE!! We dawdled around the shops for a bit and looked at some things, Brendo bought some pants... But really the books were very heavy... So we decided to make another date for shopping at Carindale and call it quits for the day.

All in all it was a very exciting day :) and I am really really looking forward to doing uni!!! I have sussed out some different ways to get there, and am thinking of taking the bus instead of the train... But ill trail out a few different options and see what works :)

Tomorrow is my orientation for the Science faculty and then I start classes on Feb 27th... Which also happens to be my 23rd birthday :( Which kinda sucks... but these things happen!!

The Journey = Trying something new
The Challenge = Studying and studying well
The Prize = 'Congratulations on your acceptance into Bachelor of Pharmacy at QUT'

I am ready for this new chapter in my life and I so cant wait for that day in Jan 08 when I receive that notification in the mail.... My goal and dream is totally achievable... I just have to keep focused!!

DREAM, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE

WAHOO... GOAL ATTAINED :D:D

As you all should know by now... I am an avid Texas Hold'em Poker player in the APL... and I have been playing since July last year (2006)... Over that time I have slowly but progressively been getting better with a few top 16 finishes and even a few final tables with 2nds and a 3rd at various stages... but on Wednesday night... at The Grinning Dog Steak House at approximately 10:40pm... I WON MY FIRST EVER GAME OF TEXAS HOLD'EM... :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D I took out a tournament... beating 84 other very talented players and I was soooooooooooooooooo happy that I nearly cried!!!

I don't really remember most of the cards I had that night... But I can tell you that I wasn't going overly strongly until we chipped up to 'sunshine' (thousand dollar chips) I think I had about 5 of them and managed to make those 5 look like 35 when I took my place as the chip leader at the final table!! The second tallest stack was 34 thousand and he and I battled it out as if the other 6 players weren't even there... We were swapping the chip lead back and forth... at one stage when there was only 3 of us left, I made a desperate plea for chips (as I had somehow managed to become short stack) I was big blind and I knew 'Mr Across The Table' was gonna call me no matter what, because he had been the whole time... So I looked down at my little 10 5 off suit and decided to go all in before the flop... and YES he called me... nothing much happened on the flop and I stood up ready to walk away as the turn card didn't look to do me any justice anyway... but that river card... that beautiful wonderful marvelous river card (note - I don't always talk about it so affectionately - it can make or break you) set me up for a straight... which I didn't see and thank goodness little Lukey was paying attention cause I was outta there :P So anyway, good ole 10 5 off suit gives me a straight and a nice little stack of chips... leaving me and my rival fairly even once more... So then I let my rival and 3rd place fight it out over the next few hands... and then it was heads up...

Heads up went for awhile... I don't remember much of it... I was clinging to Drew for dear life and shaking like there was no tomorrow... the adrenaline was going wild, it was a pretty awesome feeling actually!! The one hand I do remember however was when I looked down at 10 5 off suit again... I don't remember which blind I was but I thought MEH... worked last time... So again I was all in pre flop and he called me... I managed to pick up a pair of 5's but they were better then his nothing... This hand was EXTREMELY significant as it left him with ONE chip!!! One chip against my however many hundreds of chips :D hehe But still I was shaking and not convinced I had won... The next few hands just got dealt face up and he actually won a few... but eventually I got dealt pocket 6's and that was enough... That had me holding in my hot little hand my very first beautiful little solid silver ace card protector!! I seriously had to stop myself from crying... I was sooooo sooooo happy... it was such a special moment for me and I'm so glad that I have finally done it :D:D:D

I kinda felt bad for the other guy cause that 2nd is his FOURTH second... and he has never won... But he doesn't really know how to work a final table... not that I do I guess... but I think he would benefit from reading a few tips on how the game changes when its final table and then again when its heads up... but he will get there... he is a quality player :)

w0000000000000000000000000000000000 :D:D So STOKED