oh honey, honey!

detour

2008-12-02T18:22:00.002Z

am going to set this blog on hibernate for a bit.
if you're really interested/that bored - here's something my alter ego wrote on behalf of this lazy blogger.
rock on, my friends.
not intended for those who are up for something intellectually stimulating

tembak kaokao!

2008-11-24T05:56:00.002Z

good news: got a tenant to takeover my apartment in january! that means I only need to pay my rent up to december. woo! proves that God really does answer my prayers - thank you!
thing was I've been fretting over this for months, what to do when I pack up and go home but still have to pay rent for an empty apartment? plus, have also been trying to get a suitable 2 bedroom apartment that's available when xin & I come back around feb (but so far no luck, will keep trying). most are available either now or in december.. which landlord doesn't want to collect rent in the summer months right?
disclaimer: stop reading here if you think your parents are perfect/think you're a perfect parent. if you're the former, well, guess who won the genetic lottery and if you're the latter, you're just too big-headed, no one's perfect.
anyway, t'was just yesterday that the 'rents called up bright and early to give me a lecture about that. remind self to repeat very clearly and slowly to mother so as to avoid being misunderstood. I understand that dad totally didn't know what was going on but upon being egged on by mum, (could hear her booming voice in the background) took out his frustration upon me. also understand that money doesn't grow on trees and have not signed any contracts or done any formal agreement yet. have not even filled out an application yet. 'nothing is concrete or set in stone,' I told dad. we just have to keep looking around. dad finally understood and after hanging up, I expected the usual talk between the 'rents. mothers have a tendency to make a mountain out of a molehill, at least mine does, but I have yet to see one that doesn't. ok, hordes of them don't air their dirty laundry out in public, but we all know what goes on behind closed doors. I believe I've heard the term 'mothers know best'. sometimes they think they do, when they should just listen first. I don't understand why they'd rather listen to their so-called adult friends and doubt their kids. why would I squander my dad's hard-earned money right? he brought me up better than that. I know of kids my age who burn cash like it's paper. (even so, should always recycle paper rather than burn 'em) am not saying I'm the perfect kid, but I KNOW what I'm doing. and if I didn't, I'd get help. I don't need some annoying know-it-all airhead auntie telling my mother that law is a doomed career or that her daughter went to oxford (brookes). no offence, weiyi. inilah reason aku nggak mau balik kampung, semua politics ni beh shiok lah. blum sampai rumah dah kena tembak kao kao.
dude, I miss swearing in my nyonya malay. as can be seen, I was quite peeved the whole of my sunday and hence served a haphazard dinner that was far too oily for my taste. and who the hecks burns spaghetti? sheesh.
but that's all over now, as there's good news today! whoopee!

fiiiinaly!

2008-11-13T09:55:00.002Z

tomorrow's my last exam of the ahem, freshman year - yay! no no, no clubbing or whatnot, just good clean window shopping and the occasional trying something on. :D
today's ATA: I actually had time to finish everything, but I left like a few gaps here and there cos' I didn't know how to do it. like seriously, I just blinked at the question. so no one said it was easy, okay, everyone thought it was a killer. he made everything so difficult lah!
am going through my bpa notes now. it's so heaty in my room that I dunno if anything's going through my thick skull.

Goals of the Purchasing Process under Purchase-to-Pay cycle:
- identify potential suppliers
- meet targets
- maintain inventory integrity
- receive payment

and for the Payment Process:
- active awareness of payables
- accurate records
- payments
- proper use of funds

exams and updates

2008-11-02T07:25:00.003Z

exams!
Tues 11/11: Introductory Macroeconomics
Weds 12/11: Principles of Business Law
Thurs 13/11: Accounting Transactions & Analysis (the killer!)
Fri 14/11: Business Process Analysis

ok, ATA is the one that's gonna murder me. those who got it over and done with last semester told me the horror stories already.
1) I'm not going to finish all 12 questions in 3 hours. it is ridiculous.
2) you WILL come out of the exam hall pale, shivering and sweaty.
now I know why there's a shortage of accountants down-under. geez.

I feel like I've been preparing for exams for far too long, man. yeah I do my tutorial work and readings every week but I think I actually got down to the nitty gritty more than a month ago. my petrol tank has 3/4 less volume than when I started, and exams aren't even here yet. :(:(

what's worse is that we've already picked out our subjects for next year. as I'll be majoring in both Accounting and Finance, I really don't have much choice, not even when it comes to breadth. so far, nelsie and I are the only ones who've gritted our teeth and put down ICT for the next two years. *shudders*

I really can't wait to go shopping!!! saw some great stuff at billabong.com. yes, I've resorted to online catalogue snooping, which is very reminiscent of my ex-housemate hils. haha. speaking of which, am moving out from college square end of this year and moving in to a bigger, better apartment with a new housemate - a not-so-new chowchow. :) trying not to think of all the bitch talk and petty fights which I know is bound to happen but myeh, should be nice to have someone to bug besides bako heh.

thinking like a commerce student

2008-10-07T06:36:00.002+01:00

in the last couple of weeks, the world has seen the world economy react due to the bankruptcies of financial institutions and more recently the US economy bailout by the Feds. imagine, 6% of the country's GDP to save a flailing economy.
anyway, big news in Australia. the reserve bank cut rates by 1% today. that's a lot by the way, considering that before last month, Australia had never faced a cut at all in the past 7 years. my lecturer nilss was so excited last month when there was speculation that the reserve bank was cutting rates by a quarter of a percent. lately, there's been widespread rumour that there was going to be a half a percent cut. in lecture today, he said that he was going to be beside himself with excitement if that were to happen. (he shows the live announcement during his 2.15 class. yes, it's his version of Australian Idol results show) anyhoo, when we found out about the 1% cut, duane said nilss was going to piss in his pants. I kinda imagined him to be all jumpy and excited and then collapse cos' his poor ticking heart couldn't take it. take it easy, nilss, if you're reading this. I can't wait to hear what you have to say on thursday's lecture.
on the plus side, I've gotten rid of my two assignments that are due tomorrow. it's just thursday's accounting assignment that is troubling me, gwah.
ok, back to work!

Frank Tate and all things new and shiny

2008-09-25T04:07:00.002+01:00

am currently in the brand spanking new Frank Tate learning center in uni. it looks like one of the creations of the long-haired interior designer that did my dad's house. on a tight budget, of course. hang on, I just got interrupted. xianzhong is right opposite me eating his home-cooked broccoli, carrots and scallops stir-fry and it's caught my attention. yummm, tastes like kak yati's. :)
oh yeah anyway, I don't know who Frank Tate is, but his place rocks. the collaborative working space is a nice open discussion area, while opposite is the cosy Reading Room, complete with plush sofas and swivel armchairs. wait, did I mention the z wave music? I can't remember the technicalities, but apparently, what I thought was daddy's classical music playing in the background is actually artificially made z wave music, which is conducive to a studying environment. I remember that's what Supercamp taught us as well, listening to baroque while studying is actually good for you. and it's tried and tested. look at my ex-housemate, hilary! currently 2nd year med in King's College London. waha! :D
xianzhong is still eating his broccoli and carrots.... smack him, somebody!
two days ago, I watched Wall-E with the rest and it was nice! I remember watching the trailer going, 'eyer, what weird robot movie is this?!' but, boy, was I wrong. I like how when Wall-E gets recharged (via solar panels), he goes 'thung!' like when you start up an apple computer. see, apple is the best! oh, but xianzhong said apple used to own pixar, which explains it. and there's this OCD robot called M-O (pronounced Mo!) who goes, 'foreign contaminant!' and uses his brush-like hands to scrub off scum. hehe. so cute, my favourite character in the movie.
okay, back to Accounting assignment. so darn difficult! :(
note: thanks to bako for attempting to explain what z wave music was. hahahaha.

tribute to lily allen

2008-09-13T08:15:00.003+01:00

when you look with your eyes,
everything seems nice.
but if you look twice,
you can see it's all lies.
-ldn: lily allen-

she's smarter than people give her credit for, really.

tassie last leg

2008-09-09T04:31:00.014+01:00

ah, spring! first word that comes to my mind when I think of spring is uh, spring cleaning... those IKEA catalogues have really gotten me good.

the above photos were taken in botanical gardens of tassie... in winter, actually. yes, that's right, I'm determined to finish my tassie tour which was almost 2 months ago.

the words above are translated as follows: japanese gardens.
unfortunately, the ponds were empty, with the gardeners still working on them.

check out daddy's smirk.

which is a contrast to the way he looks in this photo. now, this - this is THE highlight of tasmania. (in my view anyway)

dude, dad, we're in Cadbury Land, be happy!

nevermind, I'll just take the photo without your gloomy face.

ah, much better. by the way, Mr. Cadbury bought this plot of land and named it Cadbury estate. he donated a portion of the land for the building of a school nearby. how cool is that?
"so, which school do you attend?"
"oh, you know, the one on Cadbury Lane."
!!!!!!

look up! up! the humongous bar of dairy milk. *salivates*

cadbury school bus! no, only kidding.

full speed ahead to the hobart maritime museum!

daddy with his best pirates of the Caribbean pose.

I think NASA got inspiration for spacesuits from these old underwater walkers. :)

tag

2008-08-27T03:55:00.002+01:00

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they got tagged and to ask them to play and read your blog.

Starting time : 1253pm
Name : Celine
Sisters : 1 elder
Brothers : 2 elder
Shoe size : women's 7
Height : 160cm
Where do you live? in an apartment on Lygon St
Favourite drinks : canned green tea
Favourite breakfast : hmmm, Macker's hotcakes
Have you ever been on a plane? have I??
Swam in the ocean? yeah, sort of
Fallen asleep at school? yes. and been caught doing so
Broken someone's heart? yes
Fall off your chair? I think so - yep
Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call? mm-hmm
What is your room like? hmm, homey?
What's right beside you? The Writing Class by Jincy Willett, an IKEA pencil, purse, Nokia, scrap paper, Principle of Microeconomics by Gans, King and Mankiw
What is the last thing you ate? peanut butter toast
Ever had chicken pox? yep, when I was 5. only time my dad stayed home and watched cartoons with me cos' haha, he caught it too
Sore throat? last night
Stitches? no
Broken nose? no
Do you believe in love at first sight? no such thing lah
Like picnics? yay! especially if the weather and venue is nice. hyde park, here we go!
Who was/were the last person/people you danced with? Bako? just randomly in my room
Last made you smile? Flo - on being such a proud mama
You last yelled at? probably Bako.
Today did you talk to some one you like? ya
Kiss anyone? yep
Get sick? I am, right now
Talk to an ex? huh. maybe in april?
Miss someone? yes, cos' he's not here
Eat? I feel like some maxbrenner, damnit
Best feeling in the world? having no worries
Do you sleep with stuffed animals? I have a tigger shrine :D
What's under your bed? dust bunnies - they are so cute!
Who do you really hate? ass hats.
What time is it now? 1.07pm
5 things I was doing 10 years ago? learning chinese, speaking chinese, waking up at 6am, carrying wayyy too many books to school, getting caned by teachers
5 things on my to-do list today
get well (seriously, it's been a week), start on assignments, complete tutorials, go to maxbrenner's, shower
5 snacks i enjoy? twix pods, sour cream and onion crisps, tomato twisties, KFC chips, chocolate chip cookies
5 things i would do if i were a billionaire
buy a nice place in london, get a car, get a puppy, buy early christmas presents, get bako a good b'day present
5 of my bad habits
not eating properly, having a bad sitting/standing/walking posture, getting mad at ass hats, going 'ermm..', frequently falling sick
5 places i have lived/stayed a night in
JB, Melbourne, London, Singapore, Beijing
5 people i tag
you you you you and you.

tasmania: 3rd time lucky

2008-08-16T02:06:00.004+01:00

I have two mcq tests to study for this weekend and also a group assignment to contribute to. dunno whether it's the olympics or blogging about tasmania, but I'm not ready to let go of the holiday spirit!

before heading to the botanic gardens, we stop beside the road to snap a few photos of the infamous tasman bridge. in 1975, a bulk carrier collided with the bridge, killing 5 motorists whose cars ran over the gap into the Derwent River. obviously, they've now rebuilt it, but the bulk carrier still lies at the bottom of the river.

dad trying to make friends at the Botanic Gardens.

this guy sure brought the summer into the cold wintry grounds. awww.

+ end of part 3 +

tasmania: take 2!

2008-08-08T06:31:00.004+01:00

onwards with the tour of tasmania... here's australia's oldest brewery. why am I not surprised it's in tasmania, with all the ex-cons. lager? bring it on!

by a rivulet ie. little river, that flows through hobart city. the two guys from our tour up front.

this used to be called the female factory - a female prison where the inmates produced lovely handmade fudge. personally, not a great fan of fudge, reminds me of poo. :S anyway, our tour guide/driver told us that his great great grandma was one of the inmates in the female factory for many many years.

ps: get well soon, vinnie! mr. baker is now 2 kgs lighter without his appendix. heh.

+end of part 2+

why I don't like australia #97

2008-08-06T07:11:00.002+01:00

if you know me, you know I don't like koalaland much. I mean, I like their cute furry animals but their human counterparts... not so much. they think they're so darn great. omg, please lah.
so, yesterday, I was in my 3rd hour of lecture and these two angmoh dudes behind me were yakking away from the moment they sat down. I thought this was very disrespectful cos' my lecturer had to tell a lot of people to leave the theatre and come back for the later session as there were too many of us. some even had to sit at the staircase at the entrance, and here were these bozos talking non-stop. if I was like, 6 feet tall, blond and busty, I would turn around and tell them in my whiniest voice to keep their voices down, or they wouldn't get my number. but unfortunately, as xin puts it so aptly, I'm a Tiny Asian Girl and hence get trampled on easily by bronzy buff aussie airheads. (yes, I'm talking about the guys)
anyway, the guy beside me was really irritated by half past and he went, 'excuse me!' really loud but that only got the attention of may and me. so, stupid dudes kept talking loudly like they were at a footy game or whatever.
10 minutes to the end of lecture, I turn around irritated and go, 'could you two please keep quiet for the next 10 minutes? thanks.' the skinnier of the two and also surprise surprise, the blonder one, goes, 'I would, if you would tell me politely.' I told you they were airheads. what - please and thanks weren't good enough for you two girlies? they were lucky I didn't tell them to shut the &#^$&%! up! they did shut up after that until like, the last minute of lecture when blondie couldn't keep his mouth shut till the end of the session. it was really funny thinking about it after cos' when I turned around, blondie's friend was so embarassed, he couldn't even look me in the eye. and may had told me that she had given them both her icy chinese stare just as I was telling them to keep quiet. but I was really annoyed the whole afternoon after, I just wanted to kick them.

tasmania

2008-08-01T01:55:00.004+01:00

two weeks ago, the 'rents came down to melbourne for around 6 days. the moment they stepped foot on aussie soil, I met them at the airport and the 3 of us got a flight to tasmania.
our initial plan was to rent a car to drive around tasmania, but guess who not only didn't bring my new unprobational driver's licence but did not bring their original copies as well? surprisingly, my mother called it a blessing in disguise, cos' with the car and everyone's bad navigational skills, we'd end up in the tasman sea.

right outside our hotel in tasmania.

the next day, we got on a gray line bus and went up to mt. wellington.
caution: do not go up to mt. wellington in the morning. it's cold, it's wet, and all you see is white hazy mist. here's my dad thinking, 'whose bright idea was it to go up this stupid thing?'

later in the morning...

+ end of part one +

when you're not really a freshie, but not really a sophomore either

2008-07-30T03:05:00.004+01:00

in the middle of my first week back at uni now, and the only reason I'm at home in my jammies at noon is cos' I get wednesdays off this semester, a very balanced break in between, come to think of it.
on monday, I had a 2-hour law lecture, ohmytian. TWO HOURS. and it was my first lecture of the semester! towards the end of the 2nd hour, when he was talking about Stella the coffeeshop owner, my eyes were turning glossy and I couldn't wait for him to say his thankyou and goodbye. he's probably the oldest of all the lecturers I've had, maybe younger than last sem's QM bill though. jeremy, may and I have come to the conclusion that he looks like a gringott's goblin. they also think that our macroeconomics lecturer looks like rowan atkinson, but I don't see it. all I see is this slightly gay-mannered dude who dresses less like a lecturer and more like a zara salesman. I think it was the floral printed maroon shirt. hmm, what else? oh, we got the same lecturer for accounting, in the same lecture theatre, on the same days at the same convenient time of 9 in the morning. apparently, he's not gonna lock the front doors anymore, maybe a lot of people didn't like his no-nonsense attitude towards late-comers. funny man, trevor, is our business process analysis lecturer. I remembered him tutoring in the tutorial before mine last sem. he seems... easy-going, but got a bit iffy when touching on shutting up in lectures while he's teaching. did I mention he leaves us with a quote of the week every week? this week's was:
nothing is interesting if you are not interested. gee, okay, but how about this one I made:
no one is interested if you are not interesting. there, a little master oogway action for you.
so, that's about it really. first week has already meant analysing financial statements in my pj's on a wednesday afternoon. 11 more weeks to go.

snoring parents

2008-07-26T09:21:00.003+01:00

the parents at melbourne airport:)

exam results

2008-07-11T14:23:00.002+01:00

semester one results came out today! (don't you just love technology?)
I've characterised them in 3 ways: bad, good and great.
the bad
no first class or upper second honours, unfortunately.

the good
I passed quantitative methods I! that was the first thing I saw, since it was my lowest grade... 3 more measly marks to a pass with credit too!
others: microeconomics 65% H3
accounting reports and analysis 71% H2B (bugger)
creative writing (drumroll please) 71% H2B

the great
I got my creative writing assignments in the mail. my last fiction piece got a H1. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO. his parting comments were: you should send this in for publication somewhere.
mehh, then why just stop at H2B? give me at least H2A mahh :(

ps: have not told parents, cos' my mother called me today and was all *@#!^!.
does anyone know what is the right age when you can actually live your life without seeking your parents' approval? I had a vision of my dad going, 'when you earn more money than me.' sheesh, I'll have to wait another 40 years then!

colin firth and meryl streep

2008-07-09T14:19:00.003+01:00

faisal, I hope you still read my blog. cos' you'll never believe who I saw today. nooo, it wasn't bjorn from ABBA, but so close!
you know, I had this strange urge to bring out my slr today but I left it cos' I was thinking, hmm, just going to get some chow and then home, so nothing very exciting. but boy, was I wrong!
colin firth. meryl streep. movie premiere of mamma mia in melbourne.
OMG, right?? I was almost squished to death when meryl and colin strode into melbourne central's red carpet.
so anyway, I called chowchow cos' hey, she's like colin firth's greatest follower. and the lucky girl got his autograph and shook meryl streep's hand. meryl streep! the devil herself! bako being so nice (hello, not the time to be nice!) let the crowd step in front of him. ok, so you've seen will farrell outside odeon in london, that does not beat colin firth! we were in london for 2 years and we didn't even see colin firth's shadow!! I had to go halfway across the world, to another continent just to see that one-expressioned brit! can't believe I yelled like a silly fan girl to catch his attention. the fellow fan girl next to me went, 'mr. darcy!!' and everyone screamed even louder. I don't even like him, but I do now. being the total english gentleman, he stepped up to the crowd to sign autographs and pose for photos. may I add that his silly small asian chick of a PR didn't actually tell him to? it was out of his own good natured heart and gratified soul. awww.
was so excited, I sent a text to my dad to tell him.
"are they acting there"
"mamma mia movie premiere!"
"tot its a play?"
"er, yeah, musical, but they made it into a movie"
"so is it good?"
"the musical was. haven't watched this one, will wait for you next week ok?"
"bought ps3 recently. playing game now"
"OI! for you or daniel"
"use it to watch dvd, much clearer"

isssh. my dad is so 'potong stim' lah! and I know more ABBA songs than him, ahhaha.
wait, my dad bought a ps3. !!!! my darth vader suit-wearing dad with an official light sabre, has a ps3. a PS3! why doesn't he give me more money?? DAD!!!

john dory

2008-07-08T05:16:00.001+01:00

celine's john dory with lemon butter sauce.
who says I can't cook?

hair trim diy

2008-07-04T15:02:00.001+01:00

bako just trimmed my hair for me.
maybe that's why I feel so light-headed.
goodnight.

Kung Fu Panda!

2008-06-26T14:30:00.002+01:00

yup, yet another movie review.
I just came home from watching Kung Fu Panda with bako, fang and xin. being opening night, tickets were selling quick, even though we bought them five hours before showtime. the cinema was full to the brim with young adults such as ourselves who guffawed loudly and applauded in unison. I can't remember what movie I watched (I think it was in the UK) but that movie also received overwhelming response from the audience. quite sure it wasn't Da Vinci Code cos' bjorn, hils and I were the only living souls in that theater that evening, while faisal watched some horror flick about satan's offspring.
Kung Fu Panda is seriously the best animated film you'll see this year. don't even think about mentioning stupid Clone Wars. I dunno about you, but I think Georgie should've stopped at Episode 6. an animated Star Wars sequel?? what was he thinking?! anyhoo, back to the best animated movie so far. as you watch the movie, pay attention to the voices, you'll never guess who's behind them all, except the pretty obvious mr. black as Po, the big fat panda. although I knew dustin hoffman was the voice behind master shifu, I couldn't connect the 70-year-old's face to the rare red panda (which we saw at the zoo yesterday!). angelina jolie plays the somewhat snotty tigress, while lucy liu is the kind-hearted snake. you'll never guess who's monkey.... jackie you-can't-friggin'-do-a-kung-fu-movie-without-me chan! wooooo! the monkey doesn't say much though, not as much as the joke-cracking mantis. I especially liked the wise confucius-ish master wugui, which is of course a turtle, a very cute and endearing grandpa figure with very wise cheena quotes. another memorable character was the goose who was Po's dad. this noodle seller is so chinese, you could blindfold him with dental floss. seriously. it's like you can't get any cheena than that! ok, maybe my mother can, with all her red lanterns, but that's not the point.
and just like all blockbusters these days, stay till the very end. the credits are really quite interesting and not as long as most with white boring words against a black screen. instead of just a plain dark background, this one has lots of stills that are really quite cute. the last bit after the credits was short, but very sweet. so sweet that there was a dude in front who went, 'shit! that was touching!' sparking uncontrollable laughter among my two girlfriends.
so yes, people, go watch Kung Fu Panda. I even want to watch it again. it was, as Po describes so aptly, 'awesome!'.

adam sandler movies

2008-06-20T18:05:00.002+01:00

just walked home from the city with fang and bako. it was a somewhat pleasant walk, not too cold that even fang took off her coat. sorry but I can't help but stick in a comparison with london comment again. I've walked alone in croydon when it was pitch dark loadsa times and I didn't feel as unsafe as I did walking in melb with company. there's a lot of weird, drunk, silly people on the melburnian streets, let me tell you.
oh yes, we caught 'don't mess with the zohan', not a film you wanna watch with your old folks, or one you'd wanna let the kiddies watch too. a lot of times, I had to go 'huh?' myself and ask bako quietly what was so funny. so weiyi, you probably won't enjoy it. I will never look at a hair salon or hummus the same way ever again, that's for sure.
p/s: rob schneider says more than 'you can do it!' in this film. yes, even a bigger role than the one he had in '50 first dates'. gosh, I like these adam sandler flicks, someone should organise an adam sandler marathon. from happy gilmore (still kinda my favourite) to click.

daddy cool

2008-06-10T13:59:00.002+01:00

I hate to eavesdrop but sometimes I just can't help it. every time bako talks to his mum, I try to comprehend his heavy indo and translate it in my head.
however, poor bako can't help but overhear my conversation because of all the exclamation marks when I'm talking on the phone. it's like in the wet market!
this is how a typical conversation with my parents goes, with my mum in a not so bad mood:

mum: hello, why didn't you reply my sms???
me: er, I was busy..
mum: I thought what happened to you! no reaction!
me: oh, er, sorry.
(after telling me about the various goings-on back home, she goes to find my dad)
mum: daddy is playing wii upstairs, I think. DADDY!
dad: what!
mum: na, talk to y-y-our 'sam gon deng'!
author's note: sam gon deng = apple of my eye in canto.
dad: hello?
me: hello! you got wii fit ah?!
dad: yah!
me: wah, really??
dad: no, no! not wii fit lah. you talking about the skateboard one hah?
me: er, yeah. the fitness one.
dad: no no, I'm just playing tennis.
me: ohh..
dad: EH! the fella go and serve when I'm talking to you! I thought he wouldn't serve!
me: cheating ah!
dad: I thought he wouldn't serve because I'm not playing..
me: go pause la!
(dad talks about exams, weather and my finances. the last one in a more serious tone)

assignment

2008-06-02T13:20:00.002+01:00

you are about to read my final assignment for Creative Writing. the only one I dare to post because Grant liked it. (fiiiinally!)

Don't Forget House Keys

Matthew grimaced at the sound of the annoying ring tone. He felt for his cell phone on the bedside table and pushed the green button.
“Hello?”
“Good evening. Is this Mr. Matthew Chute?” replied the voice on the other end.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Chute, I’m sorry to bother you at such a late hour. My name is Nathaniel Thomas and I work at St. Georges' Hospital. Do you know of a Mr. Callum Simpson?”
“Yes, I do,” Matthew said, rubbing his eyes.
“Would you mind coming down to the hospital to identify his body? It could wait until morning, of course. But, I thought, as next of kin, you might want to know the news first.”
The young nurse in lilac scrubs pointed Matthew in the right direction. Being around sick people is as far out of his comfort zone as he could tolerate. There is something about that pungent smell of iodine, or is it detergent? Not to mention the beeping and wheezing of complicated machines. They expect to heal people in places like these?
He followed a man in a lab coat through the swing doors marked Mortuary Services. Matthew watched the man disappear down the corridor as he stepped up to the counter.
“May I help you?” asked the man behind the counter, with the name Nathaniel on his name tag.
“Yes. Hello. I got a call to identify my friend’s body.” Matthew found his own voice thin and foreign, not the same firm tone he always possessed.
“Just fill in this form and sign at the bottom.”
Matthew reached for the clipboard and sat on one of the empty waiting chairs. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 3.14 a.m. Half an hour ago, he was fast asleep next to his loyal greyhound. Now, he was in the same clothes he wore last night, about to see his dead friend. When he answered the phone call, he initially thought it was a hoax. He remembered receiving a call late one night from Callum who pretended to be a police officer. After failing to stifle a giggle, Callum had asked if he could crash at Matthew's because he had lost his keys in the pub again. On one occasion, Matthew was so annoyed at Callum's late night sleepovers that he had suggested rather sarcastically that Callum write a reminder on his forehead so he would never fail to forget his keys again.
As he ticked the box labeled 'friend' on the form, Matthew began to wonder why Callum put him as next of kin. Didn't Callum mention he had a sister in Essex? Wasn't it last Christmas when Callum visited his family in Coventry?
“You’re taking your skinny dog up to Oxford, for the Christmas weekend. Are you mad?” Callum exclaimed.
“Why not? The kids really love her. Besides, I know I can’t count on you to take care of her.” Matthew eyed Callum through the rearview mirror.
“At least I’m not the one who puts their dog in the front passenger seat and chucks their friend behind.” Callum stared at the greyhound curled up comfortably in the front seat next to Matthew. Matthew rolled his eyes.
“What are you doing for Christmas then?” Matthew asked.
“Heading up to Coventry for a little family get-together.”
“Hang on, I’ve known you for five years and you’ve never even so much as mentioned a second cousin. Now, you say you’ve got family in Coventry?”
“That’s because I know how to set my priorities right, like placing my friend over a dog.”
Matthew handed the clipboard back to Nathaniel and the latter asked him to take a seat while he got someone to take Matthew into the morgue.
Matthew looked down at his Nike Airs and lost himself in his deep thoughts. It could also be someone else, couldn’t it? If they were so sure it was Callum, they wouldn’t make me come down all the way to the hospital to identify his body, right? Just then, a pair of black boots appeared in front of his worn out, two-year-old shoes.
“Mr. Chute?” enquired a bespectacled old man in a starched white lab coat.
“Yes?” replied a slightly disoriented Matthew.
“I'm the diener of the morgue, Christopher Hayes. Kindly follow me, please.”
Matthew steadied himself and followed Hayes down the corridor, where the old man stopped in front of a set of black swing doors and turned to face him.
“I should probably caution you first,” he said wearily. “If you find yourself feeling queasy at any moment, feel free to excuse yourself and leave the room.”
“Okay.”
“All I need from you is a nod and then we can discuss the rest outside.”
Matthew could feel the strong thumping of his heartbeat. Was he ready to do this? He swallowed and took a deep breath.
“I’m ready,” he lied.
Hayes pushed one of the doors and held it open for Matthew. Matthew felt a cold rush of air hit his face. Right in the center of the room was a gleaming silver table, with a surgical light hanging over it. White square tiles lined the wall and floor. The scene reminded Matthew of the butcher’s around the corner of his street. Starting to feel uneasy, he placed his hand on the side of a sink to support himself. Just get this over and done with, Matthew. He took a deep breath to regain his composure and joined the diener in front of the mortuary refrigerators. Hayes’ eyes met his to ascertain Matthew’s commitment. After receiving a nod from Matthew, Hayes pulled out a black body bag from the middle drawer. Matthew felt a nervous tingle on the back of his neck, the last thing he wanted to see was his dead friend in a state of rigor mortis. Hayes unzipped the body bag to reveal Callum’s face and upper body. It was hard to recognize Callum without the usual rosy tinge in his cheeks. His face was white with a hue of blue. There was a cut on his purple lip and one of his eyes bore a greenish black bruise. The bugger got into a fight. Standing over Callum’s stiff body, Matthew couldn’t help but wonder how a promising young student ended up in a body bag.
Matthew and Callum went to the same prestigious college in Manchester. The all-boys college valued moulding all-rounded gentlemen, with most of them going on to pursue further education at Oxford and Cambridge. Matthew’s father went to the same college and so did Matthew’s grandfather. Naturally, everyone had high expectations for him as well. In the first year of his A-Level course, Matthew aced the examinations and was touted as the Principal’s favourite, bound for either Oxford or Cambridge. In the beginning of second year, a boy with distinctive platinum blonde hair arrived at the college. He quickly caught the Principal’s attention as well, for his natural talent in cricket and also being able to match Matthew’s academic achievements. It was not long before Callum outshone Matthew and became the Principal’s new favourite.
Nathaniel placed a plastic zip-lock bag containing Callum’s belongings on the counter and requested Matthew’s signature on another legal document. Matthew read the words on the form but he could not comprehend what it was about. Callum’s Burberry wallet in front of him was distracting. He gave up after the third line and just penned his signature at the bottom.
He had stayed with Hayes in the morgue for far longer than he had expected. The old diener had confirmed that Callum was involved in a brawl outside a pub. As Callum turned to go back to the pub, the man with whom he had a fought stabbed him with a pocket knife. He then hid Callum in a dark alley where he wasn’t discovered until two hours later.
“Your friend still had a pulse on the way to the hospital,” Hayes continued. “But he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving here, when his heart stopped beating.”
Matthew was lost for words. He wanted to know if the man who stabbed his friend was caught.
“The police are still looking for the suspect, but you can proceed with the funeral arrangements. The Coroner’s Report was submitted a while ago.”
In the car, as Matthew was driving back home, he glanced at the plastic bag beside him that held Callum’s personal belongings. At the traffic light, he unzipped the bag to take out the brown wallet. As he flipped it open, it revealed a stuck on post-it note scrawled with the words ‘don’t forget house keys’.

correction

2008-05-19T03:39:00.003+01:00

announcement: for those of you who couldn't see the spastic smiley fruit face 2 posts earlier, it's been fixed and everyone can look at it and break a wide grin now :)

my SLR is with my sister for the time being, she wants to check out if it's worthwhile to get herself one. my dad, as predicted, said, 'she won't know how to use one lah!' good on ya', dadda! but I did give her the manual along with the camera.... I predict that she'll call a lot to ask/complain about the complexities of the Nikon.

I shouldn't have woken up for lecture this morning, didn't know what he was going on about. all I know is that some writer called von Klein ditched his fiancee to commit suicide with a woman who had uterus cancer. writers are damn frigging emo.

weirder things have happened

2008-05-15T16:57:00.003+01:00

my sister's most recent blog post (May 15th) is in regards to her falling ill and being sent home from the hospital because she was posing a threat to the teeny weeny babies. she should've known better, I thought, since she IS working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. well, nothing very interesting there, except that in my last post, I talk about me being ill, (date on that should be May 15th as well, but I used an earlier draft..) among other uninteresting rants on giving up on writing.
can I just point out something here? isn't it more than just sheer coincidence that my sister 12 years my senior (wow!) happened to be sniffing and wheezing like a sick dog just when I am? it isn't as amazing as turning water into wine, but hey.. I'm onto something, man. just yesterday at ying thai 2, I was just telling may and jeremy how I thought twins having that psychic bond connection thing is damn frigging cool. like when one half of a twin is ill or under the weather, somehow the other feels the pain and he/she falls ill. hello!? isn't that the coolest thing to have?! a smart twin who knows the answers to all your exam questions? sign me up for a genius superhuman twin!
oh, and guess what? I didn't go to my 2-hour creative writing tutorial today, cos' I wasn't feeling too good and when I woke up after my nap, I read an sms from my classmate (who just happens to be the namesake of one of my brother's ex-girlfriend) telling me that grant (poet/writer extraordinaire) wants me to email my draft for the fiction assignment. GREAT, JUST GREAT. has no one any respect for the ill and sniffly anymore? honestly!

get well soon!

2008-05-03T15:47:00.005+01:00

a get well soon present from me to.... myself.
I just realised my blog has a lot of posts about me falling ill. I've fallen ill so often that when I told my mum that on monday, she totally ignored I said anything. 'sick again? chey, what's new?'
had a sudden revelation a few days ago that I can't write anymore. and I'll prove it when Grant gives back my non-fiction assignment tomorrow with a pathetic H3 again. I don't get australian writing, or their english. it's like they can't support the british system cos' they are pissed against the people who ditched them on this huge island in the first place yonks ago as convicts. so they try to be american, but end up sounding like crackpots. am craving for mrs das gupta's sudden outbursts in her perfect aristocratic english accent. argh!
sorry, I'm just angry at myself cos' my only asset ie. writing, has corroded into scrap metal due to the stupid atmosphere down under. (how's that for being metaphorical redundant huh, grant?! huh huh huh!)

I guess what I want to say is..
I've lost the will and the flair to write. no more writing for celine. period.

tagteam

2008-04-30T13:34:00.004+01:00

Tag#1

The rules:-
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules. -chowchow
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of this post and list their names.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

(i) I grew up loving sesame street.

(ii) I don't eat chili.

(iii) before 12, I never ate pizza cos' I thought the red sauce on it was chili.

(iv) last night, I dreamt that I went on a holiday with my parents to India. not of my own free will, but bamboozled by my mother, who gave me the impression that we were going to Europe.

(v) I don't wear red.

(vi) bako bought me a coat, 2 scarves and a brolly from esprit for my b'day.

(vii) my brother, daniel and I have identical moles on our left feet, around our big toe.

(viii) I prefer brown kaya to green kaya.

Tag#2

1. How many children do you want?
none. or one.

2. What do you want the most now?
to complete a 1000-word non-fiction piece by 2pm.

3. What do you want to be when you grow up?
writer/photographer extraordinaire... with an awesome kitchen!

4. If you can have one more dream come true, what would it be?
to have all the material I've learnt at my fingertips and complete all my assignments asap.

5. What are you afraid to lose now?
the people I love.

6. Do you believe in being in love forever?
what can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.

7. If you meet someone you love, would you confess to him/her?
no, but it may slip.

8. What would you do when you're feeling down and depressed.
wail like a baby.

9. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?
I'm glad you asked! Important points would be that the person must be taller than I am (not that hard to do), have a good command of English, and is able to make decisions and not be all wishy-washy. Also, he has to be filial but not choose his mother over me, kind and generous but not a spendthrift, caring and extremely concerned of my well-being but not give in to me too much, intelligent but not be complacent with it, have a great sense of humour but not try to be the class clown, be adventurous but not unstable, be willing to change for me but not be too malleable, occasionally showers me with gifts, show me lots of affection but not be too clingy, be able to hold his end of the conversation with me but not argue with me. Also must not be any of the following: alcoholics, workoholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts.
Aren't you glad you asked?
(that's xin's answer. I was absolutely laughing my arse off reading that. credits to bridgetjones!)
my answer: just as long as he loves me as much as his heart can allow. then everything else will fall into place.

10. Which type of person do you hate the most?
arrogant smartarses.

11. Do you cherish every single of your friendships?
honestly, no.

12. Do you believe in God?
'course.

13. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
THE most important thing is death. because without it, we'd never appreciate anything/anyone.

14. Do you find it necessary for you to have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
no, a lot of successful people are single.

15. What do you want your friends to be like?
good sense of humour.

16. What kind of friend do you hope to be in your friends' eyes?
a good one.

17. If you can have a change, which part of your character would you like to change?
I'd really like to be more patient!

18. If you're feeling low one day, who will you go to?
Most probably my besties =)

19. Would you die in order to save the ones you love?
in a heartbeat.

20. [My question] dark, milk or white chocolate?
MILK!

Instructions: Remove 1 question from above, and add in your personal question to make it a total of 20 questions. Then tag 8 people in your links list at the end of the post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

- any character from sesame street
- you if you're bored
- the big issue dude at the corner of sydney myer building
- my creative writing tutor. hehehehe.
- the waitress at nelayan, the skinnier one.
- people who were born on the 5th of april!
- mr. kenta toyota. (the guy on deal or no deal s'pore hunk edition)
- the plump chinese guy who works as a receptionist at one of the hotel apartments near vic mart. because he's a stuck-up gay bitch.

papillon

2008-04-27T09:57:00.003+01:00

I spent 5 minutes squatting in front of a glass aquarium today, tapping lightly against the glass where a papillon pup (exhibit A) sat licking the part of the glass where my finger was pressed against. bako was looking at me from a distance wishing he was lightyears away as I cooed at its cuteness, attracting not only the little pup's attention, but also some curious onlookers.

exhibit A.

also encased were shioodle pups (shih-tzu + poodle) and pomchi pups (pomeranian + chihuahua). bako says it's disgusting because they were mated artificially just to get that specific cross breed. :(

I miss mochi, the little family pup with incontinence.
oh and furbie rocks too, despite the autism.

laundry day

2008-04-21T06:26:00.004+01:00

it's laundry day! :)

brighton beach, victoria.

food in

2008-04-17T03:21:00.003+01:00

before coming to melbourne, I wasn't too bothered about not being able to cook, I mean, there's always instant noodles what. also, I was excited to have my own little kitchenette and put whatever I liked in my food.
then, bako came along, and my hopes of a clean, tidy, minimalistic kitchen were dashed as he was the yan can cook kind of guy. plus, he's indonesian, meaning that everything has got to be rice-orientated.. I like rice just as the next person, but indonesians eat rice 3 times a day (and sometimes more!), which is a biiiit too much lah.
this post shows one of many dishes we whipped up. light years away from gordon ramsay, but hey, gordon ramsay was initially a footballer. *shrugs*

happy bako at our first official dine-in meal - chicken breast fillets with blanched veg.

oh, and yes, that's my new toaster.

which brings me to one of my favourite spreads on toast - creamy peanut butter! I don't care if it's supposedly cancer-causing! so is smoking, but do you see people NOT smoking on the streets? I don't think so!

mee goreng!

pasta and steak. yum.

lastly, my chocolate birthday cake that bako bought home. please ignore pj's on chair. :)

2 hours and a half

2008-04-13T09:29:00.002+01:00

I have just spent the last 2 hours and a half:
- vacuuming
- doing the laundry
- doing the dishes
- dedusting the living area
- changing bed linen
- cleaning the stove

and I'm bushed.
*yawn*
readings to do, tute work to complete.

b'day photos

2008-04-11T03:25:00.004+01:00

b'day photos!

this is xin, before.
nervous, scared and long-haired.

this is xin, after. smiling, relieved and short-haired!

the first-time hairstylist at work. may I add that I was just as nervous as the little miss? my hands were practically shaking!

world's greatest shave IH group - contestant #1: adrian in deep meditation. *yi ge da xi gua...* (translation: one big watermelon)

my b'day tulips!

and look how pretty they've bloomed :)

a little bit of kate nash ;)

2008-04-07T06:52:00.003+01:00

watching me
like you never watched no one
don't tell me that you didn't try and check out my bum
cos' I know that you did
cos' your friend told me that
you liked it.
-kate nash, 'merry happy'

nothing like a warm afternoon nap to put a delicious smile on my face. :)
try it!

2020!

2008-04-06T01:58:00.003+01:00

edit:
support xin in the world's greatest shave! (that's why I cut her hair in the first place. raise money for the leukaemia foundation!)
plus, she gave me a mr. tsore tee! WOOO! *sings a team song*

first of all, thanks for the wishes on my tag! I don't think I ever received so many tags in one day! that's awesome!
so, let's see how my b'day begun... woke up in the morning to a 'sayang, happy birthday!' and some plastic poking up my nose. and when I opened my eyes, it was my favourite boy in my favourite shirt and holding my favourite flowers! awwww. by the way, that translates to bako in a nice striped work shirt and holding a bouquet of white tulips.
oh, did I mention he got me macca's hotcakes and mcmuffins? :D
then, we went scarf and coat shopping with him being a few million rupiahs poorer.... (errrr?)
in the late afternoon, set off to IH to cut xin's tassles! it was not easy la. I thought it'd be as easy as cutting rope, but er, not really. and kk didn't help with his shouting and freaking out, should've cut off his little man. jokes aside, I'm truly sorry I was a bad hairdresser and maimed your lovely rebonded hair. :(
to get it off my mind, bako and I watched Horton Hears a Who! which I thought was cute lah, me likey! then, jangjangjang, we went to il Cavallino on lygon and happily strolled home after chicken pizza, chips, veal cutlets, salmon ravioli and (this is for fang) midori lemonade! see, thou art sorely missed, madam!

happy birthday to me

2008-04-04T13:01:00.002+01:00

I want to
change the world,
instead,
I sleep.

I want to
believe in more
than you and me.

but all that I know is that I'm breathing.
all I can do is keep breathing.
all we can do is keep breathing
now.

-Ingrid Michaelson, 'Keep Breathing'

you know sometimes you feel overwhelmed? like something inside you's gonna come and eat you whole? I feel that way. and I can't do anything about it.
Happy Birthday to Me.

kitchen nightmares

2008-03-28T09:04:00.002Z

it had to happen.
after a month or so of good edible home-cooked meals, it was bound to happen.
I finally cooked something bad. what! why are you looking at me like that?! I can cook okay! in fact, I cooked delicious meals the past weeks.
mee goreng, black pepper steaks, lemon and herb chicken, sweet and sour pork, bako's hidden egg recipe and the creme de la creme out of this cook's kitchen - fried vermicelli.
can you wipe that smirk of your face?! I'm being serious here! my bihun is awesome kay! beat all those ones I've eaten at potlucks and christmas parties!
after today's linner (like brunch, only this one is between lunch and dinner), I've hung up my jamie oliver apron (borrowed from the ever faithful fan, my sister) and sought comfort in ready-to-eat meals, which in my world equates to chocolates (thank you mama king for the lindt easter chocs!) and sesame street strawberry yoghurt. honestly, kids' yoghurt tastes tonnes better than adult ones. that's sooo age-ist!
right right, so what DID I cook that deterred my 'yan can cook' spirit?
chicken breast with orange sauce. I saw the recipe in the donna hay cookbook my sister loaned me and although it was meant for duck, I thought hey, chicken might work right, right? wrong! it was so disastrous, I couldn't eat it, I really couldn't! *gags*
poor bako put on a brave front and licked the plate clean, while I eyed the lindt chocolates in the corner. hello mister, you don't have to say it tastes good when it tastes putrid lah. sob sob.
a few lessons I've learnt through this culinary experience:
- do NOT substitute a different meat with another
- don't be a smartarse and season meat with other stuff besides those listed in recipe (yeah, the nando's-loving mr. bako decided to season our chicken with peri-peri. omg!)
- fresh fruit don't make good mains. I dunno why I never learn my lessons. a few weeks ago, I ordered a risotto with poached pear at a restaurant on lygon street, which got me a 'senorina, you don't like the risotto?' from the elderly waiter who went, 'it's a pear' when I asked earlier if the risotto was gonna be sweet.

p.s: i'm thinking of a cinquain for one of my poetry assignments. that's a good start. at least I'm not fretting about haiku anymore.
puzzled about poetry? me too.

visi 2020

2008-03-25T06:41:00.002Z

wawasan 2020!
turning twenty!! actually has a nice ring to it - prefer it in word terms (twenty) than number form (20). so yeah, I'm a twen soon, no more a teen. and how do I feel? kinda cool, actually. dunno whether it's my subconscious mind or something, but I feel less drawn to shops like JayJay's and more attracted to neat shops like BenSherman. also, am digging the brit indie wardrobe even more cos' people here just aren't the FredPerry sort, are they? I've always glanced twice at dudes in skinny ties and in-your-face work shirts in London, and am disappointed every dude's version of smart wear is nike air force ones and jeans they haven't washed in weeks.
yes, so birthdays come with lists, here is this year's hopeful-dream on wishlist:

- ben sherman coat (you can't miss it, it's just the first thing you see)
- new bag :) (good ones from adidas and roxy!)
- grapeseed oil from thebodyshop
- birkenstocks papillo
- watch (haven't seen any nice ones so far..)
- underwear - because who doesn't need 'em?
- pj's (paulfrankisyourfriend!)
- esprit sweater (sold out, last I checked)
- white tulips! yummy!
- max brenner as personal chocolate slave for my whole lifetime

see, not so demanding right? winkety winks.

moths and fires

2008-03-17T03:24:00.003Z

the whole apartment is being subjected to fire escape evacuation test thingies right now and it's driving me berserk. I seem to be the only one who's in on my floor though, which is not surprising, since it's 2.30 pm on a monday afternoon. just today I was looking around my microeconomics tutorial going, 'where the hell are the girls?!' it could be that the guys were so big that they seemed to have a larger quantity as well, but it's weird, cos' apparently my faculty has a majority of girls. I don't know about that, cos' in most of my tutes, the fairer sex stands at the minority end. then, I thought to myself, 'maybe girls are smarter to switch tutes to a more convenient time. and c'mon, a monday 10 am tute?? you want that???
everytime I do the laundry, the cleaners pop up from nowhere and invade my floor. now I actually have to wear pants instead of walking around in boxers. it's so bloody hot here, you know? gives me headaches! (and the maintenance dudes testing the fire alarm isn't helping either) so much so that I've gotten distracted from opportunity costs to type out my frustrations here. gah!
speaking of frustrations, I'm not frustrated that I'm turning 20. oh no, quite the contrary, I'm looking at it as an achievement in life! that I have successfully breathed in oxygen for the past 2 decades. DECADES! sounds like a millenium doesn't it? wow! I can't believe people live that long. today during the creative writing lecture, I was introduced to this poem called the Man-Moth. moths live so short, they barely flit their wings and then they're turned to dust. humans should have lives like that, so we 'experience' everything for the first time. the first taste of chocolate, the first kiss that sends sparks all round your body etc. I'd like that. I'd prefer that to seeing myself age in the mirror. I bet I'm the type with crow's feet around my eyes and painful joints when it rains, the grandma whom everyone on the same street call 'the mad old lady who's always angry'. and I don't want that.
today, I've decided, I wanna be a moth.

uni so far

2008-03-15T03:32:00.003Z

my brother, david and I; albeit 10 years apart, share many things in common.
we both hate yee sang and papayas.
we love to eat junk.
we are comedians in our own right and laugh like crazy.
plus, we both have major headaches when we're under the sun or faced with heat for a period of time.
I'd like to touch on that last point. isn't it supposed to be autumn already?? the high 30's doesn't really mirror that!
last weekend, bako and I with our trusty blanket, sat on the grassy slopes by Yarra River to watch the Bingle Birdman Rally. (Bewdy or Bingle??) I know RedBull has one as well, somewhere in the world. speaking of RedBull, there are numerous cute little silver and blue new minis with huge RedBull cans on the top racing about the melbourne streets with funky licence plates like wingz4 etc. 2 weeks back, one of the little cars was parked outside the Commerce building and I happily told May, 'RedBull gives you wiiiings!' and a dude who had a RedBull in hand went, 'it sure does!!' LOL.
oh yeah, back to the Birdman Rally, where crazy people (I think the heat got to them) dress up in 'aerodynamic' suits and try to fly off the edge, but end up kerplonking into the water. quite amusing, really.
a random event: I was outside the DavidCaro physics building, waiting for bako, when this dude who was on the phone, got on his skateboard, slipped and fell with a thud onto the hard pavement. ouchie! I went to grab his skateboard under the car (reminds me of the time when whatsherface absconded with mine and tried to show off her skills, with my skateboard skidding down the hill towards mrs brown's car) and went to check if he was okay. his elbow was a bruised and I bet his head hurt like hell, so after a word of thanks from him and a 'take care!' from me, which ignited a snort from him, he went off, skateboard in hand now.

job swap

2008-03-10T04:00:00.002Z

do you ever look at someone, sigh and go, 'damn, I wish I had his/her job!' I will never never say that about anyone ever now, cos' I know everyone's job isn't as easy as it looks.
my sister's egging me to gain brownie points in my commerce lectures and tutes so that I'll get to join pwc. but what if I don't wanna join pwc? or kpmg, or deloitte touche tohmatsu, or ernst & young. she says her friend who works in one of the big 4 works from 9-5 and sips on expensive wine. my sister has a very bad perception on things. I can tell she regrets doing medicine and wishes she'd done accounting so she'd enjoy sipping on expensive wine and uh, blogging about her expensive makan escapades. (oops, isn't that what she's doing already??)
the grass is always greener on the other side, people. so shut up and concentrate on your job already. and that goes to you, jie.

(m)academia!

2008-02-27T08:11:00.003Z

Macademia! (yum! cookies!) Okay, not talking about them actually, was just thinking about my Academic Orientation Day. (get it, get it?! academia? macademia??! yes, I scare myself sometimes too)
Right now, some very observant folks are going, 'hang on a moment, why's she not typing everything in a lowercase?' Elementary, my dear Watson. I have to get my gears running for my lectures which begin on Monday, gonna be typing a whole lot for my assignments, so I might as well get used to it now.
Today, as I mentioned above was Academic Orientation Day, where I woke up bright and early to sit in the thousand-seater Copland Theatre for my Commerce talk, learning one important lesson my Dean taught me: 'the commerce degree this university has to offer has the strictest entry requirements in the country, so all of you seated here are the best Australia has to offer and internationally, as well.'
*shiver me timbers!*
After which, I found myself at NAB enquiring about my VISA card which I have yet to receive, instead of at Murdoch Theatre for another talk on Academic Writing, which I will have to attend on Friday before heading to the airport to pick Bako up.
Lunch was at Nando's, where May and I laughed at our student card photos and our inability to look photogenic.
Microecons and Accounting introductions were fun, even if the guai lo beside me stole my answer and in the end, got a bar of chocolate thrown to him by the Microecons lecturer. It was cherry ripe flavour anyway - eek! I love our Accounting lecturer, positively hilarious!
I finally found my way to the theatre in Microbiology for my Creative Writing talk, being 5, 10 minutes late? I couldn't find the darn place, which was behind some dingy looking Medical Building. My lecturer was not too bad, he encouraged us to be creative and carry a journal everywhere, jot down ideas we have or sketch little snapshots. I just felt a bit weird when I looked around the whole theatre and found that I could count the number of Asian students with one hand. I think I felt my face burn beetroot. However, the lecturer was really encouraging, saying that in his years of teaching, he had come across students with bad writing, but never bad ideas. That sort of gave me a confidence boost, that and the lollies we all got when we left the theatre.
Stupid me left my newly purchased Creative Writing notes on the table outside the bookshop and I only realised that when I was at Tin Alley! (which is really far off) So, I shoved my iPod in my bag while I ran for the sake of my $20 I just basically threw down the gutter. Very very very luckily, I found it lying innocently on the table, stuffed it into my bag before anyone could come after me shouting, 'thief! Thief!'

first aussie weekend!

2008-02-25T12:33:00.004Z

joel and I went furniture/appliance shopping on saturday!
it was good that he had a car cos' we had loads to pick up from ikea and k-mart.
not just any car, by the way, it's kfc's absolute favourite - the bmw.

I dunno much about beemers since my dad isn't a big fan of them.
this is basically how it goes, you're either a beemer fan or a merc fan. it's like man u and liverpool. you don't sit on the fence and get your arse poked.
someone once told me, if you want a good driver's car, get the former. if you're not too picky about the driving, but want people in the passenger seats to shut up about them not having enough leg room, get a merc.

oh and we went to dinner with joel's family at a chinese restaurant near their place.

nightlife

2008-02-22T14:31:00.004Z

joanne and ming brought me out to dinner :):)
sorry, no photos though :(:(

we went to a Japanese restaurant near st. kilda's which supposedly burnt down in december! but they're restoring the burnt half so the other half is still open for business. surprise surprise, I had unagi - yumyum. (but still cannot beat the one in london's japan center. mmmmm) misuzu's does have much better ambience, I must admit. cousin joanne described it as a 'cute little hippy place', and I couldn't have put it any better.

afterwards, they brought me to Brunetti's - a famous Italian cafe on Lygon St, which is just down the road from my college residence. amidst the crowd of friday night cafe dwellers, ming was lucky enough to have found an empty table.

a cup of hot chocolate and nibbles of blueberry tart later, I was dropped home.

I'll leave you with 2 photos of the view from my apartment.

melbourne 101

2008-02-21T08:55:00.002Z

g'day mates!

life in melbourne has been okay so far, and I'm fortunate not to be too much of a n00b here since xin's showing my around and everything. also, thanks jie for the bed linen and plates and other miscellaneous stuff.

chose my subjects today.
besides my compulsory Accounting and Commerce subjects, I also had to choose 2 subjects which are outside my faculty. after much head scratching with xin in the IT room, which was crowded with n00bies like me, I've chosen Creative Writing and Visual Media. am a bit anxious cos' it's been a loooong time since I last wrote and also afraid I'll need to flip through the dictionary every time my lecturer speaks. EEEK! oh weiyi, you'll be disappointed to know that I didn't take Corporate Law or Taxation Law. (boleh mati lah)

erm erm, nothing much to report besides having to get used to everything. realised I'm co-dependent, think parasitic. ):

p/s: as for you (you know who), sorry for everything yesterday. know I was being stupid.

valentine's

2008-02-14T16:12:00.002Z

bought my parents vday gifts - a bar of tasty chocolate for dad and a slice of oreo cheesecake for mum. dad was all smiles and really appreciative while mum was not that enthusiastic and questioned the reasoning behind me giving them gifts, cos' I wasn't like hopelessly in love with her in that way or anything. well, I don't think vday should just be enjoyed by those in the deep throngs of passionate love; I mean, small little things to friends and family go a long way too. (not in the case of my mum)

so, thanks xin & jilly for a nice valentines day out. I love you both.
oh and thanks for the wishes everyone. ;)

maaagick!

2008-02-10T09:08:00.000Z

I rode around in shawn's old metallic purple volks beetle today! okay, I like the new one better, but the old one's so authentic and austere... (by that I mean old) the wiper and headlights had to be controlled with knobs. seriously, you had to pull the knobs to make them work, so darn cute! although the seats behind are only big enough to accommodate people slightly bigger than midgets. (I got that from jezza of topgear fame :S)
all in all, adolf hitler's life wasn't such a big waste after all.

anyhoo, I thought I'd use my nando's vouchers from the first day of cny when I had lunch with my mum. I wasn't too hungry, so just got some appetizers. while we waited, I entertained shawn with my magic tricks...

that's about the only trick I know so I was very happy to show off to the waiter who brought my food.
'eh wait, don't put down yet! look at this!'
I think the waiter was amused that I was pretty darn pleased with myself. cheh.

shawn just said my arms look skinny in that photo and asks me why I don't wanna be a model. omg. flashback to bugis junction where I was approached by strange blue-contact lens wearing blond-haired chinese girl. okay, nevermind, just something between me and my woman. :D

people, bako has facebook - go add-eth him! :D:D:D:D
and give me eyesores la, you stingy pigs.

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Now playing: Ibrahim Ferrer - As Time Goes By
via FoxyTunes

reunion dinner at last

2008-02-06T15:16:00.000Z

cinda says, 'xin nian kuai le! I'll take that angpao, thankyouverymuch!'
*furbie looks on silently*

celine says, 'are you sure that's a good idea, babe?'

chinese new year is one of my least favourite holidays of the year. I haven't celebrated it properly for 2 years now, and I think I enjoyed myself more then. my past reunion dinners consisted of dimsum in london chinatown and enjoying delicious french cuisine in paris. this year I had shark's fin soup and uh, some glutinous rice. my palette doesn't get all excited when it comes to snottty supposedly 5-star chinese food.

1 char kuey teow please, lao ban.

reply to goose

2008-02-04T11:16:00.000Z

this post is specially for natashalim.
hello goose!
I'm sorry I haven't gotten round to replying your email - I keep forgetting to! anyway, next best thing: blog/reply.
well, I don't have much to report and I don't know what to say in reply to your email. just that cny is coming and yeah, redness scares me. just keep reading this blog for more updates.

sibling unrivalry

2008-02-02T15:04:00.000Z

thankyou, bigsistah for checking out my apartment and also buying some bed linen for me. read blog.
so, I woke up the earliest in a month today (6.30) to follow my bigbroshar to the airport and then drive back solo - the furthest I've driven ever. on the way there however, we had this conversation after he realised I've never driven to the airport before.

'what's the speed limit anyway?'
'110, but for you, 90.'
'whaaat?'

so not looking forward to picking him up on tuesday morning, what with all the balik kampung jam coinciding with the peak hour traffic. haiyah.

my parents were wonky today, scolding me for no reason.
I blame my hair.

hairy predicament

2008-01-31T11:44:00.000Z

was in a wordy mood yesterday, but then bako called and I gave him all my words, so now am kinda lost for words. you know what I mean, right?
I got my hair done today. and I'm so weak! I succumbed to rebonding again, so now I look like a flat pancake landed on the top of my head and decided to make it its permanent home. ): fyi, my parents hate it. hatehatehate it! oh well, I used my hard-earned uniform-wearing pay! oh and korkor david said that I look thin. yeah, cos' the hair's all stuck on my face like a skeleton!
okok, chill. good thing is there's no yellowing hair on my ends anymore. it's quite happily black now. granted it's not permanent but eventually when it washes out, it'll be nice and dark brown-ish. that's what my stylo stylist said anyway.
so, I walk in wanting a treatment and a trim, and I walk out having flat kueh tiau hair. I have rebonded my hair before okay? it's just flatter than I remembered. sniff.
I had fun looking through Elle mags and gawking at the pretty clothes that I'll never wear cos' I can't afford it anyways and probably will never dare to walk out in them even if I can.
also had fun watching this JB produced sketch-like movie. OMG, I wanted to laugh my head off if that pretty salon girl wasn't pulling my hair straight until I was biting my lips. she may look tiny with 60% of her face being covered by her spa curls, but the girl sure can pull hard! *rubs scalp* oh right, back to the movie, it was kinda stoopid la, but I like these kinda stupid cheesy movies that aren't sex oriented. I mean, I can't even sit through American Pie without switching it off in the first 45 minutes feeling like I need to wash my eyes. I detest that movie. yuck! ok, there I go, side-tracking again... *shakes head* just go watch the movie which roped in Jack Neo to be one of its co-producers. erm, tell your local ah beng that it's a JB production, I'm sure it's not hard to find. (:
after I came home, I went to this wholesale fruit place which had this huge cooling room filled with crates of fruit! I couldn't even stay in there for longer than 10 secs. it was freezing! my mother has decided to give everyone fruits this year for cny. 'it's healthier!', chimes mumsiechu. wokay, mama.
after dropping 2 cartons of mandarins at the church, (they're blessed and given to all the parishioners on cny) I kostan-ed all the cars out and dropped by church again to deliver my mom's candles (to be blessed on saturday). I don't understand how the church breeds people who steal candles. she says if she doesn't label them, people will happily help themselves. -.- then, she proceeded to tell me that a sister had asked to borrow some orchids for one of the church fairs and apparently, some filipinos carted them off. >.< knowing my mother, it could be exaggeration, but hey, who steals plants from a church wei?!
this is the very flat-haired girl signing off. chowchow! (don't think I forgot you, chowxinyu, who looks like Vivian Chow! WAHAHAHAH!)

I Got It From My Mamak - part 2

2008-01-28T14:40:00.001Z

I promised fang I'd post this, so here it is!
not as good editing as the previous, but you have to watch this for the Milo t-shirt guy. please. I guarantee you'll laugh your head off.

I got it from my mamak

2008-01-27T07:43:00.001Z

I remember singing this while mama mak was driving, giving xin and fang wth faces.

I remember flo's imeem posting on her blog..

then, I saw this on youtube. viewer discretion is advised.

wedding edition

2008-01-22T11:38:00.000Z

just the other day, we were talking about marriage (more specifically weddings) cos' I was saying that I should chase that dream of being a photographer and earn big bucks by telling engaged couples to smile wider, look happy, put their hand on his/her hand, gaze into each others' eyes lovingly... blahblahblah. just count how many wedding salons have mushroomed lah! no, just go round Sentosa area. OMG! they have overtaken the clubs!

ah beng meets ah lian at a club in said area.
B: you so pleety leh! let's married!
L: really ah?! I must have big big ring, then can show to ah hua..... eh lao gong! next door got a wedding dress shop leh! I saw a dress very pleety!!
<- insert wedding march remixed with techno ->

sorry, got a bit carried away. here are some JZG photos of the 'pleety' matrimonial couples, with running commentary, or course.

yaohuang, for the love of God (and the sanity of me - your wedding photographer), please do NOT wear black for your wedding, because you run a risk of looking like Mortisha Addams.

'yes, I see it too, dear!'

white on the other hand, is classic and oh so beautiful!

note: this photo was hard to take, had just seconds to snap it as the curious crowd of onlookers jostled to get a better view.

ok, I dunno about you but I like flipping through style: weddings. :P then, I get all embarassed for the brides who ruin their big day by either getting drunk like a fish or tripping on their train.

oh yeah, and I have a thing against people who wear white to other peoples' weddings. please don't outshine the bride, get your own wedding.

was just thinking, these photos are probably flashing on some big screen as 50 tables of guests dig in to their 10 course dinner. you know how they have those flash animation slideshows of the couple when they were babies and then a few years later, they met and fell in love... it always cracks me up to see them in their then trendy clothes and hair. WAHA! I don't see why it's necessary to advertise a photo of you (then a baby) on the potty to everyone. dahlah you are receiving your congrats from them with lipstick on your teeth. heeheehee.

I would NEVER wear these traditional chinese wedding get-ups. yes, your skin is yellow; yes, you're cheena, we get it!

daddy, you have to learn from goose/tasha how to pose properly.

hips don't lie

2008-01-21T06:40:00.000Z

B: my hips..
C: *sings* don't lie!
B: no, they hurt... :(
C: of course! truth hurts.
B: ...
C: geddit geddit?? hips don't lie? truth hurts? HAHAHAA.
B: oookay.
- a conversation between me and bako.

oklah, another photo for you, since you're in agony over the visit to the dentist.

like the last one, taken at JiuZhaiGou, China. a crappy place with absolutely stunning waterscapes.

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Now playing: Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie/Bamboo
via FoxyTunes

new year resolutions?

2008-01-20T11:23:00.000Z

I promise that when I go to Melbourne,

- I will study the best to my ability.
- get my source of entertainment cheaply - which means my laptop must must must be very well behaved. :D
- NOT gain weight. *snort*
- try to make friends. harhar.
- be a damn fine Accountant and get a good job.

jiuzhaigou 2007.
one of the many ponds we visited at the wretched place.

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Now playing: Nelly Furtado - Crazy
via FoxyTunes

z untuk zirafah!

2008-01-19T09:08:00.000Z

when my brother David went over to SA on a business trip, the only animals he saw were...

that's damn sad. when we went to Pilanesburg in some unearthly hour in the morning, we got to see some REAL animals.
the animals in the distance that got my mother jumping up and down, praising herself for having fantastic eyesight turned out to not be lions, but zebras. found that out when we put the photos on the pc, and were like, 'ehhh???'. well, being mothers, she still insists they were lions she saw. okie dokie, whatever floats her boat.

anyhoo, we were soooo lucky (apparently) to see this guy.

he reminds me of Merman (or was it Mormon???) from Madagascar, voiced by Ross from Friends. remember that part when he got some greens on his head and he was going like, 'nature! it's all over me! get it off!!!'

who says we can never see the top of giraffes' heads?

this post is dedicated to my giraffe-loving kuzzin, for whom I bought a snoring giraffe for last year. aww. it was so cute lah - just had to buy it.

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Now playing: Kelly Clarkson - Beautiful Disaster
via FoxyTunes

sun city hotel - wow!

2008-01-18T09:25:00.000Z

my hotel room in sun city, south africa.
fantabulastic! :D

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Now playing: Lily Allen - LDN
via FoxyTunes

chinese roots

2008-01-10T13:44:00.000Z

I've never been so glad to be home! actually, I always wanna come back home after 2 days of my holidays abroad with my family. :/ reality show producers want drama? go stay with a Cantonese family. first, they're frigging loud, so you can ditch the microphones. second, sure ah got scandal involving at least one person. as weiyi says, 'pasti sumpah ayam'! which is why I keep a diary, when I'm nearing the end of my livelihood, will sell my scripts to a drama producer and earn big bucks. I don't like to be too personal on my blog so people don't korek my script ideas. plus, people are too kpc for their own good. I actually sometimes think of shutting down my blog.
think I might do it when I'm not so angry with life.

I recommend everyone to stay away from Egypt and just enjoy it on Discovery: Travel and Living from the comforts of your OSIM airchair and air-conditioned room.
like jiuzhaigou. *shudders*

yes, I do hate being a Chinese, sometimes.
Ni Hao, let me fart on your face.

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Now playing: Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold/Breakfast in America
via FoxyTunes

new beginning!

2008-01-01T01:27:00.000Z

yes, as beb mentioned in my tagboard, I'm flying off again... this time to the exotic land of Egypt. like South Africa, I haven't got a choice and am positively clueless on our itenary. what I do know is that we're leaving our humble abode to brave the causeway at 2.30 pm later.

this is bad. one shouldn't start a new year off by flying off to a foreign country. but then again, one should probably start the year off by being positive. hmmm. maybe that's why my years so far have been horrid. I've never been exactly er, positive regarding new years'. it's just an excuse for alcoholics to drink and partiers to get laid. so you start writing the dates all wrong for the first week by writing 2007 instead of 2008 and you have a brand spanking new calender on your desk... so??? as a future accountant, I will be rounding up my accounts around this time of the year, which means work work work! what about stock check for the shops all over the globe? spare a thought for those in dingy store rooms everywhere counting paper clips!

so much for being positive about the new year.

oh, but I did receive a tear-jerking sms from bako at midnight local time, which will embarass him to the max if I were to type it out here, but it's not as cheesy as the m&s bakery incident. *winks gayishly at faijia*

right, I know I didn't finish blogging about my past holidays in Italy, JZG and SA. dreadfully sorry. :S

here's a few photos from our first destination in SA, which is a Dutch memorial site. most of the whites came from Netherlands and introduced religion, farming techniques etc to the locals.

dad gave me the idea to take these edgy pieces.

the scorching heat beating down.

carpark.

jump on the band wagon!

the unique circular center inside.

the walls tell stories.

view from the top.

my favourite - sequencing.

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Now playing: Gwen Stefani Feat. Damian Marley - Now That U Got It
via FoxyTunes

song brought to you by sarahjane aka woman. cheers!

possibly the last post of 2007!

2007-12-27T13:11:00.000Z

wow, has it been a whirlwind of a december or what! here's a brief update:

I spent a little less than a week in South Africa, which is a lot like how I expected it to be. contrary to popular belief, it isn't a dilapidated country where 5 families sleep in the same house with each husband possessing 5 wives each.

first of all, their currency is not too far off from the Ringgit. 1 South African Rand = 1 Malaysian Ringgit. so, you'll probably have a picture of their economic status from there.

oh yes, the inhabitants aren't ALL black. every 10 black guys = one white guy. so, yes, they are the majority, but a lot of the residents are coloured, which means neither pure Black or pure White.

after I touched down from SA, I met up with bako, who spent most of his next 48 hours at my place, which I definitely appreciated, seeing as I haven't seen him for 5 months. time sure flies.

not to mention that I spent a lot of my own waking hours with my girls, talking, shopping, playing Wii, laughing, and in my case - hiccuping. *shakes head* something is seriously wrong with me.

and yes, I've started working again, but hopefully not for long, since I'm jet-setting to Egypt with my parents, sis and joel on new year's and only coming back a little bit over a week later.

till then, here's a random photo I took at our first tourist destination in SA to whet your appetite. :)

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Now playing: Jon McLaughlin - So Close
via FoxyTunes

I touched the dead

2007-12-09T12:45:00.000Z

ever since I started working, I realised I've seen the best and worst of human behaviour. I've also seen the contrasts in them.
but, most of all, I've seen life - in its greatest glory and at its darkest hour.

today was the first time I touched a dead person, a dead person I've never known, that I'll never get the chance to know.
someone who didn't deserve to die because she never lived.

tonight, I say a prayer for you, little one.

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Now playing: Mcfly - The Heart Never Lies
via FoxyTunes

christmas shopping!

2007-12-08T14:07:00.000Z

christmas christmas!

I spent the whole day at Tebrau City just shopping.
*lifts feet up to table* boy, am I tired! BUT! it was rather fruitful as I slashed quite a number of wishlist items off.
bought an affordable pair of shades, boxer shorts, a dress that almost moved weiyi to tears (no, seriously), my nike bag (but in a different colour) and settled jie and mum's x'mas pressies. I did manage to try on the size 4 somersetbay dress, but they need altering and that's something I need to consider..

now, pardon me as I close my eyes for a while....

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Now playing: Rihanna ft. Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You
via FoxyTunes

christmas list '07

2007-12-06T12:35:00.000Z

you know what's scary? having one of your contact lenses drop off whilst driving. :S
and on that note, let's commence on Celine's to-buy list (can also double up as Christmas list) *hinty hint*

- glasses - because I'm blind with them.
- sunnies - I AM going to Oz after all.
- laptop sleeve/pouch.
- sony ericsson cybershot phone
- canon SLR
- dark brown nail polish - my prediction for the new it colour.
- somerset bay grey dress size 4 - because they ran out of that size in Metro!
- ankle socks
- shorts
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
- ear studs
- that green nike tweed bag, yes, the big one.
- patrick dempsey on my doorstep, please!

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Now playing: Sugababes - About You Now
via FoxyTunes

to whet your appetite with the lure of Mother Nature

2007-11-20T10:59:00.000Z

right, where were we?
oh yes, Chengdu airport. which doesn't look as good as this.

we were taking a small plane up to JiuZhaiGou, the highlight of our trip, which translates into a valley with 9 villages, not 9 drains.... being a one hour plus flight, our terminal was shoddy looking, with people smoking wherever they like. *cough*locals*cough*
that photo up above was taken in the international side, miles away from our departure gate. it was truly a world's difference.
well, actually can't say much, have you been to the Sepang airport these days?? they don't even turn on the lights in some areas!

no matter what they say about China's booming economy, I will always fail to understand what they're stuttering about. (yeah, I'm Chinese, but I didn't say my Engrish was perfect what)

we reach jzg in the late evening and had dinner in this canteen place next to our chalets. stayed in weird-looking LOTR type stone houses, which provided little or no insulation. after our bleh-whatever dinner, we went to visit a Tibetan home.

I got a few nods from people regarding this photo, which was good.

Dzi bead patterned lanterns.

if I thought the food back at the canteen was bad, this place was worse. there was bits of food on the rim of my bowl, hence that put me off any sort of f&b till the next day. the funniest thing was that when my mother told them to change the bowl, they looked as if she just asked them to take off their clothes.

have you heard of Sister-Drum? I used to have their album in my iPod until my brother Daniel erased the whole thing. all 1991 songs - poof! just so you know, the Tibetan do sing like they have 5 other voices in their throats. it's the freakiest thing!
below are some photos of the Tibetan folk and us the tourists, dancing around this big bonfire.

burn her ketiak!!

the interior of the hotel....

... next door - Holiday Inn.

I think it looks like our Chinese surname - Zhu.

our local tour guide with the oh-so-sleepy voice, bringing us round beautiful jzg national park.

our first stop was this beautiful waterfall which has a forgettable name, since I can't remember it.

but then again, I don't remember how many of these beautiful waterscapes I visited, so it could just be my poor memory.

in the next post, we'll see more of mother nature's beauty, but right now, I'll leave you here with these beautiful non-photoshopped photos to dream of.

bako update

2007-11-17T15:08:00.000Z

just in case people were wondering... (especially the UK people ie. hils)
bako (aj referred to him as abobo today, to which he found quite amusing) is not dead, but he may be dying from all his workload. you see, the poor sod is catching up on his maths as he needs to score at least 75% on this online maths test so he can get into Melbourne Uni! blame it on the B he got for GCSE back in penang, that caused him to take econs for A's instead of maths. hence, he is stuck at home with his nose in his books (under my orders) and if he dares to stray from his goal, my litle spy andre (his little brother) will kick him back to his seat. :D take that you blood-is-thicker-than-water people.
so, tada! that's what he's up to, now don't ask me about him already, I get jealous too!

okokok

2007-11-13T14:58:00.000Z

alright, so at least 6 people are regular everyday blog viewers here. (and if you're thinking of tagging my board adding something else, please read the underlined word in the last sentence. sheesh.. people!)
just prepared potato and oatmeal bread in the dry kitchen. shall let y'all know how that goes in the morning. *fingers crossed*
today was the hardest day of work I had to endure, it made me think twice, nay thrice about my future in accountancy. I really admire people like <-insert name of diligent counter nurses in charge of the till and accounts->, it's really hard work! people especially like to zoom in on you and ask questions when you're sitting at the counter, even though your head is buried deep in numbers and figures. don't even get me started on the phonecalls! it was so frustrating I wanted to give up answering the phone. thankfully, natalie (the stemcell representative, who isn't under my dad's payroll) was there to lend a hand (literally) by picking up the phone and giving directions to lost patients who were trying to find the clinic.
I can't believe I have to endure another 2 months of working counters. dear confinement nurse who used to work counters, please come back asap! we neeeeeed you!
very very fortunately, at the end of the evening when I sat down with jj wong to hand her the bills and money, they tallied! woooo! thankyou, mrs lau! even though I got a B in Accounting!! :S

Chengdu with eyes open

2007-11-09T15:19:00.000Z

OK, back by popular demand.. (the popular ones being my ex-housemate, Flo and my favourite boy in the world. oh man, that is so pathetic. but I do feel exceptionally happy that people still read what I have to say. sniff)

so, back to my China tour, which I still have nightmares about, thank you very much. NO MORE CHINA, SERIOUSLY!

ahem, anyway, another photo of Green Goat Palace - a Taoist temple in Chengdu. all Taoists are free to correct me but there's LaoZi's statue somewhere in there and if I'm not wrong he's the Father of Taoism.

hi dad!

chapteh! China style!
p/s: Nike shoes ok!

we later went on to WenShu monastery, different to GGP as this one was Zen Buddhist, which unfortunately didn't allow this shutterbug to take any photos. just imagine statues of Tripitakka, Buddha and Boddhisava. erm, easier if you think of Monkey King's shifu dude, the curly hair Buddha with red lips and erm some other golden Buddha statues.

our dinner was steamboat, but not just ANY steamboat, oh no, Chengdu people like it hot. (by the way, those are floating pieces of FAT)

we're talking about the temperature, the spiciness and the one-of-a-kind numbing sensation Chengdu-ans love. (siao fellas)

believe me when I say that our Chengdu hotel is the best in the entire leg of the tour. the conditions of some of the bathrooms where we went were... o my tian!

after a morning of hearing my mother go, 'why are we still waiting around in the lobby???', we arrive at JingLi Street by foot.
attention: tourist trap!

these artsy kiddies are everywhere!
when I wanted to take their photos upfront, the small boy raised his board in front of his face. and it wasn't because he was shy, but more because he was angry! Chinese people are frightening like that.

boy was I wrong when I thought that Italian shopkeepers were garang, my fellow Cheenamen are scarier! I had to quickly snap this before she turned around.

I want candy too!

don't be fooled, he is no wax work of madam tussaud, but a real life breathing lao yehhh, fanning away.

so that concludes today's post. watch out for the next one featuring Chengdu's international airport and our trip up to JiuZhaiGou - way up above sea level!

cyber bullies

2007-11-04T01:14:00.000Z

read a scary newspaper report just now on cyber bullies - internet users who display unsociable behaviour by flaming other internet users. what's their problem???
some cases are sooo out of hand, it's frightening! imagine people spamming your tagboard, spreading lies and making you feel... well, small and weak.
thankfully, I've never had such experiences here. :)
well, off to work now, have a good week ahead!

Chengdu teaser

2007-11-01T00:40:00.000Z

if you're waiting around to read about my latest expedition in China...

... I can't tell you what to expect.

just that these photos were taken at Green Goat Palace (Qing Yang Gong).
some of you more observant ones will already have guessed it's a Taoist temple. (spot the typical hair-tied-up-into-a-bun Taoist monk)

oh, and these are reject photos which either didn't look right or didn't capture what I had in mind.

aren't you excited to see the ones I didn't reject? ;)
and we're only on the first stop in Chengdu! :D

of dogs and babies

2007-10-27T10:19:00.000+01:00

sometimes I look at furbie and liken it to a baby, a very hairy baby. I mean, seriously, she's just the right size and she has to be fed and her poop cleared and everything.

Exhibit A

my big brother david is no animal lover, but furbie, well, she gives him little surprises sometimes to remind him of her existence.

Exhibit B

the bib is a necessity above the lovely baju kurung or else it'd just be a soaking wet one. (think of slobbering bull dogs)

Exhibit C

be it dogs or babies, they sure are cute.

calamity

2007-10-12T14:08:00.000+01:00

today, I changed my middle name to 'calamity', because:
1) I was awoken by kak yati who was banging on the door, asking my 23-year-old brother to wake up for his elective posting, which he has been attending for the past fortnight or so.
2) after a long day at work, I came back discovering that he drank my glass of oj too. he says that it was all oxidised and just sitting there anyway.
3) kak yati proceeds to wake me up to inform me that the bread we baked the night before tak jadi.

I dunno why - I followed the recipe!

4) my dad comes home and scolds me for my mistake over the bread. although, I blame the recipe book person.
5) during lunch hour, he rubs salt into my wound by saying how stupid I am over said mistake.
6) I witnessed a patient's vomit consisting of noodles. gross.
7) newborn babies' poop........
*gags*
8) I wanna work wards tomorrow so I see less of my family and hence, don't have to coop myself in my room quietly doing absolutely nothing and getting blamed for everything.

you know you read in the papers about young 14-year-olds running away from home because of something totally stupid like, the parents not being able to afford an n95 for them or something?
c'mon-lah. that's the parents' version of the story.
the older I grow, the more I believe that there's no such thing as bad kids, just parents who didn't know better. you think newborn babies come out with their first instinct being robbing some ex-Convent teacher on a motorbike?
'nuff said.

condoms

2007-10-09T13:53:00.000+01:00

First AID by deviantartist *sharadhaksar

that's a condom, if you didn't notice.

I know I'm Catholic and am supposed to discourage the use of condoms, but as a daughter of an OBGYN, I must say I support the use of this little rubber that can be bought at all major pharmacies. I emphasize that fact because I think some folks do not get that this piece of rubber could save your life.
read in the papers that cases of AIDS among M'sian women have jumped 250% since '96. most of them get it from one night stands, what's worse is that they're professionals ie. doctors, lawyers etc. you would think they'd know better. but obviously being learned doesn't necessarily mean that they use their brains for the right stuff.
when people come out of the consultation room, smiling at the knowledge that they are carrying not one, but two little fetal heartbeats melts my heart. :D who doesn't like twins?
:( I know of some who don't. she didn't even think twice before taking the lives of her unborn children, which is damn sad.
so, if you ask me if I approve of the use of condoms, I say yes - if that helps to save lives, prevents STDs like AIDS and stop people from going, 'we didn't want it' because 2 out of 10 women have unsuccessful pregnancies in the first 3 months. that's 20%!
what would you think if I suka suka delete you off the face of this earth even before you could defend for yourself?

cinda

2007-10-01T11:47:00.000+01:00

one saturday, cinda went on her first car ride with dad and brought her home for a little visit to see all the grannies, kakaks and funky smelling boys - though kor was too engrossed in his HotFuzz to really bother. (btw, watched that movie with goose and mel while eating greasy mcd - good times!)

anyway, back to the guest of honour I'm mentioning - the yet-to-be-legally-named big sister residing in the nursery, whom we fondly call cinda or kakak. like one sales representative said a few weeks back, the baby's got 24 mothers, all of us playing with her, talking to her as if she understands, feeding her, that kinda thing. one could say I'm pretty acquainted to the quiet tot as I carry her round and hang out with her a lot since I started labour at my dad's. speaking of which, she absolutely adores her 'atuk aka gynae who brought her into this world and the feeling is definitely mutual. no wonder mumsiechu doesn't like me much, judging by the way my dad plays with her.

facts about cinda:
- she just celebrated her happy half-a-year last wednesday!
- her name started out as a joke - cinda is the name of a female ghost on some malay show.
- she just loves to look at things, especially things she's never seen before.
- her eyelashes are super duper long and are just about the first thing people notice when they lay eyes upon her.
- she isn't for sale. we're still waiting for her dad to come claim her. he has a little less than a month left before we surrender her over to the Indonesian authorities (as her mom is Indonesian)

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Now playing: The Beatles - She's Leaving Home
via FoxyTunes

happy b'day, deetee!

2007-09-27T11:17:00.000+01:00

surprise surprise, I'm nursing a flu I just caught last night. and I still had to go to work. especially since I forgot about night clinic and came back from tebrau city at half past seven, uh oh.
oh well, since the policy at home is now 'don't ask, don't tell', I didn't get yelled at or anything - which I'm very appreciative of.
work was torturing. I didn't spend time with the babies cos' I didn't wanna infect any of them with my 37.25 degree germs. which was sad, cos' cinda kept smiling at me from inside the nursery. sorry kiddo, maybe in a few days.
by the way, Happy Birthday, DeeTee! thanks to you, we all got to gather and make big fools of ourselves from Italianies to RedBox. my first time to one of those karaoke things and it was dreadful how much the bill was at the end of our little concert. you know how those pirated karaoke songs don't feature the original video but of some scantily-dressed, braless woman with big fat red lips running her hands through her hair and prancing about in the middle of the street? horrifying.

kim also went googoogaga singing her favourite k-pop songs. bleh. I hate beautiful people, even those who go under the knife, that means they're both rich AND beautiful.
girls being girls, we abandoned the karaoke machine for a while (except maybe kim) to camwhore. ahahahaa. malu lah.

I miss staying away from my parents, feel like I'm an eye-sore to them when I'm here. dee, you're right. oh and thanks to everyone's tags. good thing there was no 'how could you say such things, you unfilial piece of #*$^&!%' or I'd be even more suicidal than now.

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Now playing: Hard Fi - Suburban Knights
via FoxyTunes

fly me away

2007-09-24T16:17:00.000+01:00

I know I'm a very impatient person - God knows how people can put up with me, which explains why my ohana get mad at me pretty easily. it's either they're all really bad tempered or my 'ba zi' clash with them. fengshui no good or whatever.

'they all ah, if they get stuck in a jam to watch linkin park, they'll say it's worth it! they don't know how good life is ah! one call and the chauffeur is there to pick them up! huh!! <-insert lots of coughing in between-> they all never even take school bus before!!'

ok, that is downright shooting at me, man. cos' my brother who was the one who was whining about going to s'pore in the wee hours of the morning by public transportation and back. eh hello brother, you comprain so much, I yang kena nicely from her tau? of course you know lah, it's just that you don't care as long as you get all the benefits and other people suffer, right? tupid big cow.
and fyi, I have taken public and school buses. huh. bagi sama dia orang.
I think I got a death sentence after I rejected the "calling" of being a medical doctor. *rolls eyes* doctor hen liao bu qi meh? I'll get my lawyer friends to sue your bookwormed face.
this whole keluarga has a big fat issue. random rich man, please marry me and let's migrate to a faraway place where no one knows me and I won't be judged by the people that I've lived with all this while.

man, I'm so angry, I could snap someone's head. RAWR. life frigging sucks.

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Now playing: Will.I.Am - I Got It From My Mama
via FoxyTunes

short term memory loss

2007-09-22T05:38:00.000+01:00

I forgot to tag 5 people after my previous survey. shucks.
so now, I tag goose, xin, fang (who has already done the survey), kuzzie and mel.

Joy's fashion survey

2007-09-19T13:07:00.000+01:00

Fashion Survey
all things fashion!!be honest and tag 5 friends or as MANY as you want at the end of it.have fun!!

.:Basics:.
Name: Cel
Age : 19+
Location : M'sia

.:Favourites:.
Store : funky skate shops in Covent Garden & Neal Street

Designers : no preference

Place to go shopping : little-known shops with not a lot of people

Brand Names : Vans. Carhartt. Uniqlo. Fred Perry. Levi's.

Colour to wear : green!

Item of clothing you own : tees, jeans, 3/4s, skirts, one prom dress, one empire line dress

Type of jeans : straight-cut. nothing else.

Type of tops : definitely not something that screams lian-ism or has bad English.

Type of shoes : havaianas flipflops. converse sneaks are oh-so-comfy. and my vans gisele flats.

Clothing on opposite sex: a shirt that fits well, with a good pair of worn-out jeans and a nice pair of sneaks.

Types of accessories: black sex bands, my prom bracelet, studs, my swarovski necklace.

.:Misc:.
What would you never be caught dead in? : a pink tutu or basically stuff jb ahlians wear. which sometimes includes a pink tutu. oh oh oh and black tights the british girls love to wear.

How many clothes in your wardrobe? : not so many as you think

What was the last item of clothing you bought? : carhartt striped black v neck.

If you owned your own fashion label, what would it be called? : celine! not to be confused with Celine - the high end fashion label.

Which celeb's style would you love to steal? : Ellen Pompeo.

Do you follow trends? : definitely not. I can't be bothered.

What's 'in' in your area at the moment? : I think it's the black tights with ballet pumps and big hoops and short hair and over-sized tee dresses.

What colour is a NO for you?: hell-raising fluorescent colours that blind the eyes.

.:VS:.
Short skirts or Long skirts? :short cos' I look like I'm wearing sarung with long. oh but not to short. I don't do minis.

Jeans or Corduroys? : curduroys in the cold. and not-too-tight jeans.

Hats or Sunglasses? : I haven't found a nice pair of sunnies that suit my weird face shape, but am definitely looking for a pair.

Tight jeans or Baggy jeans? : baggy = comfy.

Bright colours or dark colours? : depends on the mood.

Skinny belts or Wide belts? : i have both!

.:Right Now:.
Wearing: Gap tank and 3/4 pants.

In your bag: Palmer's Cocoa Butter lipbalm, tissue paper, iPod.

Saving up for: a Canon SLR!

Wishing for: Feb when I can leave for Aussie!

.:That You Own:.
Favourite shirt: too many lah.

Favourite jeans: levi's straight cut - Eve.

Favourite shoes: refer back.

Favourite dress: my prom dress. haha.

Favourite belt: rusty spikey

Favourite Hat : N/A

Favourite Piece of underwear: I wear Boy Pants ladies boxers with dark blue and light blue stripes. oh so sexaay!

----------------
Now playing: Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
via FoxyTunes

brief work insight

2007-09-17T11:45:00.000+01:00

I dunno why people in the medical line always look down on paediatrics & gynaecologists. (note: grey's anatomy) my 'love' for kids bore its ugly head today as I told this hyperactive kid to stop running around and blocking peoples' way. even my dad was annoyed at him - stupid boy was playing with the curtain in the consultation room. bodoh punya budak. the invasion of the irritating little brats didn't end there! while I was in the nursery, checking on a newborn, yet another loud-mouth boy was banging on the glass window of the nursery and shouting. I tell you, I dunno why people want kids. when he saw his new baby sister, he then exclaimed that he didn't want her and ran off announcing to anyone who would listen. I wouldn't want HIM. hmph.
oh, been spending a lot of time with Chinda or Cinda, or however you're supposed to spell it. I carry her and play with her whenever I have free time. (which is very little) she's deadly afraid of my mother (who isn't?) and starts crying whenever she hears my mother's voice. I guess we're similar in a way, just that I get goosebumps, not in a good way either. sometimes when I see women in their late 30s and early 40s with a big tummy, I swallow my saliva and think to myself, 'poor kiddo's gonna go through what I went through, dealing with a menopausing mother. kesian.'
decided not to enter the contest, shall intend to save up moolah to get my Canon SLR. all contributions are greatly appreciated! heh, that reminds me of how I used to have a 'Help Celine in Debt' campaign in UK when I had a bank overdraft. haha. of course the only contributor was Bako. Bless him, I still have his ten quid with me. X)

mother-son talk

2007-09-14T12:13:00.000+01:00

'mummy, can we have a dog?'
'haha. *hugs son* ask your daddy, he doesn't like dogs. you know, son, keeping a dog is a huge responsibility. you know what that word means?'
'responsy-blue-tee?'
'responsibility means that you have to take care of the doggie properly. like, clean up after it poops, feed it enough and so on. it's not just a toy, okay?'
'ohhh. can't daddy do it?'
'*laughs* no, son, daddy and mummy cannot take care of the dog for you, cos' you're the one who wants to have it.'
'hmm, okay.'

just a random dialogue in my head today after my bike ride and fish feeding. I must say I was sort of inspired by all the expecting mothers at work and the youngsters coming in for abortions. when I was 15, I didn't even care if I brushed my hair in the morning, let alone get pregnant. heck, I don't even brush my hair enough now.

also, introducing the very handy FoxyTunes! I tell you, iTunes + Mozilla Firefox + Google = the perfect combo. I'm sure they're somehow inter-linked. they're all useful bits of technology that I wouldn't substitute with any other.

----------------
Now playing: Andrea Bocelli - Amapola
via FoxyTunes

vote

2007-09-12T06:39:00.000+01:00

am thinking of not continuing my Italy photo blog series. shucks. does that make me a quitter? :( it's just that when the blog photos don't come out. and it's such a wasted effort! plus, am not feeling too spritzy today. woke up early for a non-working day with a sore eye. jane told me to put some urine in it. (!) eek!
all those in favour of me discontinuing the Italy photo blog, raise your fingers and type 'aye'.
also, am thinking of joining a photography competition but the problem is it's a 'get as many people to vote for you' kinda thing which I'm sure to lose since most of the people who will vote for me are all abroad. so, I don't think so..

Gardasil

2007-09-09T13:40:00.000+01:00

this is an advertisement to all girls aged 9-26.

have you had your Gardasil jab yet? this medical breakthrough given in 3 doses in 6 months, is proven to be an effective prevention against cervical cancer. it's rm 390 per dose, with the 2nd and 3rd dose given 2 & 6 months after the first dose. so, unless you're Aussie, you won't find any other place giving you this price. ask for details.

the most boring blog entry ever

2007-09-08T07:16:00.000+01:00

dragged to a talk on 'making the most of your investments' by my dad. it was immediately after work and I was knackered, but he didn't have time to dump me at home so that's how I ended in one of the mini ballrooms in Taat House.
the first guy was a Cambridge graduate accountant who talked about subprime, subprime, subprime. if you're stock market savvy, you'd know that the Asian market didn't do so well last month, cos' financial institutions with subprime had to sell off Asian stocks that were doing well in order to recover. I won't go into detail, but I jotted down notes here and there while he was talking so that
A) I wouldn't fall asleep.
B) I wouldn't freeze to death from the full-blast air-conditioning.

so there he was aided by his powerpoint slides, reminding me so much of my Hayes' (hey) day Econs lessons. (ok, that was a bad pun. told you I lost my flair in writing..) the China effect cropped up too, of course, how can you talk about the Asian markets without putting in at least a word or two on China.. also, recently the Chinese market has opened up to allow Chinese individuals to invest in HK, which is good news to buyers as HK shares are cheaper than the A shares in Shenzhen. ok, now I'm blabbering and have probably lost you already. let's move on...

... to the next speaker, a dynamic Chinese-accented female with a short stature but a loud voice. she highlighted on M'sian markets and how badly (or not) affected was it by subprime. the good news was no, it wasn't. and it was because of this piece of bad news - the more sophisticated a country's banking system is, the more vulnerable they were to subprime. so in a nutshell, M'sia does NOT have a sophisticated banking system. surprise surprise, huh? that doesn't mean we weren't affected at all, it just means that we weren't directly hit by it. so, yeah, while she was going on and on, I was listening to the steady rhythmic snoring of the dude behind me and handphone tones going off. were they just ignorant or do the middle-aged older generation not know what buttons to press to put their phones on silent mode? you tell me.

anyway, she created quite a controversy afterwards when this Indian white-haired lawyer (it's always the lawyers who have to have the last word, don't they?) who pointed out that M'sia wasn't doing as well as the rosy picture she painted. you see, she said that the Ringgit was gaining in strength, which didn't necessarily mean that exporters were making losses. for example, M'sian exporter buys the raw material at a cheaper price and sells it for the same price, so he could in fact be making a bigger profit. all in all, she said that the M'sian market was volatile in the short-term, but looked positive in the long-term, using the metaphor of mum's home-cooked soup, which takes a long time to cook, but it tastes better than the 3-minute express Campbell ones. the lawyer was quick to point out that his thosai seller has to close shop by 8 as he has no business and his mee goreng aunty or something used to sell 80 plates, but now only 20, so perhaps, it wasn't true that the M'sians had nothing to worry about. the poor lady just smiled and said, 'I just explained all this through figures. maybe one region is doing very much better than the other, I dunno, I'm just saying in general.' well, at this point in time, a lot of people had already vacated their seats and zoomed in for the food. (typical Asian habit) oh well. food before anything else, I suppose.

I didn't know much about bonds, so when she explained about the M'sian bond market, I was trying very hard to focus on what she was going on about. all I managed to gather was that the stock markets and bonds had a somewhat inverse relationship. when one's doing well, the other isn't. or something like that.

ok, and that's all for my extremely boring blog entry, where I got to recall on my Economics notes, not very successfully, by the way.

AD = C + I + G + (X-M)

tv review: Identity

2007-09-04T14:13:00.000+01:00

Identity

watched this eccentric game show last night, and I must say, it's quite entertaining. despite the long commercial breaks in between and the whole tension thing with dramatic music.

I reognised the host as one half of the funny magicians - Penn & Teller. well, I think that's what they were called.

I'm really happy the Filipino dude won the grand prize of half a mil, although he was prancing about like a gay leprechaun, with penn towering over him.

okay, the game's like this. 12 people with 12 different identities, ranging from NFL football player to Russian immigrant. and the contestant has to match all of 'em to their identities. at least they don't try tricking them by like, disguising their identities through dressing them in confusing clothes.

he ain't heavy

2007-09-01T16:10:00.000+01:00

moral of the day: brothers exist (annoyingly) to remind you that sometimes, you just suck.

I dunno if it's in their anatomy or something, but they somehow find themselves more superior than their siblings, or maybe it's just the way my smelly, pompous brother thinks of himself. meh. I hope you read this, you narcissist! make sure all my girlfriends read this too and know what a pig of a man you are. (so you can stop intercepting my phone calls and instant messages asking them if they're interested)

makes me wonder how any girl would fall for him. ergh. testing my patience, he is.

'Just goes to show how bad your English is.'
'Gee, thanks.'
'It's true. your English IS bad.'
'Sorry I'm not a walking dictionary.'

somehow I felt defensive. a bit too defensive. English was the only subject I looked forward to in school, man. someone remind me not to take that unhygienic cow seriously, please?

was just thinking, maybe God created brothers to be so mean to their little sisters so they can never be interested in each other that way, get what I mean? *is reminded of soppy korean dramas where the guy falls in love with his long lost sister* yeah, well, he didn't KNOW she was his sister. I mean, it's like a 360 degree change.

'You're stupid!'
*phone rings*
'Hello? oh, you're looking for Celine? how old are you? are you pretty?'

omg. like, no chance in hell?

I always feel so bad when my friends get cornered by him. girls, I'd just hang up. B.O. doesn't go well with ladies.

my gosh, next thing I know, people are gonna tell me to take this post off cos' it's too personal. I may start getting hate mail even. but it's not like I'm exaggerating or anything. he does stink and he is mean to me. just because he has a 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card doesn't give him the right to act all smug and hoity toity.

brothers suck. (well, at least one of 'em) <- see that, that means I'm not generalising unless you think it's you.
huh. I didn't think so.

he ain't heavy.
he's just fat.

sabai's survey

2007-08-27T07:30:00.001+01:00

counter-tagged by sabai.

Each player of this game starts off with TEN weird habits or little known things about yourself.
People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own TEN weird or little known facts about yourself as well as state this rules clearly.
At the end, you must choose 6 people to tag and list their names.
NO TAG BACKS.
ok here it goes...

1. yesterday was a very bad day for me. *listens to daniel powter's bad day*
2. I hide in my bathroom when I'm scared or worried.
3. I cry in the shower, and I feel much better after.
4. I squeeze friends' arms and go 'eeek.'
5. people don't believe I'm from a Chinese primary school.
6. I shut up when I feel I'm too talkative.
7. I have something against authority - they should earn their respect and not demand it.
8. I don't like it when people say things about my family's financial condition. money can't solve everything and isn't a cure-all for every problem under the sun.
9. kids scare me. I don't wanna break their little limbs.
10. I used to play in the rain till I fall sick. it's actually really therapeutic.

Alright, it's now YOUR TURN!!

I tag
valentine, goose, desiree, chowchow, faisal, adelinesin.

goose survey

2007-08-25T06:10:00.000+01:00

note: second post for the day. first post on Italy: part III can be found in archives under the links tab.

THE 30 SENTENCE MEME!

Tag 3 people to do the meme when completed.

1. My ex is:
my age .

2. I am listening to:
Take What You Take by Lily Allen.

3. Maybe I should:
not blow things out of proportion.

4. I love:
chocolates.

5. My best friend:
is more than one person.

6. I don't understand:
why parents can be so over-bearing.

7. I lose:
my lipbalm all the time.

8. People say:
that I look like my dad. woohoo!

9. The meaning of my screen name is:
my name in short.

10. Love is:
bad for you! stay away!

12. I will always:
call Furbie a gundu.

13. Forever:
is a long time.

14. I never want to:
lose anyone I love.

15. My cell phone is:
ancient.

16. When I wake up in the morning:
I wonder what time it is.

17. I get annoyed at:
men and their stupidity.

18. Parties are:
good sources to get free food.

19. My dog is:
a gundu.

20. Kisses are the worst when:
it feels wrong.

21. Today I am:
longing for company.

22. Tonight I will:
sleep early.

23. Tomorrow I will:
have a long day at work.

24. I really want:
to have a teleport machine.

25. When I looked at myself in the mirror today I:
swear I heard the mirror gasp in awe. :O <- mommygoosy's answer. I wanna puke, man. wondered why my face is red and blotchy.

26. I will drive my car:
with music pumped up.

27. A word that rhymes with “PARK” is:
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.

28. Bright or Dark Room?:
Dark Room - the ones where photos are developed.

29. If I'm alone in a room with two beds, I:
push the two beds together and have a super large bed and sleep. I so smart man. <- roflmao. goose is hilarious.
will follow goose.

30. The last thing I said to someone was:
okay.

Now to tag people.
I tag: sabai-von, melissa mok, chowchow. (all patrick seyy)

Italy: part III

2007-08-25T05:40:00.000+01:00

part III of Italy trip: just Verona.

first, let me begin today's photo tour with a cute little one of chubby cherubs and Bon Bons.

ok, I never knew this till Bako told me, but apparently, sweets are called bon bon in Indonesia. so, what's it doing here in Italy? anyone care to clear the air?

would you guess that this is a wall splattered with germ-infested saliva? yes, that is gum on the walls...

... with love notes and such. so, you should've guessed by now that we've reached the romantic town of Verona!

some locksmith's making a lot of money round here, selling padlocks to more hygienic lovers who leave behind souvenirs for Juliet.

ok, if you have no inkling what that is, shame on you! why, it's Juliet's famous balcony.

R-rated photo alert!

I dunno whether it's good luck or what to touch her left boob, but hey! everyone's doing it! probably started with some pervert.

sale in Italian is saldi, by the way. am more interested in the doggie:)

no, that's not the Colosseum in Rome, it's a mini one in Verona,

where operas and things take place.

this place would look fantastic at night, don'tcha think?

end of part III

bad survey

2007-08-24T12:48:00.001+01:00

hey, ever googled your name?
c'mon, don't be shy - you know you do.
well, out of curiosity, I googled Celine Chu, and this popped up. I forgot how much I miss these survey thingies. thanks xinyu, for naming me the funniest person and also one of the girls you like. *winks lesbianly*

1. How old will you be in 10 months?
*counts* 20! OMG!

2. Do you think you will get married?
YES PLEASE! er, too eager? where art thou, rich man of mine?

3. What do you look forward the most in 3 months time?
*counts again* (what's this?! some weird maths survey?!) bako will be back from germany, so that's something I'm looking forward to...

4. Who was the last person to call you?
bako.

5. Play or Eat?
what matters here is the subject that I'm about to devour or be entertained by. I like to play with my food before I eat it. raawr!

6. What were you doing at 12. am last night?
talking to bako.

7. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
:D married for more than 30 years, thank you!

8. When was the last time u saw your mum
not too long ago when we were having tea.

9. What happened at 11 a.m?
it was raining..

10. Are you a social person?
I'm shy lahhhh,

11. What was the last thing you ate?
loller/colon chocs.

12. Whats your favourite ice cream?
ooh ooh! Ben&Jerry's COOKIE DOUGH!

13. What is your favourite desert?
the Sahara, I suppose. oh, you mean dessert ha? cakap lah. I love a good tiramisu. oh, homemade apple pie is delish as well.

14. How many glasses of water do you drink on average?
4, maybe?

15. What do you drink in the morning?
Water, first thing, cos' my throat is really parched.

16. Have u kissed sm1 before?
haven't you?

17. Do you know how to play poker?
yup.

18. What is your fav thing to spend money on?
I don't like to spend money unnecessarily. period.

19. Do you wear any jewelery?
:D

20. Who is the funniest person you know?
I find anyone with a good sense of humour funny. think I'd say Bako, cos' that's what I liked about him when I first met him. (an unbiased opinion)

21. Which type of girl/boy do u like the most?
those that make me laugh.

22. Are you missing someone now?
sniffles.

23. Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfren?
(this survey dude has really bad english, man.)
I have boyfriends, girlfrienDs, gayfriends, lesbianfriends etc.

24. Do you hate someone?
sometimes, myself.

25. Are you loving someone now?
rarely myself, most of the time, others.

I tag.... no one. this is a BAD survey!

I wanna be good

2007-08-21T10:42:00.000+01:00

a recent trip back to school plunged me into some weird conversations...
'So, where are you now? Doing journalism?'
'Haha. Nope. Accounting.'
'Ohh.'

'So, whatcha gonna do after this?'
'Erm, go home, get some sleep.'
'No no, I mean after your holidays.'
'Ohhh, going to Uni.'
'Where?'
'Melbourne.'
'For journalism?'
'What?! Who said anything about journalism???'
'Why? You write well!'
'How-??'
'We've all read your essays through Mrs. E.'
'... Ohhhh! Damn, I should've copyrighted that before I gave her my essay book.'

:( that got me thinking. that and my results. I wanna be good, real good at my Accounting. I have to. For my sake.

deviant bri-chan has some amazing stuff. remember the peter & wendy shoes? amazing.

'smile for the camera' - one of her most famous works.
disney princesses take on a whole new perspective, and I must say, I love this.

leave it. we got it.

2007-08-18T18:29:00.000+01:00

caution: not for the faint-hearted or full/weak-stomached.
I'm not kidding.

introducing...
sprinkle brigade! the grossest site I've ever been to, but for a laugh, why not? they go to places no one in their right mind would, venturing into the world of poo decorating. dog poo, that is. but don't take my word for it, go check it out, don't say I didn't warn you though. ;)

20th Installation Day

2007-08-17T11:07:00.000+01:00

I didn't plan on going to school for yet another Installation, but flojo appeared at my doorstep unannounced with a booming, 'quick quick! go and change!' I wish I had recorded the way she said it, complete with her index finger waving about, like a school teacher. might I add her hair was tied up in a bun as well? yikes!

ok, so back to the Interact Club event which brought back so many memories. some so good I wanna rewind to that time frame, some so bad I wanna cut out from my mind completely. overall, I spent 3/4 of these functions backstage, sweating like a pig, toggling with the PA system. end of story. oh and I attended to the food as well. haha. rarely tasted any of the food though.

I really liked this year's theme, which is 'Paint the town Green'! inspired by the LiveEarth concert not too long ago, the girls did a great job promoting the beautiful cause of saving Mother Earth. I myself pledged not to litter. I've something against people being litterbugs, even if they're my friends. from my experience, they get very embarassed when I clean up after them, so they tend not to have the habit of littering. at least not when they're out with me.

I really do think that every year, these events get even better. with the word actually getting out to people and the girls improving with every event.

the ex treasurer & bulletin board director with the best Interactor award.

A Levels results

2007-08-16T10:19:00.000+01:00

A Level results....
OUT!

I've mixed feelings about them, I think. it's not the AAAa I wanted, but it's not the ACUu I expected. it's somewhere in the middle. the good thing is I fulfill the guaranteed requirements of Melbourne U. so, that should be cause for some sort of satisfaction.

congrats to fai-jia & hils with straight A's. (they're the only ones I know so far, so sorry if you're not mentioned) also to Jayne, who got in to her Georgie's! (: *clap clap*

last but not least, thank you friends & family who've been praying for me. I didn't get the best results imaginable, but I got the best manageable. (huh. does that even make sense? aiyo, c'mon lah, I was so damn sad just now k? cut me some slack, I'm trying to cheer myself up here. great, now she's typing to herself.)

HP5

2007-08-15T05:59:00.000+01:00

listening to: joey ramone's what a wonderful world.

finally watched HarryPotter5. with flojo, who now has watched it 3 times. felt bad about it, but she says that she likes the fighting scenes. (the parts I find scary and cling onto peoples' arms. those who've watched movies with me will know this) anyhoo, I can understand why people say it's EmoHarry the whole way through. the boy's shouting, banging on stuff, having nostalgic thoughts.. but, it's true to the book, no? from the starting scene, I was like, wait a minute.... have I watched this before? it's exactly how I pictured it. with Big D being a typical example of a chav and mrs figg with the plastic bag on her head. (very very common among the old ladies in england) oh oh and I love Luna's dreamy voice. she's cuter than I imagined! as always, hate cho and her icky scottish accent. (sorry, cho)
all in all, I feel that this movie's the truest to the book so far, truly:)

dedicated to goose

2007-08-14T10:07:00.000+01:00

after finally finding a parking spot, goose, lyn, dee and I went to search for a place to buy parking coupons for her crv.

*passes by buddhist supplies shop*
someone: eh, here got or not?
me: should have gua. holy ones some more.
dee: *laughs quietly*

dee & lyn wait while we go further in front to find a place that hopefully sells 'em.

*outside herbal shop*
goose: erm, do you sell parking coupons?
woman: oh. further in front there. *points to where we just came from*
*goose and I look at each other*
silently
goose: har? where?
me: I dunno. let's go in front and see la.
*slowly walks away*
man from shop: hello, you want coupon right? maybe I can spare you one.
goose: oh ok.
me: yay.
*man takes out coupon from car*
man: you s'porean?
goose: uh, no.
man: oh, I'm s'porean.
me: whoops.
*goose hands money over*
man: no no, it's okay.
me: cool!
goose: thanks!

and yeah, we definitely need more dudes like him. wheehee!

p/s: I miss you goose!

Italy: part II

2007-08-09T06:41:00.001+01:00

part II of Italy trip
note: again, photos best viewed in full, I have no idea why part I's photos have all disappeared when they went under archives, but yeah, I'll make sure this one gets to linger on the front of the blog for a while longer, so everyone can have a good look.

today, (well not today, but like 3 weeks ago, however for simple understanding, let's keep it as today) we're off to the little town of San Gimignano. (jee-me-nya-no) my first impression of this place was LOTR! cos' it's built in this walled fortress kinda thing. so it's like what you see in Two Towers, when Aragorn rides up on the pavements of the Rohan kingdom. *sound of horse hooves*

I like the way these plates are arranged, just look at the colours - they're good enough to eat! (:

oh, and I must add that Italian shopkeepers don't like it when you take photos of their wares without buying anything. and me being chicken, just snaps and walks off quickly before they can go, 'mamma mia!'

*smiles at arrangement of chairs*

ok, this is cool. he's actually winding this box thingy which has some sheet music with holes in it and poof! music comes out. it's maaaagick! plus, he's singing along, which adds to the delight of passers-by.

just like the mamaks of m'sia, these places are on every corner of every street. perfect for the immense heat of Italy.

amen!

I just love this little cafe. (:

*jumps* oh. it's just a statue. torture museum for all you horror junkies.

Pinocchio, if you know, is set in Italy.

what did I tell you? just when jie was taking this photo, the shopkeeper comes out clapping her hands at her like shooing away a stray cat.

that jumble of buildings over there is Siena! (personally, I think it's a beautiful name)

the goose part of town. no, stop laughing, natasha, I'm serious. you see, every year, (or was it twice a year?) Siena holds this horse race which is contested by every little uh, section of town. it's divided into a few, like Goose, Seashell etc. the winning district gets to hang their big flags and banners out like this. go goose!

this is the square where races are held. it's all covered with sand and properly set up. it's very slopy and kinda hard to walk on.

church of Siena. gothic style.

I dunno which two I prefer better, the top or the bottom. hmm. both have a very different feel to it, but are taken of virtually the same thing. I like how the houses are all simply arranged on the hills. messy but cute.

outside st. catherine's basilica, where you can see her actual finger. eeeew.

verrazano castle's garden.

I wonder how
I wonder why
yesterday you told me about the blue blue sky
and all that I can see is just a yellow lemon tree

oooh, real grapes hanging from real vines!

when the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine,
that's amore. (:

we tried all sorts of wine. the reds had a strong spicy flavour, but they were all very good. kfc was right about them Italian wines. they're not the same anywhere else.

saying goodbye to the vineyards...

...travelling by our bus named Ponziani...

...we reach Firenze! (better known as Florence)

baptism of Christ.

so, we weren't allowed to take photos in the Academy of Art place where the famous statue of David is kept. (by the way, it's HUGE.)

so, take a lookie at this imitation one outside a square somewhere.

that's Neptune.

that's Neptune's butt and a birdie getting cosy on one of his servant dude's heads.

that is not a statue. it's one of the many buskers that earn a living from tourists.

I like this photo. take a look at the back. the bridges seem to go on forever, don't they?

view from Uffizi gallery. again, no photos allowed in there. but, it was great looking at the many works of Italian artists like Da Vinci, Bernini, Michaelangelo, Raphael and so on.

the close-up's not too bad too, showing the o kuno hito-ness.

end of part II

all grown up

2007-08-07T16:20:00.000+01:00

wannabes:
5 doctors - jolyn, adeline, archie, jayne, dee
2 accountants - jas & me (the boring people)
4 sixth formers (eh, budak kecik!) - sarah, chelle, juivy, kim
1 HDTV pro (mass comm. haha) - linhui
1 lawyer - lyn
1 psychologist - goose (the reason we gathered)
1 pharmacist - stef

aww. we're all grown up and out of our tiny blue pinafores and bata school shoes.
we sure were a noisy lot. haha. girlfriends rock! :)

au revoir, goose. take care in florida! [where they have uh, big oranges ;)] muax!

Vans

2007-08-06T14:46:00.000+01:00

peter.wendy - shoe commission by deviant artist
*bri-chan

here for full view.

viva la Vans!

Wii!

2007-08-04T19:18:00.001+01:00

no time to blog, dad's bought a new toy, the much anticipated...

Wii!!!!

I think I kinda suck at it, but, I keep beating my elder brothers and dad. maybe they're just letting me win. haha.

also, chenli bought this big Optimus Prime toy that can be transformed into his truck. it looks so real, but at a hefty price of 100 sing! er, and it takes half an hour at least to transform the poor dude. BUT, he does do a cool horn horn *lights flash* thing when he's a truck, and a *jet blasting* noise as Optimus Prime. haha. my whole family's so childish!

indie driving

2007-08-03T09:54:00.000+01:00

*sings*
breaking my back just to know your name
seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game

*bobs head*
I realise I enjoy driving with indie music blasting on the stereo. much calmer, less anxious and less easily irritated by stupid jb drivers.

somebody told me
you had a boyfriend
who looked like a girlfriend
that I had in february of last year
it's not confidential
I've got potential

kena tag

2007-08-02T00:09:00.000+01:00

thanks ah, weiyi!
to other readers, you're not obliged to do this, it's just a pre-Italy blog entry to get the ball rolling a bit.

4 places I've lived:
1. Orange Road
2. Light Green Road
3. Heathhurst Road
4. Baring Road

4 jobs:
dad's place as the data entry computer fella.

4 movies I love:
1. Windstruck
2. Transformers
3. Pay It Forward
4. Lord of the Rings trilogy

4 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Gordon Ramsey's F Word
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. House
4. Heroes

4 places I've been on vacation:
1. Italy
2. Australia
3. LA
4. China

4 favourite food:
1. Dairy Milk Chocs
2. Pringles
3. Chocolate Chip Cookies
4. Ben&Jerry's Cookie Dough

4 places I'd rather be:
1. My Bedroom without Mom Home
2. Medan
3. New Zealand
4. My Future Apartment in Melbourne ;)

4 albums I can't live without:
1. Grey's Anatomy OST
2. Abba's Gold: Greatest Hits
3. Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion
4. James Morrison's Undiscovered

4 favourite books (authors):
1. Harry Potter series by JKR, but I have to say, the last book was a bit of a let down.
2. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
3. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
4. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

4 favourite magazines:
1. Seventeen
2. Cleo
3. Stuff
4. T3

4 favourite cars:
1. New Volks in white, thanks
2. New Mini :)
3. Merc Convertible
4. BMW Convertible

4 possessions I adore to death:
1. Bako :)
2. My clothes
3. Nikon SLR D50
4. HP Laptop