Grand Prix

UniLodge F1 Grand Prix 2010

It comes only once a year and it’s known as one of the best races in the world! Yes, the grand prix was here and thanks to Ainsley and the Community Spirit program, it was one of the greatest events to attend.

Despite being on a very short notice, we managed to have a good turnout to witness one of the most spectacular races of formula 1. The residents of Unilodge were very punctual to meet up at D1 before we headed to Albert Park. After lots of photos courtesy of our favourite receptionist, Haozhen, we made our way to the venue via tram. It definitely was a task keeping everyone together considering the numerous distractions of amazing rides, mini car and the V8 super cars challenges occurring one after the other and nobody was willing to miss any action.

After finding a good spot to catch all the action, everyone was free to disperse and wander around. It was good exercise too, walking around the park looking for the perfect location! What more could we have asked for... there was plenty of food, good music, revving engines and a chance to see all the famous drivers and cars under one roof, not forgetting the amazing air show and the remarkable Qantas A380 jet.

The race started at 5pm and went on for about 120 minutes. Was perfect weather too as it wasn’t too hot but did rain here and there which kept the temperature down and provided some hope for crashes and possibly more action! Everyone was exhausted at the end of the day and decided to leave after the race but I stayed back to watch the concert which was simply amazing. Tram ride back was very exiting too talking about the event and making new friends. For those who haven’t been to the grand prix before, I’ll just say one thing...it is definitely worth the noise (not to worry, as ear plugs are catered for!).

Till we meet again,
Cheers!
Komal (RA-D1)

Australia's got tallent!

There we were in the Arts centre, eighteen of us. Excitement was in the air as everyone waited impatiently for the Talent show to commence. The waiting area was jam-packed with hundreds of people chatting amongst themselves in high spirits. The anticipation pervading the entire congregation of people was highly contagious.

Then, the entrance door finally opened.. It was almost like a split second where everyone just miraculously teleported towards the door. Waves of people began swarming into the open door as we were helplessly swept along with them. Before we knew it, we were already inside the hall searching frantically for seats. The seats on the ground level were taken up at a phenomenal speed, however we were still fortunate to find some seats on the 2nd level.
It was 1.30pm and everyone was comfortably in their seats, yet the judges were nowhere to be seen. The show was suppose to start at 1 pm. It was just at the point where murmurs began spreading across the hall when a comedian named Dave appeared. He entertained us with his humorous jokes and his stunts which revolved around his horrendously sagging beer belly. We had a great time as he kept us entertained for almost an hour; laughter inundated the entire floor. Yet, Dave was not any of the talents performing that day. In fact, he was just buying time for the operation team to put everything in place and also to guide us along with a training session.

It was indeed a really interesting experience as we had the opportunity to witness how it works behind the scenes. The training session involved us practicing different acting schemes. There was one particular session where we had to laugh out as hard as we could after Dave muttered a single word (which wasn’t supposed to be funny). We practiced expressions of astonishment, horror and all sorts of reaction that audiences could get from a performance. All these footages were captured by the cameraman and I presume they are used to generate the effect the director want the show to be. We were thinking to ourselves that tv show producers can actually be really cunning at times...lol.

Finally, after almost an hour of waiting the talent show started; it was about 2.30pm then. Unfortunately, we had to leave after watching about 5 performances as each took up about 20 mins (including both the performance itself and the judges commenting on their performances). One particular performance which left a great impression on me was a duet performed by a father and son. They played their guitar beautifully and their voice felt like silk. Everyone was cheering them on with so much passion for we were truly witnessing an immense talent on stage.
The climax of the show arrived when one of the judges commented that he preferred the son to sing alone, and the idea of a duet with his father was not a good one. This meant that the father may have to leave, and make no mistake; the father was a darn good singer. Fortunately, and to our greatest relief, the judges reached a consensus and decided to give both the son and father a chance to sing alone. The final outcome was heart-warming as both father and son made it to the next round with their impeccable performances and their genuine singing. It was truly a sight to behold.

All in all, this experience has broadened our horizons tremendously. We had a much better idea of how it’s like being an audience watching a show live, and at the same time, it has cleared many of the misconceptions that we held previously. It took us more than 2 hours to watch just close to 5 performances; it was certainly quite draining both mentally and physically. Nonetheless, the whole experience was rewarding as nothing beats the opportunity of coming so close to the judges and contestants (of immense talents) and to see your cheers and words of encouragement heard and felt by them. It was a trip well made and an experience truly unique on its own. I had fun, real fun! ;-)

Richard Liman (RA)

Welcome BBQ 2010

My name is Suhain (the tall one in the middle not looking at the camera) and I moved to UniLodge from Sri Lanka in February this year and because I enjoyed the BBQ I was asked to write an article for the blog.

To me, UniLodge of Melbourne is one of the greatest places you could ever imagine living in, due to the fact that all of your friends are together and all of their joyful events...such as BBQ's etc. The BBQ in March was a fantastic way to start off the year, because you get great food and also you get to meet a whole heap of wonderful new people from all over the world. The BBQ not only had heaps of food, but a DJ as well!


And don't forget the staff. The Staff is always there for you 24/7, which you don't get in most places. Even at 3.00am there'll be someone, so you have nothing to worry about little things, like getting locked out of your room...cause the RA would most definitely help you get in and also if you get sick someone will be there to help or even call an ambulance, including all of the friendly residents. Here are 4 of the RA's, from the left there is Jude, Richad, Sam and Budi!



The UniLodge, makes you want to love life at University due to the fact that peoples study and social lives are being well balanced, cause you need to socialize as well as study to have a quality Uni life...


Suhain Yaseen.