hikari*

Sunday, November 30, 2008Y

30 November 2008.

In exactly one month I will be a 22 year old.

Having your birthday on the very last day of the year is somewhat of a bittersweet thing.

Pros:

- Fireworks everywhere just for New Years Eve and Me :-)
- Always a holiday :-) :-)

- Hard to be forgotten by others :-) :-) :-)

- Special dinners/ buffets/ shows everywhere :-) :-) :-) :-)

Cons:

- Celebration with friends take place late after them spending time with family first

- Usually friends are on vacation somewhere else

- Have to watch everyone's birthdays go by before yours

- Having their birthdays already, everyone starts pondering about aging one more year even before I reached that age and includes me in. E.g. "We are turning 23 next year, oh gosh" "I am not even 21 yet!!" (August, 2008).

I have been asked this question before: "Do you think birthdays are very special?"

Answer: "YES" with rigorous nodding of head, maximizing of eyes in disbelief, slight frowning, blood rushing through my body, heart pumping like mad, hands in tight fists, adrenaline rising sky-high and gigantic voice exploding outta my body- kind of "YES"!!!

Is there any reason for it to not be? Birthday - the day you were born into this world - given life - as a hope to others. Your birthday signifies the creation of countless fateful coincidences and natural forces - that is you. It acts as milestones, or rather chapters, marking your journey through life and the story you forged. The fact you met with every milestone or completed another chapter in life, is more than celebration-worthy, isn't it?

I love celebrations - people getting together to appreciate a common thing or even you alone appreciating something you alone know of. Not forgetting the accompanying laughter, fun, surprises, food, desserts, dressing up. . . *dreams away*

My family and I love celebrating - all birthdays, Mother's Father's Days, New Year, parent's wedding anniversary. It keeps the connection between us strong and fills our days with anticipation. It is very important to know how to appreciate the others and to share something in common.

Of course there are other families that do not really celebrate much but still are stronger as ever as a family, but to me, celebrations of little things are just important and to a certain extent, essential - to make me feel appreciated and reinforce what I am sharing with the other party.

So, despite aging on every 31st December, I look forward to it - anticipating what is in store, who will be there, when the greetings will come, where it will take place, how happy I will be :-)

So coming December:

5th - Reunion with coursemates.

6th - Glyniss arriving.

7th~14th - Various shopping, dinner with Eric (now he knows about this), maybe beach?

15th - Parents, Sister and cousin arriving (Hopefully Bro and Sis Leena as well)
18th - Graduation Day! ! ! ! !

22nd - Dad's Birthday celebration

23rd - Off to Gold Coast

24th - DreamWorld with everyone!

25th - Christmas celebration.

26th - Boxing Day sales?

28th - BAck to Melby with Mum and Sis.

31ST - EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE DAY! :-)

As of now, I am still preparing my wishlist, so please be patient alrite?

Picture of me during my 18th Birthday in Sandakan after being sprayed with something sticky and colourful by some friends who turned up at home to surprise me.

My 20th Birthday celebrated with family in Sandakan, grandmas and grandpa the whole clan! . .

. . .then with friends at the one and only karaoke in Sandakan!

The very first surprise for my 21st birthday last year with Elaine and KAngNing in RedBox Sunway Pyramid!

The Haagen Dazs cake for my 21st Birthday :-)

And as always, a healthy dose of fireworks.

indulged at 11:04 AM

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Friday, November 28, 2008Y

Surprise!

Small surprises have been coming day after day to excite-up my mundane days. (All the happy-fying words are rainbow-coloured in this entry but do not let it fool you into believeing that I am very free, I mean FREE.)

*****

On Wednesday, I approached an unexpected ring on my doorbell with suspicion only to receive this bundle of joy!

Have wild guess here, folks :-)

My Testamur for my Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology) *tears of joy, no snot, a picture of perfection* After waiting for a month and bombarding the Graduation department with emails of why, where, when, what, how - my first ever Testamur is finally here safely . . . still inside the Tube :-)

*****

On Thursday (yesterday), I got a MAJOR SURPRISE. No joke my friend, this is one so bizarre that it would take the cooperation of all forces of nature to make it happen. I hope somewhere in your memory (although I totally understand if you would rather retain that little memory space for something more useful like Pokemon names), you remember my fired up Golden Phoenix Quest to challenge my physical strength. So I was all motivated and ready to go work it out in the gym.

After publishing said post, it started raining. Never mind, a little rain won't stop me!

Then it became a hailstorm. I am sure it will stop very soon!

Then Ray offered to drive us to the gym. The rain cannot go against my will!

Chilly weather making me hungry. Eat a banana!

Lightning and thunder. Umbrella set!

Arrived in the gym and worked out for 2 minutes. . . .then the fire alarm went off. Evacuation warnings ensued. Everyone vacated the gym. Repeated the process of running to the car in the rain and back at home in 20 mins. *stoned expression* This was a complete surprise.

Oh and not forgetting, the results were out yesterday and 18th December will officially be my graduation day :-) I hope lotsa people will come!

*****

Today, after an intense gym session (which I will relate later), I came home to a blue envelope addressed to me. I have never received a personal letter, mail or whatnot in the mailbox before, save the time Mum sent me a bookmark. Despite knowing who it was from, I impatiently opened the envelope - ripped the envelope a bit due to my extreme muscles developed earlier in the gym *smug look*

A card from my Brother. How sweet of him - I was just complaining to him through email (kedekut until didn't want to spend sms credit on him!) about being slightly stressed muahaha and now I got this. Maybe I should complain more :-)

I have always refered to him as my Brother, and most people do think I have a brother but in truth, he is my cousin. But cousin or brother, they are just 'titles'. I have never seen him as less than a brother, so why let a mere title or biological-whatnot affect it?

It is great to have really close knit family. A necessity in life. A treasure never to be taken for granted. Speaking of which, I had a horrible dream about my Sis the other night. We were at some kind of formal function and instead of a manicure or pedicure, she had a denticure! A self-created word - denticure: imagine pedicure but on your teeth. The image of her showing me her teeth, ape-style, with black linings and beads and glitter and crystals on them, still vivid and still creepy. Surprisingly the Me in my dream, treated it as a normal thing! The conversation was something like this:

Sis: I think black is not a good colour rite?

Me: Yeah, made you teeth look like very, dirty only.

Sis: Yeah and I should not have asked for the beads and crystrals, it looks a bit too much and shiny rite?

Me: Yeah lo. Like too much going on in your mouth.

*****

More on Today - What a surprise! It is Cik Melissa Chong punya birthday!

*****

More more on Today!

A review of my 10km quest in the gym:

3.13 km on the Xtrainer.

4.25 km on the Treadmill.

6 km on the stationary bike discounted to 3 km seeing how cycling is almost twice as fast as walking.

A grand total of: 10.38 km!

*Victory chant*

*****

Seeing the comment from Cloud in my chatbox reminded me of this small incident in Sydney which I was kinda reluctant to relay at first *ahem* cos I am not an otaku, you see *ahem*.

Manly Ray was in the toilet when I saw this in a candy show near Darling Harbour and dashed into the store to check it out, only to heave a sigh of relief and cursing my developing otaku-ness.

I saw this and thought it was a can of Banora apples. *bites lips*

For your information, Banora White Apple Juice cans, as seen above, is quite a 'big' part of the game Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. So, er, well. . . it does look alike, doesn't it!?

Not my fault~!

*****

Anyway, after a happy session of blogging now I am wondering what surprises are there in store for me tomorrow.

True enough, everyday is a gift and surprises are everywhere if we are kind enough to know how to appreciate small, simple things in life.

indulged at 3:05 PM

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Thursday, November 27, 2008Y

Girls girls girls

A wise friend of mine once said that: "Girls can be of three categories: Beautiful, Cute or Special. Beautiful is self explanatory, Cute is for the moderate ones while Special is for 'special occassions' or 'hard-to-put-in-words' cases".

Another friend of mine dislikes being labelled 'cute' due to the literal meaning of this word being 'ugly but adorable'.

Personally, I believe there are no 'special' or 'ugly' girls.
Only Lazy girls and Hardworking girls.

Let us evaluate this step by step, by matching the most common so-called ugly factors with the solutions out there.

1) FAT

Although not all of us are blessed with the perfect bone structure, a high metabolism, a natural love for healthy food or the genes for the ideal proportions, surely one can't blame every little bit of fat on their body the cruel result of fate. Take this scenario: One drools away/ goes green with envy/ curses the bikini clad *insert bad name* cruising along the beach:

Lazy Girl: So unfair (bites ice cream). I wish I had her genes (drinks hot chocolate) and metabolism (tears off a drumstick from a whole chicken).

Hardworking Girl: That is a lot of hard work in the gym and taking care of herself!

Lazy Girl: No matter how much I exercise, I won't get that body (chokes a bit on Coke). Why should I do it? Waste my time and effort, and waiting to get disappointed only (accidentally bit own hand).

Hardworking Girl: 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training tomorrow! Might not get a body as hot as hers but oh well, I can carve hotness out of what I have got!

Lazy Girl: Rainy day how to go jogging? Gym so far so inconvenient.

Hardworking Girl: Rainy day will just have to stretch about at home. Gym so far better grab some friends to go together or take my mp3 player with me.

From the Miss Bikini's point of view, if she is indeed a Lazy Girl blessed with such un-fatness - watch her become Miss Balloon damn soon.

2) Cosmetics

Dark circles, pimple scars, wrinkles, acne. What else is new? So again, to be blamed on the series of unfortunate teenage hormonal events or eroding effect of time? And don't get started on genes again. Okay, some of us are born with it and if you can accept these so-called imperfections and be at peace or proud of it, good on ya!! But point is, if you are so disatisfied with it, is there really nothing that you could do about it?

Lazy Girl: Yer, I hate my pimple scars, and my crows feet near the edge of my left eye, and the bushy eyebrows, and my dark circles! Why why why??? (Continues watching Heroes while scratching her belly)

Hardworking Girl: Dark circles - cucumber mask time and investment on some eye cream. Wrinkles! - Should eat more antioxidant loaded food and maybe massage my face properly. Pimples - pimple cream and drink more water (never mind the more frequent toilet trips).

Lazy Girl: Cosmetics - don't even know whether they work or not, waste time and money only. Be so vain for what!

Hardworking Girl: Sure, none of my eye creams seem to give significant effects but hey, I might be more panda-fied had I not used it! If I want to look good, I must make some efforts!

I really believe that little things you do such as moisturizing your skin, exfoliating more often and massaging your skin gently can do wonders in the long run. Pimple scars cannot be totally removed but pimple scars on moisturized skin surely look better and such taking care of skin can prevent more pimpple scars in the future!

3) Make up

Girls sometimes face conflicts when it comes to make up. The Schools of Thought being: Artificial vs Natural. My take is: Why So Serious? From a more simplified point of view, applying make up is just - fun. And it makes you look better so what is the harm?

Lazy Girl: So kasihan apply make up everyday for what. Who am I trying to impress or more like why should I impress them? (Breathes fire)

Hardworking Girl: Why the PMS take on make up? What is the harm of beautifying yourself, changing your look or enhancing your natural assets? And hello (!!) what century is this - make up is not just to impress others, do it for the love of yourself, girls!

Lazy Girl: But to spend hours in front of the mirror and with all those 'tools'! Such a waste of time and money and effort.

Hardworking Girl: The time, money and effort needed depend on the quality and *ahem* thickness of the make up you want. A common, au naturel everyday make up will take an average of less than 10 minutes which is the time you take to complain about putting on make up.

*******

So the final verdict is:

Don't complain about your disatisfactions or blame them on other innocent factors if you are not gonna do anything about them!

Stop conflicting with your interests e.g. wanting to look prettier but at the same time opposing the mainstream or fearing others will label you as desperate. Come on, who doesn't wanna look good? Be honest with yourself!

I am proud to say that I am a moderately Hardworking Girl! I worry about getting fat, cringes at the sight of my pimple scars sometimes and enjoy seeing my eyes stand out after a quick dash of mascara :-) I do not push myself to the gym unless I feel extremely bloated and sluggish. I go to the gym cause I enjoy sweating out to de-stress and seeing the positive effects on my health. I apply cosmetics cause I believe in taking good care of my skin.

I love to get doll-ed up.
I enjoy seeing myself looking fresh and good.
I like the feeling of clean and pampered skin.

I am just a girly girl despite the Naruto, Final Fantasy, Playstation, etc.

***********

I am currently quite free and am thinking of challenging my body. As all readers would have known, I am still on my quest to getting a bikini body since year. . .2003, just 5 years ago. And worse still, Miss Glyniss is yapping about going to a beach together once she touches down in Melbourne on the 6th of December, just 10 days away.

So I have been challenging myself physically e.g., crazy stuffs like running (RUNNING) 10 km and so on. (It is crazy for me okay!)

Seeing how freeeeeeeee I am right now, I am open to suggestions from my kind friends as part of my Quest.

Let us call it 'The Quest of the Golden Phoenix'.

indulged at 3:13 PM

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008Y

Danger - too much inspiration for your own good.

I just passed another subject yesterday and another 3 more to go - due to be revealed this coming Friday. Despite so, I have been immersing myself in the infamous and over-rated or under-rated (i wonder) post-graduation blues - another thing to point out: that is if I graduate.

Come Friday, congratulate Loretta who's wearing a smiley face and refrain from calling up a seemingly MIA Loretta. Boohoo.

With all the negativities surrounding the employment world right now say, the economy? The prediction of a recession? The down-sizing of companies? The competitiveness in job-hunting? The ins and outs of acing an interview? Wardrobe-embarassments? . . . It is pretty easy to get all depressed, hopeless and sulky for new graduates. And to-be graduates like me (I remind myself).

I have heard mountains of complains from peers regarding their painful relationship with Seek.com.au - seek, seek, seek, seek. Their growing indifference towards reject letters - oh rite. . . I applied for this company. Their frustration as uncertainties mount up - casual, no, full time, no science, no music! External pressure from others despite of good intentions - 'soothing' comforts from friends and 'concern' from parents. Internal pressure due to impatience - aiya, amboi, wth, yada!

In fact, the last half of this year has been a marathon of this after spending time with some new graduates. I can soooo feel the tension and the hardship which are at the other end of this road. One I would open the door to greet come a happy Friday this week.

BUT BEING A HEALTHY MIND, I cannot say I am really all that bothered or worried.

Maybe it will be hard, maybe I will get all depressed, maybe I will take 17 months to secure a job, maybe I will be stressed outta my mind, maybe my Mum will call every 5 minutes to nag.

Sounds bad enough, yeah?

But aren't those just 'maybe-s'? With a 'maybe' being just a prediction or a work of the creative mind, a mere switch in belief and faith like the flip of a coin powered by some light force, can do wonders.

Yes it will be hard, but maybe I will gain a career I desire, maybe I will experience something unique.

Going through Seek.com.au is like a treasure hunt for me. It is exciting to see hundreds of job offers emerging each day, to learn of job titles you never knew of, to find out about industries you only heard of in movies and to participate *wink* I guess it does grow tiring and frustrating, if one is to participate in this treasure hunt after a while, but think about the treasure at the end!! Just joking.

No, actually hear me out: The Theory of an Optimistic Bikini-Perfect Soon-to-be Graduate (Me, in case you were wondering) - With these amount of new postings, it is only a matter of time and effort for one to secure a job. This is again, based on my theory of balance in this world. As new offers emerge, vacancy will be present in two forms - the new job itself or the vacancy created as one quits an old job for the new job.

An over-simplified theory, yeah, but what is the point of complicating everything by making up reasons or excuses to explain the hardship in getting employed which will ultimately demotivate you and transform you into a pile of tears-and-snot-soaked pathetic tissue papers?

In terms of reject letters, so far I had received 3 of them. When I received my very first reject letter, my feeling was - surprised, tad bit disappointed (although after knowing who got it, it was 100% acceptable), grown-up. Yes, you did not read that wrongly. I felt a bit more matured. Kinda like entered the next phase of life with images of high-waisted pencil skirt, professional glasses and an office desk with a canggih laptop and at some point, me in said outfit and desk, biting a professional-looking pen. Brrr.

Point here is, I did not feel rejection. SLOR - Standard Letter of Rejection. I personally think that it does not signify me as incompetent or as a failure. Instead, I am unsuitable, not qualified enough, or not as good as other competitors. These competitors are better than you in the aspects asked of by this job or valued by the company. Too bad, but that doesn't mean you are utterly incompetent or a failure as compared to the winner!

Say, for an accounting job, BabiHutan who got it has internship experience with one of the BigFours and a HD average in a major university, while SexyMe is still awaiting my one and only Accounting results despite having knowledge is science-y stuffs, can sing like a mean karaoke machine and have one of the warmest personality mankind has known. Of course, BabiHutan will get it, but hey, I am still not bad myself!

Just like how a love letter does not really spell love, a reject letter does not spell rejection.

Uncertainties. No one likes them. Why so? Don't we seek for excitement, freedom or most other emo-related stuffs in life? And aren't these usually the direct-result or by-product of uncertainties?

Security. Everyone want it. But security which is not created by us or resulted from our own actions, are mere restrictions imposed onto us in the form of protection provided by others. A perfect example of how we lived as children, safe in the arms of our parents while rebelling against all the rules set to ensure our safety.

But, security created for us by ourselves, is somewhat like an achievement and obviously, is a product of hard work through uncertainties.

I really do not see uncertainties as a very mean evil thing in life. Shake your head a little. See, uncertainties are opportunities viewed in a negative context, ain't it? It brings surprises and explorative chances. A more visible result of uncertainties - the very different, unpredictable, surprising and exciting career paths chosen by or given to your peers. If science undergraduates are sure-fire-ly destined to be in R&D in confined labs, we will all be inbreeding within this science-y community to create a purebreed science generation - nerd-certified, 5cm thick glasses by age 3, dinner talk about the wonders of DNA.

External and internal pressures. Pressures arise from every single thing in life laaaaaaaaaaaaa. Not only this rite? So what is new? Don't make this an excuse to sulk :-) A perfect example will be the list of things I sweat out on:

External pressure - Graduate and do my parents good, Hollywood pressure to be a bikini perfect, etc

Internal pressure - Secure a good job, summer's pressure to be bikini-perfect, uncontrollable pimples.

Erm, the point here is, pressures appear in all aspects of life and comes in all sizes. But whether or not it develops into stress, depends on how we see it. Like my example here, well, just take the bikini bit - both external and internal and far from attainable - but I am going to the gym and am determined to uphold this goal till the end of time. See another balanced equation. Pressure can easily become stress monsters, but not if we say no to it.

*********************

After this very long ramble, let me just say that I believe everything will work out right as long as we try hard enough and believe in ourselves. Although I might change and ultimately become another tears-and-snot-soaked pile of tissue papers in 4 months' time, but as of now, I truly believe in this and am determined to uphold this simple belief of mine.

Last but not least, some random pictures, which I think are really inspirational:

Took this shot at Westfield, Doncaster. The little girl was so focused at the cartoon show that she was oblivious to everything that was happening around her - the snickering adults, the commotion, everything. Simplicity and sincerity at its best - for some reasons, I feel so.

If you are determined to achieve your goal (To look slim and bikini-perfect), it is only a matter of time and effort (!!) until you do so!

The face of the author is always inspirational. Agreed.

A Narcissistic Author is more inspirational.

A Narcissistic Author on a Bus is even more inspirational.

Bet you are very damn much inspired now. Inspiration-overload I suppose.

indulged at 12:16 PM

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Thursday, November 20, 2008Y

Void

When you are young, it feels weird to know that one of your peers have departed.

It is unexpected. To a certain extent, unnatural or not meant to be.

After all. We are just about to start our journey. At least, I am just embarking on a job application road.

With the departure, what is left, is a void. Not capable of being filled with anything in this world. Around this void will be endless ties which were abruptly cut off, now lying helplessly in the sad sad sight. Wanting to be reconciled, but unable to hold onto the void.

That is in reality.

It gets more confusing when you approach it from another sense. Logging onto Facebook or Friendster, you still see his very last shout-out, pictures of him mere months ago spelling normalcy and messages between him and others. None of anyone knowing what was to happen. Tracking all these tiny bits of remnants of said person, isn't this what we always do whenever we log onto Facebook or Friendster?

We know what is happening to others without having to interact with them directly. But now, doing the same thing, I somehow feel like he has not departed at all.

Does it mean that the same void will appear in that internet space, or that very Facebook account?

It will never be updated again.
The page suddenly seems empty.

Cherish. Appreciate. Live for every moment.

indulged at 4:10 PM

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008Y

Operation Elope

I jetted off to Sydney with Manly Ray (Taken from the lame Manly Beach joke) the last weekend for some much deserved RnR and self-realization after a whole year of uni madness. And of course here are some pictures we took from the trip~

This being our first trip together, was of course with some disagreements, mini tantrums (my doing! bwahaha!) and confusion. Nevertheless, it is funny how much more you learn about the other person by travelling together. Funny memories, inside jokes, lame actions and embarassing tourist antics - pure joy :-)

Being really SAFE and un-ADVENTUROUS people, me and Manly Ray took a different approach to this trip! I called it Operation Elope although this title was not accepted and blatantly ignored by my partner in crime. Anyway, Operation Elope was a tricky one to pull having a housemate so damn close to you and a birthday party with the kepo-est of Clayton a night before the operation.

We booked the tickets early on and kept it mum from EVERYONE. I rejected weekend commitments by telling everyone that a friend of mine was coming down from Perth and I will have to go around with her/him for the whole of the weekend. We slipped away from the birthday party early and packed up our baggages. Then we left early morning while WenJi was coming out of the bathroom.

WenJi: Eh so early?

Me: Yeah wanna go grab some grocery before heading down to the city.

Ray: "Speechless with a silly grin"

Then I left a note back home asking everyone to guess where I was to which little Amy called me on the phone when I was in Sydney's Queen Victoria Building and said, "You are at Victoria Market!" Amazingly, she got it half right.

Anyway, it was an amazing trip and it set my mind at its right place after a few days on inner conflict and confusion upon the last exam. Just what I needed *wink*

I decided to let the picture do the talking. The funny thing is, most of the pictures are worthy to be given a title ala a book title or an article title. So here goes . . .

'How to EAT up $50 upon 3 hours of touchdown in Sydney'

'Miss Sydney Fish Market 2008 - where flabulousity meets glutonour (gluttony+glamour)'

'Taking a passport-worthy picture wherever you are for Dummies'

'101 sure-fire ways to seduce the cameraman'

'Proving the theory behind the failure to suck-in of a female's abdominal area and horizontal stripes on a garment, and its effect towards a 34 inch waist', Journal of Abdominal Health.

'Glyniss's Diet Book in collaboration with Hurricane's' - public autograph and meet&greet sessions on 5th Dec 2008 in Chadstone *wink*

'Tan and the Tanned" (like Beauty and the Beast boohoo)

"Lowena - The Epic"

'Doing the Mohawk'. This looks bananas!! - Rachel Zoe

'You can have sexy hair too!!' - step by step guide to 10000 hair-raisingly sexy hairstyles from Sarah Fawcett.

'Murder at Pancake at The Rocks'. Gory, really gory. - Film Critics Association.

'Glyniss's How to Make The One Beside You Fatter Guide'.

'BondiWatch: Life with an imaginary bikini'

'Memoirs of a Serial Fattener - a beautiful recollection of my journey towards fattening my beautiful partner' (Taken at Lindt's Chocolate Place near Darling Harbour).

It was a really nice trip. A little adventurous, a little crazy, a little impulsive.

But a lot of Ray-ness, thus immensely happy.

indulged at 9:20 PM

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Thursday, November 13, 2008Y

Damsel in distress

Do you have someone who is willing to fight for you?

How does it feel like knowing it is not in reality?

I think it hurts like hell.

indulged at 10:46 PM

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Monday, November 10, 2008Y

Mutually exclusive

List of mutually exclusive things in my life

(One exist when the other doesn't!)

Me v Mum

Shaking my legs while sitting/standing & Mum

Messy room & Mum

Showering past 10 p.m. & Mum

Rubbing moisturiser hard on my face & Mum

Eating loudly & Mum

**This list might get too long and violent.

Me v Dad

Diet & Dad

Talking about boyfriends & Shy Dad

Being overly late & Dad

Talking bad about Tiger Woods & Dad

Me v Sis

Teasing about her boyfriend in front of Dad & Sis

Insulting/Laughing at her gaming skills & Sis

Forcing her to try on skinny jeans & Sis

Making her smell my belly button & Sis

Me & Sis talking calling me by me name

Me & Sis being overly lazy or pretending to not hear 'commands'

Me & Sis being bitchy in her blog

Me v Ray

Picking at my nails & Ray

Talking very loudly to parents on the phone & Ray

Me & Ray eating loudly

Me & Ray being critical

Me & Ray's fattening cooking style

Me & Ray drinking full cream milk

** Not a very equal proportion haha.

Me v WenJi

Whole day consumption of cereal & WenJi

Nerding in front of computer the whole day & WenJi

Me & Weird cooking style of WenJi

Me & Sudden outbursts of WenJi-ness energy

Me v Steve

Me & Steve's dun-care attitude

I-want-you-to-agree-with-me attitude & Steve

This is getting a bit too long, yawn.

Back to business law.

Me v Business Law

Fun & Business Law

Happiness & Business Law

Sunny days & Business Law

Cute babies & Business Law

Cher!!

indulged at 8:10 PM

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Sunday, November 09, 2008Y

Online shopper registration

Ever since I fed my brain to some Aussie Zombie, I have been converted into one of her kind as well - a stalker-ish online shopper. Although the infector (Aussie Zombie) is now at a high level of 'knowing almost every shop out there' and 'I talked to the owner before', I being the infectee am merely in the Online Window Shopping mode. And the chant of this cult is, 'You wanna share shipping fees or not?'.

While one might say, "At least you are not spending money by just browsing, it is alright!"

But from an economist *ahem ahem* point of view, the opportunity cost is loads! "Wastage of time, effort, energy, attention and study time to a non-productive activity!" If I really did buy something, then at least it is productive rite? At least the marginal benefit would be higher: Enjoyment, fulfillment, aesthethic values (whatever. . .)

So the final verdict is: "Anyone wanna share shipping fees or not?"

Shopping is not a like a disease to females, despite how we like to exaggerate to make it seem like it is something we have to accomplish in order to ease our souls and sufferings bla bla bla.

Shopping is an enjoyment. A leisure. A bonding time between us. A treat we give to ourselves. After all there is no need to find excuses and makes an activity so beautiful seems like it is torturous *raises eye brow*

So the second verdict is: It was not totally un-productive window shopping around the internet.

I learnt more about the online fashion buying scene, focusing on those in Malaysia and Singapore! There are a lot, A LOT of online stores out there mostly operated in the form of a blog, owned by usually young females sometimes themselves being the face/model for the store. Initially it was really fun looking through all these online stores. It felt as if I was being ushered through Megamall with every click :-)

But, eventually I conquered the exhaustive list of stores :-(

In fact, most of these stores aren't really that 'unique'. After a while, you see the same dress popping up at another 30 over sites, the same model in the same pose in the same dress under different blogskins, highly similar styles with Sungai Wang, tanktops/camisoles/shortpants you have seen since your thick-spectacle days and ridiculously-sweet-girlt names like berryberrycrush, lovelysunshine or sugarpiggydunnowhatla.

Just like the bubble tea business in Sandakan a few years ago, online stores are growing like mushrooms right now but given the lack of quality over quantity and product differentiation, they might just be gone in a matter of time.

Nevertheless, I have now a portfolio of sites I adore!

1) http://www.by-binnie.blogspot.com/

Picture taken from http://www.by-binnie.blogspot.com/.

This was the first store the Zombie showed me. Love it to bits as the stuffs inside are really one of a kind. At least I have yet to seen anything similar so far. They had these really edgy-Victorianesque-ruffle-collars which looked really amazing but were sold out. Then the had vintage mary janes which were at a very very attractive price but being sold out as well. Anyway, everyone should click on that link and join the cult :-)

2) http://ashopaholicsden.com/

This is like the directory to all other sites. Timely review of nice picks from an array of online stores. The last I went in, which would be the 5th time, I spent 2 hours there. And I am not usually that bo liao a person >;-)

3) http://oh-popsicles.blogspot.com/

Picture taken from http://oh-popsicles.blogspot.com/.

Kinda like this site as well! For the convenience of those preparing for my birthday on the 31ST of DECEMBER 2008, I am craving for high-waisted pants/pencil skirt, checkered anythings and kimono dressed.

4) http://www.princessboutique.blogspot.com/

Picture taken from http://www.princessboutique.blogspot.com/.

Okay, you probably think the name of this store doesn't suit me *sulk* but I liked their latest offerings! The maxi dresses (not that I can ever wear one without sweeping clean the streets). The satin kimono. Ruffles and checkers. *Droooool*

Now on my shopping list:

1) Animal print stuffs

2) High waisted pants/skirts

3) Ruffled collars

4) Checkered pieces

5) Mary Janes

6) Pinafore-pieces

7) Lolita stylo

8) Victorianesque styles dresses

9) Chiffon or anything soft - summer dresses

10) Bikini (Forever remains on the list ROAR)

If you are wondering why I have been blogging that much . . .

This was a note from WenJi reading: Morning! Haf a nice nerd (day)! luv ya!! Muakz!

Before you say, "Awwww how sweet", "What a cute housemate". Lemme clarify the situation.

WenJi was leaving to Lake Entrance with 14 other of our friends. I was staying home with 200 pages of Business Law to choke down on.

I am so gonna sue her for unconscionable act! Despite being aware that I am vulnerable (having to study and no enjoyment), she is taking advantage of this vulnerability of mine to her advantage (hurting my feelings by capitalizing on my inability to join in the trip).

Just wait and see. ROAR.

indulged at 11:14 AM

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Friday, November 07, 2008Y

A happy piece of news

I have just read the happiest piece of news on Yahoo for a long long time.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/5130057/taronga-zoo-shows-rare-baby-hippo/

With the constant focus being on the economic crisis, political developments, natural disasters and horrendous crimes, it is sad to see that such negativities are merely offset-ed by the superficial-ness of celebrity gossips. While hardly a positive force, it is the most convenient, widespread and less-burdensome reading.

But coming across this piece of news must have been the best thing I have read for a long long time.

The birth of Monifa - Sydney's Taronga Zoo very first pygmy hippopotamus in 23 years.

For your information, pygmy hippo is an endangered species with less than 3000 of them in the wild and their population is declining still.

While we were engrossed in the world's economy, politics and so on, and spent our days sighing at the our finances, body image and society problems - Monifa was born.

Exactly what was needed in the long list of news articles - a short, simple and sweet piece of writing announcing to the world the arrival of a new being.

Looking at that picture of Monifa, I cannot help but feel that there is a lot more to this world than all that we are constantly seeking for, demanding for - yes, the world's economy is in a bind, the environment is fading away, energy resources are depleting, society issues are cropping up, health problems are increasing, the world seems to be getting crazy -but, there is still hope :-)

After all, Monifa has just arrived into this world :-)

indulged at 3:33 PM

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008Y

Tagged.

Someone tagged me to finish this up in their blog. Do you know what this means?

SOMEONE CARES TO READ MY BLOG.
SOMEONE WANTS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ME, THE FACE BEHIND THE BLOG.

Okay la. Rather than someone, it was just ONE PERSON - THE AUSSIE ZOMBIE.

Crap, not even a PERSON. A zombie.

Anyway, can anyone show that they care :-(

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. Shaneta (Shane + Loretta, omg so lame. Vintage lameness)
2. Kakaa
3. hikari*

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. My eyes and the relatively long eyelashes (ShinYi put relatively long legs, not wanting to lose, I put eyelashes instead hah!)
2. My healing tresses :-) (Credits to Glyniss for the terrific hair mask~)
3. My small forearms and forelegs (Creates an optical illusion of slimness when wearing any sort of babydoll dresses)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. The too-much hair on my face, arms, legs
2. The high-heel wearing consequences on my toes :-(
3. My nails!

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Malaysian Chinese (Read: CHINESE)
2. Hakka
3. Cantonese

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Rats, or any rodents
2. Dentists
3. Ghosts (I can't believe I typed this word on my BLOG)

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Cereal and cold cold vanilla milk first thing in the morning!
2. Electronic communication devices (MSNs, emails, cell phones)
3. Talking to just. . . anyone.

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING NOW:
1. Long baby-blue sweatpants
2. Pink long sleeved top (Baby-blue + pink = Okay, I am a marshmallow-like fashion disaster at home)
3. AstroBoy jumper!

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1. GLAY!!!!!!!!!!
2. Rie Fu
3. B'z

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (RIGHT NOW):
1. I LOVE YOU wo sagashiteru - GLAY
2. Tsukiakari - Rie Fu
3. Okaeri - Ayaka

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Togetherness and commitment
2. Mutual understanding and respect
3. Sincerity and naturalness (Is that a word?)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. The serious look on their faces when they are working . . .
2. . . .which shifts immediately and easily to a smile or funny laugh when provoked.
3. The eyes and lips.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Singing
2. Writing (Blogs, emails, Facebook walls) and catching up with friends.
3. Gaming - indoors and outdoors.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Get an interesting job.
2. Complete my course and see myself finally graduate.
3. Soak up the sunshine in a bikini (this should have been on top, but was scaled down due to the tremendously low probability of happening)

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING/YOU’VE CONSIDERED:
1. School bus driver (I thought it was just mere driving, can interact with kids and school holidays mean my holidays!)
2. Fashion designer :-) and stewardess . . . until SIA said ". . must be more than 160 cm (I think) tall. . . "
3. Be involved in commercialisation of science and technology :-) (Want this badly)

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Europe (backpacking here I come. . . in 2015?)
2. Japan!!
3. Sydney (Immediate want!)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Travel most of the world
2. Provide for my family and build a family of my own
3. Wear a bikini (Again it shud have been put on top . . .)

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I love talking about just anything
2. I complain about my fringe and excessive of facial hair
3. I continue to rant about wanting a bikini body.

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE NOT STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I am a certified otaku *apparently* I have always been looking up to fictional manga characters e.g. Kakashi from Naruto, Luffy from One Piece.
2. I play RPG/ action games? Not really a stereotype, but more like I seldom find female gaming soulmates.
3. I wake up some days wanting to emulate Glay or some Final Fantasy character and will emerge the house in boy-ish gear and a newfound air of confidence.

THREE PEOPLE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
Lowena, Glyniss, Amanda.

indulged at 10:56 AM

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Sunday, November 02, 2008Y

WenJi's Graduation

It has been a graduation marathon here lately. There is this nostalgic feeling whenever you attend a graduation, even if it is just for the photo-session. No matter how familiar the face is or how familiar the black robe she was wearing looked, everything just seems different.

And this is the point when you start reminiscing about your first encounters, lessons learnt along the stupid mistakes you made during uni and anticipating for these graduates a future they dream for.

Shirley graduated on the 23rd Oct while WenJi on the 30th Oct. Too bad I did not take much pictures at Shirley, will have to wait to get it from her :-)

Like usual, the 'pond' before Matheson Library was the hotspot. You can see long lines of people all around the small pond. Not to mention the BRIDGE (I wonder if it even qualifies to be called a bridge *sweat*). While Shirley did queue up for a picture on the bridge last week, WenJi did not cause the line was impossibly LONG! Seeing the first hotspot being gone, naturally kiasu-ness searched for an alternative landmark . . . .

. . . A tree and an Amy (?) by the pond? Well, after all, wherever your camera lens goes, Amy will be there. Kiasu-ness.

I love this picture of WenJi. It looks really natural and her smile was full, unlike the half-face-hidden kinda poses she opts for all the time. And she looks like a really free spirit :-)

The other hotspot was the circular-thing near Robert Blackwood. I can so totally see myself throwing my graduation hat (is it called a hat?) around this spot while fighting the intrusion of my Sis on the 18th of December *pray hard*. Everyone was smiling so fully in this picture, it really sends out the aura of 'happiness'. Well, everyone except me - why does my face look so stiff or botox-ed?!

Looking at this picture gives me a funny feeling. What started out as mere greetings or coincidental get-together back in year 2006 where WenJi was Monash College student without fringes, Shirley was Andy's lab partner in Food Chemistry, Oli was a Business Systems student who loved milk tea, LiLet was a first year in Biotechnology, Amy was a first year in Business with the funny accent and Serene has long straight hair as a second year student, has went on to become the over-rated (just joking ) thing called friendship.

Surely this is an achievement :-)

After every graduation I have this thought:- "Everyone is embarking on a new journey."

The first time I saw Shirley I thought she was a Hongkie who's attached to a Hongkie who was very 'si men' and soft spoken. Two years on, I see her as a kiasu, moderately lazy and kepoh all-Malaysian girl with a passion for remembering your past stupid mistakes and reminding you of it. Having graduated from her science degree, she will be returning to Malaysia next month *boohoo*. I can totally see her rocking a business suit with a pair of 6-inches heel *wink*

Seeing Olivia around uni is no longer the sweat-pants+scarf+sunglasses+lecture notes Student Oli, but the smart blouse+corporate skirt+short bob Career Oli. But she still has the fullest, brightest and happiest smile which is famously dubbed by SiewChin as the 'Amazing Thailand'. One of the most determined person I have ever met indeed :-)

Amy, Lilet and I are the soon-to-be-graduates this coming December although I will be the only one attending the ceremony :-( Those two will be carrying on with their post-grad studies. I feel old saying this *puke*. While still as blur as always and as panicky as Amy can be, Amy must be the sincerest person and joker in the world. 'Joker' cos you can't help but symphatize and laugh a bit despite how hard to believe/understand her jokes are *snicker*

This is the 'album cover' of the year for 2008's Most Romantic Ballads :-) The two graduate engineers in Clayton. While people say that working life changes you, these must be the most unchanged workers in the world. Daniel still easily stimulated *Ahem* by food or just the smell of food. Ray still. . . . Ray (very hard to describe seriously).

I LOVE TAKING CANDID SHOTS :-)

WenJi among the hustle and bustle surrounding the limelight which is HER.

Mr Tan and him conquering the Menzies.

Emergency hair situation - The Graduate still hasn't mastered her fringes *ooops*

The Graduate busy with all the congratulatory calls *I wanna be this busy on my day!!*

The third Monash Bear of the year :-) Fourth one coming very soon *wink*

The graduation outfit can be quite messy as seen here but I like messy *see how desperate I am?*

Pure wholesome happiness in the air.

A funny picture :-0

Can you see how much I long for graduation flowers? I could gobble them up.

Small Eyes vs. Big Eyes *evil laugh*

The Graduate with her mountains of presents in the kitchen standing on a stool.

After the graduation, with nothing else to do, I proceeded to arrange the flowers! This is the bunch given by Me and Ray :-) I adore lilies.

And yes, I LOVE my camera :-D

The bright orange gerberas from WooHsian and ChunLiang with a lily from me :-)

Here is to a bright and 'pink' (symbol of GOOD health) future to all graduates and future graduates. Cheers!

indulged at 9:11 AM

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