Packing adventures.

Yes, I've been lazy. Haven't posted as often as intended. And that book review won't be happening for a while now, heh. So packing is basically all done and now just writing down everything/anything I need to further prepare myself for the trip. Seriously this year, totally not in the feel of going somewhere. Short talk with mum before revealed that maybe it's because I've already had 3 weeks of holidays and have settled into the mood here, so going to HK kinda breaks the mood. And like, previous years, it's usually I finish school and then we head off a couple of days afterwards, so I don't really settle into a holiday as much as this time. Meh. Trying to psyche myself up atm haha.

Well, since I'm going to be away for such a long time, I hope everyone continues to have an awesome holiday whereever you are and whatever you're doing. Wishing you all an uber early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and Chinese New Year (haha) since I most likely won't be able say this to you guys personally. See you all back in February, lol.

*disconnects self from cyberworld, lol*

(I'll be barely contactable via email, but you can try, who knows, I might find something =P Phone is the way to go! I will always be contactable by phone hehe.)

Ouch.

Mashed my thumb into the dishwasher a few days ago and when I press down on it now, it still has that kinda squished hurt/sting feeling. Heh.

Also been mucking around on the piano for an hour or so this morning. Songs with massive chords on one hand and severe arpeggio left hand. My poor hand, abnormally stretched for an extended period of time, lol. Oh well, it was fun, playing songs I like/want to play instead of ones I'm made/have to play. Made me realise once again, though, that I'm really not suited to continuing/restarting my piano anymore because honestly, its physically impossible for my hands. And to have to constantly practice these songs (exam songs too for that matter ... I'm not particularly fond of playing exam pieces ... ) for a long period of time would seriously kill me. I still don't believe the "more practice will stretch you hands" thing as well. Oh, pieces were Utada Hikaru's "Passion" (from Kingdom Hearts 2) and Gackt's "Story" (yes, I still like Gackt ... his older songs anyway)

I realise my titles have no relevance whatsoever to the contents of the blog. Meh.

Dreams are a very weird thing. Like, what is the meaning behind them? Is it something we want/don't want to happen? I woke up this morning remembering that I had a random dream about breaking a massive cup. I was really upset about it and was crying badly and wrapping up the broken pieces with newspaper (favourite cup? o_O; SO WEIRD). And I vaguely remember something of people running away. A while ago I think I had a dream about having a massive argument with someone (can't remember who) and I woke up fully weirded out - I don't really argue with friends. Last year I had a dream about the whole school flunking QCS but then in the end all was good. That was super weird, maybe it was just me in exam mode and worrying about everything. So weird ....

On the other hand, holidays. They have been pretty normal I guess. The usual things I'd get up to whenever such things come around. More chores, cook stuff(less so though ...), read, origami, work (yay! 'cept the store has been kinda dead and orders severely decreased due to the financial problem), going out for movies/to bum, clean up my endlessly messy room, continue to imagine/design my "ideal room" knowing it won't happen (lol). Very general overview of holidays so far, I can't be bothered going into anything more deep and meaningful. Not in the mood, how suitable to the weather atm, heh.
Some photos:

Takoyaki Arrangement 1


Takoyaki Arrangement 2


Gingerbread Menz!


=D


Bulgogi with flat potato noodles


Teh sky!


More sky

Anyways, hope everyone currently on holidays overseas are safe and having fun. Those that are going to be heading off ... have fun and stay safe as well!

1 more week til HK for me. Hmm ... I'm half psyched up for it.

One more book in the "Twilight" series to read. Then I might do a semi rant about it, haha. I think I'm biased. This is such a typical story - typical in the way that there's all different typical elements thrown together to make up the one. But I'll leave that til next post after I finish reading the last book =P And contrary to popular (girls) view ... I do not love Edward Cullen, lol.

Novels.

For those who didn't know, reading novels was a favourite past time of mine. I was a serious bookworm. Then high school set in and I began to read less ... and less ... and well, you get the idea. That's how I think of it anyway. It could be due to the fact that I couldn't seem to find many books of interest to me in the libraries or the fact that my trips to the library have decreased as well.

I'm pretty disappointed at myself in the fact that I haven't been regularly reading books or slowly immersing myself back into my old habits. Because of that, I've found that my reading pace has seriously decreased and words don't really sit for long in my brain. My hearing abilities and retaining the heard information has also decreased as well, but I'm not sure that that's really related. But eh.

So it's been a long time since I've picked up some kinda of proper reading material. Something enjoyable, that'll sustain my interest and preferably in series form (because I don't really like reading single books unless the blurb sounds vaguely interesting). I mean, right now I'm going through "A Purpose Driven Life" all over again and yes that is really enjoyable, interest sustaining and even better, thought inducing ... but it's not really "novel" material.

So! Since my sister purchased the whole series of Stephanie Meyer's 'Twilight' series and to which they magically appeared on my bookshelf (not =P), and because there's such a massive craze about it ... I have decided to start on this 4 book series and find out just what it is that's so interesting about it. I mean, vampire love story ... I'm sure there's other stories out there like that (ie. Vampire Knight ... but who knows, that's an anime) And then the whole girls going crazy of Edward Cullen thing. And then the fact that the 'Twilight' movie is coming out soon or later ... don't get it.

But I guess I'll find out soon from reading it. Maybe this will be something 'entertaining' for me to do for the next week or so depending on how fast I read. And also, I (for once) will be a good girl and not read the last few pages of the novel before flipping back to the front and start reading it. Heh ...


On the other hand ... holidays are here! (since a week ago though... but I haven't updated since) And the weather is so munted! And eating cheese fondue is such a funny experience XD

I'll try update more tomorrow and more regularly before I detach myself from the cyberworld in about 2 weeks for about 2 months ._.

One more to go ...

Concentration and motivation levels are waning but luckily still there. Let's hope it sustains itself til Monday.

SWOTVAC and exam period (so far) for this semester has been going pretty well. In my perspective anyways, and in comparison with what my studying habits and whatnot were like last semester (eg. procrastinating all swotvac and starting to study 2/3 days before each exam because yes, they were that spaced out.) This time it was like (mostly) studying every day when I was at uni (SLC whiteboards are good for studying law LOL whee), and uh, half studying when at home because I was either procrastinating *cough* or melting in heat and didn't want to move/think. Overall, I will say that I study better at uni, whether it's the whole "everyone's studying" feel that makes me work or the lack of distracting things around me. Having a good balance of study time, food time, and talk time has also proven to be a very worthy method for me. Better make sure that I continue (to some extent) studying like this in the next 2 years otherwise I'm gonna find myself at home procrastinating big time and not doing things very effectively and just ... eating o_o;

Chocolate is good.

Especially Whittakers Dark Ghana.

=D



Ok ok, I'll find something more worthy to post here other than my study life in the last 2 weeks, lol.

I can't think of anything.

I have some more bus stories but I don't think I'm gonna bore everyone with stuff like that again since it's not the most interesting thing to talk about. There was just an awesomely nice lady bus driver a couple of weeks ago and the driver of this bus I regularly catch isn't the agro man I thought he would be, he's actually quite nice. So those two things make me feel very "gum dong" haha. And some bus drivers are really silly. Like, having the aircon on full blast, making the bus feel like a refrigerator on a rainy/cool/shady day *shivers*.

Music is good. I spent the whole of last night just listening to music after I borrowed out a stack of CDs from the local library. Semi-old stuff. Just makes me think how nice it would be to listen back to the songs I liked way back in primary school. Anyways, methinks I'm on a music spree/expedition atm. Trying to find all the stuff that I really like and finding place to get them legally so that I can get rid of my illegal stuff just because it's making me feel really bad. I guess I've always felt guilty about it (since all the sites were like "Support the artists and purchase their music!") but I just feel more so lately so I'm motivated to actually take proper action. And also because I know some other friends are doing that too. But thinking back, I remember how good it felt so good to get the "real thing" as opposed to downloading it. Hm, getting the english music is alright, just the asian music is kinda harder. Maybe I should stop listening to it? But nuu ...

Holidays are drawing near and I reckon before I know it, I'll be in HK ... and away from here for a whole 2 months and a bit. For some reason, my urge to go to HK this year isn't as "extreme" as previous times. I don't know why (or maybe I do). Maybe it's the fact that it's 2 months ... as opposed to a little less than a month in previous times. Or maybe it's the prospect that I'll be getting some work experience (I think/hopefully) and that I am torn between wanting to and not wanting to. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm not gonna be able to see my friends for such a long time (I've found that I'm quite "attached"/rely on my friends quite a lot). Or maybe it's just that I have this inner feeling that there's unknown something I have to do here over the holidays. I DON'T KNOW. Whatever it is, HK is still definitely happening and I'm definitely looking forward to it. But yeah, I just ... don't know o_O;;;

Hm ... was reading back to my early early posts and I just realised how lame some of them were. And how much my english sucked. And the amount of "..." I used to link my sentences. You know ... like this ... so things aren't like ... really written in sentences ... and so it's just all linked together type thing.
How life has changed over all these years.

Eeh ok... I'll stop procrastinating. I foresee some "Get back to work!!! -_-" thrown at me.

Freecell is fun XD

Things that can happen in a car.

Me: Hey what's that constant beeping sound, it's coming from the back of the car ...

Mum: Maybe your sis is pressing some kinda button

Me: *checks* No ... she's sound asleep. Argh! Where's the beeping sound coming from?! It's getting louder!!

Mum: Just check around the car or something ...

Me:It's still getting louder ...

[...you know your car needs repairing when ... *beeping abruptly stops*]

Me: omgsh, you serious?! It was the radio ....

Mum: HAHA ... radio technology these days ... or maybe it's because you transferred half the sound to the back


sigh ....

Making friends

Started off being invited to a friend's youth night, me thinking about, and deciding not to go on the basis that I didn't really know people there all that well (except a select few) and that I always feel out of the "circle" (not that it really concerns me) each time I randomly go ... probably cuz I'm not much of a conversationalist and just usually talk to those who I know or approach me otherwise, I always just stand around and observe ... and laugh, lol. Either way, in response to my decision/statement, I get a "Well, have you ever tried talking/getting to know the others better?"

That question/statement made me think about the whole concept of "making friends" quite a bit. And honestly, after all that, I think I kind of concluded that no, I don't really make friends o_o; and in relation to that statement, no, I haven't really tried talking more to/getting to know the others better. I've found (I think) that most of my friends that I have right now are the ones that started "the" conversation with me and then I started talking and then friendships develop from there and whatnot. What's more is that I don't think I've ever done (or majorly attempted) that myself. Except for one person, which I (unkindly) ditched shortly after saying hi during first day at school (LOL, soz if you ever read this =P) and then somehow something happened (probably she started talking to me) and then we became friends (and yes, this is the sole case I remember cuz it left a very big impression in the fact that I felt super bad for ditching her). Other than that, mentally going through my list of few friends =P I've found that most are the ones that've talked to me at the beginning and not me talking to them ...

... which is kinda sad >_>; ...

This also makes me think of the whole "catching up" with friends-I-have-not-seen-in-however-long and generally talking with friends I regularly see. Earlier in the week, I met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen for a quite a couple of months ... since March actually. Kinda awkward at first (no offense) but then after initial "Hi's" and "Haven't seen you in so long!" conversation lapsed to the usual "How's uni/life/family/general interests or hobbies going" conversation. Obviously, talk like that can only last so long. Insert periodic awkwardness. Eventually, time lapsed by and we both had to head back to uni/classes. And so that was the end of our chummy time...

It really annoys me that I can't get stereotypical conversations out of my system. Each time I do it, I mentally kick myself but you know, I think "at least it's conversation, better than silence or something." Sometimes I feel like I need a "friend manual" or "how to make conversation manual" ... ok, that sounds fully dodge. Point is, I don't seem to be able or have the skill to make "decent" conversation ... sigh.

So this point makes me think about the friends I regularly encounter/talk to. Even them, conversation doesn't change much except for a few varying factors. Some I have more things to talk to/about, some less so/normal/boring talk. Also, the more that I think about it, it's usually them asking some questions and me answering, throwing back a few questions periodically. Or there's the "telling stories" times (ie. funny/weird/random stuff that's happened in the day/lately) and whatnot ... then again, I guess that's general/usual conversation with friends.

... ok, I don't know what exact point I'm trying to make anymore. Probably just simply, I fail at making friends? lol ...

... makes me understand how people get their first impressions of me. Most popular ones being: mean, cold, unfriendly, too serious, blank, up-myself outlook.

Should change that ...

Human Behaviour.

Go into a shop, try on things, don't like it, leave things lying around/throw back randomly on shelves, expect that someone will clean up after you/will put things back to its orderly look.

The older of the younger generation appear to be more well mannered than the younger. In this case (my observations), Japanese girls in their early 20s are more polite, well mannered and represent their culture more so than the younger Japanese girls.

Calling up to abuse someone of the whereabouts of their goods because they have not bothered to search for it. Upon finding the goods where they are supposed to be (and probably feeling embarrassed about it), have no courtesy to call back and inform the other party about the fortunate turn of events. Meanwhile, others are stressing away to ensure that the (previously) unfortunate situation is amended asap.

Being inconsiderate on the bus. We all need to get home, you should at least cooperate with everyone and move as far into the bus as possible so people can get on the bus and get home and not need to wait for however much longer for the next bus which could potentially be full as well. Sigh.

Being kind on the bus. Something I admire. Like, seeing the aged/mature/handicapped and taking the initiative and get up and offer them a seat. Like, being aware of (certain) situations around the bus and offer input (taking the correct bus, getting to a certain place). Like, stopping the bus (drivers) when you see someone running for the bus and not just take off.

General kindness and concern for others. For other friends. Doing things at the right time. Thank you.

Two Months

Two months

... of my thoughts and things to share. This is how my attempt started in MS Word a bit over a month ago...

Time for some serious blogging ...
... because someone told me to do so a couple of weeks ago and I suddenly felt compelled to take action now (finally?) at 1am on a Sunday morning just cuz I'm not tired enough to sleep yet. Somehow I predict that this’ll take a couple of days to finish ...
For the past several months, life has been particularly challenging, eventful(?) and deep thought inducing. On too many occasions have certain things/situations been thrown at me, relationships with some people going haywire/not to my liking, too many things happening around me that shouldn’t affect me have been indirectly affecting me, constant questioning and self reflection on my walk with Christ, getting annoyed at myself for my own behaviour, getting annoyed at others for their behaviour (which I really shouldn’t)... and the list goes on. This is starting to sound like a rant entry ...

... and so it did, 2 pages later. Yes it did turn out to be a rant entry (it just went on and on and on and then I fell asleep at the end), but no one is ever going to see that now. Trying to share a whole month’s (or more) worth of things at one in the morning is no good. And since my multiple attempts since then haven’t worked well, I’ve concluded that I won’t get anywhere with detail ... so I’m just going to keep it simple/to a minimum. Ask if highly curious (emphasis on highly), otherwise, don’t?

Holidays
So, the semester continues on. Honestly, I have fully wasted this week of break time that’s been given to me (uni study wise). I’m really annoyed at myself. What annoys me even more is the fact that it’s not the first time. It’s like a constant reminder that I’m not actively doing anything to change this bad habit of mine. Procrastinating, constant mindset that I still have time to complete what I need to do at a later date ... the problem of knowing but not doing. On the other hand, this week long break has given me the opportunity for some good me time (which I really needed) and the chance to catch up on some of the non-uni related things I needed to do (unfortunately, not all done). I guess I’m just in conflict on whether I used my break time wisely or not. Either way, I’m happy that there actually was a break.

Uni
University life, I could say, has been a major downfall for me. Work and study has been kept to a minimum not matter how hard I’ve tried. My laziness is pretty bad right now and my motivation is nearly all out the door. I’ve totally lost my work ethic. I used to think I was able to complete things on time and have somewhat of an orderly/organised feel about my life. Now, that’s just far from it. I wish I had as much willpower as I had during high school, or as much as I believed to have had back then. I’m really disappointed in myself about that. I feel that I’ve become a major disappointment; to myself especially, to family and to close friends (whether they know it or not). I feel that I have worsened as a person and that my behaviour and attitude should be given a big smack on the head (if it had one… or maybe someone should just literally smack me on the head). Too many times have I done something, thinking it was the proper thing to do but then upon reflecting upon the actions later, decided that it was probably the worst/most stupidest thing I could’ve done given the situation. I really hate myself for that. And the fact that it continually happens ... again… and again… and again… and you get the idea.

General life and everything else
(ie. all my random thoughts ... no paragraphs from this point onwards are logically linked)
Time is a bum.

Procrastination is bad. Not that I didn’t know that already.

My memory is getting progressively worse ...

Life is one huge rollercoaster ride experience or a puzzle board. (yes I know, very cliche, shush). There’s the bits where you get a big kick out of it (past few months: Church camps – EMP and BLT), there’s the bits where things just continually seem to be at a loss (down time in life) and there’s the bits that are normal (everything else I guess). Then you know, there’s the bits that don’t make sense but after you piece it all together, you get the bigger picture and voila! everything makes sense. There’s just so many things constantly nagging at me right now, most of the time, I just feel in a total loss of what to do next. I guess what’s important is that I’m gradually and slowly learning from it (I think).

Why do all big things happen at the end of the year? Grr ...

Things I’ve absorbed from EMP and BLT are constantly nagging me each day like someone constantly whacking you over the head with a pillow (or a book sometimes ... but that really hurts) or a kid that constantly tugs at your sleeve or the dust that is increasingly accumulating over my table or the ... ok I’ll stop.

Chocolate buffet in the city ... methinks I won’t be eating large amounts of chocolate for quite a while.

So many people are getting married lately, what’s with that?

Never third wheel unless needed ... otherwise avoid it whenever possible ...

Kids these days ... *no comment*

I want to watch some good horror/scary movies ...

In response to a news report about a guy handicapped after a night out with friends – why are people so agro and feel the need to waste themselves and vent it out on other human beings and potentially (in this case, literally) putting the lives of others at risk. What’s the point?

The song by Lifehouse, “Everything” and its accompanying drama is something that should be seen by anyone who hasn’t heard of the gospel. So silly of me, I kept wondering why I kept seeing it at various different places.

Rawr. I dislike the human behaviour of assumption and all its related things ... so bothersome. And fine, I’ll admit that I do it too, but just not in certain areas.

Radio has been on at work lately. So sick of the fact that radio stations choose to play the same songs over and over and over and over again when they have a choice of so many other songs to broadcast. On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago, the radio hosts had an interesting discussion between themselves and with the public on the topic of "Goals in Life". Typically, it started off with the usual studying hard out at school to enable yourself to enter a pro university so you can study the course you've planned to do since whenever, graduate from your studies after how many years, get your dream job, settle down, etcetc, and then all is good.
But is it really? Obviously, that’s how the discussion part came about. Most who called in were basically complaining - saying how their lives have unfortunately not worked out the way they’ve planned to; having a "defined" goal/path to success/life mapped out for themselves, but upon reaching that goal, they found that it wasn’t all that satisfying and felt that they were just stuck in the environment they landed themselves in from their area or studies. They felt unable to escape from it or progress to a further/higher stage.
In short (because it’s nearly 2am and I think I should be getting some sleep since uni is tomorrow and law lectures aren’t exactly the most interesting things I want to listen to), life isn’t all about ourselves and fulfilling our own desires, it’s about God. God created us so that we can serve Him and please Him. Reading "A Purpose Driven Life" once again has made me think about and explore such concepts in more depth (this topic was discussed in the 2nd chapter or something) on a different level than 5/6 years ago... I’m glad I dug this book out after all these years. It really sheds some light on a lot of things.

Sleep.

For those who read to the end, you’re crazy.

When it's the holidays ...

During dinner:

Sis: There is like, hardly any meat on those ribs. I bet if you take away all the bone, you'd only be left with this little section of meat ... Where do the ribs come from anyway?
Me: You know, that is a very good question ... one that I don't have an answer for ...
Sis: It's probably from a cow or something
Mum: ...
Me: Yeah I think so .. honey BBQ ribs
Mum: Er .. Honey BBQ -PORK- Ribs ...
Me: So yeah ... cow. Oh wait, pig ... haha >_>


...

ULTIMATE FAIL

x_x

Photo Time.

Thought I didn't archive properly before lol, nearly freaked, but realised the site was just slow at uploading everything.
Anyways.
Been a while since I've properly updated, as many people have pointed out. I promise I'll do it. If not, you can whack me on the head for totally wasting my time, because, I have a whole week of holidays and that provides me with more than sufficient time to do a proper update. The proper update should also come with a new layout which I've been telling myself to fix. Ha.

In the meantime, photo time! I was just going through and renaming my photo folders before and decided that I will actually post them up today as opposed to all those other times that I've wanted to. So, have fun looking at the photos? I guess you could also say that this is a super simplified version of what's been happening in my life since last decent update.

Foodwise (mostly) ...
LOL.

Home dinner varieties:

Mum's Tex Mex wrap with salad and pumpkin soup


Roast turkey with creamy potato bake and salad

Vonnie's 21st Party:

YUM! Now let's take a closer look ...


The awesomely cute cake.


Strawberry Cheesecake. Yum.


Red Bean Pancake =D


Wendy's Custard Fruit Flan (so pretty!)


Till this day, I'm still not too sure what it is. Mocha mousse of some sort.

Father's Day:

hehehe ...


Red bean pudding and other (not sure of english name)


Peach and strawberry pastry


hey, this looks familiar =P


"omgsh, it's so cute! who made it?" "Sara Lee made it" XD

The Salad Man (aka. my lunch today):

Yummy ..


rawrawr *makes a mess*


Sad Salad Man


Happy Salad Man


Salad Man with a moustache

Okok ... I'll stop haha. Need to go do some housework lol. I might continue with a bit more later.

And just to end off...

... silly China goods.